WebProNews

Author: Lacy Langley

  • USA Takes First Ever Gold in Ice Dancing

    The USA gains another gold medal, and our first in ice dancing. Graceful pair Meryl Davis and Charlie White wowed the crowd with a cheerful “My Fair Lady” performance in the short program on Sunday, then another spectacular performance to “Scheherazade” in Monday’s free skate portion of the competition.

    The pair went on to nail the long program with a season best of 116.63 points and an overall score of 195.52, according to the New York Times.

    They beat out 2010 champions and chief rivals Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada. They danced to pieces by Russian composers Alexander Glazunov and Alexander Scriabin.

    Bringing home the bronze for ice dancing Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia, who performed “Swan Lake” and earned a total of 183.48.

    Meryl Davis and Charlie White have been skating together for seventeen years, beginning when she was 9 and he was 8. An awkward situation for any co-ed pair of that age, they overcame the weirdness with a clever trick thought up by their coach. Marina Zoueva, who trained both top finishing teams, stuck a smiley face sticker to White’s forehead in order to give the girl somewhere else to look besides her partners eyes.

    Davis and White, as well as Virtue and Moir, trained at the Arctic Edge ice arena in Canton, Michigan, which is just outside of Detroit. They have all four come so far from their early beginnings.

    “Having been together 17 years plays a huge part in how comfortable we are on the ice and in big moments,” Davis said after the short program was complete. “We’ve been through so much together. When we took the ice, we felt calm.”

    Their calm demeanor and familiarity went a long way to help them relax and focus on winning the gold in Sochi and to defeat many truly excellent performers.

    Image via You Tube

  • Paula Deen Has New Hope For Comeback

    Paula Deen Has New Hope For Comeback

    Paula Deen has found the recipe for comeback success. She is reportedly going to be the recipient of a $75 million dollar cash infusion from a private equity firm out of Phoenix, Najafi Companies, which is led by Jahm Najafi. Najafi currently owns BMG Music Service and the Book-of-the-Month Club, among others, according to MSN.

    And boy, did she need a boost after last year’s devastating scandal over a court transcript which revealed that she had used “the n-word” before, but that it had been “a long time”. The blow from that ordeal cost her sponsors like pork producer Smithfield Foods and book publisher Ballantine, who published her popular cookbooks. It also cost her the exceedingly popular show on The Food Network.

    The new umbrella company, called Paula Deen Ventures, and funded by Najafi Companies, will oversee her restaurants, cookbooks, product endorsements and other various aspects of the Paula Deen empire. She has named Steven Nanula, who has already been working with Deen for the past two years, as CEO of her new company, according to AP.

    “We know that the enterprise will be successful and valuable, as Paula and her team continue to bring quality products and experiences to her loyal fan base,” Najafi said in a statement.

    Najafi reportedly has respect for Deen’s past success, and believes that the investment was a wise one that will surely pay off. He is hoping to help Deen move away from a pure licensing model, in which she sells her likeness and expertise to others and to take more ownership and control in partnerships with retailers and other companies.

    “Our investment allows the Paula Deen brand to expand their relationships and the partnerships that are already in place, and support those partnerships on a go-forward basis,” said Najafi.

    As of now, they have been in talks with television networks, major retailers, and other possible partners. However, a deal has yet to be reached, nor has there been any signing of major contracts.

    A Food Network spokeswoman said that they haven’t been in any talks to bring Paula Deen back to their cable channel.

    Image via YouTube

  • Florida Execution Reignites Death Penalty Debate

    The Florida execution of a confessed murderer yesterday has again caused tempers to flare on both sides of the death penalty debate.

    In fact, a last minute, last resort appeal was made on behalf of the confessed murderer, Juan Carlos Chavez, by his lawyers, but was unsuccessful.

    The accused confessed to the 1995 rape, murder, and dismemberment of 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce.

    The young boy was kidnapped from his school bus and led at gunpoint to Chavez’s trailer. Chavez then raped the young boy and shot him when he tried to escape. Chavez panicked, and proceeded to cut the boy’s body into several small pieces and hid the pieces in cement planters. All this happened while his parents and search parties were combing the area in desperation to find Jimmy.

    Some say that the death penalty is wrong, no exception. Others say that people like this deserve to die. They say that monsters like this should not even be given the slightest glimmer of hope that they will ever be free to hurt anyone again.

    One person who believes the latter is Jimmy’s brother, Ted Ryce, who attended the execution of his brother’s killer, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

    “Many people have asked why I decided to come today. I did not come today to celebrate Juan Carlos’s execution…. Many people did not believe that Juan Carlos Chavez should be put to death for his horrible crime of raping and murdering my brother Jimmy Ryce. I believe this comes from a place of weakness, not strength. It comes from not being able to face the atrociousness of some men’s actions and punish them on a level commensurate with their crime.”

    He added, “But we must be strong. We must do what it takes to send a clear message to other child predators that if they go after children, if they kill children, that they will die at the executioner’s hands. Today will bring no closure for my family. As my father has stated, ‘Closure does not exist,’ but the justice served this day after a painful 19 years will end the chapter on this part of our life and now we look forward to moving on.”

    What do you think about the death penalty for murderers like Juan Carlos Chavez? Do you think people who rape and murder children should be allowed to live, or should they be killed so that there is no chance of them ever being a danger to society again?

    Image via YouTube

  • Rand Paul Sues Obama and NSA Over “Metadata”

    Rand Paul has taken a bold step against the NSA’s collection of “metadata” from U.S. citizens. He announced today that he has filed a historic lawsuit against the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, NSA Director Keith Alexander, FBI Director James Comey, and Barack Obama himself, according to Fox News.

    Paul is asking for the collection of “metadata”, supposedly only what numbers were dialed from where, to be proven unconstitutional and ceased. He says such data collection violates the Fourth Amendment.

    He said in an opinion piece for CNN, “Americans do not like to think of their government as some Orwellian leviathan, engaging in surveillance tactics that we only expect to see in oppressive autocracies. That such surveillance could be going on in what is ostensibly the freest nation in the world is a chilling thought indeed.”

    “There’s a huge and growing swell of protest in this country of people who are outraged that their records would be taken without suspicion, without a judge’s warrant and without individualization,” Paul said, at the press conference in Washington during which he made the announcement.

    The NSA has insisted the whole time that the privacy of American citizens is thoroughly protected. They say that the contents of such calls are not recorded, and that what they are doing is safely within legal boundaries. “We remain confident that the program is legal, as at least 15 judges have previously found,” a Justice Department spokesperson said Wednesday.

    Paul disagrees. He states that this “metadata” that is assumed to be harmless actually “reveals a wealth of detail” about Americans’ personal and professional associations “that are ordinarily unknown to the government.”

    It’s not only Senator Paul that is taking this stand against data collection. In fact, he said hundreds of thousands of people have joined, and he thinks that the suit could “conceivably represent hundreds of millions of people who have phone lines in this country.”

    He later stated in his Opinion piece, “We are told that these intrusive and unconstitutional measures are necessary to protect us from the forces of international terrorism. We are told that a surrender of our privacy rights is a small price to pay for the knowledge that we can sleep safe and secure in our beds.”

    Paul continued, “We reject this premise. We are committed to a safe America, but we do not accept the notion that a surveillance state is necessary to safeguard the lives and liberty of American citizens.”

    Wow. This ought to be interesting.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Francois Hollande Attends Lavish State Dinner Solo

    Francois Hollande, French President and rumored philanderer, attended Tuesday night’s state dinner with the Obamas all by himself shortly after a very public scandal and break up with his first lady.

    The French President and the Obamas enjoyed an impressive guest list, including actors Bradley Cooper, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Mindy Kaling, as well as comedian Stephen Colbert. They also enjoyed entertainment from music legend Mary J. Blige, according to AP.

    Of the scandal, Ben Jealous with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People spoke with admiration saying, “I think the French are way cooler than we are on a whole lot of fronts,” he said, including “way better gossip.”

    The place was not only host to a line of celebrities, but also a large group of corporate leaders, including Merck & Co. Chief Executive Officer Ken Frazier, Viacom Inc. CEO Philippe Dauman and Elon Musk, co-founder of electric-car maker Tesla Motors, Inc.

    Hollande is here for a number of reasons involved with repairing chilly relations between France and America, one of those being business and investment, according to Bloomberg.

    He is flying to California today to attend a private lunch with the likes of Facebook, Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Google, Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt, Elon Musk, and many other leaders of Technology and Internet Companies.

    “This economic recovery in the United States is an opportunity for Europe, but it also is an example to be followed” when it comes to innovation, Hollande said at yesterday’s news conference. “That is precisely the meaning of my visit to the Silicon Valley.”

    The French economy is the fifth largest in the world and has really struggled over the past two years. Unemployment is at a 16-year high and France’s gross domestic product grew only around 0.2 percent in 2013.

    The European Commission is hopeful that growth will expand 0.9 percent this year, and will hopefully increase 1.7 percent in 2015.

    Hollande said he wants to promote innovation as a way to spark the French economy.

    “There comes a point where, after an ordeal, you have to be stronger than you were before the ordeal, before the crisis,” he said. “You need to be able to mobilize more strength, more energy.”

    Obama stated during his ovation,

    “We’ve stood together for our freedom for more than 200 years. And tonight I again want to pay a tribute to President Hollande for the principles of leadership and personal friendship and courage that he has shown on the world stage.”

    Hopefully, as things move along here in the U.S. during Holland’s visit, relations can continue to mend between these two world powers.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Carina Vogt Wins Historic Gold at Sochi

    Skier Carina Vogt made a historic win in the first ever women’s ski jumping event at Sochi. She grabbed an early lead with jumps of 103 and 97.5 meters, for a total 247.4 points, according to Yahoo.

    Daniela Iraschko-Stolz was second with 246.2 points, and bringing home the bronze is France’s Coline Mattel at 245.2 points.

    Vogt fell to her knees in disbelief when she saw the final scores. “It’s amazing, I’m the first woman (Olympic) champion in ski jumping. I’ve not won a World Cup till now. It’s unbelievable.”

    “I cannot find the right words… I wouldn’t have thought it was possible three hours ago,” she said.

    It was hard for all to believe considering the women’s ski jumping event was considered a contest between 17-year-old three-time junior world champion and World Cup title winner from last year of Japan, SaraTakanashi and Iraschko-Stolz, who is 13 years older.

    Vogt, who is a trained police officer, didn’t come to Sochi with a great street cred or experience. She finished third with Germany in a mixed team at the world titles in Italy last year, only winning fifth in the individual normal hill competition.

    Surprisingly, Takanashi finished fourth, with disappointing second jump of only 98.5 meters. She came in the hopes of winning Japan’s first gold medal since the 2006 Turin Games when Shizuka Arakawa won the ladies singles in figure skating, according to ESPN.

    “I couldn’t jump the way I wanted to on both attempts,” said Takanashi.

    “I came here wanting to do my best. I’m incredibly disappointed.”

    However, she seemed be looking on the bright side, saying, “It’s a good experience being at the Olympic Games and I’m glad to be part of it.”

    Sarah Hendrickson, the 19-year-old defending world champion from Park City, Utah and fellow competitor of Takanashi’s said of her, “It’s a crazy world the Olympics. It shows she is a human being. I wish I could tell her she is still an amazing athlete and that she has many good years to come.”

    Carina Vogt now has a little something more substantial to put under her belt, or around her neck, I should say. I am sure her home country of Germany is exceedingly proud.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Facebook Sends Teen’s Emails to Stranger

    Facebook is sometimes a fickle friend, but what if your private messages and notifications were being sent to a complete stranger?

    That’s what happened between an American mom and a teenage girl in Mexico, according to Fox News.

    Kristal McKenzie said she was taken quite by surprise when she started receiving strange emails from Facebook. In Spanish.

    “When I was pregnant with my son, around 2011, I left Facebook and had no account of my own. And then last April or May, on my new e-mail account, I got something saying I had signed up for Facebook — but it was in Spanish.”

    Despite translating the emails in order to figure out where the link was to discontinue the emails, the emails from Facebook continued to rain down. We all know how it feels to accidentally sign up on an email list, then endure relentless hits to the inbox, but unlike the result when one clicks “unsubscribe” on a normal spammer, when she clicked on the button and was notified she would be disassociated with the account, nothing happened. Facebook didn’t stop the emails.

    “Each message has an option to unsubscribe from those notifications, but since Facebook thinks I’m not on the account, it won’t let me unsubscribe.” So she created a new Facebook account with her new email address hoping that would work, but then she just got stuck getting notifications for both accounts.

    “I’ve been battling with them for months trying to find a person at Facebook who would listen to me,” McKenzie said. But to no avail. The emails continued and she became worried when she realized that emails were meant for a minor.

    She contacted Facebook’s PR and abuse departments, but heard nothing back. She contacted the FCC and a kids’ privacy organization that works with Facebook. They said they would pass the message to Facebook. Still nothing.

    Then she got fed up and got help from Forbes.

    That finally got their attention. The emails stopped last week and they said this,

    “When we looked at what happened, we found that in extremely rare circumstances, the link at the bottom of emails that people use to report messages that aren’t addressed to them wasn’t working correctly,” says a Facebook spokesperson. “This could have occurred only in the situation where someone registered their Facebook account with a mistyped email address, didn’t confirm it, and then successfully confirmed a contact phone number. We are fixing this to ensure it can’t happen again.”

    “This for me wasn’t even about something being irritating or annoying, weeding through all the spam … if it happened to me, it could happen to someone else, some child’s information exposed,” McKenzie said, and she makes a good point.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Janet Yellen to Make First Speech as New Fed Chair

    Janet Yellen, as the newly appointed Fed chair and first woman to ever hold the post, will make her first comments today before the House Financial Services Committee and then Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee.

    She has addressed these committees before as vice chair for three years and as a leading economist for a long time, but now she faces a whole new spotlight as she steps into the shoes of Ben Bernanke.

    What investors are anxious to find out is if Fed officials are going to hold fast to the message that the economy’s outlook is bright enough to withstand a slight pullback in their stimulus but that rates should stay low to fuel a shaky economy, according to Bloomberg.

    Her first address is important, because it will also give them a clue as to where she stands on their concerns about the economy and the job market, turmoil in global markets and uncertainty about her direction at the Fed. She has already stated that she wants the U.S. central bank to be known as a champion of Main Street, but does she have what it takes to see it through?

    “A new Fed chair’s first testimony is always a testing period,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial.

    Yellen will most likely address many issues, including payroll and her likely intention to continue with the strategy to trim bond buying by $10billion, even though last month employer’s added only 113,000 jobs instead of the anticipated 180,000.

    “While the last couple of payroll readings have been disappointing, we do not expect this to change the currentcourse of asset-purchase tapering,” Joseph Lavorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and a former New York Fed economist, said. “We view the recent payroll weakness as temporary and likely to reverse.”

    She will also probably back further away from the The Federal Open Market Committee’s December statement that they probably won’t raise the federal funds rate until “well past the time” the jobless rate falls below 6.5 percent. It is reported that most panel members didn’t favor moving the threshold.

    It is also likely that she will announce her intention to continue Bernanke’s policy of holding the main rate near zero and gradually tapering monthly bond purchases.

    As groundbreaking as her first address is, there is sure to be relentless scrutiny and pleas from both sides of the aisle for the direction which the Fed should now take. Republican lawmakers will most likely try to persuade Yellen to ease up on the incessant regulation of financial institutions and to “be more aggressive in reversing” record stimulus, said David M. Jones, president of DMJ Advisors LLC, a Denver-based economic consulting firm, and a former Fed economist.

    On the other hand, Democratic lawmakers are sure to plea for Yellen’s help to over income inequality and persistent joblessness, Jones said.

    Sen. Sherrod Brown, Democrat from Ohio who spoke with her at length during the confirmation process said of her recently, “She understands — people that are sober-minded about this understand — that income inequality is bad for the wealthy, too. It’s bad for a long-term growing economy. She’ll be a Fed chair that gets out and sees the real economy more and talks to people.”

    These are just a few of the expected inquiries and responses that Janet Yellen will face right away in the beginnings of her term as Fed Chair, and she will likely have a hard time hearing pleas from every direction and playing it right down the middle with Fed policy, but whether or not she will be able to handle it remains to be seen.

    Image via youtube

  • Sarah Burke: IOC Can Ban Sticker, But Not Her Memory

    Sarah Burke, the freestyle skier who died in a halfpipe accident in 2012, has a fan club at the Olympics among what would have been her fellow competitors. However, the International Olympic Committee has stepped in and called the stickers that they wear, bearing Sarah’s name, a political statement and have banned them, according to CBC.

    This is disappointing news to Sarah’s mother, Jan Phalen. “I think all the kids are just really wanting to honor Sarah and thank her and remember her for all the work she did to get their sport into the Olympics,” said Phelan at the family’s home is Squamish, B.C.

    “There’s a very good chance that skiing the halfpipe would not be in the Olympics if it weren’t for Sarah, and she did give her life to it.”

    IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said, “She really needs to be well remembered, I think, and absolutely, we want to help the athletes to remember her in some way and there are all sorts of things we can do. The competitions themselves, which are a place of celebration, are probably not the right place or are not the right place, in our opinion, to really do that.”

    So, the IOC recommended that Sarah’s colleagues and friends honor her with a news conference or a ceremony at the multifaith center in Sochi’s Olympic Village. The stickers have to go, though.

    Sarah’s friends are not all that thrilled.

    “I know that she would have wanted us to keep pushing the sport and go to the Olympics and represent Canada as best as we could,” said Canada’s Mike Riddle, who was a close friend of Burke’s. “She is going to be on our minds a lot the whole time we are there.”

    According to The Globe and Mail, some athletes, including Canadian freestyle skier Roz Groenewoud are considering wearing a snowflake pendant or badge, similar to a tattoo that Sarah had. That is, if they don’t ban that, as well.

    Jan Phalen is headed to the Olympics this week to watch the women’s half-pipe event , which her daughter helped pioneer and fought to have included in the Olympic games. She was a favorite to win the gold this year.

    “I’m very excited and very pleased this is Sarah’s legacy, and I’m very proud of my daughter. And then, on the other hand, I really wish she would have been there too.”

    She is there, in the spirit of her devoted fans and friends. All those competing will undoubtedly feel her there in the spirit of the competition that she so dearly fought for.

    Image via youtube

  • Supermarket Shooting: 2 Injured, Suspect in Custody

    Supermarket Shooting: 2 Injured, Suspect in Custody

    A supermarket shooting in an Atlanta, Georgia Kroger left two women with non-life threatening injuries, one shot in the leg and the other in her torso. The shooting happened Monday as a crowd of people hurried to stock up before a predicted winter storm, according to Fox News.

    Police spokesman Greg Vaughn said, “The scene is a little chaotic. You can probably imagine with everybody stocking up on bread and milk.”

    Many customer who were in the store at the time of the shooting reported hiding in freezers until the store was cleared and a male suspect was apprehended, according to Reuters. It is not apparent whether the people involved even knew each other, but police interviewed witnesses and the investigation is ongoing.

    “This Kroger is actually pretty busy anyway, and you’re looking at noontime, and then they had extra customers in here stocking up for our snowstorm,” Vaughn said.

    Apparently, there was an argument that prompted the shooting, but no details of that argument have been given.

    The store has been evacuated, and that particular Kroger will open at a later date. Police say that the shooting was an isolated incident and they believe that no one is in danger anymore.

    People were not expecting the shooting as they were preparing for the storm. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal had already declared a state of emergency for nearly a third of the state, as schools went ahead and canceled classes and workers were told to stay home.

    Those areas of Georgia are shuttering themselves in, as they definitely don’t want a replay of last month’s ice disaster where children were stuck on buses for hours and in schools, some overnight and some were stuck on major roadways for hours before many decided to get out and walk home amid the freezing chaos.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Iranian Warships: Is Threat Real or Not?

    Iranian warships that are making their way toward U.S. maritime borders could be in response to US occupation of Gulf waters, said somewhat official Fars news agency on Saturday, according to Reuters.

    Fars reported that the plan was part of “Iran’s response to Washington’s beefed up naval presence in the Persian Gulf.”

    Admiral Afshin Rezayee Haddad, identified as commander of the Iranian navy’s northern fleet seemed to confirm that statement saying, “Iran’s military fleet is approaching the United States’ maritime borders, and this move has a message,” as reported by Fars.

    Does the threat hold water? The thing is, this report from Fars could not be confirmed independently. In fact, the AP reported that the giant troop of warships is simply a destroyer and a helicopter-carrying supply ship. They left last month from the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, and they are only carrying 30 navy academy cadets for training along with their regular crews.

    In addition to that news, the White House doesn’t seem at all worried about this report by Fars. Apparently, the United States and our allies regularly stage exercises in the Persian Gulf in order to ensure that the waterway remains free through which a huge amount of the entire world’s oil exports pass through.

    An anonymous U.S. defense official said they doubt claims that the Iranian ships were even approaching U.S. maritime borders, however, they added that “ships are free to operate in international waters.”

    CNN reports another statement from an anonymous defense official who said, “It’s important to understand that, at this point, we have an announcement not a deployment. They’ve stated this aspiration before.”

    In fact, they stated it twice in 2011.

    They added, “Freedom of the seas doesn’t just apply to fish. It applies to all maritime nations, all navies, everywhere — so long as they understand the responsibilities which come with that freedom,” the defense official said. “So if they chose to send their ships to the Atlantic, I’m sure they won’t be surprised to find many, many others already there.”

    Considering the size of Iran’s Navy, this just may be another round of serious chest-beating. I suppose time will tell.

    Image via youtube

  • Meat Recall Amounts To a Year’s Worth of Product

    Northern California meat producer, Rancho Feeding Corp., is recalling 8.7 million pounds, or what amounts to about a year’s worth, of meat. The affected meat was processed from Jan. 1, 2013, through Jan. 7, 2014, according to the AP.

    Rancho Feeding Corp. has been under the magnifying glass of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, which determined that the company processed diseased and unhealthy animals. That resulted in the recall of more than 40,000 pounds of meat products produced last month on Jan. 13th, according to CNN.

    The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service said that Rancho Feeding Corp. “processed diseased and unsound animals and carried out these activities without the benefit or full benefit of federal inspection. Thus, the products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce.”

    The recall notice also noted that there was a “reasonable probability” that eating the affected meat could result in “serious, adverse health consequences or death.”

    The products that are named in the most recent recall are some of the less-popular items like beef carcasses, oxtail, liver, cheeks, tripe, tongue and veal bones. The affected meat products were produced and shipped between January 1, 2013, through January 7, 2014, and all have “EST. 527” in the USDA mark of inspection. They also all have a case code number which will end with a 3 or 4.

    As of yet, there are not any reported illnesses tied to Rancho Feeding Corp. These products did go to distribution centers and retail stores in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas, so please check the labels on any of these kinds of products that you buy.

    Unsurprisingly, phone calls made to Rancho Feeding Corp. for comment over the weekend went unanswered.

    Image via youtube

  • Chuck Schumer Has Creative Immigration Idea

    Last week, John Boehner pretty much shut down any talk in the House of immigration reform until Obama earns the trust of his fellow Republicans.

    Boehner released his own immigration overhaul principles only a couple of weeks ago, on Jan. 30 during a House GOP retreat, which laid out a pathway to legal American status for undocumented immigrants.

    However, that plan was forced down by an outcry from conservative members of the House, according to The Fiscal Times.

    “The American people, including many of my members, don’t trust that the reform that we’re talking about will be implemented as it was intended to be.”

    He then cited Obama’s promises of sweeping “executive actions” that have delayed or completely changed the face of the Affordable Care Act as proof that the President can’t be trusted to fully enact the laws that are passed.

    Well, Sen. Chuck Schumer may have come up with a creative solution to get the House talking again. On NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Schumer suggested that the House and Senate work together to come up with a plan that doesn’t take effect until Obama is out of office in 2017, which would give some assurance to wary Republicans that the law would actually be enforced.

    He said of Obama, “Now I think that the rap against him — that he won’t enforce the law — is false. He’s deported more people than any other president, but you could actually have the law start in 2017 without doing much violence to it.”

    If the plan doesn’t become effective until 2017, then the administration would have time to focus on getting out those who are here illegally and have committed crimes or would otherwise not qualify for legalization, and also allow more focus on new immigrants trying to cross borders illegally.

    However, Boehner’s spokesman, Michael Steel ran down Schumer’s proposal. He called it “entirely impractical” and said that the plan “would totally eliminate the president’s incentive to enforce immigration law for the remainder of his term.”

    Not everyone is so quick to slap down Schumer’s plan, though. Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman said, “I think some Republicans would be interested in that, if we put in place the enforcement measures so that it would work. In other words, be sure the border is secure, be sure that you have a workforce enforcement program that works.”

    Portman, himself, voted against the Senate “Gang of Eight” legislation after failing to secure changes to the bill that would have given a huge boost to workplace verification provisions.

    The White House? They are sitting, waiting, watching.

    “We’ve laid out our principles and we are now stepping back to see what, if anything, the House puts forward,” a White House official said, according to Politico.

    Matt House, a spokesman for Schumer said, “They’ve already established they don’t trust the president to enforce the law on immigration, but he’s going to be the president through 2016 whether we pass a law or not. If they believe in immigration reform, why not get things moving for 2017?”

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • The Beatles’ Popularity Before Ed Sullivan Show

    Believe it or not, The Beatles were already stars in America before their iconic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. On Sunday, we celebrated 50 years since the Beatles punched America in the face with great music.

    However, their road wasn’t an easy one, and the variables that fell into place to make Beatlemania happen were sometimes all but miraculous, according to the Chicago Tribune.

    The Beatles themselves didn’t even have a clue as to what their future held in America.

    “We were busy — it was crazy at home,” Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr, who is now 73, said in a recent interview. “We thought we were just coming to do some TV show. We were like, ‘We’re going to America!’ — that’s all I could think, we’re going to America where all the music I ever loved came from. That was the big news for me.”

    The band owes much of its popularity explosion to manager, Brian Epstein, who was immovable in his vision of what the Beatles could be in America.

    “His conviction in the Beatles’ qualities was unshakable from the start,” said Mark Lewisohn, author of a new biography “Tune In: The Beatles — All These Years, Vol. 1.” “He believed … that they would be the greatest.”

    And he was right.

    It did take a lot of convincing of Capitol Records’ president to spend the money to market The Beatles on American soil after many attempts and failures to bring the U.S. something from across the pond.

    “I would occasionally take an EMI record, English in particular, and release it in the United States with no success whatsoever,” Capitol’s then-president, Alan Livingston, said. “There was just no interest in English artists here.”

    Well, that quickly changed when the deal with The Ed Sullivan Show was solidified. Then Livingston had the confidence he needed to release “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in America. Capitol slated it for mid-January release, ahead of the Feb. 9 Sullivan show debut, but the release was pushed up, thanks to 15-year-old Marcia Albert of Silver Springs, Md.

    After seeing them perform “She Loves You” on a newscast, she contacted her local radio station, WWDC in Washington, DC to ask why America couldn’t have Beatles music. The DJ, Carroll James, invited Albert to the station to introduce “I Want To Hold Your Hand” before he played it for the first time in the U.S. on Dec. 17, 1963, way ahead of the release date.

    With the cat, or Beatle, out of the bag, and after other stations around the country began playing the single, Capitol Records pushed up the release date of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to Dec. 26, prompting the quick sale of 1 million copies in just 3 weeks. This pre-Sullivan popularity is what resulted in the 3,000 plus screaming teenagers greeting The Beatles on their arrival to America.

    image via youtube

  • Powerball Jackpot Remains Unclaimed, Now $284 Mill.

    The multi-state lottery jackpot, which is played in 43 states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is now up to an estimated $284 million prize since there were no winners in Sunday’s drawing, according to Lottery Post. The Powerball winning numbers for Saturday, February 8, were 24, 25, 34, 37, and 54, with Powerball number 29.

    If you win, and you are a “take the cash” kind of person, you will walk away with $162.7 million. Saturday was the 13th consecutive drawing without a winner. This particular jackpot started out as a prize of $40 million way back on Dec. 28th.

    Not everyone went home empty handed, however. There were a few $1 million dollar winners on Saturday, those that matched the first 5 numbers. There were 2 from California, 1 from Colorado, 1 from Florida, 1 from New Jersey, 2 from New York, 1 from Oklahoma, 1 from Texas, and 1 from West Virginia.

    Had those lucky folks opted for Power Play, costing another $1, they would have won $2 million. Not a single one did.

    Also, 48 tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball and won $10,000, 10 of which spent the extra $1 for Power Play and walked away with $20,000.

    Perhaps this would be helpful:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKvLSWacWUs

    The Power Play option returned on the January 22nd drawing, and was welcome back with open arms. The option only costs another dollar, and if you match all five white balls, you get the Match 5 prize which will pay $2 million, regardless of the multiplier number drawn, according to Market Wired.

    “New and different ways to win will bring more excitement for our players,” Karen Bach, director of budget, products and communications for the Arizona Lottery said of the Power Play option when it was reintroduced. “We’re expecting the return of the enhanced Power Play multiplier to be popular with our players, and we look forward to awarding even bigger prizes to Arizona Powerball winners in the coming months.”

    Drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 pm Eastern Time and tickets cost $2 each.

    Image via youtube

  • Jenny Jones Wins Historic Bronze for Britian

    Jenny Jones waved emphatically to the scattered Brits in the Olympic crowd in Sochi on Sunday, after winning a historic bronze medal in the women’s slopestyle final, according to the AP.

    She is the first olympian from Britain to win a medal in snow sports, which is a generally American-dominated. The 33-year-old absolutely killed it on Sochi’s Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, claiming what ultimately amounted to a quarter of a point higher than fourth place.

    ”It feels incredible, absolutely incredible,” Jones said. ”I’m just in a moment right now.”

    Perhaps the Jenny Jones’ inspirational win can help repair the somewhat tarnished reputation that the British have on the snow. In the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, skier Alain Baxter won a bronze for Britain, but that was later stripped in shame due to a failed drug test.

    There was also the oddball performance in 1988 of Eddie ”The Eagle” Edwards who finished last in two ski-jumping events, all while sporting weird glasses and even weirder form. These dead-last runs and quirks endeared “The Eagle” to some, however, he also inspired the International Olympic Committee to write some new qualifying guidelines.

    Jenny Jones got her start, not on snow, but on a synthetic substitute that was covering a hill in her hometown of Bristol, west of London. The teenager then went on to work as a housekeeper at a ski resort so that she could be closer to snow and have more time to learn the sport. There weren’t any really good snowboarders to learn from in Britain until 1999.

    She won her first international title in snowboarding in 1999, then a decade later claimed slopestyle gold at the X games.

    ”When I first started there wasn’t a lot of us,” she said of her humble beginnings. ”I would travel a lot with girls from other nationalities, other parts of Europe. There’s been an increase of British riders.”

    Jones had a shaky start, scoring 73.00 to place fifth after the first round, just 4.25 points off the podium places, according to BBC. After an impressive second run she won the bronze when the final competitor, Austrian medal prospect Anna Gasser, fell.

    “It feels amazing,” added Jones. “I cannot believe it, I just can’t believe it. I knew I was going to drop [from first place] but I didn’t know how far. I am just so happy.

    “It was so difficult waiting. I thought I did my best run and landed it as best as I could.”

    Britain is not great on snow, but they have plenty to brag about on ice, where 22 medals had been won before Sochi in events such as figure skating, curling, skeleton, bobsleigh and, even ice hockey in much earlier games.

    Image via youtube

  • Obama Approval Rating Harmful for Senate Democrats?

    Obama’s approval rating is down to 45% and while slightly higher than two months ago, these numbers seem to make hesitant his fellow Democrats that are up for re-election to the Senate, according to CNN.

    The Democrats currently hold the majority in the Senate at 55 Democrats and 45 Republicans, but 21 Democratic-controlled seats are up this year as opposed to only 15 Republican seats. And many of those Democrats are a little vulnerable.

    Obama attended the Senate Democrats’ issues conference at Nationals Park on Wednesday, within which he told Senate Democrats who are up for re-election that he would stay away from campaigns in states where his presence would be less than helpful.

    One of those states would probably be Colorado, which is considered on the fence as a “purple” state. While Sen. Mark Udall’s seat isn’t considered that vulnerable as of now, he gave quite the sketchy answer when asked about the possibility of Obama helping with his campaign.

    “We’ll see what the President’s schedule is, what my schedule is. But Coloradans are going to re-elect me based on my record, not the President’s record.”

    That was a pretty far cry from the response by Alaska’s Senator Mark Begich who didn’t mince words saying, “I’m not really interested in campaigning” with Obama.

    Democratic Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, both facing re-elections in blue-friendly states, just plain didn’t show up when Obama held events in their states.

    Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, was not even cordial, saying Democrats should be even more quick to acknowledgethat Obama’s approval rating can hurt them:

    “President Obama’s approval rating in the top twelve 2014 battleground states is 36 percent, yet the Democrats running for Senate there supported him an astounding 94 percent of the time. Their blind loyalty to the agenda of such an unpopular President is insanity in the eyes of the majority of voters in these key states.”

    Ouch. Senate elections take place on November 4th.

    Image via youtube

  • Diabetes Awareness: Focus on Black Community

    Diabetes is a serious problem for many Americans, but an especially serious one among the African-American community, where there is a much greater risk for the disease than any other, according to Market Wired.

    26 million people in the U.S. are living with diabetes, 4.9 million of adult-aged sufferers are African American. During Black History Month, the American Diabetes Association is calling special attention to the disease and providing educational materials to raise awareness and prevention of Type 2 Diabetes.

    Elizabeth R. Seaquist, MD, President, Medicine & Science, American Diabetes Association said,”Diabetes affects every community, yet the rate of diabetes among African Americans is 1.8 times more likely than non-Latino whites. This month, we want to draw attention to the seriousness of diabetes among the African American community. We want the community to get educated about their risk for type 2 diabetes and encourage them to learn about the Association’s African American program called Live Empowered.”

    Surprising studies have concluded that Type 2 Diabetes can often be prevented or delayed by losing just 7 percent of body weight, as well as participating in regular physical activity, like 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Of course, healthier eating can go a long way to prevent many health issues, especially Diabetes.

    The Association is also teaming up this month with cyclist Chris Carmichael for the Tour de Cure in which 65,000 cyclists are expected to participate in 90 cities throughout the country in 2014. All Tour de Cure funds raised through the nationwide cycling events will go to the American Diabetes Association.

    These funds will help with research and actions taken to prevent and find a cure for Type 2 Diabetes and to help improve the lives of those who suffer from the disease. The funds will also help raise awareness, especially for the 79 million Americans who are teetering on the edge with Pre-diabetes.

    Image via wikimedia commons

  • Bill Nye Vs. Ken Ham: Who Won the Debate?

    Bill Nye Vs. Ken Ham: Who Won the Debate?

    Bill Nye, beloved 90’s “Science Guy”, defended the theory of Evolution against Ken Ham and the theory of Creationism last night for two and a half hours. Neither one left persuaded to the other side.

    The debate took place at Ham’s Creation Museum where there are displays of some thought-provoking evidence to refute the theory of Evolution in favor of the Bible’s Creation story.

    Ham asserts that all of the answers are in the Bible, and that the Earth is only about 6,000 years old. Nye insists that there are still infinite discoveries to be made in the pursuit of understanding Evolution and that the Earth was created from a “big bang”.

    Nye went on to say, “If we accept Mr. Ham’s point of view … that the Bible serves as a science text and he and his followers will interpret that for you, I want you to consider what that means,” Nye said. “It means that Mr. Ham’s word is to be more respected than what you can observe in nature, what you can find in your backyard in Kentucky.”

    Ken Ham answered a question about where atoms come from with this statement, “Bill, I want to tell you, there is a book that tells where atoms come from, and its starts out, ‘In the beginning …,’”

    The debate was highly publicized and anticipated, but apparently, Bill Nye faced some criticism from his colleagues for appearing at the debate, according to Yahoo. For example, Jerry Coyne, a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago, wrote this on his blog, “Nye’s appearance will be giving money to organizations who try to subvert the mission Nye has had all his life: science education, particularly of kids.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VUXQatryNw

    Regardless of the agree-to-disagree outcome, the debate will give a huge boost to the museum. Ham’s Facebook page had hundreds of thousands of views before the debate, which he explains,

    “I think it shows you that the majority of people out there, they’re interested in this topic, they want to know about this, they don’t want debate shut down,” he said.

    Image via youtube

  • LAPD Manhunt: Officers Acted “Out of Policy”

    It has finally been decided that eight officers involved in last year’s botched manhunt for former cop, Christopher Dorner, acted “out of policy” when they fired on a truck they believed to be the suspect, according to the AP. It actually contained two women who were delivering newspapers early that morning.

    LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck said in an interview shortly after the shooting, that the women were the victims of “a tragic misinterpretation” by officers working under “incredible tension,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

    Beck will decide on the discipline for the officers who are currently on non-field duty awaiting the results of the investigation. He said at a news conference,

    “These officers will all and have all received extensive training as had the whole Los Angeles Police Department relative to these types of issues.”

    One person who isn’t surprised at the determination is Glen Jonas, the attorney for the women, Emma Hernandez, who was 71 at the time, and her daughter, Margie Carranza, who was then 47. They were awarded 4.2 million dollars for the incident along with another $40,000 for their truck.

    “There (are) 4.2 million reasons I have to believe it’s out of policy,” Jonas said. “Anyone with any common sense would agree it’s out of policy.”

    Beck admitted that the officers fired on the truck that was “creeping” down the street after one of the women threw a newspaper and an officer thought that the sound of it hitting the pavement was gunfire.

    “There is no evidence to support that they were holding an object that could be reasonably perceived to be an imminent deadly threat,” Beck wrote in his report.

    Tuesday, he reiterated that sentiment by stating, “I sympathize with the officers, but I have a very high standard for the application of deadly force, and the shooting did not meet that standard,”

    Jonas said that Hernandez had recovered except for some shoulder problems, and that neither of them had returned to tossing newspapers, adding that Carranza had tried but that “it was too traumatic for her.”

    “The emotional and mental trauma is still there and they’re still dealing with that,” Jonas said.

    Surprisingly, there was almost no discipline taken at all. A panel of high-ranking police officials reviewed the shooting right after it happened and urged Beck to clear the officers, said sources. These sources spoke on the condition that they remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

    Beck, however, ultimately found that he just couldn’t justify the action that was taken by the officers. The punishment taken could range anywhere from retraining to firing.

    Image via youtube

  • Prepaid Phone Plans: The Way to Go?

    Prepaid Phone Plans: The Way to Go?

    In the ever-increasing maelstrom that is finding the cheapest cell service, many are turning to prepaid wireless. What used to be a socially unacceptable means of obtaining wireless phone service is quickly making a comeback as a totally viable, and sometimes smart, alternative.

    Thanks to T-Mobile being the first to bring the hurt down on conventional contract carriers, many are realizing, with great joy, that they don’t have to be tied down to any plan with a burdensome two-year contract.

    According to i4u.com, Logan Abbott, President of MyRatePlan, said, “I predict in 2014 we will see a bigger number of customers switch to prepaid cell phone plans than any previous year.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrG-7otAClw

    This news isn’t a surprise as the no contract, no surprises options are quickly becoming more appealing, and also more widely available. Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Straight Talk also all offer fairly cheap plans.

    These are some great affordable options if you don’t mind a few downsides. One of them being roaming issues, and sometimes no service at all in some areas. This is the result of most prepaid providers relying on the networks of a major wireless carrier, according to The Motley Fool. For example, Virgin Mobile relies solely on Sprint’s network.

    If you’re a Sprint customer, your phone will roam when off network. If you’re with Virgin Mobile, however, you don’t roam. You just don’t have service. At all.

    However, if frugality is your top priority, perhaps a plan like The Straight Talk Unlimited Plan, which ranked #1 on MyRatePlan‘s list of best prepaid plans, would be something to check out. It offers unlimited talk, text, and data for a measly $45 bucks.

    T-Mobile, as the original mold-breaker seems to make it easiest to switch with their Simple Choice Plan, which offers up to $650 bucks to trade in your phone. Plans are a bit more expensive on a monthly basis, however, with plans ranging from $50-$70.

    That’s hard to beat, considering the average person’s cell phone bill with Verizon is $148, with Sprint is $144, and with AT&T it is $141, according to BGR.com

    Image via youtube.com