text
stringlengths 5
144k
| label
int64 0
9
| id
int64 0
100k
| label_text
stringclasses 10
values |
|---|---|---|---|
Well, it is finally upon us. The Mother of all Michigan-Michigan State games. And it's about time. This rivalry has too often been dismissed as a regional affair, not a national showpiece. That's partly because the two teams are almost never ranked at the same time. When one is up, the other's down. The Spartans dominated the fifties and sixties, winning six national titles during those two decades. The Wolverines, led by Bo Schembechler, ruled the state for the next two decades. In the nineties, Michigan State won four times, but always as the underdog, upsetting a top ten Michigan team each time. Lately, it's been all Michigan State. Last year, the Spartans smoked the Wolverines, 35 11. They kept the Wolverines to zero yards rushing in the first half, and by the end of the game had outgained their foes, 446 186. For the Wolverines, incredibly, the effort represented a nominal improvement over their 2013 game, when they finished with minus-48 yards rushing. The Spartans kept the Paul Bunyan trophy for the sixth time in seven years, establishing unquestioned dominance over the state for the first time since LBJ ruled the White House. The Spartans' run also altered the dialogue between the two schools. After all, calling your little brother "Little Brother" gets a bit awkward when he keeps kicking your butt. The Spartans spanked Michigan so badly the past two years, whenever I said, "Good game" to a State fan, they'd complain that, sure, they won, but you know, they just didn't play that well. Style points suddenly mattered. You got the feeling they were getting a little bored with the whole thing. The credit goes to Spartan's head coach Mark Dantonio, who's done more with less than just about any coach in the country. He's been beating up the Wolverines with a lot of players Michigan didn't even want. The only team in the nation to finish in the top five the past two seasons is not Alabama or Florida State or Oregon or Ohio State, but Michigan State. You could win bar bets with that one. Dantonio has simply done one of the best coaching jobs I've ever seen. Halfway through this season, the Spartans are undefeated, and ranked seventh. So what's Dantonio's reward? This entire offseason, he had to listen to the media go on and on about Michigan's new head coach, Jim Harbaugh -- before Harbaugh had even coached a game. Before Harbaugh showed up, Michigan had been getting worse every year. Since Harbaugh had inherited the same players that finished 5-7 last year, the most optimistic Michigan fans were hoping for an 8-4 season. But after Michigan lost the opener to a very good Utah team, the Wolverines have won the next five games -- including three straight shutouts. That's right: Michigan has not allowed a point in its last three games. The last time that happened it was 1980, when Jim Harbaugh was in high school. Jim Harbaugh is no longer in high school. Harbaugh's squad got there step by step, first by playing tough, then smart, then confident -- so confident, in their last game against undefeated, 13th-ranked Northwestern, the Wolverines looked like they couldn't wait for the next play, to show off what they've learned, en route to a 38-0 whitewashing. After all, they didn't come to Ann Arbor to go 5-7. And now, finally, both teams are ranked, and the nation's watching. Both teams were ranked this highly only once before, back in 1999 -- when Nick Saban coached Michigan State, and Tom Brady quarterbacked the Wolverines. I can't recall any Michigan-Michigan State game that seemed to mean so much to both sides. The Spartans want to make sure this decade of domination doesn't stop. Dantonio wants to prove his success wasn't just a matter of thumping the overmatched Brady Hoke, but that he can take on a big name coach like Jim Harbaugh. Of course, Michigan wants to prove it has really returned -- long before anyone thought it would. Buy "EndZone". Amazon >> Barnes & Noble >> iTunes >> Who's going to win? This one is unusually hard to predict, because I don't think Michigan State's played its best football yet this year, while Michigan keeps exceeding expectations every weekend. Will the Spartans wake up and play to their potential? Will the Wolverines wake up from a dream season, and fall back to earth -- or are the Wolverines really a national contender? We'll find out Saturday. But a few things are certain: Whoever wins this game will be in the top ten next week, and have a great shot at the four-team national playoff. We also know the fans of the winning team will be insufferable for a year -- almost as bad as the fans of the losing team. And that's what a real rivalry looks like. More: Read excerpt from John U. Bacon's latest book -- John U. Bacon is the author of four New York Times bestsellers. His latest book, Endzone: The Rise, Fall and Return of Michigan Football was published in September. He gives weekly commentary on Michigan Radio, teaches at the University of Michigan and Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, and speaks nationwide on leadership and diversity. Learn more at JohnUBacon.com , and follow him on Twitter @johnubacon . | 1 | 95,500 | sports |
Users of the Yahoo Mail app will have access to a new service that uses smartphones to verify identities instead of traditional passwords. Fred Katayama reports. | 3 | 95,501 | finance |
SAN FRANCISCO So many people have gone so long without buying a new personal computer that the industry's biggest players are trying something different: a quirky advertising campaign. The $70 million marketing push aims to highlight how much better PCs have gotten since smartphones and tablets came along. Rival PC makers Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Lenovo are joining forces with Microsoft and Intel to revive languishing PC sales with ads that don't promote specific brands. They'll be punctuated with the slogan, "PC does what?" It's a concept similar to earlier campaigns by beef and dairy producers that sought to extol the virtues of their products. The PC campaign will tout the increased versatility of laptops that have slimmed down while adding more powerful chips, longer-lasting batteries and higher resolution screens that also respond to touch commands. Many of the screens also detach from keyboards so they can function as tablets, too. Most new PCs are now powered by Windows 10, which Microsoft bills as its best operating system yet. "With this perfect storm of innovation, we felt it was the time to tell our story," said Steve Fund, Intel's chief marketing officer. "People think having something good is good enough because they are unaware of how much better the PCs are now." The campaign, scheduled to begin Monday in the U.S. and China, will include TV commercials on major networks and online ads. The participating companies will split the $70 million cost of the campaign, which will run through November in an effort to entice holiday shoppers. The ads are primarily targeting consumers who haven't bought a new PC in at least four years a potential audience of about 400 million people, estimated technology industry analyst Patrick Moorhead. The PC push comes amid a 3 1/2-year decline in sales that has been driven by a shift to smartphones and tablets able to handle many of the tasks that previously required desktop and laptop computers. Even the late July release of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system couldn't reverse the slide. Worldwide shipments of PCs fell by 8 percent from the previous year during the three-month period ending in September, according to the research group Gartner. Lenovo, HP and Dell were the top three PC makers in the quarter. But the pendulum may be poised to swing in the other direction. About half the consumers polled in Gartner's personal technology survey said they plan to buy a new PC during the next year, compared to just 21 percent who said they have a tablet on their shopping list. In an effort to reverse a recent decline in iPad sales, Apple introduced a larger version of its trendsetting tablet that's designed to behave much like a laptop. The iPad Pro will sell for $800 and an accompanying keyboard will cost an additional $169. Consumers who have owned the same PC for several years can now buy a vastly improved model for $500 to $700, Moorhead said, making it more likely the marketing campaign will win converts. "I think the PC might have its best hand in the past five to seven years," Moorhead said. ___ Online: http://pcdoeswhat.com | 3 | 95,502 | finance |
The Gamecocks, Trojans and Gators all had major shakeups this week. Campus Insiders' Pete Fiutak explains how each team can overcome adversity. | 1 | 95,503 | sports |
WASHINGTON (AP) American special operations analysts were scrutinizing an Afghan hospital days before it was destroyed by a U.S. military attack because they believed it was being used by a Pakistani operative to coordinate Taliban activity, The Associated Press has learned. The analysts knew it was a medical facility, but it's unclear whether that information ever got to commanders who unleashed the AC-130 gunship on the hospital, killing at least 22 patients and hospital staff. Nor is it known whether the allegations of possible enemy activity played a role in the incident. The Pentagon initially said the attack was to protect U.S. troops engaged in a firefight and has since said it was a mistake. The special operations analysts had assembled a dossier that included maps with the hospital circled, along with indications that intelligence agencies were tracking the location of the Pakistani operative and activity reports based on overhead surveillance, according to a former intelligence official who is familiar with some of the documents describing the site. The intelligence suggested the hospital was being used as a Taliban command and control center and may have housed heavy weapons. After the attack it came amid a battle to retake the northern Afghan city of Kunduz from the Taliban some U.S. analysts assessed that the strike had been justified, the former officer says. They concluded that the Pakistani, believed to have been working for his country's Inter-Service Intelligence directorate, had been killed. No evidence has surfaced publicly suggesting a Pakistani died in the attack, and Doctors without Borders, the international organization that ran the hospital, says none of its staff was Pakistani. The former intelligence official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity. The top U.S. officer in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, has said the strike was a mistake, but he has not explained exactly how it happened or who granted final approval. He also told Congress he was ordering all personnel in Afghanistan to be retrained on the rules governing the circumstances under which strikes are acceptable. The new details about the military's suspicions that the hospital was being misused complicate an already murky picture and add to the unanswered questions about one of the worst civilian casualty incidents of the Afghan war. They also raise the possibility of a breakdown in intelligence sharing and communication across the military chain of command. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said questions about what the Defense Department knew about the clinic and whether it was communicated to personnel operating the gunship would be part of the Pentagon's investigation. He said President Barack Obama was expecting a "full accounting." Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook declined to address the new information. "As Gen. Campbell has said, we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility," Cook said in a statement. "We have confidence that the ongoing investigations into this tragic incident will uncover exactly what happened and why this hospital was mistakenly struck." Doctors without Borders has condemned the bombing as a war crime The organization says the strike killed 12 hospital staff and 10 patients. It insists that no gunmen, weapons or ammunition were in the building. The U.S. and Afghan governments have launched three separate investigations. Obama has apologized, but Doctors without Borders is calling for an international probe. Doctors without Borders officials say the U.S. airplane made five separate strafing runs over an hour, directing heavy fire on the main hospital building, which contained the emergency room and intensive care unit. Surrounding buildings were not struck, they say. Typically, pilots flying air support missions would have maps showing protected sites such as hospitals and mosques. If commanders concluded that enemies were operating from a protected site, they would follow procedures designed to minimize civilian casualties. That would generally mean surrounding a building with troops, not blowing it to bits from the air. What the new details suggest "is that the hospital was intentionally targeted, killing at least 22 patients and MSF staff," said Meinie Nicolai, president of the operational directorate of Doctors without Borders, which is also known by its French initials MSF. "This would amount to a premeditated massacre." By one U.S. account from the scene, American and Afghan troops were under fire in the area. Nicolai said in an email exchange that the group's staff "reported a calm night and that there were no armed combatants, nor active fighting in or from the compound prior to the airstrikes." According to the former intelligence officer, the commander on the ground has told superiors he was in the worst firefight of his career while taking fire from the building, which he said he did not know was a hospital. He requested the gunship strike. In that scenario, it's not readily apparent why his unit couldn't have retreated. The hospital is within a compound surrounded by a 12-foot wall. The intelligence analysts who were gathering information about suspected Taliban activity at the hospital were located in various bases around Afghanistan, and were exchanging information over classified military intelligence systems. Typically, a decision to order a strike in a populated area would require many layers of approval and intelligence analysis of the potential impacts and civilian casualties. It would be significant if U.S. intelligence had concluded that Pakistani spies were continuing to play an active role helping the Taliban. The U.S. and Afghan governments have long accused Pakistan of aiding the Taliban, but U.S. rhetoric on the issue has cooled over the past year as American-Pakistani counterterrorism cooperation has improved. ___ National Security Writer Robert Burns and Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report. Follow Ken Dilanian on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KenDilanianAP | 5 | 95,504 | news |
On Wednesday, a report that the NCAA was in the early stages of silently mulling over changing the college hoops season's start date to mid-December got people up in arms clucking about why the idea was good and/or bad. The proposition was purely a product of hypothetical discussions, and not a formal manifesto brought in front of the Division I men's basketball competition committee for discussion. MORE: Final Four records that will never be broken Yes, that the NCAA's VP for men's basketball, Dan Gavitt, gave the idea credence when he told the San Jose Mercury News "there's definitely a portion of the membership that thinks it's worthy of consideration" is important. But it doesn't mean a change is imminent or will happen in the next few years. There's a good chance we don't see any change in the season's start or end dates in this decade, even. And there's one simple reason why: planning. As it stands now, the NCAA has already selected, vetted and entered into contracts with host sites for every Final Four through the 2021 season . That doesn't necessarily forbid the NCAA and its member institutions from entertaining the idea or relevant suggestions. It does mean, however, that any drastic proposed changes would not go into effect until after the 2021 Final Four. "Within the next year, we will determine additional future tournament sites, using the seasonal calendar now in place," Gavitt said in a statement released by the NCAA on Wednesday, adding that no formal discussions have begun. The committee has to contend with several critical issues as it determines whether shifting the season to a later start date would be beneficial to the sport. MORE: Final Four logos through the years First, who would host the NCAA Tournament's regional sites? Traditionally, the NCAA has been able to rent out space from NBA and NHL teams during their regular season schedule. But a later start date for hoops would mean that the NCAA would have to negotiate venue deals around professional teams' playoff schedules. It's not impossible but it's not ideal, either. Second, what happens to the spring recruiting period for coaches? Division I men's basketball coaches typically have a few clusters of days in April after the Final Four during which they're allowed to hit the road and evaluate high school prospects. Obviously, that's an issue with a season that may not end until late May or early June. This could be an easy fix just push it back but would take some serious cooperation and coordination. And let's be honest, are either of those two tenets that the NCAA's lauded for? Also, aside from other sponsorship and advertising deals, an NCAA Tournament that begins in April or May would present a TV rights dilemma for Turner Broadcasting. Turner owns the exclusive rights to several rounds of the NCAA Tournament. It also owns the rights to the early rounds of the NBA Playoffs, particularly on Thursdays. Would Turner give up its Thursdays to ESPN or another media entity to balance its financial commitment to the NBA Playoffs? There are a lot of moving parts and vested interests in a decision of this caliber, and even if the committee discusses it which they should don't expect to see the change manifest before the next decade begins. | 1 | 95,505 | sports |
About 1 in 3 Americans gets an annual physical exam. But a growing number of doctors now believe the practice is at best wasteful, and at worst potentially harmful, Time reports . Studies show little connection between the practice and disease prevention. Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, argues in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that physicals should be restructured. He also writes that insurance companies should stop covering physicals because that gives doctors an incentive to continue the practice: Though on a per-visit basis, the annual physical is not costly, it is the single most common reason that U.S. patients seek care, and cumulatively these visits cost more than $10 billion per year similar to the annual costs of all lung-cancer care in the United States. Not only do physicals waste money, they waste time. About 10 percent of all visits with primary-care physicians are for physicals, and Mehrotra says the time doctors spend on those visits "might be crowding out visits for more urgent health issues." In addition to being wasteful, Dr. Christine Laine, senior vice president of the American College of Physicians, tells Time that annual physicals can be potentially harmful. Routine screenings can lead to abnormal findings, but not all such results are indications of health problems. Sometimes abnormal findings are one-off readings or false positives. Laine says: "There is more evidence of harm than benefit, especially for executive physicals in which people come in once a year and get a zillion tests whether or not they need them. What usually happens is that they find things that they didn't need to find, and that generates more tests, which generates costs and side effects and worry and all of those things. There's good evidence that those types of exams don't make any sense and are of low value." Do you get an annual physical? Sound off in our Forums . It's the place where you can speak your mind, explore topics in-depth, and post questions and get answers. | 7 | 95,506 | health |
ST. LOUIS (AP) Star Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is having surgery for a ligament injury to his left thumb. General manager John Mozeliak says Molina is expected to be restricted from baseball activities for two to three months following Thursday's operation. He anticipates Molina will be ready for spring training. Mozeliak doesn't believe Molina worsened the injury by returning to the lineup for the NL Division Series. Molina was hurt making a tag play in Chicago on Sept. 20. He played the first three games of the NLDS with a splint and a bat shaped more like an ax handle. He did not play in Game 4. Reliever Matt Belisle will have arthroscopic surgery Monday to remove bone chips from his elbow. Pitcher Carlos Martinez will not need surgery. He was shut down before the end of the season with a shoulder injury. | 1 | 95,507 | sports |
Stars you won't believe are in their 40s There are plenty of celebrities proving that 40 is the new 30! Let's take a look at the stars who are looking better and younger than ever -- you won't believe they're in their 40s -- starting with Eminem. The rapper turns 42 on Oct. 17, 2015, but has hardly aged since he started dominating the music charts in 2000. Keep clicking for more stars in their 40s! Fergie joined Club 40 on March 27, 2015 -- and is looking better than ever! Shocking! Would you believe that the gorgeous Jared Leto is well into his mid-40s? The actor will be turning 44 on Dec. 26, 2015! Drew Barrymore entered her fifth decade when she turned 40 on Feb. 22, 2015. Cute crooner Michael Buble turned 40 on Sept. 9, 2015 -- but that baby face makes it hard to believe! " American Horror Story " franchise star Sarah Paulson entered her 40s in 2014 and turns 41 on Dec. 17, 2015. Singer Jewel is 41 and fabulous -- and doesn't look any older than she did during her '90s heyday. Tobey Maguire celebrated his 40th birthday in 2015, marking the milestone on June 27. The beautiful Eva Longoria turned 40 on March 15, 2015. Sheldon is in his 40s?! It's pretty hard to believe, but " The Big Bang Theory " star Jim Parsons is 42! The beautiful Eva Mendes turned 40 and welcomed a baby girl, Esmeralda Gosling, with boyfriend Ryan Gosling in 2014. What a wonderful way to kick off your 40s! Siren Sofia Vergara turned 43 in 2015, but the sitcom star is only getting hotter as she ages! Charlize Theron turned 40 in 2015, reaching the milestone on Aug. 7. Tyson Beckford turns 45 on Dec. 19, 2015, but still looks exactly like he did when he broke onto the modeling scene in the '90s. Funny lady Kristen Wiig is 42! Does Gabrielle Union ever age? She looks exactly the same as she did when she played a high school cheerleader in the 2000 hit " Bring It On ." It's not surprising that 40-year-old Fergie's hubby also looks amazing for his age! Josh Duhamel turns the big 4-3 in 2015 on Nov. 14. We'll have whatever she's having! Gwen Stefani looks impossibly ageless at 46. It's really tough to believe, but Pharrell Williams turned 42 years old in 2015. Marion Cotillard is clearly aging beautifully and gracefully, because she surprisingly celebrated her 40th birthday in 2015. Jimmy Fallon toasted his 41st birthday in 2015. Winnie Cooper is all grown up! Danica McKellar entered her 40s in 2015, celebrating her milestone birthday on Jan. 3. Don't let his youthful looks fool you: John Cho is actually 43 years old. Melanie Brown doesn't look it, but the former Spice Girl turned the big 4-0 in 2015. Supermodel and " America's Next Top Model " maven Tyra Banks will turn 42 on Dec. 4, 2015. | 6 | 95,508 | entertainment |
Millions of Social Security recipients who depend on the program for most of their income will have to cut back on necessities such as food and medical care as a result of the government's announcement Thursday that there will be no cost-of-living increase next year, retiree advocates say. "They're going to be asking themselves, 'How do I pay my bills?'" says Mary Johnson, a policy consultant for the Senior Citizens League. "They don't have any safety net to turn to." About 50% of seniors rely on Social Security for at least half their income, and about a quarter depend on it for at least 90% of their income, AARP says. The Social Security Administration said about 65 million recipients won't see a cost-of-living rise in 2016 because one measure of consumer prices fell 0.6% in the 12 months ending in September as a result of plunging gasoline prices. But AARP officials say that consumer price index reflects the spending patterns of largely young and healthy workers, not seniors who are aided less by cheap gas and devote more of their budgets to health care, food and housing costs. Over the past year, housing costs have climbed 3.7%, medical care is up 2.4% and food prices increased 1.6%, Labor Department figures show. A separate measure of consumer prices that captures seniors' purchases rose 0.6% the past year, the Senior Citizens League says. Particularly onerous for seniors is the cost of prescription drugs, which jumped about 11% last year, according to AARP and the Truveris National Drug Index. Older Americans spend about 15% of their income on medical care, compared with about 5% for the people surveyed in the CPI index that figured into the SSA's ruling, Johnson says. To cope with higher costs, retirees on tight budgets likely will be forced to postpone doctor visits, do without some prescription drugs or rack up debt to pay for them, and even visit food banks, say Johnson and Debra Whitman, AARP's chief public policy officer. Many already have been scrimping, with Social Security cost-of-living increases averaging just 1.4% a year since 2010. Most negatively affected will be the 30% of Medicare beneficiaries whose monthly premiums for Medicare Part B will rise 52% to $159.30 because they aren't deducted directly from their Social Security checks. For many other seniors, the stagnant benefits check will simply mean a lifestyle with even fewer frills. Jim Baldridge, 69, of Baltimore, says Social Security provides 65% of his income. He says he and his wife plan to eat out less, substitute chicken for beef and limit vacations to just the East Coast. "It is important," Baldridge said of the monthly payment. | 3 | 95,509 | finance |
Who knew Santa could be so political? | 8 | 95,510 | video |
The AP has learned that US analysts knew the Doctors without Borders facility in Kunduz was a hospital, but were gathering intelligence on it because they suspected it was being used by a Pakistani operative to coordinate Taliban activity. (Oct. 15) | 8 | 95,511 | video |
Matt Kenseth may be in a hole after a rough outing at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but here are five reasons he'll overcome it and celebrate with his second Sprint Cup title at the end of the year. Todd Warshaw NASCAR The situation is dire for Matt Kenseth, right? He's 12th in points with two races left in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and right now, he's a whopping 32 points out of eighth place, the last transfer spot. Faced with all that, there's no way he wins the Chase this year, right? Wrong. In fact, all things considered, Kenseth is in much better shape than he might appear at first blush. Here are five reasons, Matt Kenseth will still take the championship this year: 5. He's great at Kansas Speedway -- Kenseth already has won twice at Kansas Speedway, where he's also amassed two poles and six top-five finishes. On top of that, Kenseth has led 502 laps at the 1.5-mile track. In his last 10 starts here, Kenseth has the aforementioned two victories, plus four top fives, nine top 10s and no finishes worse than 13th. He should be money in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400. 4. He's great at Talladega Superspeedway -- Kenseth is one of the sport's best restrictor-plate racers, having won the Daytona 500 twice. He won the fall race at Talladega in 2012 and finished second in the fall race there last year. 3. He's won more races than anyone this year -- Already this year, Kenseth has five race victories, the most of any Sprint Cup driver. The team Kenseth drives for, Joe Gibbs Racing, has 13 victories, while no other team has won more than six races this season. The JGR Toyotas have speed in them every week and will be fast at Kansas and Talladega. 2. Other drivers will go down at Talladega -- The wildcard left in the Contender Round is the Oct. 25 race at Talladega Superspeedway. You can bet at least some of the Chase contenders will be caught up in big wrecks there. In the spring Talladega race, Chase drivers Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano all finished 30th or worse. Last year, of course, Kyle Busch got knocked out at Talladega. If some of the good cars have trouble this time and Kenseth doesn't, he could be right back in it. 1. Winners step up in the clutch -- Here's a stat four you: In the last four Chase elimination races dating back to Talladega a year ago, all four winners were drivers who had to get to Victory Lane or be eliminated from title contention. Brad Keselowski did it at Talladega in October 2014, then Kevin Harvick did it at both Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway to end the season. Harvick also won the first elimination race of this year's Chase two weeks ago at Dover International Speedway. | 1 | 95,512 | sports |
Investors have bemoaned the difficulty that global tobacco player Philip Morris International (PM) has had in overcoming the negative impact of a strong U.S. dollar. For a company that gets all of its revenue from abroad, weak foreign currencies have created huge downward pressure on revenue and earnings, and coming into Philip Morris International's third-quarter financial report Thursday morning, investors understood that the company would continue to face those same headwinds. Yet Philip Morris' financials revealed some encouraging signs of a brighter future for the tobacco company. Let's look more closely at what Philip Morris International said about its results and its outlook for the future. Philip Morris keeps finding ways to strike back against currency challenges As we've seen for a while now, Philip Morris International's headline numbers looked ugly, but they were in fact substantially stronger than most investors had expected. Sales fell almost 12% to $6.93 billion, but that was quite a bit better than the 14% decline that investors were looking to see. Similarly, net income of $1.94 billion was down about 10% from the year-ago quarter, but the resulting adjusted earnings of $1.24 per share were $0.13 higher than the consensus forecast, essentially chopping the decline that investors had expected by half. As we've seen before, though, taking out the impact of the strong dollar reveals a much different picture. The revenue hit from currency effects was $1.4 billion, and reversing that impact would have given Philip Morris growth of nearly 6%. Similarly, the earnings hit from the dollar amounted to $0.37 per share, and that would have produced a nearly 16% jump from the year-ago quarter's earnings figures. Looking more closely at the company's different focus areas, cigarette shipments across the system fell 1.5%, with the biggest declines in Asia offsetting gains in the eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment. Yet Marlboro shipments rose more than 2%, with notable strength in Spain, Japan, and Saudi Arabia offsetting weakness in Brazil and Argentina. From an operating income perspective, only the Latin America and Canada segment posted gains in U.S. dollar terms, but all four of Philip Morris International's major regions saw rising operating profit on a currency-neutral basis. Market share climbed in nearly a dozen and a half key markets across the globe. CEO Andre Calantzopoulos was quick to highlight the encouraging signs at Philip Morris when you take out the dollar's huge impact. "Organic volume, market share, and pricing trends remain very robust against the backdrop of in improved macroeconomic environment," Calantzopoulos said, "particularly in our [European Union] and [Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa] regions." Will Philip Morris International bring a brighter finish to 2015? Philip Morris International was so encouraged by its performance over the past quarter that it chose once again to boost its guidance for the full year. Even though currency headwinds will still play a major role in holding back overall gains, Philip Morris now believes that it will see constant-currency adjusted earnings per share rise 11% to 12% for the full year, up from its previous guidance for 9% to 11% growth. That would equate to adjusted earnings per share of roughly $5.57 to $5.62 per share, providing a stark contrast to the company's GAAP earnings projections for $4.35 to $4.40 per share. A key element of Philip Morris' continued growth will come from its reduced-risk products. Calantzopoulos highlighted the company's efforts on that front, noting that Philip Morris "continues to progress with the commercialization and clinical assessment of our reduced-risk product iQOS, and as previously announced, are accelerating our spending to support additional city launches and national expansions this year and next." Despite criticism from researchers at Imperial Tobacco that included disparaging comments about iQOS, Philip Morris stands behind its heat-not-burn product and believes it can play a fundamental role in the company's long-term growth prospects. Overall, investors in Philip Morris were pleased with the favorable outlook, as the stock climbed 1.5% by midday following the announcement. As annoying as the dollar's strength is, Philip Morris has shown remarkable resiliency in the face of huge currency headwinds, and that should bode well for whatever point in the future the foreign-exchange markets start behaving more normally. Sponsored: The next billion-dollar iSecret The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something at its recent event, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here. | 3 | 95,513 | finance |
After spending only a year of his five year prison sentence, Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius will be moved to house arrest. The 28-year-old was found guilty of killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and now after only 12 months in jail, he will be released and sentenced to what is termed in South Africa as "correctional supervision". Oscar shot Reeva through a locked bathroom door in his home on Valentine 's Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for an intruder and acted in self-defense. | 6 | 95,514 | entertainment |
Before you throw out those dryer sheets, put them to good use again outside of the laundry room and around the house. Sean Dowling (@seandowlingtv) explains several ways you can reuse them. | 8 | 95,515 | video |
Taylor Swift Taylor Swift always found having friends "hard". The 'Bad Blood' hitmaker is famous for her female 'squad' of pals and thinks they are so important to her now because she didn't have many chums as a teenager. She admitted: "I honestly think my lack of female friendships in high school and middle school is why my female friendships are so important now. "Because I always wanted them. It was just hard for me to have friends." The 25-year-old singer recalled calling to invite several girls from her middle school to go shopping with her but they all made an excuse - and when Taylor went to the mall with her mother, she saw the whole group there without her. She added to America's GQ magazine: "I just remember my mom looking at me and saying, 'We're going to King of Prussia Mall'. Which is the big, big mall in Pennsylvania, 45 minutes away. So we left and went to the better mall. My mom let me escape from certain things that were too painful to deal with. And we talked about it the whole ride there, and we had a good time shopping." Despite cherishing her strong friendships, Taylor - who is dating Calvin Harris - also values having time alone. Asked if she ever gets lonely, she said: "I'm around people so much. Massive amounts of people. I do a meet-and-greet every night on the tour, and it's 150 people. Before that, it's a radio meet-and-greet with 40 people. After the show, it's 30 or 40 more people. "So then when I go home and turn on the TV, and I've got Monica and Chandler and Ross and Rachel and Phoebe and Joey on a 'Friends' marathon, I don't feel lonely. "I've just been onstage for two hours, talking to 60,000 people about my feelings. That's so much social stimulation. "When I get home, there is not one part of me that wishes I was around other people." | 6 | 95,516 | entertainment |
ELIZABETH, N.J. Two New Jersey day care workers accused of urging young children to fight as part of what one compared to the movie "Fight Club" are seeking probation through a program that could result in their charges being dismissed. Erica Kenny, 22, and Chanese White, 28, are each seeking acceptance into a pre-trial intervention program, available to first offenders. The program allows defendants to be placed on supervised probation and, if the participant completes the program, the charges are dismissed, NJ.com reported (http://bit.ly/1QxQgWi ). Kenny and White each pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges stemming from the alleged fights Aug. 13 at Lightbridge Academy in Cranford where they both worked. Kenny also faces a charge of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child after prosecutors say she recorded video of the fights and shared them with friends through Snapchat. In the video, she compares the fights to the 1999 movie, starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, authorities said. Both women were scheduled for a hearing Oct. 15, but court records show White is now slated to appear in court Oct. 28 and Kenny is scheduled to be in court Nov. 18. Their hearings will be on their potential acceptance into the pre-trial program. The Union County prosecutor and the county public defender declined to comment. ___ Information from: NJ Advance Media. | 5 | 95,517 | news |
GM is introducing two new Buick Verano hatchback models in Shanghai, China: the Buick Verano Hatchback and the Buick Verano GS. Both variants debut for the model's second-generation. The upcoming Buick Verano Hatchback and Verano GS are based on the same chassis that underpins the redesigned 2015 Opel Astra and new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze. Development was conducted at the Nrburgring, and the new Verano's handling is said to be European car-like as a result. Power for the Buick Verano Hatchback comes from a naturally aspirated 1.5-liter SIDI engine backed by a six-speed manual or six-speed auto. The Verano GS is powered by a turbocharged 1.5-liter SIDI engine backed by a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Although exact power figures haven't been revealed, the turbo engine is said to make 166 hp at 5,600 rpm. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook From the lone teaser sketch, the Buick Verano GS appears to have a more radical design than the current sedan. Up front, there are "wing-shaped" headlights. Though we only see a shadowy teaser image of the GS hatch's rear, Buick says the Verano GS will be available with a black waterfall grille, aerodynamic spoilers, red accents on the fascias, red brake calipers, and dark-painted five-spoke alloy wheels. The Verano will also have a premium interior with advanced technologies. The second-generation Buick Verano sports sedan launched in China in late June, and the new Verano Hatchback and Verano GS should go on sale in China shortly. There's no word yet on whether the U.S. will see a hatchback variant of the Verano when the second-generation model arrives here. China-spec 2016 Buick Verano sedan pictured below. Source: GM | 9 | 95,518 | autos |
Far out. | 8 | 95,519 | video |
Almost three decades later and they're still some of the most famous faces in gaming. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we kick off our series of the most memorable video game characters with the Top 10 Memorable Video Game Characters of the 1980's. | 5 | 95,520 | news |
Derrick Rose will be a masked man whenever he returns to full action for the Bulls. But in his first public comments since fracturing his left orbital bone in the team's first training camp practice on Sept. 29, there was no hiding his excitement to play in Fred Hoiberg's offense. That may be in part why Rose refused to rule out playing in the Oct. 27 regular-season opener despite not yet getting cleared for contact. "Every day, it's improving. It could be quick. Who knows? It's no timetable. It's whenever I can go play," Rose said after his first workout with his new mask. "I want to play. I'm anxious to play. I'm getting jittery just watching the freedom we have playing. ... If I'm willing to go and I know there's nothing in my way, I'll play (the opener.)" Either way, the setback is a minor one after what Rose has endured with three knee surgeries. Rose said he hasn't experienced pain since the first two days following the Sept. 30 surgery, though his eye is still swollen and he occasionally experiences double vision. Rose participated fully in the Bulls' non-contact practice Thursday. "He was moving, cutting full speed, getting full-speed shots up, so it's encouraging," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Now, a big part of it is getting the confidence that he can get out there and take a blow. I played with Reggie Miller when he did it, and he was really conscious of, 'If I get hit again, is something going to happen?' But he's got to have the confidence that the doctors, once they clear him 100 percent and that bone's healed, that he's able to go full speed." Rose confirmed Taj Gibson's inadvertent elbow fractured his bone on a drive early in the Bulls' first practice of training camp. He said staying confined to his house for two weeks proved his toughest test as doctors didn't want his blood pressure elevated. "I haven't had any pain since the first couple days. It's a long process of just letting it heal," Rose said. "You can't ice it, so just got to live with it, looking like this for a little minute." Rose said he had input in which mask to wear and chuckled when asked how long he'd wear it. "I got fitted for it like two days ago and the guy from Michigan sent it today, so it's all about getting used to it," Rose said. "When I first put it on it was a little uncomfortable, but through practice I got more comfortable with it and it feels alright. I was able to shoot, my eye opened up a little bit more. "He gave me a couple options that I can go with but I took the one that I think is kind of similar to (Russell) Westbrook's where it doesn't have anything guarding the nose, so I can breathe a little more better I guess. That was my only option did I want something under my nose or not. "I hate getting my face touched so if it's a thing where I come out and I'm hot, I'm feeling it, and we're playing good, you might see it for the rest of my career." | 1 | 95,521 | sports |
RENTON, Wash. Though it seems impossible for most of us to disassociate the lead up to the Super Bowl from the New England Patriots' Deflategate drama, Seattle Seahawks said they were able to keep themselves largely removed from all of it. That's because Seahawks players, unlike the rest of us, largely had a media blackout once they arrived in Phoenix. Left tackle Russell Okung said he was completely disconnected from his social media accounts, and only read the financial pages of the Wall Street Journal. Defensive end Cliff Avril held himself to a no-sports television policy. For wide receiver Doug Baldwin, not paying attention just wasn't that hard, not with an intense schedule of meetings and practices to worry about. "It's not us," Baldwin said, shrugging. If anything, it just made for an added aggravation during required media availability. That's when the Patriots problems briefly became the Seahawks' problem. "Now that did get annoying. It was like, 'OK, for the 10th time,' I don't care," Cliff Avril told USA TODAY Sports on Friday. "I'm a firm believer in control what you can control, so I don't pay attention to what the other team is going through." In the months since, Avril did start paying attention to the off-field Deflategate drama, at least enough to form an opinion. "It's cheating still. But even if it's like, he can grip the ball a little better, you still have to go tackle him. You can't let a guy score," Avril said. "But it's still cheating." Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones . | 1 | 95,522 | sports |
In April of this year, a nonprofit organization called U.S. Right to Know (USRTK), filed a request with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking the agency to begin an investigation into the "apparently deceptive" use of the word "diet" as used in product advertising by Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP). The FTC replied last month that, after a reviewing USRTK's request, the agency would take no further action at this time. At the same time, USRTK filed a request with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting that the FDA issue a warning letter "concluding that Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi are misbranded under section 403 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act … for use of the term 'diet' as being false and misleading." The USRTK further requested an FDA investigation of all artificially sweetened products that brand themselves as "diet" products. The FDA replied last month that it was too busy. In its April letter to the FTC, USRTK said: [Coke's and Pepsi's] use of the term "diet" in advertising for [their diet drinks] appears to be deceptive under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, as interpreted by the Commission in its "Statement on Deception," because scientific evidence suggests artificial sweeteners contribute to weight gain, not weight loss. … In this situation, ... the use of the term "diet" in the brands of the two soft drinks, first, is a claim drinking the soft drink will promote weight loss. That claim is false. Second, reasonable consumers understand and believe that drinking these soft drinks will assist in weight loss. Third, that understanding and belief clearly influences their purchasing decisions. For these reasons, the claim is deceptive under and within the meaning of section 5. ALSO READ: Jefferies Franchise Pick Stocks to Buy That Also Pay Big Dividends In an announcement out Thursday morning, USRTK co-director Gary Ruskin said: It's regrettable that the FTC won't act to halt the deceptions of the 'diet' soda industry. Ample scientific evidence links artificial sweeteners to weight gain, not weight loss. I do believe that 'diet' soda will go down in U.S. history as one of the greatest consumer frauds ever. | 3 | 95,523 | finance |
It's time to say farewell to US Airways. One of the USA's most storied airline brands fades away Friday night with Flight 1939. The overnight red-eye flight from San Francisco to Philadelphia marks the last ever departure under the US Airways name as the carrier's merger with American nears completion. Shortly after the flight departs San Francisco at 9:55 p.m. PT, American will unify its own reservations systems for the flights of both airlines. There will be no more US Airways flights once the plane lands in Philadelphia, scheduled for 6:18 a.m. ET. US Airways' fade into the history books will be a nostalgic one. Flight 1939 is scheduled to begin Friday morning in Philadelphia, a traditional US Airways stronghold. From there, the Airbus A321 still painted in US Airways' colors will continue to Charlotte, which grew to become the airline's busiest hub during the past decade. Next is Phoenix the former headquarters to 2004 merger partner America West. From there, Flight 1939 heads to San Francisco, then returns to Pennsylvania as the last-ever US Airways flight. American will commemorate the last day with gate-side festivities at each stop. And passengers on the final departure from San Francisco will cheer the US Airways' name with an onboard champagne toast. "We definitely wanted to give a nod to US Airways and everyone that helped us build this airline," American Airlines spokeswoman Martha Thomas told USA TODAY. "We wanted to make it a special experience for employees and customers." Even the flight number is rooted in history. Initially the San Francisco-to-Philadelphia red-eye was to operate as Flight 434. But in August the carrier switched the flight number to 1939. That was the first year of operation for All American Aviation, a small Pennsylvania-based airmail outfit that would grow to become a regional player known as Allegheny Airlines. Allegheny changed its name in 1979, adopting USAir to reflect the expanding footprint of the airline after growing in previous mergers with Mohawk and Lake Central Airlines. Bigger mergers with Piedmont and Pacific Southwest (PSA) followed in the 1980s. The company underwent one last name change, adopting its current US Airways name in 1997 before yet another merger in 2005 this time with America West. Now, the US Airways name is on the verge of disappearing. US Airways' reservation system will go dark Saturday morning just after midnight. US Airways' website will follow. And at airports across the nation, airline staff will begin removing US Airways branding after the company's last flights on Friday. The goal is to have American Airlines signage up in its place by the time flights begin again on Saturday morning. Certain pieces of US Airways will hang on a bit longer. It will take American until "late 2016" to repaint all of its planes in the colors of the new American. And US Airways flight attendant uniforms will remain until update uniforms for all the cabin crews are introduced, also expected to come next year. American spokeswoman Thomas cautioned the airline still has some "behind the scenes" work to do even as the US Airways brand fades away. "It's done for customers, but there's still a lot of integration work left for us to do behind the scenes," Thomas says. As for Flight 1939, American spokesman Ross Feinstein says the airline has had "strong demand" from customers wishing to be on the flight especially the San Francisco-Philadelphia leg. Coach class is near capacity and first-class seats have been sold out since July. Feinstein says the "vast majority" of people on the flight appear to be aviation enthusiasts and "avgeeks" wanting to witness US Airways' final flight. For passenger Mark Littell, Flight 1939 will have special meaning. Littell grew up in the shadow of the Pittsburgh airport when it was still a hub for the airline in the 1990s. 'I grew up seeing and hearing (then) USAir's planes land all the time," he says. "Most families in my community were directly impacted by the hub there, and I eventually worked in concessions in the airport's US Airways terminal by the time I was in high school." That led to a connection with the airline that's lasted to this day. Littell moved away from Pittsburgh as an adult, traveling full-time for his job in the medical profession. He flies more than 100,000 miles a year, mostly on Delta. But once he saw Flight 1939 announced as US Airways' final flight, he booked a ticket "to fly (them) one final time." He'll be among those on Friday night's San Francisco-Philadelphia leg. Littell says he's happy to see US Airways become part of the world's biggest airline, but concedes it "will be sad to see the memories of the US Airways name fade." Despite that, Littell says "it really is the employees who make an airline, and I know US Airways employees will be a great addition to the new American." | 3 | 95,524 | finance |
Protesters decry proposed US-EU trade deal outside EU summit in Brussels. Sean Carberry reports. | 8 | 95,525 | video |
John Stamos has reportedly been charged with a DUI after an incident in June when he was arrested, and drugs were found in his system. | 8 | 95,526 | video |
Not everything is meant to be reheated and consumed. Here are some of those foods and why you should refrain from giving them a second go in the oven, on the stove or in the microwave. Foods you should never reheat and why Not everything is meant to be reheated and consumed. Here are some of those foods and why you should refrain from giving them a second go in the oven, on the stove or in the microwave. (Pictured: Celery, with its high nitrate content can become toxic if you heat it the second time.) Chicken With its high protein content, chicken can cause several digestive problems if you reheat it after a day or two. The best way to consume stored chicken is to put it in a cold salad or a sandwich. Spinach Spinach, like a number of leafy greens, is rich in iron and full of nitrates. If reheated, these nitrates can convert into nitrites and other carcinogens. Eggs This protein rich morning staple should not be exposed to heat over and over again. Reheating eggs at high temperatures can cause them to become toxic and wreak havoc in your digestive system. Mushrooms This food should be ideally consumed the same day due to their complex protein composition. Before you cook mushrooms, take the exact amount you think you can finish the same day. Rice According to the Food Standards Agency , eating rice stored at room temperature can give you food poisoning because of the spores of bacteria present in rice which are still present even after reheating. Turnips Turnips are a common ingredient in soups and stews. Due to their high amount of nitrates, reheating the vegetable is not advisable, as it can become toxic. Oils Oils such as grape seed, walnut, avocado, hazelnut and flaxseed have very low smoke points. So, when you reheat them, they become rancid. Avoid using them as your cooking oil and sprinkle them onto your dish at the end to enhance taste. Beets Beets are rich in nitrates, just like spinach. Reheating beets can cause a lot of trouble, so it's best to eat them cold if there are any leftovers. Butter Lettuce This green leafy vegetable is best when eaten raw. Cook it if you must, but never reheat butter lettuce, as the high amount of nitrates can cause food poisoning. Potatoes Potatoes are nutritious, but they lose their nutritional value if you let them stand at room temperature for long. They can actually become toxic and cause illnesses, such as food poisoning. | 7 | 95,527 | health |
WASHINGTON Paul Ryan's support for an earned pathway to citizenship for many of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants could be a stumbling block if he decides to run for House speaker, political analysts say. The Republican congressman from Wisconsin has taken a moderate stance on immigration compared to the anti-immigration hardliners that dominate the House GOP caucus. Critics are already urging him to reject a bid for speaker to spare Republicans an internal fight over the divisive issue. Ryan is reportedly considering a run for speaker after strong pressure from his GOP colleagues, who see him as someone who can unite the fractious caucus. "It's kind of an immigration moment of truth for the GOP," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, which supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. "It comes down to the hardliners versus the rest of the party. Who wins?" Conservative websites such as Breitbart News and anti-immigration groups are especially critical of Ryan's decision to appear with Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., at the City Club of Chicago in late 2013 to call for comprehensive immigration reform. The plan they stumped for included a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, increased border security, and fast-track legal status for young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally by their parents and attended U.S. colleges or served in the U.S. military. The Senate passed a sweeping immigration overhaul in 2013 that included those principles. "Most of these Republican members are not really aware of how outspoken Ryan has been on immigration in recent years, especially his participation in the Gutierrez tour," said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which wants to decrease immigration to the U.S. "In the past few days, they've been made aware of it." The issue is sure to cause problems for Ryan, but it's a "manageable problem," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California. "I don't think it's a deal breaker, but it is something he has to deal with," he said. "He will get questions from members about it." On his congressional website, Ryan offers four principles for immigration reform: securing the border, enforcing immigration laws, encouraging legal immigration such as a guest farm worker program, and giving undocumented immigrants a chance to "get right with the law" by undergoing criminal background checks, paying back taxes, learning English and civics, and waiting at the back of the line to apply for citizenship. Immigration hardliners can take comfort in the reality that lawmakers aren't going to take up immigration reform in this session of Congress anyway, Pitney said. Ryan is reportedly considering a bid to serve as speaker only until a new Congress convenes in January 2017. "As a realistic matter, nobody expects Congress to pass immigration reform during the remainder of President Obama's administration," the professor said. "Ryan can just say that it's up to the next president to show leadership on the issue. He can basically punt." But there is always the possibility that Ryan could stay on as speaker into the next Congress and push his pro-immigration agenda with the help of a new president, said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes legal status for undocumented immigrants. "Ryan could take the job for only the remainder of this Congress and pledge not to bring up legalization," he said. "The danger is there might not be any alternative (to Ryan) in January 2017. If he stays on as speaker, there's a danger that he would cut a deal for a new amnesty and a surge in legal immigration." With House Republicans desperate for a unifying leader after Speaker John Boehner's decision to leave Congress, Ryan is unlikely to be voted down despite his immigration stand, Krikorian said. Ryan, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, is popular among Republicans for cutting federal spending and pushing to overhaul costly entitlement programs. "Would he lose the vote for speaker over immigration? The answer is probably no," Krikorian said. "He would most likely prevail." Ryan is being pressed to run by both moderates and conservatives in the GOP caucus in the wake of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's decision not to run to replace Boehner. Both Boehner, R-Ohio, and McCarthy, R-Calif., were seen by the rebellious Freedom Caucus as too willing to compromise with Democrats and the White House to pass legislation. A conservative coalition Thursday announced the creation of a "Fire Paul Ryan" campaign even though Ryan hasn't even said if he will run for speaker. The same group previously created a "Fire Kevin McCarthy" campaign. A potential fight over immigration may convince Ryan to stay out of the race, Beck said. "That's our hope," he said. Ryan is unlikely to be scared off by the immigration hardliners if he really wants the job, said Eric Herzik, chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno. "Ryan actually has a stronger hand to play," Herzik said. "He can say, 'The caucus asked me to run for speaker for the good of the party. Now you guys are going to have to fall in line and knock this off.' Ryan is their last, best hope." | 5 | 95,528 | news |
Christmas is coming early all thanks to beloved actor Bill Murray! The 65-year-old will be releasing a Netflix Christmas special "A Very Murray Christmas." Hollywood's elite are cast in the film including George Clooney, Chris Rock, Miley Cyrus, Amy Poehler and more. Screenwriter Sofia Coppola's behind the project and says the idea all started from wanting to see Bill sing and our fondness for those old Christmas specials that were on TV in the 70s and 80s. Check out the video to see the trailer. | 6 | 95,529 | entertainment |
Katherine Heigl pulls off her biker shorts prematurely from under her skirt and flashes the streets of New York City, on the set of 'Doubt.' | 8 | 95,530 | video |
Russell Martin's attempted throw to pitcher Aaron Sanchez in Game 5 sparked a huge controversy, and Colin Cowherd is a little disappointed in the umpires for not clearly knowing the rule. | 1 | 95,531 | sports |
Colin doesn't like the 'code' in baseball. Is there any room for fun in MLB? | 1 | 95,532 | sports |
A litter of orphaned kittens, trapped in a metal exhaust vent were rescued after crying out for help for over two days. Sean Dowling (@seandowlingtv) has the video you need to see! | 8 | 95,533 | video |
Inspiring stories of stars who rose and fell and then rose again, big time Look Who's Dancing John Travolta didn't exactly disappear in the 14 years after he starred in "Urban Cowboy" in fact, "Look Who's Talking" was a box-office hit but he was no longer the cultural icon he'd become in the '70s. Then came his big return in "Pulp Fiction." Here, to mark Travolta's 64th birthday, is more on that and 20 other dramatic comebacks. John Travolta He was the disco inferno at the center of 1977's "Saturday Night Fever," but then John Travolta got into a slump, turning down "American Gigolo" and "An Officer and a Gentleman" in favor of duds like "Two of a Kind" and "Perfect." Enter Quentin Tarantino. With 1994's "Pulp Fiction," the director helped revive Travolta's A-list standing and a nice bonus put him back on the dance floor. Meat Loaf His 1977 album "Bat Out of Hell" went 14x Platinum, but pressure to repeat that success nearly killed him. Strung out on cocaine and losing his voice, Meat Loaf once threatened to jump off a building, and in the '80s he declared bankruptcy. But his big comeback album, "Bat Out of Hell II," sold 15 million copies and helped set the stage for "Bat Out of Hell: The Musical," a sellout in London as the original LP marked its 40th anniversary. Joan Rivers After Johnny Carson turned on her for defecting to Fox and launching her own talk show in 1986, Joan Rivers was banned from the "Tonight Show" and shut out by much of Hollywood. A year later, Fox fired Joan and her producer husband, Edgar Rosenberg, who soon committed suicide. But Rivers never gave up. She eventually reinvented herself as Queen of the Red Carpet and, just months before her death in 2014, was invited back to the "Tonight Show" as one of Jimmy Fallon's first guests. Brian Wilson Brian Wilson lit a fire under the Beatles with the release of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," the 1966 masterpiece that spurred Lennon and McCartney to create "Sgt. Pepper." But in the '70s he became a recluse, spending days in bed and more than once threatening to drive his Rolls off a cliff. Many thought he'd never come back, but he did as a solo artist, catapulted by the 1995 documentary "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times." Gloria Swanson In the 1950 classic "Sunset Boulevard," Norma Desmond is a forgotten silent-film star who makes a deluded attempt to return to the big screen. Ironically, the story of that Hollywood has-been proved to be a brilliant comeback role for Gloria Swanson, a real-life star of the silent era. Janet Jackson "Unbreakable," Janet Jackson's 2015 comeback album her first since the 2009 death of her brother Michael was supported by an international tour. But that was put on hold for the best of reasons, and on January 3. 2017, the then 50-year-old pop diva had a baby boy. As for "Unbreakable," it became Jackson's seventh No. 1 album, a measure of success only two female artists have managed to beat: Barbra Steisand and Madonna. Elvis Presley Elvis Presley movies were never great, but the worst of them came out in the mid-'60s, underscoring a general sense that the King was passé. Then came the '68 Comeback Special, a precursor to MTV Unplugged in which Elvis, in black leather, performed an informal one-man show. It was the year's most watched TV special, and in 1969 he returned with a No. 1 single, "Suspicious Minds." Steve Jobs Booted out of Apple in 1985, Steve Jobs went back to square one and started NeXT Inc. which Apple bought in 1997, setting the stage for his triumphant return. Without him, Apple had been in a funk. but Jobs turned the business around with breakthroughs like the iMac and the iPhone. Four years after his death in 2011, Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at more than $700 billion. Muhammad Ali It was the most dramatic comeback in boxing history. Stripped of his title in 1967 for refusing to serve in Vietnam, Muhammad Ali spent three years away from the ring and in 1971 lost the "Fight of the Century" to Joe Frazier. Then, in 1974, Ali knocked out heavyweight champion George Foreman, regaining the title, and he went on to a decisive victory over Frazier in 1975, earning the nickname "The Greatest." Betty White Betty White takes issue with the word "comeback," and she has a point after all, the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" veteran has worked steadily since her 1939 TV debut. Still, her profile got lower after "The Golden Girls" ended in 1992. Then came the resurgence, spurred by a fan-driven social media campaign demanding that she host "Saturday Night Live" in 2010. It's as though White, now 96, has a whole new career. Dennis Hopper After the success of 1969's "Easy Rider," he spent well over a year making "The Last Movie," which wound up in the 1978 book "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time." After that, Hopper was a pariah. He still showed up in movies, notably 1979's "Apocalypse Now," but didn't manage a real comeback until he played Frank Booth, the twisted gangster in 1986's "Blue Velvet," a part he landed by telling director David Lynch, "I am Frank!" Carlos Santana Santana took off in 1969, with a sensational performance at Woodstock followed by the Top 10 hit "Evil Ways." But the Latin rock band seemed to be headed downhill by 1985 when they released "Beyond Appearances," the first of their albums that failed to go gold. Then, in 1999, frontman Carlos Santana stunned the music world with "Supernatural." It sold 25 million copies and won nine Grammys, including Album of the Year. Tina Turner Her memoir "I, Tina" chronicles the violent downfall of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the mid-'70s, when husband Ike's cocaine habit and domestic abuse led her sue for divorce. Yet the story has a happy ending Tina Turner's stunning rise as a solo artist, culminating with the 1984 No. 1 single "What's Love Got to Do With It," now in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Leonard Cohen "Look, Leonard, we know you're great, but we don't know if you're any good," Columbia Records executive Walter Yetnikoff told Leonard Cohen in 1984, explaining his decision not to release the singer-songwriter's latest album. A decade later, Cohen retreated from the music scene and became a Zen Buddhist monk. But he came back and recorded a series of acclaimed albums. The last, "You Want It Darker," was released just before his death in November 2016. Robert Downey Jr. "It's like I've got a shotgun in my mouth with my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gun metal," Robert Downey Jr. told a judge in 1999, trying to explain his inability to stick to the rules of rehab. Back then, no one would have predicted the actor's turnaround in the new millennium, which led to starring roles in two blockbusters, "Tropic Thunder" and "Iron Man," in 2008 alone. He'll play Iron Man again in "Avengers: Infinity War," set to hit theaters this spring. Patti Smith Patti Smith was still riding high when, five years after the release of her 1975 debut album, "Horses," she married former MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith and settled in Michigan to raise their kids. She came out of retirement in 1996, following the death of her husband, and now gets raves as an author. The New York Times described her second memoir, "M Train," as "achingly beautiful." Marlon Brando Back in the '60s, as he was the first to admit, Marlon Brando took on a number of second-rate projects strictly for the money. By 1968, the year he hammed it up in the sex farce "Candy," Hollywood had come to view the legendary actor as a hack. But all was forgiven after his Oscar-winning performance in title role of 1972's "The Godfather." David Duchovny An emotional David Duchovny said reading a script for the "X-Files" reboot moved him to tears. Maybe that's because his career made a downturn after he quit the original show in 2001, when it was still going strong. Although Duchovny bounced back in 2007 with the Emmy-winning "Californication," teaming up again with Gillian Anderson was an even sweeter comeback story (while it lasted, that is Anderson now says she is bowing out). Drew Barrymore The adorable kid sister in "E.T." turned into a pint-sized regular at Studio 54 and landed in rehab at age 14. Drew Barrymore later posed for Playboy, flashed David Letterman and wrote a memoir about her screwed-up childhood. Yet now she's a distinguished actor-producer-director, and her well-received Netflix series, "Santa Clarita Diet," is a going concern. Her grandpa, the legendary John Barrymore, would be proud. Mickey Rourke A superstar in the '80s, Mickey Rourke turned down roles in major films like "Top Gun" and "Beverly Hills Cop" and, in 1991, decided he preferred boxing to acting. Between that punishment and botched cosmetic surgery, he was barely recognizable in 2008's "The Wrestler." But the battered look fit the role, and Rourke turned in the most moving performance of his career. Tony Bennett This one puts a smile on everyone's face. A popular jazz singer in the '50s, Tony Bennett went out of favor around 1965 and was virtually broke by the late-'70s. But what a comeback: In the '90s, he found a whole new audience, and "MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett" won the 1994 Grammy for Album of the Year. All this without changing his style in the least. As Bennett told the crowd at MTV, "I've been unplugged all my life," | 6 | 95,534 | entertainment |
Liverpool's former manager is reportedly set for a job with beIN Sports, taking him out of the running for any Premier League openings this season. Brendan Rodgers said he'd be taking time away from management following his sacking at Liverpool , and it appears he's set to follow through just not in the way many would have assumed. The Aston Villa job looks set to be open soon, and a few others will surely follow, but Rodgers' name won't be one getting bandied about. That's because Rodgers is set to Richard Keys at beIN Sports as a Premier League pundit for the remainder of the season. When asked on Twitter about the possibility Rodgers could be joining him at beIN, Keys confirmed the broadcaster was actively recruiting Rodgers, and multiple reports have since suggested Rodgers intends to take the offered job. Rodgers' job would be studio-based, providing commentary before and after matches as well as during halftime, and it would be a shot-term appointment as the Northern Irishman intends to return to management. It looks like he won't be returning soon enough, though, to be in line for the Villa job, with Tim Sherwood reportedly on the verge of a sack. It does, however, open up the possibility that early rumours linking Rodgers to the England job might just have some weight to them, as the English FA have yet to renew Roy Hodgson's contract which expires at the end of next summer's Euros. It has been suggested that anything less than a quarter-finals appearance will see them looking elsewhere. If Hodgson's contract isn't extended, the Telegraph and others have suggested Rodgers would be near the top of the FA's list of potential replacements, and if Rodgers has been similarly informed it could explain his quick move to take on a pundit job that would keep him busy for the remainder of the current season. | 1 | 95,535 | sports |
Kylie Jenner Kylie Jenner has called for prayers for Lamar Odom. The 18-year-old reality star has shared her support for her half-sister Khloe Kardashian's ex-husband, who is fighting for his life after being found unconscious in a brothel on Tuesday (10.13.15) and expressed her wish for them to hang out again soon. Alongside a picture of herself and Lamar dancing, she wrote: "Let's dance again together soon. Prayers up for Lamar please." Kylie's sentiments were echoed by her half-sister Kourtney Kardashian, who shared an old picture of the 35-year-old basketball player with her eldest son Mason, five. Alongside the photo, Kourtney wrote: "Believing in the power of prayer for this beautiful soul." Kylie's boyfriend, rapper Tyga, also used Instagram to send a message of support for Lamar, who is in a coma in a Las Vegas hospital, reportedly with multiple organ failure. He wrote: "Stay strong bro. We all praying for you champ. God Got a plan for you." Meanwhile, Lamar's 17-year-old daughter Destiny - his child with former partner Liza Morales - has vowed to "never let go" of her father. She tweeted: "Please don't leave us "Soon I'll be by your side and I'll never let go. I love you daddy (sic)" Alongside another old picture of herself and her father, she wrote: "Let us laugh again and be filled with happiness (sic)" | 6 | 95,536 | entertainment |
CHICAGO (AP) If Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had his way, college basketball would take a few more pages from the NBA rulebook. ''If I was the czar for the day, I'd try to get every rule like the NBA, personally,'' he said Thursday. ''I just think that we'd have a better working relationship.'' The NCAA is instituting several rules changes and issued a directive to officials in an effort to speed up the pace of play, create more movement, cut down on stoppages and strike a better balance between offense and defense. One of the most notable rules changes is the reduction of the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30, a move Izzo applauds. He would not mind playing four quarters instead of two halves, although he is not advocating bumping the length of the game from 40 minutes to 48. He just wants to see more similarities between the NCAA and NBA rules. ''You know, I get disappointed on the committees I'm on,'' Izzo said. ''I think you always hear, ''Well, you don't want to be like the NBA.'' Why not? That's what the kids want.'' Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said he's not sure that simply copying the NBA rule book is right for the college game, given the talent of the pros, the length of their season and the way rosters are constructed. But he does think there are things the NCAA can learn from the league. He also thinks the college game is better than the pros in some ways. ''What we have to do is find out a way to make the changes that are appropriate with 32 conferences, lots of different styles, lots of different talent level,'' Delany said. ''I don't know that just en masse taking the NBA approach and dumping it on the colleges is necessarily the right answer. But I think it is the right answer to look at their game, see how they have made the changes. They have better, more plays at the rim. They have less block/charge. They have less congestion. They've taken their hands off the point guard, which I think was a good adjustment.'' --- TOURNAMENT TIME: Northwestern enters its third season under coach Chris Collins with some promising talent and that same old albatross. The school that hosted the first Final Four still has not played in the NCAA Tournament. ''For me, it's a matter of when that happens, not if,'' Collins said. The Wildcats won five of their final eight games after dropping 10 in a row to finish 15-17 last season. Six losses during that slide were by single digits, including an overtime defeat at Michigan State. If Bryant McIntosh builds on a promising freshman season (11.4 points per game) and seniors Tre Demps (12.5 points) and Alex Olah (11.7 points) provide a little more scoring, this just might be the year the Wildcats make it. --- BANGED UP: With a long list of injured players, Illinois coach John Groce opted to make light of the situation rather than shed tears. ''I tried to make sure, when I got up out of bed this morning, that I didn't trip over anything or, you know, tried to remain healthy between the walk from the hotel room down the elevator here to the press conference,'' he said. Illinois added starting guard Kendrick Nunn to the list this week after he injured his left thumb in practice. The junior was expected to see a hand specialist Thursday, and Groce wasn't sure about the extent of the injury let alone how long he will be out. Sophomore forward Leron Black had knee surgery earlier this month that is expected to keep him out up to six weeks. Freshman guard Jalen Coleman-Lands is out with a stress fracture but expected back by the Nov. 13 opener against North Florida. Guard Tracy Abrams will miss the season. --- HEADING EAST: Media day next year will be held in Washington, as will the 2017 conference tournament. --- HE SAID IT: Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig, who figures to get more scoring opportunities this season: ''Sometimes when I'm falling asleep, I kind of think of how many opportunities I'm going to have this year. Feeling the pressure a little bit here and there. But it's going to be good for me. It's going to be a feeling process of when to kind of take the shots, when to take over.'' | 1 | 95,537 | sports |
CHICAGO (AP) -- Wisconsin's Bo Ryan still is not ruling out coaching next season. Ryan says he has not made up his mind. Ryan announced in late June that he planned to retire after this season. But he left the door open to staying on beyond that in August when he said he was ''not totally sure'' if he would step aside. On Thursday at the Big Ten's annual media day, he said he is keeping that door open. Ryan led Wisconsin to back-to-back Final Four appearances and took the team to last season's national championship game, where the Badgers were defeated by Duke. He has posted a 357-125 record in 14 years at Wisconsin. | 1 | 95,538 | sports |
Last month's news that Volkswagen had been illegally rigging its diesel-powered cars to cheat on pollution tests has sparked plenty of outrage. Hearings, lawsuits, fines, general opprobrium. And rightly so; the company's deception was appalling. But there's a much broader, far more consequential problem here that a lot of coverage has danced around or hinted at only indirectly. So let's say it: Europe's longtime promotion of diesel vehicles as a "green" transportation option has been a complete and total disaster for reasons that go well beyond the Volkswagen scandal. Ever since the 1990s, European governments have been encouraging drivers to buy diesel cars as an alternative to traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. The rationale was simple: Diesel engines use fuel more efficiently, so the switch was supposed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and help stave off global warming. Thanks to tax breaks and other incentives, diesel cars now make up one-third of Europe's fleet , whereas they're a sideshow in the US and Japan: (Cames and Helmers, 2013) Europe's diesel push might have seemed sensible once upon a time. But 20 years later, with the benefit of hindsight, it looks like a huge mistake, an impotent climate policy that had all sorts of unintended consequences. The biggest drawback of diesel cars is that they emit higher levels of other harmful air pollutants like particulates and nitrogen oxides. And those ended up being far harder to clean up than experts initially predicted. We now know that Europe's regulators have failed spectacularly to control diesel pollution, relying on weak rules and flimsy testing procedures. Lots and lots of automakers not just Volkswagen have been manufacturing diesel cars that emit far more gunk than they're supposed to . As a result, cities like London and Paris are clogged with dangerously high levels of air pollution, causing thousands of premature deaths each year . And that's not the worst part. It's now looking like Europe's diesel push didn't even do anything to help global warming, as one 2013 study by Michel Cames and Eckard Helmers found. The CO2 benefits from switching to diesel cars were overrated and offset by the extra soot their engines produced. Plus, Europe's entrenched diesel industry has impeded progress on more promising hybrid and electric car technologies that could've provide deeper emissions cuts. The whole episode is a sobering case study in how well-intentioned green industrial policy can go horribly wrong. So let's roll the tape and see what lessons we can learn from Europe's decades-long diesel fiasco. Why Europe embraced diesel cars in the 1980s and '90s (David Ramos/Getty Images) After crude oil gets pumped out of the ground, it's sent to refineries to be turned into usable fuel. Those refineries typically distill the oil into lighter and heavier components. The lightest stuff includes gasoline. On the heavier side is diesel fuel , which contains more energy per gallon. For most of the 20th century, automakers largely designed cars to run on gasoline, which was more flammable and combusted easily using sparks. Engines that could combust diesel fuel , using air compression, had been invented in the 19th century, but they were noisier and belched more smoke, so they were mostly confined to large ships and trucks. Diesel was often used instead for heating and producing electricity. But starting in the 1980s, French and German automakers began showing more interest in developing diesel-powered cars. The reasons have always been a little murky, although Cames and Helmers suggest it traces back to the OPEC oil crises of the 1970s . After global crude prices spiked, France decided to swear off using diesel for electricity and built a bunch of nuclear plants instead. Germany, meanwhile, switched from oil to natural gas for heating. When the crisis finally subsided, Europe's refiners were still producing lots of diesel with no buyers. So governments began urging automakers like Peugeot to look into diesel-powered vehicles. By the late 1990s, diesel technology had improved dramatically, thanks to advances in fuel injection common rail , especially that allowed the engines to run more quietly. The newer diesel engines were a technical marvel, operating more efficiently than their gasoline counterparts and using less fuel per mile traveled (and, hence, emitting less carbon dioxide per mile). All they needed was a market. Rising concern over global warming provided that push. In 1997, the European Union signed the Kyoto Protocol and committed to cutting its heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions roughly 8 percent by 2012. The next year, the EU reached a landmark agreement with the continent's car manufacturers on reducing CO2. At the time, there were lots of different paths Europe's automakers could have taken to green itself. They could've pursued direct injection technology for gasoline vehicles, making those engines more fuel-efficient. They could've ramped up R&D of hybrid electric car technology, as Japanese automakers like Toyota were starting to do. But European companies like Peugeot and Volkswagen and BMW had already been making big investments in diesel, and they wanted a climate policy that would allow those bets to pay off. Europe's policymakers obliged. The EU agreed to a voluntary CO2 target for vehicles that was basically in line with what diesel technology would be able to meet. As researcher Sarah Keay-Bright later noted , these standards were explicitly crafted so as not to force Europe's automakers to develop hybrids, electric vehicles, or other more advanced power trains. Soon thereafter, European nations including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Austria began cutting taxes on diesel fuel and diesel car purchases to promote sales, all in the name of thwarting climate change. Diesel sales soared. Back in 1990, just 10 percent of new car registrations in Europe had run on diesel. By 2011, that had climbed to nearly 60 percent. Today, Europe's diesel cars are a public health nightmare (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Diesel engines do have one big pitfall. They may be more fuel-efficient and emit less CO2, but their engines tend to emit higher levels of othernasty air pollutants, including soot, particulates, and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Heavy exposure to these air pollutants can exacerbate heart and lung disease, trigger asthma attacks, and even cause premature death. Everyone knew this back in the 1990s. Europe's regulators simply considered the trade-off acceptable. "At the time, the prevailing belief was that climate change was the really hard problem and should be the priority, whereas we'd had experience improving air quality, so everyone assumed we could easily fix that issue later," explains Martin Williams, an air pollution researcher at King's College London who previously worked for Britain's environmental agency. That assumption turned out to be wrong. When European regulators later moved to clamp down on NOx and other conventional air pollution from diesel vehicles, they failed miserably. Starting in 2000, the EU began ratcheting down the legal limits for NOx emissions (though Europe's diesel cars have always been allowed to emit NOx at a relatively higher rate than gasoline-powered cars). New vehicles were tested in laboratories, where cars were placed on giant treadmills, spun through a few exercises, and measured for pollution. Trouble was, these tests turned out to be incredibly flimsy and easily gamed , explains John German of the International Council on Clean Transportation. Automakers could send cars to labs that were optimized for testing: stripped of excess weight, with the air conditioning turned off, and so on. The testcars complied with the pollution limits just fine. But the cars that were actually being sold to consumers were quite different, with much higher emissions. (German says this sort of subtle gaming was technically legal , unlike Volkswagen's more elaborate deception, which involved illegal software that only turned pollution controls on during tests. Still, even if Volkswagen was the most flagrant cheater, it was hardly unique.) Few realized the EU's pollution tests were badly flawed until 2010, when researchers started studying emissions from vehicles that were actually on the road. In one study, Williams set up roadside infrared detectors to measure NOx pollution from cars in seven British cities. What he found was shocking: Europe's newest diesel cars were emitting roughly as much NOx as older diesel cars from the 1990s. In other words, 20 years of increasingly strict air pollution regulations had done absolutely nothing to reduce pollution. "That was the most surprising part," Williams says. By that point, the damage had been done. Today, Paris occasionally jousts with Beijing for the title of world's most polluted city . London is grappling with unsafe levels of nitrogen dioxide. Germany, Austria, and Ireland have NOx pollution well above the legal limits . And the health toll has been staggering. One recent study found that diesel pollution from cars, buses, and trucks in Britain caused 9,400 premature deaths in 2010 alone. It's difficult to suss out what fraction of those deaths might have been avoided if emission rules had been properly enforced all along, but that gives some sense of the brutal cost here. Nitrogen dioxide concentrations in Europe (areas above the healthy limit in red) ( European Environment Agency ) To be fair, European regulators have scrambled to improve the tests now that they've realized what was happening. But it's still unclear whether the diesel car industry can ever clean up its act. Starting in 2014, the newest, most stringent emissions standard known as Euro 6 will require diesel cars to emit no more than 0.08 grams of NOx per kilometer , an 84 percent reduction from 2000-era levels. Europe's regulators will also start requiring on-road testing in addition to laboratory checkups. (That's what the United States EPA does, and it should eliminate most gaming, although, as the Volkswagen scandal showed, truly determined cheaters are hard to detect.) But here's the fat asterisk: Now that they can no longer easily game the system, Europe's automakers are lobbying hard to relax the pollution standards. That's because it's not very easy to cut NOx pollution from diesel cars. One of the technologies that could meet the most stringent limits, known as selective catalytic reduction , involves running the car's exhaust through a honeycombed chamber that sprays urea and water, which breaks the NOx down into harmless nitrogen, oxygen, and water molecules. But these devices can add about $5,000 to $8,000 to the price of a vehicle, which would make many small cars uneconomical. They can also negatively affect fuel economy, torque, and other aspects of the car's performance. So the jury's still out on whether "clean diesel" cars will even be viable in practice. Volkswagen had claimed to have cracked the problem with its most recent diesel models ... except we now know the company was doing it by rigging the cars with software to evade pollution tests. The grim irony: Europe's diesel push hasn't helped with global warming If Europe's diesel surge had helped mitigate climate change, then maybe (just maybe) you could argue that all this extra air pollution was worth it. Except here's the grim plot twist: The climate benefits appear to have been negligible. In their 2013 paper , Cames and Helmers argued that Europe is probably worse off today, from a global warming perspective, than it would have been if automakers had just focused on improving gasoline-powered cars all along. And Europe is arguably much worse off than it would have been if automakers had started investing in hybrid electric technology back in the 1990s. The authors offer up this chart, showing that Europe's diesel cars may have once had a sizable CO2 advantage over traditional gasoline vehicles. But today that gap has virtually disappeared, as new technologies like turbochargers have made gasoline engines nearly as efficient as diesel cars: Carbon dioxide emissions from new cars in Europe and Japan 4 CO2-emission time trend of new registered cars (comparison EU - Japan). (Cames and Helmers, 2013) What's more, there are two subtle drawbacks to diesel engines that make them worse for global warming than they seem. First, even if diesel cars emit less CO2 than gasoline vehicles, they emit a lot more black carbon, or soot, a pollutant that (we've recently learned) also contributes significantly to global warming . The precise accounting here is still subject to some dispute, but Cames and Helmers point out that black carbon emissions from diesel cars likely negate a big chunk of their CO2 advantage. Second, remember that European countries encouraged diesel car adoption by slashing taxes on the diesel fuel itself (compared with gasoline). But as any Econ 101 student will tell you, cutting fuel prices gives people an incentive to drive more miles and increase their overall emissions. This further chips away at any climate advantage diesel might have. Add it up, and Cames and Helmers conclude that "the European diesel car boom did not cool down the atmosphere." One final coda here. Go back and look at the Japanese cars on the graph above. Back in the late 1990s, Japanese automakers were also thinking about cutting CO2, but they figured that diesel was a dead-end technology, since the cost of cleaning up the extra NOx pollution would be too high. Instead, companies like Toyota started investing in hybrid vehicles, with the first Prius appearing in 1997. By contrast, Europe's automakers initially scoffed at electric powertrains, and none of them even bothered producing hybrids until Mercedes finally rolled one out in 2009. Japan's decision now looks prescient, and Europe's looks shortsighted. Hybrids proved much greener: The newest Japanese cars now produce roughly 10 percent less CO2 per mile than Europe's diesel vehicles do, on average. And Japan's automakers appear to be better set up for the future. Many experts now think that transportation will eventually have to become electrified if we want truly deep reductions in emissions. But European automakers, stuck on diesel for so long, are scrambling to catch up. Europe is now struggling to undo its diesel mistake but it's not easy (Matt Cardy/Getty Images) Because of the Volkswagen scandal, and the staggering levels of pollution in cities like Paris and London, Europe's policymakers are now beginning to rethink their fondness for diesel cars. But it's a hard technology to give up. Path dependency is a hell of a drug. In diesel-loving France, Ségolène Royal, the environment minister, recently said that the country would consider phasing out preferential tax breaks for diesel over the next five years. "We need to start preparing our move out of diesel," she reportedly told France 5 television. But she's also bristled at any suggestion that France should act too quickly. After all, diesel cars still account for more than 60 percent of all European sales for Renault and Peugeot, two major local manufacturers. They can't just unwind those positions overnight. Volkswagen, for its part, is also engaged in a bit of soul searching around diesel (at least, when it's not recalling its 11 million law-breaking diesel cars and dealing with criminal investigations). The company recently announced that it would take a major plunge into electric powertrains, creating a standardized architecture for a new wave of plug-in cars. "The Volkswagen brand is repositioning itself for the future," said executive Herbert Diess. Except, of course, this shift won't happen overnight. Because VW spent so many years dreaming up ways to evade regulators and sell diesel cars, it's now playing catch-up to electric car companies like Tesla. In the meantime, Europe's smoggy cities still have to grapple with the fallout from all those polluting diesel cars that are stillon the road and will likely stick around for years. The EU has started to pressure countries with the worst air pollution. Cities like London, Stockholm, and Milan are already experimenting with emission-free zones. In the future, drivers with old diesel clunkers could have to pay extra to travel downtown in certain cities. But even this cleanup will take years. Energy bets can sometimes go horribly wrong. So how do we avoid that? Europe's misadventure with diesel cars is a great case study in how energy policy can go very badly awry, and no doubt there's a long list of lessons to draw. I'll just mention a few big ones: First, Europe's complete failure to regulate diesel pollution is worth studying. Not only had regulators designed flimsy emissions tests partly at the behest of industry lobbying but it took two decades to even realize the tests were failing. Crafting ambitious environmental rules is all well and good, but without ample enforcement and monitoring, those rules are basically pointless. (Note that China is now pursuing ambitious climate policies of its own, but experts keep muttering that enforcement will be a big challenge a caveat that deserves much more attention.) Another possible takeaway is that if we really want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, liquid fuels are ultimately a dead end and electrification is the best path forward. There's no shortage of experts who believe that, and certainly that's the lesson Volkswagen seems to be drawing from this fiasco. That said, it's worth noting that Toyota, which was ahead of the pack in developing hybrid electrics in the late 1990s, actually doesn't believe electric cars are the future and is pouring R&D into hydrogen cars instead . Which brings us to the third takeaway. The future is hard to predict. Diesel cars seemed like a reasonable idea in the 1990s and a disaster today. That suggests that policymakers should have a lot more humility when crafting energy policy. One approach might be to pursue more technology-neutral policies organized around preferred outcomes say, tightly enforced standards that require lower emissions rather than favoring specific industries just because they happen to seem promising at that moment in time. This issue comes up again and again. For years, governments have been laying down big bets on emerging clean energy technologies. France did it with nuclear power in the 1970s and '80s. Germany did it with wind and solar power in the 2000s, through feed-in tariffs. Both the United States and Europe have done it with corn ethanol and other biofuels in the past decade. Done right, this sort of government support can be valuable, helping useful new energy options break into the mainstream against entrenched competition. But there's also a huge risk that governments will end up gambling on badly flawed technologies that then become the entrenched competition and prove impossible to get rid of. The US and Europe have made that mistake with biofuels, which have had unintended ripple effects on the food supply and deforestation and is proving politically difficult to wind down. It's starting to look like we can put diesel in that category, too. Further reading: Michel Cames and Eckard Helmers's 2013 paper "Critical evaluation of the European diesel car boom global comparison, environmental effects and various national strategies" is well worth reading for the details on the diesel fiasco. The Guardian's Jon Vidal also wrote a great piece exploring the unintended health effects in Europe of the rise of diesel. The International Council on Clean Transportation has done the best work documenting the divergence between tests and real-world emissions for cars in Europe. (This work helped them uncover Volkswagen's deception.) This report offers a great summary. Note also that Europe's cars, both gasoline and diesel, get worse fuel economy than tests suggest. | 5 | 95,539 | news |
He's got 99 problems and he went to court to try and resolve this one. We spotted Jay Z leaving court after the rapper spent 90 minutes testifying about copyright infringements on his 1999 hit "Big Pimpin". Jays song features some Arabic music that has come under scrutiny. Jay Z and Timberland are now both being sued by the airs of the composer of the Arabic tune although Jay was making a case that he in fact has the correct rights, and has credited the original song that was sampled. | 8 | 95,540 | video |
Esther Adler-O'Keefe says she was 'completely unaware' of content in JR and Trey Songz video featuring sex, booze and drugs when she agreed to appear in it A Southampton principal has stepped down from her position after appearing in a video that features Trey Songz and rapper JR. Esther Adler-O'Keefe, assistant principal at Southampton high school in New York, has been reassigned to a new position that involves overseeing academic support services throughout the school district starting 19 October, Newsday reported. Continue reading... | 4 | 95,541 | lifestyle |
NEW YORK A 6-month-old girl died Thursday after being tossed from a sixth-floor window of an apartment building, witnesses and police said, the third child killed that way in the city in three months. The New York Police Department said a 27-year-old woman believed to be the infant's mother was in the Bronx apartment with four children at the time. The three other children a 10-year-old boy, an 8-year-old girl and a 3-year-old girl were taken to a hospital but were not injured, police said. The woman was taken from the home in the Fordham Heights neighborhood to a hospital for an evaluation. No charges have been filed. Police identified her as Tenisha Fearon. The Fire Department said a call came in about a child outside a window shortly before 2 p.m. at the building on Tiebout Street. The baby was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. A witness told WABC that Fearon had been dangling the child outside of the window. "And then that's when the neighbors started screaming, 'No, no, no, no!'" Lizette Rodriguez said. "They were yelling at her: 'Don't do it! Think about it.'" Rodriguez said the woman said, "'I'm going to throw the baby out the window,' and the woman was screaming, 'We're all gonna die!' And that's when I figured, OK, this is time to call 911." She said she heard the baby hit the ground while she was dialing. Gregorio Lopez, who lives next door to Fearon, said he heard a commotion Thursday afternoon in the hallway and a man yelling, "Please God, please help us!" Lopez said he didn't want to leave his apartment because he didn't know what was happening but went to the roof after the man left. When he arrived there, he looked into his neighbor's window. "I saw her naked and the three kids naked and I thought they were all dead," Lopez said. "And then she jumps up and starts hitting the window." Lopez shouted down to some women on the street to call 911. "I was yelling 'Hurry up!' I thought she was going to throw the rest." Officers from the NYPD's elite Emergency Service Unit had to take down the door because Fearon wouldn't open it, police said. Pauline Bryan, who knew Fearon from the neighborhood, said she had just seen her on Tuesday outside the building. "I can't believe this," she said. "She never told me she had problems. She's not a mother like that. May God help her." Carol Watson, who lives in the building, told The New York Times that she knew the woman to be protective of her children. "Something must have snapped," Watson said. "She was a good mother and very protective of those children. All I can tell you is that something must have snapped. She must have had a breakdown or something." Last month, a newborn girl with her umbilical cord still attached was found dead outside an apartment building in the University Heights section of the borough. Authorities arrested her mother on murder and manslaughter charges, saying she hid her pregnancy and threw the child to her death from a seventh-story window shortly after giving birth. In August, police arrested a Queens woman in connection with the death of her 1-month-old son. According to court papers, she told authorities an evil spirit had possessed the boy and she was "stopping the pain" when she threw him from the fourth-floor window. Investigators were looking into whether postpartum depression was a factor, but no clinical diagnoses had been made. ___ This story has been corrected to show the woman is 27, not 25, based on updated information from police. | 5 | 95,542 | news |
If I met my 20-year-old self, I wouldn't recognize me. I weighed 40 pounds more , and I'm sure at least 10 were divided between my face and my boobs. I was tired all the time, ate Swedish Fish by the bagful, was constantly bloated and gassy, had trouble sleeping, and I was so miserable. I knew I could be feeling and looking better, but I just didn't know what to do. Time has been good to me, and once I found yoga, a healthier diet, running, and a healthier attitude, at 38 years old, if time travel was a realistic option, here's the advice I'd share with my younger self. Dear Me, I know you're not happy. You wish things were different. Please don't wait 10 years to make a change. You'll probably roll your eyes at me quoting Oprah, but it's time to "live your best life," and here's how: Love yourself. Every action and every thought, make it tender and supportive. That fragile, little voice inside is listening intently, being shaped by your every judgement - feel good about what she hears. Quit being critical of your body. You spend way too much time nitpicking what you hate and comparing yourself to others - spend that time celebrating the awesomeness that is you. What you look like isn't as important as you think because the size of your jeans is no measure for the size of your heart. Trust your instincts. You know in your heart what's good for you (like not going to bed at 3 am, or baking on the beach with no sunscreen). Don't be afraid to follow your gut, even if it goes against what other people are doing. Stop caring about what other people think. Let hurtful, crushing comments roll off you like water on a duck's back. You don't need anyone's approval to know your value. Choose to spend time with people who lift you up. Negativity is contagious. So is positivity. Do things that make you feel beautiful. When you feel strong, confident, and full of life, it shows. Don't let insecurities prevent you from trying new things or doing what makes you happy. Looking good in a bathing suit is not a prerequisite for being good at surfing. Whatever you've been itching to try - signing up for that half-marathon, taking snowboard lessons, or traveling an hour away to try flying yoga - if you don't do it now, it may never happen Stop eating crap, and so much of it. Living on your own is exciting with no one telling you how to eat. You can have doughnuts for breakfast and ice cream for dinner! But if you don't start eating a balanced diet now, it's going to take years to lose the weight you've piled on. Move every single day, make it a priority. Some days run five miles, some days take a walk. Life looks different from a bike seat or standing at the top of a mountain, and you'll experience things and meet people you never would have met before. If you start now, it'll become a habit. Make sure it's not fun so you stick with it. Use fitness as therapy. Endorphins are powerful things, and they're a healthy way to boost your mood when you're feeling down or upset - way healthier than polishing off an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's. And bonus points for working out in nature - it amplifies the benefits. Take care of yourself every single day. With every bite you eat, every minute you spend, ask yourself, "Is this nourishing my body and soul?" Change isn't as scary as you think. It may seem brutally hard at first, but it gets easier, I swear, and it's totally worth it. Seek help. No one said you have to go at it alone. A strong support system will get you farther than you can go on your own. Arm yourself with information. Don't just go by assumptions about how you think you need to lose weight - you waste a lot of time making mistakes, and even more effort being unhappy about it. Ask experts so you can start seeing progress and stop feeling frustrated. Never stop feeling like you're 20. Don't become too preoccupied with becoming an "adult." Keep that creative and fun energy going strong because your mental health is equally as important as your physical health. Appreciate your changing body, and all that it's able to do. If you think you're unhappy with the way your body looks now, just wait until things start descending and expanding as you become older and throughout your two pregnancies (yes, you're a mom, congrats!). Your body will never be perfect, so celebrate its changes and stop wasting time and energy on wishing for what can't be. Love your body for what it brings to your life. PS: I love you. Even though it may not feel like that right now - it took me a long time to realize that - but I love you. I appreciate you for you, and all the things you've allowed me to experience and learn. I feel like at almost 40, I'm just getting started with taking life by the horns, so thanks for the beautiful head start. | 7 | 95,543 | health |
M artin Truex Jr. looked dejected. Wet and dejected. His proverbial glass was half empty, on this particular early May night at Kansas Speedway, with rain water. Truex Jr.'s Furniture Row Racing team had led 95 laps including when a red flag halted the event because of storms and for extended periods been the utter class of the field in the SpongeBob SquarePants 400. Ultimately, he finished ninth for his 10th top-10 in 11 races to start the season. He left Kansas second in driver points. Pretty good, considering. But that didn't seem very comforting for a driver whose potential first victory since 2013 had been undone by an eventually fruitless fuel and tire call by crew chief Cole Pearn on the final caution. Truex Jr. and his single-car team were improving, and he acknowledged that, but nights like this, cars like this, had to be exploited, especially with a season-making Chase for the Sprint Cup berth the prize. There were no guarantees they'd get this close again. But they did. Truex Jr. went on to lead 131 laps each of the next two races, finishing fifth at Charlotte and sixth at Dover. The ensuing week he led 97 more and finally captured an elusive win at Pocono. Progress was palpable. A mid-summer swoon of sorts followed, but he meandered into the Chase seeded ninth. Nice story, so was the thought, even though this was no tiny operation from the hinterlands, Colorado mailing address or not. There was the technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, after all, which put two drivers in the Chase this season, including 2014 runner-up Ryan Newman. On numerous occasions, much to Truex Jr.'s and his team's confidence-building glee, the No. 78 Chevrolet had out-classed its RCR partners, but after finishing a woeful 32nd in the final regular-season race, at Richmond, Truex Jr. didn't have the sheen of a driver who would be around long in this Chase, especially in a system developing a ruthless habit of ejecting megateams and former champions. But Truex Jr.'s season is currently defying expectation in that regard, too. And that's why Truex Jr.'s glass is half full as he returns to the 1.5-mile Kansas oval this weekend for the second race of the second round of the Chase. Third in points and "comfortable" at the venue, Truex Jr. seemingly is in prime position to continue a Chase advance that should no longer be deemed a surprise. Kansas, he said, "is the race that I keep on saying that we're due to strike gold." Truex Jr. was second with 10 laps left this spring when the final caution was issued and Pearn ordered him in for fuel amid concerns of making the distance. After the race, Truex Jr. would call this decision the first mistake the first-year crew chief had made in a race, while lamenting his never-ending struggle with races that come down to wisps of fuel. Truex Jr. restarted fifth but was bogged down on a restart and overwhelmed by cars that took tires under caution. Now, with a win, career-best eight top-fives and 19 top-10s, he returns a title contender. Certainly, the elimination of high-profile drivers like six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson after the first round has aided Truex Jr.'s cause. So has bizarre circumstance for Kyle Busch and mechanical maladies for championship contender Matt Kenseth, who are both below the current cutline of eight drivers who will advance to the third round. And seemingly is a worthless state of being in this second-year version of the Chase, which imperils all but race winners. Finally mining a first win at Kansas is not an unrealistic proposition, though. Truex Jr. has two runner-up finishes among four top-5s in seven starts there since 2012. Both of those runner-up finishes came with Michael Waltrip Racing, which, ironically, makes its final six stops before oblivion as Truex Jr. appears to finally have regained footing in a promising career. Truex Jr. was the casualty of a 2013 scandal at the regular-season finale at Richmond, when NASCAR determined that MWR officials contrived to manipulate the race and secure his entry into the Chase. Instead, the team incurred the most substantial penalty in series history, Truex Jr.'s sponsor, NAPA, left the sport and his team was disbanded. The 35-year-old two-time Xfinity Series champion landed at Furniture Row last season as a replacement for Kurt Busch, who shepherded the team into the Chase in 2013. After finishing 24th in points, with just one top-five last season, amid personal tumult as longtime partner Sherry Pollex was being treated for ovarian cancer , Truex Jr. was due a turn in fortune. He got it, as MWR lost investor Rob Kauffman to Ganassi Racing and will close after the season. Truex Jr. has earned this late-season shot, finishing a point-saving 11th in an elimination race at Dover, where passing was a chore after being forced to start at the back because of an illegal pre-race modification discovered by NASCAR. He drove a supposedly mediocre car to third at Charlotte last week after expecting to spend the race in "damage mode." And he returns to Kansas searching for something that got away this spring. If he gets it, that rainy night in May won't seem so disappointing anymore. Follow James on Twitter @brantjames | 1 | 95,544 | sports |
Officials say there will be no benefit increase next year for millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees. (Oct. 15) | 3 | 95,545 | finance |
Lamar Odom's condition has "deteriorated". The 35-year-old basketball player was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after being found unconscious in a Nevada brothel and doctors have reportedly warned his loved ones - including ex-wife Khloe Kardashian, who is keeping a vigil at his bedside - that the longer he remains in the condition he is in, the less likely he is to recover. Although Lamar squeezed the 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' star's hand last night, medics believe it could have been an involuntary reaction as he is showing no signs of consciousness or improvement. According to TMZ, four of the sportsman's organs, including his kidneys, are failing. A source told the website: "The doctors are concerned it has been too long that he's been in this condition and now it's not looking good." Dennis Hof, the owner of the Love Ranch brothel previously revealed Lamar had taken "eight or 10" herbal Viagra pills before his collapse, as well as consuming two thirds of a bottle of cognac which he'd ordered on his arrival at the facility on Saturday. And a call made to emergency services which has been made public revealed the former LA Lakers star had also taken cocaine on Saturday. Richard Hunter, the Love Ranch's media director told the emergency operator: "Someone just told me that he had some cocaine on him that he finished on Saturday. Since then he's been alert, conscious and all that." When the operator asked, "As far as you know, no cocaine since Saturday?", Mr Hunter replied: "That is correct." | 6 | 95,546 | entertainment |
CINCINNATI While an Ohio man was on electronic monitoring in an abduction case, he had a 14-year-old girl dropped off at his home by taxi, held her captive for months and raped her, according to criminal charges and court records. Cody Lee Jackson, 20, fled the state without the girl after pleading guilty this summer in the abduction case to a charge of interference with custody; charges of abduction and kidnapping were dismissed, state court records show. He was arrested last week in Utah when he tried to run away after giving a fake name to drug task force officers conducting a routine stop at a bus station, according to Salt Lake City jail documents. He is to be brought back to Ohio for sentencing on the interference conviction and to face numerous federal and state charges stemming from his alleged crimes while on electronic monitoring. Court records don't list an attorney for Jackson. State court officials didn't provide further details Thursday on monitoring Jackson earlier this year. Triffon Callos, a spokesman for the Hamilton County prosecutor's office, confirmed the state charges against Jackson and his guilty plea but referred calls about the monitoring system to the county sheriff's electronic monitoring division. A message left there wasn't immediately returned. Sheriff's spokesman Michael Robison said Thursday he would look into it. Federal authorities said in an affidavit that Jackson supposedly had a 20-year-old woman keep an eye on the girl and take her out of his apartment when he was checked by monitoring officials. Federal court documents say Jackson contacted the teenager through Facebook in February after pleading not guilty in the abduction case involving two females who said he held them against their will at a hotel in Blue Ash, Ohio, in 2014. He was being monitored at his apartment in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, when he arranged for a taxi to deliver the teen to him on several occasions and had sexual intercourse with her, the FBI affidavit states. By March, he would no longer let her leave his apartment "unless it was with him or at his direction," according to federal documents. He punished her physically for violations of rules he set for her that included no talking to other men and no showering or using the restroom without permission, the documents say. She became pregnant after being at Jackson's apartment for nearly two months, authorities said in the affidavit. The FBI affidavit says he was taken off electronic monitoring after he entered the guilty plea in the 2014 state case, and fled Ohio prior to his sentencing in August. The girl returned to her family with help from the landlord, federal documents said. The documents also say Jackson allegedly reached out to the girl by cellphone after he left Ohio and threatened to kill her and her family if she didn't take sexually explicit photos of herself and send them to him on Facebook, where he allegedly used his Facebook accounts to transfer the pornographic images. Jackson now faces federal charges of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and production of child pornography. The charges were unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Cincinnati. He also faces state charges, including rape, kidnapping, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and interference with custody. ___ Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this report from Salt Lake City. | 5 | 95,547 | news |
Times change but, if you're an Aston Martin fan, some things have a wonderful way of staying the same. That should hold true for the world's first electric-powered Aston Martin. The British supercar builder, most famous for its long-time association with the James Bond film franchise, is officially getting into the business of EVs. As first reported by Bloomberg , Aston Martin's CEO, Andy Palmer, has promised a fully-electric version of the Rapide sedan that will debut within two years' time. Stretching a shade under 198-inches in total length, the current V-12-powered Rapide goes head-to-head with super-sedan rivals like the Porsche Panamera and Maserati Quattroporte. Long, lean, and elegant, the Rapide is one of our favorite means of carrying four people, and their luggage, at triple-digit speeds. Speaking in London, Palmer stated that the future Aston Martin EV will maintain the power and style that people expect from the prestigious automaker. The move is an obvious shot across the bow of Tesla Motors, and the American company's highly-regarded Model S electric sedan. Tesla has also recently taken the wraps off its next production vehicle, the Model X. Aston offered a very strong hint that it was moving into a bold new direction earlier this year, with the DBX concept. First seen during the Geneva Motor Show, this SUV-like show car featured electric motors mounted directly in each wheel hub. That not only made the DBX entirely electric-powered, it did away with the need for a traditional engine compartment and most other technical hardware found in a modern vehicle. Regarding the DBX, Aston's Andy Palmer called it "a challenge to the existing status quo in the high luxury GT segment." Now that challenge looks more and more ready to make the leap to production, in a vehicle with somewhere in the range of 800-1,000-horsepower. We expect Aston Martin will forego the hub-mounted electric motors for a more standard EV layout, complete with a lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery back that's good for a range of about 300 miles (or right where the Tesla Model S' range resides). And what about the price? Well, James Bond won't have a problem asking Q Branch to make room in the budget for his next zero emission ride. For those of us without a license to kill from the British secret service, however, you can expect the Aston Martin Rapide EV (if that's the name Aston opts to use…and we doubt it will) to sticker somewhere around $250K per copy. | 9 | 95,548 | autos |
Forget the Egg McMuffin - we have an even better breakfast sandwich recipe for you. And the best part? The recipe includes the simplest secret sauce that you're going to want to smother on everything. Check it out. From Nicole Iizuka, POPSUGAR Food The Ultimate Breakfast Slider Ingredients6 dinner rolls 1 tablespoon maple syrup 1 tablespoon grainy mustard 6 eggs, scrambled 6 cooked sausage patties 6 slices pepper jack cheese 1 tablespoon butter 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds Directions Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut dinner rolls in half and place the bottoms onto the baking sheet. Mix together maple syrup and grainy mustard and spread onto the bottom dinner roll. Spoon scrambled eggs over the dinner rolls and top with a cooked sausage patty, a slice of pepper jack cheese, and the top of the roll. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt butter for 15 seconds. Add Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, and poppy seeds and brush mixture onto the tops of all of the rolls. Place sliders into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until warm. Serve immediately. Information Category Eggs, Breakfast/Brunch Yield 6 sandwiches Cook Time 20 minutes Average( votes): Print recipe | 0 | 95,549 | foodanddrink |
As it turns out, syphilis is a STD that can have disastrous consequences for your eyes. This Thursday in the Centers For Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), doctors reported on a cluster of ocular syphilis cases across the Northwest and California that occurred this past winter cases which, for some, tragically ended in blindness. Syphilis, more politely known as the spiral-shaped bacterium Treponema pallidum , is a far-reaching disease that manifests discreetly as a vague collection of symptoms; from an ingrown hair-like bump in the beginning to skin rashes in the early-to-middle stages of infection, and lastly to a vast assortment of neurological and physical symptoms, including dementia. Before that often gruesome finale, a person can harbor syphilis with little to no signs of it for decades. In this instance, syphilis decided to take hold in the eyes of four King County, Washington men, causing various degrees of vision loss and inflammation with at least one complaint of seeing flashing lights. All were men who had sex with other men, and three had a concurrent HIV infection. After treatment with antibiotics, they improved, but five months later, two were declared legally blind. Given how close together these cases happened (all between December 2014 and January 2015), an advisory was sent out to medical providers in the greater West Coast area. A subsequent investigation by the San Francisco Department of Public Health located eight cases of ocular syphilis between December and March 2015. The sufferers were primarily men (seven cases), in particular men who have sex with men (six cases), and HIV-infected (seven cases). The lone female case involved a sex worker. As before, there was noticeable visual improvement after treatment, but one patient suffered permanent vision loss in one eye after three months. Though syphilis remains readily curable with penicillin, it's believed that cases involving the eye can be more difficult to treat because it's harder for antibiotics to quickly reach eye tissue. Syphilis of the eye is likely to be a harbinger of worse tidings since it indicates that the bacterial germ has found a comfy home inside the brain and nervous system, but most of the time, as with the patients seen here, it occurs in the early stages of the disease. It's also exceedingly rare, with some research showing that it occurs in 2.5 percent of all syphilis cases. Still, the CDC authors advise that physicians remain on the lookout for visual symptoms when treating syphilis patients, and emphasize that any ocular syphilis cases need to be reported to the local or state health department within 24 hours of discovery. Source: Woolston S, Cohen S, Fanfair R, et al. Notes from the Field: A Cluster of Ocular Syphilis Cases Seattle, Washington, and San Francisco, California, 2014 2015. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2015. | 7 | 95,550 | health |
Fall is by far the best time of the year. The weather is perfect, the holidays are just around the corner, and there are endless ways to celebrate the season without breaking the bank. Save some cash and bask in the beauty of Autumn with these free or supercheap activities: Go to a pumpkin patch. Make a list of things you're thankful for. Pick apples. Make s'mores. Visit a vineyard. Make Fall-themed drinks. Carve pumpkins. Go to a free Fall festival. Collect canned goods for your local food bank. Take your family holiday card photo. Do a corn maze. Decorate with DIY fall wreaths . Make a gravestone rubbing. Rake leaves. Take a hayride. Try a Halloween DIY . Play in the leaves. Take photos of the changing seasons. Clean out your closet to make room for sweaters. Paint your nails in Fall colors. Have a picnic in a park. Decorate your home with Fall colors. Make a warm soup with Winter squash. Go for a drive to see the Fall foliage. Light pumpkin-scented candles. Go on a Fall date with your significant other. Make leaf rubbings. Go to a football game. Give your social media pages a Fall theme. Pick pinecones and decorate your home with them. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Throw a potluck Fall harvest dinner party. Make corn-husk dolls . Go camping. Make a scarecrow. Bake a pumpkin pie. Make apple cider. Write "thankful" cards for your Thanksgiving dinner table. Plan out your Winter holiday trips. Make your house smell like Fall . Tell ghost stories. Go for a scenic hike. Put on rain boots and jump in puddles. Have a murder-mystery party. Eat candy corn. Make a fire with pinecones. Have a Fall-themed scavenger hunt with friends. Roast pumpkin seeds. Make apple butter. Watch the harvest moon. Create a Fall playlist. Curl up by the fire with a good book. | 4 | 95,551 | lifestyle |
Stocks made solid gains on Thursday on gains in financials and health care. First Data fell in its first day of trading. Bobbi Rebell reports. | 3 | 95,552 | finance |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays promise plenty of fireworks in their AL Championship Series, and not just because one team features power arms and the other power bats. The Royals and Blue Jays already have played a contentious set of games this season, including a matchup in Toronto marked by two bench-clearing incidents. And while both sides said during Thursday's workouts that previous rancor has been forgotten, the emotionally charged atmosphere of playoff baseball means there could be some short fuses in the opener Friday night. "It's over with. We've got to move forward," insisted the Royals' Edinson Volquez, who will start Game 1 and was arguably the biggest instigator when the teams met in August. It was Volquez whose inside pitching drew the ire of the Blue Jays, eventually leading to the first of those bench-clearing moments. And after the game, he called Blue Jays star Josh Donaldson "a little baby" for complaining about his inside pitching. Asked whether he intends to pitch inside again Friday night, Volquez replied: "Of course." Royals manager Ned Yost was one word more succinct: "Absolutely." Even if it might mean more bad blood. "I'm not a mind reader. I'm not a fortune teller. I don't know if it's going to be an issue," Yost said. "But we'll pitch inside aggressively. That's a power-laden club over there. We're going to formulate a really good game plan and try to go out and execute." The Blue Jays, who start Marco Estrada in the opener, won three straight elimination games against Texas to reach their first AL Championship Series since 1993. The last of those games Wednesday was as tense as they come. After the Rangers took the lead on a fluke play, the Blue Jays stormed back thanks in part to three Texas errors. Donaldson's blooper tied the game, and Jose Bautista capped the comeback with a long three-run homer, emphatically flipping his bat nearly as high in the air. Bautista's reaction wasn't taken well by the Rangers, who essentially called it bush league, and the entire affair touched off a wide-spread debate about decorum. "You look at all professional sports in general, everybody celebrates more so than they used to," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "In our particular sport, if it's happening for your team, your guy gets a big hit, nobody minds it. If you're on the other side, nobody likes it." It's not just what has gone on this postseason, or even in the regular season, that makes this ALCS matchup so juicy. It's also the history the two franchises share. They met once before in the ALCS, with the Royals rallying from a 3-1 deficit in the first year of seven-game series. The last two wins came in Toronto, providing the Royals with so much momentum that they went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals for their only World Series triumph. There was plenty of emotion in that series, too. "I think you just see so much drama at times because it's the postseason," Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. "Obviously, that series in Toronto (earlier this year) was two competitive teams. I think that's why we're here right now, because it's two teams that really take pride in doing things to protect their teammates, to show that the team has a better club." The two best teams in the American League go about things in different ways. Much like that '85 Royals team, this one is built upon pitching and defense -- hard-throwing starters and relievers, and enough speed to track down just about anything that stays in their park. That was a big reason why they were able to down the Astros in their divisional series. "A big part of their success is they flag the ball down, because a lot of teams can't, because the outfield is so big here," said Gibbons, a former bench coach in Kansas City. "We're built a little bit differently. I think a lot of it has to do with where we play." The Blue Jays play in hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, so naturally they're among the best in baseball at scoring with a single swing. Bautista's shot against the Rangers was proof, but so were the major league league-leading 232 homers that Toronto hit during the regular season. That's why the Royals intend to pitch the Blue Jays inside, to mitigate their power. And also why there could be some testy moments when the teams begin their best-of-seven showdown. "We all know Toronto is a better team than Houston. They've got more veteran guys and more power hitters," Volquez said. "We're going to play our game. We're going to stay with the plan and do it. Like I said, do our best to win the game." | 1 | 95,553 | sports |
The boundless enthusiasm for American real estate tycoon Donald Trump, the brash billionaire who leads the Republican White House race, can no longer be explained as a passing fad. Why do supporters admire him so? Many cite his personal success, his immunity from special interests, a grassroots populism, and his famous disregard for political etiquette. Four months after launching his campaign, the 69-year-old Trump is the preferred presidential candidate of roughly one in four Republicans. His events have drawn large crowds, including nearly 5,000 people who cheered him Wednesday at a raceway complex in Richmond, Virginia. - Business savvy - Trump never hesitates to tout his own triumphs, whether in the polls or his sprawling international property empire. "That's the kind of thinking we need in the country!" he boomed Wednesday, tapping a fingertip to his temple. The word "businessman" reflexively crosses the lips of his supporters, assured it is a measure of his competence. "Our country's hit the tipping point. We're paying out more than is coming in, and we need a businessman," said disillusioned real estate agent Terri Brennan, 50, among the first to arrive at the complex to see Trump. Many compared presidential power to management of a corporation: a commander in chief must be adept at negotiation and firm in decision-making. Trump, they said, would do far better at "managing" Russia's Vladimir Putin than US President Barack Obama has. And no matter if Trump does not know the name of this or that foreign leader. "He didn't get to where he is by being a lone ranger," said Ireland-born Alice Butler-Short, 72, a retired paralegal who moved to the United States in the 1980s. "He will have the right people around to advise him." - Independence - Trump, a billionaire many times over, reminded the crowd he is "not controlled by anybody." For his fans, such independence is crucial. They applaud that he owes nothing to special interests or wealthy donors who would demand favors in return. Trump's rivals see politics as "a job," Brennan said contemptuously. As for Trump, "he's a statesman. That's the way our country started, statespeople," she added, referring to America's founding fathers who took time from their careers to serve the public. Trump, who vows to self-fund his candidacy, speaks credibly about donor-politician scheming. He himself has poured big bucks into political campaigns of Democrats and Republicans alike, and recalled the overflowing gratitude with which past candidates received his checks. Could Trump's presidential bid be one big publicity campaign to boost his brand's prestige? "Oh please, he doesn't need publicity," said Butler-Short. "If I have $10 billion, do I need publicity?" - America first - Supporters embrace Trump's slogan, "Make America great again," and his policy planks that include deporting undocumented immigrants, winning trade wars with China and Japan, and lowering taxes. "Without a border, we don't have a country," Trump stresses, renewing his pledge to build a wall on the border with Mexico to keep out undocumented immigrants. At the heart of his message: America first, in the aftermath of an Obama presidency which Trump insists diminished US standing worldwide. "President Obama leans too much on the side of foreign countries," complained student Thomas Rosado, 19. Those in the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, some of whom have gravitated to Trump, argue that Washington wastes too much money abroad. "We should take care of our own here first" instead of sending it to "countries that hate us," said local Trump volunteer Annette Truelove. "Use it to take care of our homeless veterans, our homeless children." - Politically incorrect - Finally, there is the provocative Trump style, the satisfaction supporters get in hearing him say aloud what many Americans think but keep to themselves. "Politically correct is just destroying us," says Matthew Weiner, a defense contractor. Supporters claim to be part of a "silent majority" popularized by president Richard Nixon and embraced by Trump. While dismissive of the political class, many Trump backers give him a pass when it comes to his Democratic-leaning past, and appear indifferent to the prospect of Trump gaffes with foreign leaders on the international stage. "He's going to be a Ronald Reagan plus plus," insists Butler-Short, thrilled at Trump's propensity for bombast over good manners. "He's got what young people call 'the X-factor.'" | 5 | 95,554 | news |
NASHUA, N.H. Republican presidential candidate John Kasich on Thursday pledged to balance the budget within eight years, cut taxes and pour more money into the military, while holding the line on all other government spending. The Ohio governor wants to cut taxes on businesses and the wealthy, but make more generous a tax credit aimed at lower-income people. His plan also would dramatically scale back Washington's role in doling out education and transportation dollars. Kasich's domestic agenda for his first 100 days as president is not as aggressive of some more conservative rivals. But he predicts it is one that will draw criticism from opponents in both parties. "I will immediately put us on a path to a balanced budget and I will get it done within eight years," Kasich said at Nashua Community College. "It starts by setting your priorities and then having the courage to make choices that might be unpopular." Kasich, 63, is fighting to stand out in a packed GOP field and in an election season where political outsiders are celebrated. His resume includes 18 years in Congress and two terms as governor in an important swing state. Yet his blunt style resonates with some voters, particularly in New Hampshire, the unofficial staging ground for his campaign. Kasich advocated tax cuts that would increase the budget deficit over the early years of his presidency, according to projections his campaign shared with The Associated Press. Here's what his advisers predict: enough economic growth from those cuts, and backed by reductions to Medicare and Medicaid and an eight-year freeze on increases in nondefense discretionary spending, to eventually offset lost tax revenue. All that would help balance the budget for the first time since Bill Clinton was president. Kasich's tax plan would: lower the top individual tax rate from 39.6 percent to 28 percent. cap the long-term capital gains tax rate at 15 percent, helping those in the highest income tax bracket. eliminate the estate tax. lower the top business tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent. double the research and development tax credit for small businesses. increase by 10 percent the earned income tax credit, which is intended to help lower-income taxpayers. "This looks like a pretty big tax cut for the top end and a little bit at the bottom," said Robertson Williams, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. "There's not much going to the middle class." In an interview before his speech, Kasich said, "If you are a person that thinks you ought to pound the rich into submission, I guess you won't like the plan." On spending, Kasich would limit the federal role in education, transportation, job training and Medicaid. Dollars now dedicated to those programs would go into large grants for state leaders to manage. "I'm sending all the programs in the federal government back," he said. For now, Kasich is ignoring two major programs, with specific ideas to come later on President Obama's health care law and Social Security. He does propose cuts to Medicare that would slow the growth rate of the health care program for more than 50 million elderly and disabled people. One of the only spending increases he is pitching would go to the military. Kasich wants to boost military spending by $102 billion, or 17 percent, between 2017 and 2025. The plan is cause for optimism among some who questioned Kasich's commitment to fiscal conservatism after he expanded Medicaid eligibility in Ohio as part of the federal health overhaul, said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform and a former Kasich critic. Norquist called it "a grown-up approach" on spending and "significantly pro-growth" on taxes. He said Kasich's policies were more practical than some plans that call for blowing up the existing tax system. "Everything on his plate is doable, is achievable," Norquist said. ___ Follow Steve Peoples on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples ___ This story has been corrected to show that Kasich is proposing a freeze on spending increases for nondefense discretionary spending, and not a freeze on such spending itself. | 5 | 95,555 | news |
Snooki, former Jersey Shore star and author of the New York Times best seller A Shore Thing , has a new book. Nicole Polizzi released Strong is the New Sexy : My Kickass Story on Getting my "Formula for Fierce" this week. If you're a passionate Snooki fan who's dying to get the gory details behind a lavish wedding, two childbirths and Polizzi's post- Shore transformation, this is the book for you. If you don't self-identify as a Snooki fan but you're still mildly curious as to how she'd memorialize herself in literary form, you don't have to read the book. EW has done it for you. Strong is the New Sexy does indeed share Polizzi's weight loss journey and transformation from the Snooki who slept until 4 p.m. and consumed most of her calories via alcohol to the mother who chases two young children around the house. She's transparent about her methods, reminding readers that the same practices aren't right for everyone. She includes input from her trainer, and even gives a reasonably attainable workout guide, complete with visual instructions, for fans who don't have access to trainers or even gyms. She also describes, in cheesy details, her relationship with husband, Jionni, and the way the two make it work. She talks about online "haters" and her group of "besties," some of whom she's had forever, and she chronicles her various entrepreneurial endeavors since leaving reality TV. She calls herself a MILF and her readers her boo boos, spells "cool" as "kewl" -- and don't worry, you'll find out when she lost her virginity, too. It's mildly humorous in parts, painful to read in others. Here are some gems from Strong is the New Sexy . "Being too smart is a kind of stupid." "If being wrong makes you strong, I don't ever want to be right." "This piece of paper is like a pair of fur-lined handcuffs that lock you together." -- on her marriage license. "You can't down a six pack of light beer, and fit into your shorts the next day. So don't even try." "My taste has evolved, as I have, from trashy to classy." "One day, we'll buy equipment, but in the meantime, it's a big empty space, waiting to be filled, like a vag---." -- on her home gym. "I think that the government is totally aware of all this s---, and keeps it from us so we don't all hide in our closets all day long." -- on vampires, mermaids and werewolves. | 6 | 95,556 | entertainment |
Netflix said because its customers didn't update their credit card information, the streaming company had a weak third quarter. | 3 | 95,557 | finance |
The Capitals topped the Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday. T.J. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin scored for Washington in the victory. | 1 | 95,558 | sports |
Steve Kerr, who has been mostly a ghost in the background so far at the Warriors' training camp, is expected to be with the team when it hits Southern California Friday for a week and three preseason games. "I don't know how much he'll be involved in what we're doing, as far as practice and games," interim coach Luke Walton said before Thursday's game against the Houston Rockets, in Oakland. Kerr is recovering from the two offseason back surgeries and subsequent spinal fluid leakage, causing severe headaches. He has been at a few practices and at team headquarters, but there is no timetable for Kerr resuming full-time coaching. "I think it's great," Walton said of Kerr making the trip. "Obviously, Steve's one of those guys, just having him around makes everything better. He wouldn't be coming down with us at all if he was still as bad as he was, so I think (his traveling) shows signs of improvement. I don't think it means he'll be back (coaching) within the next two days, but all we can ask for is that he keeps getting better." The Warriors play the Lakers in San Diego Saturday, the Clippers at Staples Center Tuesday and the Lakers in Anaheim Thursday. Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: [email protected] ; Twitter @scottostler | 1 | 95,559 | sports |
Very young Saurolophus were found in Mongolia, and the piece of rock containing the remains of at least 3 of them measures only about a foot long. | 8 | 95,560 | video |
LAS VEGAS This gambler's haven infamous for its cheap thrills, looky-loos and gawking tourists was at a fevered pitch Thursday with the kind of frenzy that makes people either love or hate this town. The place was spellbound with morbid fascination over former basketball star Lamar Odom's collapse on Tuesday at a desert brothel. Tourists flocked to the Love Ranch Vegas in desolate Crystal, where the 35-year-old ex-Los Angeles Laker and reality television star was found unconscious following a four-day escapade that reportedly involved drugs, hookers and sexual enhancement aids. Media from as far away as Britain were in Crystal as well. Journalists stood in the establishment's dirt parking lot in a light morning rain. Many had missed out on a tour Wednesday by brothel managers and clamored for new leads outside the roadside sex site. One reporter for a U.S. paper said his editors authorized him to offer $2,000 for photographs of the two legal prostitutes who found Odom unconscious in a bed at the site. The brothel declined the offer. Call it a new Vegas low point, but the curiosity over Odom's much-publicized dalliance hit full tilt. On Thursday, the Nye County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the case, did not return telephone calls. Nor did the Las Vegas hospital where Odom is being treated. There was also no access to Odom's home in suburban Henderson. The 5,476-square-foot, single-family residence, built in 2007, sits inside a gated community. But the media outlet TMZ reported that Odom's condition had deteriorated overnight and that doctors have told his family that the longer he remains unconscious the less likely his recovery will be. Khloe Kardashian, part of the hypervisible celebrity clan, has been at her estranged husband's bedside. Odom had taken cocaine and about 10 doses of a sexual stimulant in the days before he was found by brothel workers, a Nevada sheriff said. Odom had taken multiple 1,875-milligram doses of a packaged supplement called Reload 72-Hour Strong Sexual Performance Enhancer for Men over three days, according to Richard Hunter, a spokesman for the legal brothel. Standing in the Love Ranch doorway, shift manager Lawanna Olberding said Thursday that the capsules are available at the ranch store and elsewhere. "You can get them at gas stations," she said. Despite their easy availability, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned against such products also known as "herbal Viagra." The products are unregulated and often have contaminants that could be dangerous, especially if mixed with alcohol and illegal drugs, the FDA says. At the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, about two dozen reporters and photographers staked out the grounds, looking to interview celebrities who came to visit Odom. On Wednesday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson emerged from the hospital and briefly spoke to reporters about the Odom's health. None of that was happening Thursday. But that didn't stop the prying eyes. A phalanx of security guards moved the press off the hospital property. Many journalists stood just a few feet off the grounds, while others huddled in a Denny's parking lot across the street. Passengers in passing cars leaned out the windows to take cellphone snapshots of the hospital. Others called out to the press. "How's the big man? How's he doing?" one asked. "What's the update?" Meanwhile, reporters grimly sized up the chances of Odom's survival. Out at the Love Ranch, the circus continued. Most days, tourists desiring a break from the Strip might wander over to the nearby Hoover Dam or stop by the site of the popular cable-TV show "Pawn Stars," looking for autographs. But on Thursday, people sought two brothel workers whose trade is largely shunned. Out in Crystal, they looked for snapshots, keepsakes or memorabilia of any kind. Tina Bennet, a 49-year-old divorce attorney from Phoenix, N.Y., had driven out to the desert from Las Vegas with her fingers crossed. "I want a T-shirt," she said. That didn't appear likely. Olberding, the shift manager, said the establishment would be shut down for walk-in customers for the foreseeable future. Clients with reservations sometimes made weeks or months in advance would still be given access, she said. But Bennet's husband, Richard Foley, got lucky. He had talked his way inside the brothel, and soon emerged carrying a black plastic bag. "I got some prophylactics," Foley said, laughing. Then he added: "Nah, just a T-shirt." He held it proudly against his chest. "I told them I was with my wife and mother-in-law, and they let me in," he said. "They took pity on me." Nearby, Wanda Rice's minivan lurched to a stop at the ranch. She and two girlfriends took a break from a trip across the state. Normally, all the action is on the Strip. Not today. "This would be great to get pictures of," said the 57-year-old from New Richmond, Wis. Then she asked a news photographer to take a snapshot of the group. (Special correspondent Kailyn Brown in Las Vegas contributed to this story.) | 5 | 95,561 | news |
Tuesday night's Democratic debate on CNN could have been a ratings disaster. There was no Donald Trump, and a big baseball game pitting two blue-state teams against each other was airing on another network. All the pundits predicted a civil (read: boring) discussion of the issues between four little-known men and a scrupulously rehearsed woman. Yet 15.8 million households tuned in, according to Nielsen, the TV ratings company, making it the most widely watched Democratic presidential primary debate by a long shot, dwarfed only by the two Trump-infused GOP debates that have taken place this year. Voters are fed up with Washington and disgusted by politics as usual, and yet by the biggest numbers ever they are tuning in to what has become a must-watch feature of American elections. The trend hit record highs in 2008 for Democrats, when 10.7 million watched a debate between Sen. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and millions became addicted to the flurry of GOP debates four years ago that provided many memorable moments. Now, in the 2016 election cycle, with the addition of a genuine reality-TV star atop the Republican field and an insurgent socialist shaking things up on the Democratic side, viewers are enticed by the spectacle of it all. "It's funny, just like watching comedians," said Tony Nienajadly, 82, of Garfield, N.J., a Democrat who describes a certain schadenfreude in the debates, finding comedy in heated exchanges about a country where so much is going so wrong. "I get a big laugh out of these people," he said. [ Late night's take on the Democratic debate, in four clips ] Trump himself trumpeted the idea of his own indispensability only to be proved wrong. "I don't want to say this in a braggadocious way," he told "Fox and Friends" on the eve of the Democrats' debate. "But a person at CNN and a couple of other people said: 'We have to put Donald Trump in this debate. We're going to die with it.' " Even in his absence, the former host of "The Apprentice" may have actually attracted viewers to the Democrats, said Robert Galinsky, founder of the New York Reality TV School, where he trains potential contestants to succeed on reality TV. Trump's entry into the race has introduced "a different kind of debate viewer who is watching the candidates' behavior," Galinsky said. "There is some runoff of that audience to the Democratic debate." [ So, Twitter had some fun with Lincoln Chafee ] Trump "thought everyone was going to go to sleep and not watch it," said Andrea Bankhead, 69, a retired teller from Lorraine, Ohio. Far from it. The registered Democrat said the debate "was great," providing a satisfactory mix of content and combat. "They got to the issues and took a stab at each other," she said. Many viewers came to the debate unhappy with their elected officials. Fully 72 percent of Americans said most people in politics cannot be trusted, according to a September Washington Post-ABC News poll, and 64 percent said the political system is "basically dysfunctional." William McInturff, a partner with the Republican polling firm of Public Opinion Strategies, said today's desire for change "very closely mirrors 2008," when Obama was ushered into office amid broad discontent with the George W. Bush years. Given the debate numbers, he said, it is "at least an open question whether we are seeing the first really powerful indicator that . . . a very dissatisfied electorate will perform as they have in the past, with a much higher turnout than people imagine." The debates haven't changed Bankhead's view of Washington. Much of what she appreciated was the spontaneity and theater a sense of who the politicians are as much as what they said. "I really liked it when Bernie Sanders said everyone is getting tired of those damn e-mails. We are getting tired of them. . . . The GOP is just trying to attack [Clinton]." Similarly, Julia Farmer, a Republican voter from Texas, said she tuned in Tuesday night "just for curiosity." She didn't find the debate particularly enlightening and said it wouldn't make her vote for Sanders or Clinton, even though she thought "they both did a good job." "I wanted to see what she had to say and what he had to say." The debate format, she said, helped her "understand what they were about." Allen Peacock, 39, a medical sales manager from Richmond, was struck by how much less follow-up there was on social media after the Democrats' debate. "None of my friends have really commented," the registered Republican said. "On Facebook, I have seen two or three comments, but far less than what it was during the Republican debates." [ Why Clinton's debate success could come back to hurt her in the end ] Nienajadly, a Democrat who describes a "civil war" among Republicans in Congress and blames a series of foreign policy disasters on Democrats in power, said the debate season "is like a continuous commercial to make money for the TV and radio stations, like money in the bank." And with almost 16 million viewers, the Democratic debate came close to Fox's popular drama "Empire" (averaging 16.3 million this season). With Trump onstage, the Republican debates achieved the kinds of ratings NBC gets from "Sunday Night Football" or that the network used to see in the early days of Trump's reality show. "The Apprentice" had an average viewership of 20.7 million in its first season in 2004, with more than 28 million people tuning in for the famous finale in the Trump Tower boardroom. That show set new standards for the kinds of cutthroat competitiveness that people have come to expect from TV and now look for in the debates, Galinsky said. "Viewers were asking, 'Could the Democrats top Trump's mania?' " he said. "Who can top whom? Who can wipe out harder and come back?" In the spin room, where candidates meet with media immediately after the debate, the usual throng of reporters found itself in competition Tuesday with camera crews from "Extra," "Inside Edition" and "Funny or Die." The "Funny or Die" reporter challenged Martin O'Malley to a game of blackjack (which the former Maryland governor declined). But even in the increasingly unpredictable world of political theater, success depends on adherence to some sound thespian principles. "Clearly in these debate formats, if you don't have the baseline script, as some of the lesser-ranked candidates proved [Tuesday] evening, you will not be any good at the improv," said Paul Tetreault, director of Ford's Theatre in Washington. The key? "If the hard script is deep and solid," Tetreault said, "you can improv and veer any way necessary or in the case of Mr. Trump, any way you feel like without regard to consequences." Scott Clement and Paul Kane contributed to this report. | 5 | 95,562 | news |
LOS ANGELES Again. Again. Again. Runners were abandoned. A base was forgotten. A manager's control was lost. Get lathered, get rinsed, repeat. BOX SCORE: METS 3, DODGERS 2 In front of a stunned silent crowd at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, the unthinkable became real, the impossible became the familiar, and history let out a blood-curdling scream. For a third consecutive year, in a third consecutive playoff series, the Dodgers season didn't simply end, it dissolved. The Dodgers didn't just lose a deciding Game 5 of the National League division series to the New York Mets, they embarrassingly handed it to them. The front office changes, the players change, yet the ugliness stays the same, 27 years without a World Series and counting, the doom enveloping more than 50,000 folks at Chavez Ravine on Thursday in a familiar throat-tightening that now feels like suffocating. "Been standing here before," said Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford, staring into space. "Same ending again." RELATED: Rob Lowe calls for Don Mattingly to be fired In an eerie match of last season's crumble in St. Louis, the final score of the final loss was again 3-2, sending the players' rally towels crashing into the back of the Dodgers dugout, dropping Manager Don Mattingly's chin to his chest, and invoking a rare discouraging word from the guy who pays for it all. "They let it go," said Mark Walter, the team's controlling owner, as he leaned against a clubhouse wall and sighed. "It's hard, it's very hard. We had their guys on the ropes." Of all the awful sights Thursday, perhaps none was as compelling as the wincing Walter, especially considering he is the one who loosens the strings on a purse that has made the Dodgers baseball's richest team with a $300-million payroll. Can we focus on that figure for a minute? For $300 million, in the biggest game of the year, you would think the Dodgers could get more than two hits with 13 runners in scoring position. They could not. They had the Mets and scuffling Jacob deGrom within inches of the canvas in each of the first four innings, but let him up with bad strikeouts and hurried swings and unprofessional bats. RELATED: Dodgers' Ethier yells at Mattingly in dugout It was so bad, Walter was even computing the heartbreak, noting, "We had 54 pitches with runners in scoring position, 54 pitches ... it's so frustrating." For $300 million, you would also think the Dodgers would always be covering third base there's only four bases to watch, right? yet in the fourth inning they inexplicably left it open after Zack Greinke walked Lucas Duda with the infield shifted to right. Daniel Murphy, who had earlier singled and jogged to second on the walk, saw the free base and sprinted to it. Moments later, Murphy scored the game-tying run on Travis d'Arnaud's deep foul fly ball, a 2-all tie that remained until Murphy won the game with a home run into the left-field pavilion in the sixth. Los Angeles Dodgers 2015 Payroll | PointAfter Mattingly blamed the naked base caper on rookie Corey Seager, but, in a broader sense, the blame will be felt by new Dodgers baseball boss Andrew Friedman. This was a case of old-fashioned hustle beating the sort of new-age baseball shift that has been implemented here by the Friedman regime. It is a shift that has sometimes succeeded but still requires more work, especially on a team with a rookie shortstop. "We should all be kind of ... communicating, 'Get to third, get to third,'" said Mattingly after this expensive team was once again felled by 10-cent fundamentals. Finally, for $300 million, you wouldn't think the Dodgers players and their manager would engage in a shouting match in the middle of their most important moment. The enduring image of Thursday's loss will probably be Andre Ethier waving off Mattingly and screaming, "Shut up and manage!" after Mattingly had tried to calm him down after Ethier flied out with a runner on second in the third. Mattingly claimed, and Ethier didn't deny, that the outfielder was angry at a called strike during his failed plate appearance. Mattingly said he was trying to calm Ethier down, but Ethier wasn't listening. "He's maybe yelling at me because I'm trying to settle him down, but it was nothing between us," said Mattingly. While Mattingly's fate was probably decided before this season started advance to a World Series or else that public lack of respect was symbolic of what is probably the end of his five-year tenure. Even though he won 55 percent of his games and became the first Dodgers manager to win three consecutive division championships, Mattingly will undoubtedly be viewed as the one constant in their three consecutive playoff meltdowns, and will probably pay the price with his job. The other loser Thursday was Friedman himself, as the series loss cemented the questions that many fans have had about the philosophy that he and General Manager Farhan Zaidi have put into place. They are considered two of the smartest guys in baseball, but they couldn't build a team that advanced any further than Ned Colletti's teams, no further than last year, and the honeymoon is now officially over. Their idea that the Dodgers didn't need a strong third starter didn't work. Brett Anderson and Alex Wood were shelled in Game 3. Their idea that the Dodgers can win with complementary hitters instead of at least two unabashed power guys didn't. They hit just two homers in the series while the Mets hit six and seemingly made every one count. Then there was the failure of Seager, pushed into the playoff starting lineup after only 27 games and batting just .167 in the series while failing to cover third base on that critical play. Thursday night ended appropriately, with organist Nancy Bea Hefley cleaning out her space and heading out the door into retirement. It was a season that ended, once again and again and again, with the sounds of silence. | 1 | 95,563 | sports |
CNN's Nic Robertson meets a man who has been smuggling Afghans out of their war-torn country. | 5 | 95,564 | news |
It was the fastest, most luxurious ocean liner of its day, and whisked the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Coco Chanel, Marlon Brando and four US presidents across the Atlantic. But now the SS United States sits derelict in a Philadelphia dock as a conservation group makes an urgent appeal for funding to save it from the scrap yard by the end of the month. Moored on the Delaware River opposite an Ikea store, its paintwork is peeling, its funnels discolored by the sun. Footsteps echo in the cavernous interior, stripped long ago of the vestiges of the vessel's golden past. On its maiden voyage on July 3, 1952 the 990-foot (301-meter) ocean liner crossed the Atlantic in a record three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes. The record still holds. A marvel in elegance and technology, it was designed to be transformed rapidly -- if the Cold War escalated -- into a troop carrier and was therefore funded largely by the US government. Its naval architect, William Francis Gibbs, also proclaimed it fire resistant thanks to its heavy use of aluminum. A million passengers, Hollywood stars, politicians, industrialists and immigrants travelled the SS United States between America and Europe. On board were three orchestras, a ballroom, two cinemas, 20 elevators and a swimming pool. "Everybody that was a major contributor in their field, they were here," remembers 82-year-old Joe Rota, who went from elevator operator to bell boy to onboard photographer. "The technology, the comfort, the speed, the food, everything was so perfect. We never had a breakdown, we were never late," he said, recalling memories of Prince Rainier, Brando, US president Harry Truman and Spanish artist Salvador Dali. - Mona Lisa had a cabin - The Mona Lisa was also a passenger, coming home from an exhibition at the National Gallery in Washington. She had her own cabin, outside which were placed size-15 shoes for polishing. The idea apparently was to make people think the painting was being protected by a very large man also traveling inside the cabin. But air travel quickly sounded the death knell for ocean liners and the SS United States was decommissioned on November 11, 1969 after 400 voyages. The ship, which could carry 2,000 passengers serviced by 1,000 staff, was no longer cost effective. It was bought several times with various ideas of turning it into a casino, a cruise liner or a hospital ship, but nothing came of these proposals. In 1984, its furniture and what remained inside were sold at auction. Then in 2011 it was bought by the non-profit SS United States Conservancy, whose director Susan Gibbs is none other than granddaughter of its architect. The organization is urgently appealing for donors and investors, in an effort to give the ocean liner a future it deserves such as a hotel, floating apartments, office space or a museum. "It's like an horizontal skyscraper. It's exactly the height of the Chrysler building," said Gibbs. She is making particular overtures to technology companies in a nod to its past as a marvel of technology. - Close to saving her - She emphasized the available floor space, up to 500,000 square feet (46,000 square meters) and insists the ship is structurally very sound. Gibbs said discussions are underway for what could be a "very innovative contemporary use of the spaces" and refers to the second life enjoyed by other liners, such as the Queen Mary and the Rotterdam. "It could be extraordinary. Fingers crossed," she says. But while waiting for projects to come to fruition, the association has to pay $60,000 a month to dock the ship. Donations are coming in from all 50 states in America and from 36 countries, but the cost is unsustainable. "We've never been closer to saving the SS United States, and we've never been closer to losing her," said Gibbs. The board of directors announced recently their intention to sell the ship to the scrapyard if no new investors or donors come forward by the end of October. "We need to have a game changing development," said Gibbs. An appeal has also been made to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. "It was the most beautiful ship in the world," said Rota, still believing it can be rescued. "Such an American symbol." | 5 | 95,565 | news |
The Italian Navy releases video of a wreath being laid on the wreck of a migrant boat which sank with the loss of 118 lives. Rough cut - subtitled (no reporter narration). | 8 | 95,566 | video |
You should be aware of the many additional costs of buying and owning a home, because they can be shocking. | 3 | 95,567 | finance |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Ben Watson sank to his knees at the back of the end zone with both arms raised, looked up at the frenzied Superdome crowd and absorbed the adulation. This was more like it. BOX S CORE: SAINTS 31, FALCONS 21 Drew Brees passed for 312 yards, Watson racked up a career-high 127 yards receiving to go with a fourth-down touchdown catch, and recently reeling New Orleans handed the Atlanta Falcons their first loss this season, 31-21 on Thursday night. "It felt great. It was really great to see the fans enjoying themselves," Watson said. "We want to win for ourselves and for our families, but to be able to look up at the stands and see people dancing and having fun, it was very exciting for us." Desperate for a victory, the Saints (2-4) enjoyed big plays in all phases, a common occurrence when New Orleans hosts night games. Including the playoffs, the Saints have now won 19 of their last 21 prime-time games in the Superdome. Michael Mauti, who grew up near New Orleans after his father, Rich, played for the Saints, blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown, delighting the Superdome crowd with a play reminiscent of Steve Gleason's famous block against Atlanta in 2006. Gleason, now paralyzed by ALS, was at the game, watching from his motorized wheel chair. He reacted with this Twitter post: "Hey, Falcons. (hash)NeverPunt." "The cool thing was that Steve was here to see that," Brees said. "It brought back some good memories." Mark Ingram ran for two short touchdowns, and New Orleans' defense recovered three fumbles -- two inside its own 20. "That blocked punt and a couple of turnovers really told the story," said first-year Falcons coach Dan Quinn, speaking after a loss for the first time. "It's hard to overcome those." Devonta Freeman rushed for 100 yards, including a 25-yard TD, for Atlanta (5-1). Matt Ryan passed for 295 yards and two TDs. He also was sacked five times, including three for defensive end Cam Jordan. "We made mistakes early on and it cost us," said Freeman, who also turned a short pass into a late 13-yard score. "I feel like we beat ourselves, but they're a talented team and they did a lot of great things tonight." Freeman's first touchdown cut New Orleans' lead to 24-14 with 13:07 remaining, which seemed like plenty of time for a Falcons team that had already orchestrated four fourth-quarter comebacks this season. The Saints had other plans, responding with the type of will-imposing drive that was commonplace during much of the decade since coach Sean Payton and Brees arrived in New Orleans, but seldom seen this season. New Orleans drove 80 yards in 11 plays, eating about five minutes off the clock. During the series, Watson tied a career high with his 10th catch of the game. Brees found Brandon Cooks for 26 yards on a third down. Ingram capped the drive by powering in to make it 31-14. That wasn't the only example of the Saints' restored swagger on offense. Late in the third quarter, the Saints capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive by first drawing Atlanta offside on fourth-and-goal from the 4, then converting a 2-yard pass to Watson. "That's a huge momentum-gaining-type play in a game like that, and it took some marbles to call it," Brees said, summing up the night as "validation." "For it all to come together like that, it just gives us a glimpse of what we can be," he said. The Saints never trailed, racing in front on the opening series, an 80-yard drive capped by Ingram's first TD. Mauti made it 14-0 when he smothered Matt Bosher's punt, scooped up the ball as he landed and sprang into the end zone. Atlanta cut it to 14-7 on Ryan's 7-yard pass to Roddy White, but the Falcons, who outgained the Saints 265 yards to 174 in the half, squandered a pair of promising drives with fumbles. First, rookie Tevin Coleman was stripped by linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and cornerback Brandon Browner recovered on the 9. Later, Ryan mishandled a snap and Ellerbe recovered on the New Orleans 17. NOTES: Saints kicker Zach Hocker, who missed a potential winning field goal against Dallas two games earlier, missed field goal attempts from 51 and 47 yards. ... Rookie left tackle Andrus Peat, making his second straight start for Terron Armstead (knee), left in the first half with an apparent left leg injury. He was replaced by Tony Hills, who had been acquired a week earlier. Brees was sacked just once. ------ Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP--NFL | 1 | 95,568 | sports |
Relive Thursday's top stories, including the Mets series-clinching win over the Dodgers, the Saints shocking victory against the Falcons and the Islanders impressive rally. | 1 | 95,569 | sports |
The founder and longtime pastor at Word of Life Christian Church shamed congregants from the pulpit, dredging up old sins and recounting them at Sunday services in humiliating detail, a former member said. He demanded they redo the floors and fix the plumbing in his living quarters, day after day for hours, until they felt numb from sleep deprivation. Members who raised questions were put on church discipline and forbidden to speak to others. And the founder, Jerry Irwin, taught hate, using racial slurs during sermons, according to the former member, Chadwick Handville. Sign Up For NYT Now's Morning Briefing Newsletter In the aftermath of the brutal beating at Word of Life Christian Church in central New York that left one teenage congregant dead and his younger brother seriously injured this week, investigators have been trying to understand how that violent episode may have grown out of what some described as a church culture of secrecy and isolation. Mr. Handville, who defected from the church in 2000 after a decade of praying and working there and who now lives in Phoenix, offered the first detailed public account since the teenager's death of what happened behind the church's locked gates and thick row of hedges. "Everybody who's gone there is a victim of abuse," he said in a phone interview on Thursday. "This was a cult. This was not a church; I don't care what words they use on the building. The spirit of that place was not freedom." He added, "It ruined a lot of lives." Mr. Handville, 47, a licensed massage therapist and writer who remains deeply religious, said he had been a member of Word of Life Christian Church for several years when Mr. Irwin returned to New Hartford, N.Y., in the early 1990s and retook control of the church, which occupies a three-story former schoolhouse. (Mr. Irwin had founded the church in the 1980s before he briefly moved away and ceded leadership, Mr. Handville said.) The pastor kicked out the old, gentler leadership and made himself answerable to nobody, Mr. Handville recalled. "Soon he became the only authority in that church, the sole authority," he said. "Then things broke down: respect for each other, respect for the law, respect for other people." Mr. Irwin decided to take over the third floor of the former schoolhouse as living quarters for himself, his wife, Traci Irwin, and their children, Mr. Handville said. He said that the pastor forced congregants there were roughly 30 serious followers to do the physical labor required to overhaul the space and add a play area for the children. That included redoing the floors, plumbing, electrical wiring, gas lines and structural work, Mr. Handville said. Mr. Irwin also demanded that parishioners mow the grass, paint walls and perform routine maintenance work. He often forced them to break building codes and flout guidance from inspectors, Mr. Handville said. Mr. Handville said he would sometimes arrive at the church after trying to spend time with his wife or children, or from working his day job, only to be forced into more hours of physical labor at the church. Depriving congregants of sleep appeared to be part of a plan to control them. "They sleep-deprive you because you become open to suggestions, usually what they're teaching you," Mr. Handville said. "They're breaking you down so they can build you up the way they want to." Mr. Irwin died several years ago. He handed leadership to his wife, who the authorities said was the current spiritual leader; congregants call her Mother. Their daughter, Tiffanie Irwin, 29, is the pastor. The authorities said she called the teenage brothers to a counseling session at the church after Sunday services because she was concerned the older brother, Lucas Leonard, 19, would leave the church. Mr. Leonard was pronounced dead the day after being beaten, and his brother, Christopher Leonard, 17, remained hospitalized with serious injuries. Their parents, Bruce T. Leonard, 65, and Deborah Leonard, 59, have been charged with first-degree manslaughter. One of Mr. Irwin's sons, Joseph Irwin, 26, was among four other church members who were charged with assault in the beating. Messages left for members of the Irwin family this week have not been answered, and a lawyer for Joseph Irwin did not respond to a message left for him on Thursday. Mr. Handville recalled Bruce Leonard and his wife as frequent targets of Mr. Irwin's abuse, even though he said the elder Mr. Leonard was a hard worker who loved his children and always made time for them. "They were always on church discipline," Mr. Handville said of the Leonards. "They were always bullied spiritually." He said church discipline meant that Mr. Irwin forbid other congregants to sit next to offenders at church, to talk them or to go to their houses for dinner. "You were kind of being shamed or shunned, what Jerry would call out of a rebellious state," Mr. Handville said. "He used that technique often." He said he never knew Mr. Irwin to strike or hurt members, and said he never saw anyone physically abused at the church. But, Mr. Handville said: "I felt threatened spiritually, I felt threatened emotionally. He was very manipulative and very sly." The church emphasized serious Bible study. Mr. Handville said at one point he had half of the book memorized. But, he added, "There were sometimes racial slurs." He said Mr. Irwin would also "speak harshly" to congregants at regular services, speaking about past sins in an effort to humiliate them. "We were always told we were so rebellious," Mr. Handville said. "I think that was so that we would do what we were told plain and simple." When parishioners challenged Mr. Irwin's methods or asked him unwanted questions, as Mr. Handville did toward the end of his tenure, Mr. Irwin lashed out, he said. Mr. Handville said he was put on church discipline shortly before he left. He and his family were living in a mobile home owned by another parishioner, who evicted them under pressure from Mr. Irwin, he said. He has since moved to Phoenix and made a clean break with the church, undergoing counseling and relearning a gentler form of Christianity, he said. He said he forgave Mr. Irwin for the pain he inflicted upon the church. But Mr. Irwin apparently did not forget him; Mr. Handville heard from other members that he remained the target of angry Sunday sermons even after he left. | 5 | 95,570 | news |
One big difference between rich people and average people is what happens between the ears. "Being a product of two strong dads allowed me the luxury of observing the effects different thoughts have on one's life," Robert Kiyosaki writes in the personal finance classic, " Rich Dad Poor Dad ." The two dads he refers to are his real father his "poor dad," who struggled financially his whole life and died with bills to pay and the father of his best friend his "rich dad," who started with little before becoming one of the richest men in Hawaii. "I noticed that my poor dad was poor, not because of the amount of money he earned, which was significant, but because of his thoughts and actions." Even the way he spoke was tremendously different from Kiyosaki's rich dad. Here are seven things the author heard his poor dad say often but rich dad never did. 1. 'I can't afford it.' Rich dad would say, " How can I afford it? " "One is a statement, and the other is a question. One lets you off the hook, and the other forces you to think," Kiyosaki writes. "By automatically saying the words 'I can't afford it,' your brain stops working. By asking the question 'How can I afford it?' your brain is put to work." This doesn't mean you should buy everything, he emphasizes. The point is that you should constantly exercise your mind, because the stronger your brain gets, the more money you'll make. 2. 'I work for my money.' Rich dad would say, " My money works for me. " There is a critical difference between how rich people and average people choose to get paid : Average people choose to get paid based on time on a steady salary or hourly rate while rich people generally own their own business, work on commission, or choose stock options and profit sharing over higher salaries. "If you work for money, you give the power to your employer," Kiyosaki writes. "If money works for you, you keep the power and control it." 3. 'When it comes to money, play it safe. Don't take risks.' Rich dad would say, " Learn to manage risk. " Rich people play to win , which requires an element of risk taking and a level of comfort with uncertainty . As important as it is to take risks to accumulate wealth, it's equally important to be smart about risk-taking, which is why rich dad emphasizes "managing" risk. Blind risk won't get you anywhere, but intelligent risk in which education and experience play a key role is the mother of reward. 4. 'My house is an asset.' Rich dad would say, " My house is a liability. " "If you stop working today, an asset puts money in your pocket and a liability takes money from your pocket," Kiyosaki writes. "It's important to know the difference between the two." At the end of the day, owning a house is expensive, and they do not always go up in value, Kiyosaki points out. "I am not saying don't buy a house," he writes. "What I am saying is that you should understand the difference between an asset and a liability. When I want a bigger house, I first buy assets that will generate the cash flow to pay for the house." 5. 'Study hard so you can find a good company to work for.' Rich dad would say, " Study hard so you can find a good company to buy . " The wealthiest people aren't afraid to think big. They set their expectations high and expect to make a lot of money. Meanwhile, the masses expect to struggle, and tend to settle for less than what they're worth because of it. 6. 'I'll never be rich.' Rich dad would say, " I'm a rich man, and rich people don't do this. " "Even when [my rich dad] was flat broke after a major financial setback, he continued to refer to himself as a rich man," Kiyosaki writes. "He would cover himself by saying, 'There is a difference between being poor and being broke. Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal.'" 7. 'I'm not interested in money.' Rich dad would say, " Money is power. " Most of us are taught to get a good education, find a job, and be grateful for what we have . Essentially, most of us are taught to settle. Rich people, on the other hand, think about money logically , and see it for what it is: a powerful tool that can present options and opportunities. | 3 | 95,571 | finance |
Rory McIlroy opened his 2015-16 USPGA Tour campaign by shooting a four-under 68 to finish five strokes off the lead after the first round of the Frys.com Open at the Silverado North course on Thursday. Four-time major winner McIlroy hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and if not for a couple of missed short birdie putts he would have been that much closer to leader Brendan Steele. American Steele drained nine birdies en route to a nine-under 63 for a one-shot lead over Jhonattan Vegas. Harold Varner and Scotland's Martin Laird are two shots back of the leader after shooting 65s. South Korea's D.H. Lee and Justin Thomas both carded 66, while England's Justin Rose and Canada's Graham DeLaet highlight a group of six golfers on 67. AFP | 1 | 95,572 | sports |
Violence against women remains one of the biggest challenges facing Guatemala and promises to continue driving emigration, according to former Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz. Paz y Paz said in an interview with The Huffington Post Wednesday that acts of violence against women are among the most commonly reported crimes in Guatemala. Still, in many parts of the country, law enforcement and the general public continue to view such crimes as issues that should be resolved by families at home rather than through the legal system. "Throughout Guatemala's history, violence against women hasn't been seen as a crime, but rather as a family issue," Paz y Paz said. Guatemala has long been among the most violent countries in the world, largely the inheritance of a 36-year civil war that ended in 1996. Paz y Paz said the country had made progress. Guatemala became the first Latin American country to codify "femicide" as a unique crime in 2009 . Some jurisdictions have created special tribunals to address violence against women and many law enforcement officials have become more sensitive to the issue. Former President Otto Pérez placed the country's homicide rate last year at 31 per 100,000 residents. The figure, while high, marks a sharp decline from the 2009 peak of 47 per 100,000, according to World Bank data . The U.S. homicide rate was 5 per 100,000 in 2012. "It's still not enough," Paz y Paz said. "I'm sure that homicidal violence is one of the things forcing people to leave the country." Violence in Guatemala and its neighboring countries of Honduras and El Salvador was a main factor driving the unaccompanied child migrant crisis at the U.S. border that upended the American immigration debate. Some 68,000 unaccompanied children, the vast majority of them from those three countries, crossed illegally into the U.S. last year, along with a similar number of women traveling with their children. Lawyers who work with the migrants said the vast majority were fleeing violence in their home countries and generally qualify for asylum or other forms of humanitarian assistance. Paz y Paz was appointed as Guatemala's attorney general in 2010 -- the first woman to hold the position. She built a reputation for challenging widespread impunity for homicide, taking on gang members and members of the military. On Wednesday, Paz y Paz received the Train Foundation's Civil Courage Prize at a ceremony in New York, along with Yassmin Barrios , the judge who presided over the trial of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt for genocide. The prosecution of Ríos Montt marked an unprecedented step for Guatemala, where the architects of a series of U.S.-backed military governments committed wide-scale atrocities, largely without punishment. The conviction of Ríos Montt was overturned in 2013 for procedural reasons . Many human rights activists viewed the Ríos Montt reversal as a setback. But Paz y Paz said the mass demonstrations and the corruption investigation that forced the resignation of former President Otto Pérez last month showed that civil society has begun to assert itself in a way not seen since before the war. "I've never seen such a protest of that size in Guatemala," Paz y Paz said. "It's a fundamental change." | 5 | 95,573 | news |
John Stamos has officially been charged with a DUI for his arrest in June. The 'Fuller House' star could face up to 6 months in jail. | 8 | 95,574 | video |
We're all painfully aware of the toll binge drinking takes on the body but what may be less known is the damage it inflicts on the economy. Excessive drinking cost the U.S. $249 billion in 2010, or $2.05 per drink, according to a newly-released study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a significant increase from $223.5 billion, or $1.90 per drink, in 2006. The financial toll on the economy stems in part from reduced workplace productivity - in other words, hangovers. Crime, accidents and the cost of treating people for health problems caused by excessive drinking also add to the cost. About 88,000 Americans die each year due to alcohol-attributable harms, including one in 10 deaths among working-age people aged between 20 and 64 years old. "The increase in the costs of excessive drinking from 2006 to 2010 is concerning, particularly given the severe economic recession that occurred during these years," said Robert Brewer, head of CDC's alcohol program. The CDC did not give numbers up to 2015. The 2010 cost estimates were based on changes in the occurrence of alcohol-related problems and the cost of paying for them since 2006. Nonetheless, researchers believe that the study underestimates the cost of excessive drinking because information on alcohol is often underreported or unavailable. "Effective prevention strategies can reduce excessive drinking and related costs in states and communities, but they are under used," Brewer said. Excess alcohol intake cost U.S. states an average of $3.5 billion each in 2010, ranging from $488 million in North Dakota to $35 billion in California. Washington D.C. had the highest cost per person at $1,526, compared to the national average of $807. | 3 | 95,575 | finance |
Check out the Top Plays from Thursday's NLDS Game 5 between the Mets and Dodgers, including Daniel Murphy's homer and Andre Ethier's sliding catch. | 1 | 95,576 | sports |
This little guy really does not like his snow booties and wants to be rid of them when he comes inside. When his owners present him with a treat to come collect, instead of walking on all fours, he walks on his front two feet in a handstand position. This owners laugh about putting the booties on all of his legs next time. | 8 | 95,577 | video |
A capsule look at the American League Championship Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals: Time/TV/Probable Pitchers Game 1 : Blue Jays (Marco Estrada, 13-8, 3.13 ERA) at Royals (Edinson Volquez, 13-9, 3.55 ERA), Friday, 8:07 p.m. ET on Fox Game 2 : Blue Jays (David Price, 18-5, 2.45 ERA) at Royals (Yordano Ventura, 13-8, 4.08), Saturday, 4:07 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 Game 3 : Royals (Johnny Cueto, 11-13, 3.44) at Blue Jays (Marcus Stroman, 4-0, 1.67), Monday, 8:07 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 Game 4 : Royals (TBD) at Blue Jays (R.A. Dickey, 11-11, 3.91), Tuesday, TBD Game 5*: Royals (Volquez) at Blue Jays (Price or Estrada), Wednesday, TBD Game 6*: Blue Jays (Estrada) at Royals (Ventura), Oct. 23, TBD Game 7*: Blue Jays (Stroman) at Royals (Cueto), Oct. 24, TBD (* if necessary) *** The case for the Royals: The defending AL pennant winners are similarly constructed as last year: the Royals have, by far, the AL's best bullpen; they have a good-enough starting staff and one that can be a plus when enigmatic Cueto and Ventura are at their best; and they have a rally-oriented offense that ranked top-four in the league in hits, doubles, triples and stolen bases but second-to-last in home runs. By at least one metric, they had the AL's best defense by notching the most defensive runs saved by a wide margin, with 51, compared to Toronto's 20, which ranked third. The biggest difference from last year is that the lineup overall, though similarly styled, is clearly improved. Kendrys Morales (22 HRs, .847 OPS) provides a new source of power; Ben Zobrist is a major upgrade over Omar Infante; and Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain all had career-best seasons, with the first two taking major strides toward fulfilling the lofty prospect projections placed on them. *** The case for the Blue Jays: Toronto had an historic second half its 48-23 record after the All-Star Game was the best in the majors this season but, as the Elias Sports Bureau notes, they are the first club in major league history to sit eight games back of first at the break to win the division by at least six games. The Jays' run differential was +221, 99 runs better than anyone else and only the third +200 club of the last decade. Once this team clicked, it became great. The Jays' calling card is their offense, which led the league in nine major categories, including runs (891) and homers (232). Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion hit 41, 40 and 39 homers, respectively the first 120-homer trio since the 2006 White Sox and only the second three-player group to each have 20 homers in the season's second half, joining the 2004 Cubs. Such prodigious power which also extends to Troy Tulowitzki, Chris Colabello and others means the Jays are never too far behind to come back. When Price and Stroman are at their best (more below), Toronto has a terrific 1-2 top of the rotation, and the bullpen is good, although currently lacking a left-hander. Playing behind the pitching staff is yet another fielding unit that can claim it's the best: the Jays have the majors' best park-adjusted defensive efficiency, according to Baseball Prospectus. (K.C. ranked 10th.) Their up-the-middle players catcher Russell Martin, shortstop Tulowitzki, second baseman Ryan Goins and center fielder Kevin Pillar are all outstanding. *** The X factor: Past and potentially present Cy Young winners are generally known commodities rather than X factors, but David Price's poor ALDS eight runs in 11 innings and poor postseason track record make one wonder how effective he'll be in the ALCS. The Jays even opted for young Stroman over Price for a Game 5 start. Price faced the Royals twice this season while with the Tigers. In back-to-back starts in May, he threw a one-run complete game the first time and then allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings in a game Detroit won. *** First things first: Keep an eye on first-inning scoring. The Royals allowed only 68 runs in the first inning, which was the second fewest in baseball, whereas the Blue Jays yielded 116, tied for second-most. Both clubs were successful scoring early: Toronto's 108 first-frame runs ranked fourth, and Kansas City's 106 were fifth. *** Close and late: Kansas City's celebrated bullpen triumvirate pitched 29% of their playoff innings last October, allowing five earned runs in 40 1/3 innings for a 1.12 ERA. Greg Holland is injured but has been capably replaced by Ryan Madson with Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera each pitching an inning later. Those three anchored a relief corps with a 2.69 ERA that was three-quarters of a run better than fifth-place Toronto. They allowed a league-low .214 average and the second-lowest rate of inherited runners scoring, at 27%. The Royals were 73-6 (.924) when leading after six innings, compared to Toronto's 76-14 (.844). Although the Jays only acquired veterans Mark Lowe and LaTroy Hawkins for the final third of the season, their bullpen is in worse straits now with the loss of Brett Cecil and the unknown status of Aaron Loup. They don't presently have a lefty in their bullpen to counter KC's Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon, but Roberto Osuna and Aaron Sanchez are a young, but formidable, back-end pair. *** In the end: Look for Price to pitch more like his regular season version than his postseason edition, making the difference in oppositely constructed but equally talented ball clubs. BLUE JAYS IN 6 GALLERY: TOP MOMENTS IN THE POSTSEASON | 1 | 95,578 | sports |
"I wish you could just SMELL this!" | 4 | 95,579 | lifestyle |
We think she'll make a great mommy. | 8 | 95,580 | video |
The European Union offered Turkey a possible 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in aid and the prospect of easier travel visas and "re-energised" talks on joining the bloc in return for its help stemming the flow of migrants to Europe. EU leaders at a summit in Brussels said they agreed on an "action plan" with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to cooperate on improving the lives of two million Syrian refugees in Turkey and encouraging them to stay put. They also agreed to coordinate border controls to slow the influx of migrants crossing Turkey from Asia. Though the plan put no figure on "substantial and concrete new funds" the EU would offer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the figure of 3 billion euros, which EU officials said Ankara had requested, had been discussed and seem reasonable. "Our intensified meetings with Turkish leaders ... in the last couple of weeks were devoted to one goal: stemming the migratory flows that go via Turkey to the EU. The action plan is a major step in this direction," said summit chairman Donald Tusk, expressing "cautious optimism". In formal conclusions agreed by the 28 national leaders at a meeting that ended after midnight, Turkey was offered an accelerated path to giving its citizens visa-free travel to the EU, provided it met previously agreed conditions. Progress would also depend on Ankara showing real help in slowing migration and would be reviewed next spring. Merkel, who will visit Istanbul for talks with Erdogan on Sunday in a political gesture two weeks before a Turkish general election, said it was clear that Europe's efforts to filter and process refugees would not work without Turkey's cooperation. "The hotspots alone won't solve the problem," she said. CONDITIONS APPLY French President Francois Hollande stressed that Turks would not be getting visas on easier terms. One condition still to be met is for Ankara to first stop granting such easy entry to Pakistanis, Afghans and others who end up heading to Europe. It must also first sign and implement a previously agreed deal to take back from Europe migrants who fail to win refugee status. "There must be no misunderstandings," Hollande said. European governments are wary of granting full visa-free access to 78 million Turks. Any liberalisation is likely to be limited at first to business travellers and students. Leaders also agreed to "re-energise" moribund, decade-old negotiations on Turkey's application for membership of the European bloc, though they left open exactly how to do that. "The accession process needs to be re-energised with a view to achieving progress in the negotiations in accordance with the negotiating framework and the relevant Council conclusions," they said, in language couched cautiously to reflect concerns in Cyprus and other states about easing off pressure on Ankara. Earlier, at talks in Ankara with a delegation from the executive European Commission, Turkish ministers had asked the EU to start easing restrictions for some Turks travelling to the EU by the middle of next year, EU officials said. EU sources said they sought 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in new financial aid and the opening of six so-called chapters of the accession process, concerning harmonising rules in energy, justice and economic and monetary affairs among others. Turkey was also seeking more high-level political dialogue with invitations for Erdogan to summits after an ice-breaking visit he made to Brussels earlier this month. BORDER MEASURES The bulk of the written agreements approved by the leaders concerned measures the EU is in the course of putting in place to deal with the crisis caused by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people in the biggest migration movement the continent has seen since World War Two. After a summer of bitter arguments among leaders on how to share responsibility for accommodating refugees, the focus has turned to aid for neighbouring states to reduce pressure to leave and on bolstering border controls, speeding up the deportation of failed asylum-seekers and on a possible EU frontier force. However, leaders had what Merkel called a long and serious talk about the possibility of reforming the EU asylum system by going beyond pilot schemes to create a permanent mechanism to relocate asylum claimants around the EU by national quotas. Merkel, who has taken a lead in welcoming Syrian refugees but is now under domestic political pressure to ensure Germany does not house the bulk of new arrivals, said there was still much work to do to forge a consensus on distribution. Pushing back against ex-communist states that do not want large numbers of immigrants, she said: "In the end we are all Europeans, and this refugee question will challenge all of us." Turkey wants to be put on a list of "safe countries", whose nationals would not normally be granted asylum in Europe. The issue was not discussed at the summit. Germany is concerned about Turkish Kurds who might seek refuge in Europe. EU officials stress that all asylum claims will still be assessed. Embracing Turkey and especially Erdogan, who critics see as increasingly authoritarian, poses dilemmas for EU leaders. But the EU's political priority has changed: "In our neighbourhood, we are not asking any more for fundamental rights after the Arab Spring," said a senior EU political leader. "We are asking for stability." Many doubt whether such a populous, mostly Muslim country can ever join the Union. Yet the EU is desperate for help. Efforts to end the division of Cyprus between the Greek-speaking state that is an EU member and the Turkish-backed one in the north of the island are also a factor. EU diplomats worry that Erdogan may use the migration crisis as added leverage. "We understand the added value of Turkey," one said. "But we cannot give it carte blanche." Adding to uncertainties in negotiating any deal with Turkey is the turmoil that followed a bombing Ankara blames on either Kurds or Syria-based Islamists, as well as a snap parliamentary election on Nov. 1 that will determine Erdogan's future powers. (Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Jan Strupczewski and Chine Labbe; Editing by Ken Wills) | 5 | 95,581 | news |
After being called "bitter" by Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson last week, Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers finally responded earlier this week. "I was really disappointed in them because that's not how I said it," Rivers told the Long Beach Press-Telegram . "I was really surprised at how sensitive they are, but I'm giving Klay the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure it was worded wrong in the question that was asked to him. I basically say it and I say it all the time. During the conversation, I said of my (Boston Celtics) team in 2008, you've gotta have some luck, things have to go your way. You need all that." Even in trying to dismiss the perceived beef, Rivers can't help but sneak in a subtle shot, basically calling Thompson "sensitive." To be clear, though, Rivers backed up his claim from earlier this week that he still respects the Warriors, despite the obvious dislike on both sides. "But I respect Golden State a hundred percent," Rivers said. "But I was surprised at how quickly they jumped on it. To each his own." There is growing criticism across the NBA that the Warriors' championship run largely benefited from a few lucky breaks. Every team they played had a significant injury to at least one, if not two, starters, while the Warriors were one of the healthiest champions in NBA history. In addition, the Warriors never faced the Clippers or San Antonio Spurs, the two Western Conference teams who theoretically provided the biggest challenge for them. Rivers agreed with that assertion, telling Zach Lowe of Grantland.com last week that he felt the Warriors were fortunate during their playoff run. "You need luck in the West," Rivers said. "Look at Golden State. They didn't have to play us or the Spurs." Since Rivers' comments last week, the Warriors have lashed out back at the Clippers and anyone else who doubts them. Thompson called out the Clippers for blowing a 3-1 lead to the Houston Rockets; Andrew Bogut told them to kiss his championship ring on his middle finger ; Stephen Curry issued a fake apology ; and Draymond Green compared them to bitter women . The beef is back in the Warriors' court. Let's see what they say next. | 1 | 95,582 | sports |
Animals worldwide are losing their natural habitats to human endeavors, but one koala appears to have tried to return home only to find a construction site. | 8 | 95,583 | video |
There are few things in life that allow you to both do something to benefit yourself and help others at the same time but the people at Dream Giveaway have figured out how to make that happen. The company raises money for charity (in this case New Beginnings Children's Homes) and the way they do it is simple. They sell tickets and then give away a pair of awesome cars to the winning ticket holder. Since you are reading about it on these pages, we're guessing you've already figured out that it's something Mopar up for grabs. Not just any two hunks of Chrysler goodness though, but rather a 1970 Challenger R/T 440/four-speed and a 2015 Challenger Hellcat (they call it "Hellcat X") that uses twin turbos with the factory blower to make 850 hp. Yes, you win them both in one shot. Getting your shot to take these two black beauties home is pretty simple. You can go to DreamGiveaway.com and click the link for the Challenger giveaway (they have other ones going on too, but who wants the Bow Tie or Blue Oval stuff, right?) and then click the "enter now" button, which will bring you to the screen where you can order your tickets. From $3 to $5,000, you decide how many tickets/chances you want in the drawing. You can also enter by phone if you call 877-700-8946. There is a mail-in option as well. The 1970 Challenger is an interesting case, as it is one of less than 100 produced with this particular set of options and it was also the "star car" of a Challenger television commercial. The Hellcat X was built with styling cues inspired by the Hellcat XF6F WWII fighter plane that wreaked havoc in the skies against our enemies during that conflict. Between the two cars you are looking at more than 1,000 hp and enough cool factor to freeze out your entire county. The Dream Giveaway people have been at this for years so this is not some unproven experiment. They have been raising money and giving out cars for longer than we can remember. Throwing down a few bucks to charity with the opportunity to own both of these cars at the same time with some cash thrown in ($40,000!) to offset the tax hit you'd take as well? Hello?! How awesome is that? The Hellcat X How do you make the baddest even badder? The meanest even more ferocious? You hand the car to the professionals and tell them to go to town. That's exactly what happened with the Hellcat X. Those professionals were Walsh Motorsports, who did the turbocharger installation and fabrication, and Special Projects, who created all of the one-off Hellcat X logos, the fascia, the rear spoiler (from raw aluminum), and the interior styling enhancements. As we all know, the 2015 Hellcat with 707hp is the most powerful muscle car ever offered by a car company and we've had seat time in one of these cars, which left us slobbering and wanting a lot more. When we think about the addition of about 150 hp to the mind eraser that the stocker is we literally start frothing at the mouth like any real gearhead would. In stock form, the Hellcat is pretty devious because the only thing that serves to let the world know that you shouldn't be messed with are the little hellcats on the sides of the front fenders, but with this car, inspired by the Hellcat XF6F fighter from WWII, that is not a problem. The full-kill front splitter, rear spoiler, and badges will let everyone know that even trying would be total folly. The fact that the thing is wrapped in menacing black really completes the look. Not that we have anything against the other colors, but c'mon. Full intimidation mode right there. Even as good as this Hellcat X is, options are a wonderful thing to have … The 1970 Challenger There may be days when you don't want to drive the 850hp car with all the modern bells and whistles, and that is why the second half of the Dream Giveaway is perfect. The second car is a 1970 Challenger R/T equipped with a 440ci engine and a four-speed. It was a bruiser of a car in 1970, and it is a bruiser of a car today. While modern muscle spoils us with all of the comforts and power, there is nothing like owning the road in a legit muscle car from the era when they truly ruled the roads and the hearts of American enthusiasts. In 1970 it was a peak year for power and performance during the muscle car era, and this car exemplifies the best of those halcyon days. Leaving the hot rod end of things to the Hellcat X, this car stands as a virtually perfect factory example right down to the paint, gear ratio in the rear axle, and over-all look. There's a pistol grip shifter between the seats, Goodyear Polyglas tires on the corners, 440ci of RB big-block under the hood, and a rumbly exhaust note that lets everyone around know who's boss at the cruise night. This car, like the other that is being given away, is black and that's good news for the prizewinner because you know the work done on the machine has been impeccable. You cannot fake good black paint, and this stuff looks like it was laid on thick enough to swim in. Beautiful Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 95,584 | autos |
Selena Gomez reveals she's questioned her sexuality and opens up about the rumors that she secretly dated Cara Delevingne. | 8 | 95,585 | video |
911 call recordings indicate that ex-NBA star Lamar Odom had recently used cocaine before being found unresponsive the Love Ranch brothel in Nevada. | 6 | 95,586 | entertainment |
There's good reason quinoa has been a staying trend in the healthy food scene. It's delicious, nutritious, and filling, all while supporting your healthy weight-loss goals. If you're on a mission to shed a few pounds, here's why you should always have a batch ready to enjoy in your fridge. It's high in fiber : If you can believe, just one cup of cooked quinoa offers a 21 percent of your daily recommended fiber . A high-fiber diet keeps digestion regular and keeps bloat at bay - two essential aspects of a comfortable weight-loss plan. Related : Mix It Up: Quinoa Recipes For Any Meal It's a solid source of protein : For vegetarians sick of beans, tofu, and tempeh or anyone who wants to back off meat at every meal, quinoa can be a lifesaver. Getting adequate protein is essential for weight-loss success, and quinoa offers a surprisingly high amount of protein for a pseudograin; just one cup offers eight grams. Related : Breakfast For the Week: 250-Calorie Quinoa Egg Bake It makes you feel fuller for longer : If you regularly reach for toast or rice at meal time, swapping it out for quinoa could have big benefits for your waistline. One study out of the British Journal of Nutrition found that participants felt fuller after eating quinoa , buckwheat, or oats than after eating wheat or rice. | 7 | 95,587 | health |
Volkswagen said Thursday it will recall a total of 8.5 million diesel vehicles Europe-wide as police raided the carmaker's office in Italy and those of its sports car unit Lamborghini over a global pollution-cheating scandal. The massive recall in all 28 of the EU's member states would begin in January 2016 while for countries outside the bloc, the company is still examining which vehicles were affected, VW said in a statement. The German auto giant was plunged into the biggest crisis in its history after revealing that it had fitted 11 million of its diesel vehicles with software designed to cheat official pollution tests. The revelations have sparked probes in several countries, and Italian police Thursday raided the company's offices in the country and placed six executives under investigation. According to the Italian news agency AGI, VW Italy's chief executive Massimo Nordio and Luca De Meo, the marketing and sales chief of the Italian branch of Audi, were among those placed under investigation. The raids at VW's Italian headquarters in Verona and Lamborghini's base in Bologna came after Italian consumer rights group Codacons filed a fraud suit on behalf of 12,000 Italian owners over the VW-made vehicles. "Our case is that there has been fraud committed at the expense of consumers. If the police establish there has been illegal activity it will further strengthen our suit," the organisation said in a statement. Around 117,000 vehicles are affected in Portugal, the country's economy minister said on Thursday -- 102,000 Volkswagens, Audis and Skodas and 15,000 SEATs. - No charge for customers - Struggling to restore confidence, VW said it would be "pro-active in approaching and informing customers" of the recall operation. Already from the beginning of October, every VW customer had been able to use the company's website to check whether their vehicle was affected, simply by typing in the car's number. A similar function was also available on the websites of the company's other brands -- Audi, SEAT and Skoda. "Rectifications of the vehicles will begin from January 2016 and will be free of charge for our customers," VW said. The solutions could involve both software and hardware measures. Until the changes could be undertaken, "every vehicle remains technically safe to drive," VW insisted. Earlier, the German authorities tightened the screws on the embattled carmaker, saying it would monitor the large-scale recall across the country in order to ensure that it is indeed carried out. Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told journalists in Berlin that the Federal Transport Authority KBA had given VW until the end of October to come up with the technical solution for the two-litre diesel engines, where a simple software change would suffice. For the 1.2-litre and 1.6-litre engines, the carmaker had until the end of November to present its solutions. The company has set aside 6.5 billion euros in the third quarter, but its new chief executive Matthias Mueller said that would likely only meet repair costs. In addition to the costs of repairing so many vehicles, the once-respected automaker now faces billions of euros (dollars) in potential fines and legal costs, not to mention the still incalculable fallout in terms of lost sales and customer trust. - 'Constructive cooperation' - Earlier, the mass-circulation daily Bild had claimed the German authorities were running out of patience with VW and felt the carmaker's own proposals for a voluntary recall were insufficient. But Dobrindt later told reporters that VW was cooperating "constructively." Ties between politicians and the auto industry are traditionally very close in Germany and politicians have been reluctant to attack VW openly since the scandal broke, as it is seen as a flagship of German industry and is a major employer. The regional state of Lower Saxony where VW is headquartered holds a stake in the group. Mueller said last week that the recall would begin in January and take the rest of the year to complete, angering groups such as environmental campaigners Greenpeace for taking too long. But Dobrindt confirmed the timetable on Thursday, not least because the technical solutions for the 1.2 and 1.6 litre engines would only be ready for installation in September 2016. Aside from the millions of vehicles affected in Germany, more than one million could be hit in Britain and nearly a million in France. According to the weekly magazine Der Spiegel, as many as 30 VW managers could be implicated in the affair but VW dismissed that number, insisting that only a "small group of people" were involved. But the scandal could also have wider repercussions for the German economy as a whole and its pristine engineering reputation, some experts fear. burs-pdw/mfp Volkswagen KBA | 9 | 95,588 | autos |
General Electric (GE) on Friday delivered quarterly earnings that surpassed analysts' expectations, as its businesses producing jet engines and power turbines offset declines in its oil and gas segment, but revenue fell short of estimates. After the earnings announcement, the company's shares were about even in premarket trading. (Get the latest quote here.) (GE) GE, which backed its full-year profit outlook, said it expects to retire as much as 7 percent of its outstanding floated shares by mid-November, as it completes the spinoff of its former retail finance business, Synchrony Financial (SYF) . The Federal Reserve earlier this week said Synchrony could function as a standalone company. The company posted third-quarter adjusted earnings of 29 cents per share, down from 38 cents a share in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell 1.3 percent to $31.68 billion, weighed by a 16 percent slump in its segment supplying equipment and services to oil and gas customers, which has been hurt by weak crude prices. Revenue in its aviation segment increased 5 percent, while revenue in its power and water division, its biggest segment, grew 1 percent. Analysts had expected the company to report earnings of 26 cents a share on $28.57 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters. Nick Heymann, analyst at William Blair, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" the report was better than expected and showed the GE's industrial business now accounts for a greater share of earnings as it moves toward becoming a pure-play name in that space. GE's position as the sole seller in the market at present for a type of low-emissions locomotive boosted earnings, and comparisons with last year's sales to oil and gas customers would become more favorable after the fourth quarter, he said. However, with drillers still struggling through more than a year-long rout in commodity prices, Heymann said he does not expect end-market demand for GE products to pick up until perhaps 2017. Sanford C. Bernstein senior analyst Steve Winoker told "Squawk Box" it's hard to argue that GE's 4 percent organic sales growth was not impressive. While orders in GE's equipment business were down 26 percent, he noted that revenue from services, which accounts for about 75 to 80 percent of total sales, was up and the company was able to hold pricing steady. GE also said it increased profit margins by 100 basis points. "That margin expansion ... you can see that coming through these numbers. You can see it in multiple cost reduction ways, from equipment margins to overall margins, and I think that's critical," Winoker said. GE said plans to exit its financial businesses are ahead of schedule and it expects its GE Capital unit to yield dividends of about $3 billion in 2015. GE said it expects to launch a share exchange for Synchrony next week, which will allow it to significantly reduce the amount of GE stock outstanding. That initiative, along with the dividend from GE Capital, puts the company on track to return about $30 billion to shareholders in 2015, it added. GE also said it plans to sell $30 billion worth of commercial lending and leasing units to financial firm Wells Fargo (WFC) . GE has signed deals for almost all of the U.S. financing businesses that it looks to dispose of as it streamlines its business. As of Thursday's close, GE shares were up about 11 percent on the year. DISCLOSURE: William Blair owns greater than a 1 percent share of GE stock, makes a market in shares of GE, and provides investment banking services to the company. Reuters contributed to this report. | 3 | 95,589 | finance |
Apple has rebooted its trackpad, mouse and keyboard with new rechargeable batteries and slimmer designs. WSJ's Nathan Olivarez-Giles asks if they're worth their hefty price. | 8 | 95,590 | video |
Prince William rarely speaks publicly about his late mother, but at the anniversary dinner of the Child Bereavement UK charity, the 33 year old spoke movingly about Princess Di. Diana helped launch the charity back in 1994 and now William says, "My mother was determined to help those in need and she would have been immensely proud, as I am, of all that Child Bereavement UK has achieved these last 21 years". Find out how being a father and losing his mother has changed his perspective on what his mom was trying to achieve. | 6 | 95,591 | entertainment |
The era of McMansion worship is long over (thank God), and small spaces are finally getting some well-earned respect in the design world. So whether you reside in a 3,000-square-foot palace or a 300-square-foot micro-studio, chances are you've at least got a little alcove, niche or vestibule that deserves some love. Here's your inspiration. A matching set of side tables takes up less space than a coffee table. (Really!) For the reading-in-bed set, we present: The best little book nook, where shelves double as steps and under-the-bed storage abounds. Eliminating sharp corners makes maneuvering in this small bathroom a helluva lot easier. When space is truly at a premium, the skinniest bookshelves become your very best friend. Speaking of storage, we can't get enough of this light-filled nook. The elevated bed takes advantage of vertical space and the blonde wood brightens everything. A twee TV blends right in to this gallery wall. While bright bold hues and eclectic decor add major personality to this tiny-ass apartment. Turn your under-the-stairs space into a cushioned dog den for the family pet…or your most nimble child. Repeat after us: Built-ins, built-ins, built-ins. World's cutest patio, world's tiniest "lawn." Hang a floating shelf in any corner to spare valuable floor space. Or use that nightstand as a desk. Proof that ghost chairs (and layered area rugs ) are everything. Here they help define and separate an intimate seating area. This compact kitchenette still boasts big character thanks to colorful cabinets, which nicely offset the industrial feel of the rack shelving. Built-in steps and cabinets turn a weirdly angled alcove into the reading corner of our dreams. (Just add a blanket and a hot cocoa.) Bet your dorm room was never this chic (yeah, ours neither). And for all the extremists out there: A 196-square-foot apartment, home to a couple, a baby and a Great Dane. Allegedly. ]]> | 4 | 95,592 | lifestyle |
Now is the time to pick up costumes for your pets. Find out how much some pet owners are willing to pay for Halloween costumes. Halloween is just around the corner, and pet owners are scrambling for the cutest and most hilarious costumes for their furry friends. While most pet owners will spent $20 or less on pet costumes at most retailers like Petco, others will drop hundreds on the most lavish, handmade costumes on the market today. Here are 10 of the most expensive Halloween costumes for your pets. 1. Upcycled Denim Studded Skull Jacket: $329 The typical U.S. consumer will spend a little over $74 on Halloween this year, according to The National Retail Federation . Of those celebrating, roughly 20 million will dress up their pets. For the heavy spenders among them, an upcycled denim-studded skull jacket from Etsy shop OrostaniCouture is an expensive albeit chic way to dress up pets. This handmade sleeveless jacket costs between $279 and $329, and features a flashy rhinestone-studded gold skull applique. The costume has a popped collar bejeweled with gold pyramid rivet studs and a trendy distressed design. While this skull jacket is undeniably adorable, it comes with a hefty price tag. In fact, for the same cost as this jacket, you can feed your cat ($115) and pay for its litter ($165) for an entire year, according to the ASPCA . That amounts to $280 every year, the starting price for this costume. 2. Maleficent Pet Costume: $150 If Disney's "Maleficent" is one of your favorite films, you can dress your pet up as the iconic villain. Etsy shop digginitdesigns has a handmade costume for small breeds available for $150. The set includes a set of horns, a textured suede choker and a pointed collar that attaches to a dress and cape. The dress features three rows of gathered ruffles, complete with a brocade trim. Snaps are included on the chest to dress your pet with ease and seamlessly attach the cape. Your pet will definitely make a splash at any Halloween party by showing up in a handmade "Maleficent" costume, but this is a large investment for most pet owners. The average cost of grooming a dog for an entire year is $190, according to the American Kennel Club , which isn't far off from the cost of this costume. 3. Roman Warrior Style Pet Costume: $150 Etsy Shop ElegantChienCouture sells a Roman warrior pet costume that starts at $85 for small dogs and goes up to $150 for large breeds. The handmade tunic is crafted from brown fabric lined with gold satin and includes an attached chest protector. A metallic gold faux leather belt cinches the costume, adding a sense of authenticity. A matching headpiece with gold leaves serves as the perfect finishing touch. Your pet is sure to make a splash with this costume, but think twice before purchasing it. For $50 more, you can spay or neuter a medium-sized dog. 4. Elsa "Frozen" Cat Costume: $130 Can't get enough of Disney's "Frozen"? Etsy shop RockinDogsCoolCats offers a made-to-order Elsa cat costume ranging in price from $99.95 to $129.95. The light aqua satin dress is fully lined and comes with a neckline trimmed in pearl and organza ribbon. The costume also comes with a long cape made from sheer aqua sequined organza and has a waistline with white bridal lace. 5. Lobster Paws Costume: $98 Dress up your large dog as a lobster this year with a Halloween costume by Casual Canine. This extra large costume is only for the biggest breeds and budgets. You can expect to pay $98 plus shipping for this costume. If your dog will be joining your family for trick-or-treating this year, this bright red outfit is sure to make him stand out among neighborhood pets. Watching your dog walk around dressed like a lobster is undeniably hilarious, but there are better ways to spend money. For $110, you can enroll your dog in training classes. Read: Rethinking Your Halloween Budget 6. Flying Monkey Dog Costume: $95 Channel "The Wizard of Oz" by dressing your dog up as a flying monkey. This made-to-order costume is offered by Etsy shop nomorenekkiddogs and costs $95. The fleece costume features wings that can be removed after Halloween, allowing your pet to use the costume as a pair of comfy pajamas during winter. While your dog will likely be the only one on the block dressed as a flying monkey, your money might be better spent elsewhere. For the price of this costume, you can afford a crate for a medium-sized dog which might be a more practical use of your money. 7. Sherlock Hound Dog Costume: $78 Give your dog a unique look this Halloween by dressing him as Sherlock Holmes. BaxterBoo on Etsy has a Sherlock Hound costume available for $77.50, and it's available in seven sizes. The costume set includes a plain and corduroy trench coat jacket, matching double-brimmed deerstalker detective cap and houndstooth cloak. It doesn't take a detective to know your dog would look cute in this getup, but at $78 this is no cheap costume. For $95, you can take your dog or cat on a Southwest flight during your next family vacation. 8. Iguana Pet Costume: $75 The Posh Puppy Boutique sells a dog iguana costume for $75. The costume is available in a number of sizes, ensuring it will fit pooches of all proportions. Prepare to pay $5 or $10 extra if you have a larger pet. For the same cost, you can opt for a year's worth of toys and treats for your dog, according to the ASPCA. 9. Royal Pet Costume: $75 Dress your pet as royalty with a made-to-order king, queen, prince or princess costume from Etsy shop PinklilyDoggieDesign. Prices for this full, floor-length gown crafted from faux suede vary, but start at $75. The robe is embellished with a metallic gold braid and genuine Swarovski rhinestones and two gold and rhinestone magnetic clasps. The costume also includes a lace crown that's decorated with Swarovski rhinestones. Your pet deserves to be treated like royalty, but buying this costume isn't the only way to do it. It costs an average of $55 per year to feed a small dog and $15 to purchase a license, which is still less than the cost of this outfit. 10. Light Up Unicorn Leather Browband: $75 Let your horse in on the Halloween fun by purchasing a Unicorn Illusion Browband from Etsy shop ThePaintedPonyTack. The fully-lined browbands cost $70 to $75 and are padded to keep your horse comfortable. Browbands come in a number of colors to match your horse's hair. Outfitting your horse as a unicorn will no doubt put a smile on your face, but it might not be the most practical expense. The average monthly cost of hay for a horse is $100 to $120, which isn't much more than this costume piece. | 4 | 95,593 | lifestyle |
Much like in the Caribbean, travelers in Mexico often opt for the all-inclusive experience. It takes a lot of the planning and guesswork out of vacationing if you know you'll be eating all meals at the property and can take advantage of numerous resort activities. But some hotels with all-inclusive packages can serve up less-than-stellar food, skimp on the quality and quantity of liquor, and hide fees for "extras" that aren't revealed until you're checking out. Luckily for you, we've visited hundreds of hotels in Mexico to sample the food, sleep in the beds, and take part in the programs offered to see how they stack up to the competition. Here, check out the 10 best resorts in Mexico for an all-inclusive getaway. Our picks provide awesome rates, packages, facilities, and amenities so you get plenty bang for your buck. 1. The Royal Hideaway Playacar, Playa del Carmen The Royal Hideaway is a member of exclusive hospitality consortium Leading Hotels of the World, and as such is one of the most luxurious properties in the area. It features upscale rooms with high-end amenities, a full-service spa with great treatments, several pools, and the best food around. The all-inclusive rate offers access to all the hotel's facilities, restaurants, and bars, plus 24-hour room service and non-motorized water sports. 2. Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen The Grand Velas set on over 80 acres of mangroves that meet a postcard-perfect beach of white sand and turquoise waters is one of Riviera Maya's most sophisticated properties. It features 491 top-notch suites spread out in three different buildings (two family-friendly, one adults-only), all with their own stunning pool complexes, gyms, and restaurants. All-inclusive rates include gourmet dining for all three meals, bar service at all pools and the beach, daily restocking of the minibar (including snacks), and access to fitness classes. 3. Excellence Playa Mujeres, Cancun The Excellence Playa Mujere s is an adults-only luxury resort offering a nice, all-inclusive experience with tons of variety multiple dining options, several beautiful pools, a gorgeous spa, and dozens of wonderful activities. The rooms here are large and contemporary, with spacious modern bathrooms, whirlpools, and high-end amenities such as big flat-screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, and iPod docks. Some have large rooftop terraces with private plunge pools looking out at the ocean. But note that the beach is less attractive than others farther south, and there are no attractions nearby. There are nine restaurants and 11 bars to choose from, and reservations are not required. 4. La Blanc Spa Resort, Cancun There is nothing ordinary about the 260-room Le Blanc Spa Resort : Everything from the wine lists to your workout has been tailored to be top-notch. It feels more South Beach chic than Cancun party, with a hip, gorgeous aesthetic throughout the entire pristine white property. The rooms are thoroughly modern and bright with minimalist decor and stunning ocean views, some with large whirlpool baths. But most of your time should be spent experiencing the top-of-the line spa, the chic restaurants (especially the stunningly designed Lumiere), and heavenly white-sand beach. 5. Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Resort and Spa, Cabo San Lucas The all-inclusive, adults-only Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Resort is a tranquil, upscale resort on a gorgeous beach. It feels removed and secluded from the Cabo nightlife, though it's only about a 10-minute drive away. Amenities are plentiful, there are two beautiful pools, tennis courts, five restaurants (including sushi and Italian options), five bars (no well liquor here; staff serves Absolut, Bacardi, and Cuervo 1800, along with over 50 other brands of liquor), a large fitness center, and a full-service spa with a sexy whirlpool and meditation labyrinth. All rooms have patios or balconies with ocean views. 6. Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun, Playa del Carmen The 291-room luxury Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun is an adults-only, all-inclusive resort halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Rooms are of moderate size, with elegant decor that includes four-poster canopy beds, furnished balconies or terraces, and jetted tubs. Guests at this outpost of the Secrets chain are granted Preferred status, with additional amenities and privileges that include premium liquor, concierge service (in rooms, on the beach, and by the pool), free Wi-Fi, and free international calls. On-site activities include water sports, games, language lessons, and beer tastings. 7. The Royal Playa del Carmen This adults-only, luxury, all-inclusive property with 507 rooms appeals to 20- and 30-something couples. A particular draw of The Royal is its proximity to the nightlife of downtown Playa del Carmen, especially bustling Fifth Avenue, which the party-oriented will appreciate. But the gorgeous stretch of beach and the sophisticated rooms with two-person jetted tubs means romance-minded couples will be pleased here as well. The range of features is, unsurprisingly, extensive, including seven restaurants and seven bars, an Olympic-sized pool, a wedding center, a spa, and daily entertainment. In terms of activities, guests have access to a tennis court, hydrotherapy zone, scuba center offering a free introductory lesson to each quest, and fitness center with a handful of machines. 8. Blue Diamond Riviera Maya by BlueBay, Playa del Carmen Blue Diamond Riviera Maya by BlueBay is an excellent option for couples looking for a more intimate and luxurious all-inclusive option, outside of the hustle of Cancun. The 4-1/2-pearl property is spread out over gorgeous grounds that are partially manicured and artistic, and partially jungle-like and wild, so the overall ambiance is natural and feels almost isolated. No kids allowed means the two swimming pools, sandy beach, and plethora of restaurants are generally quiet and relaxing. Adult-friendly facilities include a sleek spa (guests are free access to the steam room and pool), cigar lounge, and one of the best-equipped gyms in Mexico. Suites and casitas come standard with private outdoor bathtubs and minibars stocked with free drinks. 9. Grand Riviera Nayarit, Nuevo Vallarta This luxurious, 267-room, all-inclusive resort in Nuevo Vallarta is a sophisticated and serene option in the greater Puerto Vallarta area. Every room at Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit is a suite, offering extra living space, a balcony, ocean views, and luxurious touches such as Nespresso machines. The impressive features include an infinity pool with three levels overlooking the beach, a decadent spa with 20 treatment rooms, and four upscale (and pricey) restaurants. Room service is also available 24 hours a day, and the all-inclusive wine list is wider than guests might anticipate. There's little to fault here, except for the fee for Wi-Fi. 10. Marival Residences and World Spa, Nuevo Vallarta A half-hour drive from downtown Puerto Vallarta and a half mile from the beach, the Marival Residences and World Spa is not the place to go if you're in the mood for a beach-lounging, party-hopping Mexican getaway. It is, however, an ideal option for those seeking laid-back luxury, residential-style suites, modern amenities, and an impressive array of all-inclusive features. Comprised of 169 suites, penthouses, or private villas, ranging from one to four bedrooms (and all featuring spacious terraces with garden, pool, or ocean views), Marival Residences is an excellent choice for families and couples seeking a little sun-soaked spoiling. | 2 | 95,594 | travel |
You've got lots of friends and family and big aspirations for a perfect Thanksgiving feast - but you live in a small space. Don't fret! You can still be the holiday hostess with the mostest - if you follow our nine rules for small-space entertaining. Serve Welcome Cocktails You've got lots of friends and family and big aspirations for a perfect Thanksgiving feast - but you live in a small space. Don't fret! You can still be the holiday hostess with the mostest - if you follow our nine rules for small-space entertaining. Since everyone is forced to be up close and personal, lubricate the getting-to-know you process with a signature Thanksgiving-themed cocktail ready as guests arrive, like this pretty squash and sage-infused sipper . Have Food Ready to Go With so many people packed into your tiny place, there isn't room for you to be running around basting the turkey. Do as much food prep ahead of time as you can. You'll be more relaxed and you'll free up the kitchen, creating valuable square footage. Rearrange Your Furniture If you have a tiny dining area or no dining area at all, think outside the box when deciding where to eat. Make space in the living room by pushing furniture against the wall or removing it to make room for a table. If you have a spacious roof deck or big garage, you could serve Thanksgiving dinner there instead. Improvise Tables Look around your space with new eyes for anything that could be converted into a usable dining surface big enough to accommodate your Thanksgiving feast. Everything from kitchen carts to desks to discarded doors are fair game. Push everything together to form a big table and don't stress if they don't perfectly align. Alternatively, you can DIY yourself a table for the night with some collapsable saw horses and a sheet of sturdy plywood. Get Creative With Seating You can get fancy and rent matching fold-up chairs for the evening or you can make like the Pilgrims did four-hundred years ago and make due with what's around. Beds and sofas can be used like benches along the edge of a table. For dinners served atop low coffee tables, line the floor with pretty cushions for guests to sit on. If you're just a few seats short, consider borrowing from your neighbors or asking guests to bring their own. Beautify With Uniform Decor Pull the hodgepodge of mismatched tables and chairs together with matching table coverings. If you don't have a big enough tablecloth, a flat bed sheet or craft paper (bonus points for hand decorating it) are attractive and affordable alternatives. Create Ambiance Overhead With floor space at a premium and tables completely occupied with food, there's little surface space to decorate, but you can still create a festive holiday atmosphere by hanging decorations above. Turn off the harsh overheads and create a twinkling glow by hanging a strand of Christmas lights or share a holiday message by hanging a banner across the window. Decorate With Food You might have room to sneak a mini pumpkin or tiny gourd on the table, but your best bet for beautifying the table is to make food double as decoration. Artfully place cheese in the shape of a turkey and arrange sides with zest. Guests will admire them as they're passed around throughout the night. Embrace the Chaos Your makeshift dining room won't be perfect, but your cozy dinner party is bound to be fun. Guests won't remember that the tables didn't line up or that the chairs didn't match; they'll just remember the food they gobbled down and the wonderful company they shared, so accept the flaws and go with the flow. | 4 | 95,595 | lifestyle |
NAPA, Calif. Brendan Steele rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt, and then added two more birdies from about that range. It was a good start to the new PGA Tour season, and it did not get past the sarcastic humor wit of playing partner Steve Wheatcroft. Walking off the 15th green at Silverado, he said Wheatcroft told him, "Just hang in there. It's a long season. You'll make one eventually." It is a long season. Will MacKenzie hit the opening tee shot Thursday at the Frys.com Open (right rough), and someone will make the final putt 336 days from now at East Lake. Steele, meanwhile, made plenty of putts. He made nine birdies, missed one green and had no stress on his way to a 9-under 63 for a one-shot lead over Jhonattan Vegas. "As weird as it is to say, it was kind of a basic 63," he said. That was understandable looking at the scores, with about one-third of the field in the 60s. Vegas had a 64, while PGA Tour rookie Harold Varner III and Martin Laird were at 65. Laird had the lowest score from the afternoon. Rory McIlroy shot a 68. The opening day in the PGA Tour season used to feature a collection of winners because it used to begin at Kapalua with the Tournament of Champions. This is the third year of the new wraparound season that starts two weeks after the old season. So it was a wide mix of players at the top: CHOMPING AT THE BIT: Even though Steele played his last tournament only a month ago, he was eager to get started. He had some good results toward the end of the year, took a short break, started practicing and liked how his game felt. "In the pro-am yesterday I was like, 'We need to get this tournament going.' I hate it when I'm home and I feel really good," he said. "It's hard to keep it. I always say that your game is either coming or going, right? So when it's coming, you want to be in the right place." He was in the right place. Steele finished the back nine with five straight birdies, cooled slightly, and picked up two birdies on the front for a 63. A kind of basic 63. RORY'S BALANCE: McIlroy said the key to this week in wine country was keeping the right balance between playing well and enjoying himself off the course. He got a little of both on Thursday with a 68 in the morning and a planned excursion to the vineyards in the afternoon. His only regret on the golf course was not getting enough putts to fall, though five birdies for a 68 was a reasonable start. "Gave myself a lot of chances," McIlroy said. "I converted a few, but I'll need to hole a few more. I feel like this is a golf course that you can give yourself a lot of chances. If I can keep hitting the ball the way I am and just hole a few more, I'll be OK." BIG CHANCE: Vegas lost his card last year and failed to earn it back at the Web.com Tour Finals. He will have to rely on his limited status as a past champion and sponsor exemptions, like the one he got to the Frys.com Open. With an uncertain schedule, he was thrilled with his start. And then there's Scott Langley, who finished No. 127 in the FedEx Cup and has conditional status for players who were Nos. 126-150. He also was given an exemption and shot a 67. Asked if it was weighing on him that he needs to play well early in the year, Langley replied, "My hope is that I am playing out of that category one more week." BIG DIFFERENCE: Varner, who joins Tiger Woods as the only player of black heritage on the PGA Tour this year, had a good start thanks to a sensational finish. He closed out his 65 by going eagle-birdie-birdie. The biggest difference he noticed about the big leagues was the crowd not much by PGA Tour standards, but certainly a lot more than he saw on the Web.com Tour last year. "It's fun until you hit one too far left or right," Varner said. "I get a little nervous because there are people over there. Usually there is no one over there and I just go find it. But there are so many people, you might hit them. So it's good. Different experience. I guess you've just got to get used to it." BIG TRIP: Four players at the Frys.com Open were in South Korea for the Presidents Cup on Sunday, and none stood out. Chris Kirk, who holed the most important putt last week in the American victory, had a 72. So did Steven Bowditch, who won his singles match. The best score belonged to Hideki Matsuyama at 70. The low score of all the Presidents Cup men would have belonged to Charl Schwartzel. But he was penalized two shots for being late to the tee (he was inside the ropes but not at the tee), turning his 69 into a 71. | 1 | 95,596 | sports |
American Airlines said one of its flight was delayed for more than a hour by bees that were swarming under a plane wing when it was parked at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. There were no bees on the plane in the Wednesday incident, which was spotted by a service crew who saw the bees buzzing under the wing. The airline called in a local beekeeper to handle the bees so the plane from Las Vegas could turn around as a flight to Frankfurt, Germany. | 2 | 95,597 | travel |
As Jurgen Klopp bids to win his first game as Liverpool boss, who was the last Reds manager to manage the feat, and other facts ahead of this weekend's Premier League action. | 1 | 95,598 | sports |
It's safe to say that the team behind the sixth-gen 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS was a step ahead of me. A couple months ago I was running a Cadillac ATS-V hard up through the canyons of Malibu, California, tailing a BMW M3 and a Mercedes-AMG C63 S as part of a comparison test. I was having a blast in the twin-turbo V-6 monster but couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing: a V-8. It's safe to say that the team behind the sixth-gen 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS was a step ahead of me. Based on the lightweight Alpha platform bones of the Cadillac ATS but with a 1.4-inch wheelbase stretch, the new 2016 Camaro SS features the one thing the ATS-V lacked. Replacing the LS3 V-8 from the previous-generation Camaro is a Chevy small-block V-8, the new Corvette Stingray's LT1 6.2-liter V-8 making 455 hp and 455 lb-ft of torque a 29-hp and 35-lb-ft bump from the outgoing Camaro's LS3. In between that lovely V-8 and the rear wheels is a slick six-speed manual transmission; a fast-shifting eight-speed automatic is optional. Related Link: Research the Chevrolet Camaro With more horsepower and a curb weight down 214 pounds from the last Camaro SS we tested, the new 2016 Camaro SS put down some frighteningly quick numbers at the track. The acceleration run from 0 to 60 mph took just 4.0 seconds, and the quarter mile was through in 12.4 seconds at 114.6 mph. That's not only faster than the last Camaro SS 1LE we tested, but it also hangs with the 505-hp, 7.0-liter V-8-powered Camaro Z/28. A 2015 Camaro SS 1LE needed 4.4 seconds to hit 60 mph and 12.9 seconds to complete the quarter mile at 110.5 mph; the big, bad Z/28 also did 0-60 in 4 seconds flat and finished the quarter a nose before the 2016 Camaro SS in 12.3 seconds at 116.1 mph. The new Camaro SS has brakes, too; the standard Brembo stoppers brought the Chevy to a standstill in 104 feet from 60 mph. In addition to hanging with the previous-generation Camaro Z/28 in a straight line, the new Camaro SS can do a pretty good job keeping up through the corners. The 2016 Camaro SS rounded our figure eight in 24.1 seconds averaging 0.85 g, and the old Camaro Z/28 did it in 23.6 seconds at 0.89 g. Although the old race-ready Z/28 is certainly ahead of the new Camaro SS, don't forget that this is just the base V-8-powered Camaro; even more powerful (and better handling) Camaros are most certainly on their way. Outside the confines of the test track, the new Chevy Camaro SS drives a lot like a lighter Cadillac ATS-V. The LT1 V-8 makes great power throughout its rev range and sounds wonderful doing so. Not to take anything away from the ATS-V's 464-hp, twin-turbo V-6, but this is the engine the Cadillac ought to have. The powerband is so broad that you hardly need to shift the Camaro when running hard through the canyons, which is a shame because this six-speed manual is pretty fantastic. The gearbox is slick and precise with pedals perfectly placed for heel-toeing. Ride and handling are worlds better than the Camaro it replaces; steering is sharp, nicely weighted, and precise. And although prone to understeer at the limit, the Chevy is happy to hang the tail out with a dab of throttle. GM's magnetic shocks are available on the Camaro SS, but our tester, a base Camaro 1SS, didn't have the option. I can't imagine needing it, as the stock steel springs helped keep the Camaro flat through corners and rode very well. Although the new 2016 Camaro SS is worlds better than the version it replaced, one question remains: How does it stack up with the 2016 Ford Mustang GT, its archrival from Dearborn, Michigan? Stay tuned. 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS (1SS) BASE PRICE $37,295 PRICE AS TESTED $38,585 VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD, 4-pass, 2-door coupe ENGINE 6.2L/455-hp/455-lb-ft* OHV 16-valve V-8 TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 3,672 lb (54/46%) WHEELBASE 110.7 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 188.3 x 74.7 x 53.1 in 0-60 MPH 4.0 sec QUARTER MILE 12.4 sec @ 114.6 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 104 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 1.00 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 24.1 sec @ 0.85 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 14/26/18 mpg (est) ENERGY CONS., CITY/HWY 241/130 kW-hrs/100 miles (est) CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 1.10 lb/mile (est) *SAE Certified Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 95,599 | autos |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.