tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73432030580743238492024-02-07T11:20:54.058-08:00British news , google trend , gossip news , Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.comBlogger324125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-38201167597906578702015-12-14T21:16:00.000-08:002015-12-14T21:16:18.170-08:00MLB commissioner upholds Pete Rose's ban from baseball<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pete Rose's stay in baseball purgatory continues, and it appears he has himself to blame.Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement Monday denying Rose's request for reinstatement, issuing a four-page decision that showed Rose continues to bet on baseball and failed to disclose that to the commissioner in September until pressed.The denial means the lifetime ban that began in 1989 after Rose was caught gambling while managing his hometown Cincinnati Reds stays in place. As a practical matter, the decision keeps Rose from being eligible for the Hall of Fame."I've heard from (Commissioner) Manfred directly, and he has denied our application to reinstate Pete, which is very disappointing," Rose's lawyer Raymond Genco told The Enquirer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a statement, Genco said that "Pete's fall from grace is without parallel. He also recognizes it was also of his own making.""While we may have failed at our task of presenting all the facts to the Commissioner demonstrating how Pete has grown and changed over the past three decades, Pete indeed has meaningfully reconfigured his life – the standard laid out by as Commissioner Giamatti," Genco said in the statement. "As such, Pete seeks to be judged not simply by the mistakes of his past but also by the the work he has done over the last three decades in taking responsibility for his actions, constantly working to remain disciplined, compassionate and grateful."The "Hit King" has now spent 26 years in baseball exile. He was banned from working in the game and attending official activities as anything but a paying customer after he was found to have bet on baseball – including on his own team – as the manager of the Reds.Manfred cited several reasons for his decision, including the original evidence from the 1989 report by John Dowd that listed proof that Rose bet on baseball as a manager, as well as new evidence that was discovered earlier this year that Rose may have bet while a player-manager.In addition, Manfred wrote that he believed Rose has not "reconfigured his life" because he still gambles occasionally, including on baseball, and that Rose took a lie detector test in August that was inconclusive due to "technical reasons" that were not Rose's fault.In short, the statement points out several inconsistencies in Rose's testimony and statements to the commissioner's office that exist even now, and not just for the nearly 20 years that Rose denied ever betting on baseball."Here, what has been presented to me for consideration falls well short of these requirements" for reinstatement, Manfred wrote. "It is not at all clear to me that Mr. Rose has a grasp of the scope of his violations of Rule 21 (the rule outlawing betting on baseball)."Even more troubling, in our (September) interview, Rose initially denied betting on baseball currently and only later in the interview did he 'clarify' his response to admit such betting," Manfred wrote in a footnote of his statement.The continued ban means Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame, even though he holds the game's all-time hits mark as well as several other records. Manfred wrote that Rose could still take part in on-field ceremonies with his permission on a case-by-case basis, but could not be affiliated with any specific team. The statement also left open the possibility of Rose returning to national TV work much like that he did last season for Fox Sports, but again, only with Manfred's permission.Dowd, who led baseball's investigation into Rose's gambling in the late 1980s and issued the damning report that led to the ban, said Monday that he "is very proud of the commissioner.""It's a great vindication of the integrity of the game by a very good commissioner," Dowd told The Enquirer. "I hope this is the final nail and the end of it, but I don't think it will ever end. The most important thing is that the commissioner protected the game."Reds president and chief operating officer Bob Castellini, who worked behind the scenes to try and get Rose reinstated, said in a statement that he respected the decision."We also appreciate that the Commissioner stating that Hall of Fame consideration is a separate issue and we and the fans think he deserves that opportunity," Castellini said. "We are pleased that we have had and will continue to have opportunities to commemorate Pete's remarkable on-field accomplishments."</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-60464560459853413672015-12-14T21:10:00.001-08:002015-12-14T21:10:30.483-08:00Kylie Jenner’s Lip Kits Sell Out Again After Restock<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Kylie Jenner‘s initially Lip Kit launch, on Nov. 30, was such a massive success that the kits sold out in minutes and then appeared on eBay for hundreds of dollars later in the day. Kylie promised to re-stock on Dec. 14, but when the lip kits became available, they almost immediately sold out again!</span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Kylie counted down to the re-stock, with lip kits becoming available for the second time on Dec. 14 at Noon EST. But by 12:02pm, all three colors were totally sold out!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">One girl in my office managed to snag a Dolce, but other girls who tried were completely shut out!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Lip Kits Restock — Kylie Jenner’s Makeup Completely Sells Out Agai.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">This is disappointing for fans, who took to Kylie’s Instagram to voice their frustration.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">At the initial launch, on Nov. 30, Kylie wrote on her Instagram: “Wow. Been dreaming of this day for 2 years now. This was a long process but an amazing one! Visiting the factories and sitting with the amazing chemists creating the perfect colors and formulas for you guys! This is all me and I put my everything into these lip kits. I hope you guys love them as much as I do. Definitely more to come. I only hope for it to get better. Enjoy.”</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-89056345316180984282015-12-14T20:32:00.001-08:002015-12-14T20:32:12.798-08:00Adele Announces North American Tour Dates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the hottest musical acts in the world is coming to America with a tour that’s sure to rake in a ton of money.Adele, who smashed sales records with her latest album, announced a slate of upcoming U.S. appearances not long after her European tour dates sold out their initial tickets in rapid fashion. The British singer of hits such as “Hello” and “Rolling in the Deep” revealed on Monday that she’ll tour North America for the first time since 2011 starting in July with more than 50 performances across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Tickets go on sale Dec. 17.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adele’s new album, 25, broke U.S. sales records by selling 3.38 million copies here in its first full week on sale last month. The feat was made all the more impressive by the fact that Adele’s album needed only four days to break a 15 year-old first-week sales record held by NSync’s 2000 album No Strings Attached.Her impressive record sales also come at a time when even popular artists are selling fewer and fewer albums due to their fans’ increased streaming practices. Adele famously declined to allow streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music stream her new album, though Pandora P -1.27% did get that right and saw its stock price surge as a result.Adele is one of the rare modern artists who can drum up plenty of publicity without streaming her music extensively online, thanks in part to her powerful marketing support, and her unparalleled popularity is likely to result in more sold out shows (and major revenue) once tickets go on sale in North America. There are even some reports that Adele’s tour could be sponsored—her agents reportedly talked with Apple AAPL -0.67% —in a deal worth as much as $30 million.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-27905225607853138372015-12-14T20:27:00.005-08:002015-12-14T20:27:50.068-08:00Star Trek Beyond: A Return to Fun?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">As a new J.J. Abrams sci-fi reboot steers into theaters </span>this week<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">, another franchise he once tried to salvage is soldiering on without him. The trailer for </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek Beyond</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">, which </span>dropped online Monday<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">, looks like a simultaneous embrace and rejection of Abrams’s legacy with the property. It’s scored to the Beastie Boys’ blaring “Sabotage” (which featured in Abrams’s first </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Trek </em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">movie), and is advertising itself as a freewheeling action-adventure, as if trying to avoid the moody tone of the previous entry, </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek Into Darkness</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">There will always be a contingent of </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Trek </em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">fans who tear their hair out at Abrams’s “re-imagined” series starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana as Kirk, Spock, and Uhura. His 2009 reboot was largely embraced by critics and was a huge success at the box office. But it leaned hard on action and humor,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">distressing fans</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;"> who preferred the more cerebral tone of shows like </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">The Next Generation </em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">and </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Deep Space Nine</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">. The sequel </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Into Darkness </em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">was more widely derided, serving as a bizarre remake of </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">, but not advertising the identity of its villain (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and inserting a ham-fisted PATRIOT Act allegory.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;"> It was recently voted the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">worst </span><em style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trek </em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of all time</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;"> by fans.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Abrams eventually abandoned </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;"> to make </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Wars: The Force Awakens,</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">probably the most-hyped sci-fi film of the millennium. But </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek Beyond</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;"> lives on with the sterling cast he assembled (which also includes Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, and John Cho), and with the director’s reins now in the hands of Justin Lin, who helmed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Fast & Furious</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">movies. The trailer also wants you to know this isn’t your dad’s </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 30.0001px;">: There’s Idris Elba in crazy villain makeup, sexy aliens, and plenty of clever quips.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Nothing about that is new: The trailer for Abrams’s 2009 </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Trek </em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">reboot started with the same Beastie Boys song and featured the same bombastic CGI action beats to try and draw in a new blockbuster audience. (Before then, the </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek </em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">films had been fairly moderate box-office players and were made with smaller budgets.) One factor in </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek Beyond</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">’s plot appears to be the destruction of the U.S.S. Enterprise early on in the film, but that’s something the franchise has played too many times at this point (as the critic Devin Faraci </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pointed out on Twitter</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">)</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Still, it’s worth noting that </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Star Trek </em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">started out pretty silly. In the famed original series of the 1960s, Captain Kirk bedded a new alien ingénue almost every week. The crew traveled back in time with impunity and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">regularly fought rubber-suited monsters</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;"> on rocky landscapes. It’s the tone so cleverly mocked in the brilliant 1999 spoof film </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Galaxy Quest</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">. </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Beyond </em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">seems to be aiming for that looser territory again, perhaps in an effort to get as far away as possible from the chilly drama of</span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;">Into Darkness.</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 30.0001px;"> Fans will find out July 22 whether that move paid off.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-43547411376055453372015-12-14T20:20:00.001-08:002015-12-14T20:20:23.738-08:00Justin Bieber and Kourtney Kardashian 'Inseparable,' 'Touchy Feely' While Partying in West Hollywood, Says Source<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Justin Bieber was seen cozying up to a Kardashian Friday night in Los Angeles. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">The singer and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kourtney Kardashian</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;"> were spotted spending some quality time together at The Nice Guy in West Hollywood, where Bieber performed two songs. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"He and Kourtney were nearly inseparable – smoking on the patio together and were super touchy feely," a source tells PEOPLE. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">They kept the party going, leaving The Nice Guy together to hit up another West Hollywood hotspot. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"They went to Blind Dragon afterwards," the source says. "Kourtney left around 12:45 a.m. and Justin left around 1:30 a.m." </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">RELATED VIDEO: Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick Are Working on Their Relationship.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Bieber posted a photo with a mystery women, captioning it "Lord knows," which fans speculated was a reference Disick's nickname The Lord. However, paparazzi photos later revealed that the mystery woman in the Instagram post was not Kardashian.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Bieber has palled around with the Kardashian family in the past. In May, Bieber posted a photo of himself </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">horsing around in a pool</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;"> with Disick and Kardashian's son Mason. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-46311751228858858812015-12-13T02:04:00.001-08:002015-12-13T02:04:08.046-08:00Frank Sinatra's Family Shares Personal Memories in Honor of His 100th Birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Dean Martin once famously observed of his friend Frank Sinatra: "It's Frank's world – we just live in it." And as of Dec. 12, we're also living in Sinatra's Century as his family, friends and legions of fans </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">celebrate the 100th anniversary</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;"> of late singer's birth. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"He wanted to live to be a hundred more than life," Sinatra's youngest daughter Tina Sinatra tells PEOPLE of her famous father, who was born on Dec. 12, 1915, and rose to become largely considered the greatest pop vocalist of the twentieth century, an Oscar-winning actor, a presidential confidant and one of the most larger-than-life entertainment figure of his or any era before his passing in 1998 at age 82. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"His ambition was to live as long as he could, as close to a hundred as he could. He thought that would be swell," says Tina. During the past celebratory year – with significant exhibits of personal artifacts at the New York Public Library and Los Angeles' Grammy Museum; a throng of new books, including the $1500 limited edition luxury volume Sinatra by his granddaughter Amanda Erlinger; all-star musical tribute galas at locales like the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, the Wynn resort in Las Vegas and more – the Sinatra family received amble evidence that Ol' Blue Eyes' spirit was still going strong a century after his birth. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"That we got him to a hundred, and that he is as significant to the music that he was singing 80 years ago, means a lot," says Tina, who today oversees the creative product of her father's six-decade career in show business. "It means a great deal because I think it signifies that he will be here in another hundred years. I don't believe the music is going to disappear. And if the music lives, he will live with it in memory, in history. He will stay with it because of the music…I'm not surprised that he is where he is at 100. " </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Hoboken, New Jersey-born Sinatra's very birth was marked with struggle – he had to be pulled from his mother with forceps, which permanently marked his face, and have air breathed into him – and his many career and personal ups and downs (including an epic fall from grace early in his career, a tempestuous second marriage to actress Ava Gardner and an ill-fated third union to much-younger Mia Farrow) have become the stuff of Hollywood legend. </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">But through it all, "Dad loved life – he came in the hard way, but he was going to go out his way, I guess," laughs Tina, remembering her father's particular love of birthday celebrations – both his own and those of his family and friends. </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Sinatra's granddaughter Amanda Erlinger – the youngest of two daughters to Sinatra's eldest, '60s pop singer Nancy Sinatra – has often been overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection for her grandfather in the centennial year. "It's really emotional," says Erlinger. "Everywhere you go, you're reminded of him in some way – and I'm even a generation removed, and I get emotional. I started tearing up when I was walking in on the streets outside the Grammy Museum, and I saw the banners lining the street, and I saw his face looking down and smiling. I was like, 'This is amazing that this is happening.'" </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"It's unbelievable, his reach and the fact that we're doing this almost 20 years after he passed away," Erlinger admits. "He wouldn't believe it. He wouldn't. If I could talk to him, and I said that this was happening, and all of these tributes would go on, he would just be like, 'No. Not possible.'" </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">But she says, humility aside, Sinatra would have been thrilled that his legacy remains in full flourish at the century mark: "He had an inkling that he really wanted that to happen, and it came true. That dream came true for him! I'm so happy for him. I'm so blessed to be in this family. But also, just that like, 'That's my grandpa.' He's Frank Sinatra, but he also was my grandfather. So yeah, it's emotional, for sure, that connection. I know my mom feels it because she's really present on the website and on the family forum, and she talks to so many people around the world. So it's wonderful. We're truly blessed." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background: 0px 50% rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Celebrating in Starry Style :-</b><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Tina Sinatra was especially delighted by the devotion and dedication shown by the many A-list artists who have performed tributes over the year. At </span><em style="background: 0px 50%; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sinatra 100 – An All-Star Grammy Concert</em><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;"> alone, which was held at Las Vegas' Wynn Resort and Casino and aired on CBS on Dec. 6, the lineup a diverse array of performers including Lady Gaga, Adam Levine, Carrie Underwood, Alicia Keys, Tony Bennett, Sam Smith, Nick Jonas, Seth McFarlane, Katherine McPhee, Celine Dion, John Legend, Harry Connick, Jr., Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Juanes and Zac Brown. </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"The ones that we were grateful to get could not have said yes faster," says Tina. "And were so devoted to the notion of paying tribute and so excited to do it. And really studied for many, many weeks what songs they were either interested in singing. Not one of them was less than what they are in their own particular musical niche. They were just so committed to paying tribute to him, that everything else went by the wayside." </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"It was just wonderful, wonderful. It was satisfying, is what it was. And it was the perfect icing, if you will, to Dad's birthday cake." </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">Singer Michael Buble, one of the current caretakers of the classic American Songbook that Sinatra helped make famous, admits he was nervous to perform in front of his vocal idol's family at the Grammy Museum gala. (The event marked the debut of an elaborate exhibit of Sinatra's personal effects and memorabilia in October.) </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"It’s a very difficult thing to think about and sing songs that are obviously Frank Sinatra’s, and in front of his family," he admits. "You want to pay tribute, but not sing karaoke." </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">To help honor Sinatra on his centennial, Buble teamed with Jack Daniels – Sinatra's "gasoline" of preference and a brand he helped popularize beginning in the 1950s – for the whiskey maker's Toastmasters campaign, raising a glass on Instagram. "I think it’s good class paying tribute to Frank and what he’s done for music," says the singer. In turn, the company has released Jack Daniels' Sinatra Century, a limited edition whiskey specially created for the 100th birthday, complete with unreleased music tracks from a live Las Vegas performance by Sinatra in 1966. </span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.1px; line-height: 30px;">"The truth is I celebrate that man every day," he says. "I really do. You know what, at some point in every day, I’ll probably listen to a Frank, or have something surrounding me that has Frank written on it. So I celebrate in my own way every day. I don’t know that I need a special occasion to celebrate a person that meant so much to me. His voice just was unlike anyone else's. He was an inventor. He was no pretender."</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-89464436504170230422015-12-12T22:41:00.002-08:002015-12-12T22:41:25.420-08:00CyberDay 2015 Recap: A Day of Ideas and Insights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When CSO and Check Point partnered to create a security thought leadership event for C-level executives, we had high hopes. Yesterday, November 18, those hopes were exceeded as about 200 people gathered in New York City. The purpose: to help today’s security leaders share the most current thinking and learnings to stay one step ahead of cyber attackers. <span style="letter-spacing: -0.32px; line-height: 22.4px;">We heard from Joel Brenner, former head of US Counterintelligence, who set the stage for what the threat landscape looks like. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.32px; line-height: 22.4px;">Check Point President Amnon Bar-Lev shined a light on how the common practice of investing in reactive threat solutions over proactive solutions actually costs us more in the long run. Today, the market spends $12B for reactive and only $0.6B for proactive. What’s more, only 0.1 percent of enterprises are consuming threat intelligence services; and only 1 percent of them are using technologies to prevent zero-day attacks. Meanwhile, the mean number of days to resolve cyberattacks is 46, with an average cost of $21,155 per day. That adds up to $973,130 over that 46-day period. If that doesn’t underscore the need to stay one step ahead, I don’t know what does. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.32px; line-height: 22.4px;">In addition, Chris Tarbell, a former FBI agent, captivated everyone with stories about his experiences tracking down Anonymous and the man who was responsible for the dark web site Silk Road, known as Dread Pirate Roberts. We also heard from other cyber leaders and incident response experts who walked through the forensics of actual cases. Julia King, contributing editor for CSO, moderated the event and wrapped up the day with a fabulous Top 10 list that captured all of the day’s highlights. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Julia King, Contributing Editor, CSO</strong><strong> Top 10 List of Takeaways from CyberDay 2015</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. If he's wearing cargo pants and he has a haircut like mine, you can be pretty sure he's a federal agent. (Chris Tarbell)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. Audit your network logs. Look back. Learn from your mistakes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. Don't be the low-hanging fruit. Remember the visual of the car thief going down the row of vehicles, checking each door handle for the one that was left unlocked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. CFOs are walking bulls' eyes. They're the biggest target in the enterprise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Have a plan and practice your plan. Learn from your mistakes and adapt your plan continuously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Security must be built to the way business is done. Educate your employees, your executives and your boards of directors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. We've lost control of our perimeter. With mobile, cloud and IoT, there really is no defined perimeter. Network segmentation is absolutely necessary. So is data segmentation. Everybody doesn't need to know everything.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Cyber crime is an equal opportunity phenomenon. No company and no industry is immune, especially with the rise of industrial espionage. Don't kid yourself -- someone wants your data.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Operational technology runs on IT. The problem goes deeper than PII. The Internet of Things will only exacerbate this issue. Beware the IP-enabled toaster syndrome.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Encryption is absolutely, no question, without a doubt mandatory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CyberDay attendees came from far and wide, including South America, Israel and throughout the United States. All major vertical industries were represented, including finance, law, hospitality, retail, advertising and media, healthcare, transportation and government—including the United Nations. It’s clear that the increasing intensity and presence of threats is giving rise to a community of security practitioners who truly are seeking ways to stay one step ahead.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-71919803414379651772015-12-12T22:37:00.002-08:002015-12-12T22:37:23.771-08:00Conor McGregor knocks out Jose Aldo in seconds at UFC 194<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jose Aldo is the greatest featherweight in MMA history. He is undefeated for over 10 years. He is the only UFC featherweight champion there has been. A dynamic striker with excellent takedown defense, athleticism and an underrated ground game, he has beaten the best in the world for years. Conor McGregor has talked himself up like perhaps no other fighter in the history of the sport, declaring his greatness since debuting in UFC and winning all his fights for the organization. Now he has the chance to prove himself the best in the world in front of an arena full of fans who came in from Ireland to sing and root their countryman on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1. </span>McGregor knocks Aldo out cold with his first big punch. It was a left hook as Aldo came in. He followed with a few punches on the ground but they weren't necessary at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Conor McGregor, KO, round 1. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conor McGregor is one of the remarkable stories in sports. The man came in talking about how great he was from day one, talking himself up like few others ever have. He then proceeded to defeat every opponent and knocked out a dominant champion who hadn't lost in ten years in a matter of seconds. It was like he willed it into being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UFC Middleweight Title: Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weidman is the undefeated champion, an excellent wrestler who has added strong striking and tremendous submissions as well. He ended Anderson Silva's long unbeaten streak with a knockout and took out the likes of Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort as well. Rockhold has been running through the opposition, winning 13 of 14 including destructions of Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping and Costas Philippou with his only loss since 2007 coming to a suspiciously large Vitor Belfort. Both men seem to have absolute confidence they will win this fight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1.</span> Weidman dives in with a hook and looks to take Rockhold down. He leaps up on Rockhold's back with both his hooks in, like we saw earlier with Demian Maia. From that position he lands some punches to Rockhold. Rockhold gets Weidman off his back. They clinch by the cage. Weidman throws a hard shot and dumps Rockhold down with a big takedown. Rockhold briefly looks for a kimura from the bottom but gives that up and stands back up. The fighters trade knees to the body from the clinch. Rockhold grabs a guillotine but doesn't have Weidman's body secured so it's very difficult for him to finish. Rockhold continues to grab the choke, though, and Weidman looks uncomfortable if nothing else. Herb Dean breaks them up and Rockhold lands a heavy kick to the body. Weidman goes for a takedown and Rockhold grabs his neck again. He can't get the choke but ends up in top position and lands a punch at the end. Great round. 10-9 Rockhold.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2. </span>Weidman dives in for a takedown but Rockhold uncorks some big punches and Weidman has to cover up. Rockhold hammers Weidman with another stiff kick to the body. Those come with such power. Weidman throws a body kick of his own. Rockhold then goes high with a head kick. Rockhold overextends on a punch and Weidman looks for a takedown. He doesn't get it. Rockhold throws a body kick and then a head kick. He's taking control of this fight. Weidman clinches but can't do anything with it. Rockhold lands a hard looping punch and another hook a little while later. Weidman continues to move forward but Rockhold is consistently getting the best of the exchanges. Rockhold adds another body kick. Weidman lands a couple low kicks and Rockhold looks at him as if to say, "Is that all you've got?" Weidman lands a nice body kick and chases after Rockhold. Rockhold counters with a straight left hand to the chin. 10-9 Rockhold.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3.</span> Weidman catches one of those hard Rockhold kicks to the body. Weidman clinches by the cage. Rockhold grabs the head. Weidman pulls it out and then gives up the takedown attempt. Weidman gets a takedown by the cage a minute and a half into the round. Rockhold gets back up without taking any damage. Rockhold uses another of those heavy kicks to the body. Weidman answers with three of his own. Rockhold uses a nice two punch combination. As Weidman goes for a spinning kick, Rockhold takes his back and pulls him to the ground. Rockhold quickly gets in his hooks and looks to secure a rear naked choke. He then gives that up and takes full mount. Rockhold just annihilates Weidman from top position with a serious of incredibly brutal elbows that bust Weidman open completely. Weidman just covers up while being butchered from bottom. The referee should have stopped it. 10-7 Rockhold.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 4.</span> Rockhold, sensing blood in the water, goes for a takedown early in the fourth. He gets it and has Weidman down by the cage. Rockhold lands punches there and Weidman is in bad, bad shape. Weidman's face is in terrible shape and he's just covering it up. Finally, mercifully, Herb Dean stops the fight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Luke Rockhold, TKO, round 4. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luke Rockhold turned in yet another incredibly impressive performance there, the best of his career. He took apart and brutalized a courageous and undefeated champion. That's a great accomplishment and Rockhold deserves tremendous credit for what a fighter he has become.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Court McGee vs. Marcio Alexandre Jr.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">McGee, a former Ultimate Fighter winner, has a unique life story as he overcame heroin addiction to become a popular MMA star. He hasn't fought since 2013. Alexandre is a Brazilian striker with real knockout power.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1.</span> The fighters feel each other out early, with Alexandre landing a few nice kicks. McGee looks for a takedown but has it blocked. The fighters clinch against the cage with McGee again looking to set up a takedown. He doesn't come close. Alexandre lands a nice straight punch. McGee goes for a takedown but Alexandre grabs a guillotine choke. It looks pretty tight but McGee is able to fight his way out and lands a few punches as the round comes to an end. Close round. 10-9 Alexandre.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2.</span> Alexandre lands a body kick and McGee answers with a low kick before moving in for another takedown attempt. McGee lands some punches from inside the clinch but has to give up the takedown effort. He goes for another a little while later and again ends up in a stalemate by the cage. McGee simply holds onto Alexandre while landing the sporadic punch. The referee eventually separates them. Alexandre lands a nice straight left hand late. Dull round. 10-9 McGee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3.</span> McGee comes out more aggressively. He lands a couple punches and finally gets the takedown. He lands some punches on the ground while Alexandre works his way back up to his feet. Alexandre gets away and back into range. However, he isn't pulling the trigger that much with the threat of takedowns from McGee. McGee lands a few punches on the feet and goes for another takedown. McGee gets a takedown with two minutes left in the round and immediately goes to work with punches and elbows on the ground. Alexandre isn't able to do much from the bottom as McGee gets in the best offense of the fight. That was clearly McGee's round. 10-9 McGee, 29-28 McGee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Court McGee, unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That wasn't pretty by any means, but McGee took over as the fight progressed and picked up a comeback win against a solid opponent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John Makdessi vs. Yancy Medeiros</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Makdessi is a dynamic striker from Canada. He is coming off a high profile loss to top lightweight contender Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Medeiros is a well rounded Canadian with a 2-3 (1 NC) record in the UFC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1.</span> Makdessi opens the fight with a series of kicks, mostly low. Those kicks are generally his calling card. Medeiros seems content to stand and mixes in some kicks of his own. Makdessi as usual is the shorter, more compact fighter and Medeiros is looking to exploit a reach advantage with his jabs and kicks. However, neither man is landing much in general. Makdessi connects with a solid spinning back kick to the body late in the round. 10-9 Makdessi.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2.</span> The fight continues to be a standup affair. Makdessi lands the best shot of the round two minutes in with a spinning kick to the head. Medeiros lands a few nice punches but in general Makdessi is getting the better of the exchanges. Medeiros looks for a takedown with a minute left but Makdessi blocks it. Medeiros does land a spinning back kick to the body on separation. 10-9 Makdessi.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3.</span> Medeiros lands a kick to the body to start the third round. They exchange punches from close range. They continue to throw a lot but neither man is doing a ton of damage with significant strikes. The best weapon of the fight has probably been Makdessi's feet. Makdessi presses the action in the second half of the round, pushing forward with straight punches and kicks from different angles. They trade hard looping punches late and Medeiros drops Makdessi with a punch before the round ends. 10-9 Makdessi, 30-27 Makdessi. It was a more competitive fight than that score indicates for sure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Yancy Medeiros, split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The crowd boos the decision but it could have gone either way. To Medeiros' credit, he played Makdessi's game and it was a competitive fight throughout.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joe Proctor vs. Magomed Mustafaev</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Proctor is a tough Ultimate Fighter veteran with a 4-2 record in the UFC but not the most impressive list of wins. Mustafaev is another Russian import, as fighters from that country have increasingly been making their mark on the sport. He won his UFC debut and sports a 12-1 MMA record.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1. </span>Proctor comes in with a combination of looping punches that land hard to the head of Mustafaev. Mustafaev responds by pressing the action himself. He lands some looping punches then a pair of kicks to the body that hurt Proctor. Proctor tries to pretend he's okay but it's clear he's not and Mustafaev moves in for the finish. He lands a pair of knees to the head and then adds additional punches on the ground until the referee stops the fight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Magomed Mustafaev, TKO, round 1.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mustafaev was very impressive there. Once he saw his opportunity, he went for the finish aggressively and got it. He'll be due for a tougher opponent next time out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leonardo Santos vs. Kevin Lee</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santos is principally a jiu jitsu artist with a 3-0-1 record in the UFC. Lee is a Detroit native who has won four straight in the UFC.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1. </span>The fight begins with each fighter looking to utilize kicks. Lee has his hands low and looks very confident. Santos has success with some straight punches. He goes for a takedown and briefly has Lee's back but Lee gets out of trouble. Santos drops Lee with a punch and finishes with punches on the ground.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Leonardo Santos, TKO, round 1.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Santos runs out into the crowd to celebrate following his win. He took it to Lee and proved he was way too long an underdog. He is gathering some solid momentum in his mid 30s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Warlley Alves vs. Colby Covington</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a terrific matchup between two undefeated prospects. Alves won the third season of Ultimate Fighter Brazil and has continued to win since then. Covington has a wrestling background and has picked up wins in each of his three UFC bouts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1. </span>Alves lands a body kick early that sends Covington moving backwards. Alves pursues, but Covington uses the opportunity to take Alves down when Alves throws a knee. Alves quickly returns to his feet. Alves grabs a guillotine choke from a standing position. Covington tries to fight it hard but he's caught and has to tap out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Warlley Alves, submission, round 1.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was a big win for Alves against a really solid challenge. Brazil produces some of the best fighters in the world and he could be one of the top Brazilians in the sport over the next 10 years if he continues to evolve and improve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tecia Torres vs. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Torres has one of the best nicknames in the sport: the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/entertainment/music/tameka-cottle-PECLB0000011120-topic.html" style="color: #4591b8; text-decoration: none;" title="Tameka Cottle">Tiny</a> Tornado, after her fast paced style. She is undefeated in official competition with wins over Rose Namajunas and Paige VanZant but struggled in exhibition bouts on the Ultimate Fighter, losing twice there. Jones-Lybarger is taking this fight on short notice. She is 6-1 in MMA but hasn't fought the same quality of opposition as Torres.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1.</span> Jones-Lybarger pursues Torres early, principally boxing when she gets in range. Torres isn't throwing a lot early, circling out and avoiding Jones-Lybarger's attacks. She does land a punch here and there but Jones-Lybarger is getting the better of the early going. Torres clinches and presses Jones-Lybarger against the cage. Not a lot is happening in the clinch, with neither woman able to do much damage or set up a takedown. 10-9 Jones-Lybarger.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2. </span>Jones-Lybarger goes back to walking down Torres, landing punches while moving forward. Torres is having trouble getting off, although it's not like she's taking a lot of damage either. Jones-Lybarger pushes Torres up against the cage. They grapple by the cage before finally separating. Jones-Lybarger lands a knee to the body. Torres clinches again and they return to the stalemate by the cage. They may be working, but it's not entertaining. They finally separate and Torres lands a few solid blows. Jones-Lybarger goes for a takedown but ends up on bottom and Torres drops down elbows and then some punches from the top. 10-9 Torres.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3. </span>They return to the clinch. Nothing happens and they separate. Jones-Lybarger returns to her role as aggressor but gets caught with a few counters. The optics of Torres constantly backing off and circling away may not help with the judges. However, she is doing much better in the third connecting when Jones-Lybarger moves in. Torres lands a crisp hook and circles out. Torres, feeling more confident, moves in on Jones-Lybarger. She lands the best offense of the fight, connecting with solid hooks and backing Jones-Lybarger against the fence. Jones-Lybarger is bleeding from around the nose and is struggling with Torres' pace at the close. 10-9 Torres, 29-28 Torres.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Tecia Torres, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That wasn't the most impressive of performances, but Torres picked up the win. Torres hasn't looked particularly good her last two fights and will need to impress more to build interest for fights with the best in her division.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Urijah Faber vs. Frankie Saenz</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "California Kid" Faber is one of the most popular fighters in the sport and long one of the best fighters in the lighter weight classes. At 36 and having lost his last fight to Frankie Edgar, Faber can't lose here against a lightly regarded opponent. Saenz is 35 himself but has won his first three UFC fights all by decision.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1. </span>Faber moves in with a leg kick to start. Saenz answers with one of his own. Faber moves in and eats a knee to the body. Faber looks for a takedown but doesn't get it. He tries to transition into a choke but doesn't get that. They scramble for position and end up with Saenz controlling Faber's neck. Faber gets out of that. Faber eats another hard counter moving in, this time a kick to the body. Faber continues to move forward but Saenz is effectively countering when he does. They clinch and trade knees and punches. Faber lands a hard punch in the process. Faber goes for a takedown but Saenz stuffs it. Saenz looks like he might get top position but Faber doesn't allow that by rolling out. Faber goes for another takedown but again it is blocked. Saenz lands a nice knee to the body in the process. He follows with another a little bit later and they clinch by the cage as the round comes to an end. Good start to the fight. 10-9 Saenz.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2. </span>Faber throws a head kick that rocks Saenz. He moves in for the finish and is landing heavy shots by the cage as Saenz tries to hang on. Faber uses a beautiful throw and ends up on top in crucifix position but Saenz uses an awesome sweep to take top position. Faber stands back up. Saenz knocks Faber off balance with an inside leg kick. Faber looks a little tired after exerting so much energy looking for the finish at the beginning of the round. Faber catches a low kick and goes for a takedown but can't finish it. Faber goes for another takedown and Saenz tries to take his back in the process but he cannot do so. That was another exciting round. 10-9 Faber.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3.</span> Faber catches a low kick and uses the opportunity to land a few hard punches to the head. Saenz throws a spinning back fist that misses. Saenz clinches and utilizes a powerful knee to the body. At the halfway point of the final round, this fight is still up for grabs. Faber lands a nice looping punch in an exchange and Saenz lands a solid low kick of his own. Faber prevents a takedown attempt and gets a takedown with a minute left in the round. Saenz attempts to get back up but Faber controls the legs and prevents that momentarily. Saenz keeps working and gets back to his feet. Faber gets a takedown late and Saenz goes for a heel hook as time runs out. The crowd gives both fighters an ovation at the close. 10-9 Faber, 29-28 Faber.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Urijah Faber, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was a solid performance for both men. Faber has lost some of his speed and athleticism over the years but he pulled out a gritty win over a very game opponent. Saenz has nothing to be ashamed of as he pushed Faber to the limit and gave him more difficulty than most expected. Faber is likely at a point in his career where he'd struggle against an elite opponent such as Conor McGregor or T.J. Dillashaw, but that doesn't mean UFC won't try to make those fights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holloway is one of the rising stars of the featherweight division, having won seven straight UFC fights. His striking has been his calling card and he is still only 24 years old. Stephens is a veteran of the sport, having fought in the UFC since 2007. He is a knockout striker and knocked out Dennis Bermudez to win his last fight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1.</span> Stephens throws a few low kicks early that don't land. He connects with one while Holloway most just looks to measure him. Stephens catches a kick and looks to take Holloway down. They clinch for a little while and then separate. Holloway must have a lot of respect for Stephens' power because he is throwing so little. Stephens goes for a takedown late but doesn't get it. Awful round. 10-10.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2.</span> Stephens lands a body punch early. He continues to throw leg kicks with regularity. Stephens catches a spinning back kick and looks for a takedown. He doesn't get it. Stephens catches another kick a little while later and again looks for a takedown. He doesn't come close and we get another clinch stalemate by the cage. Upon separation, Holloway lands a hard straight right punch to the jaw of Stephens. Stephens grabs a single leg and looks for a takedown. Another really bad round. 10-9 Holloway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3.</span> Holloway gets a takedown. He lands some punches from the top. Stephens attempts to stand up and Holloway responds by threatening his neck with a choke. Stephens is forced to give up the attempt to stand up and Holloway ends up on top on the ground. Holloway then takes Stephens' back and looks to sink in a rear naked choke. Stephens gets out of danger and stands back up. Stephens presses forward, knowing he likely needs something big to win. He lands a few good punches and goes for another takedown. Holloway prevents it. Stephens continues to attack at the close. That third round was certainly a lot better. 10-9 Holloway, 30-28 Holloway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Max Holloway, unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holloway asks for a fight with Conor McGregor in Hawaii afterwards. That takes quite the nerve, given his performance did absolutely nothing to earn such a big money fight and with a home field advantage to boot. That was a big step back for Holloway, who came into the fight with great momentum and was passive and inactive against a favorable opponent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Demian Maia vs. Gunnar Nelson</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are two of the best submission fighters in their division. Maia is one of the best jiu jitsu fighters in the entire sport and a former title challenger against Anderson Silva. He has won three straight fights. Nelson is from Iceland and is 14-1-1 in MMA. He is coming off an excellent win against Brandon Thatch. This could be very exciting on the ground but often when jiu jitsu aces are matched up it ends up as a sloppy standup fight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1. </span>Maia paws with his jab and then shoots for a takedown. Nelson reverses and takes Maia down. Maia then quickly stands back up and they grapple for position by the cage. Nelson looks for a guillotine choke as Maia goes for the takedown but cannot get it. They scramble with Nelson ending up on top. Nelson looks to pass into side control position but Maia has one of his legs trapped. Maia gets back up and then takes Nelson down. Nelson stands up but Maia takes his back with both his hooks in. He lands punches from the back. Nelson tries to scramble out but ends up mounted by Maia. Maia lands some punches and takes the back again. Nelson is forced to cover up and defend. Maia continues to land punches while Nelson concentrates on preventing a rear naked choke from being set up. Maia goes for an armbar and gets the arm extended but Nelson slips out, ends up on top and lands some punches. Terrific opening round with some awesome ground action. 10-9 Maia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2.</span> Maia lands a nice straight left hand and goes for a single leg takedown. Nelson nicely reverses and ends up in top position but Maia pushes through and returns to his feet. They grapple for positioning there. Maia again gets Nelson's back, just like in the first round. Nelson stands up and he stands by the cage with Maia on his back with both hooks in. Maia lands some punches from that position. Maia pulls Nelson down and lands some harder punches on the ground. The Brazilian crowd, largely drowned out by the Irish, begin to assert themselves. Nelson successfully rolls out of having his back controlled into top position. But then Maia counters with a reversal of his own and gains top position for himself. Maia drops some hard elbows from top position while looking to move into side control. He then bypasses that altogether and mounts Nelson at the close of the round. That was another really fun ground battle. This has been just a great fight. 10-8 Maia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3. </span>Maia lands a straight left hand and shoots in for a takedown. He gets Nelson down momentarily but Nelson grabs his neck. Nelson can't get a choke and Maia ends up in top position. Maia is in half guard and is dropping down elbows from that position while controlling Nelson. Maia takes Nelson's back yet again and this time locks up a body triangle. Nelson at this point is just in survival mode. Maia lands punches while controlling the position. Nelson does roll into top position at the close. 10-8 Maia, 30-25 Maia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Demian Maia, unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-25).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maia put on a clinic there. Gunnar Nelson is an excellent submission artist. That's his specialty. Maia thoroughly dominated him at that game. After the fight, he called out the UFC welterweight champion. That was the sort of performance that will make fans want to see that fight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Yoel Romero</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an amazing matchup, so good that UFC has rescheduled it twice this year to make sure it happened. Souza is one of the best submission artists to ever enter into MMA and he has added great striking as well. He is dangerous wherever the fight goes. Romero is one of the best wrestlers to ever enter the sport, an Olympic medalist with off the charts athleticism, brutal knockout power and the disposition of a finisher. The winner will be the clear top challenger for the winner of Weidman-Rockhold later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 1.</span> Romero throws a kick to the shoulder to start things off. Souza lands a nice straight punch up the middle. Souza lands a solid body punch. Both fighters are careful early knowing the danger the other man poses. Romero drops Souza with a spinning back fist. He goes down into Souza's guard with heavy punches and is just going to town while trying to avoid any submission attempts. Souza looks to set up an arm bar while Romero continues to throw heavy punches and elbows from the top. Souza goes for another arm bar but Romero is able to pull his arm out of danger. 10-9 Romero. Souza struggled to get back to his corner between rounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 2. </span>Souza lands a hook and looks for a takedown. Romero blocks it. Souza dives in and grabs a leg but Romero blocks it. Souza keeps working for it but Romero grabs the fence and uses it to take top position. They are returned to their feet with a warning. They exchange punches with Souza going to the body and Romero to the head. Souza ducks down for a takedown but Romero blocks it. Romero lands a nice inside leg kick. Not a lot of action that round. 10-9 Souza.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: 700;">Round 3.</span> Romero comes out aggressive with some punches up the middle. Souza looks for a front kick that just misses. Romero teases ducking for a takedown and then connects with a straight punch. Souza goes for a takedown but can't quite get it. Romero lands a straight left hand. He's getting off better this round. Souza stuns Romero with a straight punch and opens up by the cage. He adds some additional big punches and takes Romero down. Souza lands some punches from half guard and looks to set up an arm triangle choke. Souza drops a couple elbows and adds some knees to the body. Romero gets up at the close of the round. 10-9 Souza, 29-28 Souza.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winner: Yoel Romero, split decision (29-27, 28-29, 29-28).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That was a tough fight to score. Romero won the first round big, with the question being whether it would be 10-8. Souza clearly won round three. Round two was a toss-up. On balance, Romero did better and deserved to win but the scoring system made a good argument for Souza. Romero will make an excellent challenger for Chris Weidman or Luke Rockhold.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-52031891734949144622015-12-12T22:27:00.003-08:002015-12-12T22:27:46.120-08:00Adam Sandler's 'The Ridiculous 6' Is Getting Some of the Year's Most Hilariously Scathing Reviews<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Netflix's business is built on knowing its audience, and their instincts were right on the money when they opted not to let critics see Adam Sandler's "The Ridiculous 6" before it hit the streaming service at midnight last night. Sandler's movie, the first of four to be made for Netflix, encountered controversy before it was even completed when several Native American extras walked off the set of his (allegedly) comic Western, claiming its script was littered with racist gags. According to the reviews, that's remained true of the finished product, in which one character refers to a Native woman as "Poca-hot-tits." (Her "real" name is Smoking Fox, which isn't much better.) Critics seem unsure whether that's more offensive than "The Ridiculous 6's" reliance on jokes about incontinent burros and a rapping Mark Twain played by Vanilla Ice, its wasting of great actors like Steve Buscemi and Harvey Keitel in painfully underwritten parts (hope those checks cleared, fellas), or its unsightly and half-hearted attempts to emulate the look of a classic Westerns. (Oh, for the classical virtues of Seth MacFarlane's "A Million Ways to Die in the West.") It sounds, all in all, like an excruciating two-hour watch — barely shorter, in fact, than the real "The Magnificent Seven." But critics' loss is our gain. The reviews are scathing and often hilarious, likely providing more laughs than Sandler's comedy itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><b>Justin Chang, Variety :</b></span><span style="color: #005da4; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;">Why pay Sandler’s idiot shenanigans the compliment of anger? There's nothing here so inspired as to warrant the audience’s contempt, much less its surprise. Viewers who gladly endured "Pixels" may well revel in the sight of the star giving another of his patented non-performances, and those who saw "Big Daddy" and "That's My Boy" will hardly be shocked to see him once again knee-deep in daddy issues. In what probably counts as multitasking for all involved, "The Ridiculous 6" manages to be not just a pitiful excuse for a comedy but also a pitiful excuse for a male weepie. And as the over-active father at the heart of it all, the gravel-voiced Nolte shows up most of his co-stars by playing his part with so much wily conviction, you’d almost swear he were acting in an actual movie. Still, the MVP here is undoubtedly Ramon's donkey, who gives 110% whether he’s fellating Lautner on screen (someone’s clearly on Team Jacob), or standing perfectly still while Steve Buscemi rubs ointment inside the beast’s rectum. Which, incidentally, would make a far more appropriate destination for "The Ridiculous 6" than your Netflix queue.</span></div>
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<b>Nick Schager, The Playlist :</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">- </span>Humor is murdered over the course of 119 deathly minutes by Adam Sandler in "The Ridiculous 6," a Western spoof that, like its protagonist’s feats of magical heroism, is best described as "some mystical shit." Mired in pre-release controversy over its supposedly offensive characterizations of Native Americans – which drove some extras to abandon the project – Sandler’s first of four exclusive features for Netflix turns out to be distasteful in every regard, an abysmal riff on "The Magnificent Seven" in which hoary stereotypes and oater clichés are exploited for equally groan-worthy gags. Without an amusing instinct in its cowboy-hatted head, this painfully protracted, puerile effort meanders about the Old West as if it were making up its nonsense on the fly. The result is a torturous genre joke that marks a new low not only for the star, but for the art of cinematic comedy. Native American women possess names such as "Wears No Bra," "Smoking Fox," and "Beaver Breath," Ramon talks about the deliciousness of tacos, and white people are ridiculed for being bad dancers — Sandler and co-writer Tim Herlihy's script performs cultural mockery with all the incisive skill of a blind surgeon wielding a hammer.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Keith Uhlich, </b><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hollywood Reporter :- </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strange to accuse a film of indifference when it features a Native American character named Beaver Breath, as well as a scene in which guest star Steve Buscemi (in one of the movie's many check-cleared-yet? cameos) lubes up the anus of an incontinent burrow. But everything and everyone follows Sandler's lead: As adopted Indian warrior White Knife, he walks around with the same detached, hangdog expression that suggests he's eyeing the brewski and easy chair just off-camera. His character lives a relatively peaceful existence with his adopted family and soon-to-be-wife Smoking Fox (Julia Jones), though he often thinks back to the time when a mysterious bandit murdered his mother in cold blood. Then a career bank robber, and White Knife's long-lost father, Frank Stockburn (a mopey Nick Nolte, who seems to think he's doing Eugene O'Neill) rides into his life with a story to tell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nick De Semlyen, </b><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Empire :- </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Female Apache characters are called Smoking Fox, Never Wears Bra and, um, Beaver Breath. The pun "Poca-hot-tits" is deployed. There are wince-inducing jokes about peace pipes and wigwams, while Sandler, who spends the first stretch of the film dressed up as an "Injun" himself, is imbued with magical powers he's learned from the tribe. But other ethnicities won't feel left out — Rob Schneider plays a stupid Mexican whose best friend is a diarrhea-spraying donkey. We have the feeling Donald Trump has already added "The Ridiculous 6" to his Netflix To Watch list. Netflix have clearly given Sandler and director Frank Coraci ("Blended," Zookeeper") a budget at least as generous as those they've been accustomed to. There are Monument Valley vistas and cameos from the likes of Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi. But the latter, as a barber with a disgustingly all-purpose cream, provides oases of humour in a desert that's otherwise largely arid. As for the novel release platform? The bad news: the experience of watching "The Ridiculous 6" feels akin to streaming an especially lengthy box set. The good news: you can schedule as many "Hateful Eight"-style intermissions as you like.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Brian Tallerico, </b><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">RogerEbert.com :- </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To say that Sandler and Tim Herlihy's script is "episodic" would be an understatement. It’s a series of scenes only loosely connected by cast and location. I've seen episodes of "Saturday Night Live" in which the sketches seemed more of a single piece than parts of this film. One minute, they're learning how to play baseball from John Turturro; another minute they’re playing poker with Vanilla Ice, David Spade and Blake Shelton. It’s like someone put ideas for Western-themed sketch comedy on a board and then Sandler threw darts at it to determine its order. The film has no flow, no rhythm, and absolutely no reason to be 119 minutes. And then there's the broad racism and misogyny of the piece. After the controversial walk-offs, Netflix claimed that this was "satire." It’s not. There's nothing satirical about Sandler’s bad Native American accent (which totally comes and goes, by the way) or Schneider's Hispanic caricature. Saying that this is satire is like the drunk guy at the bar telling you how many black friends he has after telling a racist joke. Don't fall for it.</span></div>
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<b style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Charles Bramseco, Uproxx :- </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Defined by the insubstantial amateurishness most frequently found on low-level Vine accounts, "The Ridiculous Six" practically erases the memory of the A-list Adam Sandler who starred in widely beloved, reliably bankable comedies. Everyone involved — and the count of actors too good for what’s taking place onscreen occupies both hands — takes on the appearance of a fading star desperately clinging to the last vestiges of receding fame by taking whatever work he can, even though the likes of Terry Crews and Taylor Lautner are currently enjoying the prime of their careers back in the land of the living. The performances, the script, the primitive CGI, it’s all half-assed. And what’s worse, that ass-half belongs to a donkey taking a big ol’ turd on the august Western genre, which </span><i style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">would</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> be a needlessly vulgar figure of speech if this film didn’t go out of its way to include so many jokes involving donkey excrement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Deborah Day, </b><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Wrap :-</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That Vanilla Ice–here playing a rap-poser Mark Twain and delivering lines like "Oh, snap, you got the drop on Wyatt Earp?"–is the comic relief in your comedy should be a clue that your shit is tired. "The Ridiculous 6" is everything wrong with Hollywood for the past two decades: a circle-jerk of imbecilic white-dude humor. That the coterie of guys responsible for "Click," "Blended," "The Waterboy" and their like continue making these films is a travesty. Fortunately, it serves the purpose of being example A of why the Hollywood machine needs more diverse voices greenlighting, writing and producing content, as well as acting in and directing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Peter DiDonato, </b><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Moviepilot :- </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What could possibly be said about Adam Sandler's recent live-action efforts that hasn't already been said? The product placement is over-the-top, the toilet humor is juvenile, and there seems to be practically no effort put into their screenplays. All of these can be applied to "The Ridiculous Six," but somehow it's even worse than all of Sander's "efforts" combined. It may even be worse than "Jack and Jill" and "Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star." Dumb comedy can work if it's done right. "Dumb and Dumber" worked because the characters had their own distinct personalities and goals. They were relatable, connecting to our inner dumb sides with lively personalities and well-timed jokes. "The Ridiculous Six," however, is so lazy in it's execution, that its just boring to sit through. As a matter of fact, the biggest problem I had with this film is that it's just boring. When the jokes aren't horrendously juvenile grossout gags like donkey diarrhea or someone trying to gouge their own eye out, they just fall flat. In one scene, White Knife throws a knife into a water jug. Nick Nolte's character knocks the knife out, and White Knife throws the knife into the same hole to plug it up. So what's the joke? Is it that White Knife is skilled with a knife? Because that isn't a joke.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Matt Pais, </b><b style="border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">RedEye :- </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sandler's films love disrespecting everyone who's not him. In this one, a pathetically generic, not-at-all-satirical Western that also includes a joke about "Home Alone," Sandler plays White Knife. He's a white man raised in the Apache community who's engaged to a woman named Smoking Fox (Julia Jones) and the target of the affections of Never Wears Bra (who's not identified on IMDB, so I don't know who plays her), as Sandler’s characters always have to be studs. When the dad (Nick Nolte) he thought was dead returns to claim that he’s dying and wants to give White Knife (whose birth name was Tommy) his buried fortune but then gets kidnapped, Tommy W.K. winds up collecting an absurd collection of men (including Rob Schneider as a Mexican stereotype named Ramon Lopez) who turn out to be his half-brothers to rescue dad and make it back in time for his wedding. 'Cause Sandler's never ended a movie with a wedding before.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-10328733896968357432015-12-12T22:17:00.002-08:002015-12-12T22:17:39.838-08:00X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer reveals secrets from the trailer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25.6px;">On Friday, Fox dropped the first </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">X-Men: Apocalypse</em> trailer<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25.6px;"> to herald the beginning of the end of the world – which is coming to theaters on May 27. In addition to the first footage of </span>Oscar Isaac’s title villain<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25.6px;">and the battle to come, director Bryan Singer dished to </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Empire</em>magazine <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25.6px;">on the secrets you might have missed. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Vision</strong>: Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark from <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Game of Thrones</em>) plays Jean Grey, the telekinetic-telepathic mutant who grows up to become Phoenix. “<span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.6em;">It’s all about their potential,” Singer said of her intense visionin the trailer. “Jean has a special connection with Xavier, she has a special connection with the psychic world and she has enormous untapped power that’s growing.”</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">He continued, “The take I used for the movie is a less sincere take. In the movie it’s an intense moment, a psychic moment happens between [Jean and Charles] and the take is a much more suspicious take.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">The New Mutants</strong>: Fans got their first look at Alexandra Shipp as a younger incarnation of Storm inEW’s <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">X-Men</em> issue. Singer went into further detail, saying that “she’s looking for a mother and a father and the village she lost” when Apocalypse first meets her. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">While Storm is one of Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen, the other young mutants are rounded out by Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Lana Condor as Jubilee, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler, Evan Peters as Quicksilver, and Turner as Jean.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">“It was important to show that these are kids,” Singer said. “There’s no way anybody can get in there but them, and do what needs to be done, and yet they’re kids…[Mystique] works alone. The very last thing she wants to be is in charge of a group of young mutants. But we find everybody at a certain place in the movie and take them to the very opposite of where they started.”</span></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">Caliban</strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">: Tomar Lemarquis portrays the Morlock Caliban in</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;"> </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">X-Men: Apocalypse</em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">, but glimpses of him have been few and far between. He pops up briefly in the trailer, and Singer described the character as “bald and has funky eyes. He’s a great character. Really cool.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Magneto</strong>: “[Apocalypse] found Erik at the most vulnerable place in his life,” Singer said. “He’s searching for God. Remember, he was a young Jew in a concentration camp when he first lost his family and now here comes this man who was, is, or claims to be God. The power of persuasion is Apocalypse’s greatest power.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">Speaking to a later scene in the trailer where Magneto is a full-fledged Horsemen, Singer said, “He’s one of the most pivotal characters. Fassbender really delivers here in non-traditional comic book style. There are scenes here you will not see in any other comic book movie. I really think Erik goes through one of the most complex journeys in the movie.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Charles vs. Apocalypse</strong>: “The two of them really go at it,” Singer said of Charles’ fight scene with a (literally) growing Apocalypse. “The end of the movie becomes an all-out battle with a force that’s very formidable. He’s a hard man to break, Apocalypse. It’s why he thinks he’s God.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">Speaking of his size, Singer said he “couldn’t go full Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man where he’s just Giant Apocalypse, swatting at things. I did something a little interesting in how I addressed the size thing, but I think the audience will get a kick out of it.” </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">Charles, too, gets his moment in the trailer when he fulfills his comic book destiny and goes completely bald. “I wanted to remind the audience that this isn’t just the climax of three movies,” Singer explained. “It’s the climax of six movies, beginning with </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">X-Men</em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.6em;">1…It’s the original chair from the first movie – we bought it from a collector.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Quicksilver’s next big moment</strong>: Peters’ Quicksilver stole the show in<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Days of Future Past</em>, and Singer promises another big moment for the speedster. “There’s one sequence that took one and a half months to shoot for three minutes of film. It involves the most complex camera moves, very sophisticated explosive algorithms, 3D Phantom cameras travelling at 50mph while shooting at 3,100 frames per second. Evan worked more days on this movie than any other actor because of this one sequence.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Superhero disaster movie</strong>: There’s so much destruction in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">X-Men: Apocalypse</em> that Singer likens it to some of the most iconic disaster movies in cinema. “It’s not just New York, it’s all over the world,” he said, referring to cyclones hitting the Big Apple. “They’ll be visually different than things you’ve seen in these kinds of destructive movies, like Roland Emmerich’s films or Michael Bay’s. There are large-scale setpieces.” </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-20137942737059621212015-12-10T20:43:00.000-08:002015-12-10T20:43:30.711-08:00Chipotle’s Norovirus Outbreak Is Not A Typical Norovirus Outbreak<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">The avalanche of norovirus cases linked to a Boston Chipotle is one of the biggest outbreaks since 2009. Eighty cases have been confirmed by the Boston Public Health Commission to date, and Boston College reports that at least 140 students have come to the campus health center with norovirus-like symptoms since the outbreak began over the weekend. Those symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea and muscle pain. So, the fun stuff.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 26px;">Just under 3 percent of the food-related norovirus outbreaks that theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention tracked from 2009 to 20141sickened 80 or more people. Only 1.3 percent of outbreaks sickened 140 or more people. Half of all outbreaks sickened 11 or fewer people.It’s not just the size of the outbreak that’s unusual — it’s where it happened. Although norovirus is the most common cause of food-related illnesses nationwide (about 50 percent of outbreaks), it’s not the most common cause of illnesses at fast-food outlets like Chipotle. Since 2009, when the CDC began tracking where outbreaks occurred, fast-food restaurants have been much more likely to give their patrons salmonella than norovirus (28 percent of illnesses at fast-food chains were linked to norovirus, while 43 percent were linked to salmonella). Sit-down restaurants have the opposite risk profile (45 percent of illnesses linked to norovirus, 25 percent to salmonella).In better news for Bostonians who are sick, only 1 percent of people who caught food-related norovirus from 2009 to 2014 required hospitalization. And food-related norovirus outbreaks were linked to only three deaths over those six years; that’s 0.01 percent of all those who were sick.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-18441591401393784952015-12-10T20:33:00.001-08:002015-12-10T20:33:19.107-08:00After rocker Scott Weiland's death, ex-wife pleads: 'Don't glorify this tragedy'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #525252; font-family: proxima_nova, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 23.25px;">The ex-wife of former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, who died last week, is asking the world not to glorify the late rocker's death.Mary Forsberg Weiland penned an open letter on RollingStone.com, with help from her teenage children with Weiland, 15-year-old Noah and 13-year-old Lucy, opening up about the family's longtime struggles."December 3, 2015 is not the day Scott Weiland died," she wrote. "It is the official day the public will use to mourn him, and it was the last day he could be propped up in front of a microphone for the financial benefit or enjoyment of others... But the truth is, like so many other kids, they lost their father years ago."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #525252; font-family: proxima_nova, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23.25px;">Forsberg Weiland, a model who married the singer in 2000, added that while she doesn't want to "downplay Scott's amazing talent, presence or his ability to light up any stage with brilliant electricity," their family spent many years dealing with his "multiple illnesses." She wrote about her ex-husband missing child support payments, and neglecting their two children.She encouraged adults to reach out to other children who don't have a father figure in their lives."Offer to accompany them to the father-daughter dance, or teach them to throw a football," Forsberg Weiland wrote."Our hope for Scott has died, but there is still hope for others," she added. "Let's choose to make this the first time we don't glorify this tragedy with talk of rock and roll and the demons that, by the way, don't have to come with it. Skip the depressing T-shirt with 1967-2015 on it — use the money to take a kid to a ballgame or out for ice cream."Weiland's drug problems have been highly publicized, and Forsberg Weiland has been open about her own issues with addiction, and the couple's tumultuous relationship, chronicled in her 2009 memoir, "Fall to Pieces." The couple divorced in 2007.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-36462985173401582522015-12-10T20:19:00.001-08:002015-12-10T20:19:17.033-08:00Scott Weiland's Family: 'Don't Glorify This Tragedy'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26.4px;">December 3rd, 2015 is not the day Scott Weiland died. It is the official day the public will use to mourn him, and it was the last day he could be propped up in front of a microphone for the financial benefit or enjoyment of others. The outpouring of condolences and prayers offered to our children, Noah and Lucy, has been overwhelming, appreciated and even comforting. But the truth is, like so many other kids, they lost their father years ago. What they truly lost on December 3rd was hope.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 26.4px;">We don't want to downplay Scott's amazing talent, presence or his ability to light up any stage with brilliant electricity. So many people have been gracious enough to praise his gift. The music is here to stay. But at some point, someone needs to step up and point out that yes, this will happen again – because as a society we almost encourage it. We read awful show reviews, watch videos of artists falling down, unable to recall their lyrics streaming on a teleprompter just a few feet away. And then we click "add to cart" because what actually belongs in a hospital is now considered art.Many of these artists have children. Children with tears in their eyes, experiencing panic because their cries go unheard. You might ask, "How were we to know? We read that he loved spending time with his children and that he'd been drug-free for years!" In reality, what you didn't want to acknowledge was a paranoid man who couldn't remember his own lyrics and who was only photographed with his children a handful of times in 15 years of fatherhood. I've always wanted to share more than anyone was comfortable with. When writing a book years ago, it pained me to sometimes gloss over so much grief and struggle, but I did what I thought was best for Noah and Lucy. I knew they would one day see and feel everything that I'd been trying to shield them from, and that they'd eventually be brave enough to say, "That mess was our father. We loved him, but a deep-rooted mix of love and disappointment made up the majority of our relationship with him."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 26.4px;">Even after Scott and I split up, I spent countless hours trying to calm his paranoid fits, pushing him into the shower and filling him with coffee, just so that I could drop him into the audience at Noah's talent show, or Lucy's musical. Those short encounters were my attempts at giving the kids a feeling of normalcy with their dad. But anything longer would often turn into something scary and uncomfortable for them. Spending so many years immersed in Scott's multiple illnesses led to my own depression; at one point, I was misdiagnosed as bipolar. I feared the same would happen to the children. There were times that Child Protective Services did not allow him to to be alone with them.When Scott did move on to another relationship, I hoped it would inspire him to grow. I had often encouraged him to date a "normal" girl, a woman who was also a mother, someone who had the energy that I no longer had to love him. Instead, when he remarried, the children were replaced. They were not invited to his wedding; child support checks often never arrived. Our once sweet Catholic boy refused to watch the kids participate in Christmas Eve plays because he was now an atheist. They have never set foot into his house, and they can't remember the last time they saw him on a Father's Day. I don't share this with you to cast judgment, I do so because you most likely know at least one child in the same shoes. If you do, please acknowledge them and their experience. Offer to accompany them to the father-daughter dance, or teach them to throw a football. Even the bravest girl or boy will refrain from asking for something like that; they may be ashamed, or not want to inconvenience you. Just offer – or even insist if you have to.This is the final step in our long goodbye to Scott. Even though I felt we had no other choice, maybe we never should have let him go. Or maybe these last few years of separation were his parting gift to us – the only way he could think to soften what he knew would one day crush us deep into our souls. Over the last few years, I could hear his sadness and confusion when he'd call me late into the night, often crying about his inability to separate himself from negative people and bad choices. I won't say he can rest now, or that he's in a better place. He belongs with his children barbecuing in the backyard and waiting for a Notre Dame game to come on. We are angry and sad about this loss, but we are most devastated that he chose to give up.Noah and Lucy never sought perfection from their dad. They just kept hoping for a little effort. If you're a parent not giving your best effort, all anyone asks is that you try just a little harder and don't give up. Progress, not perfection, is what your children are praying for. Our hope for Scott has died, but there is still hope for others. Let's choose to make this the first time we don't glorify this tragedy with talk of rock and roll and the demons that, by the way, don't have to come with it. Skip the depressing T-shirt with 1967-2015 on it – use the money to take a kid to a ballgame or out for ice cream.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-86204071472811525412015-12-10T20:14:00.001-08:002015-12-10T20:14:14.663-08:00See Dolly Parton Sing Moving 'Coat' on 'The Voice' <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dolly Parton offered information but no advice to the remaining contestants on NBC's The Voice as she visited the TV singing competition on Tuesday, December 8th. She also performed a lovely version of her beloved 1971 hit "Coat of Many Colors" and talked about the upcoming "faith-based" film inspired by the song's autobiographical lyrics.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strumming an acoustic guitar, Parton delivered a gentle, somewhat haunting version of the fan favorite that the singer-songwriter said is "just a sweet little song [that] means more to me than the others."The tune was written about a handmade coat Parton's mother Avie Lee sewed together for her when she was a young girl. One of 12 children from a poor family raised in the backwoods of east Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, Parton is now one of the world's wealthiest, most recognizable women but remains humble when it comes to sharing her gift of song. After her performance, host Carson Daly asked her about her time spent with the aspiring singers who are currently in the semi-finals of The Voice. "They were so sweet and so nice. They reminded me of when I had big dreams," she told Daly. "They asked for advice; I don't do advice. I'll give you some information."Parton also explained that Coat of Many Colors (which airs Thursday), is neither a Christmas movie nor all about her but more about family and faith, which are elements common to TV specials and films at this time of year. The film stars Alyvia Alyn Lind in the role of Parton as a child. Singer Jennifer Nettles plays her mother and veteran actor Ricky Schroder plays her dad. The film touches on the subjects of bullying and ridicule, which Parton says she was subjected to by classmates when she wore her colorful new coat to school. "I've had so many people tell me through the years that this song itself has had a healing effect on them, whether it's about their race, their nationality, whether they were overweight or whether they were crippled, people just identify with it," Parton told Rolling Stone Country and other reporters at a preview for the film last summer. "When people make you feel less about yourself, it's a hard thing to deal with."</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-17642365354262049542015-12-10T20:08:00.005-08:002015-12-10T20:08:58.366-08:00Golden State 23-0; Klay Thompson hurt; what is Nike paying LeBron James?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">CLEVELAND, Ohio – This is getting serious. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors are 23-0 after beating the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. Smart people doing math think the Warriors can go 73-9 and break the Chicago Bulls' NBA record of 72 victories.Thompson suffered an ankle injury late in the Pacers game, and x-rays were negative.How much is LeBron James' lifetime deal with Nike worth? The undercurrent of his new deal with Nike is that LeBron James the basketball player now is just one department in the much bigger business of being LeBron James.At baseball's winter meetings, Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker made the biggest headlines because of some very odd comments about domestic violence, African-Americans and Latinos.Ben Zobrist signed with the Cubs, who also made a trade with the Yankees.The Indians talked about trading Danny Salazar to Arizona for center fielder A.J. Pollock, which would be a good deal for both teams.Maryland's victory at the Jimmy V Classic should get the attention of the Big Ten.Tiger Woods revealed the key to Jordan Spieth's success in one simple statement.A former top South American soccer official indicted by the United States surrendered to Argentine police.And the 2016 Olympic Games are sounding too much like the Hunger Games for people who live in Rio de Janeiro and are victims of human rights violations, according to a new study.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">These are some of the trending sports stories Wednesday:</b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"><b>Thompson says he's OK:</b> The Warriors got away with one Tuesday, and they know it.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">The second unit allowed a 28-point lead to shrink to 16 in the opening six-plus minutes of the fourth quarter, forcing interim head coach Luke Walton to reinsert his starters into the game.Less than five minutes after the first unit's return, All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson sprained his right ankle and limped straight to the bench and then off to the locker room.X-rays in the bowels of Bankers Life Fieldhouse were negative, and Thompson said he believes he'll be able to play Friday in Boston, where the Warriors play the sixth game of the two-week, seven-game road trip."I'll be all right," said Thompson, who scored 39 points on 10 three-pointers during the Warriors' 27th straight win. "Luckily, it's not a bad sprain or anything. It's just going to be sore for a couple of games, but I should be back in no time."(San Francisco Chronicle) </span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Warriors can go 73-9:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"> FiveThirtyEight's 2015-16 NBA predictions post dropped on Monday and included, right up at the top, a detail remarkable enough to elicit a double-take from any NBA fan still fogging a mirror: the Warriors' projected record. As of Monday, it sat at a tidy 72-10 — as in the same 72-10 that MJ's Bulls put up in the 1995-96 season, and the standing record for the most wins ever in an NBA regular season.By now there's a whole cottage industry dedicated to handicapping the Warriors. On Monday, our colleagues at ESPN Stats & Info published an article about whether Golden State had a shot at breaking the 1995-96 Bulls' record. They found that the Warriors had a 45 percent chance of getting to at least 72 wins and a 31 percent chance of at least 73. Our CARM-Elo projection is a little more bullish: It has the odds of 72+ wins at 54 percent, and 73+ wins at 44 percent.Golden State's odds of hitting astonishing win totals are probably a good deal higher than you'll see in other models, or in the betting markets, where the Warriors are still about a 3-to-1 underdog to hit 73. (Fivethirtyeight.com) </span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Inside the LeBron James-Nike deal:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"> It has the potential to be a game-changer for all top athletes, starting with how the deal came together.In some sense, James stopped being just a basketball player a long time ago, but this is different and much bigger.Rather than use his agent to make this deal with Nike, James brought in his business advisor, Paul Wachter, whose background is in merger and acquisitions, a source familiar with the negotiations told Business Insider.This is significant, as it means that this deal is going above and beyond the typical athlete endorsement. This is not Nike signing another athlete to promote shoes and maybe some apparel. This is a merger between two corporations, Nike and the LeBron James brand.In other words, LeBron just ceased being a basketball player. That side still exists, but it is now just one department in a much bigger business. (Business Insider) </span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">How much is the LeBron James-Nike deal worth?</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"> It likely easily exceeds the value of the 10-year, $300 million deal Nike struck with Kevin Durant in 2014.Michael Jordan's agent David Falk estimates Nike's deal with James to be $400 million to $500 million, which provides a large range.Expect to be buying James' basketball sneakers the same way you purchase Michael Jordan's shoes, even though he has gone from basketball player to team executive. It is likely that James will receive royalties based on sales of his sneakers in addition to the base compensation that reportedly blows Durant's deal out of the water. (Forbes.com)</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">What about LeBron's shoe sales? </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">In recent weeks, some retail and sportswear-industry experts have noticed a slowdown in demand for Mr. James's shoes, as signature sneakers for younger players like Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry have picked up traction."LeBron's shoes have always been bigger and bulkier than the others, so it's hard for a young kid to want to wear that big shoe, and convince his mother to spend $200, when he can get Steph's shoe for $60 less," said Josh Luber, founder of the secondary-market sneaker tracker Campless. (Wall Street Journal)</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">LeBron helps Cavs break skid: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">LeBron James scored 14 of his 33 in the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated C.J. McCollum and the Portland Trail Blazers, 105-100, Tuesday night at The Q. The Cavs trailed by 18 in the second quarter.The Cavs (14-7) snapped a three-game losing streak. They improved to 10-1 at home. (The Plain Dealer) </span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Cubs sign Zobrist: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">T</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">he Chicago Cubs agreed to terms with versatile Ben Zobrist on a four-year contract. They also traded Starlin Castro to the New York Yankees for right-handed pitcher Adam Warren and a player to be named later.Zobrist, 34, a 10-year veteran who played nine of his 10 seasons for Cubs manager Joe Maddon with the Tampa Bay Rays, is expected to fill a variety of roles for the Cubs. Zobrist will earn $56 million over the life of the contract. (Chicago Tribune)</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Salazar trade discussed:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"> The Indians met with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who asked about Danny Salazar. The Indians were willing to discuss Salazar, but asked for center fielder A.J. Pollock.Salazar went 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA in his first full season in the big leagues. He struck out 195 and walked 53 in 185 innings. Salazar, 26, is making just over the minimum and is under control for five more years.Pollock, 28, played 151 games in center last season. He hit .315 (192-for-609) with 20 homers and 76 RBI. Pollock, a right-handed hitter, scored 111, stole 39 bases in 46 chances and posted a .865 OPS. (Cleveland.com)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"><b>Dusty Baker off base:</b> And then there was Dusty Baker. The Nationals' new manager said that Latino and African-American players are more likely to possess better speed, and also indicated that domestic violence against men is as concerning as violent acts against women.In lauding MLB for enacting a domestic violence policy, Baker shifted the focus to the potential for men to be victims of abuse."I think it's a great thing," Baker told reporters. "I mean, I got a buddy at home that's being abused by his wife. So I think this policy needs to go further than the player. I think the policy should go to whoever's involved."Sometimes abusers don't always have pants on."When asked about filling the Nationals' off-season needs, Baker said he'd like to see the club add more speed and indicated a shortage of that skill across the major leagues."I think that's the No. 1 thing that's missing in the game is speed," Baker said Tuesday afternoon. "You know, with the need for minorities, you can help yourself -- you've got a better chance of getting some speed with Latin and African-Americans. I'm not being racist. That's just how it is." (USA Today) </span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Chapman case tests MLB policy:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"> Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association was lauded in August as proactive when the two sides agreed to a new domestic violence policy, but now the two sides must show an appropriate reaction to a spate of high-profile incidents that will serve as the first cases under the agreement.Aroldis Chapman's reported October incident is the third time an All-Star has been involved in alleged domestic violence situations since the end of the season, but none has yet to be ruled upon by the league. (Cincinnati.com) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"><b>Maryland holds off UConn:</b> There was skepticism about whether the Maryland men's basketball team belonged among the sport's bluebloods after the then second-ranked Terps lost their first game of the season last week at North Carolina.Maryland saw its ranking drop from second in both polls to sixth among the media voters and all the way down to ninth among the coaches. The Terps went into Tuesday night's game against Connecticut in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden as only a slight favorite.Behind a strong first half from freshman Diamond Stone, a strong second half from sophomore Melo Trimble and a key late technical foul on Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, Maryland held off the Huskies, 76-66. (Baltimore Sun) </span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Jim Valvano and Madison Square Garden: </b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">As with most basketball fans who grew up near New York City, Madison Square Garden was an important place in the life of the late Jim Valvano, long before a tournament in his memory would be played there.It is where he went as a kid, traveling in from Long Island with his father Rocco, a high school basketball coach, and his two brothers, to watch the New York Knicks when they were very bad and, later, when they were the best team on the planet. (Baltimore Sun)</span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Rio Olympics and human rights:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"> The 2016 Olympics have prompted widespread violations of children's rights and other civil liberties, according to a new dossier of alleged abuses compiled by academics and nongovernmental organizations.Evictions, police violence and poor labor conditions top a long list of problems linked to next year's Games in Rio de Janeiro, claim the coalition of activists led by the Comité Popular who are calling on the International Olympic Committee to pay greater heed to human rights. Their report – Exclusion Games – claims that at least 4,120 families have lost their homes and another 2,486 are threatened with removal as a result of infrastructure projects associated with last year's World Cup and the upcoming Olympics. As a result, they say, thousands of children have been displaced and left – at least temporarily – unable to access education, healthcare and other social services.The dossier claims other youths have been the victims of an uptick in police and army violence as a result of a struggling favela pacification program that is part of the city's efforts to prepare for mega-events. Some have been shot and killed, many wounded and countless others psychologically scarred by gunfights and tension. (The Guardian) </span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;">Tiger Woods solves Jordan Spieth:</b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.208px; line-height: 24px;"> At first it may read like a throwaway comment. In a column for Global Golf Post during his tournament last week, writer Ron Green Jr. relayed an anecdote about Tiger and Jordan Spieth:At the par-3 eighth, Woods watches Spieth hit the green and says, "Hey, Jordy ... 5-iron?"</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-23540387337302293152015-12-10T19:57:00.001-08:002015-12-10T19:57:11.141-08:00Will Golden State Warriors break '95-96 Chicago Bulls' 72-10 record? Chris Haynes' analysis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CLEVELAND, Ohio – I was 14 when I saw the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls make history by obliterating the competition and finishing with an NBA-best 72-10 record.Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman on the same team in their prime was a magical experience night after night. Phil Jackson was cool as they came on the sidelines. They had flair, an unwavering confidence and charisma as an essence of their being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The opposition was intimidated upon arrival and beaten before tipoff. It just took 48 minutes to make it official. I remember stating to family and friends that there would never be a team capable of breaking that illustrious regular-season record.And over the last five years or so, my stance grew stronger. NBA players play year-round nowadays. In-season injuries are rampant. Franchises have seen their championship hopes vanish with superstars and high-level players succumbing to season-ending injuries.Teams rest players more than ever. Body maintenance programs are instituted during predetermined parts of the season. Wins are sacrificed for health going into the postseason.In order for a team to beat the Bulls, its main players have to play close to 80 games. The importance of regular-season win totals has been minimized with health being the No. 1 priority.However, slowly but surely my stance is changing. The Golden State Warriors are the truth. They're not necessarily intimidating, but they're efficient in all that they do and having fun in the process.Stephen Curry is arguably the best shooter in basketball history. All he needs is a split second of space. Klay Thompson epitomizes the meaning of a 3-D player (three-point specialist and defensive-stopper). Draymond Green doesn't do one great thing, but is a force in every aspect of the game.They're filled with team-oriented, complimentary players who understand their roles. This blend of talent has translated to a 23-0 start, an NBA record. They look unstoppable.Will they break the Bulls' 72-10 record? No, though I'm not writing this with the utmost confidence. I just tend to wonder when they're going to rest guys, because eventually they have to, right? Also, for the most part, they've dodged serious injuries and every team goes through a rough patch during the season.The Bulls went through a two-game losing streak in early February, but bounced back like it never occurred.How will the Warriors handle the adversity of losing a string of games? Would they sink or continue to swim? We just don't know, and maybe we won't find out if they continue to win games.For the time being, I'm going with them falling just short. But it's important to keep this in mind: Not many foresaw Curry or the team reaching such an astonishing level this season. Some called their championship year journey a product of other teams suffering injuries to key guys.So, if that record is ever going to come down, this Warriors squad seems to be equipped for making history.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-85535433826377656562015-12-10T01:26:00.000-08:002015-12-10T01:26:48.549-08:00Snapchat back online after outage tied to Google<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 27px;">It must’ve been a boring day at school for students in Europe, and almost as lame for youngsters in the U.S. too.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 27px;">Snapchat, the app that more than 100 million people turn to each day to entertain themselves, suffered a sweeping outage early Tuesday European time. And the issue remained unresolved until Tuesday afternoon in the U.S.</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 27px;">Snapchat had told users, the majority of whom are 24 or younger, it was working to resolve the problems. An individual familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak publicly pointed a finger at Google’s App Engine, a service that enables app developers to use the search giant’s computer infrastructure. A Google website said the issue began at 10 p.m. Pacific time Monday and ended at 1:15 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 27px;">SIGN UP for the free California Inc. business newsletter >></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 27px;">Meantime, Snapchat users across the world experienced a range of issues. They weren't able to send and receive messages from friends, load “Live” videos produced by Snapchat or get updates in the app’s Discover section from media companies such as CNN and Food Network.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 27px;">Snapchat had been down before, but Tuesday's issues appeared to be the most widespread since the Venice company began aggressively selling advertising. A daylong outage adds up to millions of dollars in potential revenue not only for Snapchat, but also for the nearly 20 publishers whose ad-supported content is given a premium spot within the Discover feature.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 27px;">The publishers update their content on Discover once a day, and Tuesday may have been the first time since the feature launched in January that they couldn't deliver new stories on time. Snapchat didn't respond to a request for comment.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 27px;">All the time users spend downloading full-screen videos and photos on Snapchat makes it a force online: The app accounted for more mobile data usage during heavy periods of traffic in North America than all but three apps (YouTube, Facebook and Google), Internet services firm Sandvine recently said.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 27px;">The Google App Engine outage hasn’t affected many other big-name apps, many of which rely instead on rival services from Amazon.com and Microsoft Corp. Snapchat has been touted as Google App Engine’s biggest customer, spending upward of $25 million annually on the service, the Information reported in July, citing an anonymous source.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-68049556669966962752015-12-10T01:15:00.001-08:002015-12-10T01:15:15.840-08:00COREY TAYLOR Pays Tribute To SCOTT WEILAND With 'Sex Type Thing' Performance <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor joined ROYAL MACHINES on stage last night (Monday, December 7) at The Roxy in West Hollywood, California to perform the STONE TEMPLE PILOTS classic "Sex Type Thing" as a tribute to late STP frontman Scott Weiland. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance — which also included a rendition of THE CULT's "Love Removal Machine" — can be seen below.</span><span style="line-height: 20px;">ROYAL MACHINES is the "all-star covers fun-times band" featuring former CAMP FREDDY members Dave Navarro (JANE'S ADDICTION, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS), Billy Morrison (ex-THE CULT bassist, current CIRCUS DIABLO vocalist), Donovan Leitch (son of legendary folk singer Donovan), and Chris Chaney (JANE'S ADDICTION, ALANIS MORRISETTE), alongside frequent CAMP FREDDY collaborator, singer Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY), and acclaimed drummer Josh Freese (THE VANDALS, DEVO, A PERFECT CIRCLE).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Taylor famously slammed Weiland as a "lazy piece of shit" following the former STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and VELVET REVOLVER frontman's decision to record and release "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year", an album of holiday standards.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">During the spoken-word segment at Corey's November 28, 2011 "An Evening With Corey Taylor" solo appearance at Radio Radio in Indianapolis, Indiana, the SLIPKNOT frontman said (see video below): "Does anyone know who Scott Weiland is? Do you know that Scott Weiland has a Christmas album now? [Laughs] Oh, it's bad. It's bad. Let me fucking explain to you how bad it is. There is a video online of him singing, and he's very serious. 'Cause Christmas is serious. His hair is all slicked back and he's in his shitty tuxedo. He goes [imitates Weiland's singing]. So I'm watching this painfully watching this, because hey, know your enemy and I'm just like, 'Why?' It's not that he's a bad singer, 'cause he's not. I love STP, I love some of the shit that he did with VELVET REVOLVER. It's not that he's a bad fucking singer. He's a lazy piece of shit, is what he is at this point. 'I'm gonna get up here' [imitates Weiland singing and makes snoring sound]."Weiland was found dead on his tour bus last Thursday (December 3) at the age of 48. The suspected cause of death is cardiac arrest, although an official report has yet to be released.A small amount of cocaine was found on the bus and Tommy Black, bassist for Scott's band THE WILDABOUTS, was arrested for possession.Both of Scott's former bands, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and VELVET REVOLVER, issued statements on his passing, while musicians and fans around the world have also posted tributes.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-41171505632911442172015-12-09T20:28:00.005-08:002015-12-09T20:28:39.126-08:00Fox suspends Ralph Peters, Stacey Dash for profanity on air<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fox News has suspended two contributors for using profanity to describe President Obama's strategy for dealing with terrorism.Ralph Peters, a Fox News analyst, called President Obama "a total p___" while appearing Sunday on Fox Business Network to comment on the president's Sunday night speech from the Oval Office.Stacey Dash, a Fox contributor, said the president didn't "give a s___" about terrorism.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peters and Dash confirmed their suspension on Twitter. "Don't worry, I'll be back," Peters tweeted.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Consequences. Some of us have to pay them. Gladly," Dash tweeted."Earlier today, Fox contributors Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and Stacey Dash made comments on different programs that were completely inappropriate and unacceptable for our air," Fox senior executive vice president Bill Shine was quoted as saying by CNN. "Fox Business Network and Fox News Channel do not condone the use of such language, and have suspended both Peters and Dash for two weeks."</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-17351778564318847212015-12-09T20:17:00.002-08:002015-12-09T20:17:59.486-08:00Packers' Next Opponent: Dallas Cowboys scouting report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Green Bay — Fans of the Dallas Cowboys couldn't get over the Dez Bryant non-catch in their team's 26-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 11 in an NFC divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field.</span><span style="color: #444444;">Owner Jerry Jones and his football staff couldn't get over the putrid pass rush that enabled Aaron Rodgers to pick apart the Cowboys' defense down the stretch.</span><span style="color: #444444;">Defensive ends George Selvie and Anthony Spencer plus defensive tackles Ken Bishop and Josh Brent combined for 108 of the 273 snaps (39.5%) played by defensive linemen on that 24-degree afternoon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first two departed as unrestricted as free agents, the third was cut and the fourth retired.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jones replaced them by signing Greg Hardy in March and drafting Randy Gregory in May. He also installed DeMarcus Lawrence as a starter and, in September, gave Tyrone Crawford a five-year extension averaging $9.1 million.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On paper, the improvement appears negligible. The Cowboys rank a modest 22nd in sack percentage through 12 games after finishing 28th last season.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, three personnel people and one assistant coach for NFL teams all said pass rush was the most likely way for Dallas to post an upset.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"They don't have a lot of great (sack) numbers," said the assistant for a team that played Dallas in the last few weeks. "If the Packers can shore up their O-line...somehow they've got to do that...and get the wideouts open, I like the Packers. But if the O-line is banged up, then Rodgers will be running for his life."</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Packers, a 7-point pick, will have been favored 12 times in 13 games. They were favored by 6 points 11 months ago in the playoff game.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The difference now is quarterback Tony Romo won't be playing because of a broken collarbone, and Matt Cassel will.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The question is, can Cassel put the ball in the hands of the Cowboys' playmakers?" said an AFC scout. "Dallas does have a relatively young, athletic and active defensive line that can pressure Aaron Rodgers by just rushing four, and their secondary will match up very well against Green Bay's wide receivers.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Green Bay is treading water and Dallas is getting healthier. Except at quarterback."</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He called it for the Cowboys, 20-17. The other two scouts and the assistant forecast a victory for the Packers by scores of 27-17, 28-17 and 24-17.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Packers' defense will bottle up Dallas," another AFC personnel man said. "But the offensive line has to come to play and step up against that pass rush."</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-39632021185726803362015-12-09T20:05:00.001-08:002015-12-09T20:05:01.991-08:00Scott Weiland’s estranged family asks ‘Don’t glorify this tragedy’ <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“December 3rd, 2015 is not the day Scott Weiland died,” writes Mary Forsberg Weiland, the mother and ex-wife of the late rocker’s children Noah, 15, and Lucy, 13, in an open letter that she penned with the kids on RollingStone.com. “But the truth is, like so many other kids, they lost their father years ago.”The 48-year-old Stone Temple Pilots singer died in his sleep during a tour stopin Bloomington, Minn. last week. An official cause of death hasn’t been released yet, but Weiland apparently suffered a cardiac arrest, and his bandmate Tommy Black was reportedly busted for cocaine possession.Mary Weiland, who split from Scott in 2007, explains that Tuesday’s tell-all post is intended to remind the public that Weiland’s personal demons shouldn’t be celebrated alongside his musical legacy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Even after Scott and I split up, I spent countless hours trying to calm his paranoid fits, pushing him into the shower and filling him with coffee, just so that I could drop him into the audience at Noah's talent show, or Lucy's musical,” she writes.“But at some point, someone needs to step up and point out that yes, this will happen again – because as a society we almost encourage it. We read awful show reviews, watch videos of artists falling down, unable to recall their lyrics streaming on a teleprompter just a few feet away. And then we click ‘add to cart’ because what actually belongs in a hospital is now considered art.”Of course, Mary was no stranger to Weiland’s rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. The model’s 2009 memoir “Fall to Pieces” details the hard-partying couple’s joint heroin and crack abuse throughout their marriage, as well as her own hospitalization after she torched $80,000 worth of Weiland’s clothes in front of their California home after a fight. They divorced in 2007.“Spending so many years immersed in Scott’s multiple illnesses led to my own depression; at one point, I was misdiagnosed as bipolar,” she writes. “I feared the same would happen to the children. There were times that Child Protective Services did not allow him to to be alone with them.”She claims that Weiland distanced himself from his kids after he married photographer Jamie Wachtel in 2013.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“They were not invited to his wedding; child support checks often never arrived,” she says. “They have never set foot into his house, and they can't remember the last time they saw him on a Father's Day.”</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-84794147049136512852015-12-09T19:58:00.001-08:002015-12-09T19:58:18.048-08:00Trump doesn't back down on call for Muslim ban<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Donald Trump continued to call Tuesday for a “shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States, saying the plan has “tremendous support” despite condemnation from critics who range from Republican rivals to the White House to foreign governments.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">“We have people who want to blow up our buildings, our cities,” Trump said on ABC’s Good Morning America.</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Trump said he has received calls of support from people concerned about terrorist attacks ranging from 9/11 to last week’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., and “they just want to see something happen.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">The ban on Muslims entering the U.S. would be “a temporary measure,” Trump told ABC, until U.S. officials “can figure out what’s going on.” In various interviews, Trump said he would exempt Muslim world leaders and the Muslim troops in the U.S. armed forces.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">While other candidates attacked Trump’s proposal as unwise and unconstitutional, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said they should go further and say they would not endorse the New York businessman if he becomes the GOP nominee.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">“What he said is disqualifying and any Republican who’s too fearful of the Republican base to admit it has no business serving as president either,” Earnest said.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that “I disagree with Donald Trump’s latest proposal. His habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together.” Former Florida governor Jeb Bush described Trump as “unhinged.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Trump’s proposal, made on Monday, came less than a week after the San Bernardino shooting by a Muslim couple who had been radicalized and may have been supporters of the Islamic State.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">It also came the same day a new poll showed him falling behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in Iowa, which opens the Republican nomination process with caucuses on Feb. 1.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">The plan drew strong rebukes from a variety of Republicans, including former vice president Dick Cheney.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">“This whole notion that somehow we need to say no more Muslims — and just ban a whole religion — goes against everything we stand for and believe in,” Cheney told radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I mean religious freedom’s been a very important part of our, our history.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">The Republican Party chairs in the first three states holding delegate contests — Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina — also criticized Trump.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">So did Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who told the Washington Examiner: “We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism but not at the expense of our American values.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Members of Congress, including Republicans, also attacked Trump.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Trump’s proposal isn’t what the party or the country stand for. Noting that Muslims serve in the armed forces and in the government, Ryan said that “some of our best and biggest allies in this struggle and fight against radical Islamic terror are Muslims.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Asked about the reaction, Trump said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that Republicans have been “condemning practically everything I say, and then they come to my side.” Trump denied that he made his proposal because of the Iowa poll showing him in second, describing that survey as an “outlier.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Democrats also attacked Trump’s plan, and some presidential candidates began fundraising off of Trump’s comments.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Huma Abedin, longtime aide to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, sent a fundraising email to backers describing herself as a “proud Muslim” outraged by the Republican’s plan.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">“Trump wants to literally write racism into our law books,” Abedin wrote. “His Islamophobia doesn’t reflect our nation’s values — it goes far enough to damage our country’s reputation and could even threaten our national security.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Clinton herself called Trump’s idea “shameful” and “dangerous,” and added: “At a time when America should be doing everything we can to fight radical jihadists, Mr. Trump is supplying them with new propaganda. He’s playing right into their hands.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Foreign governments also criticized Trump, saying his anti-Muslim comments would help the Islamic State and other terrorist groups argue that the United State is waging war against Islam. The office of British Prime Minister David Cameron described Trump’s proposed ban as “divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">The Council on American-Islamic Relations criticized Trump’s remarks as unconstitutional and un-American.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">“It seems that Donald Trump is now channeling the worst of the worst of the Islamaphobia industry in the United States,” said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Hooper also said there is a “toxic anti-Muslim environment” in the country since the attacks, and Trump may benefit politically from his proposal.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">“That’s the most frightening part,” Hooper said.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Former president George W. Bush declined comment. Spokesman Freddy Ford said that Bush “spoke a lot about this during his presidency, and he won’t be weighing in anew now — or commenting on or giving oxygen to any of Trump’s bluster.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Bush frequently drew a line between true Islam and radical Islam, describing the latter as “the perversion by a few of a noble faith into an ideology of terror and death.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;">Rick Kriseman, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., offered his own suggestion via Twitter: “I am hereby barring Donald Trump from entering St. Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps.”</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-22602515592587534002015-12-09T19:51:00.004-08:002015-12-09T19:51:58.564-08:00LeBron James' lifetime deal with Nike worth significantly more than $500M<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to a person with knowledge of the situation, James' lifetime shoe deal that was revealed on Monday is worth significantly more than the $500 million that has been speculated in some media reports and — at the current rate of sales — is also worth more than $30 million on an annual basis. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the financial terms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While an exact figure hasn't been disclosed, it’s quite clear that King James — who at 30 years of age became Nike’s first lifetime client in the company’s 44-year history — is the sneaker king of the NBA.James’ deal comes after a string of huge-money shoe deals that have set a new standard in the market, with Portland Trail Blazers’ star Damian Lillard signing a deal with an eight-year base that can be worth well over $100 million, Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant signing a 10-year, $300 million deal with Nike four months later and the Houston Rockets’ James Harden signing a 13-year, $200 million deal with Adidas in August.The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry extended his deal with Under Armour to 2024 in September, though the terms of the deal have not been disclosed.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-9483047926618034252015-12-09T01:18:00.001-08:002015-12-09T01:18:49.103-08:00JC students get techie with Hour of Code<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was one of about 20 Johnson City Intermediate School fourth-graders whose eyes lit up as they solved a puzzle involving "Star Wars" characters and creating computer code to move objects.Now Lilly says she's inspired to learn more about computer coding and programming, possibly from her grandfather, who works at Lockheed Martin, she said."I thought coding was going to be, like, boring numbers and math, but it is actually really fun to do," said Lilly, from Johnson City.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilly and her class were among students worldwide Tuesday participating in free online coding tutorials geared toward K-12 students through the event Hour of Code.The event has the grassroots campaign goal of encouraging students worldwide to spend an hour each day learning about coding from Dec. 7 to 13 as part of Computer Science Education Week. The nonprofit computer science education advocacy organization code.org runs the Hour of Code. The organization launched in 2013 to expand K-12 student access to computer science education — specifically aiming to increase diversity in computer science careers, according to the About 40 classes in the Johnson City Primary and Intermediate Schools will participate at various time during the week, said Adam Frys, Johnson City's K-5 math and science specialist.Students in most other local districts are taking advantage of the Hour of Code tutorial throughout the week, including several schools in the Binghamton, Vestal, Owego-Apalachin, Maine-Endwell and Union-Endicott districts.At Maine-Endwell High School, after students learn about coding Wednesday and Thursday, they will put their skills to the test using coding to command a small responsive robot named Dash to complete an obstacle course, said Rick Bray, an educational technology specialist with Broome Tioga BOCES who will instruct students during the event.When students entered the computer lab in Johnson City Intermediate School on Tuesday morning for their Hour of Code, Frys enthusiastically told them they were among 150 million others worldwide participating in the online, interactive tutorial.Frys said he decided to introduce the Hour of Code this year into Johnson City district classrooms to help students learn at a young age how coding, and the math and science skills they are learning in other classes through Common Core standards, are relevant to careers and solving future societal problems."We wanted to add some authenticity and context," he said. "It also promotes computational and algorithmic thinking."Frys said he hopes introducing computer coding to younger students will create an earlier interest in computer science careers among those who are under-represented in the field, such as women. According to code.org, on average, only 18 percent of U.S. computer science classes are female and 8 percent black or Hispanic. Women also earn only about 18 percent of all undergraduate computer and information sciences degrees, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology."There is this huge discrepancy, and I think starting events like this when they are young can hopefully create equity," he said.Learning coding can "level the playing field" for students who have disabilities as well, Frys said, considering most students come in with a similar background knowledge of coding regardless of levels of learning.Lacey Skorupa, a co-teacher of the fourth-grade integrated class at Johnson City Intermediate School that participated in the Hour of Code on Tuesday morning, said she thinks the event is a valuable way to engage students at all educational levels in an activity that promotes higher-level thinking."It's a chance for them to work through sequencing and problem-solve independently," she said.As Johnson City fourth-graders wrapped up their Hour of Code Thursday, Skorupa said that although it is a very brief introduction to computer science, she thinks it will have a long-term effect on students."These are the types of opportunities they are going to remember, talk about at home and get excited for in possible career paths," she said. "I absolutely hope it continues and we are able to be a part of it again in the future."</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00956787719678346032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7343203058074323849.post-25625594178924114212015-12-09T00:52:00.001-08:002015-12-09T00:52:34.927-08:00Donald Trump Has 'No Regrets' Over Muslim Remarks – As British Politicians Call for Him to be Banned from the UK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Donald Trump says he has "no regrets" over his controversial proposal to ban all Muslims from the U.S. In his first on-camera interview since his shocking press release, the Republican front-runner tells Barbara Walters he is "the worst thing that ever happened to ISIS." Trump, 69, called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims" coming to the U.S. on Monday, a plan that he continues to stand by despite a major backlash from politicians around the world – including some British politicians who have now called for Trump to be banned from entering the United Kingdom. "[The people in my party] are running against me. For the most part, they have no poll numbers. I'm leading by a lot. They get it," the billionaire businessman claims. "They're trying to get publicity for themselves. You know when I came out against illegal immigration, everybody said the same thing. Two weeks later, everybody was on my side, including the members of my own party." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Asked if he had any "regrets" about his comments, Trump replied "not at all" and even called it "the right thing" to do insisting, "somebody in this country has to say what's right." Adding, "I have people that I have tremendous relationships with, they're Muslim, and Barbara, they agree with me 100 percent." And when asked if he is "a bigot," Trump insisted he's not explaining: "Not at all, probably the least you've ever met. I'm a person who has common sense. I'm a smart person. I know how to run things. I know how to make America great again. This is about making America great." </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buzzfeed reports that some British politicians – including Tory MP Sarah Wollaston – have urged the prime minister and home secretary to ban Trump from entering the UK. Prime minister David Cameron's spokesperson has refused to confirm if Trump would be banned from the UK but did tell The Independent: "The Prime Minister completely disagrees with the comments made by Donald Trump, which are divisive, unhelpful and quite simply wrong." On Tuesday night, Trump took to his Twitter to reflect, writing: "Wow, what a day. So many foolish people that refuse to acknowledge the tremendous danger and uncertainty of certain people coming into U.S." </span></div>
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