Sunday, December 30, 2012

Hillary Clinton hospitalized after doctors discover blood clot

CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hospitalized Sunday after doctors discovered a blood clot during a follow-up exam related to a concussion she suffered this month, her spokesman said.
She is expected to remain at New York Presbyterian Hospital for the next 48 hours so doctors can monitor her condition and treat her with anti-coagulants, said Philippe Reines, deputy assistant secretary of state.
"Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion," Reines said. "They will determine if any further action is required."
Reines did not specify where the clot was discovered.
Clinton, 65, was suffering from a stomach virus earlier this month when she fainted due to dehydration, causing the concussion.
Clinton spent the holidays with her family last week after working from home.
She was scheduled to return to work at the State Department this week after being sidelined for the past three weeks. Her illness forced her to bow out of testifying December 20 before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Deputies Thomas Nides and Bill Burns appeared in her place.
The medical setback comes as Clinton is wrapping up her busy tenure as secretary of state, during which she has logged more than 400 travel days and nearly a million miles. She plans to step down from the post if and when Sen. John Kerry -- President Barack Obama's choice to replace her -- is confirmed by the Senate.

Friday, December 28, 2012

New Years Resolutions of the Stars


Wish upon a star!

They’re rich and famous, but these boldfacers still have big dreams for 2013

  • Last Updated: 11:15 PM, December 27, 2012
  • Posted: 10:31 PM, December 27, 2012
1. STOP WORRYING
Kelly Ripa, co-host of “Live! With Kelly and Michael”
“I have the same resolution every year — not to sweat the small stuff. So far it hasn’t taken!”
2. BE THANKFUL
Kris Humphries, power forward for the Nets
“I resolved to express more gratitude in 2013 — and will start by inviting [TMZ founder] Harvey Levin and my friends at TMZ over for dinner to thank them for all of their support.”
3. PLAY TENNIS
Carnie Wilson, musician and celebrity contestant on “Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off”
“My New Year’s resolution is to take up a sport with my husband, Rob. Tennis on Saturday morning every week would be great for our health and our relationship!”
4. MARRY RICH
Joan Rivers, comedian
“To marry a billionaire on life support. I had one all lined up this year, but unfortunately the rabbi tripped over the wire and pulled the plug before the wedding. It was very hard to stand by the bed and watch a billion dollars just disappear in an instant. Next time, I won’t make the same mistake — I will make the rabbi marry us in the doorway!”
5. BRIGHTEN SOMEONE’S DAY
André Leon Talley, contributing editor at Vogue magazine
“To be kind, and to think everyday, ‘How can I do something wonderful for someone else?’ Life is better when you can smile inside from having generously made someone feel great in a normal day.”
6. TRAVEL TO SPAIN
Hilaria Baldwin, fitness and wellness expert, co-founder of Yoga Vida, wife of actor Alec Baldwin
“My New Year’s resolution is to visit my family in Spain more. I have lived in NYC for nearly 10 years, and have only been back to Spain twice during this period. I miss my parents, brother and nephew in Mallorca. When I go home, they stuff me with good food, wine and lots of love . . . Who wouldn’t want to go there more often?”
7. BE A BETTER HUMAN BEING
Dustin Hoffman, actor
“Well, I’ve been in therapy for a long, long time — I even have a contract with my therapist that we continue after I die. All she has to do is bring a chair to my grave, and she’ll hear me! So I tend to say the first thing that comes to mind, and that’s, ‘Be a better human being.’ Because that’s a never-ending quest. I think we need to bulls - - t ourselves less often. I think anything that’s painful information about ourselves, we jump from — like sitting on a hot radiator. It’s just the human condition.”
8. GIVE UP SWEETS
Eddie Huang, chef
“I’m giving up gummy bears at night — ’cause I’m starting to look like one.”
9. LEARN TO PLAY GUITAR
Porschla Kidd, Ford model, and her husband Jason Kidd, guard for the Knicks

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Officials mute on George H.W. Bush's condition, cite family privacy

Hospital officials on Thursday declined to provide any update regarding former President George H.W. Bush’s condition, citing a desire by the family for privacy.
Bush, 88, was in the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital in Houston, a hospital spokesman confirmed to the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday night.
Hospital spokesman David Bricker would not say whether Bush was still in the intensive care unit Thursday. When the family decides that “events warrant” an update, a family spokesperson or the hospital will release more information, Bricker said.
The former president has been struggling with fever, weakness and a bronchitis-like cough, according to the Associated Press. A high fever prevented his plan to spend Christmas at home.
Bush checked into the hospital last month with bronchitis symptoms.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Lingering mystery of Boxing Day, even among British expats

Posted: Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 3:01 AM

Edward Strojan, owner of the British Chip Shop in Haddonfield, with a plate of bubble and squeak, part of the Boxing Day menu. It´s a dish he describes as "better than you would think."
CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
 
 
Edward Strojan, owner of the British Chip Shop in Haddonfield, with a plate of bubble and squeak, part of the Boxing Day menu. It's a dish he describes as "better than you would think."

It shows up on calendars throughout the English-speaking world.
On Dec. 26, an inch over from the biggest holiday on the Christian calendar, there it is: Boxing Day, usually followed by parentheses containing the letters U.K.
Those who follow British culture and sports have heard the day referenced obliquely in period dramas and by soccer commentators. It popped up Saturday morning on a live telecast of a Tottenham-Stoke City match being shown in a Society Hill pub.
"There's a lot of soccer that day, but I don't know what the significance of it is," said Danny Hayde, 27, from Elizabethtown, Pa., as he watched the game in Cav's Dark Horse on Second Street.
"I think it's something to do with packing up your stuff," he said.
Across Britain and much of the Commonwealth - countries including Canada and New Zealand - Boxing Day is a public holiday that has become synonymous with shopping and a daylong schedule of sporting events.
But its origins are a mystery even to many of the British expatriates who call the Philadelphia region home.
Howard Silverstone, 52, a forensic accountant who moved to the United States from North London almost three decades ago, recounted thinking as a child that the day had something to do with boxing - perhaps the same mistake made in Ghana and other countries where bouts are routinely scheduled on Dec. 26.
"It wasn't until I was 14 or 15 I realized it had much deeper roots," said the Cherry Hill resident, who is former president of the British-American Business Council.
"No one can say it started on such-and-such a date," he said. "The common thread, we were always told, was it began in the Middle Ages." Something to do with "the way the land was owned, with the master and all the servants [who] worked on Christmas."
The story goes that Boxing Day was the servants' day off, and it was custom among landholders to give presents and food - enclosed in boxes.
While the holiday's patriarchal overtones are largely gone - the Royal Family does still stage hunting "shoots" that day - the term Christmas boxes still exists in British lingo.
As for the holiday's name? Perhaps it came from those gift boxes, or from the donation boxes at the entrance of churches in the Middle Ages. Some jokingly wonder if it refers to the fights between candy-fueled siblings that erupt the day after Christmas.
The British consulate in Washington couldn't offer any definitive answers.
Queen Victoria declared Boxing Day an official holiday in the mid-19th century. But when it first was observed is unknown, said Paul Smith, the embassy's cultural attaché.
"One of the first references was in the second half of the 17th century," Smith said. Samuel Pepys, a member of Parliament and famed diarist, "made reference in his journal to giving Christmas boxes to the servants. There's a lot of things around Christmas that are invented traditions."
For the British-style pubs and fish-and-chips shops that dot South Jersey and the Philadelphia area, Boxing Day is a chance to market to émigrés and Anglophiles looking for a taste of the isles.
At the British Chip Shop in Haddonfield, a Boxing Day menu is planned with bubble and squeak - a traditional concoction of leftover potatoes and vegetables sautéed in a pan - as its centerpiece. The dish is said to take its name from the sounds it makes while cooking.
"It's better than you would think," said owner Ed Strojan, 28, who got the idea to open the shop from his British stepfather a few years ago.
But for many expats, the holiday carries little weight beyond nostalgia.
During his childhood north of London, recalled Dark Horse chef Ben McNamara, Boxing Day was a chance for large groups of family and friends to get together and finish off what they hadn't eaten or drunk the day before. It gave them an extra day to revel in the holiday spirit and one another's company.
There's less of that now, he said, even among those who live in the old country.
Nick Perry, 45, an engineer who grew up near Manchester, takes a sardonic view.
"It's just another day off to watch sporting events and get drunk, when the women go out and go shopping," said the South Philadelphia resident, who was having lunch at the pub with his teenage children.
The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, which is affiliated with the Church of England, has no Boxing Day-related events listed, and a phone call to inquire about the holiday was not returned.
Even the cultural arm of the British Embassy in Washington, whose role is to promote British arts and traditions abroad, will let the day pass unmarked.
"We'll be closed," Smith said. "You can say that much."

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Spike Lee Goes After ‘Django Unchained’

 By MELENA RYZIK


He may not have seen it, but the film director Spike Lee already has an opinion about “Django Unchained.” In a recent interview with Vibe, he said he would not watch Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, set in the antebellum South, which opened in theaters on Tuesday. “I can’t speak on it ’cause I’m not gonna see it,” he said. “The only thing I can say is it’s disrespectful to my ancestors, to see that film.”

Over the weekend, Mr. Lee, whose most recent film, “Red Hook Summer,” deals with race and class in that Brooklyn neighborhood, took to Twitter to express some more opinions. “American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them.”

His statement inspired a lively debate, which Mr. Lee engaged in, weighing in and retweeting commenters on Saturday evening. He has taken issue with Mr. Tarantino’s work before, particularly his use of a racial epithet. “Django” includes at least 100 instances of the slur.

In another interview with Vibe, Jamie Foxx, who plays Django, said Mr. Lee told him at the BET Awards in September that he would not speak out about the film. “You know Spike, he’ll let you have it whether it’s good, bad or ugly,” Mr. Foxx told the magazine. “And he said, ‘I’m not going to say anything bad about this film. It looks like y’all are getting it.’ ”

Netflix outage mars Christmas Eve

The company's video streaming service went down for an undetermined number of people yesterday. The outage apparently has continued into Christmas morning.


Netflix's video streaming service suffered a Christmas Eve outage for an undetermined number of customers, the company reported via Twitter.
The company first started responding to tweets about disrupted service before 1 p.m. Pacific time. About three hours later, Netflix offered an apology on its main account.
"We're sorry for the Christmas Eve outage. Terrible timing! Engineers are working on it now," Netflix said in a tweet in the late afternoon yesterday.
Netflix pinned the issue on Amazon Web Services servers and said it was working with Amazon engineers on a fix.
By the end of night, Netflix noted that the problem was still ongoing and promised to tweet as soon as it was resolved.
As of this morning, Netflix had not posted any updates on Twitter or Facebook. We contacted Netflix for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Winter Wave


Correlated with Winter Wave

  1. 0.9426nordica
  2. 0.9406dalbello
  3. 0.9396wedding soup
  4. 0.9374italian wedding soup
  5. 0.9270colds
  6. 0.9269transworld snowboarding
  7. 0.9239hockey tickets
  8. 0.9239basketball tickets
  9. 0.9226on ice
  10. 0.9223youth hockey

NFL Playoff Picture: Updated Look at Playoff Races After Week 16

Week 16 has provided a few more answers about which NFL teams will be playing in January.
All of the AFC playoff teams are set, but teams will still battle for seedings. The NFC playoff picture is far from decided, and there are still many twists and turns to come.
Here is how the standings currently look, with updates coming as games finish.

NFC East
Current Leader In Contention
Washington Redskins (9-6) Dallas Cowboys (8-7)
After the New York Giants lost to the Baltimore Ravens, the most complicated division race in the NFL just became extremely simple.
The NFC East will be decided when the Redskins host the Cowboys next week, and this matchup will be the marquee game.

NFC West
Current Leader In Contention
San Francisco 49ers (10-4-1) Seattle Seahawks (10-5)
With Sunday night's win over the 49ers, Seattle clinched a playoff berth.
However, the Seahawks still need another win and a 49ers loss in Week 17 to earn the NFC West crown.

NFC South
Division Winner
Atlanta Falcons (13-2)
With a 31-18 victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday night, the Falcons clinched the top overall seed in the playoffs.
The road to the Super Bowl will go through Atlanta for NFC teams, and the Falcons can only hope this postseason run will go better than it did in 2010 when they had the No. 1 seed.

NFC North
Division Winner
Green Bay Packers (11-4)
The Packers won the NFC North in Week 15 with an impressive victory over the Chicago Bears.
Green Bay kept rolling this week with a 55-7 rout over the Tennessee Titans. In recent years, teams that get hot at the right time have an advantage in the playoffs, and Aaron Rodgers has the Packers looking as good as any team in the league right now.

NFC Wild Card
Current Leaders In Contention
Seattle Seahawks (10-5) Chicago Bears (9-6)
Minnesota Vikings (9-6) New York Giants (8-7)
The NFC Wild Card race has become slightly simplified, but the situation is still incredibly complicated.
The Vikings kept themselves in a favorable position with a surprising 23-6 victory over the Houston Texans.
New York can no longer win the NFC East, but it can still get into the playoffs as a Wild Card. However, a Minnesota, Chicago or Washington victory would end the Giants’ season.
Chicago cruised past the Arizona Cardinals with a 28-13 victory, and they are now still alive in the playoff hunt. The NFC Wild Card race remains unsettled heading into the final week of the season, but currently, Minnesota has the upper hand.
Seattle clinched a berth with Sunday night's win over San Francisco.

AFC East
Division Winner
New England Patriots (11-4)
The Patriots' 23-16 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars was not as impressive as many New England fans would have liked, but the result keeps that team in contention for a first-round bye.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are fighting only to improve their seed right now, and the Pats will need to Denver Broncos to slip up either this afternoon or next weekend for that to happen.

AFC West
Division Winner
Denver Broncos (12-3)
The Broncos’ matchup with the Cleveland Browns went as planned, and Denver won 34-12. The victory keeps the team in the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
With a win over the Kansas City Chiefs next week, the Broncos will have a first-round bye.

AFC North
Current Leader
Baltimore Ravens (10-5)
With a 33-14 victory over the Giants, Baltimore clinched the AFC North and will drop no lower than the No. 4 seed.
The Bengals will be disappointed at the result, as a victory over the Ravens next week still would not give them a division title.

AFC South
Division Winner
Houston Texans (12-3)
The Texans lost to the Vikings and have left the door open for the Broncos to steal home-field advantage for the playoffs.
If Houston fails to beat the Indianapolis Colts next week, it risks having to play on Wild Card Weekend.

AFC Wild Card
Current Leaders
Indianapolis Colts (10-5)
Cincinnati Bengals (9-6)
Indy has clinched a playoff spot with their 20-13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, and there is no longer any doubt that Indianapolis has been the most surprising team this season.
But the twists kept coming in the AFC as Ben Roethlisberger's costly interception led to a game-winning field goal for the Bengals. Cincinnati is in the playoffs at the expense of the Steelers and will fight to improve its seed next week.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Rapid Reaction: Saints 34, Cowboys 31, OT

Calvin Johnson breaks NFL receiving yards record

Simon Samano, USA TODAY Sports1:25a.m. EST December 23, 2012


Calvin Johnson continued his tear through NFL secondaries in historic fashion.
The Detroit Lions wide receiver entered Saturday night's game against the Atlanta Falcons needing 182 yards to break Hall of Famer Jerry Rice's single-season receiving yards record. Was there ever a doubt?
With a 26-yard reception from quarterback Matthew Stafford in the fourth quarter, Johnson made history by surpassing Rice's mark of 1,848 yards set in 1995.
Johnson, who finished the night with 11 catches for 225 yards, now has 1,892 on the year.
"It's a huge accomplishment to take one of those records from the great Jerry," Johnson told ESPN's Lisa Salters after the game. "All the work that we put in this year, I guess you can say it's well deserved."
Right after the record-breaking catch, Johnson went straight to the sideline to hand the ball to his father, Calvin Johnson Sr., who couldn't put into words his son's achievement.
"You imagine great things, but how can you imagine this?" Johnson Sr. said.

Breaking the single-season yardage mark was preceded by another as Johnson's 117 first-half receiving yards ensured him of the record for consecutive 100-yard receiving games with eight, eclipsing the mark shared by Charley Hennigan (1961) and Hall of Famer Michael Irvin (1995). For the season, Johnson now has 11 100-yard games, which is incredible.
With this out of the way, Johnson can focus on trying to become the first receiver in NFL history to reach 2,000 yards in next week's season finale at home against the Chicago Bears.
"After a game like this, it becomes very realistic," said Johnson, who's 108 yards from the barrier. "We've got a tough opponent next week, so we've got to do our homework."

DANGEROUS INFORMATION - Civilian Drone Warfare

You can build and arm your own lethal drone, but be careful of the legal repercussions of using it.

The woman fired for being too attractive: Judges back dentist who sacked aide he described as a threat to his marriage... even though nothing had happened

Assistant had worked for James Knight for 10 years

  • Claims she wore tight outfits and was irresistible
  • Assistant Melissa Nelson said she was happily married with no interest in an affair and only wore scrubs
  • Knight's wife demanded the sacking after finding texts exchanged between her husband and assistant
  • Decision was made on the advice of Knight's pastor
By Daily Mail Reporter
|
 
An Iowa dentist acted legally in firing a long-time assistant because he - and his wife - viewed the married mother as a threat to their marriage, the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The court ruled 7-0 bosses can sack employees they see as an 'irresistible attraction,' even if they have not engaged in flirtatious behavior or otherwise done anything wrong.
Appearing on CNN Friday night, assistant Melissa Nelson said the decision was deeply unfair.
Melissa Nelson
Fired: Melissa Nelson was so attractive, Iowa dentist James Knight fired her out of fear she'd make him want to stray from his marriage
Knight
Hello ladies: Despite Nelson being 21 years younger than him, married, and 'not interested in a relationship,' Knight believed it would be too hard not to start an affair with her
'I don't think this is fair,' she said from her Iowa home by phone. 'I don't think this is right.'
Such firings may be unfair, but they are not unlawful discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act because they are motivated by feelings and emotions, and not gender, Justice Edward Mansfield wrote.
An attorney for Fort Dodge dentist James Knight said the decision, the first of its kind in Iowa, is a victory for family values because Knight fired Nelson in the interest of saving his marriage, not because she was a woman.
But Nelson's attorney said Iowa's all-male high court, one of only a handful in the nation, failed to recognize the discrimination women see routinely in the workplace.
Nelson insisted she was never interested in Knight romantically, regardless of his own feelings.
'Absolutely not,' she said. 'I'm happily married.'
Nelson
Content: Happily married with children Nelson said she saw Knight as a father figure and had 'absolutely' no interest in him romantically
Since Knight fired her she has worked as a waitress six nights a week.
While her former boss claimed her clothes were so tight he couldn't look at her without being aroused, Nelson said the only outfit she wore to work was standard scrubs worn by many nurses and assistants in dental offices.
Asked if she saw herself as irresistibly attractive, Nelson laughed at the question.
'I'm just an ordinary girl,' she said. 'Just an ordinary mom.'
Also appearing via call-in, her attorney, Paige Fiedler, said it was unlikely they would seek an appeal because of the way the case was filed as only interpreting state law.
'These judges sent a message to Iowa women that they don't think men can be held responsible for their sexual desires and that Iowa women are the ones who have to monitor and control their bosses' sexual desires,' Fielder said. 'If they get out of hand, then the women can be legally fired for it.'
Nelson, 32, worked for Knight for 10 years, and he considered her a stellar worker. But in the final months of her employment, he complained that her tight clothing was distracting, once telling her that if his pants were bulging that was a sign her clothes were too revealing, according to the opinion.
He also once allegedly remarked about her infrequent sex life by saying, 'that's like having a Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it.'

'That's like having a Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it.'
Knight and Nelson — both married with children — started exchanging text messages, mostly about personal matters, such as their families. Knight's wife, who also worked in the dental office, found out about the messages and demanded Nelson be fired. The Knights consulted with their pastor, who agreed that terminating Nelson was appropriate.
Knight fired Nelson and gave her one month's severance. He later told Nelson's husband he worried he was getting too personally attached and feared he would eventually try to start an affair with her.
Knight
Family man: Knight's wife, who also works in the dental office, demanded Nelson be fired when she discovered text messages
Nelson
Ordinary mom: Nelson has been working as a waitress since she lost her dental job and is unsure of her future career path
Nelson was stunned because she viewed the 53-year-old Knight as a father figure and had never been interested in starting a relationship, Fiedler said.
Nelson filed a lawsuit alleging gender discrimination, arguing she would not have been terminated if she was male. She did not allege sexual harassment because Knight's conduct may not have risen to that level and didn't particularly offend her, Fiedler said.

'The motives behind Dr. Knight terminating Mrs. Nelson were quite clear: He did so to preserve his marriage.
Knight argued Nelson was fired not because of her gender, but because her continued employment threatened his marriage. A district judge agreed, dismissing the case before trial, and the high court upheld that ruling.
Mansfield noted that Knight had an all-female workforce and Nelson was replaced by a woman.
He said the decision was in line with state and federal court rulings that found workers can be fired for relationships that cause jealousy and tension within a business owner's family. One such case from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a business owner's firing of a valued employee who was seen by his wife as a threat to their marriage. In that case, the fired employee had engaged in flirtatious conduct.
Jurisprudence: Justice Edward Mansfield penned the Iowa Supreme Court's decision on Knight's dismissal of Melissa Nelson
Jurisprudence: Justice Edward Mansfield penned the Iowa Supreme Court's decision on Knight's dismissal of Melissa Nelson
Mansfield said allowing Nelson's lawsuit would stretch the definition of discrimination to allow anyone fired over a relationship to file a claim arguing they would not have been fired but for their gender.
Knight's attorney, Stuart Cochrane, said the court got it right. The decision clarified that bosses can make decisions showing favoritism to a family member without committing discrimination; in this case, by allowing Knight to honor his wife's wishes to fire Nelson, he said.
Knight is a very religious and moral individual, and he sincerely believed that firing Nelson would be best for all parties, he said.
'While there was really no fault on the part of Mrs. Nelson, it was just as clear the decision to terminate her was not related to the fact that she was a woman,' he said. 'The motives behind Dr. Knight terminating Mrs. Nelson were quite clear: He did so to preserve his marriage.
'I don't view this as a decision that was either pro-women or opposed to women rights at all. In my view, this was a decision that followed the appropriate case law.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2252135/Melissa-Nelson-Judges-married-dentist-fired-aide-said-irresistibly-attractive.html#ixzz2FtC5JCF8
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Saturday, December 22, 2012

'Little Whorehouse' writer Larry L. King dies

Though Larry L. King shared a name with a popular radio and TV host, the writer was a singular Texas raconteur who could be confused with no other.

A famed drinker and brawler, King will forever be best known for a 1974 Playboy story about the Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange, which he helped turn into the hit musical "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
He spent more than half of his life living in Washington, D.C., but King's storytelling style always revealed his West Texas roots. One of his editors, the late, great Willie Morris, commented on King's "deep and abiding commitment to American and to authentic American values." King, a formidable figure in the 1960s "New Journalism," died Thursday in a Washington retirement home. He was 83.


"He was in the top caliber of Texas writers like Elmer Kelton and Larry McMurtry," said Kinky Friedman. "He was one of the funniest people I know. He has been bugled to Jesus. Anytime I use that phrase I swipe it from Larry L. King."
Lawrence Leo King was born New Year's Day 1929, in Putnam. He had said his mother wanted him to become a preacher, but she made the mistake of introducing him to the works of Mark Twain, with whom King shared a cutting wit.
King pursued writing in high school and in the Army, following a single year at Texas Tech, before covering crime and sports for newspapers in Midland and Odessa.

Obama nominates Sen. John Kerry as secretary of State

WASHINGTON — President Obama nominated John F. Kerry, the five-term Democratic senator from Massachusetts, to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of State, but delayed naming a new Defense chief amid growing criticism of the expected nominee for that post.
Appearing with Kerry at the White House, Obama said Friday that the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had "played a central role in every major foreign policy debate for nearly 30 years."
"In a sense, John's entire life has prepared him for this role," Obama said.
Obama picked Kerry after the wrenching withdrawal of Susan Rice, his envoy to the United Nations, as his preferred candidate. The White House delayed the announcement to avoid interfering with national mourning over the mass slaying at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Kerry's nomination is likely to sail through Senate confirmation hearings, where he has strong support.
But it came as the White House struggled to pick a new secretary of Defense. Aides say Obama's preferred choice is Chuck Hagel, a Republican and former U.S. senator from Nebraska. But Hagel faces mounting opposition from influential pro-Israel groups, gay rights activists and defense hawks.
Obama had been expected to announce both nominations Friday, but Hagel's absence in the Roosevelt Room — and Obama's refusal to answer reporters' questions — suggested that the president may be considering other candidates. White House officials insisted that Obama had made no choice.
Kerry, 69, a highly decorated Vietnam combat veteran, later helped lead veterans opposed to the divisive war. Obama cited his military service as a special qualification.
"Having served with valor in Vietnam, he understands that we have a responsibility to use American power wisely, especially our military power," Obama said. "And he knows, from personal experience, that when we send our troops into harm's way, we must give them the sound strategy, a clear mission and the resources that they need to get the job done."
The nomination risks the loss of what has been a reliable Democratic seat in the Senate. Democrats control the Senate by a 55-45 margin but face midterm elections in two years that could narrow the difference.
Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican who lost his Senate seat in last month's election but remains popular in the commonwealth, could run again in a special election next year. Edward Kennedy Jr., son of late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy — whom Brown succeeded — is among several Democrats who have indicated interest.
Rice withdrew from consideration Dec. 13 after a tenacious campaign by Republicans who said she misled the country after armed militants killed four Americans in September at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Several GOP lawmakers who led the opposition to Rice, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), urged Obama to choose Kerry instead.
McCain praised the nomination Friday, but also said he intended to carry out his responsibility to carefully review Kerry's suitability for the post.
Obama, in his remarks, acknowledged the special debt he owes Kerry.
In 2004, when Kerry was running for president, he chose Obama to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, providing the obscure state senator from Illinois an invaluable introduction to U.S. voters.
Republican hawks may challenge Kerry's resistance to U.S. military intervention abroad in some conflicts. And a group of Vietnam "swift boat" veterans who opposed his presidential campaign have vowed to voice their objections again.
Kerry has shared Obama's interest in trying to talk without preconditions to adversary governments, and he shares Obama's desire to shift the U.S. military from the grueling ground wars of the last decade to a "light footprint" abroad.
Kerry "would much rather solve problems by negotiations and diplomacy than by war," said Jonah Blank, a former Kerry aide and South Asia specialist. "He's seen war: He knows it ain't pretty, and very often it doesn't work."
At the beginning of Obama's first term, Kerry sought to help the White House work out a broad Mideast peace deal with Syrian President Bashar Assad — a mission that continues to come under strong criticism by Republican hawks.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Police search for Footlocker crooks in Multiple cities

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police are searching for the thieves who burglarized a South Florida shoe store.

The thieves broke into a Footlocker store along Northwest 199th Street and Second Avenue, Friday.
Police said the crooks connected a chain to the back door, yanked it open and took off with seven pairs of the new Air Jordan sneakers.



ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – Police say a woman was not injured after she lost control and drove her car into a shoe store in north St. Louis on Friday.
Authorities said the woman was driving westbound on Page Avenue around 2 a.m. when she claims she was attempted to avoid a group of vehicles racing. She left the roadway, drove up a small hill and into the storefront of the Kids Footlocker at Grand and Page.
The woman was not injured and no one was inside the store at the time of the wreck.
Although no merchandise was damaged, building inspectors were on the scene determining the extent of damage done to the structure.
The manager of the store tells News 4 he will now have to hire a security guard to stand on-duty until the front window is repaired.
No word if charges could be filed against the driver.
The investigation is ongoing.

NRA chief urges armed guards in 'every single school,' dismisses calls for gun control

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre on Friday dismissed calls for increased gun control in response to the Connecticut school shooting, calling instead for Congress to support a plan putting armed police officers in "every single school" in America.

In an impassioned speech, marking the NRA's first in-depth public comments since the Newtown tragedy, LaPierre pointed the finger not at gun proliferation but violent video games, the media and the absence of armed guards at schools.
He argued that if banks and members of Congress can have protection, schools across America should be afforded the same security.
"It's now time for us to assume responsibly for our schools," he said. "The only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be permanently involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection."
He added: "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
Warning that the next mass killer could be "waiting in the wings," LaPierre urged immediate action to protect school children.
He said efforts over the years to pass laws for "gun-free school zones" have only told "every insane killer in America that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk."
He said that when it comes to America's children, "we as a society leave them, every day, utterly defenseless. ... That must change now."
LaPierre called for a national school security plan, including an appropriation from Congress for armed guards in every school. He tapped former Rep. Asa Hutchison, R-Ark., to lead the effort to develop the security plans, which would cover everything from building design to access control. There are nearly 100,000 public schools in America.
"Will you at least admit it's possible that ... 26 innocent lives might have been spared that day," he said, if the shooter had encountered "qualified armed security."
The NRA has come under intense criticism over the past week from gun-control advocates, who largely blame access to an array of weapons for gun violence in America. Lawmakers quickly launched efforts to press for changes, like a renewed assault-weapons ban and tighter restrictions when it comes to background checks. President Obama has endorsed those efforts, calling it "common-sense legislation" while tasking Vice President Biden with producing broader policy proposals.
LaPierre was interrupted during his press conference by Code Pink protesters, one of whom held up a sign in front of his podium that read: "NRA killing our kids."
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in a statement after the press conference, called LaPierre's plan "reckless."
"It is beyond belief that following the Newtown tragedy, the National Rifle Association's leaders want to fill our communities with guns and arm more Americans," he said.
LaPierre dismissed the gun control discussion as the notion that one more ban "will protect us where 20,000 other laws have failed."
He reserved tough words for the entertainment industry, calling "vicious violent video games" a "dirty little truth" ignored by the media.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/21/nra-chief-urges-armed-guards-in-every-school-dismisses-calls-for-gun-control/#ixzz2Firrk8Ty

Suzy Favor Hamilton Pictures

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What Mayan apocalypse? It's December 21, 2012 and the world hasn't ended

ne_122012_mayans_pyramid.jpgIn this Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012 photo, tourists climb the Mayan pyramid at the archeological site in Coba, Mexico.
Those hoping to get out of last-minute holiday shopping due to the end of the world just might still see Christmas this year. And New Year's. And the next Arbor Day.
After Rev. Harold Camping incorrectly predicted the apocalypse would take place on May 21, 2011, the next most popular date is -- and now was -- December 21, 2012. But the Mayans' supposed Doomsday has already been proved wrong as that apocalyptic date has arrived in New Zealand and Australia and now all other countries, and the world hasn't ended.
According to scholars, though, the Mayans never actually said the world would end on Dec. 21. Rather, it's just the end of their calendar and the beginning of a new one, like a reset.
University of California at San Diego anthropologist Geoffrey Braswell told The Atlantic that the Mayans had three calendars: a 260-day ritual year, a 365-day year and 20-year units called katuns. "Just as the old-fashioned [car] odometers had wheels that turned, so did the wheels in the Mayan calendar," Braswell said. "What's happening right now is that we're at a point where the car odometer might reset back to all zeroes."
Also, earlier this year, Mayan astronomy scholar Anthony Aveni of Colgate University co-authored a paper that claimed another version of the Mayan calendar was found dating back 1,200 years -- and included a time span longer than 6,000 years, suggesting Earth will be around for quite a while.
"Why would they go into those numbers if the world is going to come to an end this year?" Aveni told The Telegraph. "You could say a number that big at least suggests that time marches on."
Still, it hasn't stopped people from enjoying movies like John Cusack's "2012" or from joking about the apocalypse on social media:
  • "Don't worry Mayans, if you do get it wrong, it's not the end of the world," one Twitter user quipped.
  • "I didn't believe the world was about to end until I read that the new Miss Universe is from Cranston, Rhode Island," Rob Tannenbaum, author of "I Want My MTV," added.

  • Another Twitter post said, "Is tonight the night I can tell my boss just what I think of him? Or wait until after midnight? #endoftheworld."

  • "If the world doesn't end, we will all look at the Mayans the way we look at that one weatherman that said it would be sunny when it rained," another tweeted.
Central New York residents responded to Camping's Rapture predictions last year by sharing what they'd do if the world would end tomorrow. Some planned to prepare for zombies while others wanted to spend time with family or enjoy a delicious last meal from Dinosaur Bar-Be-Que.
Either way, it looks like the only end that's near is in cinema. Below is a supercut of 38 movies about the end of the world, from "Armageddon" to "Zombieland," showing what the end could look like in 3 minutes. (Note: Some images are graphic.)

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton Says She Worked As A Prostitute




 
Suzy Favor HamiltonThree-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton says she coped with depression and a troubled marriage by turning to a life of prostitution.


In a series of posts to her Twitter account, Favor Hamilton acknowledged working as an escort following a report Thursday on The Smoking Gun website about her double life.

"I do not expect people to understand," Favor Hamilton tweeted. "But the reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression."

The Smoking Gun said the 44-year-old athlete has been working for the last year for a Las Vegas escort service that booked her for dates there, as well as in Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago. The website said she charged $600 an hour for her services.

One of the country's best-ever middle-distance runners, Favor Hamilton competed for the U.S. at the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000 but did not win a medal. She won seven U.S. national titles. She lives in Madison, Wis., where, The Smoking Gun reported, she and her husband, Mark, live in a $600,000 home and appear to be in no financial distress based on the website's review of court and municipal records.

Favor Hamilton told the website that only her husband was aware of her escort work, but that, "He tried, he tried to get me to stop. He wasn't supportive of this at all."

The website reported that Favor Hamilton worked under the alias "Kelly Lundy" but said she told some of her clients about her true identity and suspected one of them leaked her identity.

Soon after the story appeared online, Favor Hamilton released a series of tweets saying in part that she was "drawn to escorting in large part because it provided many coping mechanisms for me when I was going through a very challenging time with my marriage and my life."

A nine-time NCAA champion for Wisconsin, Favor Hamilton is the namesake of the Big Ten's Suzy Favor Athlete of the Year Award, given to the conference's top female athlete.

Neither Favor Hamilton nor officials from the Big Ten immediately responded to requests from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Suzy Favor Hamilton
Prostitution is legal in most rural counties in Nevada, but is illegal in Las Vegas and Reno. A Las Vegas police spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a message about whether the department was investigating. Telephone numbers for the escort service Hamilton said she worked for were not in service and attempts to reach a company representative by email were not immediately successful.

Favor Hamilton is a three-time outdoor 1,500-meter national champion and a three-time indoor national champion – her last title coming in 1999.

"As crazy as I know it seems, I never thought I would be exposed, therefore never hurting anybody," she said in one Twitter post.

In another, she says she is seeking psychological care for her problem.

She closes her series of tweets by saying, "I fully intend to make amends and get back to being a good mother, wife, daughter, and friend."

Grimm brothers' celebration awakens saga of fairy tale link to German culture

Once upon a time, two German brothers began collecting the best fairytales of their age. They gathered an array of stories involving princes and princesses, forests, castles and magic, but also darker sagas of cannibalism, dismemberment, murder and evil stepmothers.
Grimm's Fairy Tale illustartion for Fitcher's BirdThe 200th anniversary on Thursday of the first publication of the Grimm brothers' Die Kinder und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales), a collection of 86 stories that became worldwide classics, is triggering a year of feverish celebrations in Germany to mark the birth of one of the most frequently read books in the world.
Academics from around the globe, meeting this week in the central German city of Kassel, close to the brothers' birthplace, are kicking off the 2013 celebrations with a Grimm brothers' congress. Participants, ranging from lexicographers to psychoanalysts, will focus on everything from the book's enduring legacy to the brothers' impact on German grammar and how they shaped the nation's erotic imagination.
"Even during their lifetime the Grimms' book became a huge bestseller among every section of society," said Claudia Brinker-von der Heyde, the congress president. "And so they became an indispensable part of our everyday culture and our national identity."
Other Grimm events will include forest trails in the western city of Marburg where the brothers studied, light shows, art installations, cabarets, theatre productions, readings and operas.
Amid all the fanfare for the siblings who gave the world those unforgettable, childhood-defining tales of Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Rapunzel, cultural observers say the anniversary is above all a chance to examine once again a literary legacy that has often been associated with the gloomier side of German history.
In a recent essay in Der Spiegel, Matthias Matussek, one of the country's leading cultural commentators, argued that the "most successful book in the German language" offered an unparalleled exploration into the people's "dark souls", but said that most ordinary Germans had long ago fallen out of love with the storytelling masters. They were more revered everywhere else, from Asia and India to the US and elsewhere in Europe than in their native land.
"The Grimms are more popular in China than they are here," he said. "What do the others see in us that we don't see in ourselves anymore? Have we become blind because we have had an overdose of dark fairytales?"
While plenty of foreign tourists go to Bremen to soak up the atmosphere of the Town Musicians of Bremen tale, or to Sababurg's 14th-century Sleeping Beauty Castle, German interest in the tales and the paraphernalia surrounding them is remarkably limited.
Matussek, who describes the Brothers Grimm as mind doctors who "eavesdropped" on Germans' primordial joys, fears and hopes, writing as they had when memories of the 17th-century 30 years war were still strong and at a time when Napoleon was seen as the new threat to peace, says it was the Nazi era that quashed the Germans' interest in their favourite fairytales.
"Since then, the Germans have been without dreams and they'd like to ensure it stays that way," he suggested. Having a dream or a vision – if the consequence was a murderous dictatorshipwas viewed with suspicion, he said.
The theory that the Grimms' tales, particularly the more brutal ones such as How Children Played Butcher With Each Other, in which a whole family massacres itself, had an adverse effect on the German character was expressed frequently after the second world war.
In his 1978 book Roots of German Nationalism, Louis Snyder argued that the brothers helped to shape certain deleterious traits, such as discipline, obedience, authoritarianism, glorification of violence and nationalism, which became part of the national character. That was the reason allied commanders banned the book in schools after the war, arguing that they had found the roots of Nazism in the Grimms' world.
A British major, TJ Leonard, even said the fairytales had helped Germans teach their children "all the varieties of barbarousness", making it easy for them to fit into the "role of the hangman".
The German author Günther Birkenfeld saw in the fairytales the answer to "how the German people were able to perpetrate the atrocities of Belsen and Auschwitz".
The book was therefore largely banned from the German nursery – which was simultaneously undergoing its own anti-authoritarian, pro-modernisation reaction to Nazism – for decades. At the same time though, it was becoming increasingly hijacked outside Germany by Disney and Hollywood.
Matussek and others are calling for a re-think about the place the Grimm tales have in Germany's cultural identity.
But the theatre director Jan Zimmermann, who is staging a fairytale version of the Brothers Grimm biography at the Hexenkessel Hoftheater in Berlin, argued that the pair's endurance lay in the fact that they were international.
"The brothers might have written the stories up, but [the tales] had existed for 1,000 years or more beforehand as Greek, Jewish and Egyptian myths and sagas. What they did was to conserve them forever like flies in amber. It's up to us to keep them alive," he said.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

2012 Miss Universe Pageant: Best & Worst Moments

It may be December, but things were heating up in Las Vegas.
The 2012 Miss Universe Pageant, hosted by Watch What Happens Live's Andy Cohen and E!'s own Giuliana Rancic, took place tonight, as viewers witnessed 89 beautiful women from around the world compete for the title and crown of Miss Universe.
Here are some of the highlights from the show:
Miss Universe Pageant: See the bikini-clad beauty queens of 2012!
Worst Santa: Sorry, Donald Trump, but that Santa Claus getup was not a good look on you. But if you're going to do it, at least do it right—where was your white beard? C'mon now.
Best Sound: Hearing female announcers say names of the contestants in the tongue of their homeland was both entertaining and impressive (even if some of the first ladies to take stage missed out on being called due to a technical mishap).
Hi...Bye: Not even 20 minutes in (mind you—introducing everyone took a solid 10 minutes, and then there was a commercial break), and the 89 ladies were cut to the top 16. Well, that was quick.
First Cut: The women that advanced to the top 16 were Miss Venezuela, Miss Hungary, Miss France, Miss Peru, Miss Russia, Miss Mexico, Miss Poland, Miss Turkey, Miss South Africa, Miss Philippines, Miss Croatia, Miss Brazil, Miss Kosovo, Miss Australia, Miss India and Miss USA.
Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant scores $5 million legal victory following rigged claims
Close VideoVideo Thumbnail: Love You, Mean It: Bashing Celeb PicsLove You, Mean It: Bashing Celeb Pics
Close VideoVideo Thumbnail: Claire Danes Is a New MomClaire Danes Is a New Mom
Close VideoVideo Thumbnail: The Soup Bonus: We Ruined The WorldThe Soup Bonus: We Ruined The World
Fun Fact: Miss Brazil kisses her shoulders when she's nervous. Interesting.
Unfortunate Attempt: During a pre-recorded segment of the girls dancing and strutting the runway in Vegas, some of the ladies tried to dance "Gangnam Style," but failed.
Keeping Up Switch: So, Rob Kardashian may have judged Miss USA, but judging Miss Universe went to Scott Disick.
Best Dressed: Forget about all the gowns and sexy bikinis. Tonight's wardrobe award went to Lisa Vanderpump's pooch, Giggy, in his little doggy tuxedo.
Andy Cohen and Giuliana Rancic host Miss Universe
Stop Dancing: The already eliminated contestants tried to do a little routine to introduce the swimsuit competition. Sigh. Not good. Not good at all.
Top 10: Miss Australia, Miss Russia, Miss Brazil, Miss France, Miss Venezuela, Miss USA, Miss Hungary, Miss South Africa, Miss Mexico and Miss Philippines.
Close Call: While Train performed a medley of their hits, once again, the already eliminated contestants did a little dance/walk to open the evening gown competition, but with all those dress trains (get it), people got a little trippy. No spills though (unfortunately).
Donald Trump and ex-Miss Pennsylvania feud
Best Cleavage: Heyo! Miss USA's Olivia Culpo wore an evening gown with a plunging neckline that was just yelling for a wardrobe malfunction, but she was able to dodge that. What she wasn't able to avoid, however, was a slight trip. Don't worry, she didn't fall, and she recovered quick. Brava.
Touché, Jeannie Mai: The backstage host brushed up on her high school Spanish to present Miss Guatemala with the Miss Congeniality Award, and she was fantastic! Muy bueno, Jeannie.
Top Five: Miss Venezuela, Miss Philippines, Miss Australia, Miss USA and Miss Brazil.
Worst Answer: Oh, Miss Venezuela. When asked what law she would want to implement and why, a clearly nervous Miss Venezuela, went around in circles with her answer. It had something to do about no new laws and surfing? We couldn't even tell.
Best Answer: There were some decent answers, but Miss Philippines did an exceptional job with her question about whether or not she felt Miss Universe should be required to know English. "For me, being Miss Universe is not about knowing how to speak a specific language. It's about being able to influence and inspire other people. So whatever language you have, as long as your heart is to serve and you have a strong mind to show to people, then you can be Miss Universe."
And the Winner Is...: It was between Miss USA and Miss Philippines. Congratulations, Miss USA!
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
What do you think of Miss USA getting crowned?! Let us know in the comments.
Take a look at all of the 2012 Miss Universe contestants
Miss Universe, Miss USA
  • Miss Universe, Miss Albania
  • Miss Universe, Miss Angola
  • Miss Universe, Miss Argentina
  • Miss Universe, Miss Aruba