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Count down Friday's best top ten plays from the hardwood. | 1 | 96,800 | sports |
Mexican authorities have arrested three men in connection with the suspected murders of two Australian surfers, prosecutors said Friday. The surfer's burnt-out van was found with two unidentified bodies last month, but police have not confirmed that the remains belong to the Australians. The tourists, Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, were driving in a van in the violence-plagued northwestern state of Sinaloa when they were stopped by a gang, said chief state prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez. The suspects, whose car flashed police-like lights to stop the van, confessed to shooting a long-haired tourist in the face when he resisted a robbery on November 21. The robbers killed the second man, drove the vehicle to another location and "set fire to the van with two bodies inside," Higuera told reporters. The prosecutor stressed that while the case was being investigated as a murder, the identity of the two bodies has yet to be confirmed through DNA tests. Two other suspects are on the run. Prosecutors did not say when the arrests were made. "These people are part of a criminal group dedicated to vehicle thefts, drug dealing and with a history of committing murders," Higuera said. Municipal and federal police uniforms were seized from the suspects, who wore them to commit highway robberies, the prosecutor said. Lucas and Coleman, both 33, were last reported in the Sinaloa town of Topolobampo on November 20 after arriving on a ferry from the Baja California peninsula. The two men had driven from Edmonton, Canada and across the United States to Mexico to join Coleman's Mexican girlfriend in the western city of Guadalajara. Their van was discovered on November 21 on a rural road of the town of Navolato. Last weekend, authorities confirmed the vehicle belong to the Australians, raising fears about their fate. Navolato's mayor, Miguel Calderon, described the region as a "Bermuda Triangle" of crimes that include robberies, murders and kidnappings. Fundraising for parents More than $60,000 have been raised on the crowdfunding website www.gofundme.com to help the two men's parents travel to Mexico and bring their sons home. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop voiced "grave concerns" for the young men on Monday. The Australian foreign affairs department issued a statement on Sunday on behalf of the families saying that they were aware of reports that the van had been located and that "a tragic event has occurred." "The families hold deep fears for the safety of their sons but stress that they are still waiting for details to be confirmed," the statement said. The state is home to the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel led by fugitive drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who broke out of a maximum security prison in July. While tens of thousands of Mexicans have been killed or gone missing in nearly a decade of drug violence, violent attacks on foreign tourists are less common. In July 2014, the decomposing body of Franco-American Harry Devert was found with signs of strangulation in the southwestern state of Guerrero, six months after he went missing while crossing the country on a motorcycle. He had traveled from New York, hoping to reach Brazil for the World Cup. | 5 | 96,801 | news |
The Hawks defeated the Lakers 100-87 on Friday. Jeff Teague had 13 points for Atlanta in the win. Kobe Bryant netted 14 in the loss. | 1 | 96,802 | sports |
NASSAU, Bahamas What if Jordan Spieth could win only one tournament next year? He wasted no time with his answer. "The Masters," he said. That's true for a lot of players. However, Spieth already has a green jacket from his record-tying performance at Augusta National this year. It would seem he would prefer to win the British Open or the PGA Championship to get closer to the career Grand Slam. Or maybe even a gold medal from the Olympics because that only comes around once every four years, and for golf once in more than a century. Nope. He wants the Masters. "I wasn't lying to you guys every time you ask me the one tournament I ever wanted to win," he said. "If I could win one event in my whole life, it's the Masters." He was reminded again he had already done that. And the 22-year-old just smiled. "I know," he said. "It was fun." For now, he wouldn't mind another repeat victory in the Hero World Challenge. Spieth took a step in that direction Friday when he recovered from a rugged start and posted a 6-under 66 to share the lead with Jimmy Walker and Bill Haas going into the weekend at Albany Golf Club. And this is fun, too, even if it doesn't always show. Yes, he's in the Bahamas. But on the golf course, he might as well be at Augusta National. He still gets irritated at his misses. He still tries to make everything. And he still talks to his golf ball. Consider a delicate flop shot he tried to play from short of the 14th green on Thursday. "Nope," he said when the ball came off the club. "Get lucky." And he was, as the ball trickled onto the green. Spieth, Walker (67) and Haas (66) were at 11-under 133. That's the same 36-hole score Spieth had last year at Isleworth in this tournament, when he took a two-shot lead over Henrik Stenson into the weekend, added rounds of 63-66 and won by 10 shots. It might not be so easy this time. CROWDED AT THE TOP: For one brief moment Friday, there was a seven-way tie for the lead. When the second round was over, there was a trio at the top and another trio right behind them. Patrick Reed and Chris Kirk tied the course record with a 65 and Bubba Watson had a 67 to finish one shot out of the lead. The Hero World Challenge features an 18-man field. Half of them were within three shots of the lead. SPIETH'S RECOVERY: Spieth had one chip roll back to his feet that led to bogey on the par-5 third. His tee shot on the par-3 fifth took a hard bounce and led to another bogey. That put him at 1 over for the round through five holes, and a little frustration. He said to his caddie going to the sixth tee, "Everything feels awesome, I'm just not scoring." Michael Greller's reply: Hang in there and make sure there are plenty of birdie chances. Spieth birdied the next three holes. He made a long eagle putt on No. 11 and two more birdies. All was well. WALKER'S PROGRESS: Walker was ready to shut it down for the year after Las Vegas when he was asked to fill in for Billy Horschel in the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. Big mistake. He missed the cut by two shots, extending five months of sub-standard play. It was enough for him to agree with Butch Harmon's suggestion of moving his head at impact (think David Duval, just not as pronounced), and he began making the change a week ago Sunday. So far, so good. He drove the ball as well as he has all year and shot 67 and was tied for the lead. "It's still something I have to work on," he said. "But it's fun." CARD OF THE DAY: Billy Horschel ordinarily would take a scorecard of eight birdies and no bogeys. Two problems. A double bogey on the par-3 second hole, and a quadruple-bogey 9 on the par-5 11th. "This round today is very much how my year went," Horschel said with a grin. WEATHER: Clouds gathered and rain appeared to be moving in fast. J.B. Holmes finished his round and headed straight for the practice range. Halfway there, he felt the cool wind of a front coming through, looked at the clouds and an empty range, and instead decided to go for lunch. The forecast is for thunderstorms Saturday afternoon, so the tee times have been moved forward with hopes of finishing by 2:30 p.m. local time. Good weather at Albany means good scores. For the second straight day, Hideki Matsuyama was the only player over par. He shot 73. | 1 | 96,803 | sports |
Iraq calls on Turkey to "immediately" withdraw forces, including tanks and artillery, it has deployed in the country's north without Baghdad's consent, the premier's office said on Saturday. "The Iraqi authorities call on Turkey to... immediately withdraw from Iraqi territory," the statement said. "We have confirmation that Turkish forces, numbering about one armoured regiment with a number of tanks and artillery, entered Iraqi territory... allegedly to train Iraqi groups, without a request or authorisation from Iraqi federal authorities," it said. The deployment "is considered a serious violation of Iraqi sovereignty," it added. Turkish media reported that around 150 Turkish soldiers backed by 20 to 25 tanks had been sent by road to the Bashiqa area northeast of Mosul, the city that is the Islamic State jihadist group's main hub in Iraq. Peshmerga forces from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region are deployed in the area, and Turkey's Anatolia news agency said the troops were there to train them. IS overran swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad last year, and Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes are battling to drive the jihadists back. The peshmerga are one of the most effective Iraqi forces in the anti-IS fight, but coordination between them and the federal government in Baghdad has generally been poor. | 5 | 96,804 | news |
When we drove the 2014 Subaru Impreza during our last compact hatchback comparison , we noted it performed particularly well in terms of cabin space, safety, and cost of ownership. For the 2015 model year, the hatch gains a few more attributes that help it stand out from the pack. Along with updated styling, the Impreza adds a rearview camera as standard across all trim levels. With the new offering, the Impreza joins the Ford Focus, Mazda3, Hyundai Veloster, and Scion iM among the growing list of small hatches that already offer a rearview camera as standard. For 2015, Subaru has also tweaked the Lineartronic CVT so it acts a bit more like a traditional automatic, giving it a more natural stepped shifting rhythm. Research the Subaru Impreza on MSN Autos Interested in seeing a preview of the 2017 Subaru Impreza? Check out the newly revealed Subaru Impreza Sedan concept here , or the Subaru Impreza 5-Door concept here . Pre-collision braking is one of the many features in the newly available EyeSight system, which helps the model earn an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award for 2015. The Impreza is currently the only small non-luxury passenger car, other than the WRX, to receive the highest rating of Superior in front crash prevention technology from the agency. In IIHS tests, it was able to avoid a crash when traveling at speeds of 12 mph and at 25 mph. On the road, we only got so far as testing the lane departure warning system, which gently but accurately lets you know when you're going beyond the bounds of your lane. But how fast is the car? In our tests, the Impreza hit 60 mph in a languishing 9.9 seconds. That's quite a bit slower than the 2015 Kia Forte5 we tested at 6.9 seconds, the 2015 Volkswagen Golf at 7.8 seconds, and the 2014 Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra GT, which each hit 8.4 seconds. In braking tests, the Impreza came to a stop from 60 mph in 119 feet, which is farther than the 105 feet it took the Ford Focus to accomplish the task. Meanwhile, the Forte5 managed to stop in 110 feet, and the VW Golf came in at a comparable 117 feet. In our initial drives, the Impreza produced a laboring noise from its engine during highway speeds. It also didn't absorb much road noise, so we were curious how would it perform on a sound test. When cruising down a very smooth road at 60 mph, we measured 19.1 sones in the Impreza. To put that in perspective, a representative sone spec for a relatively quiet, non-luxury car on that same road is about 15 sones, based on data from cars we've tested. At higher speeds, the Impreza becomes noticeably louder, of course. At wide-open throttle to 70 mph (real highway speeds), the car averages 28.2 sones, which is a whopping 48 percent louder than when traveling at 60 mph. At the higher speed, it emits a particularly gruff, flat engine noise. To its merit, the compact hatch handles and steers well and feels balanced in the city and on the highway. In most driving situations, it's easy to hear and feel the car follow every sinew of the road. You can also feel noticeable shifting movements in the transmission, giving it a distinctly mechanical appeal. Its 148 hp is just enough to pass other cars on the highway, but don't expect to perform any acrobatics. Slow and safe, the Impreza might seem like the perfect car for a young driver. But those who want that trusty EyeSight system will have to pay a bit more, as it is only available as an option on the Limited and Sport Limited trims. Other features on our top-of-the-line Sport Limited model include leather-trimmed upholstery, satellite radio, an upgraded 7-inch touchscreen with smartphone swiping and scrolling capabilities, and steering-responsive foglights that improve illumination on curvy roads. Still, we'd see consumers being satisfied with lower-trim Imprezas were it not for the compelling EyeSight system. Considering its below average acceleration, we think the standard all-wheel-drive Impreza best serves drivers in snowy states or those hell-bent on an affordable hatch with automatic braking. Either way, the current model is on its way out, and Subaru will start making room for the next-gen 2017 Impreza . That model will sit on a new platform and feature an upgraded 2.0-liter boxer-four engine. 2015 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Limited Sport BASE PRICE $24,090 PRICE AS TESTED $26,885 VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door hatchback ENGINE 2.0L/148-hp/145-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve flat-4 TRANSMISSION Cont. variable auto CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 3,161 lb (60/40%) WHEELBASE 174.0 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 180.5 x 68.5 x 57.7 in 0-60 MPH 9.9 sec QUARTER MILE 17.5 sec @ 81.3 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 119 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.82 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 27.8 sec @ 0.60 g (avg) EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 27/36/31 mpg ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY 125/94 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 0.64 lb/mile Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 96,805 | autos |
Alex Kaufman weighs in on Mark Zuckerberg's incredible pledge and explores whether or not that the best use of his money. | 8 | 96,806 | video |
Matt Read scored in overtime to give the Flyers the 4-3 win over the Devils Friday. Philadelphia has now won four straight games. | 1 | 96,807 | sports |
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) Katie Holmes sings, dances and is even making her directorial debut, but the actress admits she's not much of an art collector and was eager to explore Art Basel Miami Beach for the first time. Holmes walked the red carpet for a party toasting her Ocean Drive magazine cover at a private home on South Beach on Friday night. "I really appreciate art," said Holmes, who said she follows Jose Parla on Instagram and is friends with the photographer who goes by JR. She's also a fan of Cy Twombly. "I have a toe in the art world." She also enjoys painting with Suri, her 9-year-old daughter with ex-husband Tom Cruise, but says dismissively "it's just a hobby. We just have fun." Holmes, who wore a red Azzedine Alaia dress and Manolo Blahnik heels, was among dozens of celebrities who descended on the prestigious art fair this week, including rocker Lenny Kravitz, who unveiled a photo exhibit, Alicia Keys, Eva Longoria, Ricky Martin and Leonardo DiCaprio. In February, Holmes will star in the upcoming movie "Touched With Fire" produced by Spike Lee. "It's a love story between two people that are afflicted with bipolar disorder so it was an undertaking ...Christine Lahti played my mother, which was incredible." She'll also reprise her role as Jacqueline Kennedy and take a turn directing in the Reelz Channel miniseries "The Kennedys: After Camelot," which also stars Greg Kinnear. "Hopefully you just get better every time you do it," she said of her recent directing gigs, which includes the upcoming movie "All We Had." The actress, who is known for being a fiercely private, yet down-to-earth New Yorker who frequents the subway, appears untouched by the Hollywood limelight. "Hollywood is a business so if you approach it like that ... it's a business. That's all." Holmes, who is the youngest of five siblings, said she'll go home to Ohio for the holidays, where she has lots of nieces and nephews to play with. "We'll probably be making a lot of Christmas cookies," and playing board games, said Holmes is a fan of the old-school games Pictionary and Scattergories. "I always love the New Year because it's the calm after the holidays." | 5 | 96,808 | news |
Click through the slideshow above to see the countries spending the most on health. Globally, health care spending has increased dramatically since 1980. However, while health care spending increased faster than the economic growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it slowed with the onset of the recession in 2009. Based on a recent report, the countries spending the most on health care today allocate between 8.9% and 16.4% of their total gross domestic product (GDP) to health care costs. Based on "Health at a Glance 2015" from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 24/7 Wall St. reviewed annual per capita health care expenditures in countries around the world. The United States spends about $8,713 per person on health care annually, by far the most of any country in the world. By contrast, many countries, including Turkey and India, spend less than $1,000 on health care per person annually. Health care expenditures cover a wide range of areas, from medical practitioner salaries and costly medical procedures, to pharmaceutical products and hospital administration. Each of these areas also call for varying amounts of resources. Pharmaceutical costs are a major component of overall spending. According to the report, OECD nations spent a combined $800 billion on pharmaceuticals alone in 2013, or about 20% of all health spending. The number of doctors and nurses grew since 2000 in nearly all OECD countries, but the countries adding these medial positions the fastest were not necessarily the biggest spenders. Only one of the top 10 countries for health spending added these jobs significantly faster than the OECD average. This is likely because the countries spending the most on health care have had large numbers of doctors and nurses for some time. The concentration of practising nurses exceeded the OECD average in all of the 10 countries spending the most on health except for Austria one of the countries adding medical professionals the fastest. In Switzerland, there are over 17 nurses per 1,000 citizens, the most worldwide. All of the 10 countries on the list spend at least 8.9% of their total GDP on health care. The difference, however, between the No. 1 spender, the United States, and the No. 10 spender, Canada, is quite large. Canada spent 10.2% of its GDP on health care in 2013, which amounted to $4,351 per person, while the United States spent 16.4% of its GDP that year, amounting to $8,713 per person. According to Francesca Colombo, head of the health division at the OECD, "Higher health sector prices explain much of the difference between the U.S. and other high-spending countries." She added that the health care system in the United States is also fragmented and overly complex, with a larger share of uninsured individuals than is common among developed countries. While every country on the list has near universal health care coverage, only 88.5% of Americans are insured. However, under the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. uninsured rate is on the decline. People living in the countries with the highest health spending also tend to have better health outcomes. For example, of the 10 countries spending the most on health care, seven have a lower infant mortality rate than the OECD average. Similarly, all but two countries on the list have a higher life expectancy than the OECD average of 80.5 years. However, the relationship between spending and outcomes, and what causes good health is far from straightforward. A number of behavioral and lifestyle factors have a major influence on health outcomes. Colombo explained that "factors outside the health sector," including nutrition, alcohol consumption, and smoking "are important determinants of health outcomes." Though the United States spends far more on health care than any other nation, life expectancy of the average American is only 78.8 years, lower than the OECD average and the lowest among the top spending nations. Lifestyle choices in the country may be partially to blame. Slightly more than 35% of American adults are obese, a higher share than in any of the 43 countries the OECD reviewed. To identify the countries spending the most on health care, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2013 health expenditures per capita in 43 nations from the OECD's "Health at a Glance 2015" report. The report compared the health status and health systems in OECD countries and a number of non-OECD countries, including China, Russia, and Brazil. Yearly health care spending data from 1980, life expectancy, infant mortality, smoking rates, alcohol and fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as obesity rates all came from the report. Medical practitioners such as doctors and nurses, as well as the number of hospital beds and average duration of hospital visits, also came from the OECD. GDP figures came from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). More on 24/7 Wall St. The Drunkest City in Each State 10 Brands That Will Disappear in 2016 The 10 Most Profitable Companies in the World | 3 | 96,809 | finance |
One of the San Bernadino shooters reportedly had contact with people connected to at least two foreign terrorist organizations before the couple opened fire in an office building Wednesday, killing 14 people. The Los Angeles Times reported Friday, citing an anonymous federal law enforcement official, Farook was in contact with members of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front and the African extremist group Al-Shabaab. The official told the Times "some type" of contact between Farook and the terror groups, but it was unclear what kind of contact the parties had. The report of Farook's potential ties to terror groups comes after Fox News confirmed that Farook's wife, Tashfeen Malik, had pledged her allegiance to the Islamic State as the morning began. She and her husband were killed hours later in a shootout with police just two miles away. Those developments confirmed the suspicions of many, and left it obvious, that Malik, at least, was driven by radical Islam. Malik pledged her allegiance to ISIS leader and self-proclaimed "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook, and was confirmed by an official of the social networking website. They said she posted the pledge just before she and Farook stormed a San Bernadino party for his co-workers before escaping. The 29-year-old Pakistani woman has remained largely a named without a face until the FBI released a picture of her early Saturday. "Usually it's ISIS supporters trying to radicalize young girls online as they try to find new wives, but this may be the first case I know of where the opposite happened," said Ryan Mauro, a national security analyst for Clarion Project, which tracks international terrorism. Authorities told the Los Angeles Times authorities in Pakistan are investigating whether Malik had ties to radical Islamist organizations. There have been reports Farook had ties to radicals in Pakistan and had a trip made there in recent years, but a source connected to the Pakistani Consulate in Los Angeles told Fox News Friday that he didn't possess a Pakistani passport and there is no record of him applying for a visa to travel to Pakistan through his local consulate. That didn't preclude the possibility that he may have entered the country illegally of obtained a visa overseas or elsewhere. The FBI acknowledged Friday that it is treating the investigation into the massacre in San Bernadino as an act of terrorism. FBI Director James Comey affirmed the bureau's LA office's characterization earlier Friday. "This is now a federal terrorism investigation," Comey said, alluding to evidence collected from electronic devices and reports that Farook and Malik may have been sympathetic to radical terrorist groups prior to the attack. David Bowdich, the assistant FBI director in charge of the Los Angeles office, told reporters in a Friday afternoon news conference before Comey's announcement the agency was investigating the attack as an act of terrorism "for good reason." Bowdich, who said neither of the two were on law enforcement's radar prior to the attack, cited several factors for the focus on terrorism, including "extensive planning" that went into the attack. The pair attempted to cover up their digital trail, damaging hard drives and other electronic devices, Bowdich said. Investigators did find two cell phones recovered from trash cans near the couple's Redlands home, and recovered evidence of communications with others who are now being investigated. "They tried to wipe out their digital fingerprints," he said, adding that digital communications will likely provide further substantiation of the motive, but "it's not a three-day process." Though little information continues to trickle in about Malik, a large part of her life remains a mystery. A leader of the area's Pakistani-American Muslim community said has "no presence on the Internet or having interacted with others in the Muslim community." Malik and Farook married in the summer of 2014 in Riverside County, Calif., according to their marriage license. The marriage and passage of criminal and national security background checks using FBI and Department of Homeland Security databases resulted in a conditional green card for Malik in July 2015, two months after she gave birth to their baby daughter. Farook is a third-generation American from a family hailing from Karachi. Sources close to his family insisted that his marriage to Malik was not arranged. He told co-workers, who hosted a baby shower for him and his wife earlier this year, that Malik was a pharmacist. The California Board of Pharmacy has no record of her working as either a pharmacist or a pharmacist's assistant. Farook was described as a devout Muslim who prayed every day and recently memorized the Koran, according to brothers Nizaam and Rahemaan Ali. Rahemaan Ali said he last saw Farook three weeks ago, when he abruptly stopped going to the mosque. Ali said Farook seemed happy and his usual self, and the brothers never saw a violent side. Prior to their marriage, Farook had multiple online dating profiles claiming he was a Sunni Muslim from a "religious but modern family" and that he was "looking for a girl who has the same outlook, wear hijab, but live life to the fullest, be my partner for snowboarding, to go out and eat with friends, go camping, working on cars with me." Farook was remembered as reserved by co-workers, who said he had grown his beard out in recent months often a sign among Muslims of heightened religious devotion. He also had gotten into several heated arguments with a co-worker, Nicholas Thalasinos, about Islam. Thalasinos reportedly questioned whether Farook's faith was truly a "religion of peace." He was one of the 14 killed in Wednesday's attack. Neither Malik nor Farook had a criminal record, and the couple did not mix with the larger Pakistani-American community, and few people claim to have seen, let alone met, Malik, including neighbors. The Pakistani-American Muslim community leader, who asked that his name not be used, said the community believes is clear that someone radicalized Farook. "This event has shaken everyone," said the source. "The fact that Syed and his wife seemed to be so removed from the community and no one really knows much about him or his wife at all can often be a key indicator something is wrong." Fox News Channel's Matthew Dean, Adam Housley and Hollie McKay and The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 5 | 96,810 | news |
Palestinians are getting ready for the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem where, according with biblical traditions, Jesus Christ was born, amid a surge of violence and tensions between Palestinians and Israelis. | 8 | 96,811 | video |
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was full of surprises. But the name of the winner of the 2015 Sprint NMPA Most Popular Driver Award, announced Friday night during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards banquet at the Wynn in Las Vegas, wasn't one of them. As fully expected by pretty much everyone in attendance and watching on television, Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the honor for the 13th consecutive year. Only NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott has won the award more times than Earnhardt Jr., having earned it a record 16 times. Elliott, in fact, was the last driver besides Earnhardt Jr. to win the award, having done so in 2002. As always, Earnhardt thanked the many fans who voted for him -- most of whom no doubt are proud, card-carrying members of Junior Nation. "I'm humbled," he said. "This award is for Junior Nation." It helped that for the second season in a row that Earnhardt and his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team gave his fans plenty to cheer about. He won three times, including in the spring at Talladega, where he went to Victory Lane for the sixth time in his career but for the first time since 2004. Working with first-year Cup crew chief Greg Ives, Earnhardt also won at Daytona in July and at Phoenix just last month. Earnhardt ended up 12th in the final points standings after getting eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup. But his total of seven wins over the last two seasons nonetheless seems to have re-energized both the driver and his obviously massive fan base. It was after his win in the Daytona 500 in February 2014 that Earnhardt joined Twitter, with his first tweet a photo he snapped of himself in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. He now has more than 1.17 million followers -- up from 800,000 at the time of the end-of-season banquet a year ago and yet another sign of his seemingly ever-expanding popularity. Earnhardt closed his brief speech Friday by displaying his wry sense of humor, joking with Joey Logano about how the crowd cheered after Matt Kenseth wrecked Logano at Martinsville Speedway during the Chase for the Sprint Cup. "I never take this award for granted," Earnhardt said. "There was that one time during the year when I thought Matt Kenseth had it wrapped up. Y'all saw the grandstands at Martinsville! I'm sorry, Joey, that's mean." True to form, he then thanked Logano for recently making a $10,000 donation to the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Foundation, after the good-natured Earnhardt gave the beleagured Logano a plane ride to the race at Phoenix last month. "Joey's a really nice guy. He needed a ride to Phoenix, so he called me up," Earnhardt said. "He was in a bind. I let him on the plane and took him to Phoenix, and Monday morning he had a $10,000 donation (made) to our foundation. So, that says a lot about Joey Logano. "But in all seriousness, I'm humbled by this award." | 1 | 96,812 | sports |
Red shift David Price is introduced by Red Sox owner John Henry, left, and Chairman Tom Werner during his introductory press conference at Fenway Park on Friday in Boston, Massachusetts. Dashing through the snow Lindsey Vonn of the United States takes the 1st place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Downhill on Friday in Lake Louise, Canada. Still admired Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers waves to fans after their 100-87 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on Friday in Atlanta, Georgia. Mayweather in Moscow U.S. boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. demonstrates his movements at a boxing event in Moscow, Russia, on Friday. Mayweather took part in a massive open training session inviting hundreds of boxing fans to attend. Setting goals Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban and Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain pose with the SEC trophy between the SEC coaches press conference on Friday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Can't take it away Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives as New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) defends during the first quarter of a game on Friday at the Smoothie King Center. Making a move World chess champion Magnus Carlsen makes a move against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in an opening game at the London Chess Classic tournament on Friday in London, England. Tall order Northwestern State guard Jackie Perez (14) drives past Baylor forward Justis Szczepanski (11) on Friday in Waco, Texas. White water challenge Netherland team (L) competes against Australia team (R) in the H2H Men Open race during the 2015 World Rafting Championships at Citarik River on Friday in Sukabumi, Indonesia. Eyeing the puck St. Louis Blues right wing Dmitrij Jaskin (23) and New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo (21) compete for the puck in New York on Friday. Harden scores high Dallas Mavericks guard Raymond Felton (2) guards Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) on Friday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Rockets defeated the Mavericks 100-96. Harden led his team with 25 points. Chasing powder Cornelia Huetter of Austria during the women's downhill race in the FIS alpine skiing World Cup on Friday at Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta, Canada. In the Christmas spirit Lian Taylor, 2, right, of Bayonne, N.J., sits on the lap of New York Jets center Nick Mangold posing as Santa Claus during the team's holiday party for military families on Friday in Florham Park, N.J. The event, hosted by the Atlantic Health Jets Women's Organization, honored 18 military families. A Piston dunk Andre Drummond #0 of the Detroit Pistons goes up for a dunk against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. Pistons won 102-95. Surging ahead Sarah Henry swims the freestyle leg during a preliminary race in the U.S. Winter Nationals swimming event on Friday in Federal Way, Wash. In the thick of it Sergio Garcia of Spain plays a shot during round two of the Ho Tram Open at The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip on Friday in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Sabres shoot past the Coyotes Buffalo Sabres left wing Johan Larsson (22) skates in on a breakaway against Arizona Coyotes goalie Mike Smith (41) during the second period on Friday at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, NY. Dirt leap A general view as runners clear the open ditch in front of the grandstands at Sandown racecourse on Friday in Esher, England. Flying high Samford guard Christen Cunningham (00) shoots over Texas guard Javan Felix (3) on Friday in Austin, Texas. Texas won 59-49. Air suspension Niklas Mattsson of Sweden competes during the Air + Style Beijing 2015 Snowboard World Cup at Beijing National Stadium on Friday in Beijing, China. Perfect timing Swimmers leap backwards as they begin the men's 100 meter backstroke during a preliminary race in the U.S. Winter Nationals swimming event on Friday in Federal Way, Wash. World turned upside down Toru Shishime of Japan (blue) throws Felipe Kitadai of Brazil for a ippon in the Men's 60kg bronze medal match at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Friday in Tokyo. Fun in the haze FC Spartak Moscow fans light flares during the Russian Premier League match between FC Spartak Moscow and FC Krylia Sovetov Samara at the Arena Otkritie Stadium on Friday in Moscow, Russia. Rugby's dad Players from Jedburgh and Workington compete in a series of Hand Ba' matches during the 200th anniversary Re-enactment of the historic Carterhaugh Ba' Game of 1815 at Bowhill on Friday in Selkirk, Scotland. The game of 1815 organised by Sir Walter Scott, James Hogg and the fourth Duke, could be the forebear of rugby. In one historical account it is suggested the ball was picked up and thrown between teammates, eight years before Rugby was first played at Rugby School. Falling over Mike Haley of Sale falls over team mate Neil Briggs as they try and gather the loose ball during the Aviva Premiership match between Gloucester and Sale Sharks at Kingsholm on Friday in Gloucester, England. No pushing please Brook Lopez #11 of the Brooklyn Nets and Kristaps Porzingis #6 of the New York Knicks battle for the ball during their game at Madison Square Garden on Friday in New York City. Cool fans Maryland fans dressed as penguins cheer during a game between Maryland and St. Francis on Friday in College Park, Md. Cutting away Manuel Brunet of Argentina vies with Dan Shingles of Great Britain during the match between Great Britain and Argentina on day eight of The Hero Hockey League World Final at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Hockey Stadium on Friday in Raipur, India. Vonn wins Second place finisher Cornelia Huetter of Austria (left) and first place finisher Lindsey Vonn of the United States (middle) and third place finisher Ramona Siebenhofer of Austria (right) take the podium during the women's downhill race in the FIS alpine skiing World Cup on Friday at Lake Louise Ski Resort in Alberta, Canada. Meet the boss Baylor Bears mascot performs with cheerleaders during the second half against the Northwestern State Lady Demons on Friday at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. That's definitely in Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores against Nice's goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale on Friday at the 'Allianz Riviera' stadium in Nice, France. I'm the man Kyle Busch, with his wife, Samantha, and son, Brexton, attend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto racing awards on Friday in Las Vegas. | 1 | 96,813 | sports |
ZURICH FIFA vice presidents Juan Angel Napout and Alfredo Hawit have been banned from soccer after being indicted on bribery and racketeering charges. The FIFA ethics committee says judge Joachim Eckert applied the provisional bans, which were requested by ethics prosecutor Cornel Borbely. Napout, the president of the South American confederation CONCACAF, and Hawit, president of North and Central American and Caribbean body CONCACAF, were arrested in pre-dawn raids at a Zurich hotel on Thursday. They were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly taking millions of dollars in bribes from television and marketing rights. Napout, from Paraguay, and Hawit, from Honduras, are resisting extradition to the U.S. while being detained in Zurich-area jails. The FIFA ethics bans are routine for officials indicted in the sweeping American investigation. CONCACAF's executive committee also provisionally banned Hawit along with six others who were indicted. Among them was Rafael Callejas, Honduras' president from 1990-94 and a current member of FIFA's television and marketing committee, and Hector Trujillo, a judge on Guatemala's Constitutional Court who is general secretary of Guatemala's soccer federation. Trujillo was arrested Friday aboard a cruise ship at Port Canaveral, Florida. Others banned provisionally by CONCACAF: Ariel Alvarado a current member of FIFA's disciplinary committee who was the president of Panama's soccer federation from 2004-12; Brayan Jimenez, president of Guatemala's soccer federation; Rafael Salguero, a former president of Guatemala's soccer federation and a member of FIFA's executive committee until ast May; and Reynaldo Vasquez, a former president of El Salvador's soccer federation. Also Friday, a lawyer for former Brazilian soccer federation president Jose Maria Marin, who was indicted in May, said his client has deposited a total of $1 million bail with the clerk of the federal court in Brooklyn, New York. The court said Friday it had received the final $230,000. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie, lawyer Charles A. Stillman said Marin hopes to obtain a $2 million surety bond, the final item of collateral, in the next week. Guatemalan prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Jimenez. | 1 | 96,814 | sports |
A Norwegian newspaper accidentally printed Santa Claus ' obituary, announcing the jolly bringer of toys died mere weeks before he was to turn 227 years old. According to the BBC , Aftenposten one of the biggest newspapers in Norway posted an obituary announcing that Father Christmas, who was born December 12th 1788, died on Thursday in Nordkapp, Norway. The obituary notes that funeral services will be held at the "North Pole Chapel" on December 28th (which, really, misses the mark by about three days, but whatever). After the paper found out about its mistake, it took down the obituary and said, "Aftenposten has strict guidelines for both the content and use of symbols in our obituaries. This ad is a violation of these and should never have been published." They're looking into what happened. At press time there was no comment on the status of Santa Claus, but a group of private investigators is looking into the matter. [h/t TIME ] [ image via screengrab ] Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac | 5 | 96,815 | news |
Nearly three decades have passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers played in a World Series. Friday, at least they provided their fans with a great moment in actuarial science: Turns out, a 36-year-old Zack Greinke is worth $31 million ... but the 37-year-old version is not. That's what the Dodgers communicated by offering Greinke, now 32, a five-year contract worth about $155 million, per Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. In total guarantee, the Dodgers fell $51.5 million short of the six-year, $206.5 million deal Greinke ultimately received from the Arizona Diamondbacks, as first reported by our Ken Rosenthal . Clearly, the Dodgers wanted Greinke back. They offered him an extraordinary amount of money. But by allowing the division rival Diamondbacks to outbid them by such a wide margin despite Arizona's drawing 20,000 fewer fans per home game this year the Dodgers invited a fresh round of questions about the year-old Andrew Friedman/Farhan Zaidi administration. The same team that committed $62.5 million to Cuban infielder Hector Olivera in May only to treat his $28 million signing bonus as a sunk cost in trading him two months later now has drawn a hard line on a decision that won't significantly impact its payroll for another six years. Thus, the Dodgers are certain to arrive at next week's winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, as the most scrutinized team in the sport. It's unfair to say Friedman and Zaidi have returned to the small-market methodologies they practiced in Tampa Bay and Oakland. The Dodgers' payroll this year was the largest in North American pro sports history $316.6 million, according to spotrac.com even if former general manager Ned Colletti was responsible for most of it. Right now, the Dodgers have the largest 2016 payroll commitment of any major-league franchise. But with Greinke, the Dodgers chose the wrong moment to exercise restraint. Large-market franchises aren't supposed to lose superstars in the way that the Dodgers lost Greinke. Now they're back in the marketplace, looking for someone exactly like the player who just left: an elite pitcher who excels in large markets and during the postseason. The Dodgers' financial frustrations to the extent that they have any have resulted from mediocre and/or injury-prone players being paid like stars. Greinke, though, is a superstar whose performance and paychecks have been commensurate with one another. Judging by ERA+, Greinke has been the majors' second-best pitcher over the past three seasons behind his now former teammate, Clayton Kershaw. By that measure, at least, the Dodgers are destined to replace Greinke with an inferior pitcher even if it's by a narrow margin. Johnny Cueto, who ranked third behind Kershaw and Greinke in ERA+, is a free agent and among the possible additions. But now the representatives for Cueto and other free-agent starters are in position to take advantage of the Dodgers' apparent desperation. Without Greinke the Dodgers have only two pitchers, Kershaw and Brett Anderson, who started in October's playoff series against the New York Mets, and 2016 will represent Anderson's bid for a second consecutive healthy season something he's never done in the major leagues. And it's not as if Greinke's departure is the only issue before Friedman and Zaidi at this crucial juncture of their tenures in LA. They need a starting second baseman. They need a setup reliever, possibly two. They need an answer on what to do with Yasiel Puig, whom they probably should have traded several months or one year ago. Friday, the Dodgers' dilemma became more vexing, for a reason no one saw coming: They didn't offer enough money. | 1 | 96,816 | sports |
If the favorites win today in the ACC and SEC championship games, the College Football Playoff selection committee should have an easy job identifying the four teams that will make up the second annual Playoff field. But what if No. 2 Alabama were to lose to No. 18 Florida? And what if No. 1 Clemson were to lose to No. 10 North Carolina? Then things could get complicated. We asked the writers on USA TODAY Sports' college sports staff the following question: Of No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 North Carolina and No. 18 Florida, what team should make the Playoff field if one or more upsets occur in the ACC and SEC championship games? These are their responses: Dan Wolken I would pick Ohio State. They don't have the best résumé, but if you put them on the field against Stanford, UNC or Florida they'd be a heavy favorite. And you can justify the pick by saying they're 11-1 and lost on a last second field goal to a Playoff team (if Michigan State wins). In fact I'd argue Ohio State is the only one of that group who could actually win the national title if they got in the Playoff. Paul Myerberg Ohio State didn't win its own division. Even with a win against Clemson in the ACC title game, North Carolina would have more victories against members of the Football Championship Subdivision than ranked teams. Florida has been among the worst yes, the worst Power Five teams in the country since the start of November. Stanford is an absolute no-brainer pick to slide into the Playoff should one of Alabama or Clemson lose on Saturday night. A victory against USC would give the Cardinal eight wins against bowl teams, three wins against teams in the current Playoff top 25 and the Pac-12 championship. In a group of Stanford, Florida, UNC and Ohio State, the Cardinal stand alone. Nicole Auerbach Stanford. Both UNC and Florida have serious flaws on their résumés, even if they were to pull off shockers. I cannot imagine the committee rewarding a team that has not one, but two wins over FCS opponents while claiming to value strength of schedule so there goes North Carolina's shot. Florida won't beat Alabama, but in a hypothetical world in which it does, I suppose I could see the committee placing a ton of value on a win over the Crimson Tide. And not wanting the SEC champ to be left out of the Playoff. But Florida (minus Will Grier) does not pass the eye test, and it should have lost to Kentucky and Florida Atlantic. That's not a Playoff-caliber team. I give Stanford the edge over Ohio State because it would have a conference championship under its belt, and more than one good win (the only time Ohio State showed its full potential all season? vs. Michigan). But let me just throw out a strange scenario that you didn't explicitly ask about: What about the loser of the Big Ten championship game? If the Spartans lose to Iowa amid all this hypothetical chaos, couldn't they make a compelling case to get in? George Schroeder We probably should not assume a Stanford victory over USC in the Pac-12 championship. Not when the premise of the debate is "if an upset occurs in the ACC or SEC championships" … But if Stanford wins and there's suddenly room in the top four, the Cardinal is the correct choice to move into the Playoff bracket. Yeah, Stanford has two losses. Ohio State and North Carolina would each have only one. But Stanford's résumé is far better than either of the other contenders. Start with this: The Cardinal will have played 10 Pac-12 games (nine in the regular season plus the conference championship game). With Northwestern (a loss in the season opener) and Notre Dame (a win in the regular-season finale) and the Cardinal will have played 12 Power Five opponents in 13 games; eight of its opponents have winning records; counting USC, five reside in the current College Football Playoff Top 25. It's a much tougher schedule than either Ohio State or North Carolina played. Add a conference championship to the mix, and Stanford should vault Ohio State. If Clemson or Alabama loses, Stanford is the right pick to fill the open slot. Ohio State's case essentially is, "We thought they were really good all year based on their talent on paper, and they finally played like it in the 12th game." The win over Michigan was convincing. Ohio State played like the Ohio State we all expected. Of these three contenders, the Buckeyes have the highest ceiling. Unfortunately they lost the biggest game of the season a week earlier, and played very poorly in doing so. If that performance against Michigan State was a blip rather than a continuation of lackluster play for much of the season and correspondingly, if the performance against Michigan was a trend rather than a blip then maybe the eye test would mean more. As it is, there's not much reason to look past the Buckeyes' mediocre résumé and elevate a team that didn't win its own division over a conference champion that played a much tougher schedule. Ohio State played only two teams ranked in the current Top 25. Although six opponents had winning records, two were MAC teams. With a win over Clemson, North Carolina would have the best win, by ranking, of any team this season. The Tar Heels would have a 12-game winning streak. But much of the schedule was soft, including those two non-conference games against FCS opponents. Even beating Clemson shouldn't be enough to push North Carolina into the field. Now if Alabama gets beat, too, and also Stanford? Then the Tar Heels get in. | 1 | 96,817 | sports |
The time has come: Tyra Banks has crowned the Cycle 22 winner of America's Next Top Model, a.k.a. the final winner of the show ever. With four models remaining heading into the second half of the finale Mikey, Nyle, Lacey and Mame who made it out on top? OK, ready? And the last-ever winner of America's Next Top Model is: Nyle DiMarco, who also happens to be the second-ever male winner and the first deaf winner. The dark-haired model remained solidly in the middle of the pack until coming out of his shell in the sixth episode of the season, after a challenge that hoisted the contestants in the air to pose as possessed fashionistas. | 8 | 96,818 | video |
Islanders center Frans Nielsen's shootout goal was the deciding factor in Friday's 2-1 win over the Blues. Brock Nelson also took a huge hit from David Backes. | 1 | 96,819 | sports |
The US Supreme Court agreed to consider Puerto Rico's appeal of a ruling forbidding its use of a US law that would allow it to declare bankruptcy and restructure its crushing debt. Puerto Rico -- a US possession in the Caribbean since 1898 -- is attempting to restructure much of its $72 billion of debt. Officials in San Juan have made clear that it might miss debt payments in the next month without some relief from creditors and legislative support. The Supreme Court will likely review the case sometime during the first three months of 2016. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla recently told a Senate panel that Puerto Rico's situation is hampered by creditors that refuse to reschedule its debt, and by US laws that prohibit the territory from entering bankruptcy protection. The 3.5 million island residents are US citizens, but since the island is not a state, they do not have a voting representative in the US Congress. Puerto Rico's finances were dealt a crippling blow in 2006 with the loss of federal tax breaks for US companies with local operations. It has been in and out of recession in the years since. As economic activity shrank, the government papered over budget shortfalls with fresh borrowing. Today, its debt stands at around $72 billion (64 billion euros), and the White House has ruled out a financial bailout for the former Spanish colony. Currently, only US cities can legally go into what is known as Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. Detroit took this drastic measure during the depths of an economic crisis in 2013. Puerto Rico officials on Tuesday made a $354 million bond payment after threatening for days to default. | 5 | 96,820 | news |
Aleksander Barkov scored in the shootout to give the Panthers the 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets Friday. The victory extends Florida's win streak to five games. | 1 | 96,821 | sports |
NEW DELHI Indian authorities were investigating possible negligence after 18 hospital patients died when rainwaters from massive floods in southern Tamil Nadu state knocked out generators and switched off ventilators. The patients were in the intensive care unit at MIOT International hospital in the state capital of Chennai when floodwaters seeped into the room with the generators, cutting off power to the building and the ventilators earlier this week, state Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said Saturday. The worst flooding in a century in Tamil Nadu has left more than 280 people dead since November. In the latest deluge this week, authorities turned off power in some areas to prevent electrocutions that were blamed for several deaths. Although floodwaters have begun to recede, vast swaths of Chennai and neighboring districts were still under 2 1/2 to 3 meters (8 to 10 feet) of water, with tens of thousands of people in state-run relief camps. Army soldiers using boats have rescued thousands of residents marooned in high-rise buildings and launched massive relief operations to provide food and medicine. "We feel quite helpless," said Malti Soman, standing in knee-deep water in Mambalam, a residential area in central Chennai. "The landline phones are not working. And my cellphone is dead because there is no electricity to charge it." Radhakrishnan, the health secretary, said that while the immediate rescue operations were tapering off, the main focus in the coming days will be to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. In many areas, sewage drains have overflowed, posing a health hazard for residents who have had to wade through the water, Radhakrishnan said. "This is a concern," he said. "We are working with the local water and sewage agencies to disinfect the worst-hit areas." Sanitation workers have begun spraying insecticide in many places to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue due to the stagnant water collected in large parts of the city. Chennai's airport was closed for a fourth day Saturday, although some flights operated from a nearby air force base. Railway services resumed partially, with a few trains running from Chennai's main train station. India's main monsoon season runs from June through September, but for Chennai and the rest of the southeastern coast, the heaviest rainfall is from October to December, also called the retreating monsoon. Experts say the heavy rainfall was linked to the El Nino weather pattern, when the waters of the Pacific Ocean get warmer than usual. | 5 | 96,822 | news |
Cue the mushy love song. David Ortiz and David Price had their differences as American League East foes. But with Price joining the Boston Red Sox on a seven-year contract, both sides are willing to let bygones be bygones. "Big Papi and myself, we're both competitors," Price said Friday at his introductory press conference at Fenway Park. "What he's done for this organization and the game of baseball is extremely special, and I'm ready to be one of his really good friends. I watched him from across the field and always get to see him on TV and stuff like that, and the guy's a competitor and that's what I am, too." The feud between Ortiz and Price began during the 2013 American League Division Series, when Big Papi launched two home runs off the left-hander in Boston's Game 2 win. Price took exception to Ortiz admiring his second blast. Things boiled over in 2014, when Price drilled the slugger in their first showdown since the 2013 postseason. Ortiz declared "war" after the game and suggested Price "bring the gloves" next time they met. Price even said at the 2015 All-Star Game that Ortiz wasn't the hitter he once was. Well, gloves never entered the equation. And it's unlikely they ever will. Because if we're to believe Price and Ortiz, both players will live happily ever after as Red Sox teammates. It won't be the first time Price has squashed a beef with a former enemy. "When I got traded to Detroit (in 2014), I could not stand Ian Kinsler," Price said. "We both absolutely hated each other, and now we're both one of each other's favorite teammates and favorite players. And that's the game of baseball and life, and I'm definitely open to cheering for Big Papi whenever he's at bat. I think we're going to have a good relationship." All's fair in love and war, right? Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@BDCSox Filed under: Boston Red Sox , Ricky Doyle , Top Stories | 1 | 96,823 | sports |
Managing Director at GlobalStrat Olivier Guitta talks with CNN'S Lynda Kinkade about possible terrorism links in the San Bernardino shooting. | 8 | 96,824 | video |
The New York Times has published an editorial on its front page for the first time since 1920, using the rare, prominent placement to urge gun control in the wake of the latest mass shooting in the United States. Titled "End the Gun Epidemic in America," it lashes out at politicians and calls for certain types of weapons and ammunition to be outlawed for private citizens. "It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency," reads the editorial. Its publication late Friday online and on page A1 of Saturday's print copy of the prestigious newspaper, comes just days after a couple went on a gun rampage in California, killing 14 people and wounding 21 others. The carnage represents the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since a 2012 Connecticut school massacre and is being investigated as an "act of terrorism," according to the FBI. The Times said it was "right and proper" for authorities to probe whether the killers were connected to international terrorism. But, it added, "the attention and anger of Americans should also be directed at the elected leaders whose job is to keep us safe but who place a higher premium on the money and political power of an industry dedicated to profiting from the unfettered spread of ever more powerful firearms." The paper goes on to say that the United States, in contrast to other countries affected by gun violence, was not even trying to remedy the situation. "Worse, politicians abet would-be killers by creating gun markets for them, and voters allow those politicians to keep their jobs," it said. "It is past time to stop talking about halting the spread of firearms, and instead to reduce their number drastically -- eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition." In particular, it said, certain types of weapons, including the slightly modified combat rifles used in the California attack, in addition to certain kinds of ammunition, "must be outlawed for civilian ownership." In a statement, the paper's publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., said the reason for running the editorial on the front page was to "to deliver a strong and visible statement of frustration and anguish about our country's inability to come to terms with the scourge of guns." "Even in this digital age, the front page remains an incredibly strong and powerful way to surface issues that demand attention," Sulzberger said. "And, what issue is more important than our nation's failure to protect its citizens?" | 5 | 96,825 | news |
On Friday the United Auto Workers union won its first organizing vote at a foreign-owned auto assembly plant in the U.S. South, in a groundbreaking victory after decades of failed attempts. According to the company and the union, about 71 percent of skilled trades workers who cast ballots at Volkswagen AG's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee voted to join the UAW. The skilled trades workers account for about 11 percent of the 1,450 hourly employees at the plant. | 3 | 96,826 | finance |
While wearing a Santa hat, Yankees GM Brian Cashman went rappelling down a 22-story building in Stamford, Connecticut. Would you ever try that? #120Talk | 1 | 96,827 | sports |
It doesn't get any better than this: NASA has just released the highest-resolution photos ever taken of Pluto. New photos published Friday represent the first of the highest-resolution images taken of Pluto during New Horizons' close flyby of the dwarf planet in July 2015. "These new images give us a breathtaking, super-high resolution window into Pluto's geology," New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, said in a statement. "Nothing of this quality was available for Venus or Mars until decades after their first flybys; yet at Pluto we're there already down among the craters, mountains and ice fields less than five months after flyby! | 8 | 96,828 | video |
Donald Trump has reached a new high in the polls, sending fresh shivers through the Republican establishment's spine. Those familiar with the nitty-gritty details of the surveys say they harbor plenty of small cracks and flaws that should give rivals hope that the real-estate tycoon isn't yet running away with the nomination. So while it's hard to deny that Trump is leading the GOP field by a large margin some wonder whether his numbers advantage is as big as recent polls indicate. | 8 | 96,829 | video |
Lost in the noisy, nostalgic and nonsensical Kobe Bryant farewell tour is the handiwork of a silent, selfless star nearing his curtain call. Of course, nobody expects Tim Duncan to leave the game any other way but slip out unsuspectedly through a side door. He is under contract with the San Antonio Spurs through 2016-17, but at 39, he could leave after this season ends. Tough to plan a going-away a party for him. This is quintessential Duncan: It would surprise no one if he calls it quits one day next summer from an island resort and disappears for good, having dodged all the hoops hoopla. Unlike Kobe, Duncan doesn't need parting gifts, unrelenting fanfare or shot attempts by the dozens as his playing days wind down. As contemporaries, Bryant and Duncan have played their entire careers with the same team, earned five NBA titles apiece and each will coast into the Hall of Fame. Beyond that, they couldn't be more different as players and personalities. Bryant, aka "The Black Mamba," will be remembered lovingly by fans in highlight reels; Duncan, aka "The Big Fundamental," will be revered by coaches in instructional videos. Bryant, 37, announced last week that he would retire from the L.A. Lakers after the season. He is much like any other fading Hollywood star: He increasingly bumbles his lines but still demands top billing in the production. Kobe is awkwardly struggling to put a bow on his 20th season, shooting 30 percent and launching air-balls. He is unapologetically taking bad shots to the detriment of a young Lakers team that should be carving out a future instead of kowtowing to Bryant's walk-off whims. Five championships should afford him some leeway, but no pitch count? Really? Duncan is quietly approaching the finish line the way he left the starting blocks 19 years ago. He is emphasizing quality over quantity and sacrifice over selfishness, unwittingly displaying the stark contrast between his NBA stay and Kobe's. All the way to the end, Duncan is still playing with uncommon efficiency - the hallmark of his brilliant career as the NBA's all-time greatest power forward. He's averaging 9.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, but the numbers are coming in a tidy 27 minutes per game. And he can turn back the clock at any time, not surprisingly. Duncan recently became the fourth player 39 or older to finish a game with at least 18 rebounds, joining Dikembe Mutumbo, Karl Malone and Robert Parish. "That's something he can do: go into a game and get 20 [points and] 20 [rebounds]," Spurs forward Boris Diaw told reporters. "He still can do that any given night; probably not every night." Unlike Kobe, Duncan has the future of the franchise in mind, preferring to defer and delegate as a decorated veteran. He's trying to help new teammate LaMarcus Aldridge - his heir apparent as the Spurs' best big man - fit into the offense. Wednesday night, in a win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Duncan scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes. Ho-hum. "Probably the only person you can compare him to is Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], playing 20 years and still being that effective," Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard said. "He's one of a kind." A pro's prose L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant broke news that he was retiring after the season with a farewell poem on the Players Tribune website. In that literary spirit, I have written a poem bidding farewell to the Magic's near obsession with the NBA Draft Lottery. The way the 11-8 Magic are winning so far - still in the playoff hunt in December! - they have finally pushed the draft in the background. *** Upon seasons of misery There was hope of recovery Through a league mystery Known as the draft lottery *** The Magic lost night after night With no real end in sight Trying to make things right Looking for life after Dwight *** The hope was to find a star The kind who could take you far Because on the surface All this losing on purpose Went together like Shaq and a book It sure had a funny look *** As hard as they tried to tank The Magic couldn't give thanks They got Victor, Aaron and to be fair The Payton kid with the wild hair But when ping-pong balls settled down There was no Wiggins, Parker or Towns *** The Magic landed Super Mario And moved on to another scenario They couldn't count on the lottery So they reached back in their history ** The Magic hired coach Skiles They've already come miles No longer does everyone mock The team once led by Jacque *** More wins are finally arriving Skiles has the same players thriving He's ordered them to share shots It's a plan Kobe wouldn't like a lot *** What has made the most sense Is the concept of playing defense Everyone is in, from Vooch to Frye With Skiles no excuses will fly *** Fans will most certainly have to wait For the Magic to become Golden State But no more are they losing a ton Why, this winning thing is quite fun *** I'm sure every fan will agree That no one will miss you, lottery No more following other teams College, prep players to fulfill our dreams *** Kids from Kentucky leave us star struck But the Magic must make their own luck This is now and that was then We won't keep tabs on Simmons, Ben *** 'Tis a season not focusing on a draft And for that Magic fans can laugh Because it could get very silly Have you seen what it's done to Philly? [email protected]. | 1 | 96,830 | sports |
Further proving that there's a dating service for every niche, there's now an app that matches "those with beards to those who want to stroke beards." Bristlr is being proclaimed the Tinder of the beard world , and it's already made over a quarter of a million connections based on a shared passion for facial hair. The app was launched as a social network and a dating service in October of last year, but most people were using it for the latter purpose. Bristlr's founder, 28-year-old John Kershaw, told Konbini that the idea was initially a joke: "A year ago I was procrastinating at work, trying to think up a funny fake start-up idea; 'Uber for beard-fondling' was an obvious choice. I made a landing page with the name 'Bristlr' and the logo, and to my surprise people started signing up!" Joining is simple: Just download the app, input your location, and specify whether you're looking for a beard or have a beard to share. Users can immediately start browsing the best bearded and beard-loving singles in their area. And if this particular beard dating service doesn't suit your fancy for some reason, it's not your only option: You can also check out Beardiful and Lumberjack Match . [h/t: Konbini ] | 4 | 96,831 | lifestyle |
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. Evgeni Malkin said Friday he has been highly motivated to be a leader for the Penguins during this latest stretch. That has been pretty clear to anyone paying attention to Malkin on the ice, but he hadn't exactly verbalized it so succinctly until after a practice Friday at Toyota Sports Center. "I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm trying to be leader of this group because I believe we can win every game," Malkin said. "It's a tough league, but if we play right we can beat any team here. We're a great team with a slow start the beginning of the season. Now, I think we [are starting to] play better. I want to do my best, show my best game. Guys follow me. It's my job here. I understand that. Just want to be a leader." Malkin has been scoring a lot, and scoring impressively. He has eight goals in the past seven games, which can be traced perfectly to that dark night in New Jersey when the Penguins were blanked, 4-0, and Malkin spoke candidly in a players-only, closed-door meeting. There was the beautiful wraparound goal against San Jose earlier this week, and a jaw-dropping spin-o-rama against Edmonton last week. "It's easy because I [had] good speed. When you do spin-o-rama you need big speed, you need [to] skate fast, turn yourself," he said. "It's not hard, just use a little bit speed, turn and shoot. You can't do it every time." Easy, right? He said he has enjoyed this trip to California with his teammates, which has afforded a lot of free time with teammates. They have played volleyball, gone to lunches and enjoyed the warm, sunny weather. "We're good friends right now. [We] go play volleyball together, have lunch together. It's [a] good time. Good weather. Play hockey. Enjoy life." No decision on goalies It's unclear if the Penguins will use Marc-Andre Fleury and backup Jeff Zatkoff this weekend in back-to-back games against the Los Angeles. Kings and Anaheim Ducks. Head coach Mike Johnston said as of Friday afternoon he had not yet made a decision if he will split goalies or not. Zatkoff was a Kings draft pick, but never played for the team at the NHL level. Drilling the puck The Penguins have been working with skills development coach Tomas Pacina for the past few days at the beginning of practices, doing various puck movement drills. Pacina worked with Johnston when he was with the Portland Winterhawks and has been called in to help the Penguins again. "We just want to, when we have time in practice, to spend five to 10 minutes working on specific skills," Johnston said. "I think it always helps the offensive side of your game, your puck movement, just the feel for the puck." Jenn Menendez: jmenendez@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JennMenendez. | 1 | 96,832 | sports |
Portugal's new left-wing, anti-austerity government announced it was moving to halt the privatisation of transport systems in Lisbon and Porto, a measure introduced by its right-wing predecessor. The government will ask the Court of Auditors to "suspend the authorisation approval" which would have greenlit the privatisation, it said in a statement carried by the Portuguese news agency Lusa. The previous right-wing government decided in September to hand the management of Lisbon's public transport over to the Spanish group Avanza, while the northern city of Porto would see its system managed by the Spanish Alsa and French Transdev. But in November a leftist alliance led by the Socialist Party toppled the right-wing coalition and forced Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho to resign. The coalition had won the most votes in an October election but lost the absolute majority it had enjoyed since 2011, leading to weeks of political limbo. The Socialist Party and the hard left agree that the privatisation of public transport in Portugal's two biggest cities should be blocked, but disagree over how it should be done. A parliamentary vote on the issue has been postponed pending further negotiations between the parties in the leftist bloc. | 5 | 96,833 | news |
Police remove black SUV used by attackers in the San Bernardino shooting. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). | 8 | 96,834 | video |
DALLAS (AP) -- James Harden was off to another rough shooting start against Dallas and not getting to his usual spot at the free throw line either, so Houston stayed in the game with 3-pointers. With the score tied in the final minutes, the Rockets went to their All-Star guard -- of course. Harden had an assist for an easy go-ahead dunk by Terrence Jones and scored the last of his 25 points on a clinching jumper that bounced on the rim several times in the Rockets' 100-96 victory over the Mavericks on Friday night. BOX SCORE: ROCKETS 100, MAVERICKS 96 "I'm just a playmaker," said Harden, who recovered from 3-of-12 shooting in the first half after missing his first 11 shots in a home loss to Dallas last month. "If I've got a shot, I shoot it. Or I make a pass." Or both. First, Harden found Jones under the basket for a wide-open dunk to break a 96-all tie. Harden had nine assists and eight rebounds as the NBA's free throw leader found a way to make a difference despite not getting to the line until the third quarter and going 4 of 5 from there. After Dirk Nowitzki missed a potential tying jumper, Harden finished off a 7-of-11 second half with a step-back jumper that hit the rim, then the backboard, then the rim a couple more times before dropping through for a four-point lead with 7 seconds left. Houston won for the fourth time in five games with Dwight Howard getting a routine night of rest, and improved to 5-4 under interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff since he replaced the fired Kevin McHale. "We can't settle," Bickerstaff said after the Rockets improved to 9-11. "We're not where we want to be." Trevor Ariza was 4 of 7 from long range and finished with 18 points for the Rockets, who were 11 of 18 on 3s in the first half before cooling off and missing seven of eight after halftime. Jones had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Patrick Beverley made all four of his 3s -- all in the first half -- and finished with 14. Deron Williams had 22 points and six assists to lead the Mavericks, but also had eight of Dallas' 17 turnovers. Nowitzki had 16 points and 10 rebounds but missed a 3-pointer with Dallas trailing by two in the final 2 minutes. Nowitzki limped toward the locker room early in the fourth quarter with an apparent hip injury but returned. Wes Matthews also missed a 3 that would have put Dallas ahead before Nowitzki's late miss, and finished 1 of 8 from beyond the arc and 1 of 9 overall. He scored five points. "I'm tired of hurting the team," said Matthews, who is shooting 35 percent in his first season with Dallas after signing a max contract in free agency and coming back faster than expected from a torn Achilles tendon. "I'm tired of missing shots." Devin Harris led the Mavericks with 13 points in the first half, including four on a strange sequence in the second quarter. Harris was flattened by Beverley and threw up a shot that went in before missing the free throw. On Houston's end, Jones was called for a flagrant foul for an elbow to Harris' head while setting a screen. Harris, who finished with 15 points, made both those free throws. SIXTH-MAN EXPERIMENT Chandler Parsons came off the bench early for the first time while still playing restricted minutes for Dallas following offseason knee surgery. Coach Rick Carlisle said it was Parsons' idea. The forward said he just wants to play in the fourth quarter. "It didn't work tonight, but I thought I played with energy and got that second unit going a little bit there in the first half," Parsons said. WINNING WITHOUT HOWARD Clint Capela had 10 rebounds starting in place of Howard, but just two points while missing all five of his shots. He had five of Houston's 15 offensive rebounds, and the Rockets had 18 second-chance points. TIP-INS Rockets: Montrezl Harrell left late in the third quarter and didn't return after trying to follow a miss with a dunk and getting hit in the face. He stayed down while Dallas' Williams first missed a 3 and then hit one for a 73-72 Dallas lead. Mavericks: Dallas wore the road uniform from the 1980s on a "Hardwood Classics" night. The green jerseys had "Dallas" across the front with white numbers in blue trim. ... Raymond Felton and Jones got a double-technical after a confrontation in the fourth quarter. UP NEXT: Rockets: Sacramento at home Saturday. Mavericks: At Washington on Sunday. | 1 | 96,835 | sports |
Baby number two hasn't even arrived yet and already Kim Kardashian has her mind on baby number 3! And of course, her post pregnancy body. | 6 | 96,836 | entertainment |
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- After New Orleans survived a stunning fourth-quarter surge by LeBron James and forced overtime, injured veteran center Kendrick Perkins pulled Pelicans teammate Anthony Davis aside for a quick word. "Perk told me, `This is the time where you've got to be great,'" Davis said. "Every time I caught the ball, I was looking to be aggressive and teammates were looking for me. ... So it was just about me knocking down the shots." BOX SCORE: PELICANS 114, CAVALIERS 108 (OT) Davis hit three jump shots from beyond 12 feet to start overtime, capping a 31-point, 12-rebound, four-steal performance that lifted New Orleans to a 114-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night. "It just shows that when we play like we're supposed to, we can beat anybody," Davis said, alluding to an earlier victory over San Antonio. "We've just got to do it against teams that are not the Spurs or not Cleveland. We can't play down to the level of our competition. We've got to make sure we're playing at a high level every game." Eric Gordon had 19 points and Ryan Anderson 18 for the Pelicans (5-15), who led by 13 with less than 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Cavs stormed back to take a late lead, with James scoring 21 of Cleveland's last 24 points of regulation. "What else was I going to do?" James said. "I tried to make something happen for our team, be aggressive and see if I could make a push. And if not, at least I put in the effort." Jrue Holiday's 3 pulled New Orleans back into a tie at 105 with 8 seconds left before James, who finished with 37 points, missed a 19-footer that could have won it. James didn't score in overtime, missing two shots. "We played a pretty good game tonight," James said. "We had some defensive lows in the third quarter. We did not play a 48-minute game, and if one or two guys breaks down it breaks the whole team down." After trailing most of the first two-plus quarters, New Orleans suddenly surged in front with a 14-2 run ignited by Gordon, who hit a 21-foot jumper, a tough 7-foot fade in traffic and a 3 during the spurt. New Orleans maintained its lead most of the fourth quarter and appeared in control when Dante Cunningham's jumper made it 94-81 with 6:52 left. Instead, James led the Cavs right back into the game -- and very nearly won it. The only other basket during James' fourth-quarter surge was Matthew Dellavedova's 3, set up by James on a crisp, cross-court pass. James' consecutive fast-break baskets -- the second a reverse layup as he was fouled -- cut the Pelicans' lead to 98-97. Then James' 17-foot step-back, followed by his driving layup around 7-footer Omer Asik, put Cleveland up by 3. The lead was still 3 after James' free throws in the final minute, but Holiday hit his clutch 3 to force OT. "That was a scary moment toward the end," Gordon said. J.R. Smith scored 18 points for Cleveland on 6-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. Kevin Love had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Tyreke Evans had 14 points and 10 assists, while Holiday finished with 13 points. GAME-SAVER Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said the Pelicans were trying to set up a shot for Anderson on their final possession of regulation, but Cleveland's defense denied that, so Evans instead passed to Holiday, who simply had to make a play. "Right when he passed it to me, I already knew what I was doing," Holiday said of his game-tying 3. "That's pretty much what it comes down to, especially a game like this, making plays." TIP-INS Cavaliers: Coach David Blatt started Dellavedova in place of Mo Williams in hopes of establishing more of a defensive presence early and having Williams provide scoring off the bench. ... Cleveland failed to outrebound an opponent for only the third time in 19 games. ... Tristan Thompson had 10 rebounds, his career-high eighth straight game with at least 10. Pelicans: Gentry made a change to his starting lineup, opening with Evans and Gordon in the back court and moving Holiday to a backup role. Holiday said he was fine with the move. ... Because of various injuries affecting numerous players this season, New Orleans opened with its 14th different starting lineup in 20 games. ... Gordon was 4 of 5 from 3-point range. UP NEXT Cavaliers: Visit Miami on Saturday night. Pelicans: Host Boston on Monday night. | 1 | 96,837 | sports |
Local residents in San Bernardino lay flowers and messages of solidarity near the site of the shooting that left 14 dead. | 5 | 96,838 | news |
A package addressed to the home of the San Bernardino attackers forces the evacuation of a UPS delivery center. Julie Noce reports. | 8 | 96,839 | video |
Save a busy mom's sanity over the holidays with this handy holiday guide 11 Tips to Help Busy Moms Win at Christmas Christmas doesn't just happen all by itself. Santa has a whole lot of help creating that magic and the elves can do only so much all the way up in the North Pole. No, Santa's little helper is usually a tired, sore, broke and emotionally spent mama who can barely make it through Christmas dinner. But this year is going to be different. Here are 11 time-saving tips to help every busy mom handle Christmas like a boss. 1. Consider a holiday card service Skip the licking and stamping this year by using an online service that lets you design a custom card, upload a mailing list and walk away. It'll handle the rest. There are even services that print out cards that look like they were lovingly written by hand. If you're comfortable with a more digital approach, use an email card service that offers surprisingly fancy custom cards and even virtual lined envelopes. 2. Hire professional holiday decorators No falling off ladders or trying to get the knots out of strings of lights this holiday season! Instead, hire a holiday decorating service. Regardless of how much you want to spend or how elaborate you want your decorations to be, there's probably a service in your area that will handle everything from decorating a chic Christmas tree to hanging outdoor lights even Clark Griswold would appreciate. 3. Automate holiday lights Once you've got your holiday lights on point, save yourself the hassle of remembering to turn both the house and tree lights on and off every day. Automate your holiday light displays on a timer, and spend the holidays enjoying yourself instead of running around plugging and unplugging every day. Make it even easier by connecting them to your smart home security system and use an app to turn them on and off. 4. Get a Christmas tree watering system Fresh Christmas trees are water guzzlers, and a dried-out, thirsty tree is a really big fire hazard. Instead of crawling around on all fours and getting sap in your hair and water on your floor every day, get an automated Christmas tree watering system. They're around $20, available at most big-box hardware stores and will save you one little but annoying job every day for a couple of weeks. Totally worth it. 5. Minimize food prep I know your grandma made everything for the holidays from scratch, but honey, you aren't your grandma, so go ahead and let yourself off the hook. Make a couple of family faves if you must, but buy the rest of the meal from a local restaurant or even grocery stores which are increasingly offering holiday dinners "in a box." Or just eat out. Also, take advantage of cookie swaps and bulk buys that help you keep a stash of nibbles on hand for last-minute guests. 6. Consider plastic dishes Your wedding china is beautiful, but what if you could find plastic, disposable dishes you could just throw away after you're done? A little wasteful, perhaps, but think of all the water and sweat! you're saving by not doing the requisite mountains of dishes following a holiday meal. Several retailers offer disposable drink ware and dishes that are every bit as elegant as the real deal. 7. Simplify gift giving The gift giving around Christmas is out of hand, and everyone would probably benefit from cutting our gift lists down to a more manageable size. Consider talking to friends and family about limiting (or skipping!) swapping gifts altogether especially adults. Kids are a whole other deal. But gift lots of people the same thing, and even though it's hard, try to manage your kids' expectations for some super Christmas gift fantasy. Besides, you being happy and relaxed and with them on Christmas is what they really want anyway. 8. Cut clutter Before the gifts start rolling into the house, take the time to get rid of old toys and clothes to make room for new ones. 9. Car service apps Of course, this isn't appropriate for every kid or every family, but if you're comfortable, consider letting your teen use Uber or other car service to get around to their busy holiday events. Uber's app will let you track their movements and manage the money in their account, so you have some oversight. If you've got a recital and holiday party on the same night, a service like Uber might come in handy. 10. Outsource school play costumes Reach out to an Etsy shop , and have it make your kids a custom school play or pageant costume. Besides Etsy, your local tailor would also be a great place for moms short on sewing skills to get their little reindeer and angels performance ready. 11. Ban boots and shoes in the house Winter makes nasty weather, and that mess finds its way into the house every single time someone walks through the door. If you haven't already, get a shoe rack, put it by the front door, and make everyone ditch their dirty shoes and boots before they come into the house. Get a bunch of cheap socks, slippers or even spa flip-flops from a beauty supply store to offer guests who object to bare feet, and save yourself from having to mop up floor messes three times a day. It's a simple fix that will pay big sanity dividends honest. | 4 | 96,840 | lifestyle |
Behind a late push from SG James Harden, the Rockets notched a 100-96 victory over the Mavericks on Friday. Harden finished with 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. | 1 | 96,841 | sports |
The crew breaks down Friday's best plays, including Bradley Beal's unbelievable reverse slam dunk and Devin Harris' circus shot. | 1 | 96,842 | sports |
American Harold Varner III and South African duo Dylan Frittelli and Zander Lombard jostled in a three-way tie for the third round lead in the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship on Saturday. Varner produced the day's best round, a bogey-free six-under-par 66, to rocket into tournament contention at Royal Pines. But to have any chance of securing his first tournament win as a professional, the 25-year-old from Akron, Ohio, will need to see off around five others still in with a winning chance. At the top of that list are Frittelli and Lombard, two rising stars of South African golf, who both shot third rounds of one-under 71. "We're very good friends but we haven't had an opportunity to play together a lot," said Lombard, whose third-round highlight was a chip in for a birdie on the tough par-three 16th. Lombard, 20, led the field after the opening round on five-under and said he was surprised his current score was good enough to put him in front. "Nobody expects to move backwards and stay in the lead, but the course is really playing hard," he said. Varner has earned a spot on the PGA Tour for the new season, becoming the first African-American player to do so from the Web.com Tour platform. Motivated to come to Australia to help round off his game, Varner had his share of luck -- he hit the spectators' stand with his approach on the final hole, but managed to recover for par. Along with fourth-placed Australian Nathan Holman, who is two shots adrift, they are the only players left below par, testament to the difficult windy conditions and the uncompromising nature of the Royal Pines course. Overnight leader David Lingmerth had a day to forget. The Swede started his third round with a one-shot buffer, but double-bogeyed par fours 10 and 13 to slip back to even par for the tournament and three shots off the pace. | 1 | 96,843 | sports |
When Steelers coach Mike Tomlin gathered the team's legendary 2008 defense around him before sending them onto the field to stop one last, desperate attempt by the Arizona Cardinals to steal Super Bowl 43, he delivered a four-word message that seems very much germane to the circumstance now facing the Indiana Hoosiers: "Style points don't matter." MORE: ACC/Big Ten Challenge: Seven things we learned | Duke blisters Indiana after Hoosier bumps Mike Krzyzewski Tom Crean's players need to hear a tangential, but contradictory message entering this weekend: "Oh yes they do." Standing 5-3 after their calamitous performance Wednesday at Duke, the Hoosiers now face three home games against mid-major opponents: Morehead State, Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne and McNeese State. And how they look in those games is at least as important as the results. This is an issue why? Because Indiana still can be a significant team. If you think a crummy start means a season is finished, you haven't been paying attention to college hoops any sport, really for even the last 15 minutes. The New York Mets were three games over .500 at the end of June. Played in the World Series. Kentucky was a No. 8 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, UConn a No. 7. And so on. Even though Morehead is 5-1 and IPFW is 7-2 don't even ask about McNeese Indiana might be able to win its three impending home games hitting a slew of 3-pointers. If Crean and his players are going to react to a disappointing first month by reminding everyone that it's only December, however, they cannot be content merely transacting business as usual in this next stretch. If they wish to be the team so many believed they could be that a growing portion of the Indiana fan base demands they become there must be dramatic improvement as the Hoosiers prepare for a Dec. 19 Crossroads Classic showdown against Notre Dame. These are some of the vital questions Indiana must address during this period: 1. Will anybody take pride in D? This is the stance Indiana should take on defense: getting in a stance. It's the first thing we were all taught in basketball camp. The hungry, expert college defenses have players who assume proper defensive position, but IU's guys too often are standing straight up, occasionally even when guarding the ball. This is the part of the defense that has little to do with coaching, other than whether Crean might be willing to remove a player who consistently refuses to comply. Individual defensive technique is a significant issue, and it's a large part of why Hoosiers have been so pliable. 2. Who's talking? In the times I've watched Duke practice, I've heard Mike Krzyzewski lecture his players about one aspect of the game 10 times more often than any other: communication. The very foundation of Duke's program is on-court communication. These Blue Devils are not particularly well-suited to be a great defensive team. They lack the sort of built-for-defense wings Brian Davis, Tony Lang, Grant Hill who once gave the team its bite. So this Duke team might never be a good as those early '90s teams were on defense, but you can bet it'll be as good as it can possibly be. Under pressure, Indiana's defense has not been greater than the sum of its parts. Help defense demands communication. Against Duke, there were occasions when some of Indiana's players appeared to be playing man-to-man at the same time others were aligned in a zone. Down the stretch against Wake Forest, a 7-minute period in which the Deacons converted six layups, there rarely was a rotating player available to offer an attempt at drawing a charge or challenging a shot. Indiana has to become a more connected defense in order to become a more effective one. MORE: Week 4 AP Poll | Wake Forest knocks off No. 13 Indiana 3. What's the plan? One of the approaches Crean has taken with the Hoosiers is to play multiple defenses. OK. For a team that hasn't proven to be particularly adept at one style or another, the use of shifting defenses to disrupt the opponent's rhythm can be an effective tool. But it seems a bit of a reach to change from zone to man within particular possessions, particularly when one or more components of that defense, like freshman center Thomas Bryant, is relatively new. It can be a lot to demand of a player to understand when that shift is due. 4. Why the change? A year ago, Indiana's defense was one of the weakest in high-major basketball. But its three-guard approach Yogi Ferrell at point, James Blackmon and Robert Johnson on the wings produced a top-10 offense. Indiana this season decided to change its approach to go bigger. Michigan transfer Max Bielfeldt started three games, and veteran Collin Hartman has started four. Johnson has seen his minutes cut from 27 as a freshman to 20 now, even though his shooting has improved to better than .500 from the field and 3-point range. If the adjustment resulted in a serious improvement to Indiana's defense, it would make sense. It has not. And there is some question whether Indiana has been performing as well on offense; its per-possession numbers are exceptional, but the Hoosiers can't afford 16 turnovers a game. 5. Who's in charge? We know who the coach is, but where is the on-court leadership? When Kentucky watched its Thursday night game against UCLA slip away, point guard Tyler Ulis took exception to an aspect of freshman Skal Labissiere's performance and popped him in the chest during a huddle. It probably isn't a great idea to make a habit of physically confronting your teammates, especially when you're 5-9. But that kind of courage of conviction is what makes a team leader. Indiana has lacked that quality for several seasons. Even its 2013 Big Ten championship team didn't have a natural on-court leader. That's one reason Ferrell might not be entirely comfortable taking command of the team; there hasn't really been a role model in the program to show him how a leader comports himself. This honestly is where the common fan fantasy about involving former players in fixing what ails a current team actually could work. Whether it's Quinn Buckner from IU's past or Travis Diener from Crean's admittedly, Diener might be a bit busy with his duties on the Marquette staff someone who has been that guy might help Ferrell find a team-changing locker room voice. Indiana's next collection of games will not be as glamorous as the most recent ones, on the Island of Maui or in the cauldron of Cameron Indoor Stadium. They could be, though, the most crucial the Hoosiers play all season. That's largely up to them. | 1 | 96,844 | sports |
Real Madrid have confirmed they will appeal the ruling which eliminated the club from the Copa del Rey, on the grounds that Denis Cheryshev was not told of his suspension. The Russian scored on Wednesday against Cadiz, but it later emerged that he should not have played due to a ban valid from his time at Villarreal. According to a club statement, however, the Merengue hold that the punishment is incorrect. "Real Madrid received the competition judge's resolution at 18:17," the missive reads. "It is recognized in the resolution that the Spanish Football Federation did not personally notify Cheryshev of his suspension, which is the only way it comes into effect. "Real Madrid feel vindicated in their arguments and will present the actions necessary, confident that the final resolution will be in the club's favor." The club now has the option to appeal the ruling to the RFEF's Competitions Committee. If that motion is unsuccessful, Florentino Perez could take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. | 1 | 96,845 | sports |
Just days after two Muslims were accused of gunning down 14 people in California, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 51 percent of Americans view Muslims living in the United States the same as any other community, while 14.6 percent are generally fearful. In the first poll on views of Muslim Americans taken in the aftermath of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks, much of the division is partisan. Among Democrats, 60 percent said they view Muslims like any other community, compared with 30 percent of Republicans. How Americans should treat Muslims, both those already living in the United States and those seeking to come to the country as refugees, became a divisive topic after Islamic State claimed credit for killing 130 people in Paris and a Muslim couple is believed to have slaughtered 14 people and wounded 21 others in California. Amaney Jamal, a politics professor at Princeton, said it's "healthy" to see the majority positively viewing Muslims, but cautioned about growing fears. "If terrorism is designed to create a larger gap between Muslims and Westerners, unfortunately they're succeeding," Jamal said. "The threat of terror is going to be fought by Muslims and non-Muslims together. You would like to see those gaps close so people are working together and not being fearful." Of the 1,056 likely voters across the nation polled online on Thursday and Friday, 34.7 percent said they are fearful of "a few groups and individuals" in the Muslim community. The poll has a credibility interval of 3.4 percentage points for all Americans and about 5.5 percentage points when looking at just Republican or Democratic responses. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to support closely monitoring mosques (64 percent compared with 43 percent) or closing ones with suspected extremist ties (69 percent to 48 percent). Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump drew criticism when he said he would be willing to close mosques where extremists practiced and that a database of all Muslims should be created. "There still is very much a political divide in each of these responses," said Lori Peek, a sociology professor at Colorado State and author of the 2011 book "Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans After 9/11." "Democrats and the independents are looking more similar, and they generally are more tolerant." Many voters said they agree that Muslims are less willing to assimilate than other immigrant groups. Peek said numerous studies have found that Muslims are more successful at integrating into American society -- obtaining education, voting regularly and living in diverse neighbors -- than any other immigrant group. Many Americans said they believe Muslims are more likely to put their own religion above the law -- a point that echoes critics' insistence that Islamic sharia law is being forced upon non-believers. Forty-nine percent said Muslims put religion above the law, compared with 33 percent who thought the same of Christians and 23 percents of Jews. Those polled also expressed disagreement that American Muslims are doing enough to report possible extremists, with 23 percent saying they believe that potential risks are being reported. Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Center for Islamic-American Relations, said while he is pleased that the majority of Americans view his religion positively, he is concerned by the continued minority that holds anti-Islamic views. "We are seeing I think a more toxic anti-Muslim environment or atmosphere than we have seen since 9/11," Hooper said. "In some ways it's worse because it's been mainstreamed by public figures like Donald Trump or Ben Carson so it's seen as a natural, normal kind of thing." (Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Chris Kahn; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) | 5 | 96,846 | news |
SEATTLE (AP) -- When Jerry Dipoto took charge of the Seattle Mariners he arrived with a list of tasks to complete and a rough timeline for getting them done. Get his support staff in place, decide on his field manager and then be aggressive and active in overhauling a roster that needed changes. ''Yeah, I can get a little hyper-focused,'' Dipoto said. No kidding. When Dipoto and the Mariners get to the baseball winter meetings in Nashville next week, they'll arrive as the most active team in baseball since the end of the regular season. The big names might be missing from Seattle's transactions list, but it's a ledger of additions, subtractions and alterations to the Mariners roster that's even exceeded some of Dipoto's expectations. ''We've done a lot of roster reshaping if that makes any sense and we didn't go in to the garden with a spade. We kind of went in with a backhoe,'' Dipoto said after Seattle announced the signing of free agent outfielder Nori Aoki this week. ''And I think we've effectively restructured the way our offense moves and the way our defense is positioned.'' It's been non-stop for Dipoto since Nov. 5, when his flurry of activity began with a six-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. Five additional trades and four free agent signings later and the Mariners have a completely different look from a season ago. Aside from Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager, Nelson Cruz and Felix Hernandez, lineup cards will be needed to keep track of the new additions. All this activity happened in the span of one month. And the first pitch of the 2016 regular season is still four months away, giving Dipoto plenty of time to tinker. ''They are the core of our club, they're signed long term, and they are celebrated elite all-star level players and that is the group we are building around,'' Dipoto said of Seattle's group of All-Stars. ''What we've been trying to do today, and I think we're doing it effectively, is we're raising the floor around them so that we have the ability to go out and stretch that lineup, make it deeper.'' Without ever making a public statement, Dipoto has clearly shown where he saw fault with the way that the Mariners had been constructed. The idea of power and playing static positions has been replaced by the priorities of athleticism and versatility. Seattle doesn't intend on being a big spender in free agency, but the additions made already far outweigh any one big signing the club could have made. The outfield was Dipoto's top priority - trying to put together a collection of players who fit within the vast expanses of Safeco Field. Aoki and Leonys Martin will join with Franklin Gutierrez, Seth Smith and Cruz in a five-man rotation among all three outfield positions. Dipoto also created depth at catcher with the acquisitions of Chris Iannetta and Steve Clevenger to give former No. 3-overall pick Mike Zunino time in the minors to figure out his swing issues. First base was sacrificed after the trade of Mark Trumbo earlier this week. The one area where Dipoto acknowledges Seattle may have to get aggressive is starting pitching. If Seattle can persuade Hisashi Iwakuma to return, then its starting pitching quandary is mostly solved, even if the Mariners would then have a right-hand heavy rotation. But if Iwakuma decides to go elsewhere, then adding a proven starter to the rotation becomes the top priority. ''There is a lot of offseason left,'' Dipoto said. ''The league, the industry, the market is going to define our timing on this.'' | 1 | 96,847 | sports |
Sam MArgolin, Cowen Energy analyst, shares energy names that he is bullish on. | 3 | 96,848 | finance |
Add extra power to your phone or tablet without having to blow up Alderaan. ThinkGeek Nothing makes me feel more like an angry Darth Vader than when my cell phone unexpectedly dies and I can't find my charger to juice it up again. A Star Wars Death Star USB car charger from ThinkGeek lets you load up on your phone power and feel like you're in charge of a weapon of mass planetary destruction while sitting in traffic. When you plug the charger in to your car, Grand Moff Tarkin's voice will say, "You may fire when ready," and suddenly you'll hear the Death Star's destructive laser shoot away. Green LEDs flash with the firing noise, which make it extra-glorious to behold at night. The charger is compatible with USB gadgets, including smartphones, tablets, GPS devices and so forth. You supply the cable. There are two USB charging ports, one that's best for tablets and one that's best for phones. The charger's base measures a little over 2.5 inches (6.82 centimeters) in diameter, with a Death Star that measures 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) and sits above the cup holder. The product retails for $17.99 (about £11.91, AU$24.62) All you need now is something to charge an imaginary target. Just don't invite Princess Leia or Luke Skywalker to sit in the passenger seat if you want your Death Star to survive the road trip. | 5 | 96,849 | news |
The reported accounts of Tashfeen Malik's life sound so ordinary. She met her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, online, through a dating site. She moved to the United States from Pakistan on a K-1 visa as his fiancée, and they married two years ago. After she became pregnant, the couple registered at Target, inviting friends and family to give them familiar things, a car seat, diapers, safety swabs. But according to the San Bernardino police, Ms. Malik left her 6-month-old daughter with her mother-in-law before heading to a holiday party with Mr. Farook's co-workers where, the police say, the two killed 14 people and wounded 21 others. Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles, said the couple told the baby's grandmother that they were stepping out for a doctor's appointment; when the woman learned about a shooting at Mr. Farook's workplace, her first reaction was to fear for her son and daughter-in-law. She was right to be fearful, but apparently not for the reasons she imagined. Within a few hours, both were dead, killed in a crush of bullets in a brutal face-off with the police. Many of those who died at the hands of the shooters in San Bernardino were parents themselves, with young children. Like Ms. Malik and Mr. Farook, they said goodbye to their children that morning, leaving them in day care, at school or in the care of a family member. They were also Mr. Farook's co-workers , colleagues who talked, debated politics and, surely, shared stories of their families, put up their children's drawings over their work spaces and talked, the way colleagues do, about their lives at home. It's hard not to imagine Ms. Malik being aware of those stories, hard to imagine that she, too, did not know that there were children at home waiting for the victims of the shooting. Children who like Ms. Malik's daughter won't see their parents again. Sign Up For NYT Now's Morning Briefing Newsletter All of that makes it even harder to imagine how a new mother, who just hours before must have been mixing formula or pumping breast milk, who we would expect to be caught up in thoughts of sleep and teething and solid foods, could do what Ms. Malik is accused of doing. How could a new mother shoot another child's parent? How could she voluntarily leave her own child? We may ask these same questions of a new father, but we don't, in part because mass shootings are so much more commonly perpetrated by men, and in part because we don't, typically, attach the "new father" label with the same degree of vigor with which the "new mother" label is applied. A new father can be many things first sports player, student, employee but the mother of a child under a year old is expected to be wearing that hat above all others (contrary demands of the workplace notwithstanding). Ms. Malik may have been the first new mother to participate in a mass shooting in the United States. We can draw conclusions about her husband so much more easily, we spectators, so curious about what drives a person to become one of the things we fear most. We can fall back on stereotype and assumptions. We can drop him more readily into the category of "other": Clearly, he was different. If we had known him we would still not have known him; we could not possibly have one thought in common. It's so much harder to do that with Ms. Malik. We can know that whoever she was before giving birth to her daughter, she was still that person possibly radicalized, possibly someone who had sworn her allegiance to the Islamic State . She was a leader, or a follower, an individual, a person, before she became a mother. But once she became a mother, she also joined, in effect, a sisterhood of other mothers. Of other women who expect that, putting everything else aside, there is still something we have in common, some knitted-together patchwork of love and devotion for our children, of understanding of other children and mothers, of the day-to-day struggle that is being self and daughter and sister and mother all in the same body. If we share that, it's so hard to imagine that we could possibly be so very different. And that is why it is also so hard to stop thinking about the last months of Ms. Malik's life in a different way. So hard not to wonder if she left behind a store of frozen milk for her daughter, or how she prepared to leave the baby behind on that last morning. It's impossible not to believe that we shared some small piece of humanity, this new mother and the rest of us, and then even more impossible to understand how that shred of humanity could have failed to change what she is said to have done next. Follow KJ Dell'Antonia on Twitter at @KJDellAntonia or find her on Facebook and Google+ . Like what you're reading? Get the best of Motherlode articles, links, comments and conversation, along with previews of posts to come, delivered each week to your inbox. Sign up here . | 5 | 96,850 | news |
The California landlord of the San Bernardino shooting suspects said Friday Syed Farook was "a nice, clean cut young man." The landlord made the comments after opening the door of the townhouse rented by the suspected attackers to the media. (Dec. 4) | 8 | 96,851 | video |
The holidays are here, so stoke the fire, grab some hot cocoa and check out the top earning holiday movies. | 3 | 96,852 | finance |
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) China's Simin Feng eagled the par-5 18th hole Friday to take a two-stroke lead after the third round of the LPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. The 20-year-old Feng shot a 3-under 69 on LPGA International's Jones Course to reach 12-under 204. The top 20 finishers Sunday will earn full LPGA Tour cards, and Nos. 21-45 and ties will receive conditional status. ''It's a great feeling to play good early,'' Feng said. ''It feels great to be in the lead but there's still two more days to go and many more holes to come so I just have to keep going.'' Feng played on season at Vanderbilt before turning professional last year. She tied for sixth in the event last season to earn an LPGA Tour card. ''I kind of tried to tweak my practice a little bit before this tournament,'' Feng said. ''I decided to focus on my wedge game and the scoring part of the game, which has really helped me here. I've been able to save some shots and make some birdies on par 5s.'' Cydney Clanton was second after a 69 on the Jones Course. ''To get out to a good start is always nice,'' Clanton said. ''The weekend is just a grind. You just have to shoot low numbers. You have to just keep going.'' South Korea's Julie Yang was another stroke back after a 72 on the Hills Course. Grace Na and Thailand's Budsabakorn Sukapan were tied for fifth at 8 under. The 18-year-old Sukapan also eagled the final hole on the Jones Course for a 67. Na had a 69, also on the Jones Course. ''Everything was working really well today,'' Sukapan said. ''I made some long putts and some par saves and my approach shots were good too.'' Cheyenne Woods, Tiger Woods' niece, had a 72 on the Jones Course to drop from a tie for ninth into a tie for 16th at 4 under. | 1 | 96,853 | sports |
At some point in the coming months, Clay Helton might have the opportunity to reflect on the past week, which saw him promoted from Southern California's interim replacement for Steve Sarkisian to the Trojans' full-time coach. Now's not the time for celebrating: Saturday brings a spot in the Pac-12 Conference championship game and a rematch with Stanford, which beat USC 41-31 on Sept. 20 three weeks before Sarkisian was relieved of his duties by athletics director Pat Haden. "You can only have about 30 seconds off when you're preparing for Stanford," Helton said, "so I kind of hugged my wife, took a deep breath and it's time to put the blinders back on. If you worry about anything else you're not going to beat a very well-coached Stanford team." For the Cardinal, the regular-season win against USC marked the first step toward a potential berth in the College Football Playoff. Two weeks earlier, Stanford had looked listless in a road loss to Northwestern. Beating USC on the road and finally showing a spark offensively propelled the Cardinal through another six wins in a row before falling to Oregon 38-36 on Nov. 14. Losing to Stanford hastened Sarkisian's departure, which became official Oct. 12 following a loss to Washington on Oct. 8. After losing in his debut, Helton won five of six as USC's interim coach, capping that stretch by defeating rival UCLA to secure the Pac-12 South Division championship. "You guard against thinking that the same thing that worked last time is going to work this time," Stanford Coach David Shaw said of the regular-season rematch. That shouldn't be a problem: USC and Stanford have changed offensively in the months since, with the former recommitting itself to a balanced approach and the latter finding a degree of explosiveness missing for much of the previous two seasons. "They do a tremendous job of not only being a power football team," Helton said, "but they're doing a great job with their skill kids, too, putting them in position to make plays down the field." USC ran the ball 28 times in the earlier loss to Stanford. The Trojans have averaged 44.8 carries a game in winning five of the last six, including a season-high 59 carries in the win against UCLA. "They want to be physical, they want to run the ball, and that's really shown," Shaw said. So even as Saturday brings a rematch, it's under different terms. USC is not just different schematically but heavy on confidence, thanks to the second-half charge to the top of the division, and likely motivated by the university's decision to promote Helton from his interim title. Stanford, meanwhile, is driven not just by the quest for another conference title putting the Cardinal in the Rose Bowl for the third time in four years but the potential for more: With a win against USC and a loss by either Alabama or Clemson, the Cardinal are very likely headed for a national semifinal. "The hardest chess match you have is with yourself, not necessarily the opponent," Shaw said. | 1 | 96,854 | sports |
Dabo Swinney talks to ACC Digital Network host Jeff Fischel about how Clemson has found ways to win this season, how easy it is to coach a quarterback like Deshaun Watson, the keys to beating North Carolina in the ACC Championship game, and more. | 1 | 96,855 | sports |
The 1934 Ford Coupe wows as the Garage Squad reveals one of their hardest project to date. | 9 | 96,856 | autos |
Daily Fantasy College Football, Late Conference Championship Games: FanDuel lineup picks, advice and strategy If you're looking for daily fantasy college football lineup picks, strategy, advice and sleepers for Championship Week's late slate of games, you've come to the right place. Finding the right mix of value plays and high-scoring stacks is a must, and we have a bit of both. The following is an optimal FanDuel CFB lineup for Saturday's late games. For the nightcap of the season's final week, we are settling in with a Heisman hopeful from Clemson and a couple of prime pass catchers from Michigan State, so try this strategy when putting together your FanDuel lineup. MORE DAILY FANTASY: NCAA Early Slate | NFL tourney lineup | NFL cash game lineup 1 Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson ($10,900) Has any quarterback in the nation put together a better season than Watson? The sensational sophomore is among the top-20 QBs in passing yards, completion percentage, touchdown tosses and overall passer rating. On top of that, he has rushed for 756 yards on the ground and is tied for the team lead with nine rushing scores. Watson has really turned things up a notch dating back to Halloween, averaging 37.6 FanDuel points across Clemson's last five games. Look for Watson to put on a show as he leads No. 1 Clemson into the ACC Championship Game against North Carolina and the 66th-ranked defense. 2 Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego State ($9,100) Only six running backs across the country have combined for 1,400-plus yards and 15 or more touchdowns on the ground this season. There are the usual suspects such as Alabama's Derrick Henry and LSU's Leonard Fournette, but Pumphrey has also run his way into that exclusive group. San Diego State's workhorse is an example of consistency, rushing for north of 120 yards in each of the last eight games while finding the end zone 13 times. Pumphrey contributes in the passing game as well, as he has caught 24 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns on the season. He is almost sure to be one of the stars of the Mountain West Championship Game. 3 Justin Davis, RB, USC ($5,200) Even in Tre Madden's return to the field last week, Davis did the heavy lifting for USC's backfield. The junior toted the rock 25 times against rival UCLA, gashing the Bruins' defense for 130 yards. Davis enjoyed an excellent month of November, as he averaged 18 carries for 110 yards over four games for the Trojans. Stanford may seem like a tough matchup, but the Cardinal rank 44th nationally versus the run and allowed Notre Dame to pile up 299 yards on the ground last week. 4 Aaron Burbridge, WR, Michigan State ($6,700) During a four-game stretch from October 10th through November 7th, Burbridge was on a ridiculous roll and throwing up some of the best receiving totals in the nation, but an injury to star quarterback Connor Cook understandably brought Burbridge back down to Earth. Cook returned to the huddle for the Spartans in their victory over Penn State last Saturday and Burbridge was an immediate beneficiary, as the star wideout hauled in six passes for 75 yards and a touchdown. 5 Deon Cain, WR, Clemson ($5,200) Deshaun Watson typically spreads the ball all over the field, limiting the DFS value of his pass-catching options in the process. However, Cain has definitely been on the same page with his quarterback over the past month or so, as the 6-2 freshman has scored in five consecutive games. During that span, Cain has totaled 19 receptions for 307 yards and five touchdowns. 6 R.J. Shelton, WR, Michigan State ($4,800) Another Michigan State receiver who benefitted from Connor Cook's return, Shelton grabbed four passes for 74 yards and a touchdown of his own against Penn State last weekend. The fleet-footed junior has become an increasingly effective option in the Spartans' passing game, as he has collected 14 receptions for 191 yards and three scores during Cook's last three complete games under center. Iowa's top-notch run defense could force Michigan State to the air, giving Shelton extra chances to hit a big play. 7 George Kittle, TE, Iowa ($3,100) Kittle has taken on an important role for the surprising Hawkeyes this season, as he has become a huge red-zone threat for quarterback C.J. Beathard. Six of Beathard's 14 touchdown passes on the campaign have been caught by Kittle with three of them coming in the last four games. The 6-4 junior has contributed just 11 receptions for 147 yards during that stretch, but touchdowns are the name of the game for tight ends as far as GPPs are concerned. MORE DAILY FANTASY: NCAA Early Slate | NFL tourney lineup | NFL cash game lineup | 1 | 96,857 | sports |
PHOENIX Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson said Friday that this week's mass shooting in Southern California should end the debate over whether Syrian refugees can safely be screened. The retired neurosurgeon told a pro-business group made of lawmakers from across the nation that if it turns out the woman involved was fully vetted by federal officials and cleared to enter the U.S. it should help end the refugee debate. "Now if that vetting resulted in missing someone who carried out such a horrendous crime that should be the end of the argument right there," Carson said. The FBI said Friday that it is investigating the shooting in San Bernardino, California as an act of terrorism. A U.S. law enforcement official said the woman who helped her husband carry out the attack had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader on Facebook under an alias. Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people at the holiday party for his co-workers. The Muslim couple died hours later in a fierce gunbattle with police. Carson, a political newcomer who has cast himself as an outsider, made his comments to the American Legislative Exchange Council as he tries to burnish his foreign policy credentials amid slipping national poll numbers. The group known as ALEC is made up mainly of state-level lawmakers, primarily conservative Republicans, and big business groups. Carson recently completed a visit to the Middle East amid questions about his grasp of foreign policy. His standing in the polls alongside Republican front-runner Donald Trump has been falling. During his comments Friday, Carson also laid out his strategy for defeating the Islamic State group that has helped cause the refugee crisis. He said the U.S. should attack the oil industry that helps fund the group, cut off its de facto capitol of Raqqa, counter IS propaganda on social media and attack it on all fronts. "You keep after them, you keep them on the run, and you don't let them sit there comfortably and concoct mechanisms for terrorizing the rest of the world," Carson said. "I don't know what ever happened to our capacity for warfare. But I somehow have the feeling that there are many of our experts and our generals who would agree with me that we need to be aggressive in carrying the war to them over there, and we need to not just contain them, but we need to destroy them." Carson's speech also touched on his personal narrative of growing up in a rough neighborhood before making good, along with a defense of police officers he says have gotten "a bad rap," a pitch for smaller government and a proposal for a flat tax for all income levels. "We need to buy that debt down, we need to have fiscal policies that make sense, we need a balanced budget amendment, we need term limits," Carson said as he patted a bust of Thomas Jefferson that was on stage. "This man was a genius. He said we would get to this point in this country because the people would become lax ..." Carson said that would result in government growing and beginning to dominate "the people." | 5 | 96,858 | news |
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) Kentucky coach John Calipari cautioned anyone who would listen that all the talent possessed by his latest freshman class would mean nothing if they didn't also show a little toughness. If he was having trouble getting his team's attention, he's not anymore. The top-ranked Wildcats showed none of that needed grit in an 87-77 loss at UCLA, a game in which Calipari's concerns about his team's resolve painfully unfolded in Kentucky's first regular-season loss in nearly 21 months. ''We got kicked, we got beat, we move on,'' Calipari said. ''We've had a pretty good run, and we'll see if we can get it going again.'' Kentucky (7-1) has until Wednesday when they face Eastern Kentucky to find some of that missing fortitude. Against the Bruins, the Wildcats shot 38 percent, were edged 38-37 on the boards and looked lost for the most part in the school's first visit to Pauley Pavilion. Calipari's hope was that the Wildcats remember that empty feeling they had during the five-hour overnight flight home and learn from it. ''We have a couple of guys not fighting right now, but we're going to get there. It's early in the season,'' said sophomore guard Tyler Ulis, who played with a wrap on his injured right elbow. Though three-quarters of the season remains for Kentucky, upcoming non-conference games this month against Arizona State, Ohio State and archrival Louisville adds some urgency to getting problems corrected. Not that Calipari expects neighboring EKU to be a cakewalk after his Wildcats led for just 30 seconds against the Bruins. Then there is the questionable status of 6-foot-9 junior forward Marcus Lee, who left the game against UCLA with a head injury about 4 1/2 minutes in and did not return. Team spokesman Eric Lindsey said Friday afternoon Lee is being evaluated on a daily basis. Without their leading rebounder, things went downhill for against UCLA, which led by as many as 15 points. Much-heralded Kentucky freshman Skal Labissiere drew the most scrutiny after contributing just six points, one rebound and four fouls. UCLA's Thomas Welsh had 21 points and 11 rebounds in comparison. The 6-10 Haitian's seeming reluctance to get physical against the Bruins even drew a push from the 5-9 Ulis in an effort to get him more involved. ''We've got to stay on him,'' Ulis said of Labissiere while downplaying the shove as a heat-of-the-moment reaction. ''I pushed him or whatever to get him to get the rebound, but at the same time I told it `you're good, it's OK.''' Freshman guards Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray provided some bright spots with 20 and 17 points respectively while junior forward Derek Willis added 11 points and six rebounds. But Willis and Alex Poythress also fouled out and several others had at least three fouls, which Calipari hoped would offer another lesson for his youngsters. The coach also pointed the finger inward after Kentucky's first regular-season loss since March 8, 2014 at Florida. Calipari said he was outcoached by UCLA counterpart Steve Alford for setting a slower, physical pace that took Kentucky out of its rhythm. But what really bothered Calipari was that the Wildcats didn't counterpunch, which needs to change. ''We have to be tougher than the people we're playing,'' he said, ''and if you don't understand that, then we've got to figure it out.'' | 1 | 96,859 | sports |
The Canadiens are 19-5-3, while Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane has recorded a point in 21 straight games. 120 Sports NHL analyst Anson Carter tells us which has been more impressive. | 1 | 96,860 | sports |
Florida coach Jim McElwain says he is not too excited to play Alabama in Saturday's SEC title game. Is McElwain throwing in the towel? | 1 | 96,861 | sports |
Shopper's Market: Keep criminal hands off your donations | 3 | 96,862 | finance |
A team at the University of California, Berkeley analyzed about a hundred years' worth of yearbook photos and learned people are smiling more these days. | 8 | 96,863 | video |
Russia is continuing to move ahead with its plans for a base on the moon, with one source revealing that the massive undertaking will likely require about six launches of the Angara-A5V rocket to haul up loads including a lander, crew vehicle, and lunar base. | 8 | 96,864 | video |
Hunter Pence isn't usually at a loss for words. The San Francisco Giants outfielder could hardly keep his thoughts straight when proposing to his new fiancee. The two-time World Series champion popped the question to his longtime girlfriend Alexis, whom gamer aficionados may know as a @LetsGetLexi, at Disney World. The brunette beauty thought they were filming a segment about the pair's favorite Disney memories before Pence surprised her by changing the subject and dropping to one knee. | 8 | 96,865 | video |
The Arizona Diamondbacks unveiled their snazzy new uniforms one day, then landed a new ace to wear them the next. Surprise! Zack Greinke is coming to the desert. The D-backs beat out the division rival Dodgers and Giants to unexpectedly win the Greinke sweepstakes Friday night, acquiring the free agent ace they hope will get the franchise contending again -- and fast. He reached an agreement on a $206.5 million, six-year contract, sources told The Associated Press. The major league ERA leader and runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award helped lead the Dodgers to their third straight division title this season. Then, the 32-year-old righty opted out of his contract, leaving $71.5 million on the table -- and wound up with the richest deal, by yearly average, in baseball history. The sources spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there hadn't been an official announcement. Fox Sports first reported an agreement. Greinke was the second former AL Cy Young winner to get a mega-contract this week. David Price joined the Boston Red Sox for $217 million over seven years. The moves came as teams prepared to head this weekend to the winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. Greinke's new deal contains deferred money. The $34.4 million average will be the sport's highest, topping Price's $31 million. Earlier this offseason, pitcher Johnny Cueto turned down a $120 million offer from the Diamondbacks after he helped Kansas City win the World Series and became a free agent. Instead, the Diamondbacks reeled in an even bigger prize. They had money to spend -- last February, they signed a TV deal with Fox Sports Arizona for more than $1.5 billion over 20 years. Greinke's contract gave him the flexibility to find a new home. He was in prime position, too, after setting a career high for wins by going 19-3 and posting a 1.66 ERA that was the best in the majors in 20 years. In December 2012, Greinke signed a $147 million, six-year deal with the Dodgers that included an opt-out clause. He exercised it and walked away from a whopping amount over the next three years. "We made a very strong offer to retain Zack but clearly he found a deal that fit better for him and his family," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said in a statement. "We are now hard at work on our alternatives." Out of the playoffs since 2011, the Diamondbacks finished 79-83 last season, 13 games behind the West champion Dodgers and also trailing the Giants, who have won three of the last six World Series. Arizona scored the second-most runs in the NL last season, but was thin in the pitching department -- Diamondbacks starters threw the second-fewest innings in the league. The Diamondbacks tried this season to clear salary. In June, they traded pitcher Bronson Arroyo to Atlanta to further reduce their payroll. "It is more of what we are trying to do. The money is definitely important," Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart said at the time. "We said that we are going to try to do what we can to promote our young pitchers but also give ourselves a chance to make some savings so that we can have an opportunity to do things at a later date." On Friday night, they did a really big thing. After revealing futuristic uniforms for 2016 a day earlier, Arizona found its new big star to wear one. Greinke's ERA was the lowest in the majors since Greg Maddux had a 1.63 ERA in 1995. Greinke had a scoreless streak of 45 2-3 innings this summer. He was durable, too, pitching 222 2-3 innings. A Gold Glove winner who also likes to hit, he teamed with lefty Clayton Kershaw to give the Dodgers a formidable 1-2 combo at the top of the rotation. The Dodgers had hoped Greinke and Kershaw, plus a roster that added up to the highest payroll in baseball, could lead them to their first World Series crown since 1988. Instead, LA lost in the division round to the New York Mets in October. Greinke went 51-15 during his three years with the Dodgers. Arizona will lose its first-round draft pick, No. 13 overall. The Dodgers gain a compensatory pick, likely No. 41. Greinke's departure leaves the Dodgers with an unstable rotation beyond Kershaw. Brett Anderson returns after his first healthy season since 2009 and young Alex Wood is also back, but Hyun-Jin Ryu is coming off shoulder surgery that cost him all of last season and Brandon McCarthy is out until midseason after Tommy John surgery. In October, the Dodgers parted ways with now-Marlins manager Don Mattingly and later hired former major leaguer Dave Roberts as his replacement. A top priority of the Giants this offseason was to build up their rotation behind 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. Matt Cain was slowed by further elbow issues after undergoing surgery late in the 2014 season, while right-hander Tim Hudson retired and Mike Leake and Ryan Vogelsong are free agents. ------ AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum and AP Sports Writer Bob Baum in Phoenix contributed to this report. | 1 | 96,866 | sports |
The best way to bundle up against the cold is with a cocktail, so stay warm this winter with our candy cane martini. Here's what you'll need: 1 Candy Cane Lemon Juice 1.5 oz Vodka 1 oz Creme de Menthe 1 oz Cranberry Juice Shaker Martini Glass | 0 | 96,867 | foodanddrink |
Running is great for your health , helping you live longer and boosting memory. But how long do you have to pound the pavement for those long-term benefits? This video from Business Insider outlines recent research that found all you need to do is run six miles at about a 10-minute-per-mile pace over the course of a week. (We can all carve out at least an hour in our week for some jogging, right?) Running more didn't improve heart health or life span. | 4 | 96,868 | lifestyle |
Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O) board of directors on Friday is in the third and final day of meetings that could decide the future of one of Silicon Valley's most prominent but troubled companies. One option on the table for the nine board members is whether to sell Yahoo's core business, which includes Mail, its sports sites, and advertising technology. The company is also in the process of deciding whether to continue with the spinoff of its $30 billion stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (BABA.N). SunTrust analyst Robert Peck said the board might hold off on any decision because of the complexity of some of the options. "While many investors may simply apply a mid single-digit EBITDA multiple to value the core, we believe the value is more intricate," he wrote, referring to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Calls to sell the core business increased last month when activist investor Starboard Value LP requested the move to avoid potential tax penalties associated with a spinoff of Alibaba. In January, Chief Executive Marissa Mayer announced the plan to spin off the Alibaba stake into an independent business. Yahoo said the deal would be tax-free, but the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has declined to verify that. Taxes related to the spinoff could leave Yahoo shareholders on the hook for $12 billion. Analysts who follow the company have said that private equity, media and Internet firms are potential buyers for Yahoo's core business. The Alibaba stake dates back to 2005, when Yahoo paid $1 billion for a 40 percent slice of the company in a deal credited to the U.S. company's co-founder, Jerry Yang. By 2012, the two companies struck a deal to sell back more than half the stake back to Alibaba for $6.3 billion in cash and $800 million in preferred shares in Alibaba Group. The deal brought Yahoo shareholders $3 billion and the company more than $1 billion to support its core business. But it also spotlighted the fact that the bulk of the company's value came from Alibaba and a 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan Corp (4689.T). It is unclear what the board's decision will mean for the future of Mayer, who has pushed for the spinoff of the Alibaba stake. Yahoo's shares were up about 1.8 percent at $34.95 shortly before the market close. (Editing by Stephen R. Trousdale and Richard Chang) | 3 | 96,869 | finance |
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh and Duquesne campuses are separated by just over two miles. The gap on the basketball court remains considerably wider. Michael Young scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and the Panthers extended their winning streak over their crosstown rival in the annual City Game to 15 straight in a surprisingly easy 96-75 win on Friday night. James Robinson added 18 points and eight assists and graduate transfer Sterling Smith had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Pitt (5-1), which took control early and never let the Dukes into the game. "We know we're a good team," Duquesne coach Jim Ferry said. "We got thumped by a better team." And thumped quickly. Pitt scored 22 of the game's first 26 points and led by as much as 30 during a first half in which the Panthers shot 67 percent (19 of 28). Duquesne never got closer than 18 the rest of the way. "I was excited about our passing and our unselfishness," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "I'm very proud of our guys." Eric James scores 21 points off the bench for the Dukes (6-2). Derrick Colter had 15 points but Duquesne shot just 43 percent and was outrebounded 40-29. The Panthers came in smarting following a 13-point loss at home to No. 11 Purdue on Tuesday night, a game Pitt led midway through the second half before allowing the Boilermakers to pull away and become only the fifth nonconference opponent to walk off the Petersen Events Center floor victorious since the arena opened in 2002. Dixon put his players through an "angry" practice on Thursday and his team responded with 20 minutes of nearly flawless basketball to overwhelm Duquesne. The Dukes came in off to their best start in eight years, averaging more than 86 points a game and playing with a maturity Ferry said offered tangible proof that his slow steady rebuilding plan was working. Still, he cautioned beating Pitt for only the third time since 1989 wasn't one of the goals his program set at the beginning of the season. Good thing, because any hopes of an upset disappeared within minutes. The Panthers needed up less than five minutes to build a double-digit lead. While the Dukes were missing their first seven shots and turning it over four times, Young, Robinson and Jamel Artis were busy going to work. By the time Colter knocked down a jumper for Duquesne's first field goal, Pitt was in front 17-4 and just getting started. "They came out very aggressive to us," Colter said. "They made a lot of their shots in the first half and we didn't respond back. It was mostly our fault. We've got to come out and be more aggressive and throw the punch first." Robinson, who has been tasked by Dixon to look for his shot more in his senior season, drilled all four of his 3-point attempts in the half, including three straight at one point as Pitt's advantage continued to mushroom. When Duquesne's Jeremiah Jones beat the halftime buzzer with a deep 3, the Dukes were in a 57-30 hole and well on their way to remaining winless against the Panthers since 2000. "This game certainly won't define our season by any means," Ferry said. "What it does is it gets us back to the drawing board." ------ TIP-INS There was a pregame moment of silence to honor the victims of the mass shooting in San Bernadino, California on Wednesday. ... Pitt now leads the all-time series 53-31 and is 41-8 against Duquesne since 1977. ... Pitt center Rafael Maia made his first start of the season. Maia finished with nine points and a pair of rebounds. LOCK DOWN D Duquesne guard Micah Mason is the second most accurate 3-point shooter in NCAA history. He finished with 11 points and made 2 of 6 3-pointers thanks to constant defensive attention by the Panthers, who were burned by Purdue sharpshooter Ryan Cline on Tuesday. "They guarded the hell of out (Mason)," Ferry said. ODD START The Dukes actually scored the first point of the game on a free throw awarded when Pitt failed to get its lineup in on time, leading to a technical foul. Dixon offered no explanation for what happened. "I don't really know," he said. "You hate to start a game by arguing. I lost that one. It's a first. I saw a few firsts today. I guess that's why I keep (coaching) I guess." UP NEXT Duquesne hosts Maryland-Baltimore County on Tuesday. Pitt welcomes Central Arkansas on Sunday. | 1 | 96,870 | sports |
NEW YORK (AP) -- Kristaps Porzingis hit one 3-pointer and then another, with hardly a Brooklyn player in sight. "He's 7-, 8-feet tall, so I don't how they missed him," Carmelo Anthony said. They missed just about everybody in Knicks uniforms until it was far too late. BOX SCORE: KNICKS 108, NETS 91 Anthony scored 28 points, the 7-foot-3 Porzingis had 19 and New York beat Brooklyn 108-91 on Friday night to get back to .500. "Well, that was a nightmare," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. "I guess everyone can quit talking about rivalries. We didn't come ready to compete early and they jumped on us." Arron Afflalo added 18 points for the Knicks (10-10), who dominated lowly Philadelphia and Brooklyn in their last two games after a four-game losing streak. They reclaimed city bragging rights with ease, leading by as much as 31 points. Players on both sides still debate whether the teams have a rivalry after the Nets moved from New Jersey to New York in 2012. It sure looked like this one really mattered to the Knicks. "We wanted to come in and we wanted to win this game," Anthony said. "This will always be kind of a special game when we play Brooklyn." Brook Lopez scored 21 points, and Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets. They had won two in a row and have a lot to fix before they host the unbeaten Golden State Warriors on Sunday. Lopez beat twin brother Robin to take the opening tip, and it was soon clear that was all the Nets would be winning. The Knicks blitzed them with seven 3-pointers and a season-best 42 points in the first quarter, led 65-42 at halftime and opened their first lead of 30 or more since the 2013-14 season in the third period. "We stunk it up in that first quarter and it just carried over throughout the rest of the game," Nets forward Joe Johnson said. The Nets had allowed 91 points or fewer in three straight games, but the Knicks already surpassed that with a 92-67 cushion heading to the fourth quarter. Brooklyn fell to 1-11 on the road. "I thought the guys were very intent on playing together and really sharing the basketball and sending the message that they're capable of doing that," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. The Nets swept the series last season for the first since winning all four games in 2006-07. They lost Johnson in the fourth quarter when was called for a flagrant foul and ejected for elbowing Jose Calderon in the face. Porzingis finished with 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double. He was the Eastern Conference rookie of the month for October/November, the first Knicks player to win that award since Landry Fields in December 2010. Jose Calderon had 10 assists, his most since coming to the Knicks in a June 2014 trade. TIP-INS Nets: Shane Larkin, who spent last season with the Knicks, finished with six points in his return to Madison Square Garden. Andrea Bargnani, who spent two injury-disrupted seasons with the Knicks before signing with Brooklyn in the offseason, sat out with left hamstring injury. ... Rookie center Willie Reed made his NBA debut, finishing with eight points in 11 minutes. Knicks: The Knicks' last 30-point lead before Friday was a 33-point bulge, also against Brooklyn, in a 110-81 victory on April 2, 2014. ... The 42 points New York scored in the first quarter were 10 more than its previous best in the period in a loss at Cleveland on Nov. 4. The Knicks' best showing in any quarter had been 36 points on a couple of occasions. TOO CLOSE TO CALL? A Nets victory would have evened the all-time series between the franchises. Instead, the Knicks extended their edge to 91-89. BROOKLYN BORN, BELONGS TO BOTH Hall of Famer Bernard King, who was born in Brooklyn and played for both franchises, turned 59 on Friday. He holds the record for most points against the Nets, with 60 for the Knicks in a Christmas Day loss in 1984. UP NEXT Nets: Host Golden State on Sunday. Knicks: Visit Milwaukee on Saturday. | 1 | 96,871 | sports |
Should Alabama head coach Nick Saban return to the pro ranks if the Crimson Tide win a national championship this season? The crew weighs in. | 1 | 96,872 | sports |
We've found the 15 hottest US cities for 2016, all of which will be booming next year thanks to new jobs, growing industries, burgeoning art and food scenes, and affordable real estate. The 13 hottest American cities for 2016 We've found the 15 hottest US cities for 2016, all of which will be booming next year thanks to new jobs, growing industries, burgeoning art and food scenes, and affordable real estate. Rising prices in San Francisco will continue to push young hipsters out to Oakland and up north to Portland. Queens will become the hot borough in New York City because of its affordable real estate and rich culinary scene. To compile this list we looked at job growth, population growth, affordability, livability, and the health and well-being of each city's residents. We also considered how innovative and "cool" the city is an important factor in attracting the young, creative types who will make each city hot. Jennifer Polland contributed to an earlier version of this story. Atlanta, Georgia, is undergoing a revitalization that will lure in young professionals. In the past, young professionals clustered in the smaller satellite cities outside Atlanta, but recent gentrification and construction projects have lured them back to downtown Atlanta. Similar to New York's High Line, the Atlanta BeltLine is a redevelopment project that's transforming an old railway track into a recreational path for cyclists and pedestrians. Piedmont Park has been revitalized as new constructions crop up around it, and dozens of exciting restaurants have opened over the past two years. Austin, Texas, has a booming economy and strong tech industry that will bring in tons of young and talented workers. Austin was named the best-performing city in the US in 2014 by the Milken Institute. In 2015, it took the second-place spot. Job growth has been strong here, largely because of the city's burgeoning tech scene. Companies like Dell, Roku, National Instruments, and Flextronics have offices here, and several startups have been coming out of the University of Texas. All of this has led to an influx of young professionals and recent college grads , which in turn has led to a boom in construction. Austin has had one of the biggest migration rates in the US over the last few years, gaining 31,000 people in 2014 alone. Burlington, Vermont, will lead the future of food. Burlington has always been known for its crunchy-granola vibe, but lately the city has been stepping up its game in leading the rest of the country in sustainability. The local food movement has been taking off here, with new culinary businesses that preach locally grown and made. The city hosts a local food festival, Eat by Northeast , where food justice nonprofits, farmers, food entrepreneurs, and foodies come together to feast and talk about all stages of local food, from farm to table. Its Intervale Food Hub arranges weekly deliveries of produce sourced from dozens of local farms. These are just a few of the many steps the city is taking to continue to advance the local food movement. Burlington is also leading the rest of Vermont in sustainable energy. The state plans to have renewable resources provide 90% of the energy for the state by 2050. Cambridge, Massachusetts, will become a densely populated destination for entry-level biotech employees. Tens of thousands of 25- to 34-year-olds , especially from Cambridge's Harvard and MIT, as well as the 100-plus colleges in nearby Boston, are drawn to Cambridge for the growing biotech industry. Many of Cambridge's top employers, like the Novartis Institutes, Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures, and Biogen Idec, pay well and have plenty of jobs available. The area could get very crowded very quickly. A recent report by the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University created a fictional but fact-based projection of urban mobility in the greater Boston area for 2032, in which apartments become smaller (135 to 160 square feet) to fit more people, and the streets are full of self-driving bikes and cars that will moderate the increase in commuter traffic. Detroit, Michigan, is on its way up, thanks to a group of young, motivated locals. Detroit has been slowly decaying over the past several years, but things are finally looking up for the Motor City. The city has been trying to turn its economy around by attracting well-educated and talented workers. But a group of young, motivated Detroiters have also been influential in turning the city around : They've been revitalizing the real-estate market, boosting tourism, and investing in local companies. Local residents are already noticing that home prices are on the rise. Durham, North Carolina, is a hub for research and technology. Durham, North Carolina, has long been a center for innovation in tech, thanks in part to the universities of the Research Triangle. Major companies like IBM and Cisco have been in Durham for decades. But now, thanks to its relatively low cost of living, the city of 286,000 is becoming a hub for young companies looking to get their ideas off the ground. Much of the activity has focused on the American Tobacco Campus , a former factory complex that has been completely revamped to include hip working spaces, retail, and restaurants and bars. Small startups, accelerators, and venture capital firms have made their homes there. Jersey City, New Jersey, will get thousands of new residents. Manhattan's slightly more affordable neighbor to the west is undergoing a huge building boom. Multiple supertall residential towers are currently under construction in the city's downtown area, and a total of 3,000 apartment units are expected to come online by the end of 2015. In July, J.P. Morgan announced it would be moving more than 2,000 jobs across the Hudson to Jersey City. The state of New Jersey has offered tax incentives to encourage other companies to do the same. In addition to a quick commute to Manhattan, Jersey City offers residents access to a blossoming art and dining scene . Madison, Wisconsin, will turn into a big skyscraper-filled city. With barely a quarter-million people, Madison is undergoing a restructuring of its skyline. The massive facelift will make room for a host of 20- and 30-somethings who are moving into the downtown area. Madison was named the best place to live in 2015 by Livability , and a big reason for that is the plethora of new jobs luring in young professionals. Even more towering development projects are proposed for the next few years, challenging zoning and building laws. Some people are embracing the shift toward a city that welcomes growth, while others are calling it into question. "You wonder if Madison could slip from under-built to over-built if the apartment boom continues," Madison Urban Design Commission member Tom DeChant told The Cap Times . Nashville, Tennessee, will become the new center of the auto and healthcare industries. Nashville may be known for its country-music scene, but these days the Southern city is much more than just a music town. It's becoming a focal point for the auto and healthcare industries. The area is home to more than 300 healthcare companies and has more than 30,000 jobs in the auto industry . The popularity of the TV show "Nashville" has helped boost tourism. Nashville hosted a record-breaking 100 million tourists in 2014, and it continues to grow as a destination. Oakland, California, is the new hipster hotspot in the Bay Area. So many hipsters have been moving out of San Francisco and into Oakland that The New York Times has dubbed it "Brooklyn by the Bay." There are tons of vegan restaurants, coffee shops, and trendy clothing stores. All these place strong emphasis on local and vintage, surefire signs of hipsterdom. Temescal Alley, filled with barber shops, doughnut stores, and a local farmers market, is a hipster hotspot. This trend will continue as San Francisco real-estate prices continue to rise and push more young people to Oakland. Portland, Oregon, will be popular with techies wanting to escape expensive housing in the Bay Area. Tech workers fed up with the astronomically high prices of San Francisco and Silicon Valley are increasingly looking elsewhere. For many of them, that means Portland. Big-name companies like Salesforce, eBay, and Airbnb have recently opened outposts in Portland, joining startups like Tilde, Simple, and Sprintly. Portland scores high in terms of walkability, and it's known for its restaurant and craft-beer scenes. Queens will become the hot new borough in New York City, and one of the best food cities in the world. Over the past decade, Manhattan real estate has gotten so expensive that everyone in New York moved to Brooklyn. But now Brooklyn has gotten very expensive, which means that people are fleeing to Queens, where real-estate prices are still relatively inexpensive. New York City's most diverse borough is also one of the world's greatest places for food. Head to Flushing for Chinese, Astoria for Greek, or Jackson Heights for Indian. Chef and TV personality Andrew Zimmern told us that Queens is the best food city in the world . It's also got plenty of great culture, with the Queens Museum, MoMA PS 1, and the Socrates Sculpture Park. Lonely Planet even named Queens the top travel destination in the US for 2015. "Silicon Beach" is expanding inland to Los Angeles' Westside. The four miles between Venice and Santa Monica has been dubbed " Silicon Beach " for the growing number of startups that started moving into the area to escape the rising rents and cutthroat competition in Silicon Valley. The growth has been so exponential that many startups have already started to move inland because of overcrowding and inflated prices of office and residential spaces. These startups are moving to lesser-known but hip areas like Playa Vista to find converted warehouses to start their businesses. In 2014, Google paid $120 million for 12 acres in the neighborhood, in addition to its Venice presence. Yahoo plans to move its Los Angeles operation there. Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, Konami, and Belkin also have large offices there, and there's plenty of room for construction. | 3 | 96,873 | finance |
It's the holiday shopping season, and retailers are rolling out their best sales. Unfortunately, hackers and thieves are also gearing up to do big business this time of year. "Fraudsters definitely increase efforts around the holidays," says David Ackley, senior vice president of the senior information and corporate security office for Camden National Bank. "People can be more susceptible to phishing scams, especially emails with malicious links for things like checking the status of an online purchase [or] tracking shipping of a package." MoneyRates.com talked to Ackley and online security experts Tony Anscombe, senior security evangelist for AVG Technologies, and Assad Lazarus, senior vice president of product and customer experience at Equifax, for their suggestions on how consumers can keep their finances safe. Here are 15 expert tips for online shopping and banking this holiday season. 1. Use a strong password for every account Passwords are on the front lines when it comes to protecting accounts against hackers, and a strong password is one that includes both capital and lower case letters as well as numbers and special characters. Many banks and retailers insist their users have strong passwords, but even if one isn't required, it's in your best interest to use one. One simple way to create a strong password is to use a sentence, with capitalization and punctuation, rather than a word or phrase. 2. Don't use the same password everywhere Even strong passwords can be compromised so you want to be sure to use different passwords for all your accounts. "That way, if one account gets breached, fraudsters don't get the keys to the rest of your online profiles," Ackley says. Rather than memorizing all those passwords, you could record them offline in a notebook kept in a secure location, or you could use an online password manager such as RoboForm or LastPass. 3. Install anti-virus protection on your computer and phone Anscombe says anti-virus and malware protection is essential for both phones and computers nowadays, particularly because users typically have no idea their device has been compromised. "Now, [viruses] get on devices and hide in the background," Anscombe says. "If your phone is infected, chances are you'll never know." Unfortunately, some anti-virus apps are actually created by scammers to give them access to your phone. It's a problem so prevalent that Apple eliminated the anti-virus category from its app store. Do your research before downloading anything and stick to reputable companies such as AVG or Avast! Mobile Security. 4. Avoid public computers for banking and shopping Who knows who's been on the computer at the library or the Internet café before you? They could have installed a program to log keystrokes and transmit your log-in information. Rather than risk having your accounts compromised, limit your use of public, shared computers to activities such as surfing the Web, reading the news or catching up on your favorite blogs. 5. Set up a VPN if you use public WiFi Using your own device on a public wifi system can also be a risky proposition. "A WiFi connection, especially in a public domain, increases your risk of identity theft," Lazarus says. You can reduce your risk by installing a VPN - short for virtual private network - to encrypt data sent over a public system. Some VPNs are free, but many have a monthly charge. They include options such as AVG's cheekily named Hide My Ass! as well as services with names, like PureVPN and Hotspot Shield Elite, which won't make your grandmother blush. 6. Skip the banking and shopping entirely until you get home Your safest bet may to simply skip shopping and banking until you get home. Consider that researchers at Syracuse University found attackers don't even need to see your phone screen to figure out what you're typing. By discretely recording people logging into their phones, Professor Vir Phoha and his team were able to analyze people's finger movements and correctly guess a PIN on the first try 50 percent of the time. After three tries, their success rate jumped to 85 percent. 7. Only shop at reputable online stores You don't have to buy everything from Amazon, but you should exercise caution before buying from unknown websites. Do your research to determine whether the site is legitimate and has a history of happy customers. 8. Think twice about buying from overseas Shoppers may want to reconsider buying from an overseas seller. "Your legal rights might change if the seller is outside the country," Lazarus says. That may not pose too much of a problem if you buy a $20 stocking stuffer, but it could be an issue if you buy a big ticket item that ends up being defective. 9. Look for a secure connection before sending data Regardless of whether you're banking or shopping, look for a secure connection before entering your log-in or credit card information. You'll know a site is secure and your information is encrypted if the URL starts with an "https" instead of "http." In addition, many browsers will display a lock by the Web address to indicate a site has been verified as secure. 10. Always pay with a credit card While debit cards offer fraud protection, credit cards are the better choice for online shopping. That's because fraudulent charges made to a credit card don't come out of your pocket. A thief could wipe out your checking account if they gain access to your debit card. That could leave you penniless while you sort out the mess with your financial institution. 11. Look into tokenized payment methods Even better than a credit card is a tokenized payment, says Anscombe. Currently, most tokenized payments are made through mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet. Currently, these services are mainly used in stores, but some websites accept them as well. "It never sends your transaction data," Anscombe says. Instead, these systems give merchants a token code they can use to release the payment from your financial institution. As a result, the retailer never sees your card number or other payment data. "That's actually safer than walking into a shop and using your card," Anscombe says. 12. Never store your information on a retailer's site Both Anscombe and Lazarus say it's a mistake to allow companies to record your credit card number for future use. While it may be inconvenient to type in your number every time you check out, it keeps your data safe in case the retailer's server is compromised in the future. "When you check out as a guest, you still get the emails with the deals and coupons so you're not missing out," Anscombe says to reassure those who may think creating an account is the only way to be notified of sales. 13. Be wary of phishing scams in your inbox Phishing often involves emails that appear to come from a bank or retailer and they may say your account has been limited or fraudulent activity has been detected. Recipients are directed to click a link and enter their account data to confirm their order or unblock their account. However, the link actually takes people to a fake website where their personal information is collected. "The best prevention is to avoid clicking links in emails that are not expected or seem out of character," Ackley says. If you are concerned your account may actually need attention, don't click the link in the email. Instead, type the URL for the website directly into your browser address. 14. Use fraud protection tools available Banks and card issuers are typically on the hook for absorbing the cost of fraud so they are understandably interested in keeping their customer's data safe. Ackley says people can ask their banks about using secure tokens to authenticate their account log-ins. Meanwhile, card issuers may have a number of notification options available to let their customers know when a card has been used. For example, American Express has five different fraud alert options that will notify people when their cards have been used for an online or phone purchase or a foreign transaction, among other things. Finally, credit bureaus such as Equifax and companies such as LifeLock offer credit monitoring services that can detect fraud. These come at a price but offer additional peace of mind. 15. Keep gift searches off a family computer Anscombe has one final, bonus tip to share. It's not one that will prevent hackers from accessing your account, but it may help keep a wrap on holiday surprises. He advises people avoid using the family computer for gift searches. Online advertising often uses your browsing history to customize the ads you see. That's why the item you were just looking at on Amazon suddenly appears in an ad box on Facebook. "If you're searching for a PlayStation for Christmas, then your kids will know they're getting a PlayStation for Christmas [thanks to the ads]," Anscombe says. And ruining a holiday surprise may be the biggest crime of all. | 3 | 96,874 | finance |
After several days of wild volatility, the stock market may use the coming week to catch its breath, as it waits for the Fed to end the historic era of zero interest rates later this month. Markets are in full tilt, with big shifts in currencies, yields and commodities prices in the past week. But they are also primed for a Fed rate hike Dec. 16, after Friday's 211,000 November nonfarm payrolls showed a continuing solid trend of job creation. "It (the jobs number) sends the signal the economy is in decent shape, but it's the final piece of the puzzle the Fed needs to raise interest rates," said Scott Clemons, chief market strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. The Fed is expected to raise its target fed funds rate for the first time in nine years, ending seven years of ultralow rates. The focus in the week ahead will be on the consumer, with a few key reports and holiday shopping. November retail sales are reported Friday, as is consumer sentiment. Producer price inflation data is released Friday, and wholesale trade is Wednesday. "Retail sales is important because the real driver of this economy this year has been personal consumption. It certainly is not the manufacturing and industrial side. Manufacturing is in a recession," said Clemons, pointing to the strong dollar as a factor in weak manufacturing and falling exports. Clemons said he's also looking for any commentary that can help clarify the corporate earnings outlook. "We're listening to some of the bellwether companies like UPS. We're watching Christmas sales to get an indication of what the fourth quarter might be like. What worries me in 2016 is the health of corporate earnings." A good deal of the move in markets in the past several sessions had to do with maneuvers of central banks. In a week when Fed Chair Janet Yellen spoke twice, reaffirming the Fed's intention to raise interest rates, the European Central Bank moved to ease policy further. But the fact that the ECB did not add billions more to its bond buying program, as the markets expected, was viewed as disappointing, and it snapped an overextended trade to buy dollars and sell euros. Market moves were swift and dramatic, with the dollar sinking and the euro gaining more than 3 percent Thursday, its biggest one-day move since Mach 2009. The 10-year Treasury yield traveled between 2.14 and 2.35 percent during the week to finish near 2.27 percent. The S&P 500, up 2 percent Friday, was flat on the week at 2,091 because of big down moves Wednesday and Thursday. "A 3.5 percent move in a currency cross, in Dow terms, that would be like saying the Dow was up 1,200 points. That's the magnitude of the move," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. There was also drama in the oil markets, where crude prices rallied on speculation ahead of OPEC 's meeting Friday, and plunged after it said it would not change its market-based price strategy. Even though stocks rallied while oil fell Friday, that divergence could be short lived. "I think you've got to watch oil. We're closing at $40. There's support at about $38," said Art Cashin, UBS director of NYSE floor operations. That level could give way to another move down toward $35 per barrel, and that could once more turn up the pressure on stocks, he said. Stocks surged Friday, with the Dow up 369 points, after the solid jobs report and as ECB President Mario Draghi spoke in New York, reassuring markets that the ECB was ready to act as much as needed. Draghi said the ECB would continue to use the tools it had available and said quantitative easing was unlimited. "It was the color he put on it," said Clemons. "It was an echo of his 'whatever it takes' comment. I think the market said: "I get it." It's a gradual incremental approach. This isn't meant to be the final shot across the bow." The reaction Monday in European markets to Draghi will also be important to trading in the coming week. Super low sovereign yields moved higher after the ECB cut its already negative deposit rate and extended quantitative easing purchases to March 2017. But markets had expected another 20 billion to 30 billion euros on top of its 60 billion euro monthly bond purchases. There is also key data from China, with trade on Monday evening New York time and inflation data Tuesday night. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is the only Fed official on the calendar with a speech Monday. The Fed goes quiet in the week before its rates meeting. Monday 3 p.m.: Consumer credit 12:30 p.m.: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard Tuesday 6 a.m.: NFIB survey Wednesday 10 a.m.: Wholesale trade Thursday 8:30 a.m. Initial claims; import prices 2 p.m.: Federal budget Friday 8:30 a.m. Retail sales; PPI 10 a.m.: Consumer sentiment; business inventories | 3 | 96,875 | finance |
It's not unheard of for someone to say that couples who shack up before marriage are doomed for emotional distress and divorce . However, marriage may not be necessary to reap the benefits of living together. A recent study , published in the Journal of Family Psychology , found young couples get the same emotional benefits from living together as would from getting married, especially the women in these relationships. In the U.S., cohabitation has recently become a regular part of family life. Census Data from 2012 shows 7.8 million couples are living together without being married, compared to 2.9 million in 1996. Moreover, two-thirds of couples married in 2012 cohabitated for more than two years before they walked down the aisle, according to the Council on Contemporary Families . People may be putting off marriage because they can't afford it, or because it's financially risky. Cohabitation is also seen as a way of test-driving a relationship to see if the marriage will work out. However, is there a difference between emotional wellbeing when it comes to living together versus getting married? Researchers at the University of Ohio collected data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. This study included 8,700 people who were born between 1980 and 1984, and who were interviewed every other year from 2000 to 2010. The NLSY97 is conducted by Ohio State's Center for Human Resource Research for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During each survey, participants were asked about their relationship status, along with five questions assessing their levels of emotional distress. On a scale of scale of 1 (all of the time) to 4 (none of the time), they reported how often in the past month they felt "downhearted and blue," among other symptoms. The findings revealed there were several gender differences when it came emotional health from moving in together versus getting married. When it came to first unions (first relationships), women got the same emotional benefit from moving in together as they did from going directly into marriage. "There's no additional boost from getting married," said Sara Mernitz, co-author of the study, and a doctoral student in human sciences at The Ohio State University, in the news release . Meanwhile, men entering a first union experienced a decrease in emotional distress only if they went directly into marriage. There was no change in distress for men who cohabited with a female partner. The researchers reasoned this was because men are more likely than women to report cohabitations as a way to test the relationship. There were no reported gender differences when it came to emotional health changes among men or women entering their second union. In other words, both groups experienced a drop in emotional distress when they moved from a first relationship into cohabitation or marriage with a second partner. "The young people in our study may be selecting better partners for themselves the second time around, which is why they are seeing a drop in emotional distress," said Claire Kamp Dush, co-author of the study and associate professor of human sciences at Ohio State, in the news release. Surprisingly, the researchers found those who gave birth, or whose partners gave birth, experienced a significant decrease in emotional distress compared to those who didn't have a child. This is alarming, considering having a baby has been associated with increased stress. The researchers warned they only looked at emotional distress, meaning the stress of raising a baby could have manifested itself in other ways for these couples. Moreover, marriage may provide benefits that weren't observed in the study, such as stability. Couples who engage in cohabitation do not have the same formal constraints or responsibilities as those who are married. This can lead to uncertainty in regards to the stability and longevity of the relationship. In this sense, cohabitation may be a con for couples who seek to confirm stability. Despite the limitations, Kamp Dush said: "It's not commonly known that couples can get emotional benefits from moving in together without being married . That's something we should be talking about." Sources: Mernitz SE and Kamp Dush C. Emotional Health Across the Transition to First and Second Unions Among Emerging Adults. Journal of Family Psychology . 2015. | 4 | 96,876 | lifestyle |
After winning two Defensive Player of the Year Awards in his first four seasons, it's hard to believe J.J. Watt fell to 11th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. But apparently Rex Ryan had a plan to make him fall even further so he could draft him while he was coaching the New York Jets. According to ESPN, JJ met with Ryan at the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine. After making an appearance in the AFC Championship, the Jets had the 30th overall selection-too high to draft Watt. But Rex had a plan. | 1 | 96,877 | sports |
The Farook family lawyer David Chesley urged the media and the public not to jump to conclusions about the San Bernardino shooters' motivation at a press conference Friday. Photo: AP | 5 | 96,878 | news |
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is looking for a man convicted of aggravated robbery who was accidentally released from a private facility in July. Arturo Hernandez was sentenced to 18 years in the Texas Department of Corrections for aggravated robbery before he was inadvertently released by GEO-Central Texas Detention Facilities officials on July 15. He is currently wanted for three felony aggravated robbery warrants. BCSO officials could not provide details regarding the circumstances of his release, but said he and his wife Jeanette Tello Hernandez may be staying with friends or family on the South or Southeast Side. In addition to his conviction for aggravated robbery, BCSO officials said his criminal history includes several convictions for violent crimes, vehicle thefts, failure to identify himself, evading arrest and burglary of habitation. While Hernandez's wife is not wanted for any crimes, officials said they have reason to believe he is with her. Those with any information on his whereabouts should contact the Bexar County Sheriff's Office at 210-335-8477, or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867. [email protected] Twitter: @MariahMedinaaa | 5 | 96,879 | news |
With a strong employment number reported on Friday, Jim Cramer still considers the market to be just crazy town. Most investors have been conditioned to believe that good news is bad news because that meant the Fed would raise rates. On the contrary, the market actually liked the strong employment number and rallied in response. "We regard this strong jobs number as a sign that things are good enough for the Fed to tighten, so, bring it on," the "Mad Money" host said. So, now Cramer is operating under the assumption that everyone with a pulse knows the Fed will raise rates, and everyone will just have to wait to see what it says in its commentary when it happens. If it's a "one and done" rate hike, then Cramer anticipates the market will rally like it did on Friday. Until then, he will proceed as usual. With this in mind, Cramer outlined the stocks and events he will be watching next week. Wednesday: Lululemon Athletica (LULU). Many investors want to own this stock because they think it could be taken over. But then, if the earnings are not good, investors sell the stock again. Going into the quarter on Wednesday, Cramer considers this stock guilty until proven innocent. "My problem is that I can never recommend a stock on a takeover basis if the fundamentals are suspect, and I think they remain suspect at Lululemon," Cramer said. There is a reason why Cramer always preaches to investors the importance of digging in the weeds with conference calls, listening to management and devouring insights from a company. This is the information that will let investors predict trends and prepare for opportunities before any of Wall Street's algorithms and analysts figure them out. Just as a coach on a football team will study a replay film of the game, Cramer does the same for stocks. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't have those insights without looking at the game film of these conference calls. It is a boring, nerdy game to play. But it gives you the edge you need," Cramer said. It was these insights that allowed both Kroger and Dollar General's stocks to make money on one of the worst days of the year. With an environment of strong employment where the Fed is poised to take action, Cramer wondered what to do with a small-cap growth restaurant stock like Zoe's Kitchen. Zoe's is the Mediterranean themed fast-casual chain with 165 locations in 17 states. The stock was a former market darling that roared to $45 in July, but then the CFO suddenly resigned and same-store sales started to decline. The market also developed higher standards for all high-flying not yet profitable growth stocks out there. However, when Zoe's reported approximately two weeks ago, the stock jumped 3 percent on the news. Could Zoe be getting her groove back? To find out, Cramer spoke with Zoe's Kitchen CEO Kevin Miles. "We are really focused on the day-to-day. We are very honored to be a public company and we have been very well received. We're focused on the day-to-day in the long run. Our traffic was really fantastic, we were very proud of our quarter … and the best thing is that we didn't take price. We gave that back to our customer and we continue to grow," Miles said. Retail can be a confusing world for Cramer. Why the heck are investors willing to pay up for a stock like Ulta Salon (ULTA) , and then completely give up on a stock like PVH Corp (PVH) even if they both beat quarterly guidance? "It all has to do with destiny: Ulta is in charge of its own, while PVH is hostage to the environment," the " Mad Money " host said. When Ulta reported its 12 percent same-store-sales gain on Thursday, Cramer was struck by how little stands in the way of this company. It doesn't have to fight the weather, strong dollar or e-commerce. Women buy cosmetics and get their hair done regardless of how hot or cold it is. That is how this company has the best comparable sales ever in history of being public. CEO Mary Dillon has cracked the code on customer loyalty, and Cramer thinks she could even just be scratching the surface. Back in October when the biotech group was stuck in a house of pain, there was a slew of poorly timed biotech IPOs that were crushed right out of the gate. That is why Cramer decided to sort through the rubble to figure out which ones are worth buying into in undeserved weakness. Novocure is a company with a novel, proprietary anti-cancer therapy called Tumor Treating Fields. It basically uses alternating electrical fields to disrupt key molecules inside cancer cells. Some consider this a much less invasive way to stop tumors from growing than surgery, chemo or radiation. And while Novocure is up 55 percent in the past two months, the stock still remains less than $3 above its IPO price. Given its robust pipeline, Cramer spoke with its executive chairman of the board, Bill Doyle, to find out what could be in store for the company in the future. "When we surround the area that has a tumor … With our transducer rays and create an electric field inside the cells, we pull apart the proteins that are necessary for cell division. If the proteins can't go in the right place at the right time, instead of one cancer cell becoming two, one blows up and becomes zero. That is how we treat cancer," Doyle said. In the Lightning Round, Cramer gave his take on a few caller favorite stocks: Chevron: "We are tired of the oils. We are battling and battling and battling. There are so many other good companies. I think Chevron you sell, sell, sell at $93. Take three more points and then go." Geron Corporation: "So speculative. We have got stocks like Biogen, which my charitable trust owns, and Celgene down so much. How can we not go with quality?" | 3 | 96,880 | finance |
What do you put sriracha on? | 8 | 96,881 | video |
It wasn't the season that Will Muschamp had envisioned when he became the defensive coordinator for the Auburn Tigers, but as it turns out, it may have been just enough to get him another head coaching job. Reports say that Muschamp has stepped down from the Tigers after just one single season: Sources telling me former Gator head coach will Muschamp now with #auburn has resigned david pingalore (@pingnews6) December 4, 2015 In recent days, Muschamp's name has been linked to the head coaching job at South Carolina with some saying he is the leading candidate. Some sources say he is already looking for potential assistant coaches, including one former Gamecocks star: A source close to the situation tells us Muschamp reached out to former running back Marcus Lattimore. Details about the conversation between the two were not completely available, but the source says Muschamp has asked Lattimore to join his staff in an unspecified capacity if he takes the South Carolina job. Muschamp spent four years as the head coach of the Florida Gators before being fired after an overtime loss to South Carolina in November 2014. | 1 | 96,882 | sports |
WASHINGTON The falling oil and gasoline prices that for months have coincided with strong U.S. hiring have helped most Americans. But they've come at a painful cost for workers in the energy and mining sector: 122,300 lost jobs in the past year. Even as workers nationwide are earning slightly more than they did a year ago, average wages have tumbled 1.5 percent to $26.72 an hour for energy production workers. The November jobs report that the government released Friday illustrates the divide between the broad economy and the ailing fossil fuels industry: Overall, U.S. employers added a robust 211,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate held steady at a healthy 5 percent. But the energy industry, reeling from falling oil prices and weakening global demand, shed 11,300 jobs. In just 18 months, oil prices have cratered from $107 a barrel to roughly $40. And gasoline prices have plunged from around $3.70 a gallon to $2.05. Those prices could be poised to fall further, with OPEC deciding Friday to keep production running high. One measure of the damage: Even as the overall U.S. stock market rocketed up 2 percent on Friday, an index of oil and gas stocks tracked by the New York Stock Exchange fell 0.5 percent. The industry's layoffs are expected to pile up as energy companies try to shore up their finances in light of the sharply lower prices. "This is likely going to continue for six months or so as things settle out," said Ken Medlock, an economist and Senior director at Rice University's Center for Energy Studies in Houston. Medlock said the rapid hiring that energy companies embarked on five years ago as fracking unlocked oil and natural gas from shale won't likely return soon. There will be less impetus to develop fields and increase production as long as prices stay low. For most American consumers and companies, cheaper energy has been an unexpected gift. Drivers are paying less for gasoline. Jet fuel costs have plummeted for airlines and shipping firms. Heating oil expenses have dipped ahead of winter. Average gas prices nationwide are likely to slide below $2 a gallon in the next several days, bringing them to their lowest level since March 2009, said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service. "There is going to be a lot more money for consumers to spend," Kloza said. "Whether they spend it and that leads to more jobs is an open question." The outlook is rather different in oil country. Since August, Texas' unemployment rate has risen as the state has shed oil and related manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than 17 percent of the mining jobs which include oil and natural gas have disappeared from North Dakota in the past year. Other fossil fuels, including natural gas and coal, have also collapsed in price. The result is fewer mining jobs in coal-rich states such as West Virginia and Kentucky. Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said he expects more industry bankruptcies and mergers, both of which will cost some employees their jobs. Even if prices recover, Bullock said he doubts that the industry will quickly increase hiring. He expects companies to automate more work with robots and other machines. "The industry will be more efficient; it won't need as many people as it did before," Bullock said. The world's appetite for all fossil fuels has been eroded by anemic economic growth. China has slowed, Europe is stumbling and Japan has lapsed into recession. Yet OPEC ended its meeting Friday with plans to keep the oil flowing. OPEC will maintain its current production levels of 31.5 million barrels a day, roughly a third of the global supply. By preserving market share for members such as Saudi Arabia, OPEC will continue to flood the market with more oil than people want, which then depresses prices. In fact, OPEC members such as Iran plan to increase their production as a recent international agreement begins lifting its nuclear-related sanctions. Other member countries lobbied unsuccessfully to cut production in hope of boosting oil prices. The impact of lower prices has ricocheted across the oil and natural gas fields of the United States. Major energy firms such as Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Halliburton, ConocoPhillips, Chevron and BP have announced layoffs. Average wages have largely declined for oil workers because of these departures. But Rice University's Medlock said he's heard anecdotally that some workers agreed to lower salaries in order to keep their jobs and protect their benefits. The job cuts will eventually fade as companies become more financially stable through job cuts and mergers, not because of a surge in demand that would raise prices. "There is such an inventory overhang that we have a lot of supplies to eat through before we see an increase in price," Medlock said. AP Business Writer David Koenig contributed to this report from Dallas. | 3 | 96,883 | finance |
Left-hander Oliver Perez has agreed to a two-year deal worth $7 million with the Washington Nationals, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Perez recorded a 4.17 ERA with 51 strikeouts last season in 70 relief appearances with the Diamondbacks and Astros, who acquired him in a a midseason trade. He held lefthanded batters to a .185 average. The Nationals' bullpen is currently without an experienced lefthanded reliever, and Perez should slot in somewhere in the late innings. Perez struggled with his control as a starting pitcher early in his career, but since moving to the bullpen full-time in 2012 holds a 3.31 ERA. • Ex-Nats stalwart Zimmermann, Tigers agree to deal - Jeremy Woo | 1 | 96,884 | sports |
Gym membership, food diary, portion control: Check, check, check. Clothes that fit, cardio, emergency snacks: Three checks again. You think you know everything there is to know about dropping pounds, but a recent survey commissioned by healthcare services company Orlando Health proved there's one thing most of us are overlooking: our mental health. Blame this neglect for why an estimated 95 percent of diets seem to fail us. In a national survey of more than 1,000 Americans, 31 percent of respondents said they believe lack of exercise is the biggest hurdle to achieving weight loss, followed by 26 percent who believe it's what food you eat and 17 percent who pointed to the financial expenses of a healthy lifestyle. Only one in 10 of the respondents mentioned psychological wellness as a barrier. "When you talk to anyone about weight loss, they will tell you they don't exercise enough and that they eat poorly," Diane Robinson, a neuropsychologist and program director of Integrative Medicine at Orlando Health, told The Huffington Post. "But we also need to understand why we're eating." For many people, eating is an emotional experience. We are given "comfort foods" during hard times and we're rewarded with sweet treats for good behavior when we're kids. Many American holidays are focused on food, and often, we have a nostalgic or personal connection to what's on the table. "If we're aware of it or not, we are conditioned to use food not only for nourishment, but for comfort," Robinson said. "That's not a bad thing, necessarily, as long as we acknowledge it and deal with it appropriately." After devouring a delicious meal, the brain releases dopamine, a chemical that's associated with pleasure. Your body is satisfied, and you feel good. But emotional attachment to food becomes problematic when people heavily rely on food for that feeling. As the Mayo Clinic puts it, "Sometimes the strongest food cravings hit when you're at your weakest point emotionally ." Understanding the emotional aspect of our food behaviors is key to maintaining holistic health. Previous studies, including one published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology in 2014, underscore the complex relationship between mood, food and overeating . Hunger and food intake are regulated by much more than our biology: Emotion plays a critical role in determining what and how much we eat. This new survey points to the fact that there's work to be done on the inside in order to shrink the outside. At a time of year when so many of us resolve to improve ourselves, Robinson said smaller steps are key to real acheivement. As for weight loss, she said, "If you want to make a real resolution, resolve to get to know yourself better." Robinson said she suspects we have such difficulty checking in with our emotions when dealing with food because as humans, it's difficult to look at ourselves through that lens. "It's hard for us to label emotions and realize it's the emotion that's driving a thought or behavior. We don't want to piece that together because it makes us uncomfortable," she said. So many of us overlook the mental health aspect of weight loss because while we prioritize our physical health -- you'd go to the doctor for a broken arm or virus -- our emotional well-being is much more abstract: How do you know if you're " sad enough" to see a therapist ?. While there's more research to be done on the relationship between mental health and weight loss, Robinson said there are things people trying to lose weight can do today to get the brain to work in tandem with other weight loss efforts. If you keep a food journal, for example, you might also log your moods and track unhealthy patterns. Before you grab a snack, check in with yourself: Are you eating because you're hungry, or for another reason? If your answer is the latter, you might consider looking deeper into the reasons behind motive. For some, working with a therapist may be the key to unlocking some of the emotional aspects behind food behavior. Related on HuffPost: | 4 | 96,885 | lifestyle |
A sequel to 2005 cult favorite "Psychonauts" has amassed over $1.1m in crowdfunding in little more than 12 hours since going live on new crowdfunding site Fig. The original game featured a runaway acrobat, Raz, whose special powers let him explore the minds of fellow students at the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. Initial sales did not live up to the game's enthusiastic reception at review, but in recent years "Psychonauts" has experienced a renaissance of sorts: 1.2m of its 1.7m lifetime sales were made in the 5 year span since 2010. That figure is set to rise further, as all supporters for the "Psychonauts 2" fundraising drive receive a Mac, Windows and Linux download code for "Psychonauts 1" when making a donation of $10 or more; those that stump up $39 or over fall in line for its 2018 sequel and a range of other benefits. Many veterans of "Psychonauts" are on staff at Double Fine, a studio co-founded by the game's creator Tim Schafer, with others having agreed to contribute to the sequel's development. Those include illustrator Peter Chan who worked with Schafer on "Grim Fandango," "Day of the Tentacle," "Full Throttle" and "Monkey Island 2," and Erik Wolpaw, now best known for "Portal" and "Portal 2." Fans have also responded to Schafer's pitch for the Mac, PC, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game, pledging $1.1m with only 14 hours on the clock ( VG247 ). Double Fine is looking to raise $3.3m by January 8 via fig.co/campaigns/psychonauts-2 ; Fig backers can contribute either by chipping in for a reward tier, as with conventional Kickstarter campaigns, or by becoming investors seeking financial return on the game's success. | 6 | 96,886 | entertainment |
LSU freshman forward Ben Simmons has lived up to his recruiting hype so far, already providing concrete evidence that he could be the Tigers' best player since Shaquille O'Neal. Saying he was ''tired of losing,'' Simmons this week helped LSU survive a close, high-scoring game against North Florida - and snap a three-game skid - by scoring 43 points, something no Tigers player had done since O'Neal in 1991. Even without his scoring, the versatile, 6-foot-10 Simmons would have had a good game with 14 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and three blocked shots. RELATED: LeBron doesn't mind comparisons with Simmons Simmons plays in a basketball stadium named for former LSU great Pete Maravich (the Pete Maravich Assembly Center), who averaged 44.2 points per game during a three-year college career. Simmons is not expected to spend more than one season at LSU before entering the NBA draft, and he may be hard pressed to average anywhere near 44 points per game. Still, his exceptional all-court play through his first seven games gives an indication of what the Tigers might be able to expect as Simmons becomes more comfortable with his teammates and the college game. Certainly, North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll, whose coaching career has included stints as an assistant in the ACC with Clemson and Big 12 with Baylor, made it clear that he saw Simmons as a rather rare talent. ''This dude guards. This dude rebounds. This guy gets steals and his IQ is off the roof, and I've never seen a more complete package,'' Driscoll said. ''His overall game and his overall talent is as great as I've ever seen. ... (Kevin) Durant was the best offensive player - not even close. But I'm talking about the overall talent (with Simmons). Wow!'' --- Here are some things to know about Simmons' remarkable start to the season: TO THE HOLE: Simmons is not known for his outside shooting, but his instincts, vision and ball-handling still get him a lot of opportunities to score near the basket when he decides he needs to score. His 43 points against North Florida were the most by an SEC player since Arkansas' Rotnei Clarke scored 51 against Alcorn State on Nov. 13, 2009. NOVEMBER MEN: Only two Division I college players in the last 20 seasons have averaged at least 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists during the month of November. One was Simmons. The other was Evan Turner, who did it during his junior season (2009-10) at Ohio State. RARIFIED AIR: When Simmons posted 21 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists in LSU's loss last week to Marquette, he became only the fifth major conference player to have at least 20 points, 20 rebounds and five assists in a game in the last two decades. The others were: Blake Griffin, Michael Sweetney, Eddie Griffin and Tim Duncan. COURT SENSE: Because Simmons often sees himself as a facilitator, he doesn't always score in bunches, but rather looks to pass first. Against North Carolina State last week, Simmons had a game in which he scored 4 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and had 10 assists without a single turnover. While his point total was low that night, coaches pay attention when a big man produces a stat line like that. There hasn't been one other Division I player listed at 6-10 or taller who has posted a 10-assist, zero-turnover game in the last 20 years. ALL-AROUND GAME: Through seven career games, Simmons' 139 points, 104 rebounds, 42 assists and 17 steals compares favorably to many of college basketball's biggest starts of the past two decades. Simmons' point total hasn't quite matched that of Kansas State's Michael Beasley (187), Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony (173), or Texas' Kevin Durant (163) during the same opening stint in their careers, but Simmons' assists are double what anyone in that group had and none had as many steals. Beasley is the only member of that elite group with more rebounds, with just one more at 105. Simmons also is off to a more prolific start, in terms of points, rebounds, assists and steals, than Kentucky's Anthony Davis (91 points, 64 rebounds, 8 assists, 9 steals), Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (94, 64, 11, 10) or North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (112, 51, 9, 6). | 1 | 96,887 | sports |
Tashfeen Malik's path to accused mass killer in California began in a small city on the Indus River in Pakistan's Punjab province. It was from here, when she was a toddler, that she moved with her father Gulzar 25 years ago to Saudi Arabia, where he became more deeply religious, more conservative and more hardline, according to a family member. A picture slowly emerged on Friday of the role and possible motivations of 27-year-old Malik in this week's killing of 14 people in California, including her apparent pledge of allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State militant group, according to U.S. officials. Malik, with her husband Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, is accused of storming a holiday party on Wednesday in San Bernardino, California, and opening fire in America's worst mass shooting in three years. The intensive search for clues, extending to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, could help U.S. investigators piece together what drove Malik and her husband to leave their infant daughter with his mother, don assault-style clothing and carry out the shooting. Malik, who entered the United States on a fiancée visa, and Farook, the son of immigrant parents from Pakistan who had worked as a health inspector, were killed in a shootout with police just hours after the attack. #SanBernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik said to have posted pledge of allegiance to ISIS. https://t.co/8ONuijozCZ pic.twitter.com/VCNvMlyqbz ABC News (@ABC) December 4, 2015 U.S. investigators were evaluating evidence that Malik, a Pakistani native who had been living in Saudi Arabia when she married Farook, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, two U.S. government sources said. They said the finding, if confirmed, could be a "game changer" in the probe. CNN reported that one U.S. official said Malik had made the pledge to al-Baghdadi in a posting on Facebook on Wednesday, the day of the attack, under an account that used a different name. Though large information gaps remain, it appeared to be the strongest evidence so far that the attack may have been inspired by Islamic State. But U.S. government sources said there was no sign that it had been directed by the militant group, which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq and claimed the deadly Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. FATHER BECAME "CONSERVATIVE AND HARDLINE" Two Pakistani officials said Malik was from Karor Lal Esan, a city on the west coast of the Indus River in southern Punjab province. She moved to Saudi Arabia with her father, an engineer, 25 years ago, they said. She returned home five or six years ago to study at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan to become a pharmacist, they said. The area in Punjab where she spent her early years and later went to university is a "recruitment ground" and stronghold of Islamist groups with ties to al Qaeda, said Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States. Among the militant groups with a presence there is Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been blamed for the November 2008 killing spree in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai. "Our brother changed a lot since he went to Saudi," Malik's uncle, Javed Rabbani, said of Malik's father. "When relatives visited him, they would come back and tell us how conservative and hardline he had become," he said in an interview with Reuters. A source close to the Saudi government said that during Malik's time in Saudi Arabia nothing came to authorities' attention there that suggested she was involved with radical Islamic groups. Malik was not on any Saudi law enforcement or intelligence watchlist, the source said. Malik's father, Gulzar, had built a house in Multan, where he stays when he visits Pakistan, according to another uncle, Malik Anwaar. He said Gulzar had a falling-out long ago with the rest of the family, citing a dispute over a house among other matters. "We are completely estranged," Anwaar said. Rabbani said he had been contacted by Pakistani intelligence as part of the investigation into the San Bernardino shooting. Malik had two brothers and two sisters and was related to Ahmed Ali Aulak, a former provincial minister, the Pakistani officials said. The exact circumstances of how Farook and Malik met remained unclear but they had apparently been married for two years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Malik was in the United States on a visa under a Pakistani passport. While Farook had an active presence online, Malik's digital footprint is harder to trace. A Facebook profile established under an alias by Malik was removed by the company for violating its community standards, which prohibit praise or promotion of "acts of terror," a spokesman said on Friday. But her name was attached to a gift registry for their baby hosted by the website TheBump.com. According to the registry, Malik's baby had been due on May 17. Just hours before the couple opened fire on Farook's co-workers in a government building in San Bernardino, they had dropped off their daughter at his mother's house, telling her they had a doctor's appointment. (Additional reporting by Idrees Ali, Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Bill Trott, Will Dunham, Toni Reinhold) | 5 | 96,888 | news |
Venezuelans go to the polls this weekend in one of the most tightly fought elections in years. Wyre Davies reports. | 8 | 96,889 | video |
Paris cafe where five people died in a hail of bullets on November 13 reopens. Deborah Lutterbeck reports. | 8 | 96,890 | video |
After a 14-month, multimillion-dollar redesign that included shrouding the exterior with ribbons of stainless steel and rebuilding 95,000 square feet of exhibition space inside, L.A.'s famed Petersen Automotive Museum has reopened its doors to reveal a breathtaking new collection of cars and motorcycles. The quality and diversity of the vehicles chosen for the opening support chairman Peter Mullin's desire to make the Petersen one of the world's greatest automotive museums. Here are some of the highlights. Precious Metal Exhibit Curated by L.A. car collector and Petersen Automotive Museum benefactor Bruce Meyer, the "Precious Metal" exhibit features a mouthwatering collection of exotic cars, all painted silver. In the foreground is the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 grand prix car fitted with the streamliner body used on high-speed tracks like Monza. Immediately behind it is the 1959 Sting Ray concept designed by legendary GM design boss Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda that previewed the iconic 1963 C2 Corvette. And in the background is a McLaren F1, plus one of the Aston Martin DB5s used in the James Bond film "Goldfinger." More Great Classic Cars: Check Out This 1955 Chevy Street Machine 1932 Ford Hot Rod by Doane Spencer Built in 1944 by Doane Spencer, this 1932 Ford is one of the seminal hot rods and is regarded by many as the quintessential expression of the form. The Doane Spencer car became the blueprint for countless '32 Ford hot rods built over subsequent decades. Special features include a DuVall windshield and Lincoln brakes. This All-Wheel-Drive '32 Ford Dragster Is Up for Grabs BMW Art Car by Alexander Calder One of three BMW art cars on display, this 3.0 CSL was painted by American artist and sculptor Alexander Calder at the request of French race car driver and art collector Herv Poulain, who drove the car in the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Calder car became the first of 17 BMWs painted by leading artists including Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Esther Mahlangu, and Michael Nelson Tjakamarra. Research BMW Models McLaren M8 One of the greatest racing categories of all time was the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, series of the late '60s and early '70s, and one of the greatest Can-Am race cars of them all was the McLaren M8 driven by New Zealanders Bruce McLaren and 1967 F1 world champion Denny Hulme. This M8D, which used a powerful Chevy V-8, was developed for the 1970 season. Read more enthusiast stories at MSN Autos 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic Coupe With its emphasis on flamboyant French and French-bodied cars of the 1930s, the impeccably curated Peter and Merle Mullin Artistry gallery features a stunning array of beauties, including the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic coupe in the foreground. This is one of just two supercharged Type 57SCs originally built and is worth about $40 million. Modern Day Bugatti: This is the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo 1954 Plymouth Explorer (with body by Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin) Detroit automakers harbored an infatuation with Italian designers and coachbuilders during the 1950s and built a number of Italian-bodied concept cars during the period. This is one of them, the 1954 Plymouth Explorer, with body by Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin. Ford Motor Company bought Ghia in 1970, and by the mid-'70s the storied Ghia name had sadly been reduced to a trim level on mundane models such as the Mustang II. Another Classic Car: This 1958 Chevy Impala Cruiser Is Finally Finished. For Now. Hirohata Mercury Coupe Like the Doane Spencer '32 Ford hot rod, the Hirohata Mercury coupe is a touchstone vehicle of the hot rodding and custom car phenomenon that exploded into life in California in the 1940s and '50s. A 1951 Mercury, it was customized for owner Bob Hirohata in 1952 by brothers George and Sam Barris. Among the key changes: The roof was lowered 4 inches up front and 7 inches at the rear. George Barris, who later created the original Batmobile, died on November 5. 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa Racer In the early 1990s, 85 percent of all Ferraris sold were painted red. Today, that percentage is closer to 45 percent. However, it's still rare to find a racing Ferrari painted in any color other than the shade that was for decades the official racing color of Italy. Rarer still to find one of the most iconic Ferrari sports racers, the Testa Rossa, in anything but red. This 1957 example was raced by Americans John von Neumann and Richie Ginther, who, in the best hot rodding tradition, replaced the car's original four-cylinder engine with a Ferrari V-12. Read More: One-off '65 Ferrari 330 Shark Nose for auction in Scottsdale 1933 Duesenberg SJ Arlington Torpedo Sedan The Duesenberg SJ and SSJ model were the Bugatti Veyrons of the 1930s: big, powerful, expensive, and, by the standards of the day, outrageously fast. This 1933 SJ Arlington Torpedo sedan, with body designed by the legendary Gordon Buehrig (who also designed the Auburn Speedster, Cord 810, and Continental Mk II), was built as a show car for the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. It was nicknamed "Twenty Grand" because of its priceâ$20,000, a staggering sum in Depression-era America. Ironically, in today's money that's the equivalent of about $366,000, considerably less than the Arlington Torpedo is now worth. 1939 Delahaye Type 165 (with bodywork by Figoni et Falaschi) French flamboyance doesn't get much better than this: a 1939 Delahaye Type 165 with bodywork by Figoni et Falaschi. The car was part of France's contribution to the 1939 New York World's Fair and features Figoni et Falaschi's trademark teardrop forms, chrome accents, and fully enclosed fenders. 1961 International Scout 60 It's not all opulence and multimillion-dollar rarities at the revamped Petersen: This 1961 International Scout 60 is part of an exhibit that looks at vehicles that impacted the daily lives of Americans in various ways. This particular Scout is the 22nd ever built and is two-wheel drive. How to Tear Down an Old Ford V8 CadZZilla Another iconic custom in the Hot Rod and Customs Gallery, CadZZilla, built for ZZ Top guitarist and passionate hot rodder Billy Gibbons by the late Boyd Coddington in the late 1980s. CadZZilla started life as a mint 1948 Cadillac Sedanette. Its swooping lines were styled by Larry Erickson, who began his career in GM's Advanced Studio and was later chief designer on the S197 Mustang. The Hot Rod and Customs Gallery also features a tribute to Robert E. Petersen, who founded Hot Rod in 1948 and Motor Trend in 1949 and established the Petersen Automotive Museum in 1994. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook | 9 | 96,891 | autos |
Andy Lipow, Lipow Oil Associates, discusses his outlook for oil even as OPEC ups its output. | 3 | 96,892 | finance |
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) Brandt Jobe won the Champions Tour qualifying tournament Friday to earn one of five fully exempt spots next year, closing with a 2-under 69 for a one-stroke victory. Jobe, a six-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour, had an 18-under 266 total on TPC Scottsdale's Champions Course. ''I actually played pretty good today, but I just didn't make many putts,'' Jobe said. ''I thought I was still in pretty good shape at the turn, but made bogey at No. 10 from the middle of the fairway with a 5-iron in my hand for my second shot. Luckily, I regrouped and hit quality shots coming in. I did just a good enough job today and now I'm really looking forward to next year. It's be awhile since I've been able to plan a schedule.'' Tom Byrum, Willie Wood and Jose Coceres tied for second, and Mike Grob was another stroke back to take the last fully exempt spot. The next seven players - John Riegger, Gibby Gilbert III, Jean-Francois Remesy, Stan Utley, 1996 U.S. Open champion Steve Jones, Chien Soon Lu and Miguel Angel Martin - are conditionally exempt. The rest of top 30 finishers and ties are eligible to compete for spots in open qualifiers. Byrum shot a 63. ''I just went out today and tried to make as many birdies as I could,'' Byrum said. ''I got it going and had some good swing thoughts today. I had putted well all week, so I knew if I could give myself some better scoring opportunities on the greens, I'd have a chance. It was nice to put this kind of a round together.'' Wood and Coceres shot 67, and Grob had a 69. Grob made a key birdie at the 17th, getting up-and-down from underneath a tree left of the green. On his knees to hit his third shot, Grob chipped within 3 feet of the hole and made the putt to move in front of Riegger. The Billings, Montana, player two-putted for par from 20 feet at the final hole to secure the full exemption. | 1 | 96,893 | sports |
"It's not the first time I've had testes in my mouth..." | 8 | 96,894 | video |
Check this out. | 8 | 96,895 | video |
Young kids don't get out and run around like they used to, we all know that. And it's not just when they're at home, where screens are everywhere . A new study found that toddlers and preschoolers are getting nowhere close to the recommended time outdoors when they're at daycare and preschool. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center reported the findings in their Preschool Eating and Activity Study, published in the most recent edition of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. The researchers studied 380 kids ages 3 to 6, who were enrolled in 30 different childcare centers between November 2009 and January 2011. While 90 percent of the centers reported they scheduled two or more recess periods every day, only 40 percent of the enrolled children took part in the outdoor play time. More than 30 percent had zero time outdoors. Pediatric guidelines set a minimum of 60 minutes of daily full-on outdoor play, but, overall, only 3 in 10 children came even close to meeting that. Kristen Copeland, MD, a researcher in the Division of General and Community Pediatrics and senior author of the study, said that even this minimum amount is crucial to good health for young and growing children. "We know daily physical activity is essential for children's growth and development," Copeland said. "It improves cardiovascular and bone health and has been linked to improved mood, attention, and cognitive performance." The study recommends that daycares and preschools in climates where weather often keeps kids indoors should rework the indoor space to accommodate the need to be broadly physical. They also encouraged centers to take kids out even in bad weather, if only for a short amount of time. "These opportunities may be especially important for children who lack opportunities to be active at home," Copeland said. | 7 | 96,896 | health |
Kobe Bryant first told Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott that he would be retiring at the end of the season during a game last weekend, reports ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes. "I said, 'KB, I played you 20 minutes in the first half. I'm going to cut those minutes down. I've got to cut them down,'" Scott told Bryant before the team's game against the Atlanta Hawks. "He said, 'That's good, coach. That's all right. I'm going to announce my retirement after the game." On Sunday, Bryant shared a poem on The Players Tribune finalizing his decision. • Kobe's five titles: Which was best? Bryant has also made a request to not have any on-court ceremonies or gift presentations from opposing NBA teams, as he believes it would detract from the game, according to Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Teams will be limited to video tributes or private moments with the NBA star. Bryant told Good Morning America that his daily morning meditation helped him realize his 20-season career was coming to an end. Bryant, 37, is a five-time NBA champion, a 17-time All Star and an NBA MVP. However, in his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers he has been struggling, averaging 16.8 points per game and a 31.1 shooting percentage. The Lakers are 3 15 after defeating the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night. Bryant finished with a season-high of 31 points in the victory. - Christopher Chavez | 1 | 96,897 | sports |
The Farook family and their attorneys have been in discussions with the FBI about the attacks carried out in San Bernardino, California, saying they are in shock over the shootings. | 8 | 96,898 | video |
Though stars were given engagement rings with unimaginable price tags this year, we can still be inspired by the unique shapes and diamond cuts they're sporting. In 2015, it seemed as though rose gold bands and flashy yellow gemstones were trending, and we didn't hate it one bit. In fact, models Hannah Davis and Bar Refaeli and actresses Nikki Reed and Alison Brie showed off plenty of eye candy when they walked the red carpet - just on their left hands alone! Then there were over-the-top, flashy statement rings that dominated Instagram thanks to the likes of Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and Iggy Azalea. Read on for the 12 most gorgeous rocks given in the past 12 months, and shop similar designs - whether you're planning a wedding, or, you know, you just need a reason to renew your vows. Alison Brie Wearing a rose gold Irene Neuwirth ring set with rose cut and pave diamonds. Hannah Davis Wearing a silver diamond ring. Cameron Diaz Wearing a diamond-encrusted gold band. Bar Refaeli Wearing a solitare square-cut diamond ring. FKA Twigs Wearing a unique pear-shaped diamond ring. Nikki Reed Wearing a flower-shaped diamond ring . Emmy Rossum Wearing a platinum circle diamond ring. Julianne Hough Wearing a Lorraine Schwartz seven-carat oval ring mounted in a thin platinum band with pave diamonds. | 4 | 96,899 | lifestyle |
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