url stringlengths 36 564 | archive stringlengths 80 537 | title stringlengths 0 1.04k | date stringlengths 10 14 | text stringlengths 0 457k | summary stringlengths 1 35.4k | compression float64 0 8.38k | coverage float64 0 1 | density float64 0 444 | compression_bin stringclasses 3 values | coverage_bin stringclasses 3 values | density_bin stringclasses 3 values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/23/fruit-juices-smoothies-contain-unacceptably-high-levels-sugar | http://web.archive.org/web/20160412151534id_/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/23/fruit-juices-smoothies-contain-unacceptably-high-levels-sugar | Fruit juices and smoothies contain 'unacceptably high' levels of sugar | 20160412151534 | Fruit juices, smoothies and fruit drinks marketed to children and their parents contain “unacceptably high” levels of sugar, often as much in one small carton or bottle as a child should consume in a day, according to research.
The paper published in the journal BMJ Open comes in the wake of the chancellor George Osborne’s announcement of a tax on sugary soft drinks – but fruit juices and smoothies are exempt. The researchers say tough action is needed to reduce the amount of sugar children consume in fruit drinks that are bought and sold on the assumption that they are healthy.
“These are marketed intensively to children as well as to parents,” said Prof Simon Capewell of the department of public health and policy at the University of Liverpool, one of the authors. “They are routinely packaged in garish colours. They routinely have cartoons and other sort of folksy animal creatures being used to market them.
Related: Drinks makers consider legal action against sugar tax
“There is often a health halo – some claim about vitamin C or ‘packed full of fruit’. There are no restrictions around the words industry can use in their marketing. They can claim or imply quite a lot. Then we end up with more than a third of these drinks having more sugar in them than a cola or fizzy drink.
“I think it came as quite a surprise to us really that there is so much sugar hidden and that any of the most familiar brands had such a high level.”
One in five children aged four to five years and one in three children aged 11 are overweight or obese. Children aged between four and 10 get 30% of their sugar intake from soft drinks. Sugar is also responsible for decaying teeth, which is the most common reason for children in England to be admitted to hospital.
The researchers analysed 203 fruit juices, fruit drinks and smoothies stocked by seven major supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose, the Co-op and Morrisons. They found almost half contained a child’s entire recommended daily intake of sugar, which is a maximum of 19g or nearly five teaspoons.
They looked for added sugar or naturally occurring sugars in the juices and smoothies. The average sugar content was 7g per 100ml, but in fruit juices and smoothies, it was significantly higher. Among the 21 fruit juices analysed, it averaged 10.7 per 100ml and among the 24 smoothies, it averaged 13g per 100ml.
Related: Will the sugar tax be all fizz or a weighty blow against obesity?
Almost 60% of the drinks would get a red traffic light label on the basis of their sugar content, the paper says. The researchers say that 78% of the drinks contained a non-calorific sweetener such as aspartame. Although these have been declared safe by the European Food Safety Authority, they write, they believe a reduction in the overall sweetness of drinks is necessary to reduce children’s desire for sugary things.
Eating fruit does not pose the same problems as drinking the juice, say the authors of the paper. “One key difference between whole fruit and juice is fibre content,” they write. “Whole fruit slows down consumption and has a satiating effect. Research shows the body metabolises fruit juice in a different way compared to whole fruit.” Drinking juice and smoothies does not seem to reduce children’s appetite in the way that eating fruit can do.
The revelations of the high sugar levels in fruit juices and smoothies will dismay parents who may have turned to what they see as a healthier option than sugar-sweetened fizzy drinks such as colas and lemonades.
The researchers recommend that fruit juices, fruit drinks and smoothies with high sugar content should not count as one of the “Five a Day” recommended by the government. “Ideally, fruit should be consumed in its whole form, not as juice,” they write. “Parents should dilute fruit juice with water, opt for unsweetened juices and only give them during meals. Portions should be limited to 150ml a day.”
The campaigning group Action on Sugar called for government action to require industry to reformulate soft drinks and cut the sugar content by 50% within the next five years. It also wants children’s sugary drinks to be sold only in 150ml sizes. UK guidelines say fruit juices and smoothies can count as one of the five fruits and vegetables children should eat a day but only in 150ml servings. The study found only six products that came in 150ml cartons.
Gavin Partington, the British Soft Drinks Association’s director general, said: “It is completely misleading to suggest that 100% fruit juice and fruit juice smoothies contain added sugar, they are not allowed to by law and contain only naturally occurring sugars from the fruit. At the same time they provide essential vitamins and nutrients which many people in the UK today are sadly lacking.
“Only last week Public Health England confirmed that 150ml of fruit juice or fruit juice smoothies can contribute to the five a day target. Very few people reach their five a day target and given the positive contribution it has to the diet, it is counterintuitive to suggest that 100% pure juice should not contribute to it.” | ‘Healthy’ drinks marketed to children often contain as much sugar in one portion as a child should consume in a day, say researchers | 40.56 | 0.92 | 4.44 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.cnbc.com/2014/01/24/energy-and-utilities-nuclear-reactors-get-smaller-with-smrs.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160412153053id_/http://www.cnbc.com/2014/01/24/energy-and-utilities-nuclear-reactors-get-smaller-with-smrs.html | Nuclear reactors get smaller with SMRs | 20160412153053 | A new white paper by the Nuclear Energy Insider highlights the opportunity for SMRs, saying that as many as 73 nuclear reactors will be retired once their current license extensions expire, which in many cases will be within the next 10-20 years.
That could pave the way for more efficient SMRs, which can be a source of both clean energy and economic growth, says Paul Genoa, the Nuclear Energy Institute's senior director of policy development.
(Read more: Japan's nuclear plant leaks 300 tons of radioactive water)
"If we develop clean energy technology the world wants, we can transfer that … and build relationships with these developing countries that can last 100 years," Genoa said in an interview. With fears about nuclear power still percolating nearly three years after Japan's disaster at Fukushima, Genoa said the new generation of atomic reactors were designed with those fears in mind.
"Small reactors were designed with Fukushima's lessons learned," he said. In addition to being what he called "environmentally benign," SMRs are built "to completely avoid the kind of meltdown [you get] when you lose offsite power."
But a recent report by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research cast doubt on the idea that SMRs could help revive the nuclear industry.
The think tank said small reactors "still present enormous financial risks," citing the sector's tendency to overrun on costs. It said the four reactors under construction were in part subsidized by taxpayers. The report said the mass production of SMRs could require $90 billion, and migrating from reactors to smaller modules "is a financial risk shell game, not a reduction in risk."
(Read more: US natgas boom sucks nuclear power into downdraft) | The fortunes of nuclear power may hinge on a market for smaller, cheaper and safer reactors. | 18.777778 | 0.666667 | 0.777778 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/04/12/hubspot-execs-respond-book-that-mocked-company/F72VEIX3Sr2RvvXwqGsbgI/story.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160413210933id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/04/12/hubspot-execs-respond-book-that-mocked-company/F72VEIX3Sr2RvvXwqGsbgI/story.html | HubSpot execs respond to book that mocked company | 20160413210933 | A week after the release of a book that torched its leaders and corporate culture, Cambridge software company HubSpot Inc. is hitting back — gently.
In a blog entry posted on LinkedIn Tuesday afternoon, HubSpot cofounders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah responded in detail to Dan Lyons’s new book “Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble,” an intensely unflattering portrait of the company based on the author’s brief employment there.
Rather than fight fire with fire, the two executives penned a magnanimous defense of HubSpot, trying to defuse the swirling controversy by essentially (and literally) saying: “C’est la vie.”
“If you were expecting harsh, retaliatory attacks on Dan or his book, you can safely stop reading. You will be disappointed,” Halligan and Shah wrote, going on to praise Lyons as a “very good satirist” with a “sharp, biting wit.”
A Winchester-based author and longtime journalist who has written for the HBO series “Silicon Valley,” Lyons spent roughly 18 months working at HubSpot as a “marketing fellow.”
Author Dan Lyons said he would have given the company a copy of the manuscript, had it asked.
His book became the subject of intense speculation last year when HubSpot abruptly announced that it had fired its chief marketing officer, Mike Volpe, for violating the company’s ethics policy “in connection with attempts to procure a draft manuscript of a book involving the company.” Another executive resigned before the company could determine whether he also should be fired, and Halligan was fined for failing to promptly alert the company’s board after finding out about the incident. Federal authorities investigated the incident but ultimately declined to bring criminal charges.
In a statement provided to the Globe Tuesday, Lyons questioned why Shah and Halligan still won’t say what the fired executives did, exactly.
“I’m still disappointed that Shah and Halligan won’t provide any information about the events that took place last year that led to Halligan being sanctioned and CMO Mike Volpe being fired,” Lyons said. “I’ve been seeking answers from HubSpot since last July about this. The company has stonewalled. Shah claims ‘radical transparency’ is a core part of HubSpot’s culture. His silence raises questions about HubSpot’s corporate governance.”
HubSpot said in response, “Following an internal investigation in July 2015, we turned our findings over to the authorities. We haven’t had any additional communication with them since cooperating with the investigation last year but it’s our understanding that they chose not to pursue any criminal charges.”
“Disrupted” disappointed some observers who were expecting it to contain a bombshell about the company. Still, Lyons got widespread press attention with his description of a frat-house culture at HubSpot where older workers were shunned, and backstabbing and “groupthink” were common. He also questioned the company’s business model, noting that HubSpot is unprofitable, running an old-fashioned “boiler room” in which young sales representatives relentlessly call potential customers and run through scripts in order to close sales.
“We were upset when we first read the book,” Halligan and Shah acknowledged in their post. “We wish the book hadn’t been so harsh towards individual people from the HubSpot team. They are smart, hard-working, and caring people that didn’t deserve it. But negative emotions have a relatively short half-life with us. Our emotions have been dissipating quickly and we think they’ll asymptotically trend towards zero over time. Besides, life is too short to hold grudges.”
The executives said that despite Lyons’s negative depiction, internal surveys show most employees love working at HubSpot.
Halligan and Shah said HubSpot’s business model is strong, and that the company was choosing to grow quickly rather than become immediately profitable.
“What we’ve shown, and what investors seem to value, is growth plus a path to profitability,” they wrote.
They also defended their practice of bringing a stuffed teddy bear to meetings to represent HubSpot customers, saying “Yes, it’s goofy. But candidly, it works.”
Still, Halligan and Shah admitted some of Lyons’s criticisms were true, and pledged to fix them.
HubSpot isn’t diverse enough, they said, pledging to release numbers on the makeup of its workforce next year. The company said the average age of a HubSpot employee is 29, but noted that 85 people over the age of 40 worked at the company as of December.
The executives also admitted HubSpot had erred by euphemistically saying employees who had been fired “graduated,” a practice Lyons mocked as Orwellian.
“It was disrespectful and misleading — not our intention at all,” Halligan and Shah wrote. “Lesson learned and change already made. We’re sorry.”
Reached by phone, Lyons declined to comment, but did say he thought it was good that the company was heeding some of his criticisms. | Rather than fight fire with fire, the two HubSpot executives penned a magnanimous defense of the company. | 50.736842 | 1 | 6.684211 | high | high | mixed |
http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-donations-charity-102-million | http://web.archive.org/web/20160414171716id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/donald-trump-donations-charity-102-million | Story Behind the $102 Million He's Given : People.com | 20160414171716 | Ever since he kicked off his presidential campaign last June, billionaire businessman
has touted his history of giving to good causes, with his campaign saying he's donated more than $102 million to charity over the past five years.
But according to a new
analysis, not one of those donations was a personal gift from the GOP front-runner's own money.
Many of the thousands of gifts cited on a 93-page list Trump's campaign provided to the Associated Press last year were free rounds of golf, donated by his courses for charity auctions and raffles,
The majority of the gifts in the document came from the real estate mogul's charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation – however, the most recent tax records available show that Trump did not personally give any money to his foundation from 2009 through 2014. The funding for the foundation is provided largely by other people, most notably World Wrestling Entertainment executives Vince and Linda McMahon. (The couple donated $5 million to the foundation after Trump made a cameo on
in 2007, a spokesman for WWE tells
Trump has often used the foundation to donate to friends' charities and groups that do business at his clubs and hotels. Some recipients are not even charities at all, but rather clients, other businesses, "conservatives who could help promote Trump's rise in the Republican party" and tennis star Serena Williams.
The list provided by Trump's campaign "reveals how Trump has demonstrated less of the soaring, world-changing ambitions in his philanthropy than many other billionaires. Instead, his giving appears narrowly tied to his business and, now, his political interests," per
's analysis, a top Trump aide acknowledged that none of the items in the document were cash donations from Trump himself, but added that the list was not a complete tally of the billionaire's gifts.
The aide, Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, added that Trump had in fact given personal cash gifts over the years, but declined to offer any proof.
"We want to keep them quiet," said Weisselberg, who is also treasurer of the Trump Foundation. "He doesn't want other charities to see it. Then it becomes like a feeding frenzy."
, which interviewed recipients on the list to help identify the gifts, estimated that, in his $102 million tally, Trump included at least 2,900 free rounds of golf, 175 free hotel stays, 165 free meals and 11 gift certificates to spas provided by his businesses.
Of course, these products and amenities do have considerable financial value. "I thought it would be a pretty hot ticket, [and] it was," said Marion Satterthwaite, who auctioned off a free round of golf donated by Trump's private club in Colts Neck, New Jersey, at an event for her charity benefiting U.S. service members.
Trump's list valued a round of golf at that club at $1,720. Satterthwaite said that, in her case, it sold for less.
The most expensive contributions on the list were land-conservation agreements to forgo development rights on property Trump owns.
"In California, for example, Trump agreed to an easement that prevented him from building homes on a plot of land near a golf course,"
writes. "But Trump kept the land, and kept making money off it. It is a driving range."
The paper noted that Trump does still make some "splashy public gifts," citing one incident in which he offered to pay off the bills of a struggling viewer during a 2009 appearance on
. The rules of that contest stated: "The winner must live in New York, provide their own transportation to Trump Tower, and be willing to meet Donald on-camera to accept his check." The winner's $5,000 check came from the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
On Saturday, Trump made another donation through his foundation – a highly publicized $100,000 gift to the ÂNational September 11 Memorial Museum in New York.
Some recipients approve of the Trump Foundation's informal approach to charitable giving. Barbara Abernathy, whose charity for children with cancer received a $1,000-donation from Trump after she met him at a Mar-a-Lago gala, tells the paper, "[At] a lot of [other] foundations, you know, there's a grant process."
But Leslie LenkowÂsky, a faculty member at Indiana University's school of philanthropy says, "He's using [the foundation] as a kind of checkbook, with other people's money. Not a good model. It's not wrong. It's not unique. But it's poor philanthropy."
As for Trump's $1,136.56-donation to "Serena William Group" in February 2015, a spokeswoman for the tennis star said it was related to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new tennis center that Williams attended at Trump's Loudoun County, Virginia, golf course.
But Trump didn't donate to Williams' charity. Instead, he gave her a free ride from Florida on his plane and a free framed photo of herself. | Not one of the donations on a list provided by Donald Trump's campaign was a personal gift from the GOP front-runner's own money, The Washington Post reports | 31.09375 | 0.90625 | 6.46875 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.people.com/article/bella-hadid-the-weeknd-coachella | http://web.archive.org/web/20160418193000id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/bella-hadid-the-weeknd-coachella | The Weeknd and Bella Hadid at Coachella 2016 : People.com | 20160418193000 | The Weeknd and Bella Hadid
04/16/2016 AT 08:00 PM EDT
Before he was scheduled to hit the stage at the Bootsy Bellows pop-up party Saturday afternoon at the Coachella music festival,
Wearing head-to-toe denim (including down to her bikini top!), the model snuggled with her boyfriend as they hung out by the pool with their friends.
"He had his hand on her leg and she was leaning her head into his shoulder," says an onlooker. "They definitely weren't afraid of showing off some cute PDA."
At the next cabana over,
once again reunited with her sister Kourtney Kardashian's
while younger sister Kylie hung out with their half-brother, Brody Jenner.
Jenner showed off her festival fashion in a lacy black top and dug into French fries at the bash, where guests snacked on McDonald's All Day Breakfast items and played a giant-sized game of Chevrolet Plinko (the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze was also on display at the party).
"She was having a blast hanging out with her friends and seemed to get along great with Scott," adds the source.
Disick and Jenner also had a
at 1OAK's pop-up party, sponsored by Bumble and Casamigos, Friday afternoon. | The couple snuggled in a VIP cabana at the Bootsy Bellows pop up | 19.076923 | 0.846154 | 2.538462 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/01/02/productivity-business/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160419215956id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/01/02/productivity-business/ | 5 Productivity Tools For Entrepreneurs in 2016 | 20160419215956 | When you’re running a business, time is your most valuable resource. Each day, entrepreneurs are inundated with endless emails, phone calls and in-person meetings. Taking control of the day and staying organized can seem almost impossible. Without proper time-management, the daily distractions could have an effect on your entire company. Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec says, “It’s up to you to maximize your time, set goals and make them known to your colleagues and customers.”
Here are five tools entrepreneurs can use to cut the clutter and increase productivity in 2016:
Imagine all the important business decisions you could make in the time that it takes to manage an unwieldy inbox. Deleting social media notifications and newsletters you never read is not a productive way to spend your time. Enter SaneBox. It uses filters to clean up your inbox by moving the non-essential emails to a separate folder called “SaneLater.” It works within your existing email account, and learns your preferences over time. Oh, and Tony Robbins swears by it.
Entrepreneurs are constantly thinking about how to best optimize the 24 hours in a day. And that’s what the Thrive Day Planner aims to help them do. It’s specifically designed for busy entrepreneurs who need help mapping out a business strategy, setting growth goals and organizing business operations. The Thrive Day Planner has the design and feel of a traditional organizer, but it’s a digital tool that can be accessed from your computer, tablet or phone. And the daily inspirational quotes from fellow entrepreneurs are a nice touch for those particularly hard days.
Trello takes project management to a new level. The tool allows entrepreneurs to get a macro view of a project by looking at the Trello “board” and checking on the progress in real-time. It could get overwhelming if not managed properly, but your team has the flexibility to add checklists, labels and more. Entrepreneurs can even sign up to receive notifications about key milestones in the project – keeping you looped in through the process.
A small business accounting software company may not sound like the sexiest thing in the world, but it could save entrepreneurs a ton of time and money. FreshBooks claims it saves its clients an average of two days per month from everyday accounting tasks. This QuickBooks alternative allows small business to create sleek invoices, track time, log receipts and invoice clients. Tracking expenses is essential to managing a business, and FreshBooks makes the process much more simple.
A good portion of an entrepreneur’s time is spent outside of the office. Whether you’re networking or meeting with clients, Dash is a tool that will make these social situations much smoother. Instead of wasting time waiting for the check at a busy restaurant, simply pay the bill directly through the app. This way, you can impress your client by paying in advance and save everyone the awkward argument about who will pick up the bill. | Here's how to cut the clutter and increase productivity in the new year. | 37.8 | 0.866667 | 3.8 | high | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/03/15/ackman-valeant-pershing-hedge-fund/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160419220936id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/03/15/ackman-valeant-pershing-hedge-fund/? | Bill Ackman Is Running Out of Options with Valeant | 20160419220936 | Bill Ackman says he will no longer passively stand by and lose money on Valeant. The question is what took the famously active investor so long, and whether it will make any difference.
Shares of Ackman’s publicly traded vehicle Pershing Square Holdings, which trades in Amsterdam, dropped by around 10% on Tuesday to just over $13. The steep fall has to do with Valeant Pharmaceuticals vrx , which was Pershing second largest equity position. Shares of Valeant plunged more than 45%, or $32 a share, to around $37 on Tuesday, after the company cut its earnings guidance and spooked the market.
Ackman’s Pershing owned 30.7 million shares of Valeant as of March 8. Based on that holding, the fund has lost nearly $1 billion on its Valeant position on Tuesday alone. And that’s just its equity position. Pershing also holds options on the stock. So, its losses are probably even larger. Since the beginning of the year, Valeant’s shares are down 62%.
In a letter from Ackman to Pershing Square investors on Tuesday, he reiterated that he isn’t selling his stake in the company, but he plans to take a “much more proactive role at the company to protect and maximize the value of our investment.”
It’s not clear what Ackman means by that. What’s more, it’s not likely that any of the normal tactics that activists like Ackman push for would really make a difference at Valeant. Last week, Ackman said if Valeant’s situation doesn’t improve, the company may need new management. But so far, Ackman has not called for Valeant CEO Michael Pearson’s removal. And even if Pearson leaves the company, which at this point might give the stock a boost, the next CEO will have a very large and complicated mess to work out.
Besides that, Ackman’s options are limited. Valeant has already given Pershing a seat on its board. And the company has sworn off acquisitions, something that activists have pushed Valeant to do in the past. Activists also usually push for increased share buybacks. But given how much debt Valeant has, and its promise to pay that down, it’s unlikely that the company could afford to purchase any more of its shares.
There is the option of breaking up Valeant. But since the company has been built on years of acquisitions, that may be a tough strategy for Valeant to pursue, or for the market to swallow. What’s more, some Valeant critics have long argued that all of its acquisitions hide its costs. Break the company up, and Valeant’s warts might look even bigger.
Ackman says Valeant needs to improve its image with investors. And he has tried to play cheerleader for the company, but that hasn’t worked either. Last year, Ackman held a long, awkward conference call about Valeant that was supposed to boost confidence in the company. Instead, Valeant’s shares continued to sink.
To add to Ackman’s woes, some fear that other hedge funds may start to avoid his other holdings as well. Jason Spitzer, who describes himself as a long/short investor, wrote on Seeking Alpha that he owns shares in another Ackman holding, Zoetis zts , which specializes in medicines for animals. But he says he is thinking of selling the stock based solely on Ackman’s troubles. “The biggest risk for Ackman’s holdings is other hedge funds starting to trade against him,” writes Spitzer.
Ackman himself may be forced to sell some of his shares in Valeant. Part of his position on Valeant is in options, which, given the drop in Valeant’s shares on Tuesday, some speculated could force a margin call. On top of that, the publicly traded Pershing Square vehicle has about $1 billion in debt, which will magnify its losses.
Fortune reached out to Ackman to offer a comment for this story. His spokesperson declined to elaborate beyond the letter he sent to investors on Tuesday.
When Ackman launched his publicly traded vehicle, he talked about something he called the Pershing pop. That’s the stock jump he said a company experienced when Pershing took a position in its shares. Ackman will now have to figure out how to deal with the Pershing plummet, and that goes for his own stock as well. | The investor says he is going activist with the company after sustaining huge losses. | 55.533333 | 0.733333 | 1.4 | high | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/03/15/starbucks-cherry-blossom-frappuccino/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160419221117id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/03/15/starbucks-cherry-blossom-frappuccino/ | Starbucks' Cherry Blossom Frappuccino Is Only Available For 5 Days | 20160419221117 | Starting on Tuesday Starbucks sbux is offering a new drink to celebrate the beginning of spring, but for a very limited time.
The Cherry Blossom Frappuccino will be available in stores for just five days. The offer begins on March 15 and ends on March 20, which will mark the first actual day of spring. The coffee chain describes the new beverage in a press release as “a blend of sweet strawberries and cream with white chocolate sauce and matcha drizzle, topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of matcha.”
The inspiration for the seasonal flavor comes from Japanese sakura tradition. Each year the Japanese traditionally welcome spring with an event dedicated to the blooming of sakura, or cherry blossoms, the country’s national flower. Starbucks Japan stbjf has offered a variation of this same Frappuccino for the past six years, but this is the first time that it will be sold in the U.S.
This isn’t the only new offer available for Starbucks fans in March. The company also launched a “happy Mondays” promotion, which provides rewards program members with deals on Mondays this month only. | To help the company celebrate spring. | 30 | 0.857143 | 1.428571 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://www.people.com/article/cody-simpson-coachella-guys-weekend | http://web.archive.org/web/20160421085531id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/cody-simpson-coachella-guys-weekend | Cody Simpson Has a Boys' Weekend at Coachella : People.com | 20160421085531 | 04/18/2016 AT 02:00 PM EDT
– but this year, the star turned it into a guys' weekend.
The star was spotted hanging out in the lobby at the
jamming on a Fender guitar before heading out into the desert.
"He was excited about coming back to Coachella again with his guy friends," says a source.
Aside from hitting up the music festival, the singer also made the party rounds. At the Bootsy Bellows pop-up bash sponsored by McDonald's All Day Breakfast and Chevrolet on Saturday, he hopped into the giant ball pit with his pals.
And the night before, he partied late into the night at the Nylon Midnight Garden bash, where
were also spotted hanging out in the VIP cabanas provided by Dream Hollywood hotel, where label.m provided hair braiding. | The singer headed to the desert with three of his best pals | 13.083333 | 0.666667 | 1 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.9news.com.au/World/2016/04/21/10/56/Queen-90th-birthday-Royals-mark-milestone-with-family-portraits-by-Annie-Leibovitz | http://web.archive.org/web/20160422182619id_/http://www.9news.com.au/World/2016/04/21/10/56/Queen-90th-birthday-Royals-mark-milestone-with-family-portraits-by-Annie-Leibovitz | Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday: Royals mark milestone with family portraits by Annie Leibovitz | 20160422182619 | The Queen with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. (AFP / Annie Leibovitz)
The Queen is celebrating her 90th birthday, making her the UK's first nonogenerian sovereign, and she and her family have marked the milestone by posing for portraits by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The first in the series of three photographs shows the Queen surrounded by her two youngest grandchildren and her five great-grandchildren, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
The second portrait shows the monarch with four of her much-loved dogs – Willow, Vulcan, Holly and Candy.
The Queen with her dogs. (AFP / Annie Leibovitz)
The final photograph depicts the Queen and her daughter Princess Anne in the White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle.
The images were taken at Windsor Castle just after Easter, Buckingham Palace officials advised.
The Queen and her only daughter, Princess Anne. (AFP / Annie Leibovitz)
READ MORE: Prince George steals the show in commemorative stamp portrait
Prince William has also spoken about his grandmother's importance and the significance of the milestone
"It's sort of really sinking in now, just how much of a major milestone it is to have the Queen celebrate her 90th… it's quite a moment for the family," he said in an interview.
"She's been a very strong female influence, and having lost my mother at a very young age, it's been particularly important for me that I've had somebody like the Queen to look up to…she's been incredibly supportive and I've really appreciated her guidance."
The Queen's birthday will also be marked publicly by Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth, with well-wishers expected to sing Happy Birthday to the Queen when she goes on a walkabout close to her Windsor Castle home later today.
Tonight, the Queen will light a beacon at her Berkshire home that will become the first in a chain of more than 1000 that will spread across the country and the globe.
It is understood the Prince of Wales will make a speech in tribute to his mother at the event.
The Houses of Parliament will also be lit up in red, white and blue in honour of the milestone.
Traditional gun salutes will thunder across the capital when 41 volleys are fired by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery in London's Hyde Park, and 62 rounds by the Honourable Artillery Company close to the Tower of London - the extra 21 volleys for the citizens of the City of London to show their loyalty to the monarch.
Royal fans will also celebrate the milestone. (AFP)
Later today the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, is due to unveil a plaque marking The Queen's Walkway at the foot of Castle Hill before going on a walkabout with Prince Philip.
The walkway - a 6.5km self-guided walking trail of Windsor by The Outdoor Trust - has been created in honour of the Queen becoming the country's longest-reigning monarch.
After the Queen lights the beacon, heir to the throne Prince Charles will host a lavish private dinner in the castle for his mother, attended by her family.
When the Queen became the nation's longest-reigning monarch last autumn - passing Queen Victoria's record - she remarked that living to a ripe old age could bring many anniversaries: "Inevitably a long life can pass by many milestones. My own is no exception."
During her 64-year reign - she acceded to the throne at the age of 25 - the monarch has been served by 12 prime ministers from Sir Winston Churchill to David Cameron, while Barack Obama, who was to drop by for lunch on Friday, is the 12th US president to hold office over the same period.
She endured her "annus horribilis" in 1992, the year Charles separated from wife Diana, the Duke of York split from Sarah, and the Princess Royal divorced Captain Mark Phillips.
Famously, the Queen dedicated her life to her future role as monarch on her 21st birthday - vowing to serve the Commonwealth: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong." | The Queen is celebrating her 90th birthday, making her the UK's oldest sovereign, and she and her family have marked the milestone by posing for portraits by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. | 23.628571 | 0.914286 | 15.142857 | medium | medium | extractive |
http://www.people.com/article/jessa-duggar-seewald-prepares-baby-spurgeon-elliot-seewald-first-international-trip-jill-jessa-counting-on | http://web.archive.org/web/20160426070454id_/http://www.people.com/article/jessa-duggar-seewald-prepares-baby-spurgeon-elliot-seewald-first-international-trip-jill-jessa-counting-on | Jessa Duggar Seewald Prepares Baby Spurgeon Seewald for Central America Trip : People.com | 20160426070454 | 04/25/2016 AT 02:05 PM EDT
In a sneak peek at Tuesday's
prepare their 5-month-old son for a journey to Central America, where he'll meet his cousin
The new parents – who could probably use some help from the Duggars' most
sibling (Jill herself!) – go down the list of all the day-to-day necessities baby Spurgeon will need, including bug spray, sunscreen, wipes and diapers.
Hilariously, it's a bit of an eye-opener for Ben, 20, who is still learning as he goes about exactly how many diapers his son goes through each day (he estimates the tally at three to four, while Jessa reveals it's more like seven).
The trip also marks the first time Jessa, 23, will reunite with big sister
, 24, since Jill and husband
Along with the Seewalds, several Duggar siblings are heading down to visit the Dillards, who
that their little guy is "learning something new every day" – including
! – during their time abroad.
airs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on TLC. | Before reuniting with sister Jill (Duggar) Dillard, Jessa readies her son to meet his cousin Israel David Dillard for the first time | 8.68 | 0.68 | 1.16 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.people.com/article/concerning-photos-boat-missing-florida-teens | http://web.archive.org/web/20160428113228id_/http://www.people.com/article/concerning-photos-boat-missing-florida-teens | Photos of Missing Florida Teensâ Boat Hold Concerning Clues : People.com | 20160428113228 | Austin Stephanos (right) and Perry Cohen
Photos released on Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission show some concerning clues about the
, both 14, set out from Florida's Jupiter Inlet on a boating excursion that afternoon and were never seen again.
Crewmembers of the Edda Fjord, a Norwegian freighter, spotted Stephanos's 19-foot Seacraft capsized and floating in a shipping channel about
, nearly nine months after the boys vanished. Before packing the boat into a shipping container now in transit to Florida's Port Everglades, the crew took a series of photographs, including several that show the boat's battery switch and ignition key in the off position.
According to the Cohen family's attorney, Guy Rubin, that's concerning because the location of the battery switch makes it difficult to reach and near-impossible to be activated or deactivated by a storm or passage of time. This indicates that the switch likely was disabled intentionally, either by one of the boys or possibly another party that may have accessed the boat since the disappearance.
The photos bolster a suspicion of foul play, based on a line in a
by Pamela Cohen, Perry's mother.
"Plaintiff will continue to suffer irreparable harm if the iPhone is not properly handled as material evidence in a possible maritime crime or homicide," reads the complaint, which sought unsuccessfully to block the FFWCC's return of Austin's iPhone to the Stephanos family.
"We do know for sure that boat was disabled intentionally because the battery switch, which is very difficult to get to, was in the off position. That can't be maneuvered by the passage of time, the current, and other events," Rubin
. "The key in the ignition was in the off position."
"If the storm came and capsized the boat, the battery switch and the key would not be in those positions," Rubin continued. "We want forensic experts in accident reconstruction to look at the boat and tell us what happened. I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but I'm also trying to take it from a scientific approach."
Still, Guy Bennett Rubin, Cohen's attorney, is hesitant to offer any speculation on just what story the photographs may tell.
"We don't have any specific details about how the boat was taken from the vessel that picked it up to the process when it was then documented with photographs and put into a cargo container for shipment back to Port Everglades," he told PEOPLE Wednesday. "This is still yet to be determined. So, we are drawing some possible conclusions from the photographs with the caveat that we just don't know enough to make any determinative statements. This is the nature of investigative work and why it needs to be done methodically, carefully and by professionals. There is a lot from the photographs that tell the story and I'm going to let the professionals tell us what they mean from their perspective."
Meanwhile, FFWCC law enforcement spokesperson Robert Klepper confirmed to PEOPLE that Austin's iPhone has been turned over and is now in the hands of the Stephanos family, despite the lawsuit and motions for emergency injunctions filed against the agency and the Stephanos family with the Palm Beach County Courthouse earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Pamela Cohen had agreed to drop the lawsuit pending written consent by the Stephanos family allowing the FFWCC to keep the iPhone until a full forensics investigation could be completed. That consent was never given.
"We're considering our next steps," Rubin told PEOPLE on Wednesday while heading to meet Cohen and husband, Nicholas Korniloff, Perry's stepfather.
Earlier Wednesday, Pamela Cohen posted a
, further stating her family's case for an independent investigation of the iPhone's contents and defending the decision to take her pleas to a public forum:
"The past 8 and a half months have been the most grueling and life shattering anyone could imagine," she wrote. "Two beautiful boys went out for a day of fun never to return or be heard from again. As Perry's mother – I have no choice but to do whatever is humanly possible to obtain any bit of information to what happened to him on that fateful day."
"Some of you may not agree with our choice to take this into the public forum or to fight to keep the phone with authorities; and that is ok," she continued. "All I want is the information available, if there is any, pertaining to the fateful day of their disappearance. I am not interested in exploiting the private and personal photos, which may be recovered – this has never been our intention.
"I ask you, if you kissed your child goodbye, and never saw them again, without any information – I would believe that if evidence that could contain some answers to what happened to your beloved child were found, you would want a neutral party to properly and thoroughly investigate that evidence. This is what I will fight for until I can no longer fight. I will take my last breath fighting for my darling son Perry if it is necessary." | Several photos show the boat's battery switch and ignition key in the off position | 66.2 | 1 | 11.4 | high | high | extractive |
http://www.people.com/article/christy-turlington-aol-makers-model-life | http://web.archive.org/web/20160503124533id_/http://www.people.com/article/christy-turlington-aol-makers-model-life | Christy Turlington Talks Famous George Michael Video : People.com | 20160503124533 | 05/02/2016 AT 09:00 AM EDT
has been famous for over three decades and is one of the most photographed women in the world – but she's accomplished a lot more than modeling success.
video, Turlington, 47, discusses everything from the start of her modeling career to her maternal health activism
An early highlight of Turlington's career was her appearance in the 1990
"It was sort of the end of music as we knew it, where big business really took over that industry," Turlington says. "I think it was like George [Michael] saying 'you know what? I don't want to be on screen, I'm not playing this game anymore. And you know who I want to have represent me? Five supermodels.' "
"I was exposed to the most incredible artists, writers, people of that time," Turlington says of her career. "I loved being the youngest in a group of creative people."
Turlington was discovered at the age of 13 at a horse stable by a photographer.
"I had braces, I was in my most awkward years," she says.
Within 18 months, she signed with Ford Models in New York City.
Turlington began developing her activist roots after her father died from lung cancer.
"I quit smoking when I was 25," she says. "My dad, he had been a lifelong smoker. So when he was diagnosed, he was given six months to live."
"I got a feeling of what it could be like to do more meaningful work and to advocate for health and wellness," Turlington says.
in 2003. The pair have two children.
Complications around the birth of her first child 2003 ignited her passion for maternal healthcare and led to Turlington creating her non-profit
. Turlington had a postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal mortality.
"I realized that had I been in a lot of other places in the world, I probably would not have survived. I felt so compelled that this was something that I needed to do," Turlington says.
"Hundreds and thousands of girls and women are dying, but 98 percent of the deaths are preventable," she continues. "This is a gender issue, this is an equality issue, and that's something that I want to change." | In the newest Makers video, Christy Turlington discusses everything from her modeling career to the birth of her first child | 22.047619 | 0.857143 | 3.333333 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-dating-site-americans-move-canada | http://web.archive.org/web/20160511143435id_/http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-dating-site-americans-move-canada | Trump President Possibility Drives Dating Site : People.com | 20160511143435 | 05/10/2016 AT 03:50 PM EDT
Google searches for "move to Canada"
, and one enterprising Canadian dating site is looking to capitalize on that.
MapleMatch.com "makes it easy for Americans to find the ideal Canadian partner to save them from the unfathomable horror of a Trump presidency," Joe Goldman's
"When this election came about and I started seeing
and the rise of his candidacy I started getting concerned, just like anybody else,"
. "I thought it might be interesting to try something like this out."
The app, which hasn't even launched yet, currently has over 5,000 singles signed up for it. "Please help me," a 22-year-old American wrote in his Maple Match application. "I found out my parents are voting for Trump and it literally broke my heart."
" was launched with the aim of attracting people to the small, sparsely-populated Canadian island should they need somewhere to flee to if Trump becomes president. | The site currently has a waitlist of over 5,000 | 21.444444 | 0.888889 | 1.333333 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://www.people.com/article/channing-tatum-jenna-dewan-tatum-mothers-day-instagram | http://web.archive.org/web/20160512050524id_/http://www.people.com:80/article/channing-tatum-jenna-dewan-tatum-mothers-day-instagram | Channing Tatum Shares Heartwarming Mother's Day Post for Wife Jenna Dewan Tatum : People.com | 20160512050524 | Jenna Dewan Tatum with daughter Everly
Source: Channing Tatum/Instagram; Inset: Getty
05/09/2016 AT 11:10 AM EDT
took a trip down memory lane to celebrate his wife
Tatum, 36, shared a special
of Dewan Tatum on Instagram in honor of the special holiday.
"I took this just days after Jenna and I (mostly Jenna) brought our little girl into the world," Tatum captioned the photo of a hand holding a black and white picture of Dewan Tatum with their then newborn daughter,
. "I've taken many like it over the past 3 years but this is one of my favorites."
Tatum wrote that Dewan Tatum, 35, was "so tired" that day and praised her for her "deep strength and other worldly grace."
"Watching her in those first days transform into a mother was life-changing. She was every bit the beautiful, sexy, funny, flawed creature I fell in love with," he wrote. "But the prism turned and showed a whole new light that I had no idea existed, the light of a mother's love. Thank you for that baby."
, this time honoring his own mother.
"She has put up with a lot over the years. Wow. Don't [sic] how we got here mama," he wrote in part alongside the picture of himself giving his mom a kiss on the cheek.
"But I know it's cause of you. I be lovin you."
to show off her Mother's Day flowers and sweet card from her husband and daughter.
"To the best, mother, wife and dreamer I know. Evie and I love you to the moon and back!" the card read in the
. "Happy Mother's Day! You're our everything! Love C & E xoxo." | Jenna Dewan Tatum shared a photo of a bouquet of flowers and a sweet note from Channing Tatum and their daughter Everly | 16.681818 | 0.909091 | 1.818182 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2015/06/18/barney-frank-bank-board/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160514132638id_/http://fortune.com:80/2015/06/18/barney-frank-bank-board/ | Barney Frank joins Signature Bank board | 20160514132638 | Barney Frank has gone from being bankers’ enemy No. 1 to a well-compensated, trusted adviser in a little over two years.
On Wednesday, Frank, the co-author of the financial reform law Dodd-Frank that reshaped the financial industry after the financial crisis, was appointed to the board of directors of New York-based Signature Bank. Frank said that he was glad to be joining a bank that mostly caters to small businesses. “Signature Bank knows firsthand the importance small business plays in the health and vibrancy of our nation’s economy,” Frank said in a statement.
Indeed, Signature is not the type of bank that the Dodd-Frank bill was aimed at. It has a small investment bank that is mostly focused on wealth management. On it’s most recent report to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp it listed no tradable assets or a tiny amount of derivatives.
But Signature is still a relatively big bank with nearly $29 billion in assets. It is not among the group of 31 big banks that have to pass the Fed’s main stress test. But Signature is still large enough to be in the group that the Fed mandates run their own stress testing each year to see how they would do in a financial downturn. The results of those tests are not made public. Like many other banks, Signature got money from the government following the financial crisis, but it was one of the first to repay the so-called TARP funds in early 2009.
Signature has not said how much Frank would be paid as a board member. On Wednesday, the bank, according to a filing, awarded Frank 1,913 shares of the bank’s stock, which at a recent $146, is worth nearly $280,000. But Frank was restricted from selling the shares until next March. According to the bank’s most recent proxy filing, the bank’s directors had an average compensation of around $375,000 paid in cash and stock last year. | He co-authored the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. | 31.75 | 0.916667 | 2.583333 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.tmz.com/2009/08/18/eric-dane-rebecca-gayheart-keri-ann-peniche | http://web.archive.org/web/20160514134940id_/http://www.tmz.com:80/2009/08/18/eric-dane-rebecca-gayheart-keri-ann-peniche | Eric Dane -- I Did Not Have Sex With that Woman! | 20160514134940 | did not have sex with
-- but according to Peniche, they had plenty of fun.
Kari Ann -- a dethroned Miss United States Teen -- tells TMZ the video featuring the whacked-out naked trio was shot more than two years ago in her apartment. Kari Ann insists there was absolutely no sex involved -- they played dress up and the two women then soaked together in a bathtub as Eric called "action" behind the camera.
In the video, Gayheart says her "alter-ego" name is "Nina," Kari's is "Fifi" and Dane goes by "Peter," "Cocaine Manor," "Tristan Daily," and "Tuff Hedeman," a famous bull rider.
Kari Ann says the video was stored on the hard drive of her computer, but stolen by Mindy McCready, who was her roommate after the two completed a stint on the TV show "Celebrity Rehab." Kari Ann says she got into an argument with McCready over money and believes the singer took her hard drive when she moved out. Kari Ann freaked out about certain personal information about her on the hard drive and filed a stolen property report with the LAPD.
Last month there was a summit between Eric, Rebecca, Kari Ann and Mindy. Their reps hammered out a deal as to who got what on the hard drive. Eric got full rights to the video and everyone assumed that was that ... until the tape surfaced on the Internet yesterday.
So a little song, a little dance a little betrayal down your pants. | Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart did not have sex with Kari Ann Peniche -- but according to Peniche, they had plenty of fun.Kari Ann -- a dethroned Miss… | 9.40625 | 0.96875 | 6.71875 | low | high | mixed |
http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-nude-women-spencer-tunick | http://web.archive.org/web/20160517101339id_/http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-nude-women-spencer-tunick | Donald Trump Will Arrive at Republican Convention Greeted By 100 Nude Women : People.com | 20160517101339 | 05/16/2016 AT 03:05 PM EDT
pulls up to the Republican National Convention in July, he'll be greeted by a sea of 100 nude women, all part of a performance art piece from artist
The women will also be holding up large, round mirrors, pointed towards Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention will be held in Cleveland, Ohio. The installation is called, "Everything She Says Means Everything."
The New-York-based artist started doing large-scale nude installations in 1994, and has shown his work all over the world.
In 2013, Tunick started planning the installation for the Republican convention, where Trump will likely receive the Republican party's nomination for president.
"I could never have imagined there would be such a heightened attention to the
of this Cleveland juggernaut of a convention," Tunick
. "But I feel like doing this will sort of calms the senses. It brings it back to the body and to purity."
Tunick typically has both genders pose nude for his work, but chose to make this one
"I have two daughters – 9 and 11 – and I want them to grow up in a progressive world with equal rights and equal pay and better treatment for women, and I feel like the 100 women lighting up the sky of Cleveland will send this ray of knowledge onto the cityscape," Tunick said. "I think it will enlighten not only the delegates but set the vibe of the weekend, set a tone."
throughout his campaign for his
, including his recent remarks that Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is only ahead because she's playing
Tunick put out a call
for volunteers, who will meet across the street from the arena on July 17, get in formation, and strip down, likely for about 15 minutes. Tunick will then photograph the women, and they will each get a print of the image.
Tunick wants this to be an inclusive, non-violent event.
"We really are reaching out to people of all parties. This is a work Republican women can participate in. It's not so much a protest as it is a representative artwork," said Tunick. "Who knows what will happen." | Performance artist Spencer Tunick is organizing the exhibit, called "Everything She Says Means Everything" | 25.529412 | 0.823529 | 2.588235 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.people.com/article/botched-c-section-gone-wrong-jessica | http://web.archive.org/web/20160518104909id_/http://www.people.com/article/botched-c-section-gone-wrong-jessica | Woman Hopes Doctors Can Help Fix Her C-Section Gone Wrong : People.com | 20160518104909 | 05/17/2016 AT 11:15 AM EDT
patient Jessica Coleman had a dramatic pregnancy from the start.
"I did an unknown pregnancy," Coleman, 30, tells Drs.
of her decision to keep her pregnancy a secret from both of her parents until the night she gave birth.
"When I would be watching TV, I'd be propped back in the recliner and next thing I know I see his foot pop out of my stomach, and I'm like, 'Okay, let me switch positions,' because my dad would be on the other couch."
Coleman didn't even tell the doctors and the nurses at the hospital when she first checked in to deliver.
"I sat in the lobby for five hours," she tells the stunned plastic surgeons. "I didn't tell nobody."
Coleman eventually did deliver the baby – but it did not go smoothly. Her doctor did not clean her up well enough after her C-section, and she ended up developing a severe infection.
"First is a very low-grade contamination, which develops into a colonization and then an infection, and then ultimately an abscess which causes what we call an acute abdomen, which is essentially a surgical emergency," explains Dubrow.
Her botched C-section left her with a large crease in the middle of her stomach.
"This is a deformity that she cannot hide with clothing, so this is obviously something that really significantly affects her," says Dubrow.
To find out if the doctors can fix Coleman's abdomen, tune into
, airing Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on E! | A patient on Tuesday night's Botched developed an abscess along her entire stomach after her C-section became infected | 15.238095 | 0.761905 | 1.809524 | low | low | mixed |
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/sep/22/punkt-mobile-phone-london-design-festival | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523032122id_/http://www.theguardian.com:80/artanddesign/2015/sep/22/punkt-mobile-phone-london-design-festival | Smartphone backlash: the mobile that gives you your life back | 20160523032122 | “I think the ‘always on’ life is probably even worse than having a poor diet,” says Petter Neby, founder of Swiss consumer electronics company Punkt. “Every day we are consuming more trash, and becoming more detached from real life and the ability to deal with situations head-on. Just look around, it’s a disaster – and the sociological issue of our times.”
Neby is an ebullient man on a mission, an entrepreneur who wants us to rediscover the lost art of conversation and the spontaneous beauty of chance encounters. That’s why his company, founded in 2008, makes sleek and easy-to-use devices that do one thing very well, but nothing more, allowing you to focus on “having a life and living”, as he likes to say – something technology often derails.
Punkt’s latest product, the MP 01, is a back-to-basics mobile phone. Launched at the London design festival, and designed by the British industrial designer Jasper Morrison, Punkt’s artistic director, the phone is a pared-down black affair with slightly raised, rounded buttons and a gently angled shape that makes it easy to hold.
But it’s the MP 01’s functional simplicity that sets it apart from today’s smartphones. Users can make and receive calls and texts, check a calendar for dates, store 3,000 contacts in the address book and leave themselves reminder notes on the home screen. And that’s it. Unlike the so-called brick or flip phones of yore, however, it can import phone contacts from a computer via USB cable and can be used with the same phone number as your smartphone, when twinned with your SIM card.
Morrison and Neby believe the tide is turning against intrusive technology that endlessly demands your attention. “I think we are more aware than before of feeling stupid looking at our screens,” says Morrison. “And the objects themselves have become so big that they are just not that handy for making calls any more. I think there is a niche. A couple of years ago I wouldn’t have said that, but it’s gone our way since we started designing it.”
He’s right. There is a growing appetite and market for products and apps explicitly aim ed at helping the user “shut off”. There’s the yet-to-launch Kickstarter-backed Light Phone, a credit-card-sized phone “designed to be used as little as possible”. It only takes and makes calls, and works either on its own or in conjunction with your existing phone thanks to a simple call-forwarding app. Elsewhere, French company Lekki has been successfully selling “revamped” classic Nokia phones, while Microsoft relaunched the basic Nokia 105 in June.
But will a desire to rebalance our tech-mad lives translate into a £229 investment for what is essentially a second phone that only allows talk and texts? “We are quite realistic: we are not out to replace the iPhone,” says Morrison. “But as smartphones get bigger and bulkier, there is a place for something small and simplified, without all the functions.”
Neby says he has been using the MP 01 phone all summer, but only at night or at the weekends. “My smartphone is my office but when I come back in the evening my office hours need to stop. And so I switch it off.” If he needs to make a call to someone later in the evening, there is no chance of him seeing any of the distracting notifications that have accumulated on his smartphone, no temptation for him to engage. “With a smartphone if you are not very disciplined you are suddenly drawn in,” he says. That’s why Neby decided to ditch his smartphone when he went on holiday. “It was such a relief. I don’t think I had a 100% holiday in years.”
And that’s what it comes down to. The prospect of taking a single-function phone on holiday is terrifying, but almost certainly worth trying – for that sense of freedom and liberation that comes from doing something other than staring at a screen for a change. Or even nothing at all. As Neby says: “This is about taking back your life. It’s serious stuff.” | The Punkt phone, launched at the London design festival, lets you call and text. It also has nice buttons and is easy to hold. And that’s about it. Would you pay £229 for it? | 19.97619 | 0.880952 | 2.547619 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/03/18/generalmills-gmo/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523034741id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/03/18/generalmills-gmo/ | General Mills to Start Labelling GMOs in Its Products | 20160523034741 | Cereal giant General Mills gis said it would start labelling its products that contained genetically modified organisms (GMO), and cited its frustration at the lack of a national standard on the practice.
The move comes only a few days after the U.S. Senate failed to push forth legislation that would have blocked Vermont from imposing such labelling as of July 1. General Mills, the maker of Cheerios, Wheaties and Trix among many other products, invoked the prospect of the chaos that would come if each state established its own requirements and standards.
“Vermont state law requires us to start labeling certain grocery store food packages that contain GMO ingredients or face significant fines,” Jeff Harmening, executive vice president and chief operating officer for U.S. Retail at General Mills said on its company blog on Friday. “We can’t label our products for only one state without significantly driving up costs for our consumers and we simply will not do that,” he added.
Consumers wanting to know whether a General Mills product has GMO’s can look that up on a new page on the company’s site: http://www.generalmills.com/Ingredients
The contretemps comes as more and more U.S. consumers want more transparency about how their food is made and sourced, with many calling for mandatory GMO-labelling. Harmening in his post acknowledged those desires but claimed that every health and safety agency in the world says GMOs are perfectly safe.
Still, many restaurants and grocers have accommodated those consumers: Whole Foods Market, wfm , for one, has promised to implement GMO labeling by 2018, while last year, Chipotle Mexican Grill cmg announced with great fanfare that it would no longer serve food made with GMOs.
Big Food has lobbied hard to fight mandatory GMO labeling efforts on the state and federal level. This week, Reuters reported that a federal bill that would have nullified mandatory state and local GMO labeling laws failed to garner enough support to move forward. That bill also would have allowed food makers to decide whether to tell consumers about GMO ingredients in their products.
“Consumers all over the U.S. will soon begin seeing words legislated by the state of Vermont on the labels of many of their favorite General Mills products,” Harmening said. “We need a national solution,” he added. | Cereal giant is declaring its own use of GMOs. | 43.2 | 0.8 | 1.4 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/dec/14/rachel-whiteread-greatest-british-artist | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523043108id_/http://www.theguardian.com:80/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/dec/14/rachel-whiteread-greatest-british-artist | Rachel Whiteread is Britain's greatest living artist | 20160523043108 | I just want to take a moment to salute Britain's greatest living artist.
A few weeks ago I was in an American art museum looking at the modern masters. Pablo Picasso and Richard Serra share space with Sol LeWitt and Jackson Pollock in the tremendous collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. But not far from Barnett Newman's Stations of the Cross paintings, an unexpected thing from home caught my eye.
It was like seeing a ghost. In fact, I was seeing Ghost – a sculpture by Rachel Whiteread that I first encountered, what, 20 years ago, in the London whose Dickensian chill it reproduces. Ghost is a cast of an entire room in an old-fashioned, perhaps Victorian, house. It is the solid trace of all the air that a room once contained. Empty space has become solid. Because it is solid, it is closed. Nothing can get in or out. On this side of the white surfaces of the massive block, engraved with negative images of fireplace, door, window and light switch, we wonder at the dark invisible silence within. Vanished lives, lost voices, forgotten loves are trapped in that fossilised room like prehistoric creatures in limestone.
Ghost is the closest living relative of Whiteread's destroyed artistic masterpiece House. She made Ghost in 1990; three years later she took the same casting process to its logical conclusion by preserving the inner world of a house scheduled for demolition.
The subsequent destruction of Whiteread's House by an unsympathetic council did immense harm to British art. Amid all the sound and fury that young British artists generated in the 90s – often signifying nothing – House was the real thing: a modern masterpiece.
And Whiteread herself is the real thing, a first-rank artist, as I realised with a new clarity in Washington. It goes to show why it is sometimes foolish to want to "save" British art for British collections. If all British art was in Britain, how would it become known internationally? In the absence of House, Whiteread's Ghost is the single most important British sculpture of our times – but I am delighted it is in one of America's best galleries. Here, among some of the key works of the modern age, you can truly assess Whiteread's achievement. It is one of the most powerful things in the museum. Whiteread is abstract, serious and profound. She is the modern British artist who matters. | Jonathan Jones: Her magnificent sculptures conjure up vanished lives, lost voices and forgotten loves – and sit easily alongside modern masters | 20.565217 | 0.565217 | 1.608696 | medium | low | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/05/20/startup-blood-draws/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523051044id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/05/20/startup-blood-draws/ | Velano Vascular Aims to Reduce Needle Use for Blood Draws | 20160523051044 | Startups that aim to cut back on the use of needles for blood draws may face some skepticism these days—the unfortunate legacy of troubled unicorn Theranos.
But Velano Vascular, a tiny San Francisco outfit launched in 2012, bears little resemblance to Theranos, which aspires to perform diagnostic tests using blood drops lanceted from the capillaries of a finger.
To begin with, Velano’s invention taps into the same, scientifically uncontroversial venous blood (i.e., blood from veins, not capillaries) that traditional syringes tap into. In addition, its device is fully FDA-approved. Moreover, the company’s founders—CEO Eric Stone and president Pitou Devgon, M.D.—are willing to show you how its device works, something Theranos was never willing to permit.
In fairness, Velano’s aspirations are also a bit less ambitious than Theranos’s. The only patients the company can help are those in hospitals or other inpatient settings.
Still, that’s a lot of people—about 35 million a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average inpatient stays 4.8 days. Many of them need daily blood draws, and some need up to three a day. A subset of them (with problematic skin or veins) may require more than one poke before a successful draw can be made. All told, that’s a world of hurt ripe for alleviation.
Related: Theranos Resignation Is a Major Bid for Atonement
Velano’s deceptively simple idea was to enable hospital blood draws to be taken from the same standard intravenous (IV) catheter that so many hospital patients already have inserted in their arms anyway, instead of poking them anew each time they need their blood monitored.
“This is compassion in practice,” says Todd Dunn, the chief innovation officer of Intermountain Healthcare, a 22-hospital system based in Utah that has begun pilot studies of Velano’s device, known as the PIVO. “This could become a new standard of care.”
Two other hospitals, including Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., and Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston (a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School) are also now testing the device, according to the founders.
The seeds of Velano’s approach were planted years ago, co-founder and internal medicine physician Devgon, 39, recounts in an interview. An elderly patient, with bruises up and down her arms from a week’s worth of needle sticks, asked him, he recounts, “Why are you continually sticking me when I’ve got an IV catheter in my vein? Why do you keep sticking me with needles?”
At the time, Devgon admits, he didn’t know the answer. The reason, he learned, has to do with the way a standard IV is designed. A needle is used to puncture the skin, but is then withdrawn and replaced with a plastic tube which, over time, becomes soft, like a noodle.
For most purposes, the noodle’s softness is a good thing; it’s more comfortable and less dangerous to the patient. But while a noodle is fine for injecting fluids and medications into a patient, it’s bad for drawing fluids out of a patient. Its soft walls collapse under the negative pressure of suction. In addition, small clots that form at the ends of the IV catheter may gum up the blood testing process.
Related: Tesla and Theranos Are Pushing the Limits of Silicon Valley’s Hype Machine
About five years ago, Devgon continues, he was sitting in a Starbucks when he realized that maybe there was a way to do what the elderly patient had wanted. He began envisioning the device that became the PIVO. (The name derives from “peripheral intravenous catheter,” or PIV, which is the medical term for the standard IV most hospital patients are hooked up to.)
The PIVO simply inserts a narrower gauge, stiffer tube inside the existing IV tube (the noodle) for the purpose of taking a blood draw. The device is used once and then thrown away. Then the IV catheter is reattached to the bag containing whatever fluids were being delivering to the patient prior to the blood draw.
When Devgon started envisioning the PIVO, mutual friends hooked him up with Eric Stone, now 39, a Wharton MBA and health-care entrepreneur.
“My experience with the health-care system goes back about 25 years,” Stone says, “when, as a patient, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease.” (Today he is a national trustee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.) Stone had spent plenty of time in hospitals, so Devgon’s idea immediately resonated with him at a gut level.
Because of children’s especially acute fear of needles, in late 2014 PIVO was one of two projects selected from among hundreds of applicants to win funding from the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation, according to its director, Kolaleh Eskandariah. The institute, a unit of the Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C., is an incubator for medical advances that can make pediatric care “more precise, less invasive, and more pain free,” she explains.
Since then, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has become an investor in the company, as has the Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., and about 40 individuals, including Ed Ludwig, the former CEO and chairman of Becton Dickinson—believed to be the largest needle maker in the world.
Four institutional investors have also come in, according to Stone, including Mitch Kapor’s Kapor Capital and Safeguard Scientifics. Velano has publicly acknowledged receiving a total of $8.5 million in investments to date.
Velano won FDA approval for the PIVO in 2015, and it has also obtained two U.S. patents for it, according to a spokesman, with additional applications outstanding in both the U.S. and abroad.
“Five years from now,” asserts Stone, “this will be, without question, a new standard of care. “We will touch every patient on the planet with PIVO, as we’ll all spend time in a hospital at the start of life, the end of life, or on the journey of life.”
Could a behemoth like Becton Dickinson BDX (with $10.3 billion in revenue in 2015) have anything to fear from a fledgling outfit like Velano? (A spokesperson for BD did not respond to inquiries.)
“If [the PIVO] becomes a standard of care for a big part of the industry,” says investor Ludwig, BD’s former CEO, “it’s something BD would have to pay attention to, absolutely.”
In that event, he adds, acquiring Velano might also become attractive to “any number of companies. And, in particular, to BD.” | Hint: It's not Theranos. | 188.571429 | 0.714286 | 1 | high | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/3697015/sports-illustrated-swimsuit-edition-plus-size-model-robyn-lawley/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523092507id_/http://time.com:80/3697015/sports-illustrated-swimsuit-edition-plus-size-model-robyn-lawley/ | First Plus-Size Model in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition | 20160523092507 | Model Robyn Lawley was awake early Thursday morning, eagerly anticipating a career-defining moment: “I’m so excited, I’m dying — I’m dying!”
That’s because Sports Illustrated was announcing Lawley’s appearance in the magazine’s highly anticipated swimsuit edition. And while Lawley’s bikini-clad figure seems like a natural fit, her inclusion is historic. As a U.S. size 12, she’s the curviest model to ever appear in the edition, and she’s doing it while wearing a bikini from her own swimwear line. (Although the bikini in the above photo is by Montce Swim.)
While a U.S. size 12 would typically qualify as plus-size in the fashion industry — even though the average American woman is a size 14 — Lawley doesn’t like to focus on labels.
“I don’t know if I consider myself as a plus-size model or not,” Lawley, who is represented by Wilhelmina Models, says. “I just consider myself a model because I’m trying to help women in general accept their bodies. ”
MJ Day, assistant managing editor of Sports Illustrated (which, like TIME, is owned by Time, Inc.), says Lawley had been on her radar for years and is being highlighted as a model rather than as a “plus size” model.
“She sort of embodies the classic SI girl — she’s interesting, she’s beautiful, she has an incredible body, and I felt that she would make a great addition to the issue,” Day says. “It was simple as that.”
This ethos is in line with the recent movement to integrate models of varying body types into commercial and high fashion campaigns. But even though Lawley has graced the cover of Vogue Italia and Cosmopolitan Australia, and shot ads for Ralph Lauren, Chantelle and Barneys, she didn’t think the swimsuit edition was a real possibility. (Although she did appear in a viral campaign last year in which plus-size swimwear line SwimsuitsForAll re-imagined SI swimsuit spreads with plus-size models. SwimsuitsForAll will have an ad in the new SI issue featuring size 16 Ashley Graham.)
“I never thought that this would happen to me, so this is a milestone,” says Lawley. “When I started my career 10 years ago, I had to painfully go to castings and people would look at you and say, ‘What the hell are you doing here?’… I want to be there for the regular girls who are my size.”
Lawley’s Facebook announcement that she (along with hundreds of other models) applied to be one of the 24 swimsuit models in the issue made made waves in social media, with many supporting the idea of a more representative body type appearing in the issue.
“To be totally honest, I am a size 12,” Day says. “I’m not saying I see myself in [Lawley] because my body doesn’t look as good as hers, but I knew that when I found the right person who could represent that, she would be in the issue.”
Former plus-size model Crystal Renn appeared in the 2012 issue when she was a smaller size.
When Lawley met with Day last year for a casting — wearing a bikini from her line — the model says, “I was told to stay healthy and exactly as I am.”
And it turns out that Lawley, now nine months pregnant, did the Jackson Hole shoot during her first trimester. “Now they know why I was sleeping so much of the time!”
Read next: See the LIFE Version of the Swimsuit Issue
Listen to the most important stories of the day. | Robyn Lawley, size 12, will appear in 'Sports Illustrated' in a bikini from her own line. | 34.380952 | 0.904762 | 2.238095 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/02/18/nordstrom-tech/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523142600id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/02/18/nordstrom-tech/ | Nordstrom Is Pulling Back on Tech Spending Amid Falling Profits | 20160523142600 | Being a top internet retailer has gotten to be pricey for Nordstrom jwn .
The upscale department store on Thursday gave a disappointing forecast for the first half of the new fiscal year, including the expectation that profit per share will fall 30%, and announced it would pull back on tech spending growth.
Nordstrom now gets 20% of sales online, up from 8% just five years ago. But that growth, which has included new distribution facilities, computerized systems and equipping stores to help fill online orders way before it became the industry standard, has come at a cost — painful at a time sales are wobbly. So the retailer’s executives announced a plan to rein that it in.
This year, Nordstrom plans to spend $300 million on tech and e-commerce. A big number to be sure, but the same amount as last year, when those investments rose 35%.
And Chief Financial Officer Mike Koppel told Wall Street analysts on a conference call that Nordstrom would cut back on the number of tech-related projects to focus on those with the biggest potential payoff.
“With our investments to gain market share, along with the changing business model, expenses in recent years have grown faster than sales,” Koppel said. And anxiety about the once-high flying Nordstrom’s shrinking profits and declining sales at its department stores sent shares down 8%. (They are down about 45% from their 52-week high.) In November, when the retailer reported similarly disappointing results, shares fell 20% in one day. For a long time, investors seemed to treat Nordstrom as they did Amazon.com amzn : willing to see profits squeezed if market share grows. But as the stock slide shows, investors have reached the limits of their patience.
Koppel didn’t get specific about what cuts could be, but he did say Nordstrom would be “refining” its online assortment to focus on profitable items, apparently hinting it may limit online availability to items selling well online. Nordstrom is looking into ways of being more efficient in how it ships orders to reduce costs. (That could possibly mean trying to avoid sending different components of an order in separate pieces.)
It’s hard to argue that Nordstrom has had enormous success online: Nordstrom.com sales rose 11% last quarter, and online revenues on its discount web sites (nordstromrack.com and hautelook.com) rose 50%.
But the retailer must be hoping this does not hurt the brightest part of its business. Comparable sales fell 3.2% at its department stores, dropping for the 2nd quarter in a row. Meanwhile at the Rack, comparable sales fell 3%, and questions remained as to whether it is opening too many of those discount stores too quickly. Still, Nordstrom said it is still on pace to do $20 billion in overall sales by 2020 (they hit $14.1 billion in 2015).
Koppel and his colleagues expect this tough retail environment to persist. (HBC’s Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus each reported declining same-store sales at their department stores in their most recent quarters.)
“We remain cautious because of the continued promotional environment,” Koppel said. | Investors edgy as profit expected to fall 30% | 68.111111 | 0.777778 | 1.444444 | high | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2015/10/14/bank-earnings-dodd-frank-democratic-debate/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523144800id_/http://fortune.com:80/2015/10/14/bank-earnings-dodd-frank-democratic-debate/? | Bank earnings show that Dodd-Frank, Wall St. regulation is working | 20160523144800 | JPMorgan Chase reported its earnings on Tuesday night, and results were not great. It’s bottom line was lower than analysts expected. Revenue was down. Activity in its bond trading division was weaker than expected. And earnings were lower than analysts had predicted.
All of this constituted a disappointment, unless you are a regulator or someone who still thinks banks are too big. Indeed, the big banks’ third quarter earnings offer some of the best signs so far that Dodd-Frank, the financial reform law passed in the wake of the financial crisis, is working.
If you watched the Democratic debate on Tuesday night, though, you’d likely come away thinking the opposite. Pretty much every candidate seemed to think that the banks are bigger than ever and that financial reforms have done little to stop that. Bernie Sanders wants to break up the big banks. And Martin O’Malley wants to bring back Glass-Steagall, the depression era law that separated traditional commercial lending from Wall Street investment banking, which was more restrictive than Dodd-Frank.
(Quick fact check for O’Malley: The big banks do not control 65% of U.S. GDP, up from 15% in the late 1990s, as you stated. You’re mixing apples and oranges by comparing assets to income. As a percentage of income, the financial sector makes up about 7% of GDP, which is actually slightly down from the late 1990s.)
Take a look at the third quarter earnings that the big banks have reported so far, and you get a different picture from what Democratic presidential hopefuls painted on Tuesday. Here are three reasons banking regulation seems to be working:
The biggest banks are finally shrinking
The thinking behind some of the rules within Dodd-Frank was that if you imposed strict regulations on the biggest banks and raise their cost of doing business, then the banks would shrink on their own. No need to go in and force them to break up. For a while, it seemed like that line of thinking was flawed. Now it seems to be coming to fruition. JPMorgan JPM in its earnings release said that assets, after pretty much going straight up since the financial crisis, have dropped in the past six months by $160 billion, or 6%. Assets at Bank of America BAC were flat from the quarter before. But BofA seems to be doubling down on its cost cutting efforts, particularly within its investment bank, so that’s a step in the direction that the too big to fail crowd wants.
Bank executives and other critics of tighter regulations have said that Dodd-Frank would hurt the big banks’ ability to lend. It’s impossible to say how much the banks would be lending now if Dodd-Frank weren’t around. They could be lending more. Yet, while much of JPMorgan’s Wall Street business was lackluster in the third quarter, lending wasn’t. Despite problems elsewhere at the bank, JPMorgan’s lending continues to grow. The bank’s outstanding loans have jumped by about 10% in the past year, from an already big base. Unlike JPMorgan, Wells Fargo’s earnings were better than expected, and its revenue was up. The reason: Wells Fargo WFC gets more of its earnings from traditional lending activities compared to other big banks. And lending at Wells Fargo was up. This, of course, is what we want banks to do.
Even as Wall Street is stumbling, the rest of the economy seems to be doing fine
The financial sector appears to have hit a rough patch. Even beyond the banks, there is constant news of hedge funds suffering big losses. Corporate bond defaults are rising. And yet, the rest of the economy, while not doing great, seems to be taking it all in stride. No one thinks the problems in the financial sector could lead us into recession. Of course, you can make the argument that so far nothing really bad has happened in the financial sector, at least not bad enough to cause a feedback loop that would hurt the general economy. But take a look at the St. Louis’ Financial Stability Index. It’s up, but still far lower than it was in the 1990s, back when we had Glass-Steagall.
Of course, you shouldn’t get overly excited about the success of Dodd-Frank. JPMorgan, even after its current shrink, still has $2.4 trillion in assets. That’s still really big, and means it’s likely that JPMorgan, and Bank of America for that matter, among others, are still way too big for the government to simply allow to fail. But why should that be the bar for success? The financial sector is too important to any modern economy for the government just to sit back and let it implode.
So you might not think Dodd-Frank is the perfect fix. Wall Street certainly doesn’t. But the big banks are more lending focused then they used to be. And they have much more capital than they used to to absorb loan losses, which was really a big problem in the financial crisis.
That’s why right now, at a time when Dodd-Frank seems to be having a bit of success, it’s an awfully odd time for people to bash it. | Dodd-Frank took a beating in the Democratic debate, but if you look at the banks' recent earnings, there are signs the law is working. | 33.9 | 0.866667 | 1.8 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/03/15/herbalife-security-warren-buffett/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523155015id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/03/15/herbalife-security-warren-buffett/ | Herbalife Spends $700k on Security Guards for CEO Michael Johnson | 20160523155015 | The CEO of Herbalife hlf has more security protection than Warren Buffett, Apple CEO Tim Cook and certain presidential candidates including Donald Trump.
Last year, the nutritional supplement company paid $694,069 to protect its chief executive Michael Johnson with home security and monitoring systems, Herbalife disclosed in a proxy filing Monday.
That eclipses the $167,401 that Donald Trump has spent on his private security detail during his presidential election bid so far, according to campaign finance disclosures. And even if the combative candidate assumes an annual bodyguard budget similar to the increased level of protection he employed last quarter, when his security expenses doubled to $99,634 for the three-month period (during which he was also granted Secret Service protection), he still wouldn’t be paying as much for safety as Johnson.
Indeed, the median amount that a Fortune 100 company spends on CEO security is less than $30,000 per year, according to a recent Equilar study of executive compensation. Herbalife, a $5 billion company that is not even in the Fortune 500, spent more than 23 times as much.
Johnson’s personal protection costs even more than Berkshire Hathaway brk.a CEO Warren Buffett’s security measures ($370,000 in 2015) and Apple aapl CEO Tim Cook’s security detail ($209,151 last year, according to filings)—combined.
One executive whose safety expenses outweigh Johnson’s is Amazon amzn CEO Jeff Bezos, who received $1.6 million worth in security services from the company in 2014.
In disclosing its C-suite security spending, Herbalife explained that it had detected threats to the company and several of its executives, “specifically Mr. Johnson,” in 2013—the same year that Bill Ackman publicly attacked the company as part of his short-selling campaign to depress the price of its stock. Herbalife consequently installed security systems and monitoring services at the home of Johnson, “who receives a higher level of security which we deem to be appropriate based on the nature and extent of the security threat,” according to the company’s filing.
Meanwhile, Amazon notes in its own disclosure that Bezos’ security budget is “especially reasonable” given that the CEO takes a low salary and does not receive stock compensation. Apple, for its part, explains in a filing earlier this year that while Cook did not request security services, the company deemed it a “reasonable and necessary” measure “given the profile of the company and his role as CEO.” | Nutritional supplements firm spends more on CEO security than Apple. | 42.454545 | 0.818182 | 1.363636 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/15/golf-collectibles-forbescollector-cz_ms_0816conn_ls.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160523230855id_/http://www.forbes.com:80/2005/08/15/golf-collectibles-forbescollector-cz_ms_0816conn_ls.html | Collecting Classic Clubs | 20160523230855 | Jeff Ellis‘ golf collecting story began with trophies–not ones he bought, mind you, but ones he earned for winning the Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Junior, Men’s and Men’s Mid-Amateur championships. Since then, the 52-year-old Oak Harbor, Wash., native translated his passion for the game into the most comprehensive collection of antique golf clubs in the world. It encompasses the entire history of the wood shaft era, from circa 1600 up to the 1930s–some 750 water mashies, wooden niblicks, heavy irons, cleeks, scrapers and assorted other historic clubs easily worth, collectively, several million dollars.
Many collectors I meet develop a scholarly passion for their material, but few more than Ellis. Because he had ventured into uncharted territory, with no books to read and no other collections to model, he began to research antique clubs, digging up information that had been lost to the golf world, in some cases, for more than a century.
With a historian’s zeal, Ellis sniffed out every club patent ever submitted in the U.K. and the U.S. prior to 1935 before penning the definitive book on the subject, The Clubmaker’s Art: Antique Golf Clubs and Their History, along with a second volume, The Golf Club: 400 Years of The Good, The Beautiful and The Creative. Long a dealer in collectible clubs, Ellis has twice exhibited his personal collection at the PGA Show in Orlando. I talked to him about the historic “weaponry” of the game.
How did you get started?
I used to buy and sell classic clubs, like some of the persimmon drivers from the 1930s to the 1970s favored by many pros. Then in 1982, I walked into a guy’s office and saw these amazing clubs from the 1850s on the wall. I couldn’t believe that people golfed with them. The graceful lines…the sensuous woods…they were sculptures, works of art to my eyes. All the modern steel-shafted clubs, while playable, did not have the beauty and appeal and history that a 150-year-old club holds. That’s when I started buying antique clubs.
How do you decide what to buy and what not to?
To my mind, the only real artifacts of the game are clubs and balls. You can collect player-related items, but that gets tricky since the cult of celebrity can be faddish. Back in the 1980s, I bought balls, paintings and ceramics. But my heart was in clubs, so I sold and traded the other material to build my club collection. A painted golf scene on a ceramic is nice, but let’s face it: No golf ball was ever hit with a ceramic vase.
Collecting coins as a kid taught me the importance of condition and rarity. So when I started with clubs, those were my watchwords. But who knew what was rare and what wasn’t? No one even knew what was out there. That’s why I ended up writing the book. I decided to buy old stuff, which is easy to spot: The irons were far different in size and the woods, far different in shape. I also wanted structurally unusual clubs. Those were my guiding lights: old, different, good condition. And I was fortunate; those have ended up being the most valuable.
What are the important subgroups within your collection?
I have tried to get one of every great antique club design. The clubs fall into general groups. Among them, I’ve got long-nosed clubs, which are woods made prior to 1890 that have a long, hockey sticklike head. I have early, pre-1850 irons far bigger and heavier than those today, used for play with feather balls. I have track irons, which came into vogue in the mid-1800s, with little silver-dollar-sized heads designed for playing out of rutted cart or wagon tracks. (Most old courses were played on common ground, not the manicured, well-defined spaces of today.) I have the first water iron, used for playing out of water, from 1879, plus more than 20 later ones, which run into the early 1900s.
As golf arrived on American shores and popularity soared at the turn of the 20th century, the number of club patents increased dramatically, especially for mechanical designs. From that period, I’ve collected all the innovative examples: roller putters, fork-shaft clubs, early metal woods with all manner of experimental neck joints, drivers with lead pellets hidden in the head to maximize striking power–to name a few. Not only did all this innovation forge improvements in the club, but it molded the game’s rules as well. For example, a few years after deep grooves were put on the iron to maximize backspin, governing bodies outlawed the design because they felt it made the game too mechanical. They wanted golf to be about ability, not about buying a shot.
Did you have a mentor?
No one person. My most beneficial contact has been with the Golf Collectors Society, where I met other collectors, saw their stuff and got questions answered. We are happy to share our knowledge.
How has the market for this material changed since you began?
When I started, I was picking cherries. There was no competition. I knew things were cheap, so I didn’t hesitate. I remember buying an early 1810 iron for $8,000 back in 1984. That would sell for between $35,000 and $50,000 now. Now the rarest clubs sell in the low six figures. But you won’t find them on eBay , which has mostly nickel-and-dime clubs. Only once in a great while will you see one go for a few thousand dollars there.
Speaking of modest prices, what’s the market been like for entry-level collectible clubs?
Collectors often start with classic clubs (1930s-’60s), which usually go for a couple hundred bucks. One popular model has been the MacGregor Tommy Armour 945 Eye-O-Matic persimmon driver, with which Nicklaus won most of his majors. At its height in the 1980s, that club would sell for upward of $2,000–and in Japan, upward of $5,000. The whole Japanese market, which was based on hero worship, crashed when the best players started changing their clubs. Now the 945 E-O-M sells for a few hundred bucks. The lesson: Hero worship doesn’t appreciate.
Some of the more common clubs that have appreciated include the Cran cleeks, made by Spalding between 1897 and 1920. Ten or15 years ago, they brought $400 and $500; now they sell up to $1,500 for a really nice one. I recommend sticking with the historic wood-shaft-era clubs, where the important name was not who endorsed or played a club, but who made it.
So who were the most important makers?
In the early to mid-1800s, the coveted names are John Jackson and Hugh Philp, the first official maker at St. Andrews in Scotland, who is recognized as the Stradivarius of club makers. Approximately 200 of his clubs are still known to exist, and they bring $2,000 to $30,000, depending on condition and other factors. I have a rare Philp engraved presentation club from circa 1840 that is especially valuable. Drivers or long spoons bring more than putters. The older, the better. How do you tell an early Philp from a later one? A club made in 1820 would be blocky, thick, somewhat crude in profile, almost resembling a weapon. By the end of the featherball era (around 1850), clubs looked far more elegant, with refined, graceful shapes. When the heavier, molded-resin gutta percha ball was introduced in 1850, the clubs fattened up again. In the latter half of the 19th century, important makers included Robert Forgan and Old Tom Morris. An 1860 hand-made long-nose driver, made by Morris, the “grand old man of golf” (who was not only a club maker, but a ball maker, course architect and champion player), is worth $5,000$10,000. A Morris bulger driver from the 1890s is worth hundreds.
How do you appraise rare, unusual clubs?
Many of my clubs are the only examples known, so it’s hard. John Jackson clubs are even more rare than Philps’. I spent $30,000 in 1990 for one, and there hasn’t been a Jackson of that quality available ever since. When the last quality square-toe iron came up in 1992, someone bought it for $100,000. I later acquired it for more, which is all I’ll tell you. Another came up in 1998, which had been cleaned and didn’t have its original finish. It still sold for $75,000. An okay example but not a prime one. Again, rarity and condition matter.
What’s the most valuable club?
The holy grail, value-wise, is the spurtoe iron from the 1600s. I have a couple of square-toes from that period (only 12 first-generation irons are known), but not one with the spur at the bottom of the club that was used to extract balls from deep or rocky lies. There are only six extant. Those cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What effect do condition problems and restoration have on value?
A mid-19th century Philp club can be $10,000, but poor condition will bring it down to $1,500. Restoration can reduce value by more than half. People shouldn’t pay for a club that’s been resanded and restained. That’s not even Philp’s work any moreit’s just the wood he chose. That’s not worth anything to me.
What clubs do you still covet?
I would trade my left arm for Alan Shepard‘s moon club. Even though it’s a steel shaft, it’s one of the greatest clubs in existence, and it resides in the USGA Museum in Far Hills, N.J. The museum also has Bobby Jones‘ Calamity Jane putter, which I would love to have.
Tell me about one you had to chase.
I met a guy at a golf collector’s meeting who had a rare and visually unusual putter that I really wanted, called a Suitall putter, with a big arcing bottom and huge curvy peaks on the top. But he didn’t want to sell it. He wanted me to buy a ceramic and trade it to him. But that seller wanted to be paid with yet another ceramic, so it ended up being a three-way deal. I really wanted that putter.
So you also transact by trading?
Sure. On another occasion, a guy wanted ceramics for two Isaac Palmer fork-shafts from 1900, the wood and the iron. I couldn’t get on a plane fast enough. I had seen the patent records for those, but had never seen the actual clubs. I traded all nine of my ceramics for those clubs, along with some other stuff.
Do old clubs get faked?
It’s an age-old problem. Within ten years after Hugh Philp died in 1856, people starting forging his clubs. There will always be people who want to cash in. A bogus Garner putter, which was designed to be used right-handed, left-handed or billiard style, sold at Bonhams for over $15,000 in 2004. The real one is quite rare, since one month after Garner applied for a patent in 1904, billiard-style clubs were banned. I bought one in 1988 for $3,300. I could see from pictures of the Bonhams one that the material, shape and lettering were wrong. But when no one has seen that club except in my books, it’s easy to get fooled. Fakers usually stamp the letters on one letter at a time, but they don’t have the correct font. They try and “antique” the club by putting black paint down in the letters, or gun blue or Instant Rust on the iron. I saw one fake square-toe come to market twice with different “rust” patinas! Once you’ve spent some time, paid your dues and educated yourself, the real stuff–the all-original stuff–sings. When I look at a club that could be worth a lot, I always approach it with skepticism. I consider everything: the finish, the shape, the shaft. You can’t take just one as the determining factor. If I have any question, I’ll pass.
Any final words of wisdom?
Be patient. To buy quality, history and unusual design in wonderful condition, you have to wait for good things to come forward. Of course, always buy something you really like. If you put a club up on the wall and all you see is the money you spent, then you’ve made a mistake. I paid $32,000 for my Jackson club, probably the highest anyone’s ever paid for one. But I don’t care. It’s the most gorgeous, elegant club, with graceful curves and beautiful sweeping lines. I don’t advise people to collect as an investment. You collect because you love the game, you appreciate the history and you want to have that connection that you can pick up and enjoy, that you can marvel and wonder at.
Check out some of Jeff Ellis’ antique golf clubs.
Excerpted from the June 2005 issue of The Forbes Collector.
Subscribe to The Forbes Collector!
Comments are turned off for this post. | Don't think you can turn iron into gold? You can if you collect antique golf clubs. | 138.894737 | 0.842105 | 1.789474 | high | medium | mixed |
http://time.com/132124/uber-self-driving-cars/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160524082615id_/http://time.com:80/132124/uber-self-driving-cars/ | Uber CEO Would Replace Drivers With Self-Driving Cars | 20160524082615 | Once self-driving cars are everywhere, Uber thinks they’ll make up its entire fleet.
Speaking at Re/code’s Code conference, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said he loves the idea of autonomous vehicles, like the one Google unveiled on Tuesday, and would happily replace his human drivers with a self-driving fleet.
“The reason Uber could be expensive is you’re paying for the other dude in the car,” Kalanick said, according to Business Insider. “When there is no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere is cheaper. Even on a road trip.”
Kalanick’s comments come as Uber is engaged in a PR push over driver pay. Faced with mounting protests over workers’ wages, Uber recently said its drivers can make up to $90,000 annually, although that number doesn’t factor in costs associated with being a professional driver.
Kalanick also said that, over time, the cost of a ride would be so low that even the idea of car ownership itself might just “go away.”
That seems a bit extreme, for at least as long as we’ve got cars that let you take the wheel, and people who enjoy the act of driving. And either way, owning a car would probably still make economic sense if you drove it enough. But a company with a huge fleet of reasonably-priced, self-driving cars could do pretty well in this hypothetical future, so it’s no surprise that Kalanick and Uber are on board. | And who needs to own a car when you can just as easily summon a self-driving ride for cheap? | 13.454545 | 0.727273 | 1.363636 | low | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2015/08/07/apple-new-iphone-date/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160524122018id_/http://fortune.com:80/2015/08/07/apple-new-iphone-date/ | Apple To Unveil New iPhone On September 9 | 20160524122018 | The new iPhone will reportedly be unveiled on September 9. Although Apple hasn’t officially revealed the fall event for the phone, sources familiar with the matter told Buzzfeed’s John Paczkowski that the event will take place during the week of September 7 (Paczkowski has been accurate on previous Apple events.)
Wednesday will most likely be the day the event takes place given Apple’s history for holding such occasions.
The event is expected to reveal the features for the new iPhone, including a Force Touch display, a better camera, and a more powerful wireless chip, according to the publication.
But that’s not all. New iPads and a new Apple TV could also be announced as well.
For more on Apple’s potential plans, here’s information on a possible 4-inch iPhone 6, or at least hope for one in the future. | It's going to be a good fall | 20.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/may/19/australian-election-2016-david-feeney-faces-more-questions-over-investment-portfolio-politics-live | http://web.archive.org/web/20160524134227id_/http://www.theguardian.com:80/australia-news/live/2016/may/19/australian-election-2016-david-feeney-faces-more-questions-over-investment-portfolio-politics-live?page=with:block-573d2f07e4b0451a6f48277b | Australian election campaign: day 11 - as it happened | 20160524134227 | A head-on collision has occurred as federal opposition leader Bill Shorten arrived at Testers Hollow on Thursday. A woman is trapped in a blue sedan, which was headed towards Maitland. The occupants of the other vehicle are out of the car.
Shorten’s car was pulling up when the accident occurred. A woman in her mid-20s has sustained minor facial injuries and pain in the knee, Ambulance NSW has confirmed. Two other people injured will not be taken to hospital.
The opposition leader took a woman and her child, who were in the other car, to safety after the Cessnock road accident shortly before 1pm. Paramedics are assessing the woman, who has injuries under her arm.
Shorten has not left her side since the accident occurred, offering consolation. | Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten spend day 11 of the campaign in New South Wales after a particularly ugly day 10. Follow all the latest updates here | 5.321429 | 0.357143 | 0.5 | low | low | abstractive |
http://nypost.com/2013/04/26/its-a-suite-chance-for-msg-tickets/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160524142404id_/http://nypost.com:80/2013/04/26/its-a-suite-chance-for-msg-tickets/ | It’s a ‘suite’ chance for MSG tickets | 20160524142404 | Here’s the last chance to lock into Knicks and Rangers season tickets, but it will cost a small fortune — up to $600,000.
Madison Square Garden has begun marketing 18 new upper-bowl, luxury suites aimed at attracting companies run by sports and entertainment junkies. They will be built over the summer after both clubs — which have long waiting lists for season tickets — finish their seasons.
The 365-square-foot suites when completed in the fall will be among the last pieces of the Garden’s third and final phase of its $1 billion top-to-bottom transformation project.
Besides being slightly closer to the court area, the suites offer superior amenities to existing upper-bowl suites, which will be removed to pave the way for a lounge area to be called the Budweiser Fan Deck.
The new suites will each come with 12 private seats to all Garden events, plus an opportunity to purchase up to five additional tickets.
“One of our goals with the newly transformed Madison Square Garden is to present premium hospitality offerings, at every level, for companies who want an unmatched experience for entertaining or doing business,” Dave Howard, president of MSG Sports, told the Post.
“The new Signature Suites will feature first-class amenities, food offerings from some of New York’s best chefs, access to exclusive gatherings with Garden legends and center-stage views for every exciting event at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
“And with all of our other suites and clubs virtually sold out, the Signature Suites are the last way for a company to gain access to the ultimate premium entertainment experience to help drive business in the center of Manhattan.”
The Post was provided renderings offering a first look at the suites, which are filled with state-of-the-art amenities, including rich wood finishes, granite-topped serving areas, flat-panel televisions, a restroom and kitchen.
Master chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Andrew Carmellini and Jeremy Marshall will provide the dining menu with wines selected by top sommeliers.
“Branding walls” will also be offered, giving companies the opportunity to customize their suites by slapping their logos on the walls.
Leases are being offered for terms of three, five and seven years at up to $600,000 annually.
The suite level will also include an added bonus: access to a 2,180-square-foot, window-lined lobby offering a unique collection of artifacts that pay homage to many of the top sports stars and entertainers who have graced the grand Garden stage over the years.
Among the potential items that could be displayed are the Knicks’ 1972-73 season championship trophy and clothing worn during concerts by A-list performers like Elton John.
Suite holders will also be eligible to attend special lobby-area events where they will be able to mingle with current and former Knicks and Ranger stars and others who have played at the Garden.
As part of its transformation, the Garden over the past two years has replaced older suites with 20 new “bunker,” or event-level suites, and 58 lower-bowl, open-air Madison Level Suites. The bunker suites leased for more than a $1 million a pop and the Madison Level Suites for up to $700,000.
The usual suspects — Gotham’s top banks, brokers, media companies and law firms — are the main occupants. | Artist’s rendering ( )Carmelo Anthony (Getty Images) ( ) Here’s the last chance to lock into Knicks and Rangers season tickets, but it will cost a small fortune — up to $600,000. Madison Squa… | 15.325581 | 0.674419 | 17 | low | low | extractive |
http://time.com/3793028/joel-meyerowitz-taking-his-time/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160525035503id_/http://time.com:80/3793028/joel-meyerowitz-taking-his-time/ | Taking His Time as a Master Street Photographer | 20160525035503 | The 1939 edition of Robert Frost’s Collected Poems contained an introductory essay that wasn’t in the first edition. In that article, entitled “The Figure a Poem Makes,” Frost wrote, “Like giants we are always hurling experience ahead of us to pave the future with against the day when we may want to strike a line of purpose across it for somewhere.”
Though he didn’t know it at the time, acclaimed photographer Joel Meyerowitz began hurling his own experiences ahead of him in 1962. While working as an art director at an advertising agency, Meyerowitz met photographer Robert Frank who was shooting a clothing brochure. Meyerowitz watched Frank move while he photographed, and he had an incredible epiphany. On the way back to the office, Meyerowitz walked the streets of New York for more than an hour. “I felt like I was reading the text of the street in a way that I never had before,” he says.
When he returned to the office, Meyerowitz told his boss, Harry Gordon, that he was quitting. He wanted to be a photographer. Gordon then asked him a crucial question: did he have a camera? The answer was no, so Gordon lent him a 35mm camera and Meyerowitz embarked on the great journey of his life.
Over the next 50 years Meyerowitz exhibited at the MoMA, received a Guggenheim Fellowship, published books and taught photography at Cooper Union. But there was always one place where you had a chance to run into him and become immortalized in his gargantuan body of work. Meyerowitz is, first and foremost, a street photographer. Though he has shot street scenes in France, Germany, Atlanta, Ohio and dozens of places in between, the chaotic streets of New York City make up his favorite studio. “Fifth Avenue is my boulevard,” he says. “No street in the world, and I’ve traveled a lot, has for me the kind of sexy, improvisatory collisions between elegance and lowness. You can see bike messengers and models, billionaires and hustlers, and it’s all out there every day.”
That first day with Robert Frank served as more than just a catalytic inspiration; it laid the foundation for how Meyerowitz would record street life. He bobs and weaves through the throngs of people, searching for that serendipitous moment that becomes a great photograph. “The way someone makes a gesture on the street or the way couples react to each other or the simultaneity of two things happening at the same time and the relationship between them,” are some of the elements he looks for. “It was the wonder of human nature and this incredible capacity for things to keep showing themselves to me,” he says.
When he is shooting on the street, there isn’t much time to contemplate each moment. “Photography takes place in a fraction of a second,” Meyerowitz says. “There isn’t a lot of time to think about things. You have to hone your instinct. You learn to hone that skill and timing so you’re in the right place at the right time.” Although he has made images that have moved audiences for decades, that has never been his true motivation. “I’m not out there to make another ‘great picture,’” he says. “I’m really out there to feel what it feels like to be alive and conscious in that moment. In a sense, the record of my photographs is a record of moments of consciousness and awareness that have come to me in my life.”
This year, the 50th anniversary of when he first took up the camera, Meyerowitz compiled hundreds of his favorite images for the two-volume collection, Joel Meyerowitz: Taking My Time (Phaidon Press). The project isn’t just a greatest hits collection. “It’s easy to make a book of your very best things and not necessarily have a narrative arc,” he says. “I wanted to stick strictly to the chronology as precisely as I could and show my own development.” The result is a visual biography of an artist who for half a century has snapped moments–fractions of seconds–and preserved them forever. Each tells a unique story that Meyerowitz has used to pave his life. Through the images of people and places and tiny moments in time, one can see a remarkable line of purpose he has created, one that runs fluidly across the experience of his life.
Joel Meyerowitz is a New York City-based photographer. Beginning Nov. 2, his work will be displayed in a two-part solo show at the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York.
LightBox previously featured Meyerowitz’s photographs of the destruction and reconstruction at Ground Zero. | In honor of the 50th anniversary of when he first took up a camera, photographer Joel Meyerowitz has compiled hundreds of his favorite images for a new two-volume collection. | 27.636364 | 0.969697 | 4.666667 | medium | high | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/04/20/qualcomm-apple-intel-chips/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160525050649id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/04/20/qualcomm-apple-intel-chips/? | Qualcomm CEO Sees Competition Coming For iPhone Chip Business | 20160525050649 | It’s been widely rumored, but never officially confirmed, that Apple plans to use wireless modem chips from Intel in upgraded iPhone models later this year. And that poses quite a quandary for executives at Qualcomm, whose iPhone modem chips will likely be displaced, as well as the cadre of Wall Street analysts who try to forecast the company’s results.
For about the first 56 minutes of the company’s hour long earnings conference call on Wednesday, CEO Steven Mollenkopf and his top staff along with a dozen or more analysts managed to talk around the Apple-Intel issue. No one mentioned Apple aapl or Intel intc by name. It was all about “large customers” that probably were going to “second source” some chips, industry jargon for adding a competing supplier.
Near the beginning of the call, Mollenkopf tried to reassure investors by saying the company had always anticipated in its financial forecasts that “large customers” would sometimes switch to rival chipmakers. Even with those defections, he said he believed the company could achieve its profit margin goals.
“We have strong confidence in our technology leadership,” Mollenkopf said.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune‘s technology newsletter.
Investors don’t know for sure how much of Qualcomm’s revenue and profits are directly attributable to the iPhone. But analysts have recently estimated that if Intel won 30% to 40% of the iPhone chips, it would reduce Qualcomm’s earnings per share next year by 6% to 9%.
Overall, Qualcomm qcom said on Wednesday that its fiscal second quarter earnings and outlook for the rest of the year were somewhat weaker-than-expected. Its shares dipped about 2% in after hours trading.
Under Mollenkopf, Qualcomm has gotten in the habit of issuing all manner of detailed forecasts about its own business, the global smartphone market and the price of tea in China (just kidding about the tea). But with the Apple-Intel deal looming, analysts had a hard time accepting the CEO’s assurances and kept pressing. And Mollenkopf kept returning to his script.
Finally, with the call almost concluded, Edward Snyder, an analyst at Charter Equity Research, asked about the scripted answer and broke the silence by naming Intel.
“Are we to imply from that statement that the mere mention of it means that it will be material in either [the number of] units or [profit] margins,” Snyder asked in an effort to determine whether Qualcomm’s business would truly suffer. “And along the same lines, since we are talking about Intel, it is true that every modem they’ve shipped so far has been fabbed at TSMC [made by Taiwan Semiconductor], but does your calculus on competition or market share change if they move that modem into their own process?”
Mollenkopf dismissed the second half of the question about whether it mattered if Intel made the chips themselves, but still wasn’t taking the bait even when the name of the competition came up.
“It’s really a communication of a planning assumption and also confidence in us meeting our long term trajectory,” he said. “And I think it’s important to make sure people understand that. We do feel very confident, though, in our position in the modem segment.”
Most analysts assume Intel will grab only a small portion of Apple’s iPhone business. Mollenkopf may know more, but for now at least, he’s only willing to give hints. | A very long time when talking to Wall Street, it seems | 55.75 | 0.916667 | 1.25 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/04/28/google-motorola-rick-osterloh-hardware/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160525053414id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/04/28/google-motorola-rick-osterloh-hardware/ | Google Hires Former Motorola President Rick Osterloh To Lead Hardware | 20160525053414 | Google just took a big step in its effort to grow its consumer electronics business.
The search giant has hired Motorola’s former president Rick Osterloh to oversee a new hardware-focused business unit, according to a report on Thursday by the technology news website Re/code.
The new unit includes many of Google’s hardware projects including the Nexus phone, Chromecast video streaming stick, and the Google Glass Internet-connected eyewear device.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.
Osterloh will become a senior vice president and report to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the report said. This will be Osterloh’s second stint at Google goog after working at Motorola acquired it in 2012. When Google sold Motorola to Lenovo two years later, Osterloh stuck with Motorola as Motorola’s president and chief operating officer.
In January, Lenovo decided to rebrand Motorola as “Moto by Lenovo,” and would sell high-end smartphones under the Moto name.
For more about Google, watch:
In March, Osterloh chose to leave Motorola while Lenovo amid a corporate restructuring that saw Lenovo rename its enterprise business unit the Data Center Group, among other changes. Last month, Lenovo named Aymar de Lencquesaing to take over Osterloh’s position. | Search giant hires former Motorola president Rick Osterloh | 29.875 | 0.875 | 1.875 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/o-phone-message-gal-grisly-night-article-1.678558 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160525092138id_/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/archives/news/o-phone-message-gal-grisly-night-article-1.678558 | O.J. PHONE MESSAGE FOR GAL ON GRISLY NIGHT | 20160525092138 | LOS ANGELES Hours before his ex-wife was murdered, O.
J. Simpson phoned a Victoria's Secret model to announce he was "finally . . . totally, totally unattached with everybody," the Daily News has learned. In a bombshell tape-recorded message left on model Gretchen Stockdale's voice mail at 7:35 p.
m. on June 12, Simpson hinted that his troubled romances with Nicole Brown Simpson and his then-girlfriend Paula Barbieri were over and he was looking to start fresh. "Hey, Gretchen, sweetheart, it's Orenthal James, who is finally at a place in his life where he is like, totally, totally, unattached with everybody. Ha haaaah!
" the smooth-talking Simpson said in the message reviewed by The News. "Uh, in any event, um, I've got a Sunday evening, uh, I'd love . . . I guess I'm catching a red-eye at midnight or something to Chicago, but I'll be back Monday night. Uh, if you leave me a message, leave it on 310-xxx-xxxx. That's 310-xxx-xxxx.
" Prosecutors say the slayings of Nicole, 35, and her friend Ronald Goldman, 25, occurred around 10:15 p.
m., less than three hours after O.
's call to Stockdale. He has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. After months of keeping mum about the explosive phone tape, Stockdale, an ex-L.
A. Raiders cheerleader who has modeled lingerie for Victoria's Secret, reportedly is shopping it around to tabloid TV shows, seeking a five-figure pay-off, sources said. Sources close to O.
J. have said they think the call to Stockdale boosts his defense, showing he had romance not murder on his mind that night. Stockdale may be called as a defense witness, sources said yesterday. Prosecutors might interpret the message differently. On the day before and the day of the slayings, O.
J. had problems with Barbieri and Nicole. On Saturday night, June 11, O.
J. attended a charity ball with Barbieri, but they squabbled because she wanted to attend his daughter Sydney's dance recital the next day and he didn't want her to, saying the event was for "family.
" Barbieri was hurt, and on Sunday she went to Las Vegas, where she hung out in pop singer Michael Bolton's dressing room for hours, sources said. At the recital early Sunday evening, O.
J. got "upset" because Nicole cut short his visit with Sydney after the performance. He also complained to houseguest Brian (Kato) Kaelin that Nicole wore a "tight dress.
" Stockdale wasn't the only new woman O.
J. reached out to on the day of the killings. While he was getting dressed for the 5 p.
m. recital, he phoned Playboy model Traci Adell and, according to Kaelin, said: "I've got everything in the world, but I'm not a happy man. How can you make me happy, Traci? | LOS ANGELES Hours before his ex-wife was murdered, O.J. Simpson phoned a Victoria's Secret model to announce he was "finally . . . totally, totally unattached with everybody," the Daily News has learned.
In a bombshell tape-recorded message left on model Gretchen Stockdale's voice mail at 7:35 p.m. on June 12, Simpson hinted that his troubled romances with Nicole Brown Simpson and his then-girlfriend Paula Barbieri were over and he was looking to start | 6.413043 | 0.945652 | 19.98913 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/rob-kardashian-smiles-rare-kissing-photo-blac-chyna-article-1.2536919 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160525101715id_/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/entertainment/gossip/rob-kardashian-smiles-rare-kissing-photo-blac-chyna-article-1.2536919 | Rob Kardashian smiles in kissing photos with Blac Chyna | 20160525101715 | Rob Kardashian has never looked happier.
The reality TV star was all smiles as girlfriend Blac Chyna planted a kiss on his cheek on a post shared on Snap Chat on Thursday.
The romantic photo is one of the first images to clearly shows Kardashian’s face as previous snaps shared by both have usually hidden his full mug.
The pair continued to pack on the public displays of affection throughout the day, showing the most intimate side of them since going public with their relationship.
The pair showed the highest level of PDA yet on Thursday.
The two got handsy after leaving a plastic surgeon's office Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles, with Kardashian flashing yet another huge smile.
Earlierin the day, the new couple was also spotted walking into a Los Angeles office building and a bearded Kardashian looked notably slimmer since packing on 100 pounds last year.
Still, not everyone was sharing Kardashian's joy.
Sister Khloe Kardashian took to Instagram moments later to share a flashback post of her brother kissing her cheek.
"It's simple ... I miss you," she captioned the black and white image, along with three sad emojis.
Big sister Kourtney Kardashian chimed in too, retweeting the throwback post and commenting back "true love."
Despite the family complications, the couple has been spotted out more and the two have increasingly showed off their romance on social media since they were first reported to be an item last month.
Just two days ago, the 28-year-old took to Instagram to display the newfound happiness in his life.
He posted a picture with the words “Progress=Happiness.”
A photo posted by ROBERT KARDASHIAN (@robkardashian) on Feb 15, 2016 at 8:03pm PST
CAITLYN JENNER FILES TRADEMARK FOR COSMETIC LINE IN HER NAME
Those motivational words seem to prove true since Kardashian linked up with Chyna —despite the drama it’s caused with his family.
The 27-year-old model has pushed her man to lose weight and embrace the spotlight.
Even Kanye West recently gave Chyna her dues.
“Blac Chyna f------ Rob helped him with the weight,” he rapped on his new album “The Life of Pablo.”
Chyna, whose real name is Angela Renee White, has posted a few photos of her smitten beau cuddling up to her, proving just how inseparable they’ve quickly become.
On Valentine’s Day, Kardashian showed his love, giving Chyna 100 red roses and, more importantly, a personalized painting covered in diamond dust which reportedly cost $35,000. | The former recluse, Rob Kardashian, has never looked happier than when faced with kisses from model girlfriend Blac Chyna. | 22.363636 | 0.681818 | 1.409091 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/3810492/behind-the-making-of-deep-dive/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160525201321id_/http://time.com:80/3810492/behind-the-making-of-deep-dive/ | Behind TIME's 360 Degree Panoramic Underwater Video | 20160525201321 | One of the many challenges of being a photo editor today is understanding your publication’s platforms — and identifying opportunities to try something visually exciting on them. When I found out, back in November 2013, that Fabien Cousteau planned to embark on a 31-day underwater mission on the world’s only habitable underwater science lab, I immediately wanted to take TIME’s readers on a dive around the coral-covered submersible.
But how could we make our audience feel like they were actually on a scuba dive? What would be the most immersive experience? An interactive 360-degree panoramic video seemed to be the answer. But with the project approved, a problem arose: how would we shoot that kind of video 60 feet below the ocean’s surface?
After much research and many phone calls, I came across a man called Michael Kintner, the founder and inventor of 360Heros, a company that makes one of the only 360-degree underwater video rigs. Kintner worked with us not only to train our cinematographers on how to shoot with the underwater rig while scuba diving, but also by stitching together the video and displaying the end product in an interactive player.
In the end, it took us three different shoots, with three different cinematographers, on three different days (due to low visibility and strong currents) to get the perfect continuous shot around Aquarius — followed by many more hours of video stitching, development work, and video editing. The result is Deep Dive, which you can explore here.
Below, TIME talks to Kintner about his 360Heros products and the making of our first underwater 360-degree video.
Mia Tramz: Tell us how you created the 360Heros line of products.
Michael Kintner: I had been flying helium blimps as part of my aerial photography company called AmazingAerialPhotos.com. Back in 2010 and 2011, I wanted to be able to take 360-degree photos from my blimp in one pass. In order for me to create these, I had rigged a remote control assembly on the bottom, so as soon as I flipped the trigger, it would rotate the camera, take a picture, rotate the camera, take a picture, and we could take spherical photos from the air.
At that time, I was using the [GoPro] Heros in a manual configuration and doing a partial 360 view. Then we were slicing the videos manually, synching up the cameras manually, and then using a batch routine to literally stitch all the photos together. It was really time consuming.
MT: And at what point did you make the decision to create your own product?
MK: I started researching 3D printers in 2011, and then I actually created my first model in November of 2011.
MT: You 3D-printed the first model?
MK: Yes. Matter of fact, all of my models are 3D-printed even today. They’re exclusively printed from 3D Systems at the moment, and we have future plans of doing injection mold, which is really close to being done.
We have eight different model types that we create now for filming a wide variety of sequences, whether it’s on the ground or below water. And the nice part about it is I can adapt the models as we learn. So if GoPro comes out with a brand new camera, within four days, based upon the engineering software that I wrote, I’ll have a brand new adapter for all of my rigs.
MT: With the underwater rig and the other products, what was the biggest road bump you hit while you were developing these products?
MK: The biggest road bump was the underwater 360 video. GoPro cameras are awesome cameras. I mean, it’s amazing the power that you have in that little housing. But the problem is when the camera is out of water, you have a field-of-view of around 170 degrees. You take that same camera underwater and the field-of-view changes to 130 degrees. So you lose 40 degrees field-of-view, and as soon as you do that, you can no longer stitch [the images together] because you don’t have enough data.
The challenge was to create a dome (patent pending) that I could snap onto the GoPro cameras to restore that field-of-view underwater.
MT: How did you go about creating that dome?
MK: It was all done right here at the house, and I experimented bending polycarbonate to try to find the right angles.
MT: And then did you have to find a manufacturer for the domes?
MK: Yeah. There are basically three different manufacturing companies that [can] create those snap-on domes. And that’s where I met Bill Fuger from Snake River Prototyping, and we got to be great friends. We partnered on the dome side of the concept… The challenge with your project is that the field-of-view is lost underwater, so you’re really trying to restore it back. And you can’t do it with clear lenses, you need to have the cyan filter to get the color right underwater. That was another challenge. The first time we tested it [was] with clear water in a pool, and it worked great. But as soon as I dropped it into the ocean I lost all my color. So I worked with a local dives shop here [WHERE?] in town, Jerry Cummins from J&D Scuba, who was my advanced dive instructor, and we put together the first model. He actually went to Belize, and I trained him on how to properly hold it, and that’s where we shot our first successful underwater footage.
MT: What did that feel like when you guys finally got that in the can?
MK: Yahoo! [Laughter] It was like “Holy sugar! I can’t believe it works!” So we’ve had all sorts of people contact us. Google has talked to us about doing 360 video underwater and charting all of the underwater territory. And what’s really exciting about what we’ve done for TIME is that we’re using our newest software, our newest configuration, and it’s really coming together. I mean, compared to where we started to where we are now, it’s a huge leap.
MT: Is 360Heros officially affiliated with GoPro?
MK: We’re not. We’re just a very proud user.
MT: When I pitched the idea for 360 underwater video back in November 2013, I did it without really doing any research into how we would shoot it, which, you know, in hindsight was probably not a great idea. I was surprised when we started looking into what technology to use to find that your product was one of only two underwater 360 video rigs on the market — and that yours was much more developed. Why do you think that is?
MK: Right now, the one thing that’s made it all possible is the GoPro camera. The second thing is we’ve spent the time to research and engineer the domes in order to allow that to happen for the least amount of cameras, which is extremely critical. And then the other thing is that we don’t require any computer hooked to it… You just snap the cameras into their housings, and they’re protected. What we want to do now is train and teach people on how to do it and do it easily.
MT: What kind of advice would you give to young entrepreneurs or inventors who want to get into business for themselves in the fields of video or photography?
MK: My advice is to strive to make it perfect. Don’t give up that type of mentality. I always want to break the barrier and try to do something that’s never been done before. And that’s what’s so cool.
For example, a company called Everest Media Productions hired us to do their first 360 video on top of Mount Everest. There were huge challenges. I said, “I don’t know how this thing is going to handle at minus-55-degrees. It’s probably going to break.” You try to figure out how this all works, and your wife kind-of goes crazy when you empty out the freezer and put all the food in the refrigerator, and throw all [the camera] holders in the freezers. It’s that type of experimenting which is fun. And when you receive a Guinness Book of World Records award that you never expected, that’s really exciting.
MT: Well, thank you so much, Mike, both for the interview and for everything you’ve done with this project. We really appreciate it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Michael Kintner is the CEO/Founder of 360Heros and a recent Guinness Book of World Records inductee for the first fully spherical HD 360 video filmed on the summit of Mount Everest using the 360Heros 360 video gear.
Mia Tramz is an Associate Photo Editor for TIME.com. Follow her on Twitter @miatramz. | Creating an interactive 360-degree panoramic video can be a technological challenge, especially when your subject is underwater. TIME goes behind-the-scenes of its Deep Dive project and speaks with 360Heros' Michael Kintner, who manufactured from scratch an underwater video rig | 37.319149 | 0.787234 | 1.468085 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/fresh-prince-will-smith-aunt-vivian/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160526060911id_/http://www.tmz.com:80/2011/12/27/fresh-prince-will-smith-aunt-vivian/ | 'Fresh Prince' Star RIPS Will Smith -- I'll Never Reunite with that 'A**hole' | 20160526060911 | The woman who played the original Aunt Viv on "
" says there's a damn good reason she wasn't at
with the rest of the Banks family -- she HATES
15 years after the show went off the air ...
tells TMZ, she's still upset with the way she was fired from the show ... and blames the whole thing on Smith himself.
"There will never be a reunion ... as I will never do anything with an a**hole like Will Smith," Hubert said.
She adds, "He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up. This constant reunion thing will never ever happen in my lifetime unless there is an apology, which he doesn't know the word."
Hubert has said in the past she believes Smith is to blame for her departure in the middle of the show's run -- claiming he turned on her because she wouldn't kiss his butt.
But Smith refuted the claims after Hubert left the show in 1993 -- telling an Atlanta radio station Hubert simply had a bad attitude which played a major role in her demise.
Smith told the radio station, "[Hubert] said once, 'I've been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show.' No matter what, to her I'm just the AntiChrist."
We called Smith for comment -- so far, no response. | The woman who played the original Aunt Viv on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" says there's a damn good reason she wasn't at a recent reunion dinner with the… | 8.117647 | 0.823529 | 7.411765 | low | medium | mixed |
http://www.tmz.com/2014/02/03/philip-seymour-hoffman-passed-out-jet-plane-atlanta-new-york-drinking-death-heroin/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160526060931id_/http://www.tmz.com:80/2014/02/03/philip-seymour-hoffman-passed-out-jet-plane-atlanta-new-york-drinking-death-heroin/ | Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Nods Off On Plane After Drinking Binge | 20160526060931 | was out like a light minutes after boarding a plane in Georgia last week ... after he was seen hitting the bottle at an Atlanta bar ... TMZ has learned.
According to a passenger ... Hoffman was out almost as quickly as he took his seat for the NY-bound jet Thursday ... his head falling forward into his chest.
We're told sometime after the plane took off ... PSH came to ... groggy and disheveled. After the flight touched down, we're told he was quickly put on a waiting airport cart and whisked away.
As we first reported ...
earlier that day -- just 3 days before his death -- witnesses said he appeared drunk and made repeated trips to the bathroom. | Philip Seymour Hoffman was out like a light minutes after boarding a plane in Georgia last week ... after he was seen hitting the bottle at an… | 4.533333 | 0.833333 | 17.7 | low | medium | extractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/01/12/powerball-hits-1-5-billion-largest-us-world-lottery-jackpot-f/21296024/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160526094344id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/01/12/powerball-hits-1-5-billion-largest-us-world-lottery-jackpot-f/21296024/ | Powerball hits $1.5B, largest-ever lottery jackpot for one winner | 20160526094344 | The Powerball lottery jackpot climbed to $1.5 billion on Tuesday, making it the largest-ever U.S. lottery prize as well as the world's biggest potential jackpot for a single winner, according to lottery officials.
The payout has increased due to strong ticket sales on Monday, said Texas Lottery Commission spokeswoman Kelly Cripe.
See photos of Americans whipped into a frenzy over the record-breaking Powerball jackpot:
Powerball hits $1.5B, largest-ever lottery jackpot for one winner
7-Eleven store clerk M. Faroqui celebrates after learning the store sold a winning Powerball ticket on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 in Chino Hills, Calif. One winning ticket was sold at the store located in suburban Los Angeles said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for California lottery. The identity of the winner is not yet known. (Will Lester/The Sun via AP)
7-Eleven store clerk M. Faroqui celebrates with customers after learning the store sold a winning Powerball ticket on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 in Chino Hills, Calif. One winning ticket was sold at the store located in suburban Los Angeles said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for California lottery. The identity of the winner is not yet known. (Will Lester/The Sun via AP)
Hundreds gather outside the 7-Eleven, after it was announced the winning Powerball ticket was sold at the store, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 in Chino Hills, Calif. One winning ticket was sold at the store located in suburban Los Angeles said Alex Traverso, a spokesman for California lottery. The identity of the winner is not yet known. (Will Lester/The Sun via AP)
People line up to buy Powerball lottery tickets at Kavanagh Liquors, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, in San Lorenzo, Calif. The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night's drawing is at least $1.5 billion, the largest lottery jackpot in the world. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Laura Woodward displays the Powerball lottery tickets she bought for her office pool at Lichine's Liquor store, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night's drawing to be over $1 billion, the largest lottery jackpot in the world.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
People buy lottery tickets at the Primm Valley Casino Resorts Lotto Store just inside the California border Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, near Primm, Nev. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over $1 billion dollars for the next drawing on Wednesday. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Patrons line up to buy Powerball lottery tickets outside the Primm Valley Casino Resorts Lotto Store just inside the California border Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, near Primm, Nev. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over 1 billion dollars for the next drawing on Wednesday. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A sign shows the Powerball jackpot at a gas station Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Miami. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over $1 billion dollars for the next drawing on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Snow falls on a billboard advertising the record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot in downtown Pittsburgh, Jan. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
This is a billboard advertising the record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot in downtown Pittsburgh, Jan. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A tractor-trailer passes by a Kansas Lottery billboard in Topeka, Kan., Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over 1 billion dollars, and the drawing is still two days away. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
A sign advertising the Powerball lottery hangs on a store in New York, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The jackpot is so big that billboards around the country have to advertise the prize as $999 million because they're not built to show billions. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A Powerball ticket is sold in a truck stop in Carlisle, Pa., Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over 1 billion dollars. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A customer shows his purchased Powerball tickets at a grocery store in Hialeah, Fla., Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The Powerball jackpot has grown to over 1 billion dollars. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
A Pennsylvania lottery kiosk promotes the record $1.4 billion Powerball Jackpot in a mini-mart in Monroeville, Pa., Jan. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
People walk past a sign advertising the Powerball lottery in New York, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The jackpot is so big that billboards around the country have to advertise the prize as $999 million because they're not built to show billions. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A billboard outside Waverly, Neb., displays the top Powerball prize as $999 million, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The jackpot of over a billion dollars is so big that billboards around the country have to advertise the prize as $999 million because they're not built to show billions. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2016 file photo, Powerball tickets are shown in San Lorenzo, Calif. No ticket matched all six Powerball numbers following the drawing for a record jackpot of nearly $950 million, lottery officials said early Sunday, Jan. 10, boosting the expected payout for the next drawing to a whopping $1.3 billion. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Kimeron Ruszovan as she displays her Powerball quick picks purchased Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. Powerball sales are at record numbers for Saturday nights drawing.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Sergio Ponce looks over his Powerball quick picks purchased Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. Powerball sales are at record numbers for Saturday nights drawing.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Francisco Figueroa, second from right, buys Powerball lottery tickets at the Blue Bird Liquor store in Hawthorne, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. Lottery officials confirmed Friday that Saturday nightâs drawing will be for a record $800 million. The ever-increasing jackpot is a result of strong national sales ever since the jackpot was near $400 million just days ago. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Jay Suthar works the lottery machine at Pine Liquors in Fort Washington, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. With Powerball sales doubling previous records, the odds are growing that someone will win Saturdayâs $800 million jackpot, but if no one matches all the lottery numbers, next weekâs drawing is expected to soar past $1 billion. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A Powerball lottery card rests on a table, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, in Lyndhurst, Ohio. Lottery officials say sales have been robust since no one won Wednesday's estimated $500 million jackpot. It will be the biggest U.S. jackpot ever, beyond the previous record of a $656 million Mega Millions prize won in 2012 by players in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
A woman purchases a Powerball lottery ticket at a convenience store in Washington, DC, January 7, 2016. Lottery officials predict Saturday's jackpot will reach $700 million, the largest in history. AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB / AFP / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
A sign in the window of a liquor store shows the Powerball lottery jackpot at $700 million in Washington, DC, on January 7, 2016. The largest jackpot in lottery history, a whopping $700 million, is up for grabs in the United States on Saturday, driving feverish excitement among lotto players dreaming of becoming millionaires. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
A billboard displays the estimated jackpot for the Powerball lottery, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, in Miami. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $500 million. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Jose Garrido shows his Powerball tickets, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, at a local grocery store in Hialeah, Fla. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $500 million. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
A clerk hands over a Powerball ticket to a customer, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, at a local grocery store in Hialeah, Fla. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $500 million. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
CHICAGO, IL - FEBRUARY 11: A Powerball lottery ticket is printed for a customer at a 7-Eleven store on February 11, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Ticket sales have caused the jackpot to grow $500 million, one of the largest in the game's history. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - FEBRUARY 11: Kirk Cook rings up a Powerball lottery ticket sale at a 7-Eleven store on February 11, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Ticket sales have caused the jackpot to grow $500 million, one of the largest in the game's history. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
DUNKIRK, MD - JANUARY 06: With the Jackpot now at 500 million, Sherrie Haines sells a Powerball ticket to Robert Sweeney at the BP gas station, January 6, 2015 in Dunkirk, Maryland. People are visitingÃlottery counters across the area with hopes of hitting it big in tonights Powerball drawing. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
DUNKIRK, MD - JANUARY 06: With the Jackpot now at 500 million, Gale Call (L) and Sherrie Haines (C) sell a Powerball ticket to Mike Nastasi (R) at the BP gas station, January 6, 2015 in Dunkirk, Maryland. People are visitingÃlottery counters across the area with hopes of hitting it big in tonights Powerball drawing. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
A person purchase Powerball lottery tickets from a newsstand Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, in Philadelphia. Players will have a chance Wednesday night at the biggest lottery prize in nearly a year. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A man purchases a Powerball lottery ticket at a liquor store in Washington, DC, January 4, 2016. Lottery officials predict the January 6 jackpot will reach $400 million, one of the largest in the game's history. AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB / AFP / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016 file photo, a sign shows the estimated Powerball jackpot in Spring, Texas. Players will have a chance Wednesday night at the biggest lottery prize in nearly a year. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Powerball selection number selection slips are pictured at a store in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $450 million. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
A billboards displays the current worth of a winning Powerball lottery ticket Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in Springfield, Ill. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
A sign advertising Powerball tickets is pictured next to a display of instant lottery tickets in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $450 million. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Chris Huntsman, of Tulsa, Okla., displays his Powerball ticket at a store in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $450 million. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Jermaine Emory Mallory fills out a Powerball number selection slip at a store in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $450 million. No one has won the big prize in two months and officials say the jackpot is now the sixth-largest ever in North America. Players will have a chance Wednesday night at the biggest lottery prize in nearly a year. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
A billboard displays the estimated jackpot for the Powerball lottery in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Players will have a chance Wednesday night at the biggest lottery prize in nearly a year. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
A convenience store employee holds a Powerball lottery ticket in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Multi-State Lottery Association officials say the Powerball jackpot is up to $450 million for Wednesday night's drawing. It's the largest lottery jackpot in nearly a year and the sixth-largest ever in North America. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Powerball play slips are stacked up in a store in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. Players will have a chance Wednesday night at the biggest lottery prize in nearly a year. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Jermaine Emory Mallory displays his Powerball ticket at a store in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. The estimated Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night has soared to $450 million. Players will have a chance Wednesday night at the biggest lottery prize in nearly a year. The last time Powerball had grown this large was in February 2015, when three winners split a $564.1 million prize. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
The Powerball lottery drawing will be held on Wednesday. The game is played in 44 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. territories.
The jackpot is worth $930 million if a winner chooses an immediate cash payout instead of annual payments over 29 years, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.
The grand prize in Wednesday's drawing is the world's richest lottery jackpot that could go to a single ticketholder, and the amount is expected to rise further before then, according to lottery officials.
The Powerball jackpot has been growing ever since the last winner was drawn in November.
While the current $1.5 billion prize is by far the largest ever up for grabs in North America, Spain's El Gordo lottery, or "the Fat One," had a prize pool of $2.45 billion in December 2015. A year earlier, it totaled $2.7 billion.
But El Gordo payouts are awarded to thousands of ticketholders while Powerball's riches could go to a single ticketholder.
See photos from 'El Gordo' fever in Spain:
Powerball hits $1.5B, largest-ever lottery jackpot for one winner
A group of people celebrate in a street of Villanueva de la Concepcion, near Malaga, as they hold a ticket wlth the first prize of the Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (Fat One) on December 22, 2015. This year's winning number is 79140 representing takings of 4 million euros (£2.9 million). The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Jorge Guerrero (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
A man hugs two girls in a street of Villanueva de la Concepcion, near Malaga, where some locals won the first prize of the Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (Fat One) on December 22, 2015. This year's winning number is 79140 representing takings of 4 million euros (£2.9 million). The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Jorge Guerrero (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
Officials verify the balls with the numbers during the draw of Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (The Fat One) at the Teatro Real in Madrid, on December 22, 2015. The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. This year's 'El Gordo' winning number represented takings of 4 million (£2.9 million). AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)
A woman holds her tickets as he attends the draw of Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (The Fat One) at the Teatro Real in Madrid, on December 22, 2015. The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. This year's 'El Gordo' winning number represented takings of 4 million (£2.9 million). AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)
A man shows his tickets as he attends the draw of Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (The Fat One) at the Teatro Real in Madrid, on December 22, 2015. The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. This year's 'El Gordo' winning number represented takings of 4 million (£2.9 million). AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)
An official waits for the balls with the numbers to be poured into the rotating drum before the draw of Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (The Fat One) at the Teatro Real in Madrid, on December 22, 2015. The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. This year's 'El Gordo' winning number represented takings of 4 million (£2.9 million). AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - DECEMBER 22: A woman wearing drum costume waits the start of the traditional Spanish 'El Gordo' Christmas lottery draw at the Royal Opera House in Madrid, Spain, 22 December 2015. (Photo by Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN - DECEMBER 22: A man holds his lottery ticket as he wait the start of the traditional Spanish 'El Gordo' Christmas lottery draw at the Royal Opera House in Madrid, Spain, 22 December 2015. (Photo by Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
A worker holds out the ball with the top prize of euro 4,000,000 ($4,352,160) during the Spanish Christmas lottery draw, known as 'El Gordo' or 'The Fat One', in Madrid, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015. Celebrations were guaranteed Tuesday in the southern beach town of Roquetas de Mar, southern east Spain, where tickets bearing the top prize number of 79140 in Spain's Christmas lottery, known as "El Gordo" (The Fat One) were sold. The number appeared on 1,600 tickets, known as âdecimosâ (tenths) with each holder winning 400,000 euros ($434,800). The tickets are usually sold in many different lottery sales points making it virtually impossible to win the entire 640 million euros assigned to the top prize number. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
People watch the Spanish Christmas lottery draw known as "El Gordo" or "The Fat One" in Madrid, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015. Celebrations were guaranteed Tuesday in the southern beach town of Roquetas de Mar where tickets bearing the top prize number of 79140 in Spain's Christmas lottery, "El Gordo" were sold. The number appeared on 1,600 tickets, known as âdecimosâ (tenths) with each holder winning euro400,000 ($434,800). The tickets are usually sold in many different lottery sales points making it virtually impossible to win the entire euro640 million ($696,346,000) assigned to the top prize number. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
People celebrate in a street of Villanueva de la Concepcion, near Malaga, after winning the first prize of the Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (Fat One) on December 22, 2015. This year's winning number is 79140 representing takings of 4 million euros (£2.9 million). The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Jorge Guerrero (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
A group of people celebrate in a street of Villanueva de la Concepcion, near Malaga, as they hold a photocopy of a ticket with the first prize of the Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (Fat One) on December 22, 2015. This year's winning number is 79140 representing takings of 4 million euros (£2.9 million). The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Jorge Guerrero (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
A group of people celebrate in a street of Villanueva de la Concepcion, near Malaga, as they hold a ticket wlth the first prize of the Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (Fat One) on December 22, 2015. This year's winning number is 79140 representing takings of 4 million euros (£2.9 million). The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Jorge Guerrero (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
A group of people celebrate in a street of Villanueva de la Concepcion, near Malaga, as they hold a ticket wlth the first prize of the Spain's Christmas lottery named 'El Gordo' (Fat One) on December 22, 2015. This year's winning number is 79140 representing takings of 4 million euros (£2.9 million). The Gordo lottery first took place in 1812 in Cadiz and has not missed a year since, continuing through Spains civil war between 1936 and 1939. In 1938, there were actually two Christmas lotteries, one held in Burgos by dictator General Francos Nationalist regime, and the other in Republican-ruled Barcelona. AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Jorge Guerrero (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
More from AOL.com: 4-year-old boy will be Ryan's guest at State of the Union The 'hidden airport' travel hack could save you as much as 80% on flights Large pileup occurs along snowy I-70 in Richmond, Indiana; injuries reported | The record-breaking Powerball jackpot climbed to $1.5B on Tuesday, and the prize is worth $930M if a winner chooses an immediate cash payout. | 164.1 | 0.966667 | 4.566667 | high | high | mixed |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/03/08/selena-gomez-has-a-wardrobe-malfunction-with-shockingly-high-sli/21324840/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160526112538id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/03/08/selena-gomez-has-a-wardrobe-malfunction-with-shockingly-high-sli/21324840/ | Selena Gomez has a wardrobe malfunction with shockingly high slit dress | 20160526112538 | Before you go, we thought you'd like these...
That was a little too much leg!
Selena Gomez hit Paris Fashion week on Tuesday in a gorgeous black gown, but it had a dangerously high slit and the actress definitely gave photographers more of a show than the planned on.
Gomez looked sensation in a black floor-length, trench coat-style dress with a plunging neckline and a center slit, but as she walked through the doors of her hotel she revealed her lady parts. The slit, which shifted toward the center when Gomez had her hands in her pocket caused a serious wardrobe malfunction.
Also, as she was stepping out of her SUV, the dress also shifted leaving her decolletage largely revealed sans her pretty locks keeping her covered up.
Selena Gomez has a wardrobe malfunction with shockingly high slit dress
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Singer Selena Gomez is seen on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Singer Selena Gomez is seen on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Singer Selena Gomez is seen on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Singer Selena Gomez leaves the 'Cafe de Flore' on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Singer Selena Gomez leaves the 'Cafe de Flore' on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Singer Selena Gomez leaves the 'Cafe de Flore' on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Singer Selena Gomez leaves the 'Cafe de Flore' on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Selena Gomez arrives at Charles-de-Gaulle airport on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 07: Selena Gomez is seen at LAX on March 07, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Selena Gomez arrives at Charles-de-Gaulle airport on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Selena Gomez arrives at Charles-de-Gaulle airport on March 8, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/GC Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 07: Selena Gomez is seen at LAX on March 07, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Oops moments aside, the 23-year-old looked drop dead gorgeous. She polished off the en vogue look with blown out tressed, crimson lips and sexy black, sheer pumps.
Gomez has been a fashion force at the Paris shows -- hitting the streets in this look and another that had heads turning with a lace-up blouse and a tiny jeanskirt. | Woops! Paris Fashion Week got quite a shot when Selena Gomez left her hotel with a dress that had a wow-worthy slit. | 25.5 | 0.730769 | 1.269231 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.people.com/article/jennifer-holliday-karaoke-the-view | http://web.archive.org/web/20160526133414id_/http://www.people.com/article/jennifer-holliday-karaoke-the-view | Jennifer Holliday Surprises | 20160526133414 | 05/25/2016 AT 03:00 PM EDT
made a surprise performance on ABC's
on Wednesday, singing her iconic hit "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."
Holliday's appearance came during the daytime talk show's "Co-Host Karaoke" competition, which also featured
on his '90s guilty pleasure "Ice Ice Baby."
Goldberg, 60, began the song – lip-syncing to its first two verses. Holliday then arrived, bringing audience members to their feet and earning raves from judges
After, the Tony-winning singer, 55, revealed she'll reunite with original
for a concert of the 1982 musical. The one-night-only event will be held July 10, at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California.
Bure, 40, went full-out for her
, rapping and dancing alongside backup dancers while wearing a black hat with her name embroidered on it. Watching her perform the '90s jam alongside Vanilla Ice felt like a cut scene from
The actress gushed to Boy George about her love for him: "You were my first fan letter I ever wrote as as a child," she said. "And I was so nervous I kept it in a drawer for two years. I've loved you forever."
In addition to being an accomplished actress, the 30-year-old former Disney star
Winning the competition, though, was
– who snagged the top prize after
. "I've never won anything," the 34-year-old comedian joked while
. "I'll cherish this for the rest of my life."
's "Co-Host Karaoke" isn't the only karaoke competition on ABC. On June 30, the network will premiere
– a six-week celebrity karaoke show host by
For now, check out the
, which airs weekdays (11 a.m. ET) on ABC. | Holliday revealed she'll reunite with original Dreamgirls stars Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine for a concert of the 1982 musical | 17 | 0.681818 | 3.954545 | medium | low | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/05/24/the-nasdaq-has-once-again-rejected-a-bid-for-its-first-marijuana-stock/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160527065715id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/05/24/the-nasdaq-has-once-again-rejected-a-bid-for-its-first-marijuana-stock/? | The Nasdaq Again Rejects MassRoots's Bid to Go Public | 20160527065715 | MassRoots, a social network for cannabis users that wants to become the Nasdaq’s first marijuana stock, had its listing application rejected for the second time on Monday.
The exchange first said no in August, when MassRoots lacked a bank underwriter. This time however, the exchange has a very different justification.
“The direct quote from the Nasdaq over the phone yesterday was, ‘We are unwilling to move forward with MassRoots’ application as its business model may be deemed as aiding and abetting the distribution of an illegal substance,'” MassRoots CEO Isaac Dietrich told Fortune.
“With this decision, we believe that the Nasdaq has set a dangerous precedent that could prevent nearly every company in the regulated cannabis industry from listing on a national exchange. This will have ripple effects across the entire industry, making it more difficult for cannabis entrepreneurs to raise capital and slow the progression of cannabis legalization in the United States,” Dietrich said.
MassRoots will appeal. The social network has also requested the exchange’s denial letter in writing and plans to notify the Securities and Exchange Commission about the Nasdaq’s decision.
The social network is currently listed on OTC Markets, a less prestigious stock exchange, under the symbol MSRT. The stock is currently trading at 74 cents a share.
It’s not the first time MassRoots has run into obstacles stemming from the U.S.’s discrepant laws regarding marijuana, even as the industry continues to gain legitimacy. Medical marijuana is legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia, while recreational use has been allowed in four states and the District of Columbia. Laws regarding the transportation of marijuana are even murkier.
In February, Apple lifted a ban blocking cannabis-focused social apps, including MassRoots, from its App Store just three months after putting the restrictions in place. Apple had MassRoots because its guidelines reject “apps that encourage excessive consumption of alcohol or illegal substances.”
To overcome the problem, MassRoots made its app available only to the states in which medical marijuana had been legalized.
Nasdaq does not comment on listing applications, a representative for Nasdaq told Fortune. | This is the second time it said no. | 45.111111 | 1 | 1.888889 | high | high | mixed |
http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/13/sage-stallone-dead-sylvester-stallone-son-dies-dead/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160527111439id_/http://www.tmz.com:80/2012/07/13/sage-stallone-dead-sylvester-stallone-son-dies-dead/ | Sage Stallone Dead -- Sylvester Stallone's Son Dies of Overdose | 20160527111439 | Law enforcement sources tell us ... Sage's death does
We're told there was NO suicide note found at the scene.
Sources tell us officials DID find "numerous empty pill bottles" in the area where Sage's body was discovered. No word on what types of medication the pill bottles were for.
We're told an autopsy is scheduled for some time in the next 48 hours.
Sylvester Stallone's rep, Michelle Bega, tells TMZ, "Sylvester Stallone is devastated and grief-stricken over the sudden loss of his son Sage Stallone. His compassion and thoughts are with Sage's mother, Sasha. Sage was a very talented and wonderful young man. His loss will be felt forever."
Now here's a crazy picture -- the L.A. County Coroner van, flanked by a celebrity tour filled with snap-happy tourists. Welcome to Hollywood, folks.
's son -- has died and sources tell us the cause was an overdose of pills.
The details surrounding the death are still unclear .. but we're told he was found in his L.A. home by either a maid or his girlfriend. Paramedics were called to the home and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Sources tell us authorities are trying to determine if the death was intentional or accidental.
We're told Sylvester is a "wreck."
Sage famously made his film debut alongside his father in the 1990 movie "Rocky 5" -- playing the role of Rocky's son Robert Balboa.
He went on to act and direct in several films ... including the 1996 film "Daylight."
Sage's mother is Sasha Czack. | UPDATE 10:22 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell us ... Sage's death does NOT appear to be a suicide. We're told there was NO suicide note found… | 9.575758 | 0.757576 | 5.666667 | low | low | mixed |
http://time.com/3916997/best-tv-shows-2015-so-far/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160527141124id_/http://time.com:80/3916997/best-tv-shows-2015-so-far/ | Jim Poniewozik's List | 20160527141124 | Every year, I keep a running list of shows that amuse me, amaze me, impress me or depress me (in a good way). At the end of the year, I whittle that list down to 10, and I have my best-TV-of-the-year list. But it’s tough. I have to leave out a lot of really good stuff. And why should arguing over subjective choices come only once a year?
In that spirit, I give you my very provisional list of The Best TV of 2015 (So Far). But first, a few notes:
The Cold War came home on TV’s most intimate spy drama, as Soviet moles Philip and Elizabeth Jennings struggled with how to handle teen daughter—and potential KGB recruit—Paige, all while carrying out enough morally compromising missions to make any agent flip his or her wig.
What could have been a glorified Breaking Bad DVD extra evolved into its own thing, the picaresque story of James “Slippin’ Jimmy” McGill—the future Saul Goodman—trying to hustle his way into the Albuquerque law game.
Lightning struck twice for Comedy Central’s best new show of 2014, as the second season built on its confidence and surreal humor. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson make the kind of uninhibited comedy that dances like it’s alone in its apartment naked.
Rising to number one with a bullet–multiple bullets, actually–Fox’s hip-hip family soap built a watercooler colossus out of insane story twists delivered with authentic passion. May its chaotic, infectious energy never drip-drippity-drop.
HBO’s sprawling fantasy drama plunged over the edges of its vast map this season as it surpassed the storyline of its source books and headed into the unknown. Often harrowing, always spectacular, TV’s biggest entertainment is also one of its most thoughtful shows about morality and power.
The series began with Jane (Gina Rodriguez) pregnant, but it was born fully formed: playful, big-hearted and refreshing. Unlike some soaps, this comic telenovela never let its plot twists overwhelm its characters and their distinctive voices (not least among them the most delightful narrator in TV).
You really couldn’t make this up: an artful, insightful documentary series, investigating an accused multiple murderer, that drew a character portrait rivaling TV’s best dramas and created actual news, as Robert Durst spilled his own beans on camera and was arrested in real life in time for the finale.
Like Harlan County, Kentucky, this Elmore Leonard-inspired series had seen its ups and downs. But the final run, focusing on the long-running, intimate rivalry between Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder, inspired some of this show’s best hours and finest barrel-aged dialogue.
The biggest flaw of Louis CK’s slice-of-his-life series was that there wasn’t more of it. But even a half-sized season—pulling back from last year’s formal experiments to deliver more flat-out laughs—was painfully funny and hilarious real enough to last us another year.
Arguably the dominant TV drama of its time, the series deposited its characters in 1970, a decade older and maybe even a little wiser. Its final moments—juxtaposing Don Draper’s long-earned moment of Zen with Coca Cola’s “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” jingle—showed us a man who lived a lie for years coming to his own version of The Real Thing.
This sophomore comedy built out its satire of tech culture, the egos it feeds with cash and the wired culture it enables. Exquisitely cast (T.J. Miller weaves obscenity into gold like an R-rated Rumplestiltskin), it’s a consistently hilarious picture of the coders who carry the modern world on their scrawny shoulders.
It’s alive, dammit! TV’s greatest miracle of 2015 so far was Netflix’s rescue of this oddball Tina Fey comedy from NBC. The first season shared the frenetic, joke-dense structure of 30 Rock, but with a twist: it was a dark sitcom about survivorhood, illuminated with optimism by human glow stick Ellie Kemper. | In a television market more crowded than ever, these were the shows that kept me watching | 47.529412 | 0.470588 | 0.705882 | high | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/3648/abortion-rate-lowest-since-1973-study/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160528205257id_/http://time.com:80/3648/abortion-rate-lowest-since-1973-study/ | Abortion Rate Lowest Since 1973 | 20160528205257 | The national abortion rate began to decline again from 2008 to 2011, a new study says. But the researchers say there’s no evidence that the new crop of state laws intended to restrict access to abortions is the source of the drop.
Only 1.1 million abortions were performed in 2011, a rate of 6.9 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health think tank that has conducted a periodic survey on abortion since the 1970s.
That’s the lowest rate since 1973, when the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe vs Wade made abortions legal in all states. Both the abortion rate and the number of abortions fell 13 percent between 2008 and 2011.
The study also found an increase in medical, rather than surgical, abortions. An estimated 23 percent of all abortions performed outside of hospitals were non-surgical, up from 17 percent in 2008.
Between 2008 and 2010, 18 states passed 44 laws pertaining to abortion, said the study, but claimed such restrictions on abortion seem to have had little effect on the drop. “While most of the new laws were enacted in states in the Midwest and the South, abortion incidence declined in all regions,” the study says. Even states like New York, California and New Jersey that allow Medicaid payments for abortions for low income women saw declines in abortion rates comparable to or even greater than the national decline.
Researchers believe the slow economy may have contributed to the decline: the birthrate also fell by nine percent in that same time period. The other explanation is the growing use of long-acting contraceptives like the IUD, which can be more effective at preventing pregnancy than other contraceptive methods. Use of long-acting contraceptive methods increased from four percent to 11 percent during the study period.
Pro-life groups have already criticized the study. Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, called the report “an abortion industry propaganda piece short on data and long on strained conclusions” and noted that all the reporting of data is voluntary in a statement. | Authors say legislation intended to restrict abortions is not the reason for the drop | 28.714286 | 0.714286 | 1.428571 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/3650412/recycle-phones-e-waste/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160529010719id_/http://time.com:80/3650412/recycle-phones-e-waste/ | Why You Should Always Recycle Your Old Tech | 20160529010719 | If you just got a brand new TV, gaming console or smartphone for the holidays, you’re probably trying to figure out what to do with your old model. It can be pretty temping to just toss your aging iPhone 4S or Xbox 360 in the trash like regular garbage, but that’s the absolute last thing you should do.
First, your old electronics are chock full of toxic stuff that should never make it to a landfill, like arsenic, lead, and cadmium. If those materials make it into landfills, they can potentially leak into our ecosystem, damaging plant and animal life and potentially impacting our food supply.
The green argument aside, there’s another good reason not to toss your old tech: It keeps your personal information safe. If you throw away your old computer, there’s no telling who might be able to get their hands on your hardware—and, by extension, your data.
“No one wants their personal business in the wrong hands, whether it’s just embarrassing, whether it ruins future job opportunities, or whether it’s in criminals’ hands who are going to swipe that data and take money from bank accounts,” says John S. Shegerian, co-founder and CEO of Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), among the biggest e-waste recycling firms in the world. ERI offers data-deleting services as part of its recycling and refurbishing programs, particularly for its corporate clients.
“We [wipe data] for the highest-level people in big government, small government, large cities, and for people like us who are very worried now not only about where their stuff is going from an environmental perspective, but for their own personal data,” Shegerian says.
So, if you can’t just throw your old stuff away, what should you do with it?
Recycling companies like ERI can help you dispose of your old tech responsibly —ERI in particular partners with big-box retailers like Best Buy and Staples, both of which offer programs that make it easy to ditch your obsolete gear. You can also check with your local city or town government to see if it offers any recycling options. Some manufactures, like Apple, will also recycle your old stuff for you—in some cases, you’ll even get a gift card in return.
Just to be on the safe side, make sure to erase your data before recycling anything.
Put it to new use
You might think that old iPhone 5 is utterly obsolete now that you’ve got a shiny new iPhone 6 Plus, but it’s still a plenty capable device, even if it’s not on a wireless plan. Need some inspiration? Check out TIME’s list of things you can do with an old iPhone, including using it as a smart home control panel or a baby monitor.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, after all. Xbox 360 consoles bundled with some games and controllers are still going for around $100 on eBay as of this writing—that’s good for an Xbox One game and six months of Xbox Live. Again, make sure to wipe your devices clean before exchanging them for cool, hard cash. EBay aside, you can try selling your stuff on Craigslist or through websites that buy used electronics directly, like Gazelle.
‘Tis the season, after all. If you can’t be bothered to recycle, reuse or sell your old stuff, at least consider donating it to a charity in need, if it’s in good working order. Get-Well Gamers, for example, collects video game consoles and brings them to children’s hospitals. Your old PlayStation 3 can either collect dust on the shelf this year, or it can put a big smile on a less fortunate kid’s face. | And 4 things to do instead | 122.5 | 0.666667 | 1 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2011/08/04/10-secrets-to-saving-at-amazon-com/20009367/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160529095508id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2011/08/04/10-secrets-to-saving-at-amazon-com/20009367/? | 10 Secrets to Saving at Amazon.com | 20160529095508 | ) usually low prices? Wish they were even lower? Read on for 10 secrets to saving big at the Internet superstore.
Amazon's Subscribe & Save program is a combination of convenience and savings. Simply select items you buy regularly -- anything from diapers to paper towels to office supplies -- and Amazon will deliver them automatically AND give you 15% off. You choose how often the item is delivered (anywhere from monthly to every six months) and you can change or cancel deliveries any time. The caveat? Some items, like diapers, are generally a great deal, while others are on par with your local grocery store, so do a little comparison shopping first.
See that gold treasure chest at the top of the Amazon home page? Make it your first click for some of the best deals around. Every day, Amazon features a Gold Box Deal, several Lightning Deals, personalized discounts, and more. The Gold Box and Lightning Deals can be huge, especially when it comes to electronics. (I recently landed a printer for 50% off.) The savings on personalized deals aren't as impressive -- my offers today included a DVD for $0.50 less than the regular price and a video game for $1.85 off. Still, because these items are selected based on your purchase history, you can save a bit on something you'd buy anyway.
It's a little-known secret that Amazon prices change frequently, in some cases daily. The best way to play the price swings? Add items to your shopping cart in the "save for later" section and check back often. A yellow box at the top of the page will alert you to any price changes. It requires a little patience, but I've scored deals of up to 50% off using this strategy. Price drops from the Gold Box and Lightning Deals don't show up on the Shopping Cart page, so you'll still want to click the Gold Box icon for those.
If you like free books, you'll want to bookmark
or sign up for the site's email newsletter. You'll get notified of the best deals on Amazon's Kindle e-books -- most are $2 or less, and many are free. These aren't just dusty old classics, either. Thanks to Pixel, I've got a virtual bookstore stocked with best-sellers, cookbooks, how-to guides, and kids' books, all downloaded for free. Best of all, you don't even need a Kindle: A free app allows anyone with a PC, Mac, iPad, or iPhone to read Kindle books.
Full of refurbished and open-box items, Amazon's Warehouse (warehousedeals.com) is a great source of discounts on nearly everything Amazon sells, from Kindles to candles. As with any discount site, it helps to know the going prices for the items you covet: A deal on the P90X fitness system offered 30% off, while the discount on an Apple TV was just a few bucks under retail. Worried about defective merchandise? All Warehouse purchases are covered by Amazon's standard 30-day return policy.
Amazon's Outlet doesn't offer as many deep discounts as the Warehouse, but the prices are still better than retail and the selection is much wider. You can find the Outlet link by clicking that trusty treasure chest and looking right under the search box.
The biggest downside of shopping online is the lack of immediate gratification. You order. Then you wait. And wait. Amazon offers a solution to this dilemma with Amazon Prime. For $79 a year, you get free two-day shipping on nearly everything. So where do the savings come in? First, of course, is the savings you'll get if you buy a lot from Amazon. In the past year, I've bought everything from a pingpong table to dumbbells to a leaf blower -- all shipped for free. Second, Prime can be shared with up to four other people, so if you get a group to split the cost, your share drops to just under $16. Finally, Amazon Prime includes free instant video streaming, which on a monthly basis is cheaper than
Prime is a decent deal, but it's even better when you get it for free. Amazon offers two programs that let you do just that. If you have a .edu email address, Amazon Student gives you a free year of Prime. Don't qualify? Try "Amazon Mom." You don't have to be a mom, or even a parent, to qualify. You'll get three months of Prime for free, 30% off on diapers, and you earn an additional month free for every $25 you spend on qualifying items (up to a year). Here's the quirk: While most of the qualifying items are kid-related, not all are. Just look for the "Amazon Mom" banner on the product page. I've found it on a seemingly random assortment of furniture, electronics, and household items. (Note: Neither of these programs includes free instant video.)
Amazon helpfully offers dozens of email subscriptions -- select the categories you most often shop to be notified of special deals and discounts. My favorite is the "New Deals at Least 50% Off" (find it under the Outlet category).
Only for the most die-hard Amazonian, the Amazon Visa card is a good way to compound your Amazon savings, IF you commit to paying it off every month. You'll get a $40 credit when you sign up, plus three points for every dollar spent at Amazon, redeemable for -- you guessed it -- Amazon gift certificates. | Love Amazon's (AMZN) usually low prices? Wish they were even lower? Read on for 10 secrets to saving big at the Internet superstore. Get automatic savings delivered to your door | 29.837838 | 0.864865 | 15.891892 | medium | medium | extractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/03/24/google-overhauls-security-alerts/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160529210354id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/03/24/google-overhauls-security-alerts/ | Google Overhauls Gmail Phishing and Hacking Security Alerts | 20160529210354 | Google announced a number of enhancements to its cybersecurity warnings on Thursday.
First, the search giant expanded an alert system that notifies Gmail users before they click on suspicious links. Google said the warnings will now appear again after a user clicks such a link, and that the protection will extend beyond the Chrome web browser and Gmail app as well, it said.
“You can continue to http://example.com/ at your own risk,” the notice warns, directing the recipient to more “safe browsing” instructions.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.
Next, Google googl said it had created a new warning message that will appear when the company suspects a user might be under attack by state-sponsored hackers. “Government-backed attackers may be trying to steal your password,” the message reads, before supplying instructions to secure one’s online accounts, such as enabling two-factor authentication, which sends a separate verification code to the user’s phone when a login attempt is made. Google’s Jigsaw think tank project is helping with the alerts about state-sponsored attacks.
In addition, the search giant said it had collaborated with others in the industry, including Comcast cmcsa , Microsoft msft , and Yahoo yhoo , to write and submit a draft proposal for new email encryption standard. You can read the Internet Engineering Task Force specification here.
This proposal builds on Google’s introduction earlier this year of a red-colored lock icon that indicates whenever an email message has been sent via an unencrypted channel. The new specification aims further to prevent hackers from tampering with email messages during their routing.
For more on Google, watch:
The Jigsaw project (formerly “Ideas”), an internal team that builds products to combat cyber threats, has debuted a number of security tools recently, including a password alert plug-in that notifies a user when they may have entered their password into an unsafe website, a computer server “shield” that soaks up attacks involving barrages of Internet traffic, and an digital attack map that shows where organizations are under fire online.
On Safer Internet Day (Feb. 9), Google celebrated by giving away 2 gigabytes of extra cloud storage to anyone who completed a security checkup. | Gmail users will see new attack warnings. | 54.125 | 0.875 | 1.125 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/04/27/comcast-cord-cutting/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160530114324id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/04/27/comcast-cord-cutting/ | Comcast: Cord Cutting? What Cord Cutting? | 20160530114324 | There has been a steady drumbeat of scepticism about the health of the traditional cable business, as a result of the growing phenomenon of “cord cutting” and the popularity of streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. But someone clearly forgot to tell Comcast that its cable business is supposed to be shrinking—in the latest quarter, the company added more subscribers than it has in almost a decade.
To be specific, Comcast’s subscriber base grew by 53,000 during the most recent quarter, substantially more than most analysts were expecting, and a much better performance than the same quarter a year earlier, when the number of subscribers shrank by 8,000.
So why is Comcast CMCSA bucking the cord-cutting trend—is it because cord cutting isn’t as big a deal as some analysts and cable critics have suggested, or isn’t happening as quickly? Or is it because Comcast is doing a better job of adapting, or benefiting from the difficulties of other players in the TV distribution marketplace? It’s probably all of the above.
How can any analyst or journo still say cord-cutting is a serious trend when Comcast adds 53,000 video subs?
— Swanni (@SwanniOnTV) April 27, 2016
Those who dislike cable monopolies are eager to see them toppled, and so the whole “no one watches cable any more” story line has probably been overplayed somewhat. Like most cable companies, Comcast also seems to be doing not a bad job of shifting customers to lower-priced “skinny bundles” so that it doesn’t lose them completely. Some analysts also point out that Comcast is including subscribers to its own Stream TV over-the-top service in its numbers.
In any case, in a report on the implications of Comcast’s results, industry research firm MoffettNathanson said that “With apologies to Mark Twain, news of cable’s demise at the hands of OTT [over the top] video has been greatly exaggerated.”
It’s not all sunshine and kittens, however. Comcast may have added subscribers overall, but its NBCUniversal unit reported some weakness in subscriber numbers, saying growth in revenue was “partially offset by a decline in subscribers at our cable networks.” In other words, NBC is clearly losing subscribers to something, and Comcast may be trading long-time subscribers for newer customers who are less valuable as a result of discounts, promotions etc.
Although NBCUniversal’s theme park revenue was strong compared to the previous year, the entertainment unit’s movie business didn’t do so well, thanks to some weak releases such as Ride Along 2 and Hail, Caesar! Revenue from its broadcasting unit dropped significantly, but that was mostly because the network had the Super Bowl last year, and so most of its broadcasting numbers looked worse by comparison.
Meanwhile, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal that landed just before Comcast reported its financial results, the company may be looking to beef up its content businesses. The newspaper said Comcast is in talks to acquire DreamWorks AG, the animation company that was co-founded by Steven Spielberg and David Katzenberg
In addition to established movie franchises like Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks also owns a library of animated content such as the Casper the Friendly Ghost series, which NBCUniversal could make use of. And DreamWorks has also been creating content for Netflix under a multi-year deal.
The Journal report said that Comcast could pay as much as $3 billion for DreamWorks, and would combine that business with its existing Universal movie and TV unit as a way of taking on Disney in the animation market. In addition to its other animation work, DreamWorks has been having some success with AwesomenessTV, a digital video company it bought in 2013. That business is now co-owned by Verizon, however, which could make things awkward for Comcast.
The cable giant may be doing better than the rest of its competitors when it comes to hanging on to TV subscribers, and its Internet access business also provides plenty of cash flow from cord-cutters and streaming fans. But long-term, the company clearly knows that it needs a hedge against the vicissitudes of the TV distribution market, and owning content is one way of doing that. All of which makes the DreamWorks report seem fairly believable. | Cable giant says it isn't seeing the effects of a shift away from cable | 55.133333 | 0.6 | 0.733333 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/theater-arts/lupita-nyong-powerful-danai-gurira-eclipsed-review-article-1.2553317 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160530181155id_/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/entertainment/theater-arts/lupita-nyong-powerful-danai-gurira-eclipsed-review-article-1.2553317 | Lupita Nyong'o powerful in Danai Gurira's 'Eclipsed': Review | 20160530181155 | Lupita Nyong’o spends the opening moments of “Eclipsed” hidden from sight. As soon as this “12 Years a Slave” Oscar winner is exposed, however, there’s no concealing the fact that she is a natural in her Broadway debut — powerful, poignant, thoroughly convincing as a 15-year-old girl surviving any way she can during wartime in Africa.
It’s a common lament that there are no good roles for women. But Danai Gurira, a playwright and actress known as Michonne on “The Walking Dead,” has packed this harrowing, albeit sometimes heavy-handed, 2008 drama with five of them. The play comes to Broadway from a run last year at the Public Theater.
In a crumbling compound in Liberia in 2003, protective Helena (Saycon Sengbloh) and ruthless and pregnant Bessie (Pascale Armand), are two wives — as in, sex slaves — of an unseen but omnipresent rebel general who try to shelter Nyongo’s nameless character from the same fate. Unlike them, the girl can read and has dreams of being a doctor. No such luck. Spotted by the warlord, Nyong’o’s character becomes a new wife — initiated through rape.
Maima (Zainab Jah, riveting), is another wife. Merciless and ferocious, she’s become a rebel fighter instead of being used for sex. She kills without remorse and captures girls as “fresh meat” for the rebel. Nyong’o’s impressionable and desperate character is captivated by Maima. Rita (Akosua Busia), is a peace worker who tries to help the wives escape this war zone.
Liesl Tommy’s taut staging provides an excellent showcase for the play. The cast is uniformly very good and while performances have deepened and feel more lived-in uptown, there are still a few moments — light and serious — when individuals tilt toward being overly showy, as though they’re performing. Despite that, plus a few music miscues at a recent performance, the play is unsettling and eye-opening.
Nyong’o’s face is the last thing seen in the play — it’s also on the Playbill cover and in an ad on the last page. In the end, it’s Nyong’o’s haunted eyes that stay with you. Whatever comes next, lightness in the girl’s life has been eclipsed. | Lupita Nyong'o is a natural in her Broadway debut — powerful, poignant, convincing as a 15-year-old girl surviving wartime in Africa. | 17.038462 | 0.961538 | 8.653846 | medium | high | extractive |
http://time.com/4007174/which-spouse-asks-for-divorce/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160531015615id_/http://time.com:80/4007174/which-spouse-asks-for-divorce/ | Why Women Are More Likely to Ask for a Divorce | 20160531015615 | In a presentation to the American Sociological Association, researchers report that women are more likely than men to ask for divorce. But non-marital breakups are more gender neutral.
The results came from an analysis of the aptly named “How Couples Meet and Stay Together” survey, collected from 2,262 adults with opposite sex partners who answered questions about their relationship status between 2009 and 2015. Women initiated 69% of divorces, compared to 31% of men. But if men and women were living together without marrying, each gender was equally likely to initiate a breakup.
Almost all studies to date have shown that women are more likely to ask for divorce, the study’s lead author, Michael Rosenfeld, said in a statement. An associate professor of sociology at Stanford University, Rosenfeld said that social scientists assumed that women’s heightened sensitivities to the ups and downs of relationships would mean they were more likely to leave both marriages and non-marital unions.
But the latest data suggests that perhaps there’s more involved. Women may be responding to the still arcane conventions of spousal roles, which contrast with growing equality in other institutions, such as the workplace. “I think that marriage as an institution has been a little bit slow to catch up with expectations for gender equality. Wives still take their husbands’ surnames, and are sometimes pressured to do so. Husbands still expect their wives to do the bulk of the housework and the bulk of the childcare,” he said in the statement. “On the other hand, I think that non-marital relationships lack the historical baggage and expectations of marriage, which makes the non-marital relationships more flexible and therefore more adaptable to modern expectations … of gender equality.” | Women initiated 69% of divorces, compared to 31% of men | 25.538462 | 1 | 13 | medium | high | extractive |
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/dancing-stars-pro-kym-johnson-engaged-article-1.2546613 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160531032336id_/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/entertainment/dancing-stars-pro-kym-johnson-engaged-article-1.2546613 | ‘Dancing WIth the Stars’ pro Kym Johnson engaged | 20160531032336 | A wedding is in the stars for Kym Johnson and "Shark Tank" judge Robert Herjavec.
The 39-year-old "Dancing With the Stars" alum met her future husband when they were partners on Season 20 of the celebrity dancing competition show.
He popped the question on Saturday and they celebrated with family and friends, including her mom, who flew to California from Australia, the couple told People.
"I never thought a year ago I'd meet someone who would change my life completely!" Johnson wrote on Instagram Sunday, with a photo of the two. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world because last night the love of my life @robert_herjavec asked me to marry him and I said yes!"
The 53-year-old businessman proposed with a 6.5-carat diamond ring, he revealed to People. "I still can't believe that a year after walking into a dance studio of all places, my life has changed this much. I'm just so excited for what the future brings for us."
This is Johnson's first time down the aisle.
Herjavec announced he split with his wife of 24 years last March. They have three kids. | A wedding is now in the stars for Kym Johnson and "Shark Tank" judge Robert Herjavec. | 12.052632 | 0.947368 | 12.315789 | low | high | extractive |
http://time.com/3882665/my-most-important-photograph-nina-berman-santa-ana-calif-2004/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160531033533id_/http://time.com:80/3882665/my-most-important-photograph-nina-berman-santa-ana-calif-2004/ | Discover Nina Berman's Most Important Photograph | 20160531033533 | I was deeply disturbed at the media coverage of the Iraq War, especially in its early months. There were few－if any－images of human casualties, American or Iraqi. In my opinion, it was a sanitized view of the war and a hyped-up Hollywood version at the same time that played out on American television as breathless entertainment with screaming headlines like “Shock and Awe”, “The March to Baghdad” and “The Rescue of Jessica Lynch.” I thought I could add some complexity into the narrative by investigating what it meant to be wounded, who these troops were, what it meant to return home at such a young age and make the transition to disabled veteran.
One of the veterans I photographed was Robert Acosta, a 20-year-old ammunition specialist in the Army. In July 2003, he was riding in a Humvee with a friend near Baghdad International Airport when an Iraqi teenager threw a grenade into their vehicle. Robert tried to toss it out but it exploded in his hand, which permanently mangled his left leg and ripped off his right arm. He ended up in Walter Reed hospital in Washington D.C. where I met him in the fall of 2003. He was sitting in the prosthesis room, and a man was patiently painting hairlines on what would be his new right arm.
I tracked him down several months later at his home then in Santa Ana, Calif. Robert was struggling with the alienation of being back home, the pain of losing limbs and post traumatic stress. He was beginning to question the reasons for going to war and the legitimacy of the mission in Iraq. Later on, he would encounter problems with his medical benefits and started to speak out about veteran issues.
At first, I had trouble getting my images published editorially in the United States, and that left me quite frustrated so I sought out other options. When the Open Society Foundation proposed their first Audience Engagement Grant in 2005, I applied and invited Robert to come with me to talk to high school students. We traveled to California, Hawaii, Wisconsin and Illinois. We also went to Germany together and visited his old army base in Hanau, and then opened exhibitions in Heidelberg and Freiburg. We made a giant billboard with Robert’s picture and placed it in Albuquerque, N.M.
He was a great partner, and I know it wasn’t easy for him to stand in front of audiences and retell his story over and over again. Sometimes when I would play the video I made of the soldiers, he would walk out of the room because it bothered him to keep seeing it. At some of the high schools, students cried, and others were confused as they were in the process of enlisting into the military. But he made it through several trips because he was determined to show that war wasn’t the glamorized view that you got on television, that it was far more complex and that the needs of returning veterans were profound.
We didn’t have any metrics to measure the impact of these tours. Facebook and social media weren’t really up and going then. I measured the impact based on the looks on people’s faces, the questions they asked and the engagement in the room. I also received letters from students, and many emails, which I value greatly. The work also inspired other work by playwrights, painters and filmmakers, and a feature TV documentary based on the book was made.
Doing the work with Robert also reaffirmed the power of photography for me, which I had come to questions after years of publishing editorially with little awareness of how my images were being viewed and almost no control over the context in which they were appearing. It taught me that I had the power to take more control over my work and freed me to think bigger.
I continued to photograph veterans from the Iraq war for another eight years, and I became an expert on the subject. I realized how important it was to not just make a photograph, but to immerse myself in a subject so that I could represent the work and defend it. I approach all my projects this way now, with an eye towards collaboration and a goal of independence. It’s not easy in terms of funding, but I feel much more satisfied and I take my responsibility as a photographer much more seriously.
Nina Berman is an American documentary photographer with two monographs, Purple Hearts and Homeland. She is a member of NOOR photo agency and an associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. | "It taught me that I had the power to take more control over my work." | 48.277778 | 0.888889 | 12.555556 | high | medium | extractive |
http://nypost.com/2016/03/20/its-time-to-start-searching-for-your-next-car/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160531060539id_/http://nypost.com:80/2016/03/20/its-time-to-start-searching-for-your-next-car/ | It’s time to start searching for your next car | 20160531060539 | Ahh spring, when a gearhead’s fancy turns, to convertibles, the open road and … the New York International Auto Show, which opens Friday at the Javits Center. Time to take a break from politics and get to a true American success story: Cars! Cars! Cars!
Motor Trend gives Detroit a real shot in the arm when it compares a hot-shot import to a true Americna muscle car: the Camaro SS. In MT’s signature “Head 2 Head” comparison, the mag pits the BMW M4 against the Chevrolet Camaro SS. If you’re thinking BMW wins, think again. After a seven-page drama of 0-to-60 mph in 4.1 seconds, 60-to-0 braking in 102 feet and plenty of hairpin turns along the way, the Camaro proves itself the little engine that did.
Car and Driver Editor-in-Chief Eddie Alterman applauds Detroit, too, for its idiosyncrasy. As he writes in this month’s editor’s letter: “You’d think that, with oil dipping below $30 a barrel and insatiable consumer demand for vehicles that are ever larger, ever taller, and ever more stuffed, piñata-like, with electronic candy, the world’s automakers would’ve used [the auto show] to display nothing but scaled-down Freightliners.” But in reality they’re focusing on two-door coupes, and, Alterman says, “I ain’t mad at them.” His favorite is Buick’s new Avista — C&D’s “Reveal of the Month” — which he describes as owing “its mien” to Tesla and Jaguar.
Road & Track introduces the fourth generation of Toyota’s Prius like it was some high-schooler trying to persuade parents to okay the supermodel prom date over the sedan-like girl next door. “Thread the Prius down a twisty road and the steering precision and body control will blow the mind of anyone who’s driven the old car,” R&T coos. Really? We think the editors need to get behind the stick more often. The issue also has an anecdote about Editor-in-Chief Larry Webster’s buying a 51-year-old Mustang from an office mate. He wasn’t going buy the old Ford until, at a family dinner conversation, his 7-year-old son got wind of the opportunity.
For those who like their auto news more practical than sensational, there’s Consumer Reports’ New Cars issue. The briefest of takeaways from CR’s annual owner-satisfaction survey, which covers 230,000 vehicles less than three years’ old, is that “Tesla is tops.” The muchquoted magazine also goes places the monthly car mags won’t — which makes and models are the real dogs. CR says the Kia Rio, Nissan Sentra and Jeep Patriot and Compass are the only four models that are so poorly regarded that fewer than 50 percent of their owners would purchase them again. OMG! We can’t see any of those companies’ CEOs taken that sort of thrashing lying down.
In a cover story that leaves readers with more questions than answers, New York seeks out seven ladies of the evening to try and settle the issue of whether or not prostitution should be legalized. You should not be startled to learn they believe it should be. Mostly. But while the author, the prize-winning journalist Mac McClelland, frames the story as a way to give a megaphone to women who’d benefit from legalization, it largely glosses over others’ opinions by linking them with the generally clueless Ann Hathaway — not the estimated 4.5 million women and girls who are prostituted against their wills. In a lighter story, Jessica Pressler visits Faena House, a “billionaire bunkhouse” in Miami that has a gold-plated wooly mammoth skeleton — an art installation by Damien Hirst, natch — and expertly skewers the whole scene. Lloyd Blankfein, the Goldman Sachs CEO, even makes an apparently unscripted appearance to visit his eighth-floor condo.
Time goes in on the legal battle kicked up by the Justice Department against Apple. The government wants to get into the iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the San Bernadino shooters, but it needs Tim Cook’s company to write up new code that could endanger the privacy of every other Apple customer and set a Constitutionally questionable precedent. In Lev Grossman’s take, the DOJ, which has accused Apple of posturing to boost sales, doesn’t really have much of a leg to stand on. Journalist Simon Shuster tackles an even more intimidating topic — the mysterious death of Mikhail Lesin, the former head of propaganda for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The New Yorker deploys its marquee legal writer, Jeffrey Toobin, to argue that President Obama should have nominated a potential Supreme Court justice with a “considerable popular appeal,” which, in his mind, means a woman, a minority, or a hardcore liberal. Instead, he wrings his hands over the “technocrat” Merrick Garland — a moderate white male appellate judge on the Washington, DC, appellate court — and then blames the president for all the problems that have befallen Democrats in the last eight years. It’s a piece that could have only been written in the hermetically sealed chamber in which Toobin has chosen to entomb himself, given the Republican uprising going on in the rest of the country. | Ahh spring, when a gearhead’s fancy turns, to convertibles, the open road and … the New York International Auto Show, which opens Friday at the Javits Center. Time to take a break from politi… | 24.731707 | 0.97561 | 37.121951 | medium | high | extractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/04/26/earthlight-vr-game-showcases-nasa-astronauts/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160531084407id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/04/26/earthlight-vr-game-showcases-nasa-astronauts/ | 'Earthlight' VR Game Showcases NASA Astronauts | 20160531084407 | While NASA is using virtual reality to help train real astronauts for the Mars expedition, the agency’s Public Affairs Office and the OpsLab at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have helped Australian game studio Opaque Media Group with its upcoming Earthlight virtual reality video game.
The game will be released in episodes across Facebook’s Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and Sony’s PlayStation VR this year. Earthlight is set in 2020 and follows the journey of Anastasia “Anna” Wiater, an Australian-American experimental physicist and her life as an NASA astronaut.
“Through Anna’s eyes, players will experience firsthand some of the most interesting moments of astronaut training, the daily lives on board the International Space Station (ISS), and how the world comes together to help the ISS overcome an unexpected disaster threatening the operation of the lives of the entire crew,” said Norman Wang, executive director and Earthlight project lead at Opaque Media Group.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.
While NASA does not officially endorse the game, Wang says the space agency invited the development team to Johnson Space Center in Houston to collect reference materials that allowed them access to some of the most intricate visual and operational details. The team received photogrammetrically captured surface parameters on replicas of ISS modules and hydrophone recording of the soundscape of the enormous pool at the neutral buoyancy laboratory, and even talked to astronauts about their opinions of cafeteria food.
“The OpsLab (in California) has helped us with VR usability and VR design,” Wang says. “It is easy to forget that NASA is among one of the most seasoned VR developers in the world, with experiences stretching as far back as the ’70s. We are merely rediscovering many of the lessons they have already learned.”
The game is being developed using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 technology. Wang says his team is focusing on using the hand controllers for the three virtual reality platforms: the Vive controllers, Oculus Touch, and PlayStation Move.
For more on virtual reality, watch:
“VR gives us the means to immerse the player in ways never possible before,” Wang says. “The ability to look down and see your own hands and be able to glance around and realize you’re completely surrounded in the incredible spectacles of Earthlight is really an experience that can only be achieved through the medium of virtual reality.
NASA is using these same virtual reality platforms to help real astronauts.
“Real science forms the foundation of Earthlight, and although we look for the extremes in what can plausibly happen, we are absolutely committed to taking as little creative license as possible,” Wang says.
“The more players look, the more they will discover about their character, their fellow crew, but also the history and science of human space exploration,” Wang says.
While the mission to Mars is a key framing device of Earthlight, and the game includes technology such as the Z3 prototype suit developed for Mars EVA missions, the game’s protagonist does not make the long trip to the red planet. Wang says the team would love to be able to depict the Mars mission in a sequel.
Those looking for a trip to Mars can step into The Martian VR Experience from Fox Labs later this year, or check out The Mars 2030 Experience from Fusion, MIT, and NASA. | PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive gamers will explore NASA life. | 43.133333 | 0.866667 | 1.4 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/health/childrens-life-expectancy-being-cut-short-by-obesity.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160531150110id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2005/03/17/health/childrens-life-expectancy-being-cut-short-by-obesity.html? | Children's Life Expectancy Being Cut Short by Obesity | 20160531150110 | BOSTON, March 16 - For the first time in two centuries, the current generation of children in America may have shorter life expectancies than their parents, according to a new report, which contends that the rapid rise in childhood obesity, if left unchecked, could shorten life spans by as much as five years.
The report, to be published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, says the prevalence and severity of obesity is so great, especially in children, that the associated diseases and complications -- Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, cancer -- are likely to strike people at younger and younger ages.
The report, which wades into several controversial aspects of public health, is likely to stir debate on both scientific and political grounds. The health effects of being obese depend on many factors, like one's fitness level. And estimating these effects could alter the expected cost of medical care and the size of pension payouts.
The report says the average life expectancy of today's adults, roughly 77 years, is at least four to nine months shorter than it would be if there were no obesity. That means that obesity is already shortening average life spans by a greater rate than accidents, homicides and suicides combined, the authors say.
And they say that because of obesity, the children of today could wind up living two to five years less than they otherwise would, a negative effect on life span that could be greater than that caused by cancer or coronary heart disease.
"Obesity is such that this generation of children could be the first basically in the history of the United States to live less healthful and shorter lives than their parents," said Dr. David S. Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston, and one of the authors of the report.
"We're in the quiet before the storm," Dr. Ludwig said. "It's like what happens if suddenly a massive number of young children started chain smoking. At first you wouldn't see much public health impact." He added, "But years later it would translate into emphysema, heart disease and cancer."
"There is an unprecedented increase in prevalence of obesity at younger and younger ages without much obvious public health impact," Dr. Ludwig said. "But when they start developing heart attack, stroke, kidney failures, amputations, blindness, and ultimately death at younger ages, then that could be a huge effect on life expectancy."
Longevity projections are notoriously slippery and politically charged, with consequences for issues like Social Security, pension plans, health insurance and health care costs. Some demographers and obesity experts question whether the authors' estimate is alarmist.
"Yes, it is almost certain that the risks of these various diseases will rise as obesity rises in the population, but you also have to assume that the medical sciences will get better at treating some of these complications," said Dr. Rudolph L. Leibel, an obesity researcher at Columbia University. "Certainly doing that is going to end up costing more, but it may not end up stripping months or years off life."
An editorial in the same issue of The New England Journal, written by Dr. Samuel H. Preston, a demographer at the University of Pennsylvania, raises similar questions. It suggests that the predictions of decreased life expectancy might be "excessively gloomy," given potential advances in medicine and genetic engineering, and the reduction of harmful behaviors like smoking.
Dr. Preston concludes, however, that "the rising prevalence and severity of obesity are capable of offsetting the array of positive influences on longevity."
The report's lead author, Dr. S. Jay Olshansky, a professor of public health at the University of Illinois, Chicago, said he considered the report's projections of reduced life expectancy to be "very conservative, and I think the negative effect is probably greater than we have shown."
"Hopefully, we can fix obesity so that our projections are wrong," Dr. Olshansky added. "But we're seeing such large increases in obesity in the last couple of decades that it's hard to imagine that we're going to be able to work fast enough."
Estimating the number of obesity-related deaths is controversial, too. Last November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its earlier estimate that 400,000 people die annually from obesity was inflated. A revised, lower estimate is expected soon. The New England Journal report uses an estimate of 300,000 deaths, which some experts contend is still too high.
The report projected life expectancy by calculating how much longer people would live if "everyone who is currently obese were to lose enough weight to maintain an optimal" body-mass index, a measure of the relationship between a person's height and weight. The authors believe it is more accurate than other projections.
The report comes at a time when the country is embroiled in a debate over Social Security. While the report's authors say they started their research long before the current debate, they write that "the U.S. population may be inadvertently saving Social Security by becoming more obese" and dying sooner, but that "this 'benefit' will occur at the expense of the economy in the form of lost productivity before citizens reach retirement and large increases in Medicare costs associated with obesity and its complications." | Study published in New England Journal of Medicine says rapid rise in childhood obesity, if left unchecked, could shorten life spans by as much as five years; cites associated diseases and complications from obesity; says average life expectancy of today's adult, roughly 77 years, is at least four to nine months shorter than it would be if there were no obesity; Dr David S Ludwig, director of obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston says children today could be first generation to live shorter, less healthful lives than their parents (M) | 10.07767 | 0.893204 | 10.38835 | low | medium | extractive |
http://www.nbc.com/chicago-pd/episode-guide/season-3/the-song-of-gregory-williams-yates/314 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160531234820id_/http://www.nbc.com:80/chicago-pd/episode-guide/season-3/the-song-of-gregory-williams-yates/314 | The Song of Gregory Williams Yates | 20160531234820 | Two notorious serial killers have recently escaped from prison. While one of the killers is in custody, Gregory Yates (guest star Dallas Roberts) remains at large. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Fin (Ice T) from SVU join Chicago P.D. in a race against time to capture Yates.
Unfortunately, the body count immediately rises in Chicago, and several murders all point to Yates. Yates delights in taunting Lindsay (Sophia Bush) with notes, texts and phone calls, goading her into catching him. Voight (Jason Beghe), much to Lindsay's dismay, attempts to keep her safe by keeping her on the sidelines.
When a box with a severed hand is sent to the district, addressed to Lindsay, it's discovered that Yates had tapped Lindsay's phone when she visited him in prison... and that he has effectively been tracking her every move. Yates' motives are also revealed - revenge against his biological parents, who abandoned him as a boy when he proved too much to handle.
After a furtive search that includes a trip to Lindsay's apartment (where Yates had initially been tracked), Lindsay gets a phone call from Yates that places him at his boyhood home. There, alone, Lindsay faces Yates and attempts to stop him from killing his next victim - his biological father. While she's unable to save the father, she escapes harm by shooting Yates when he lunges at her with an ice pick.
With the case closed and this chapter in her life over, Lindsay is consoled by Benson over a drink at Molly's, with Benson telling Lindsay that "my phone is always on." | SVU joins Chicago P.D. in a manhunt for two notorious escaped serial killers. | 22.642857 | 0.785714 | 1.928571 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://time.com/3590683/how-to-get-the-most-value-from-a-career-counselor/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160601004737id_/http://time.com:80/3590683/how-to-get-the-most-value-from-a-career-counselor/ | How to Get the Most Value From a Career Counselor | 20160601004737 | Many people consider career counselors a joke: “They give you B.S. tests that, in the end, always say you should be a funeral director or a forest ranger.” While that’s stretching it, career counselors are often less useful than they could be.
The most likely reason you’d choose to see a career counselor is because you’re still not sure what you want to be when you grow up even though you’re already a grown-up. Alas, career counseling clients too often don’t end up contentedly employed because:
Part of the problem is that career counselors’ main tools, career inventories, poorly predict how successful and happy you’ll be in a given career. For example, the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, administered to over 2.5 million people each year, severely lacks reliability, let alone predictive validity. Penn-Wharton Professor of Psychology, Adam Grant, in a Huffington Post review of the Myers-Briggs, concluded, “we all need to recognize that four letters [the Myers-Briggs’ 16 categories each have four letters] don’t do justice to anyone’s identity. So leaders, consultants, counselors, coaches, and teachers, join me in delivering this message: MBTI, I’m breaking up with you.”
Now in my 30th year as a career counselor and coach, despite honors and praise from most clients, I wonder whether helping people pick a career is a cost- and time-effective use of people’s money and time. Do career counselors, especially paid ones, often-enough add sufficient value over what you might get by simply using software such as O*Net or Eureka, which inventory your skills and interests and then provide descriptions of matching careers, including training requirements, and supplementing that with some Googling and informational interviews?
Career counselors tend to be more effective in helping you land a job. They can teach the art of networking, how to create a good LinkedIn profile and how to write a good resume and cover letter. Indeed, some counselors cross the ethical line and write or so heavily edit your work that it more represents the counselor’s writing, thinking and organizational skills than yours. Career counselors can prep you for interviews, helping you craft ideal answers for likely interview questions and videoing you to show you when you don’t appear credible and winsome.
Even if the counselor doesn’t write your resume and cover letter nor feed you model answers, much job-search coaching, despite its ubiquity, in my view, is unethical and inimical to the common good. The people willing to pay a job-search coach are disproportionately those who, on their own, failed to find decent employment, a pool that, on average, is less intelligent, less skilled, less motivated and/or more high-maintenance than the pool of people that get hired without paying a job coach. So when career counselors do the aforementioned packaging of a client, they’re often making an applicant look superior to more worthy candidates. As I mentioned in a recent TIME article, that’s, of course, unfair to the better candidates, especially to low-income ones that can’t afford a job-search coach. That’s also unfair to employers who thereby are deceived into hiring a worse employee than they otherwise would have hired. And that hurts all of us: The quality of the goods and services we receive is affected by the quality of people that get hired. There will always be a percentage of people who are unemployed. In an ideal world, they’d be the people who’d be the worst employees. But job-seeker packagers mitigate that. So, ironically, job-search coaching, which would seem to be a pro-social profession, may, overall, actually make the world worse.
Where a good career counselor or coach may most help
Most career counselors don’t continue to work with you after you’ve landed a job. Ironically, that’s when one is most likely to do the most good. Fortunately, some, by temperament and training, can help clients succeed on the job. You might want to hire someone to help you with one or more of these:
Many career counselors and coaches, while rich in counseling skills, are lacking in these areas and might be wise to acquire them, whether via self-study, courses, and/or real-world experience as an employee of an organization.
If more career counselors and coaches focused on the sort of work proposed in the previous section, they could greatly improve our worklives, for our own betterment, employers’, and society’s.
Marty Nemko holds a Ph.D. specializing in education evaluation from U.C. Berkeley and subsequently taught there. He is the author of seven books and an award-winning career coach, writer, speaker and public radio host specializing in career/workplace issues and education reform. His writings and radio programs are archived on www.martynemko.com. | They're likely to help you the most after you've landed a job | 67.928571 | 0.857143 | 1.857143 | high | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/05/17/best-workplaces-consulting-professional-services/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160601021302id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/05/17/best-workplaces-consulting-professional-services/ | These 20 Companies Excel at Human Capital | 20160601021302 | Companies that support other businesses — usually legal, HR, staffing, design, financial, and management consulting firms — are great examples of organizations that understand the importance of human capital. In other words, they recognize that people are their greatest asset. This year’s ranking of the best workplaces in professional services includes a wide variety of different types of companies, though they all have one unifying trait: they take care of their employees. Across the board, these great employers offer fair compensation, flexible scheduling, and often keep clear lines of communication between management and workers.
These companies also have all been certified as great employers by Great Place to Work, Fortune’s longtime partner for the annual ranking of the 100 Best Companies to Work For and other monthly best workplaces lists. We asked their research experts to evaluate the workplace experience at more than 600 companies. To determine the ranking, Great Place to Work surveyed 30,000 employees in the professional services industry. Here’s the new ranking for 2016, along with explanations from employees about why they love working there.
Headquarters: Raleigh, N.C. Numbers of locations: 78 U.S. Employees: 2,500 Year Founded: 1967
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Management cares about providing for the future of the company by focusing on career development and leadership,” says one employee at this design and engineering consulting firm. “A few weeks after I started, John Atz, the president of Kimley-Horn, came to our office to have face to face meetings with groups of employees based on experience level. The meeting I attended was not scripted and did not have a specific agenda, it was a lunch meeting where he basically sat down and asked what we would like to talk about. We had an open and frank discussion about office culture, career development and business metrics. Peoples opinions and ideas were heard and discussed and everyone felt valued. At my previous employer this would never happen, the president had been scheduled to visit our office for the last two years to do a walk through and still had to constantly reschedule. At Kimley-Horn, the culture of cooperation and achievement is heavily nurtured and is made a priority by management.”
Headquarters: Portland, Ore. Numbers of locations: 1 U.S. Employees: 45 Year Founded: 2002
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“This company is absolutely exceptional in every way,” says an employe at this HR services firm. “They have an incredibly flexible work schedule/environment which shows how much they care about everyone’s personal preferences and how much they honor other things happening in employees’ lives. They set very clear expectations and really bend over backwards to help employees achieve their goals, both professional and personal. Management is very open-minded and encourages everyone to share input and offer ideas and genuinely listens. There is definitely a sense of family here and I think I speak for everyone when I say I couldn’t be more proud to work for such a progressive and ultimately monumental company.”
Headquarters: Lombard, Ill. Numbers of locations: 3 U.S. Employees: 103 Year Founded: 2005
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“This is has been the most amazing company I ever worked for,” says an employee at this mortage lender. “Since Day 1, the president welcomed me, gave me exact tools, and made sure I will fit in. Employees, upper management treat you like family and make sure you have what you need to succeed. I love working for Neighborhood Loans. It truly is the best place to work. They put effort to make sure employees are happy and appreciated hard work and efforts,” says one employee
Headquarters: Zeeland, Mich. Numbers of locations: 2 U.S. Employees: 95 Year Founded: 2000
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Every person is an owner in this company,” says an employee at this product design consultant. “Therefore, everyone is involved in making decisions for the better of the company. The people involvement is unbelievable. Everyone cares about everyone and every thing. So key decisions are made by the people, not just management.”
Headquarters: Seattle Numbers of locations: 8 U.S. Employees: 566 Year Founded: 1995
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“While I found a sense of ownership immediately when I started, I see an even greater sense with the full conversion to employee-owned. People do think and act like owners,” says one employee at this management consulting and venture investment firm. “Point B exists for the benefit of its owners, and all of us are owners. This makes us motivated and happy which results in delivering great work to our clients! Our leadership is very approachable and everyone has a say in the decisions they make. We are encouraged and have the flexibility to take time off whenever we want / need. Point B is a family.”
Courtesy of PPR Talent Management Group
Headquarters: Jacksonville Beach, Fla. Numbers of locations: 1 U.S. Employees: 110 Year Founded: 1996
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Its amazing how much PPR makes you feel like you are part of a big family,” says an employee at this staffing firm. “I don’t feel like I am walking into work each day, I feel like I am waking up and going to be a part of my friends and family. I get to help people every day whether it be my clients or co-workers. I have the pleasure of getting to sit next to my CEO Dwight Cooper. Can you believe that the CEO of this company sits in cube? He gives the majority of the other tenured employees the ability to work in an office. I think that is so cool. I love have big of a role he plays in my day to day work like at PPR,” says one employee.
Headquarters: Seattle Numbers of locations: 17 U.S. Employees: 3,388 Year Founded: 1993
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Slalom is adamant about the employees driving the future of the company and ultimately defining the company and the services it provides,” says an employee at this consulting firm. “I’ve seen several examples of colleagues who noticed opportunities in the marketplace and were encouraged to build new practice areas around those opportunities. I know this happened within our Strategy & Operations group and I see it happening now in our Information Management and Analytics group. Closely tied to that point is how much Slalom supports all of our professional development to grow in the way we want. Besides allowing the time and finances to pursue educational opportunities, we often get to work on the projects and in the roles that interest us the most. When I started working here I mentioned how I wanted to start building the front-end of interactive applications. My first two projects were just that,” says one employee.
Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif. Numbers of locations: 10 U.S. Employees: 1,694 Year Founded: 1920
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“The firm is transparent in its overall management, providing everyone with high-level information about our successes, both substantive and financial, and our strategic direction,” says an employee at this Silicon Valley law firm. “All employees receive a state-of-the-firm presentation that offers insights into Cooley’s past performance and our goals and objectives for the future. The informal atmosphere is welcoming but not in any way indicative of the seriousness with which we do our jobs. Just because we wear jeans does not mean we aren’t expecting to perform at the highest levels – we just want to do so comfortably,” says one employee.
Headquarters: Southfield, Mich. Numbers of locations: 20 U.S. Employees: 2,021 Year Founded: 1924
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“From the time you start with the firm and continuing throughout your career development, there is a constant emphasis on a work-life balance. While the expectation is that you still complete all of the work assigned to you, the firm stresses that you should have an active life outside of work,” says an employee at this accounting and consulting firm. “Management was very approachable and helpful in allowing me to relocate offices to be closer to family,” says another.
Headquarters: Portland, Ore. Numbers of locations: 1 U.S. Employees: 32 Year Founded: 1993
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“We can truly be fearless. This is the first place I’ve ever worked where people aren’t afraid to suggest ideas, ask for help and admit that they don’t know something,” says an employee at this design consultancy. “My boss has come to me to ask for suggestions on how she might facilitate a session. I felt comfortable asking other consultants to help me make sense of a really complicated project, without fear that they might think I don’t know what I am doing.”
Headquarters: Redmond, Wash. U.S. Employees: 28 Year Founded: 2007
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“I love the weekly team lunch where the company buys us lunch and we all talk about our top three projects/needs/issues. We find out where what we are doing potentially impacts others, including staff and customers,” says an employee at this management consulting firm. “Amaxra is a unique working environment where questions are encouraged and staff are judged positively for admitting they don’t know and need help. Everywhere else I’ve worked, they might say this but they don’t mean it and usually it’s a negative. The culture at Amaxra helps make us a great team.”
Headquarters: Grand Rapids, Mich. Numbers of locations: 29 U.S. Employees: 253 Year Founded: 1986
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“I think that the most unique thing is the transparency. I am able to access our intranet and see the goals of our President, CFO, etc. and see if they are meeting their goals. I can also see the things that everyone in the company is working on quarterly, and if I may be able to help them with any of their tasks,” says an employee at this IT hardware maintenance company. “The employee vision also ties into this as I have a monthly meeting with my manager to discuss my personal, professional, and financial goals. No topic is off limits including salary. Management wants to know these things so they can help us achieve those goals. This is something I do not think many companies take the time to do with their employees.”
13. The Boston Consulting Group
Headquarters: Boston Numbers of locations: 21 U.S. Employees: 3,023 Year Founded: 1963
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“BCG is a unique place to work because management truly cares about employees and wants to make sure that in addition to achieving the company’s goals, employees have the opportunity to cultivate their skills, explore new interests and achieve their personal career goals. My manager makes time to meet with me regularly to answer questions, discuss challenges and opportunities for growth, reflect on successes and gain insight on my career interests. I have never felt more appreciated and part of a team in the workplace than I have at BCG,” says one employee.
Headquarters: Fort Collins, C.O. Numbers of locations: 2 U.S. Employees: 46 Year Founded: 1994
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“I feel that Prosci is unique in the area of allowing each employee to have a voice in the company. Questions are asked, meetings are held and employee feedback is always regarded highly,” says an employee at this management consulting company. “Prosci understands the importance of employees feeling that they contribute and give many opportunities to do so. Participation in team work is encouraged and rewarded. The reward programs are second to none. We have a yearly bonus plan that is designed around the success of the company and the individual success of the employee. Prosci is very generous with the bonus program.”
Another adds: “Every 2-3 years, management sets a challenge goal based on financial performance, and if the goal is reached, all employees and a guest are treated to a trip. Past trips have included the Bahamas, Disney World, an Alaskan cruise, and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.”
Headquarters: Memphis Numbers of locations: 19 U.S. Employees: 1,376 Year Founded: 1888
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“The CEO is accessible without reservation. He will return calls or e-mails the same day, or the next day at the latest. With over 650 attorneys, this is no small feat,” says one employee at this law firm, who added: “There are a multitude of ways the firm recognizes individual efforts. A weekly update highlights client accomplishments as well as individual or group civic achievements.”
Courtesy of HRMS Solutions, Inc.
Headquarters: Boulder, Colo. Numbers of locations: 1 U.S. Employees: 17 Year Founded: 2003
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Management is personally involved in developing the talent of their staff and in communicating the direction we are going. I would have to say Management is almost relentless in communicating and supporting their team and pointing the direction without hanging over your shoulder or micromanaging. At the same time Management encourages openness and involvement. If you want to be involved in something all you need to do is ask and if you need guidance or a sense of direction Management and your team work with you to develop,” says an employee at this HR solutions provider.
Headquarters: Huntsville, Ala. Numbers of locations: 7 U.S. Employees: 379 Year Founded: 2002
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Torch Technologies is a company that truly cares about their employees. Management does all they can to help make employees successful at their jobs and is also very understanding when employees have personal issues that come up, as everyone does. Torch is very loyal to their employees,” says a work at this employee-owned defense industry consultant.
Courtesy of Talent Plus, Inc.
Headquarters: Lincoln, Neb. Numbers of locations: 1 U.S. Employees: 106 Year Founded: 1989
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Exceptionally inclusive. Each individual, no matter what their role, is treated with dignity and importance,” says an employee at this management consultant. “If a senior leader is in a meeting, there exists no hesitancy to interrupt that meeting based upon one’s judgment to do so. Every role within the company is viewed as crucial; more importantly that feeling of importance conveys more directly to the person fulfilling each role.”
Headquarters: Orange, Calif. Numbers of locations: 137 U.S. Employees: 532 Year Founded: 1994
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“Roth Staffing has a commitment to taking care of people and puts customers, candidates and coworkers equally,” says an employee at this talent and staffing company. “Our temporary candidates are ambassadors of our organization and frequently thank us for being so different than other staffing firms. As a company, we don’t have annual reviews. Instead, we have quarterly outcome management meetings, focusing on results and achievement and what each individual needs to be successful in their role. We are a strengths based organization, focusing on achievement by developing individual strengths instead of overcoming weaknesses. Our focus on giving back to the communities we serve is unparalleled. We actually get paid time off during the work day to work with our local community and make a company sponsored donation.”
Courtesy of CHG Healthcare Services, Inc.
Headquarters: Salt Lake City Numbers of locations: 7 U.S. Employees: 1,833 Year Founded: 1979
Read the Great Place to Work review here.
“I work as clerical support and the VP we directly report to asked all of the teams for positive feedback about us without any of us knowing,” says one employee at this healthcare staffing agency. “He then later called a meeting and he had put all of the nice things people had said in a slide show and showed all of us. He later printed out all of the nice things people had said about us and gave it to each individual along with a gift card to the local food shop we all frequent. I think that is such a rare thing for an executive level employee to take the time and put something together like that to highlight a small group of support level employees. Very cool.”
About The Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services
The Best Workplaces in Consulting & Professional Services list is a “best of the best” ranking. The winners come from the universe of Great Place to Work-Certified great workplaces. Nearly 600 companies are currently certified and have public workplace reviews, reflecting the opinions of over 255,200 employees who were randomly selected to complete Great Place to Work’s Trust Index Employee Survey. Almost 30,000 employees in the Consulting & Professional Services sector were surveyed about how frequently they experience the behaviors that create a great workplace. Results from the survey are highly reliable, having a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of 5 percent or less. The total score for each company is based entirely upon this employee feedback. The 20 companies with the highest employee ratings were selected for the list. Find out more about the survey process at greatplacetowork.com/recognition, where you can also see the schedule of upcoming lists. | This year's class excels at human capital by putting their employees first. | 244.428571 | 0.714286 | 1.142857 | high | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2015/08/20/whole-foods-john-mackey/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160601162349id_/http://fortune.com:80/2015/08/20/whole-foods-john-mackey/ | John Mackey: The conscious capitalist | 20160601162349 | A few years ago Whole Foods Market decided that organic food didn’t go far enough. Never mind that organic is the upscale supermarket’s largest product category, accounting for 25,000 items on its shelves. Never mind that co-CEO and co-founder John Mackey is almost surely the individual most associated with today’s organic movement and most responsible for taking it mainstream.
In Mackey’s view, organic had grown stale. Its guidelines prohibit the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which is a good thing, he says. But they don’t address all the burgeoning issues—from excessive water usage to the treatment of migrant laborers—facing agriculture today. And once farmers are certified as organic, Mackey believes they have little incentive to improve their practices. “Organic is a great system, but it’s not a complete solution,” he says. “We feel like Whole Foods should take a leadership role in this. Who else is going to do it?”
So in late 2014, Whole Foods WFM rolled out a new rating system called Responsibly Grown, which measures factors like energy conservation, waste reduction, and farmworker welfare.
You could hear the blowback from Monterey County, Calif., to New York’s Hudson Valley. Phone calls and emails flew from one local organic homesteader to another, with many fearing that the new rating system would undermine their brand. When Vernon Peterson of Abundant Harvest Organics in Kingsburg, Calif., brought the issue to the attention of the California Certified Organic Farmers organization, where he’s treasurer, they unanimously decided, “We should fire every bullet we had.” Eventually he and a handful of fellow farmers sent an open letter to Mackey, complaining that the new rating parameters were “onerous, expensive,” and shifted the cost of marketing to growers, “many of whom are family-scale farmers with narrow profit margins.” The New York Times picked up the story, airing it on the front page of the business section. NPR broadcast a lengthy segment on Morning Edition. Says Peterson: “This was a hill to die on.”
In the end Whole Foods made some tweaks to the new program but hasn’t backed down. The 62-year-old Mackey, for his part, seems utterly undaunted by the hullabaloo. Indeed, if there’s one thing to be said about the man, it’s that he has never been afraid of pissing people off. “I am absolutely a contrarian,” he tells me at Whole Foods’ Austin headquarters in one of the first of our many conversations for this story. “You need dissonance, and you need someone who is challenging things. Otherwise you get stuck.”
The same term would certainly apply to Whole Foods itself right now: The company is in a period of dissonance, one that makes the attacks on its Responsibly Grown program seem like small organic purple potatoes. First came accusations, in June, that its stores overcharged customers in New York City—which prompted investor lawsuits as well. Then, in August, comedian John Oliver spent three minutes on HBO’s Last Week Tonight mocking Whole Foods for selling bottled water laced with asparagus stalks … for $5.99. The company said it was a mistake, but the episode gave yet more currency to the notion that the chain dubbed “Whole Paycheck” was out of touch.
The store’s numbers haven’t been pretty either: Same-store sales growth last quarter was at its lowest level since 2009, a fact blamed in part on the New York City investigation and on the longer-term concern that it is facing stiff competition in the healthy-eating ethos up and down the grocery food chain—from Kroger KR and Walmart WMT to Trader Joe’s and Sprouts SFM . All of this Sturm und Drang has been reflected in the company’s stock price. In mid-August shares hit a three-year low, representing about a 50% loss of market cap since October 2013.
“They’re getting Tom Brady-ed,” says BB&T BBT Capital Markets analyst Andrew Wolf. “They’re getting piled on.”
What better time to test what is perhaps Mackey’s most dissonant, brazen idea yet?
He calls it “conscious capitalism,” a mode of doing business that attempts to create value for all stakeholders—employees, customers, community, shareholders—rather than sublimating the needs of the first three to those of the last. The idea is an old one, dating at least as far back as the 1980s, to the work of R. Edward Freeman, now a professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, whom many consider the father of “stakeholder theory.” But Mackey, who co-authored a bestselling book on the theme in 2013, has become the closest thing to a modern-day spokesman for an idea that, dare we say, has found its time.
Mackey leans on his favorite lightweight Gossamer Gear hiking poles on a field in Boulder in August.Photograph by Wesley Mann for Fortune
For evidence, consider the who’s who of America’s business and financial elite who have echoed the theme—often coining first-cousin terms like “compassionate capitalism” (Salesforce’s Marc Benioff), “creative capitalism” (Bill Gates), and “just capital” (investor Paul Tudor Jones) to frame their philosophies. Wrapped up in all these notions is the fundamental precept that profits and purpose should go together—and that companies that marry the two faithfully will outperform the competition over the long term.
That many investors flatly don’t care about the long term is, of course, another matter. Wall Street cares largely about the now and the near future—and right now, and very likely in the near future, Whole Foods is struggling.
Mackey, once again, seems undaunted. “This is where your philosophy gets tested and when you get tested—your own commitment to it, your own integrity. It’s all in question. It’s all in play,” he says. “If you’re going to wreck your company or values just because you’re being attacked, then you’re not very deep.”
Deeply, profoundly, to his core, John Mackey is a capitalist. Though critics over the years have labeled him any number of things—anarchist, socialist, even Marxist—make no mistake, Mackey is a true believer in (mostly unfettered) free enterprise, and his love for it is like that of a convert who finds salvation later in life.
His conversion was not a peaceful one. He had been part of the food co-op movement—and when he abandoned that to start his own for-profit health food store, a group of his friends became ex-friends and gave him the nickname Darth Vader. (He had gone from the light to the dark.) “I got a lot of hate,” he says. “But I didn’t feel like I was evil because I was trying to earn a living and create stores better than the co-op. I didn’t see why I had to apologize for that.”
In many ways Mackey is still the old liberal, granola-chomping hippie he was in his early twenties: He is pro-choice, supports gay marriage, and is for the legalization of marijuana. Yet he also opposes labor unions and once penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed that ran under the headline The Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare that endeared him to the Tea Party. He is a man who resists media training, although he says he is not as brash and provocative as he once was, that he’s not as ego-driven. “He’s so who he is every minute of every day,” says Whole Foods CFO Glenda Flanagan, who has worked with Mackey for 26 years. “He doesn’t change who he is for anybody or any circumstance.”
“If I had adopted the general philosophy of the left, I would have been loved instead of hated,” Mackey says. “I just couldn’t do it. I’d rather be authentic and have my own intellectual integrity and have a lot of people misunderstand me. If they’re going to attack me I can live with it.”
He is far more sensitive, however, about attacks on Whole Foods. And while I’m in Austin this summer, the company is weathering a blow. The executive team is doing its best to respond to allegations by New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs that the company systemically overcharged customers for some prepackaged goods. Mackey and his co-CEO, Walter Robb, film a short video in front of the produce section, offering an apology—but insist the errors (having to do with the net weight of the products) were unintentional and were just as often in the customer’s favor.
“This stuff goes viral,” Mackey tells me, “because people are eager to believe bad things about Whole Foods so it doesn’t disrupt their mental model” of business as selfish and greedy. It’s similar to how people scrutinize his diet. “They want to catch me on stuff,” says Mackey, who is a vegan and abstains from processed food. “They want to prove I’m a hypocrite. I think that’s true for Whole Foods as a whole.”
He believes that this prevailing narrative of business—as a selfish and exploitative enterprise—stems in part from intellectuals’ attack on capitalism throughout history, which has fueled the public’s mistrust and skepticism. But another key contributor to this perception, in Mackey’s worldview, is that the dominant business theory of “profit maximization” has been a toxic one. “A metaphor I like to use is that my body can’t live unless it’s making red blood cells,” he explains. “If I stop making red blood cells, I’d be dead in no time. It does not logically follow that the purpose of my life is to make red blood cells.” The same logic applies to business. If a business does not make profits, it dies. But it does not follow that the purpose of business is to make profits.
In the early 2000s, Mackey began giving talks about a new business paradigm and a different kind of leadership, one based on Freeman’s stakeholder theory. Central to the view is that these disparate groups aren’t necessarily at odds. Corporate management teams that are taking action to benefit one stakeholder at the expense of another simply aren’t thinking creatively enough. As Mackey explains, no one has to lose: Business can create an ever-expanding pie, one in which customers and employees and the community at large should benefit as a company grows larger and shareholders are rewarded.
A still more revelatory moment came when Mackey read an advance copy of the book Firms of Endearment, co-authored by Raj Sisodia, explaining how enterprises with passion and purpose outperform. “For a long time I thought Whole Foods was just a weird company and nobody was like us,” he says, “and I read that book, and I realized that we were not alone.” Sisodia visited Mackey in Austin, and the two started using the term “conscious capitalism,” a phrase credited to Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, author of Banker to the Poor and founder of the Bangladeshi microfinance lender Grameen Bank.
Sisodia and Mackey invited a number of executives to a summit on the notion of purpose-driven business in 2008 and the following year created a nonprofit enterprise called Conscious Capitalism Inc. But to really spread the movement, Mackey and Sisodia knew they needed a manifesto of sorts: a book targeted at executives. “I felt like businesspeople needed to understand how much value they were creating in the world—that they were good people,” Mackey explains. Says Rick Voirin, the chairman of Stagen, a leadership training firm, and a former board member of Conscious Capitalism: “It pains John that business leaders are thought of so lowly.”
When Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business debuted in 2013, it popped onto various business bestseller lists—but the readers who seemed to relate best to the message were fellow chief executives. “I never realized I was a conscious capitalist until John told me that was the title,” says Panera Bread PNRA CEO Ron Shaich. “He’s provided the ideology and language around the approach.”
Two years later Mackey is still proselytizing. In mid-August he travels to the University Club of Chicago to give a talk sponsored by Unilever, a company in the broader shared-value movement. It’s the sixth day I’ve spent with him for this story, but the only time I’ve seen him in anything but shorts. (He is wearing khakis and a Patagonia fleece in lieu of a blazer.) During his presentation, Mackey outlines what’s required to be a conscious leader: analytical, spiritual, emotional, and systems intelligence. Analytical intelligence is what we teach in schools and entails dividing things up to understand them, he explains. Systems intelligence is the opposite—how the puzzle fits together. Later, over lunch (at a local Whole Foods), Mackey says that most people don’t have systems intelligence—which is why many don’t fully grasp stakeholder theory. They don’t get the interdependence, he says. What’s more, they think that if a corporation benefits from an action, the motive must be questionable.
But it’s not as simple as being either self-interested or altruistic, he says. You can be both. Mackey offers the example of the company’s “community giving days,” which are held once per quarter. On those days 5% of a Whole Foods store’s net sales are given to a local nonprofit. It’s the stakeholder model at work, he contends: It creates goodwill with customers, motivates team members, and takes care of communities. “Is it good business for us to do these things?” asks Mackey. “Absolutely.”
Consider the company’s decision to open a store in Detroit, where about 40% live below the poverty line. The project was the brainchild of Robb, who was growing increasingly concerned by Whole Foods’ reputation as a white, elite, expensive company. Whole Foods, he says, “was meant to be healthy food for the world, not just for a few people.” Mackey, however, was skeptical at first: “I’m going to trust you on this, Walter, but I don’t want to lose money,” Robb recalls his partner telling him.
It took less than a year for the store to turn profitable—which led to plans for markets in Newark and Chicago’s South Side (both slated to open as early as next year). But even more important, the Detroit location—with its smaller footprint, fewer products, and lower prices—offered a proof of principle that the company could appeal to a much broader group of shoppers than its current demographic.
The experiment had a surprising dividend: offering key lessons for Whole Foods’ new “365” chain—smaller, lower-priced versions of the flagship brand that will begin rolling out next year. Detroit “gave us some confidence that we could go in this direction,” Robb explains. “365 is an evolutionary strategy,” says Mackey—a way to combat the competition and the next step in broadening access to healthy food, which is the company’s core mission.
Such highfalutin talk may sound to many like marketing blather. But spreading the gospel of healthy eating is something Mackey is truly, unabashedly passionate about. As with capitalism, he was a late convert to the cause. He did not become interested in healthy food until joining the Austin co-op—a start he recognizes as way too late. “If I drop over from a heart attack,” he says, “I’m blaming it on my early childhood poisoning.”
Mackey has spent the lion’s share of his 62 years recovering from that food abuse. When he cooks dinner for me and members of his executive team at his home in Old West Austin in late June, the menu is salad—homemade, oil-less, vegan Caesar dressing on the side—local summer corn, sweet potatoes, and tofu with mushrooms, broccoli, and tahini. Mackey whips up avocado chocolate pudding for dessert with his Vitamix—his secret weapon in the kitchen. When he travels he packs a rice cooker to make oats for breakfast. People scrutinize what Mackey eats, but he is known for being a refrigerator voyeur himself. He offended his wife, Deborah, on their first date by looking in her fridge—he wanted to see her level of “food consciousness.”
For a Fortune 500 CEO, Mackey’s home comes across as modest, decorated with furniture and art from India, where his wife travels frequently. Just off the front entryway is his “man cave,” which sports an exercise bike, an inversion table, and his reading chair.
Mackey, a voracious reader, often has seven or eight books going at a time spanning from science fiction to economic theory. That intellectual thirst started in college, when he took mostly religion and philosophy classes and transferred back and forth between Trinity in San Antonio and the University of Texas at Austin. “I was not interested in ideas until then,” he says.
Some days Mackey would go to the library at 8 a.m. and not emerge until after midnight. “I thought John was probably just the brightest kid at UT,” says Kip Tindell, a college housemate of Mackey’s and CEO of the Container Store TCS , another company that’s part of the conscious capitalism movement. “He’s probably still the most interesting kid in Austin, Texas.”
Mackey loved school but hated assigned texts. One night when he was reading Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre, Mackey threw the book on the ground, dropped the course the next day, and decided he’d never read another book he didn’t want to read. He identifies this as the moment when he started to take control of his life. He hitchhiked to New York, grew his hair out, and told his parents he might not get a degree. He dropped in and out of school—never graduating despite having well over 100 credits.
During this period, Mackey was overcome by the enormous diversity of thought in the world—the expanse of different religions and philosophies. He became a born-again Christian because of a girl he fell in love with. He went through an existential, atheistic stage and then became spiritual again—this time in a nonreligious way. He began to meditate. Today he sometimes calls himself a perennialist: a person who believes that beneath all religious traditions there is a universal truth found through spiritual experiences, not through faith or dogma.
He joined a vegetarian housing co-op—the story goes that he did it to meet interesting women. At the time he thought capitalism was the source of society’s problems and that cooperation was better than competition. “It was a very seductive philosophy,” he says. But the deeper he got into the co-op movement, the more he viewed it as dysfunctional—hijacked by the most politically active, who were more interested in boycotts than creating value for members. Mackey was sure he could do it better. He and his then-girlfriend, Renee Lawson, started SaferWay, which evolved into Whole Foods when it merged with the health food store across town.
His father was an accounting professor turned CEO of a small health care company, and he mentored his son in business. Mackey read tome after tome of economic theory—Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, and Ludwig von Mises—with all of his discoveries pointing to a transformative revelation: Capitalism, he now believed, was humanity’s single greatest invention. It made all other progress possible.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Mackey was on his way to the S&P ratings agency near the World Trade Center, close enough to the falling towers that debris rained down upon him. “It reminded me to take care of the things I wanted to do,” he says in reflection. The next year he took a five-month sabbatical to hike the Appalachian Trail. Mackey gave himself the trail name Strider, pulled from one of his all-time favorite novels, The Lord of the Rings. “Strider was the grisly ranger, and nobody knew who he was, but he was secretly a king,” he says. “While I was on the trail and I was Strider, nobody knew I was the king of Whole Foods Market.”
Every couple hundred yards on the Appalachian Trail there’s a two-by-six-inch blaze on a tree that lets hikers know they’re on track. Mackey would joke with his friends that it would be great if life had these little blazes that said you’re on the right path.
In the summer of 2006, Mackey was hiking when he was struck by the notion that he should go to a $1-a-year salary. Whole Foods already had progressive compensation policies. The entire executive team, which makes decisions by consensus, has the same paycheck, and the total cash compensation paid to any employee in a calendar year is restricted to no more than 19 times the average annual wage, including bonuses, of all full-time employees. But Mackey felt as if he had made enough money in his life, and it increasingly bothered him that people would dismiss his arguments about conscious capitalism because of his pay. If he was really going to be a servant leader to Whole Foods, he didn’t want any money conflict. “I wanted to take it off the table,” he says. (The company donates stock options Mackey would have received to one of its foundations.) The only time he’s ever had second thoughts was in 2008, when everything collapsed. The company suspended its dividend, and Mackey had no cash flow. “The best thing about doing something public,” he says, “is you really are the hypocrite if you go back on it.”
Mackey can often seem adamant about his beliefs, but he has a reputation for changing his mind. “John, more than most other high-profile people, is willing to make radical changes and complete changes on things,” says Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s and the current CEO of Conscious Capitalism. The most prominent example took place in 2003 at a shareholder meeting in Santa Monica when Mackey got into a heated exchange with an animal-rights activist who said the company wasn’t going far enough. Mackey took the summer to read a dozen books on livestock and animal agriculture and let it marinate while he hiked the Colorado Trail. When he got home, he sent her an email telling her she was right. That led to the company’s animal-welfare rating standards that are in place today.
The episode inspired Mackey to go from vegetarian to ethical vegan. For the first year or two he ate eggs from the chickens at his country place outside Austin. But people were always bringing it up. So again he decided to “take it off the table.” Says Mackey: “I was always having to explain. It was boring for me.”
The animal-welfare standards, along with the company’s sustainable-seafood policy (it sells no fish at low levels of abundance), Responsibly Grown ratings, and decision to become the first national grocery chain to label whether products contain genetically modified organisms, all show a bit of Mackey’s libertarian streak. (He has given $50,000 to a Super PAC backing Rand Paul.) The company has no intention of waiting around until the USDA or some other governing body sets new rules.
His dismissiveness of such rule-making agencies may have been supercharged by past experience. In 2007—the last time, according to Mackey, that Whole Foods was in a cyclical trough—the company was facing off against the Federal Trade Commission, which had challenged Whole Foods’ proposed acquisition of a smaller health food chain, Wild Oats.
During the legal wrangling, the FTC revealed that over a period of years—and under a screen-name alias—Mackey had been promoting his company (and taking the occasional potshot at Wild Oats) in more than 1,000 comments on Yahoo Finance message boards. The SEC, in turn, launched an informal investigation, which left Mackey reeling in anxiety.
That personal emotional bottom, however, led to an awakening of sorts. “I did a lot of spiritual work,” he says, and came to the realization that if he wanted to continue to be the CEO of Whole Foods, there couldn’t be any aspect of his life that was secretive or hidden that would be embarrassing should it become public.
The deal went through, and the SEC dropped the investigation without action. Afterward, Mackey didn’t have any fear in his life, he says. He just let it all go. “Even with this crisis we’re in now,” he says, “I never felt anxious about it or nervous about it. I just don’t feel that anymore.”
But those who know Mackey say that, in fact, he does worry—not so much about doing the right thing but about figuring out what that right thing is. “One of the great things about John Mackey is he’s opinion-rich, but he’s educated,” says Roy Spence, chairman and co-founder of advertising agency GSD&M and a longtime friend of Mackey’s. “He will dog it until he understands what is the right thing to do.”
Mackey is now working on a book called The Whole Foods Diet, based on eating 90% plant-based foods. Sitting on his patio at his summer house in Boulder, he pulls out his iPad to forward me an article on a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that only about one in 10 Americans eats the recommended minimum five servings a day of fruit and vegetables. “Food culture in America is very toxic,” he explains. “We’re food addicts.” Mackey starts rattling off statistics—54% of our calories come from refined sugars, grains, and oils—basically processed junk food; 32% from animal foods; only 14% are whole plant foods, and a good portion of that comes from fried potatoes. “That’s the obesity problem right there—Americans eat calorie-dense foods.” He adds, “I always say if we were to design a diet to kill people, this is what we would feed them.”
These are not new ideas, but Mackey is creating a model for people to follow. He also has a louder megaphone than most. It’s much like what he did with his first book in conveying what many may have already instinctively known or felt about capitalism. “Once they have a pathway, they can follow it, and everything is a lot faster and easier,” he says. “I like creating those pathways.”
Whole Foods has launched three in-house foundations to address challenges facing the local—and global—community.
Whole Cities (Founded in 2014)
Helps those in lower-income communities—and in other places where fresh food is limited—get access to healthy offerings and nutrition education. It stems from the company’s experience in its Detroit store.
Whole Kids (Founded in 2011)
Funds salad bars (4,091 so far) and gardens (3,014) in schools to combat poor nutrition among children. A salad bar can reduce food waste and eventually improve the bottom line for school lunch programs.
Whole Planet (Founded in 2005)
Gives grants to microfinance institutions in places where it does business. It has committed $64.1 million to date in 67 countries. It’s based on the pioneering work of Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen Bank.
To see the full Change the World list, visit fortune.com/change-the-world.
A version of this article appears in the September 1, 2015 issue of Fortune magazine with the headline “The conscious capitalist.” | Whole Foods’ evangelist has
long warned about the toxic things we put
in our bodies. Now he’s on a new mission:
cleansing America’s free-enterprise soul. | 157.171429 | 0.742857 | 1.142857 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122117715359325849 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160601193826id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB122117715359325849 | Palin, on TV, Says U.S. Should Defend Its Allies | 20160601193826 | WASHINGTON -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Thursday that Georgia and Ukraine should be admitted to NATO and that the U.S. should be prepared to go to war if Russia invades Georgia again.
"I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help," she said in an interview with ABC News. It was her first interview since being chosen as Sen. John McCain's running mate, aside for an interview with People magazine about her family.
Gov. Palin also defended her national-security experience by citing her knowledge of energy issues. She said she hadn't traveled to foreign countries except Canada and Mexico until last year, when she went to Kuwait and Germany. She said she has never met a head of state and dismissed others who have.
"We've got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time," she said. "It is for no more politics as usual, and somebody's big, fat résumé maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they've had opportunities to meet heads of state."
Gov. Palin has proven to be extremely popular, ginning up enthusiasm on the trail and helping to lift Sen. McCain's poll numbers. But critics have questioned whether Gov. Palin is experienced enough to step into the Oval Office should she need to. And until Thursday, she hadn't appeared publicly in anything but scripted settings.
On the Russian-Georgian conflict, her comments appeared to go further than Sen. McCain has in the past. When asked in August whether he would consider using military force to defend Georgia against Russia, he said, simply: "The answer to your...question is no." He has also emphasized that while he strongly supports Georgia, he isn't trying to reignite the Cold War. But his national security adviser, Randy Scheunemann, said Thursday that like Gov. Palin, Sen. McCain believes that U.S. military action would be needed if Georgia was a member of NATO and Russia invaded.
"If John McCain were asked, 'would we act to defend another NATO member that was invaded?' the answer would be yes. That is the core of NATO -- the Article 5 security guarantee that an attack on one is an attack on all."
Gov. Palin cited her state's proximity to Russia in explaining her understanding of the international issues. That prompted Mr. Gibson to ask her what insight that gave her into what Russia is doing in Georgia. Gov. Palin replied with warmer comments toward Russia.
"Well, I'm giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relation with all of these countries, especially Russia," she said. "We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it's in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along."
The Bush administration has criticized the Russian invasion, but hasn't offered to help Georgia rebuild its military. Instead, it has announced a $1 billion plan to help rebuild civilian infrastructure.
In the interview, Gov. Palin appeared unfamiliar with the Bush doctrine, the term used to describe the administration's policy that the U.S. has the right to pre-emptively strike nations that pose national security threats, even if that threat isn't imminent. Asked by ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson if she agreed with it, Gov. Palin replied: "In what respect, Charlie?" He replied by asking for her interpretation. She said:
"I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership…comes opportunity to do things better."
—Elizabeth Williamson in Fort Wainwright, Ark., contributed to this article.
Write to Laura Meckler at laura.meckler@wsj.com | Palin said that Georgia and Ukraine should be admitted to NATO and that the U.S. should be prepared to go to war if Russia invades again. | 29.666667 | 1 | 19.888889 | medium | high | extractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/10973638/Top-10-TV-sports-theme-tunes.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160603025809id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/culture/music/proms/10973638/Top-10-TV-sports-theme-tunes.html | Top 10 TV sports theme tunes | 20160603025809 | • Watch the Match of the Day theme tune
The string section take centre stage in “Pop looks Bach”, their notes descending at speed like a skier down a piste. It was written by Sam Fonteyn, who also composed the Please Sir theme. But only aficionados can sing Ski Sunday immediately followed by the Horse of the Year Show, frustratingly similar. Try it!
• Watch Ski Sunday tune
This starts with a Morse Code-like rhythm which sounds like it’s being hammered out on a can on the boundary ropes but it’s from an album called Soul Limbo by Booker T & the MGs. It transports you to a sunny day watching cricket in the Carribean – even if the game’s coming from Birmingham – and has been chosen five times on Desert Island Discs, including by Boris Johnson.
• Watch Test Match Special theme tune
If you loved the days when sport included wrestling and Big Daddy in the Seventies, you will adore this. It was composed by Don Harper, an Australian jazz violinist and conductor who spent much of his career in London, and also wrote music for Doctor Who and Sexton Blake as well as touring with Dave Brubeck.
• Watch World of Sport tune
This starts with a bass guitar solo from Fleetwood Mac’s song The Chain which builds and builds as more instruments come in. It’s like a racing car heading towards you from the distance. Fast, furious and fortissimo – very Formula One.
• Watch Formula One theme tune
The legendary broadcaster David Coleman had his own theme tune for Sportsnight with Coleman but this is the tune for his big athletics nights. Grandstand’s Keith Mansfield asks his favoured trumpets to play the main theme for a piece called World Series and we are transported straight to Oslo and Zurich.
• Watch the BBC Athletics theme tune
Keith Mansfield was an experienced musican and composer – he was the arranger on Dusty Springfield's 1968 album Dusty... Definitely – and he works his magic on sports theme tunes again with the classic opening music for the Wimbledon covegae on BBC. With the brass in control again, Light and Tuneful was the perfect way to start off coverage from the All England championships. It has a fanfare quality which shouts: get your shorts on, pour a Pimms, jump on the sofa and cheer for the Brits.
• Watch the Wimbledon theme tune
Pot Black used ragtime piano for its early coverage but when colour TV came along, the BBC grabbed a tune called The Drag Racer by the little-known Doug Wood band. It starts with a memorable guitar riff. A very American tune for such a British sport. It's dstinctly more populist than the theme to the Horse of the Year Show, which was based on the final movement (entitled 'Rondo') from Mozart's 'Ein musikalischer Spass' (A Musical Joke) K 522.
• Watch the Drag Racer theme tune
Another great tune for the brass section to enjoy but this time it was penned by Ron Goodwin for a 1966 film called The Trap, featuring Oliver Reed canoeing down a Canadian stream. He also wrote film scores for Where Eagles Dare, 633 Squadron and Battle of Britain and it has the same ambiance.
•Watch the London Marathon theme tune
You can follow Proms news at the Telegraph Proms page
The BBC Sport Prom takes place at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 20 July (10.30am-12.45pm ). Adrian Warner is a former BBC TV Olympics correspondent who has covered 13 Olympics and five World Cups. He will be singing in the BBC Sports Prom with the Crouch End Festival Chorus. | In the build up to a special Sport Prom concert, we pick 10 of the best sports theme tunes, including Match of the Day, Test Match Special and Ski Sunday | 20.441176 | 0.794118 | 1.735294 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/oct/14/greece-to-hike-entry-prices-for-museums-and-historic-sites | http://web.archive.org/web/20160603040531id_/http://www.theguardian.com:80/travel/2015/oct/14/greece-to-hike-entry-prices-for-museums-and-historic-sites | Greece to raise entry prices for museums and historic sites | 20160603040531 | Entry to some of Greece’s most famous museums and monuments is to become significantly more expensive after the country’s government announced price rises that could go as high as 150%.
The country wants to raise more money from its tourism industry and is targeting the “unacceptably low” fees its government feels tourists pay to see sites such as the Acropolis.
Prices at the Athens monument are to rise by about 66% from €12 (£8.90) to €20 and those for the ruins of Knossos in Crete, Europe’s oldest city, are to jump 150% from €6 to €15, the federation of Greek travel agents said.
Prices at other popular sites and museums would double, according to Greece’s culture ministry. The full price rises are to come in from April to November 2016, with a 50% discount for the rest of the year, it said.
Officials reportedly said the prices at Greece’s 200 state museums would be affected. The increases would reportedly apply to sites such as ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, while tours of Greece’s approximately 20,000 archaeological dig sites – previously free – would also cost more under the plans.
Related: Greece: Alexis Tsipras retains economics team in cabinet with unenviable task
The Greek government argued that additional revenues from the price rise could offset austerity measures demanded by international bailout creditors, such as higher taxation on all private education.
“The price adjustments put the rates on a par with those in the rest of Europe,” the Times (£) quoted a culture ministry official, Ioanna Baltsou, as saying. Admission to Britain’s most popular attractions is free. But the cheapest adult ticket to the Tower of London, the most visited paid-for site in Britain, currently costs £23.10.
Baltsou reportedly added that Greece’s 1.2 million unemployed people would be granted free entry, while tourists visiting during the off-peak season – November to April – would be given 50% discounts.
The move comes despite concerns expressed by Greek travel agents that the price rises would drive tourists away. Tourism is a key industry in Greece, with a reported 26 million tourists visiting the country each year.
The federation of Greek travel agents said it wrote to the country’s prime minister Alexis Tsipras, as well as its culture ministry, to ask that the price rises not be “enforced abruptly”. It said they should instead be introduced gradually over a three-year period.
“The value-added tax hikes on all goods and tourism services, as well as the announced increases to the ticket prices of museums and archaeological sites, burden the travel package so much that it will become uncompetitive in the end”, the federation’s president, Lysandros Tsilidis, said. | Tickets for most sites and museums to double under money-raising scheme by Syriza government seeking to offset cost of ending austerity | 23.391304 | 0.73913 | 1 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/06/01/lululemon-founder-criticizes-board/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160604032310id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/06/01/lululemon-founder-criticizes-board/ | Canadian Retailer Lululemon's Founder Calls for Board Election Changes | 20160604032310 | Lululemon Athletica Inc lulu founder Chip Wilson criticized the Canadian yogawear retailer’s board on Wednesday, calling for annual election of the entire board to make directors more accountable for the company’s performance.
Wilson, who is the company’s largest shareholder with a 14.2% stake, said the board should be declassified to make it more effective and not staggered, where only some directors stand for election each year.
Wilson said he was convinced that Lululemon did not have the right leadership to make changes necessary to “win in the current global, multi-channel and dynamic environment.”
Lululemon was not immediately available to comment.
Since the current management was appointed in December 2013, peer Under Armour Inc’s ua stock rose 79% while that of Nike Inc’s nke have risen 45%, Wilson noted in a letter to shareholders.
Lululemon’s shares have dropped 8% in the same period.
A high-profile recall of Lululemon’s signature yoga pants in March 2013 for being too see-through led to top executive departures. The damage was compounded when Wilson said not all women are suited to wear Lululemon.
Lululemon has since worked to improve quality and solve supply-chain problems, while laying the groundwork for faster international growth. It has expanded its offerings to include more seasonal and fashionable gear to be worn outside the gym.
However, Wilson criticized Lululemon’s share and financial performance in comparison with its competitors, saying the company cannot cede its global athleisure market share to Under Armour and Nike.
Wilson, who founded Lululemon in 1998, left the board in February 2015 after disagreements with fellow directors.
He had withdrawn from day-to-day management in early 2012, and stepped down as chairman in December 2013.
Wilson launched Kit and Ace, a luxury casual wear company, in July 2014.
Lululemon’s shares were up 1.4% at $65.94 in afternoon trading. | He said an annual election of the entire board would hold its directors more accountable for the company's performance. | 17.666667 | 0.809524 | 3.761905 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/8275530/Second-sun-on-its-way.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160604105308id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/science/space/8275530/Second-sun-on-its-way.html | 'Second sun' on its way | 20160604105308 | The supernova could provide the biggest light show since Earth was formed, and will be so bright that night will become like day for one or two weeks, experts said.
Betelgeuse, which is part of the Orion constellation 640 light years away from Earth, is a red supergiant, meaning that it is nearing the end of its life and is due to explode.
When it does do, it will burn so brightly that the earth will appear to have two suns in the sky, the Daily Mail reported.
What is less certain is when it will explode.
Brad Carter, senior lecturer of physics at the University of southern Queensland in Australia, said the explosion could take place before the end of the year – or indeed at any point over the next million years. | The Earth could find itself with a 'second sun' for a period of weeks later this year when one of the night sky's most luminous stars explodes, scientists have claimed. | 4.108108 | 0.486486 | 0.594595 | low | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/3817284/cat-moving-going-up-down-stairs-photo/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160604164002id_/http://time.com:80/3817284/cat-moving-going-up-down-stairs-photo/ | Is the Cat Going Up or Down the Stairs? | 20160604164002 | People on the Internet are discussing whether a cat is going up or down the stairs in this photo.
This week’s debate seems to have been started by a post on 9gag.com, a photo and video sharing website. The headline “Forget about the golden dress” has generated nearly 3,700 comments at the time of publication. CBC points out that while the debate is fresh, the photo is not new, and had been posted to website fay3.com in 2012.
Imgur users say it is going down the stairs, Reddit users in this one thread seem torn, while some Facebook users say up because of the way the feline’s tail is wagging. BBC Trending thinks the answer lies in the direction of the brickwork on the walls. The Daily Mail points out that another post on 9gag.com seems to argue the cat is going down the stairs.
Other news outlets are reporting on the photo as if the buzz about it will become a viral sensation like “#TheDress,” a debate on the Internet about whether a dress is white and gold or blue and black (the dress’s designer Roman Originals said it was black and blue). | It's #TheDress all over again | 31.571429 | 0.428571 | 0.714286 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/03/29/obama-journalists-presidential-race/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160604171246id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/03/29/obama-journalists-presidential-race/ | Obama Is Blaming Journalists for the Tone of the Presidential Race | 20160604171246 | President Barack Obama on Monday laid some of the blame for the tone of the presidential campaign on political journalism that has been pinched by shrinking newsroom budgets and cheapened by a focus on retweets and likes on social media.
In a speech to a journalism awards dinner, Obama urged journalists to ask tougher questions of the candidates vying to be president. He voiced dismay over the vulgar rhetoric, violence at rallies and unrealistic campaign pledges that have continually grabbed headlines, in a thinly veiled reference to Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
“The number one question I’m getting as I travel around the world or talk to world leaders right now is, ‘What is happening in America?’ about our politics,” Obama said, describing international alarm over whether the United States will continue to function effectively.
“It’s not because around the world people have not seen crazy politics. It is that they understand America is the place where you can’t afford completely crazy politics,” he said.
“When our elected officials and our political campaigns become entirely untethered to reason and facts and analysis, when it doesn’t matter what’s true and what’s not, that makes it all but impossible for us to make good decisions on behalf of future generations,” Obama said.
He said the media landscape has changed since his first presidential campaign in 2008, when “there was a price if you said one thing and then did something completely different.
“The question is, in the current media environment, is that still true? Does that still hold?” he said.
He said news organizations have a responsibility to dig deeper despite the faster pace of “this smartphone age” and steep financial pressures in the news business.
Voters “would be better served if billions of dollars in free media came with serious accountability, especially when politicians issue unworkable plans or make promises they can’t keep,” Obama said.
The New York Times earlier this month reported that Trump has so far earned almost $1.9 billion worth of media coverage, compared with $313 million for the next closest Republican challenger, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and $746 million for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. | He said the media has a responsibility to dig deeper despite the faster pace in the news business. | 22.473684 | 1 | 6.473684 | medium | high | mixed |
http://time.com/3641122/sarah-breedlove-walker/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160604172726id_/http://time.com:80/3641122/sarah-breedlove-walker/ | US's First Black Female Millionaire | 20160604172726 | America’s first black female millionaire — and the first woman of any race to become a self-made millionaire — built an empire from nearly nothing in one of the most spectacular rags-to-riches stories in U.S. history.
When Sarah Breedlove was born on this day, Dec. 23, in 1867, to former slaves on a Louisiana cotton plantation, she had already achieved a milestone as the first of her parents’ five children born into freedom. Still, the odds were heavily stacked against her. Orphaned at 7, married at 14, and widowed at 20, she became a single mother earning $1.50 a day as a washerwoman.
And while her 1919 obituary in the New York Times portrays her meteoric rise to business success as something she simply decided to do one day — “One morning while bending over her wash she suddenly realized that there was no prospect on her meager wage of laying away anything for old age,” the obit casually explains — nothing in her life came easily.
Even the idea that launched her career as an entrepreneur arose out of hardship, although it was likely the least of her worries: In the 1890s, she began losing her hair. After developing a tonic she claimed made her hair grow back “faster than it had even fallen out,” she enlisted the help of her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker, a newspaper sales agent, in harnessing the advertising power of black newspapers to promote her “wonderful hair grower” and a line of products that would give kinky hair a “beautiful silky sheen.”
Doing business as Madam C.J. Walker, she displayed an innate acumen few MBAs could rival. Her talent for advertising was matched by her shrewd sales strategy, which employed a fleet of agents in a Mary Kay-style system that quickly built her fortune — and proved highly lucrative to the sales team as well.
“At a time when unskilled white workers earned about $11 a week, Walker’s agents were making $5 to $15 a day, pioneering a system of multilevel marketing that Walker and her associates perfected for the black market,” wrote Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in a 1998 story for TIME. “More than any other single businessperson, Walker unveiled the vast economic potential of an African-American economy, even one stifled and suffocating under Jim Crow segregation.”
On her way to the top, Walker burst through several glass ceilings, fighting racism and sexism with competence and confidence.
“I know how to grow hair as well as I know how to grow cotton. I have built my own factory on my own ground,” she once told members of the male-dominated National Negro Business League, who tended to be dismissive of hairdressers, according to Gates.
By the time she died, at 51, it was impossible to dismiss Walker. A generous philanthropist, she donated to scholarship funds, the NAACP, and campaigns to stop lynching. She helped to build a black YMCA in Indianapolis and restore Frederick Douglass’s home in Washington.
And she made a place for herself — literally — among America’s elite entrepreneurs. Her mansion in the tony Westchester village of Irvington was, according to the Times, “one of the show places in the vicinity,” which was saying a lot: The neighborhood was also home to tycoons Jay Gould and John D. Rockefeller.
Read Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Sarah Breedlove Walker: Madam C.J. Walker: Her Crusade | Dec. 23, 1867: Sarah Breedlove Walker, the first black female millionaire in U.S. history, is born | 33.45 | 0.95 | 2.55 | medium | high | mixed |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/02/16/judge-forces-apple-to-help-unlock-san-bernardino-shooter-iphone/21313781/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160604232326id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/02/16/judge-forces-apple-to-help-unlock-san-bernardino-shooter-iphone/21313781/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00001370 | Judge forces Apple to help unlock San Bernardino shooter iPhone | 20160604232326 | A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to give investigators access to encrypted data on the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, assistance the computer giant "declined to provide voluntarily," according to court papers.
SEE ALSO: Cryptic 911 Caller Didn't Identify Scalia, Sheriff Says
In a 40-page filing, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles argued that it needed Apple to help it find the password and access "relevant, critical ... data" on the locked cellphone of Syed Farook, who with his wife Tashfeen Malik murdered 14 people in San Bernardino, California on December 2.
"Despite ... a warrant authorizing the search," said prosecutors, "the government has been unable to complete the search because it cannot access the iPhone's encrypted content. Apple has the exclusive technical means which would assist the government in completing its search, but has declined to provide that assistance voluntarily." Inside the San Bernardino shooting:
Judge forces Apple to help unlock San Bernardino shooter iPhone
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: Inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly the recent mass shootings, lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: A Quran sits in the living room inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: An identification card for Syed Farook inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: A hole in the ceiling could be seen inside the closet area of the rear bedroom inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: A baby crib is seen inside the baby room of the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings, lived, on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: A firearm lubricant could be seen in the closet of the front bedroom inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: Media reporters go in and out of the townhouse where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: A praying mat and a cleared out closet in the baby room in the front of the apartment. A rare first glimpse inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly the recent mass shootings, lived, on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: Prayer beads are seen laying on the bed alongside personal documents in the rear bedroom inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: A closet inside the baby room. A rare first glimpse inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings, lived, on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 4: A rare first glimpse inside the house where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly recent mass shootings, lived on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. (Photo by Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
A book sits on a table inside the home of San Bernardino mass murder suspect Syed Farook, December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK / AFP / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
Journalists squeeze into a child's bedroom in the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK / AFP / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
A view of the kitchen inside the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK / AFP / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
A television crew prepares to do a live report inside a child's bedroom in the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK / AFP / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
SAN BERNARDINO, CA - DECEMBER 04: Reporters take pictures of photographs found inside the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in San Bernardino, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: Baby food sits on a kitchen counter inside the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: A hatchet sits in a kitchen drawer inside the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: Reporters inspect the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: Arabic books sit in a closet inside the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: An Islamic Manners book sits in a bedroom inside the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: A book about prayer sits on a bedside table inside the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SAN BERNARDINO, CA - DECEMBER 04: Reporters inspect the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in San Bernardino, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: Reporters inspect the home of shooting suspect Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
REDLANDS, CA - DECEMBER 04: Reporters inspect the home of Syed Farook on December 4, 2015 in Redlands, California. The San Bernardino community is mourning as police continue to investigate a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino that left at least 14 people dead and another 21 injured. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Members of the media crowd into the apartment bedroom of San Bernardino shooting suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, in Redlands, Calif., Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after the building landlord invited journalists into the townhouse. A book containing passages from the Quran is seen at right. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Members of the media crowd into a child's room in an apartment in Redlands, Calif., shared by San Bernardino shooting rampage suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after the building landlord invited media into the townhouse rented by the California attackers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Members of the media crowd into the living room of an apartment in Redlands, Calif., shared by San Bernardino shooting rampage suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after the building landlord invited media into the townhouse rented by the California attackers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Members of the media crowd into the living room of an apartment in Redlands, Calif., shared by San Bernardino shooting rampage suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after the building landlord invited media into the townhouse rented by the California attackers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Members of the media crowd into a child's room in an apartment in Redlands, Calif., shared by San Bernardino shooting rampage suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after the building landlord invited media into the townhouse rented by the California attackers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
A member of the media films a wall tapestry displaying religous writing in the living room of an apartment in Redlands, Calif., shared by San Bernardino shooting rampage suspects Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, after the building landlord invited media into the townhouse rented by the California attackers. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Prosecutors said they needed Apple's help accessing the phone's data to find out who the shooters were communicating with and who may helped plan and carry out the massacre, as well as where they traveled prior to the incident.
The judge ruled Tuesday that the Cupertino-based company had to provide "reasonable technical assistance" to the government in recovering data from the iPhone 5c, including bypassing the auto-erase function and allowing investigators to submit an unlimited number of passwords in their attempts to unlock the phone. Apple has five days to respond to the court if it believes that compliance would be "unreasonably burdensome."
In a statement, United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker called the move an "important step."
"Since the terrorist attack in San Bernardino on December 2, 2015, that took the lives of 14 innocent Americans and shattered the lives of numerous families, my office and our law enforcement partners have worked tirelessly to exhaust every investigative lead in the case," said Decker. "We have made a solemn commitment to the victims and their families that we will leave no stone unturned as we gather as much information and evidence as possible. These victims and families deserve nothing less. The application filed today in federal court is another step — a potentially important step — in the process of learning everything we possibly can about the attack in San Bernardino."
After the shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, authorities said they recovered several cell phones Farook and Malik had tried to destroy and had dropped in a waste bin. The iPhone referenced in the judge's ruling was found in a black Lexus belonging to Farook's family.
The iPhone is owned by Farook's employer, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which assigned it to him. The county consented to investigators' requests to search its contents.
Prosecutors argued evidence in Farook's iCloud account indicates that he was in communication with victims whom he and his wife later shot, and phone records show Farook communicated with Malik using his iPhone.
Prosecutors alleged in their filing that Farook may have disabled the iCloud data feature to hide evidence. Although investigators have been able to obtain several backup versions of Farook's iCloud data, the most recent version they've been able to access dates from about a month and a half before the shooting. They said this showed Farook "may have disabled the feature to hide evidence."
Last week FBI Director James Comey referenced the San Bernardino shootings when testifying before Congress about the challenges posed by technology that allows cell phones to lock with no apparent means of override. The new court documents give some details about those hurdles and the ongoing investigation.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More from NBC News: Obama on SCOTUS Pick: 'The Constitution Is Pretty Clear' Jailed Killer Jodi Arias Punished for Cursing Guard After Historic Freeze, an Unlikely Spring Spreads East | In a 40-page filing, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles argued that it needed Apple to help it access data locked on Syed Farook's phone. | 96.233333 | 1 | 15.133333 | high | high | extractive |
http://time.com/3846898/apple-watch-bands/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160604234756id_/http://time.com:80/3846898/apple-watch-bands/ | Apple Unveils Third-Party Watch Bands | 20160604234756 | Third-party Apple Watch bands were on the market even before the smartwatch launched last month — but now Apple is pulling in strap makers with a new developers’ program.
Apple launched the “Made for Apple Watch” initiative on Monday, which provides third-party accessory developers with precise smartwatch specifications, according to the program’s new website.
Like the similar “Made for” programs for iPhone, iPad and iPod (“MFi”), the Apple Watch specifications are intended to ensure the accessories comply with Apple performance standards. For Apple Watch bands, that means using the appropriate sizes and materials compatible with its features and environmental regulations. It also means following the company’s ban on integrated magnetic chargers.
There’s no mention of integrating accessories with Apple Watch’s hidden diagnostic port, a possibility many developers are hoping will be added in the future. That could allow faster charging or even battery straps, though other developers argue that the port is hidden for a reason.
Read next: 7 Most Surprising Things About Owning an Apple Watch | Apple launched an official program for strap makers | 25.25 | 0.875 | 1.375 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jul/24/dream-on-sydney-the-luxury-houses-you-can-buy-in-other-capitals-for-1m | http://web.archive.org/web/20160605093029id_/http://www.theguardian.com:80/australia-news/2015/jul/24/dream-on-sydney-the-luxury-houses-you-can-buy-in-other-capitals-for-1m | Dream on, Sydney: the luxury houses you can buy in other capitals for $1m | 20160605093029 | It may be mean to do this to Sydneysiders, but let’s consider what kind of house you can buy for $1m outside the crazy world of Sydney.
The Domain property group has announced that the median Sydney house price is now $1,000,616. For a city that likes to mix it on the world stage, it is now in the big league. Sydney houses are more expensive than London’s and are getting close to New York’s, according to Domain.
Property is about more than bricks and mortar, of course. It’s about dreams, envy, status and getting a foothold. Those that bought a house years ago try to contain their glee; those trying to buy their first home without rich parents to help them out are in despair.
A median price is a middle price – half of all houses in Sydney cost more than a million, and half cost less. What housing dream you can aspire to in Sydney depends on where you buy, but for anywhere near the city $1m is a now a starting point, says inner west agent Peter Gordon.
“It’s a good two-bedroom apartment or a very small house, under 100 square metres of land, a really modest worker’s cottage,” he says.
“Five years ago, people were squealing about buying a house for $500,000 to $600,000 and they’re now squealing about paying $1m for the same house ... I don’t know where they’re finding the extra $400,000.”
Gordon’s company recently sold a two-bedroom, one-bathroom “untouched gem” in Rozelle, a suburb 4km from the CBD, for $990,000. “Untouched gem” means dilapidated with rising damp, mould and peeling paint.
Another tiny but renovated house in Balmain went for $1,050,000.
If the people who bought these places moved to Hobart, Australia’s cheapest capital for property, they could just about afford a four-bedroom house in upmarket Sandy Bay. “Think Amalfi Coast ... substantial split-level residence with sensational harbour views!” gushes the sales pitch. You too could have a “palatial en suite”, a powder room, all “architecturally designed to capture the most sensational panorama”.
A little over year ago, someone paid $950,000 for “an absolute signature property in one of Hobart’s most desirable streets”. Fully restored, four bedrooms and its own “grand beautiful oak stairs with intricate wrought iron”. Drool Sydney, drool.
Hobart’s median house price is $325,972, according to Domain’s calculations. Analysis by CoreLogic RP Data found that one in 10 homes in Australia now sell for more than $1m.
Averages aside, it’s all about Sydney, and Melbourne to a lesser extent. In Sydney, 34% of houses are sold for more than $1m. In Melbourne, it’s 16.5% and in Hobart, just 1.5%.
“You can buy half of Hobart for $1m,” says Tony Collidge, the president of the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania, who is only semi-joking. He thinks the local property market is starting to benefit from over-the-top prices in Sydney and Melbourne, with more investors now looking at Hobart.
For around $1m, he says, “you’re probably getting a 30-odd square [280 square metre] home in Sandy Bay with absolutely incredible water views.
“You’re five to 10 minutes from the centre of Hobart’s CBD, you don’t have a lot of congestion or a lot of worry and it’s just a high-class executive home.”
Sydney property prices grew by almost 23% in the year to June, with Melbourne growing 10.3%. The rest of our capital cities had much more modest growth, with Perth housing prices falling by 1.6%.
Inner city Melbourne looks a little like Sydney, although not so extreme. Enzo Raimondo, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, says there are now 78 Melbourne suburbs with median prices of $1m or more, with the overall median at around $700,000.
In Albert Park, one of the suburb’s “few remaining unrenovated Victorians” – a bit of a dump in other words – sold for $1,160,00 last month.
But Melbourne agents insist you can still get good family homes within 15km of the city for around $1m, particularly in the north and the west. Last month, a renovated three-bedroom house in up-and-coming Northcote sold for $1,090,000.
Sydneysiders may believe that they would rather live in a dump in Sydney than in luxury anywhere else but it must hurt to see a four-bedroom, four-car park 1930s house in the prestigious Adelaide Hills sell for just over $1m.
In Brisbane, where the median price is about $480,000 – up less than 2% in the year to June - $1m will buy you a four-bedroom character-filled Queenslander in upmarket Hawthorne or a rather swish three-bedroom home in inner city Paddington.
Yet Frank Lombardi, principal seller of Ray White East Brisbane, says he routinely sells million-dollar houses in the inner city and the money doesn’t go far in the most prestigious areas.
“People often come up from Sydney to Brisbane and think they’re going to buy the Taj Mahal in the best suburb for half the price and it’s not the case at all,” he says.
Just in case you were dreaming, Sydney. | With Sydney’s prices leaping 23% in the past year, you get a lot more house for your money in any of the other cities where prices have grown more modestly | 32.969697 | 0.818182 | 1.424242 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/05/09/zenefits-investigation-results/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160605120801id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/05/09/zenefits-investigation-results/ | Zenefits' Investigation Leaves Some Questions Unanswered | 20160605120801 | Human resources software startup Zenefits has published the results of an investigation into corporate misbehavior that cleared the current CEO from any involvement while pinning the blame on his predecessor.
The findings on Monday said that new CEO, former PayPal executive David Sacks, had no knowledge of a computer system used to fraudulently skip require study time for insurance licensing in California that led to the departure of co-founder Parker Conrad. The software let sales staff avoid spending the 52 hours of required preparation for their licensing test, in violation of state requirements.
The report, written by an outside law firm hired by Zenefits, also left a number of unanswered questions as to how it managed to skirt licensing regulations for so long.
The report paint a picture of a fast-and-loose startup whose regulatory corner-cutting has cost the company a lot. The company, whose last funding round gave it a valuation of $4.5 billion, also had to cut 250 jobs in February as part of its process of getting back on track.
Sacks, who joined the company in late 2014 as its chief operating officer, didn’t find out about the software until last fall after an unnamed employee blew the whistle on it, the report asserted. The report claims that Sacks, who was ostensibly in charge of day-to-day operations, was totally out of the loop about a key part of the company’s operations.
Sacks and Joshua Stein, then the company’s vice president of litigation and regulations, first raised concerns to Conrad about the software in November, the report said. But Conrad didn’t admit he had created it until January—and then only after Stein and Zenefits’ general counsel, Hillary Smith, told him they were hiring an outside law firm to look into the matter, according to the report.
Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.
More than anything, the report paints of a picture of how Zenefits’ organizational structure and Conrad’s tight grip on control managed to keep Sacks completely in the dark. Because Zenefits’ sales team reported entirely to Conrad, Sacks had no idea about the software—or even what employees have to do to obtain their insurance brokering license, according to the report.
“Because Mr. Sacks never sought to obtain an insurance license himself, this was also the first time that he saw the licensing application and learned of the 52 hour pre-licensing education requirement,” the report said.
The company says that Sacks’ responsibilities only covered product management, finance, partnerships, and operations such as customer support. “Since the time David joined the company as COO, sales and legal/regulatory issues reported directly to founder and then-CEO Parker Conrad, who had maintained that Zenefits’ licensing was in compliance and that any examples to the contrary were isolated cases that had been quickly corrected,” Zenefits spokeswoman Jessica Hoffman told Fortune.
Over the last few months, Zenefits said it has overhauled its executive team, created a new board of directors, and fired sales managers who circulated the illegal software. It also created its first team to oversee regulatory compliance by promoting Stein to that role.
The report didn’t address why it took Zenefits, which operates in a highly regulated industry, this long to appoint a head of compliance.
“The absence of a compliance team was a decision made by the previous CEO, Hoffman told Fortune. “Its absence was something that was immediately rectified once David Sacks became CEO when he made former federal prosecutor Josh Stein as Chief Compliance Officer. His team now has 9 professionals on it with plans to add three more.”
Also on Monday, a report from BuzzFeed, citing anonymous sources said that Conrad sold $10 million in Zenefits stock last year, months before his resignation. Conrad also negotiated with the company’s board for $130,000 in severance when he resigned, according to the report.
A person close to Conrad told Bloomberg Businessweek that “he regrets resigning and is already working on a new company.” Founded in 2013 by Conrad and Laks Srini, Zenefits has raised $584 million to date. | The HR software company released the results of an investigation by law firm Cooley. | 52.733333 | 0.8 | 2.266667 | high | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/04/02/corporate-america-lgbt-community/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160606032318id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/04/02/corporate-america-lgbt-community/ | Corporate America Just Became the LGBT Community’s Most Powerful Ally | 20160606032318 | As conservative legislatures in Southern states continue to plow ahead in the battle pitting religious freedom against LGBT-rights, mega-corporations like dis Disney, ko Coca-Cola, and fb Facebook have earned an influential seat at the political roundtable. Earlier this week, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal vetoed a far-reaching religious freedom bill after facing pressure from these and other corporations threatening to pull their business out of the state.
North Carolina received similar scrutiny after passing House Bill 2, a sweeping religious freedom bill that essentially prohibits municipalities from passing LGBT-protective laws. The Charlotte-based Bank of America, Apple, and 80 other CEOs and business leaders signed onto a letter demanding that North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory repeal the controversial law.
These and other “license to discriminate” bills enabling business to refuse to hire or serve LGBT individuals in the name of religious freedom are part of a larger narrative – a continuing backlash to the Supreme Court’s historic 2015 same-sex marriage decision. But as businesses like Twitter, Marriot, Levi Strauss, and American Airlines voice objections to these bills, becoming central players in the political conversation, the business world questions whether and to what extent these companies should voice their progressive opinions so loudly.
See also: Mississippi Legislators Just Passed the “Most Sweeping Anti-LGBT Legislation” in the U.S.
Although corporate America cannot serve in a legislative or enforcement role, its certainly influencing legislative policy, as evidenced by Governor Deal’s recent veto of the Georgia religious freedom bill. Critics of corporate interference in policymaking take issue with these outspoken corporations’ expression of strong stances on political issues. After all, corporations are not structured for assuming a central role on the political stage. Indeed, the corporate structure is designed primarily for making money, and opponents of the new corporate conscience argue that money and politics should keep a safe distance. This is the argument espoused by opponents of the Supreme Court’s controversial 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which upheld the First Amendment right of corporations to make unlimited independent expenditures to political causes. In short, this decision and its aftermath have reshaped the country’s political landscape.
Like it or not, however, dollars and cents play a leading role in today’s politics. In an age where Super PACS are flexing their political muscles by funding negative media campaigns against their candidate’s opponent or publishing disparaging pictures of a candidate’s wife, the political game is entirely about money. When money equals access to political discourse, and more money means more access and influence in the political arena, why shouldn’t corporations speak up on socially important matters?
The recent trend of corporate threats to boycott is part of a larger shift toward a more sophisticated political structure. While the recent threats of corporate boycotts are reminiscent of the efforts of civil rights groups like the ACLU or the NAACP during the civil rights movement, socially-minded consumers have become more savvy. They recognize that the most effective metaphorical carrot over a state politician’s nose is the threat of corporate abandonment.
Today, instead of civil rights groups like the NAACP influencing individuals to ban together on social policy issues, consumer activists have realized that pushing for corporate pressure on state governors is far more effective. Now, corporations are standing in the shoes of the consumer activists as “super-consumers” to state economies. The corporate influence on state economies is simply more powerful than any same-minded individual citizen activist because, in monetary terms, the corporate presence in a state has a greater impact on the state’s economy than even the aggregate of socially-conscious consumers.
But, as corporations navigate their way through uncharted territory, where the modern corporation exercises its political influence, justifying such expression as an act of corporate conscience, they must be cognizant of their shareholders. Where shares and wares are traded daily in the business world, and the stock market’s fluctuation is a symptom of consumer whim, corporations are held more accountable to their constituents than politicians, whose records are only reviewed every few years when they come up for reelection.
Regardless of whether a corporation’s motive is pure and altruistic, or whether it is acting solely for economic reasons (packaged in social consciousness), threats of corporate boycotts send both a symbolic and fiscal message that the business world will not tolerate efforts to cloak discrimination in religious freedom. When 80 businesses threaten a single state’s economy, the aggregate negative affect on interstate commerce could be substantial. As such, Coca-Cola, Disney, and other mega-corporations will continue to hold tremendous power in shaping social policy.
Danielle Weatherby is an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law. | Recent boycotts send both a symbolic and fiscal message | 100.222222 | 1 | 7.222222 | high | high | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/01/27/make-friends-at-work/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160606114054id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/01/27/make-friends-at-work/ | How You Can Make More Friends at Work | 20160606114054 | The Leadership Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question: How do you build authentic relationships at work? is by Tim Eisenhauer, president of Axero Solutions.
Authenticity has become a buzzword for everything from advertising to personal style to politics. In today’s world, where so much is mediated and polished by technology, the widespread desire for authenticity is really a bid to get back to the ‘human’ side of things and away from filters. And the desire for authenticity is just as strong in the workplace. Building authentic relationships at work is a key aspect of ensuring that employees are satisfied, engaged, and productive. The challenge is that authenticity, by definition, can’t be manufactured. But there are still things employers, and employees, can do to build meaningful workplace relationships.
Let’s start off by looking at why office relationships are important in the first place. LinkedIn’s lnkd Relationships @ Work study showed that millennials rely on work friends “to boost their spirits and output.” Approximately 57% of respondents said friendships make them feel happy, 50% said friendships were motivating, and 39% said friendships made them more productive. Additionally, a Gallup poll found that 30% of employees have a best friend at work, and these employees are seven times as likely to be engaged. They’re also better at engaging customers, produce higher quality work, and exhibit higher levels of wellbeing.
See also: The Best Way to Share Personal Information With Your Manager
All relationships — whether they are friendly, romantic, professional, or a combination — require openness and truth to thrive. They require authenticity. Without it, connections remain tenuous and superficial, lacking roots and opportunities to grow. I would argue that you can’t have a real relationship of any kind without an authentic connection, and thus the question “how do I build authentic relationships at work?” is really “how do I built relationships at work?”
The obvious answer is “be authentic”. But that’s hardly helpful. Being authentic is something of a paradox because the act of being, and certainly of trying, seems to undermine authenticity. There are all kinds of questions here. Is being authentic “just being yourself” or “being who you are?” What does that even mean? How can you not be yourself? Can you be somebody else? The fact is that most of us have multiple “selves” that emerge at different times and in different situations. Humans are dynamic. Are some of our selves more or less authentic than others? Is it possible to learn to be authentic? Or is that something we already have?
The question of the self has been debated by the world’s greatest philosophers — Aristotle, Lao Tzu, Descartes, Locke, Nietzsche– and to Socrates, the entire goal of philosophy was to “know thyself.” These are not questions that should or will be answered in this article, but they do make one thing clear: Building authentic relationships, inside and outside of the workplace, first requires self-knowledge. Awareness of what makes you tick, how you operate in the world, and how you interact with other people creates the foundation for authentic connections. Beyond introspection, authentic workplace relationships are built on trust. You have to both trust the people you are working with and cultivate their trust in you. This means fulfilling the promises you make, being transparent about the things you are working on, and refraining from gossip. Transparency depends on open communication, as does friendship. The more effort you put into talking to and learning about other people, the richer your relationships will be. But don’t be afraid to express concerns when they arise. It’s okay not to be positive all the time, as long as you are polite and respectful about your concerns. Ultimately, the “hidden secrets” to building authentic relationships at work are not different from building authentic relationships anywhere — communication, honesty, respect and trust, and most of all, a strong sense of self. | Friendships have been proven to increase employee productivity. | 89.222222 | 0.555556 | 0.555556 | high | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2015/11/04/bitcoin-boom-hero-app/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160606115528id_/http://fortune.com:80/2015/11/04/bitcoin-boom-hero-app/ | Here's the x-factor that could launch a bitcoin boom | 20160606115528 | Brian Forde admits that bitcoin isn’t a no-brainer.
Right now it’s hard for most people to grasp the vast potential in the technology behind it, allows the director of digital currency at the MIT Media Lab. “Having this cryptocurrency is kind of a weird idea,” said Forde, who was previously a senior advisor for technology at the White House. “It’s hard to explain.”
But he believes the technology could quickly break into the mainstream with one development: a “hero app.”
Someone needs to create “that killer app that all of you are dying to download,” said Forde, just like Uber very quickly made the idea of what Forde called “digital hitchhiking” mainstream.
Forde made his comments during a panel discussion on digital currencies at the Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco on Wednesday. It’s a timely topic: The price of bitcoin has rocketed in recent weeks. After a long fall from its high of around $1,100 in 2013 to near $200 in August, bitcoin just jumped above $400.
One reason for that surge is a growing appreciation for the potential of the network that makes bitcoin function—the so-called blockchain, which acts like a giant ledger keeping track of who owns each bitcoin and when it has changed hands. The possibilities of the peer-to-peer system were examined in a recent cover story in The Economist.
Fee-heavy financial services could be massively disrupted by digital currency payment systems. “Where is the potential and who is potentially scared?” said Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the former minister of economics and technology for Germany and now an investor in blockchain technology. “The third-party intermediary sees potentially an apocalyptic moment.”
On the other hand, millions of people in the developing world could get access to financial services for the first time via a “digital wallet” powered by the blockchain, opening new markets. Blockchain verification tracking has the potential to transform everything from human resources functions to elections.
When will a breakthrough app emerge? According to the panelists, venture capital investment in companies based on the bitcoin-blockchain infrastructure have recently passed the $1 billion mark. And the number of programmers working on the blockchain globally is growing fast.
“The developer community around this stuff is worldwide,” said Bill Tai, a venture capitalist who serves on the board of BitFury, a large bitcoin mining company. “There are kids all over the world that can open it up and just build.”
The venture community, said Tai, has begun to envision an app-store like environment with applications built on the blockchain network. “The possibilities are endless,” said Tai.
To unlock them, we just need to start with that first hero app. | Enthusiasm for the technology behind the cryptocurrency is rising. What does it need to go mainstream? A 'hero app' | 23.73913 | 0.73913 | 1.173913 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/03/31/julia-louis-dreyfus-russell-crowe-to-host-saturday-night-live/21336321/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160606224450id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/03/31/julia-louis-dreyfus-russell-crowe-to-host-saturday-night-live/21336321/ | Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Russell Crowe to host 'Saturday Night Live' | 20160606224450 | Before you go, we thought you'd like these...
Another Saturday Night Live vet is returning to Studio 8H.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was a castmember on the late-night show from 1982 to 1985, is set to host on April 16, NBC announced Thursday.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Russell Crowe to host 'Saturday Night Live'
IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR THE TELEVISION ACADEMY - Julia Louis-Dreyfus poses with the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for "Veep" at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 6 -- Pictured: (l-r) Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Daria, Robert Blake, Eddie Murphy as Buckwheat during the monologue on November 13, 1982 -- Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 1 -- Pictured: (l-r) Julia Louis-Dreyfus as April May June, Brad Hall as Pastor Doug during the 'PTC Club' skit on September 25, 1982 -- Photo by: Al Levine/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 1 -- Pictured: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Martha during the 'Calvin Klein Cream Pies' skit on October 8, 1983 -- (Photo by: Alan Singer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 11 -- Pictured: (l-r) Gary Kroeger as Rory, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Becky during the 'El Dorko' skit on January 28, 1984 -- Photo by: Reggie Lewis/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Photo by Ron Galella/WireImage)
SEINFELD -- 'The Hot Tub' Episode 5 -- Pictured: (l-r)Jerry Seinfeld as himself, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, Jeremiah Birkett as Jean-Paul (Photo by Barry Slobin/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SEINFELD -- Season 3 -- Pictured: Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes (Photo by Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
This is a January 1994 photo of Jerry Seinfeld with co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the Golden Globe Awards in Los Angles.(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
**FILE**Jason Alexander attempts to telephone Jerry Seinfeld as he and co-star Julia Louis-Dreyfus of television's "Seinfeld" accept a Screen Actors Guild Award on March 8, 1998, in Los Angeles. The pair will reunite in an upcoming episode of Louis-Dreyfus' sitcom "The New Adventures of Old Christine," CBS announced Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007. (AP Photo/Michael J. Caulfield)
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus reassures a party on the telephone that it really is her, while making calls supporting Al Gore from a phone bank in Pittsburgh Sunday, Nov. 5, 2000. Celebrities stormed parts of Pennsylvania Sunday, hoping their appearance in this key state will push Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore toward victory on Election Day. (AP Photo/Gary Tramontina)
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus takes a break from the filming of her comedy series "Watching Ellie" on a set in Culver City, Calif., March 7, 2003. Unlike last spring's 10 episodes that were filmed drama-style with a single camera, a half-dozen new episodes of "Ellie" were shot in front of a live audience in the multi-camera style of a typical sitcom. The show returns to NBC on April 15. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus addresses questions from television critics about her new show "The Adventures Of Old Christine" Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006, at the CBS session at the Television Critics Association Winter press tour in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus holds the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for her work on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" at the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Aug. 27, 2006, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus watches the Detroit Pistons take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference basketball finals Tuesday, May 29, 2007, in Cleveland. Her son Charles is at right. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Julia Louis - Dreyfus accepts the legacy of laughter award at the TV Land Awards on Sunday April 19, 2009 in Universal City, Calif. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, right, and her son, Charles, watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the New Orleans Hornets in an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Lori Shepler)
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus poses for photographers during the dedication ceremony for her new Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus attends the Variety and Women in Film Pre-Emmy Event at Scarpetta on Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, winner outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for "Veep," poses backstage at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
This publicity image released by HBO shows Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the comedy series "Veep." Louis-Dreyfus was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy series for her role in "Veep" on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013. The 71st annual Golden Globes will air on Sunday, Jan. 12. (AP Photo/HBO, Lacey Terrell)
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday Jan. 13, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus attends the press conference for "Enough Said" on day 4 of the Toronto International Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013, in Toronto. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives at the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus poses in the press room with the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series for "Veep" at the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
EXCLUSIVE - Julia Louis-Dreyfus accepts the Creative Commitment in Television Award on stage at unite:4good and Variety's unite4:humanity at Sony Pictures Studios on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, in Culver City, Calif. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision for Bright Future International/AP Images)
Jimmy Fallon, left, and Julia-Louis Dreyfus backstage at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
EXCLUSIVE - Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Amy Schumer take a selfie at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 30: Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 30, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)
The Veep actress will follow another HBO star, Peter Dinklage, who will make his hosting debut on Saturday. The week before Louis-Dreyfus' homecoming, Russell Crowe will take the reigns on April 9 with musical guest Margo Price. Nick Jonas will appear as the musical guest for the first time as a solo artist the following week.
This marks Louis-Dreyfus' third time hosting and, surprisingly, Crowe's first. He will next share the big screen with recent SNL host Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys.
SNL airs Saturdays at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Russell Crowe to host 'Saturday Night Live'
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 2 -- Aired 02/08/2001 -- Pictured: Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek during 'Jeopardy' skit (Photo by Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- 'Anne Hathaway' Episode 1535 -- Pictured: Tina Fey as Governor Sarah Palin during the 'Vice Presidential Debate' skit on October 4, 2008 (Photo by Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 8 -- Aired 12/16/2000 -- Pictured: Jimmy Fallon during 'Weekend Update' on December 16, 2000 (Photo by Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 8 -- Pictured: Eddie Murphy as Solomon during the 'Pudge & Solomon' skit on December 10, 1983 -- (Photo by: RM Lewis Jr./NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 17 -- Aired 04/14/2007 -- Pictured: Amy Poehler as Dakota Fanning during 'The Dakota Fanning Show' skit on April 14, 2007 (Photo by Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 9 -- Aired 12/16/2006 -- Pictured: Andy Samberg as guy during 'Dick in a Box' skit on December 16, 2006 (Photo by Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 9 -- Pictured: Host Steve Martin on January 21, 1978 -- (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 14 -- Pictured: Bill Murray during 'Weekend Update' on March 10, 1979 -- (Photo by: Fred Bronson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 7 -- Air Date 11/20/1993 -- Pictured: Adam Sandler as Brian during 'The Denise Show' skit on November 20, 1993 (Photo by Raymond Bonar/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 6 -- Pictured: Julia Louis-Dreyfus during the 'Saturday Night News' skit on November 19, 1983 -- (Photo by: Alan Singer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Pictured: Chevy Chase during 'Weekend Update' -- (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- 'Josh Brolin' Episode 1536 -- Pictured: Kristen Wiig as Suze Orman during the 'The Suze Orman Show' skit on October 18, 2008 (Photo by Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 10 -- Air Date 02/15/1986 -- Pictured: Robert Downey Jr. as Julian Lynch during the 'Models Against the Wilderness' skit on February 15, 1986 -- Photo by: Al Levine/NBCU Photo Bank
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 7 -- Air Date 12/03/1994 -- Pictured: Mike Myers as Rajneesh Singh during the 'Civil War Memories' skit on December 3, 1994 (Photo by Alan Singer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 8 -- Pictured: Chris Rock during the 'Weekend Update' skit on December 7, 1991 (Photo by Alan Singer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- 'Mick Jagger' Episode 1620 -- Pictured: (l-r) Bill Hader, Seth Meyers -- (Photo by: Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
More on AOL Entertainment: Martin Sheen believes O.J. is innocent, is producing a docu-series to prove it 'Inside Amy Schumer' teaser reveals huge 'Game of Thrones' 'spoiler' (Video) Beyonce gives a first look at her fashion line | Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was a castmember on the late-night show from 1982 to 1985, is set to host on April 16, NBC announced Thursday. | 75.96875 | 1 | 32 | high | high | extractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/realestate/when-the-minority-rules-the-majority.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160607012810id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2005/07/17/realestate/when-the-minority-rules-the-majority.html? | When the Minority Rules the Majority | 20160607012810 | IN most democratically controlled organizations, the majority exerts its will over the minority on both policy issues and the election of directors or managers.
But in some co-ops and condominiums it is possible for a minority of shareholders or unit owners to elect one or more directors or managers, regardless of the majority's wishes. What makes this possible is a procedure called cumulative voting.
"The advantage of cumulative voting is that it ensures that a minority group of shareholders or unit owners can be represented on the board," said Stuart M. Saft, a Manhattan lawyer who is chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums. "The disadvantage is that a board member who represents a minority of shareholders has the potential for having a disruptive impact on the smooth operation of the board."
In most co-ops and condos, Mr. Saft said, shareholders or unit owners have a specific number of votes. In co-ops, the number of votes is typically equal to the number of shares assigned to the apartment. In condos, the votes are based on the proportionate ownership interest in the common elements of the building.
In buildings with ordinary voting procedures, Mr. Saft said, the shareholder or unit owner gets to vote his allocated shares for each seat that is up for election. If a shareholder or unit owner has 100 votes to cast, and there are five directors to be elected, the owner can cast 100 votes -- but no more than 100 votes -- for each of five candidates.
With such a procedure, Mr. Saft noted, a majority will typically trump even the best efforts of a minority to elect a director.
But in buildings with cumulative voting, an organized minority can be absolutely assured of electing at least one director and, depending on the size of the minority and the number of open seats, may be able to elect additional directors.
Richard Siegler, a Manhattan co-op lawyer, said that with cumulative voting, each shareholder or unit owner is allowed to multiply the number of votes she can cast by the number of directors to be elected, and can then cast that total number for one or more candidates. So an owner who has 100 votes in an election for five open seats will have 500 votes to cast in any manner she pleases. That owner can cast all 500 votes for a single candidate; can cast 250 votes each for two candidates; can cast 100 votes for each of five candidates; or can divide her ballots in any other way that totals 500 votes.
Mathematically, Mr. Siegler said, cumulative voting can produce significant electoral results for a minority. If the total number of votes in an election is 34,000, and there are nine open seats on the board, an organized minority that has fewer than 17,000 votes to cast should be able to elect four of the nine directors. "And if the majority is disorganized, or doesn't cast its votes correctly," he said, "it is possible that the minority can elect a majority of board members."
Mr. Siegler, like Mr. Saft, is concerned about allowing a director with a limited agenda and minority support to be elected. He said that for buildings with cumulative voting -- from 10 to 15 percent of the roughly 5,000 co-ops and condos in New York City, he estimated -- there are ways to mitigate the impact.
One way is to have staggered terms, creating fewer open seats each year. "Statistically, it's more difficult to elect one out of three board members using cumulative voting than it is to elect one out of nine," he said. Also, he said, requiring advance notice of nominations, as opposed to allowing a minority to nominate a candidate on the day of the meeting, allows a majority to plan to use every vote it can muster.
"Cumulative voting can be very tricky," Mr. Siegler said. "Every single vote counts, and one mistake can change the results." | Your Home column explains concept of 'cumulative voting' in setting policies and electing board members in co-ops and condominiums; used in some New York City buildings, cumulative voting can guarantee that organized minority of shareholders can elect at least one director to buiding's board, and under some circumstances, can elect majority of board; drawing (M) | 11.492537 | 0.731343 | 1.716418 | low | low | mixed |
http://time.com/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160607213357id_/http://time.com:80/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/ | Simpsons-Futurama Crossover Review | 20160607213357 | Spoilers for last night’s episode of The Simpsons follow:
Back in the distant past, in another technological era, another century–that is, in 1999–Futurama was supposed to be the next Simpsons. It too was created by Matt Groening; it had Simpsons talent aboard (including producer David X. Cohen); it had a vast cast of characters and a satirical edge. The TV world and animation fans donned their shades on the launchpad and waited for Fox’s next big comedy to take off like a Planet Express rocket.
But Futurama was not the next Simpsons. Fox’s next big animated hit–eventually, after cancellation–would be Family Guy, which also premiered in 1999. It wasn’t the next Simpsons in quality (dear God, no), but it was the more direct, slavish imitation, building itself around a boorish fat guy and his family while cranking up the speed of its non sequitur jokes.
Futurama, on the other hand, was more obviously its own thing. It was a workplace comedy, but it was also, in its weird way, legitimately well-constructed sci-fi. It had The Simpsons’ cynicism about consumer culture–it saw the future as one big drink of Slurm–but it had a darker, less sentimental spirit. If it borrowed anything from The Simpsons, it was the tone of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, with their inspired grotesqueness, free from fealty to Earthbound realism.
Earlier this season, Family Guy aired a crossover episode with The Simpsons–or really, a Family Guy episode with Simpsons characters in it, but with Family Guy-style beats and gags. The whole exercise had an off-putting, “Dad, why don’t you love me!” feel to it, with Seth MacFarlane’s crew expressing sincere affection for the older show, but also seeming to try a little too hard to show they were cool with being a successful franchise that never got Simpsons-sized respect.
It says something, then, that the “Simpsorama,” the Simpsons–Futurama crossover, took place on The Simpsons‘ own air, in its own time slot. Of course, it’s not like there was another option; Futurama finally ended for good (or for now) last year, on its second home Comedy Central. But The Simpsons didn’t just let its spiritual heir crash at its house; it gave it the keys, producing an episode that was much like an episode of Futurama than The Simpsons.
Not a great episode of Futurama, to be totally honest. Compared with Futurama‘s regular-run episodes, which is their own goofy way were built on strict sci-fi plotting logic, dropping Bart’s DNA into a pool of radioactive sludge was a bit of a something-gets-hit-by-lightning crutch. (It was a stretch by The Simpsons‘ latter-year standards of disregarding its own rules of cartoon reality. This really might have worked better as a Treehouse of Horror episode–it even included Kang and Kodos.) And the resulting Homer-Simpson-must-die story was little more than an excuse to put the characters together and take a tour of Futurama‘s greatest hits.
But great hits they were, and for a fan of both shows, “Simpsorama” was at least a way to show how the two series–to borrow the episode’s metaphor–shared DNA but manifest it in different ways. Bender may look like metal Homer with an antenna, but his mercenary trickster personality is distinctly his own. (I could imagine him happily fleecing Moe for free drinks for the rest of his days.) The Simpsons aspects of this Simpsons half-hour mostly receded into the background, allowing a parade of favorite Futurama bits and characters (Lrrr and Ndnd, the Nibblonians, the Hypnotoad, Hedonism Bot–twice!–and a cameo by earlier Groening creation Binky from his comic Life in Hell.)
It wasn’t a classic episode, but–by imagining an alt-universe in which Futurama still shared Fox airtime with The Simpsons–it was a generous one. Toward the end of the episode, as the devil-bunny-Barts were slingshotted into space, Bart said, “You realize you’re cheering the deaths of millions of my children.” Really, “Simpsorama” simply celebrated the life of one of them. | A weird half-hour celebrates the Matt Groening shows' shared DNA. | 60.214286 | 0.857143 | 1.571429 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/10/former-american-footballer-will-smith-shot-dead-in-new-orleans/21341411/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160607234353id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/04/10/former-american-footballer-will-smith-shot-dead-in-new-orleans/21341411/? | Former Saints player Will Smith shot dead, suspect charged | 20160607234353 | Will Smith, a prominent member of the New Orleans Saints team that won the NFL's Super Bowl in 2010, was killed by a gunman who shot the retired football player after ramming into his car near the city's famed French Quarter, police said on Sunday.
Investigators were trying to determine whether the shooting, which also wounded Smith's wife, was a case of road rage or whether there was some other motive, police said.
The suspect, Cardell Hayes, 28, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, the New Orleans Police Department said in a Twitter message.
SEE ALSO: Former Vanderbilt football player convicted of raping unconscious woman
"Our investigation continues as to the motive of this shooting and whether or not Smith and Hayes knew each other prior to this incident," Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said during a news conference on Sunday.
A man with the same name as Hayes sued the city of New Orleans over the police shooting of his mentally ill father in 2005, winning a settlement six years later.
The Times-Picayune newspaper reported that Smith had dined on Saturday night with one of the police officers named in the federal lawsuit. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the connection.
Smith, who was one of the National Football League's top defensive ends before his retirement in 2014, was traveling in a Mercedes in the city's Lower Garden District shortly before 11:30 p.m. CDT (0430 GMT) on Saturday when his car was rear-ended by a Hummer.
Smith, 34, exchanged words with the driver of the Hummer, who took out a handgun and shot him several times, New Orleans Police Department spokesman Juan Barnes said in a statement.
Photos of Will Smith throughout his NFL career:
Former Saints player Will Smith shot dead, suspect charged
NEW ORLEANS, LA - AUGUST 16: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints anticipates a play during a preseason game against the Oakland Raiders at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on August 16, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints won 28-20. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 25: Ben Tate #44 of the Houston Texans rushes past Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints at Reliant Stadium on August 25, 2013 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - AUGUST 16: Matt Flynn #15 of the Oakland Raiders is sacked by Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints during a preseason game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on August 16, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
METAIRIE, LA - MAY 23: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints participates in drills during organized team activities, OTA's, at the Saints training facility on May 23, 2013 in Metairie, Louisiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - SEPTEMBER 09: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints walks off the field after a play against the Washington Redskins at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on September 9, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - AUGUST 17: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints during the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on August 17, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - AUGUST 25: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on August 25, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
METAIRIE, LA - MAY 24: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints stretches during OTA's at the Saints Training Facility on May 24, 2012 in Metairie, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 26: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints walks to the sidelines during a game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 26, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints defeated the Falcons 45-16. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - OCTOBER 23: Will Smith #91 of the New Orleans Saints stands on the sideline during a game against the Indianapolis Colts being held at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on October 23, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints defeated the Colts 62-7. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - JANUARY 08: Will Smith #91 and Jonathan Vilma #51 of the New Orleans Saints take the field against the Seattle Seahawks during the 2011 NFC wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field on January 8, 2011 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
METAIRE, LA - CIRCA 2011: In this handout image provided by the NFL, Will Smith of the New Orleans Saints poses for his NFL headshot circa 2011 in Metairie, Louisiana. (Photo by NFL via Getty Images)
New Orleans Saints linebacker Will Smith (91) signs autographs after an NFL football practice at the team's training facility in Metairie, La., Tuesday, June 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
FILE - This Dec. 9, 2012 file photo shows New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith before an NFL football game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. More than nine months after the NFL first disclosed its bounty investigation of the New Orleans Saints, four players will finally get a ruling, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, on whether their initial suspensions are upheld, reduced or thrown out. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith stretches during practice at their NFL football training facility in Metairie, La., Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. Smith is returning after serving a two-game suspension. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith answers questions at a news conference in Davie, Fla., on Monday, Feb. 1, 2010. The Saints will play the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL Super Bowl XLIV Sunday. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Smith was drafted by the Saints in 2004 after playing college football with Ohio State. The 6-foot 3-inch (191 cm) lineman played a decade with the Saints before he was injured in 2013 and his contract was terminated in 2014.
"This is such a tragic loss of life," National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
On the field, Smith was known as an hard-nosed enforcer who refused to bow to opponents. Off the field, Smith started the Where There's a Will There's a Way Foundation to provide opportunities for women and youth and was involved in other community initiatives, according to local media.
Saints fans and current and past players took to social media to mourn the death of the father of three children.
"Tragedy! Doesn't even describe the terrible news of the Nola legend Will Smith! Praying for the Smith family! Rest in Love Will!" tweeted Saints' offensive tackle Terron Armstead.
"In our community he was an important contributor to numerous charitable causes to benefit those in need," Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis said in a statement.
Smith's career was not without controversy. He was suspended in 2011 for two games for using a diuretic, which can mask steroids. He was also initially suspended for four games for his involvement in a New Orleans Saints' bounty scheme that paid players for hurting opponents. That suspension was later overturned on appeal to the NFL.
During Saturday night's incident, Smith's wife Racquel was shot in the leg and taken to the hospital, the police said.
The shooting came during a New Orleans food and music event, the French Quarter Festival, which Smith attended with his wife. Hours before he was killed, Smith posted a photo of himself and his wife on Instagram, saying "Having a blast at the #fqf2016."
The shooting occurred in a neighborhood along the Mississippi River, adjacent to the French Quarter, known for art galleries, restaurants, bars and historic buildings.
Police said the shooter stayed on the scene after the incident and that they recovered the weapon used.
Hayes, 28, has a previous criminal conviction, according to New Orleans Parish Criminal Court on-line records. He pleaded guilty in 2014 to illegal carrying of a weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia, both related to a 2010 arrest, and received fines and suspended jail sentences.
Follow AOL Sports on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
More from AOL.com: Social Scene: Week of April 3 What your VHS tapes are worth now American Idol recap: The final finale until the next one | The the Times-Picayune newspaper reported that former Saints player Will Smith, 34, was shot and killed after a minor traffic collision in the city. | 59.724138 | 0.896552 | 3.586207 | high | medium | mixed |
http://nypost.com/2016/04/05/has-pay-to-play-spread-from-city-hall-to-the-nypd/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160608073809id_/http://nypost.com:80/2016/04/05/has-pay-to-play-spread-from-city-hall-to-the-nypd/ | Has pay-to-play spread from City Hall to the NYPD? | 20160608073809 | It looks like details will be dribbling out for some time on the FBI probe of influence-peddling at the NYPD. But one thing that already stands out is who was allegedly buying.
As first reported in Tuesday’s Post, the FBI is questioning some 20 cops — including three deputy chiefs — over suggestions they took gifts from local businessmen in exchange for such favors as extra security and police escorts.
This is serious stuff. Cops are entrusted to uphold the law, but instead they reportedly accepted expensive gifts and paid-for foreign trips — all of which is illegal.
And then there’s the supposed favor-seekers: businessmen who have also donated lavishly to Mayor Bill de Blasio, through his campaigns and his personal slush fund, the Campaign for One New York.
Like Jona Rechnitz, who’s given $50,000 to CONY, $34,600 to de Blasio’s campaigns (for which he bundled another $44,650) and $102,000 to state Democrats after the mayor asked his allies to help the party regain control of the state Senate.
It’s not surprising that they may have felt inspired to extend their largesse to the NYPD: Under de Blasio, pay-to-play has become the name of the game.
Yes, Candidate de Blasio vowed to drive the special interests from power and create “One New York” — but on Mayor Bill’s watch, those who shell out have found receptive ears at City Hall.
If that attitude has extended to the NYPD, New York truly is in trouble.
So we’re glad to see Police Commissioner Bill Bratton vowing to “cooperate fully” with the FBI and grand jury probes.
Of course, any accusation of police corruption is troubling. It can only embolden those who’ve targeted the department over its effective policing tactics.
We trust Bratton to ensure that any internal NYPD corruption gets stamped out.
Too bad we can’t say the same for City Hall. | It looks like details will be dribbling out for some time on the FBI probe of influence-peddling at the NYPD. But one thing that already stands out is who was allegedly buying. As first reported in… | 9.219512 | 0.97561 | 32 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.people.com/article/broadway-carpool-karaoke-hamilton | http://web.archive.org/web/20160608124454id_/http://www.people.com/article/broadway-carpool-karaoke-hamilton | Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda in James Corden's Broadway Carpool Karaoke : People.com | 20160608124454 | 06/07/2016 AT 08:20 AM EDT
Just call it "The car where it happens."
for a special Broadway-themed edition of Corden's popular "Carpool Karaoke" series Monday night.
also got in on the fun, singing their way though some of the Great White Way's most well-known show tunes.
Miranda and Corden started the ride by rapping two songs from Miranda's record-breaking musical, including the show's opening number "Alexander Hamilton." Corden had
a part of the song on his hit late-night show alongside
The 37-year-old host then took the reins from the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, giving Miranda a history lesson by rapping through the speedy "Guns and Ships" – the first time the
track has been heard on TV.
This wasn't the first time Miranda has
songs on CBS. In February, the 36-year-old and his cast performed during the 2016
– moments before accepting the Grammy for best musical theater album.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jane Krakowski, and James Corden
Source: The Late Late Show with James Corden Youtube
McDonald, Ferguson, and Krakowski joined the ride later on, harmonizing their way through the emotional "Seasons of Love" from 1996's
and "You're Just Too Good to Be True" from 2005's jukebox musical
The whole car came together at the end, for an epic performance of "One Day More" from the 1987 film
The special Broadway edition of "Carpool Karaoke" comes as Corden preps to host this Sunday's
, which air live on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.
is expected to be the big winner after
– the most of any show in history. | The special edition of the popular Late Late Show segment comes on the heels of Corden's Tony Awards-hosting gig | 15.636364 | 0.727273 | 1.545455 | medium | low | mixed |
http://www.tmz.com/2013/08/21/lamar-odom-no-prosecution-attack-photog-paparazzi/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160608125434id_/http://www.tmz.com:80/2013/08/21/lamar-odom-no-prosecution-attack-photog-paparazzi/ | Lamar Odom Won't Be Prosecuted For Camera Smashing | 20160608125434 | has just dodged a bullet -- he will NOT be prosecuted for trashing a photog's equipment ... TMZ has learned.
The L.A. City Attorney will not file criminal vandalism charges against Khloe's hubby for destroying a camera guy's equipment last month in Hollywood. Instead, as TMZ reported several days ago, the matter will be set for an informal hearing in the City Attorney's office.
The hearing is basically a sit down with both Lamar and the photog. The hearing office will explain the ground rules when there's a dispute between a celeb and the paparazzi. It's possible ... at the end of the hearing, Lamar could be ordered to attend anger management classes.
But short story ... victory for Lamar. | Lamar Odom has just dodged a bullet -- he will NOT be prosecuted for trashing a photog's equipment ... TMZ has learned.The L.A. City Attorney will… | 4.483871 | 0.903226 | 10.967742 | low | medium | extractive |
http://time.com/3666496/5-facts-that-explain-the-threat-from-nigeria-boko-haram/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160608194641id_/http://time.com:80/3666496/5-facts-that-explain-the-threat-from-nigeria-boko-haram/ | 5 Facts That Explain the Threat From Nigeria's Boko Haram | 20160608194641 | As the world responded to the Charlie Hebdo attack with a 3.7 million person march and the most tweeted hashtag in history, a surge in insurgent savagery in northeast Nigeria drew much less international attention — but was far bloodier. “Je Suis Charlie” has been the theme of the week, but we could just as easily say “Je Suis Nigeria.”
Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group, wants to establish a caliphate of its own, and a weak Nigerian government is struggling to respond. Here are five facts that put the group’s atrocities in context — and show why we’re likely to see more violence ahead of Nigeria’s Feb. 14 elections.
1. Shocking numbers in the news On Jan. 3, Boko Haram began an assault on the town of Baga in Nigeria’s restive northeast. While the Nigerian government said 150 died in the attack, other estimates of the death toll ranged from hundreds to some 2,000 people. By some reports, 30,000 people have been displaced. On Saturday, a suicide bomb attached to a 10-year-old girl killed at least 16 people. Boko Haram also attacked a military base in neighboring Cameroon.
(The Atlantic, CNN, al-Jazeera, Foreign Policy)
2. Approval and elections On the back of his successful handling of the Ebola crisis, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s approval ratings vaulted to an all-time high 74% in September. By December, this number had fallen to 55%, and in the northeast, Boko Haram’s stronghold, his approval fell 23 points that month.
Can the February presidential election even be held in Nigeria’s three northeastern states? Boko Haram wants to force the country’s electoral commission to cancel or indefinitely postpone the vote there. We’ll likely see at least some voting there, though only under heavy security, making it easier for losers to challenge the integrity of the results. In 2011, post-election violence in Nigeria killed 800 people.
(Premium Times, Human Rights Watch)
3. Boko Haram vs. Ebola The West African Ebola outbreak has killed roughly 8,400 people so far. That’s by far the biggest Ebola outbreak ever, yet the Council on Foreign Relations has compiled data that links 10,340 violent deaths between November 2013 and November 2014 to Boko Haram–related violence. The conflict has displaced more than 1.5 million people, and with more than 20,000 square miles under its control, Boko Haram–held territory is larger than Switzerland.
(Council on Foreign Relations via NBC News, Ebola death-toll estimates via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BBC, Washington Post, Telegraph, the New Yorker)
4. The government’s energy headache The major problems in Nigeria’s energy sector makes a robust and costly response to Boko Haram that much more difficult. A steep fall in oil prices — down more than 50% since June — is bad news for a country that relies on crude for 95% of export revenue and 75% of government revenue. Nigeria has also severe electricity generation concerns. Though Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, as of 2012, the country’s per capita electricity consumption was just 7% of Brazil’s and 3% of South Africa’s. Half of Nigeria’s 170 million people have no access to electricity whatsoever.
(The Economist, the Guardian, the U.N. Africa Renewal, Energy Information Administration)
5. A blind eye President Jonathan has an election to win, and his government has been accused of underestimating deaths attributable to Boko Haram to deflect political criticism. Less than 24 hours after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, President Jonathan publicly declared it a “dastardly terrorist attack.” Yet nine days after the violence in Baga began, Jonathan has not publicly acknowledged that the attacks had even happened, though a spokesman for Nigeria’s Defense Ministry issued a statement questioning the “exaggerated” death-toll estimates, dismissing them as “speculation and conjecture.”
(BBC, the Atlantic, transcript of Jan. 8 campaign rally via Sahara Reporters, CNN, Foreign Policy)
Read next: Detained Washington Post Journalist Indicted in Iran | TIME's Ian Bremmer breaks down the threat from Nigera's terrorist group | 60.923077 | 0.461538 | 0.615385 | high | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/3447312/netflix-to-release-first-original-movie/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160608203200id_/http://time.com:80/3447312/netflix-to-release-first-original-movie/ | Netflix Plans to Release First Original Movie | 20160608203200 | Netflix is planning to release its first original movie, a sequel to Ang Lee’s martial-arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and so charting new territory for the Internet-streaming firm.
Netflix said Monday that it is partnering with independent producer the Weinstein Co. to release Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend to all subscribers on Aug. 28, 2015. The film, directed by Hong Kong’s Yuen Wo-ping, will also premiere at the same time on some global IMAX theaters — but it will not hit mainstream cinemas, Netflix said.
The deal between the streaming service and the production house threatens to upset to the traditional model of releasing movies: put them out first in cinemas and then wait months before making them available on DVD and streaming services, including Netflix. Indeed, Netflix said the film is the first of several feature movies it has in the pipeline.
Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, told the New York Times that the deal would prove to Hollywood that moviegoers are consuming films in new ways — and are also ready for a new way of releasing films.
“What I am hoping is that it will be a proof point that the sky doesn’t fall,” he said. “These are two different experiences, like going to a football game and watching a football game on TV.”
Netflix, which this month expanded into the European market, has already released its own original series, including hits like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black. The company releases all episodes of each show all at once, letting consumers binge-watch rather than suffice with weekly doses.
“The moviegoing experience is evolving quickly and profoundly, and Netflix is unquestionably at the forefront of that movement,” said Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., in a statement.
Netflix’s new film will star Michelle Yeoh, who will reprise her role from the original film as warrior Yu Shu Lien. Donnie Yen, of the Ip Man franchise, will star as Silent Wolf. | Skip the line — or just skip the theater altogether | 39.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | high | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/3554606/captain-marvel-movie-kelly-sue-deconnick/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160608210757id_/http://time.com:80/3554606/captain-marvel-movie-kelly-sue-deconnick/ | Fighter Pilot, Feminist and Marvel's Big Gamble | 20160608210757 | If you’re not a comic book fan, you probably hadn’t heard of Captain Marvel before last week — and you likely wouldn’t have guessed that she’s a woman.
Last Tuesday, Marvel Studios announced that the Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, will be the first female superhero to get her own Marvel Studios movie in 2017. She will be in good company: Both Wonder Woman and a unnamed female character from the Spider-Man universe will get their own treatments that year too.
The decision came as a shock even to the Captain Marvel comics writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick, who after neglecting to return a phone call from her editor, found out through her Twitter feed. She responded by tweeting, “Did not see this coming.” And if the movies stay true to the comic books, the fighter pilot with half-alien DNA and a passing resemblance to Gloria Steinem in both looks and feminist conviction will be a far cry from the damsels in distress audiences have grown accustomed to seeing in superhero films.
The former Air Force pilot — who DeConnick says is meant to have the swagger of record-setting pilot Chuck Yeager — can fly and shoot beams out of her hands. And she fits nicely in the universe of cocky, wisecracking heroes that we’ve seen since the first Iron Man movie: She’s a control freak with a big ego and a quick temper. In fact, Danvers may prove to be a lynchpin in the Marvel universe. In the comics, she’s a member of the Avengers and works closely with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel Studios has yet to announce whether Danvers will appear in either of these series, but it’s safe to assume that tapping someone connected to both universes wasn’t a mistake. Plus it can’t hurt that the company’s name is in her title.
In short: she’s more than just a sexy spandex uniform.
DeConnick has a personal mission to put an end to such reductive characterizations of women in pop culture. “The test that I always give young writers is if you can take out your female character and replace her with a sexy lamp and your plot still functions, you’re doing it wrong,” says DeConnick. “You would be surprised how many times this is actually done. These women are purely there to inspire or motivate or reward or sometimes decorate. I don’t want all of our female characters to be good or to be role models. I just want them to have an interior life. If you can’t answer for me what does this character want in this scene, you’re not writing a woman, you’re writing a lamp. Start over.”
Seems simple, but in the long history of superhero franchises, audiences have seen a lot of sexy lamps. Until recent years, the accepted wisdom has been that young men (the target audience for these superhero films) will not watch movies with a female protagonist. Naysayers cited flops like Catwoman and Elektra to back up this claim.
It’s entirely possible that no one saw these movies because they were terrible (Catwoman scores 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and Elektra scores 10%). But DeConnick also points out that women have been trained from a young age to cross-identify with male characters simply because of the dearth of strong female protagonists in our culture. With thousands of male protagonists on TV and in movies, men have never been forced to do the same. This makes it harder for them to relate to women characters, so studios make fewer movies starring female protagonists, perpetuating the cycle.
“And when you get into the sociology with status, everyone wants to identify up, to aspire up,” she says. “So if you are female and therefore lower status in terms of your cultural power, it’s much more comfortable to identify up with a male hero than it is for men to identify down to a lower status.” That’s problematic given how popular superhero movies are. Marginalizing half the population teaches young girls that men’s values and aspirations should come before their own, DeConnick says, and it teaches young boys not to view the women in their lives as fully rounded human beings. Unfortunately, movie studios are motivated by money, not by equality issues.
But then The Hunger Games and Jennifer Lawrence burned down the box office, and everything changed. Studios started wondering how they could mimic the success of the Girl on Fire. The obvious answer: Superheroes, hence the rush to fill 2017 with potential blockbusters starring ladies with superpowers. And before those movies hit theaters, networks are testing the waters on TV: Agent Carter, based on the female character from the first Captain America movie, will premiere in January and a Supergirl TV series is slated for sometime next year.
The change can’t come soon enough. In 2013 — the year of The Hunger Games sequel and Frozen — just 30% of all speaking roles went to women and only 15% of all protagonists were female. Marvel has done a better job than most at rectifying this issue by featuring kick-ass heroines who pass the “sexy lamp” test as part of the ensemble in several films. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow has become a fan favorite after appearances in the Avengers, Iron Man and Captain America films, and Zoe Saldana’s Gamora debuted as the “most dangerous woman in the universe” in Guardians of the Galaxy.
“If you can take out your female character and replace her with a sexy lamp and your plot still functions, you’re doing it wrong.”Still, there’s a lot to be desired, even in the most progressive blockbusters. Many critics have said, for instance, that Black Widow is just eye candy in the Avengers movie. “That’s objectively untrue!” says DeConnick. “I think The Avengers is a Black Widow movie. She saves the day. And if you take her out, the plot does not function.”
It’s true that without Black Widow’s success, Marvel never would have greenlit a Captain Marvel movie. But the popularity of Black Widow does not guarantee that Captain Marvel will be successful, especially considering Carol Danvers’ background is as political as it is supernatural. Danvers only became Captain Marvel in 2012 after a push from DeConnick’s former editor Steve Wacker. Before then, she was Ms. Marvel, created in the 1970s with a nod to the feminist publication Ms. Magazine. In one plotline, Carol Danvers leaves NASA to take a job as an editor at Woman Magazine. “She wore oversized glasses and blond, middle-parted hair and neck scarves,” says DeConnick. “It was Gloria Steinem fan fiction in the most literal sense.”
Decades later, Ms. Marvel had lost some of her luster. Wacker liked the character but felt the name was a little dated. He wanted to transform Danvers into a character his daughter would aspire to be, much in the same way his son aspires to be Peter Parker (Spider-Man). “As sappy as it sounds, I couldn’t imagine her or other little girls dreaming of being Ms. Marvel. But Captain Marvel. She sounds like the greatest hero in the world,” says Wacker. The original Captain Marvel had died about 20 years before, and though some characters had picked up the name since (including another woman) none had stuck.
In 2012, the female Captain Marvel premiered to much fanfare and controversy. In fact, Marvel Comics has come under fire several times in the last couple of years for promoting female heroines, including when they gave the old title of Ms. Marvel to a Muslim woman in 2013 and when a woman took up Thor’s hammer earlier this year. “The usual suspects get very angry, and they’re certain Marvel is ruined forever, and then everyone forgets about it and we just keep going,” says Wacker. “It’s been the same way for 75 years.”
Embracing diversity, Marvel executives say, has been a mission of the company since the years of Stan Lee, when the former Marvel president would pen essays about diversity and feminism in the back of the comics. But the imperative has become more pressing in recent years thanks to the Marvel Studios movies. The Marvel name has become more influential than ever and, to quote a Stan Lee Marvel comic, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
But the question still remains: Will she make any money? If Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman fail in the same way that Catwoman did, it will be hard to convince movie executives that it’s worth gambling on female superheroes again.
Wacker isn’t worried. “I think if we can sell a talking raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy to the masses,” he says, laughing, “we can do this.”
Read next: A Comic Book Dummy’s Guide to the Marvel Universe Plan | The Gloria Steinem-inspired character will be the first woman to get her own Marvel movie | 101.352941 | 0.941176 | 2.941176 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/08/nyregion/in-brief-operation-poison-pill.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160608232837id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/1998/03/08/nyregion/in-brief-operation-poison-pill.html | IN BRIEF - Operation Poison Pill - NYTimes.com | 20160608232837 | Six Westchester pharmacists were among 16 arrested after an 18-month investigation -- Operation Poison Pill -- by the State Attorney General into a black market operation of prescription drugs.
Some of the drugs -- among them AZT, heart medications and cancer drugs -- were outdated, in poor condition and crawling with bugs, James Bono, a spokesman for Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco, said.
One of the six, Edwin Levistim, 45, owner of Fleetwood Pharmacy in Mount Vernon, pleaded guilty late last month to criminal diversion of prescription medications through the black market, a felony. According to Mr. Vacco's office, Mr. Levistim bought nearly $70,000 worth of prescription medications, including expensive heart and antibiotic drugs, from an undercover investigator.
''Increasingly common scams like this -- known as drug diversion -- potentially place the health of an unknowing consumer in jeopardy,'' Mr. Vacco said.
Also pleading guilty to lesser charges in the scheme were Louis Laricchia, a pharmacist at Thomas Hamilton Pharmacy in Mount Vernon; John Mancini, owner of Camlot Pharmacy in Yonkers; Neil Bulhack, a pharmacist at New Post Pharmacy in White Plains; Norman Heller, owner of El-Dee Pharmacy in New Rochelle, and Samuel Laricchia, a pharmacist at Hopes Drug Store in Brewster. They were sentenced to conditional discharges and ordered to pay restitution. ELSA BRENNER | Six Westchester pharmacists were among 16 arrested after an 18-month investigation -- Operation Poison Pill -- by the State Attorney General into a black market operation of prescription drugs. Some of the drugs -- among them AZT, heart medications and cancer drugs -- were outdated, in poor condition and crawling with bugs, James Bono, a spokesman for Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco, said. | 3.605634 | 0.985915 | 35.211268 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/07/11/inside-new-york-citys-most-secret-basement/20929715/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609020954id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2014/07/11/inside-new-york-citys-most-secret-basement/20929715/ | Inside New York City's most secret basement | 20160609020954 | Before you go, we thought you'd like these...
Most visitors to New York's Grand Central Terminal probably have no idea they tread over one of the most secret basement vaults in the history of the city.
Inside New York City's most secret basement
Under 10 stories of subterranean marble and upholstery shops, power plants and other substructures lies a giant room rich in history and unknown to most. At certain times in the past, anyone who mistakenly found themselves in the elevator to this room risked being shot at the bottom in order to keep the vault's secret safe.
What exactly did this room contain to warrant such protection?
At 22,000 square feet -- almost as large as the station concourse above -- the chamber housed nine huge "rotary converters" weighing 15 tons each. These converters transformed over 11,000 volts of alternating current in the direct current needed to power the trains above.
The converters were the beating heart of a system that powered the Northeastern rail system -- over 2000 miles of heavily used tracks.
When the rotary converters were installed in 1913, the purpose of having them below ground was to allow for more profitable development of skyscrapers on the surface. However, the protective nature of the underground chamber came in handy by the outbreak of World War II.
The northeastern railways were vital in moving troops and equipment to the eastern ports. If the converters under Grand Central Terminal were damaged or destroyed, the US war effort could have been crippled.
Indeed, the room was targeted by Nazi spies. Luckily for the Allied war effort, the saboteurs were spotted coming ashore from their U-Boats by a Coast Guard watchman. The group was intercepted by the FBI before they could stage their attack on New York's most secret basement. | Most visitors to New York's Grand Central Terminal probably have no idea they tread over one of the most secret basement vaults in the history of the city. %Slideshow-206950% Under 10 storie | 9 | 0.842105 | 23.789474 | low | medium | extractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/05/03/pfizer-earnings-drugs/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609040722id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/05/03/pfizer-earnings-drugs/ | New Drugs Helped Pfizer Blow Past Earnings Expectations | 20160609040722 | Pfizer pfe reported first-quarter results that blew past analyst estimates, boosted by sales of its new cancer and arthritis treatments and the acquisition last year of hospital products company Hospira.
The largest U.S. drugmaker also raised its revenue and earnings forecast for the year, helped in part by the weakening dollar.
Global company sales jumped 20% to $13 billion, which was $1 billion more than Wall Street had expected. But the quarter included five more days of sales in the United States than the year-ago quarter, adding revenue of $900 million in the most recent period. Pfizer said sales would be hurt in the fourth quarter of 2016, however, when those added days will be offset by fewer days.
Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan said the results were impressive, with most drug categories beating sales expectations. But he said investors are eager to hear how Pfizer‘s overall strategy might change, following the company’s decision last month to abandon its planned $160 billion acquisition of Allergan agn .
Pfizer walked away after the U.S. Treasury issued new rules curbing tax inversion deals, under which American companies move overseas to cut taxes.
Many analysts believe Pfizer needs to buy new medicines or entire biotech companies to ensure competitive earnings growth. Meanwhile, its recently launched breast cancer treatment, Ibrance, is on its way to becoming a mega-blockbuster product.
With the Allergan deal now scratched, Pfizer has said it will decide this year whether to split off its hundreds of generic medicines, called established products, into a separate business. When it announced its planned Allergan deal last November, Pfizer put off making the decision until 2019.
Sales of the generic medicines rose 17% in the quarter to $5.97 billion, while sales of its array of patent-protected drugs jumped 23% to $7.03 billion.
Net income rose to $3.02 billion, or 49 cents per share, from $2.38 billion, or 38 cents per share, a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 67 cents per share, well above the average analyst estimate of 55 cents per share.
Pfizer now expects 2016 revenue of $51 billion to $53 billion, from its earlier view of $49 billion to $51 billion, and earnings of $2.38 to $2.48 per share, from $2.20 to $2.30 per share. | As the company upped its forecast. | 66.428571 | 0.714286 | 1 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/25/nyregion/neighborhood-report-east-village-mitzvah-vs-chutzpah-guerrilla-mr-fix-it.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609043738id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/1996/02/25/nyregion/neighborhood-report-east-village-mitzvah-vs-chutzpah-guerrilla-mr-fix-it.html | NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT - EAST VILLAGE - Mitzvah vs. Chutzpah - Guerrilla Mr. Fix-it Occupies Temple - NYTimes.com | 20160609043738 | Occupied," reads the sheet draped over the roof of the abandoned synagogue on East Eighth Street. The occupier, a retired firefighter named Ralph Feldman who usually lives next door, says he spent $100,000 of his own money fixing up the dilapidated temple as a mitzvah, or good deed. He says he wants it to remain a synagogue.
But the congregation that owns the temple considers Mr. Feldman a synagogue squatter. The congregation, Bnei Moses Joseph Anshei Zawichost Vzosmer, says Mr. Feldman is a trespasser who works on the building without permission. It wants to sell the old synagogue and donate the proceeds to charity.
Their dispute will be heard in a beth din, or rabbinical court.
Mr. Feldman insists that he had no ulterior motive in renovating the structure. "It was just a compulsion," said Mr. Feldman, 60, who has lived next door for 40 years and says he got permission to do the work from an elderly member of the congregation. "I don't want it; I don't want to sell it as a condo. I want to keep it a shul. It was a compulsion."
Members of the congregation said they cannot discuss the case before it is heard by the rabbinical court. But an Aug. 23 letter from the secretary, Nussin Fogel, makes it clear that the congregation considers Mr. Feldman an interloper.
The synagogue, which is more than 70 years old, has struggled as many Jews moved away from the neighborhood. It stopped services four years ago after it was unable to gather a minyan, the quorum of 10 Jewish men needed for a prayer service. The congregation stayed together though, and tried to keep it open from afar.
"This was the Alamo," said Howard Jacob, the chairman of the United Jewish Council of the Lower East Side, who usually opposes closing synagogues but is making an exception in this case. "These people kept up the fort as everything closed around the neighborhood. Ten years ago there was a group of people who would walk from the Grand Street area to pray at this synagogue. Now it's a squatter situation."
The dispute has angered Councilman Antonio Pagan. "Mr. Feldman has taken it upon himself, illegally, to invade the synagogue and proceed with the repairs without permits," said Mr. Pagan.
But the guerrilla renovation of the synagogue has won the admiration of squatters and other neighbors. They gathered there on Tuesday evening for a meeting of the Lower East Side and the East Village, of yarmulkes and leather jackets.
"This synagogue is the first one revived from the grateful dead," said Rabbi Isaac P. Fried, who mixed Hebrew etymologies with discussions of yin and yang in an informal service in the old women's gallery. The evening was caught on video by Clayton Patterson, the hat maker and housing activist who filmed the 1988 Tompkins Square Park melee. MICHAEL COOPER
Photo: Ralph Feldman atop the synagogue on East Eighth Street, withClayton Patterson, a housing activist. (John Penley for The New York Times) | Occupied," reads the sheet draped over the roof of the abandoned synagogue on East Eighth Street. The occupier, a retired firefighter named Ralph Feldman who usually lives next door, says he spent $100,000 of his own money fixing up the dilapidated temple as a mitzvah, or good deed. He says he wants it to remain a synagogue. But the congregation that owns the temple considers Mr. Feldman a synagogue squatter. The congregation, Bnei Moses Joseph Anshei Zawichost Vzosmer, says Mr. Feldman is a trespasser who works on the building without permission. It wants to sell the old synagogue and donate the proceeds to charity. | 4.97479 | 0.991597 | 59.327731 | low | high | extractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/04/12/buzzfeed-revenue-cut-forecast/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609044442id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/04/12/buzzfeed-revenue-cut-forecast/ | BuzzFeed Misses Big on 2015 Revenue, Cuts Forecast: Report | 20160609044442 | UPDATE: This article has been updated to include BuzzFeed‘s statement to The Financial Times.
The buzz over digital media may be wearing off after reports that BuzzFeed’s revenue distantly trails the startup’s own projections.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that BuzzFeed, which has a reported market value of $1.5 billion, fell short of its 2015 revenue target by about 32%, pulling in less than $170 million after projecting $250 million in revenue. FT, which cites multiple anonymous sources in its reporting, also says BuzzFeed cut its internal forecast for the current year’s revenue to about half of the company’s previous estimate of $500 million.
FT reports that BuzzFeed disputed the numbers in the report, but also did not supply alternative revenue figures. When reached for comment, a BuzzFeed spokesperson sent Fortune the full statement supplied to FT, which reads: “Regardless of your sources, much of the information is significantly incorrect. We are very pleased with where BuzzFeed is today and where it will be tomorrow. We are very comfortable where the digital content world is going and think we are well positioned.”
The FT report likely comes as a blow for new media enthusiasts who have increasingly looked to media startups like BuzzFeed for guidance on how to build a successful digital media enterprise. Founded in 2006, the site gained popularity as an online hub of cheeky content, featuring lists of animated GIFs and cat videos, that churned out viral content. For instance, last week’s BuzzFeed video stream on Facebook Live showing two staff members exploding a watermelon with rubber bands had more than 800,000 viewers, and the company’s Facebook-based FB cooking channels have pulled in millions of followers.
And, in more recent years, the site used the viral hits that pulled in 200 million monthly views, along with billions of video views, to help subsidize a strong team of award-winning investigative journalists.
The problem, seems to lie with BuzzFeed’s branded content, an important part of the site’s business model that FT‘s sources claim is too labor-intensive to be scalable. FT also points out that BuzzFeed is one of several other new media companies looking to translate its online video success into an expanded television presence. (One of BuzzFeed’s investors is Comcast’s CMCSA NBCUniversal.)
Vice Media launched its own cable channel on the A+E Networks, called Viceland, last fall after cutting a deal with Walt Disney DIS . Meanwhile, other media entities are restructuring to focus more on video, such as online news website Mashable, which last week laid off staff as part of an effort to focus on opportunities in television and digital storytelling, as well as the International Business Times.
Meanwhile, some traditional television industry players have been quick to point out the relative value of digital video versus television viewership. FX Networks took a shot at “those who are wowed by exploding watermelons” in a statement on Tuesday noting that the network’s massively popular show, The People v. O.J. Simpson, has seen the equivalent of 259 billion views based on Nielsen statistics for its number of viewers and the amount of time they spent watching the show. | BuzzFeed reportedly cut its projected revenue for this year in half. | 50.5 | 0.833333 | 1 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2016/05/04/apple-music-revamp-reboot-streaming/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609044725id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/05/04/apple-music-revamp-reboot-streaming/ | A Year After its Launch, Apple Music Faces a Reboot | 20160609044725 | Apple Inc. aapl is preparing to reboot its music streaming business, according to Bloomberg.
The news agency reported that Apple will announce a thorough makeover of its service at its upcoming developers’ conference in June, hoping to revive a business after a difficult year in which some key executives, such as former Beats CEO Ian Rogers, have left the company.
It’s not like Apple Music is completely at a standstill: it now has 13 million paying customers after adding 2 million new users between February and the end of April, the company said on the analyst call after quarterly earnings last week. But its main rival Spotify is reportedly still far ahead of it with an estimated 30 million paying subscribers
Bloomberg suggested that the view within the company is that its music business is proving to be less than the sum of their parts: it bought streaming service Beats two years ago to complement its download-focused iTunes business, launching Apple Music in June last year. Bloomberg said that combining the best parts of both businesses has been a tricky process, and cited concerns that the quality of the customer interface is falling short of the high standards that Apple usually holds itself to.
Bloomberg’s sources said the company wants to do more to integrate its streaming service with iTunes and make the customer interface more intuitive to use. It also wants to expand its online radio service.
Revenues from streaming overtook downloads in the U.S. for the first time last year. | Concerns That the Software Isn't as Good as Apple's Hardware | 23.166667 | 0.583333 | 1.083333 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://nypost.com/2016/04/26/manspreading-at-work-is-good-for-your-health/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609052646id_/http://nypost.com:80/2016/04/26/manspreading-at-work-is-good-for-your-health/ | Manspreading at work is good for your health | 20160609052646 | Your desk is slowly killing you.
Or so believes Kelly Starrett, a physical therapist and author of the new book “Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World” (Victory Belt Publishing, out Tuesday), a guide that aims to mitigate back pains, carpal tunnel aches and myriad other ailments currently afflicting desk jockies worldwide.
“We’re in the middle of an epidemic. Being sedentary increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and musculoskeletal injuries,” Starrett tells The Post. “We’re not fear-mongering here.”
Science backs him up: A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that physical inactivity is a bigger risk factor in mortality than obesity. Even more alarming is the fact that gym addicts aren’t off the hook. “Even if you’re killing it at the gym for an hour a day, you’re still considered a sedentary person if you spend most of your waking hours sitting,” warns Starrett.
Unsurprisingly, Starrett is a huge proponent of the standing desk. “At the very least, people should make a point of getting up, stretching, and walking around the office at least once an hour.”
If your boss requires your butt to be in a chair, here’s how to minimize the damage.
Starrett will be doing a reading, Q&A and book signing at Barnes & Noble (97 Warren St.) Tuesday at 6 p.m. | Your desk is slowly killing you. Or so believes Kelly Starrett, a physical therapist and author of the new book “Deskbound: Standing Up to a Sitting World” (Victory Belt Publishing, out Tuesday), a… | 6.418605 | 0.976744 | 29.627907 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/06/report-sam-hinkie-is-out-as-76ers-gm/21339649/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609073748id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/04/06/report-sam-hinkie-is-out-as-76ers-gm/21339649/ | Report: Sam Hinkie is out as 76ers GM | 20160609073748 | Before you go, we thought you'd like these...
In a surprising move, Sam Hinkie has resigned from his positions as general manager and president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
The 76ers have come under fire and increased scrutiny in the past year for their radical rebuilding play that included tanking several seasons in order to acquire as many top draft picks as possible in an effort to horde assets for the future.
SEE ALSO: Grayson Allen bypasses NBA Draft, returning to Duke for junior season
In December, the 76ers hired long-time NBA executive Jerry Colangelo as a "special advisor." The move was widely considered an effort to end the tanking process and to diminish the role of Hinkie.
At the time, one source told The Intelligencer's Tom Moore that "It's clear (Hinkie) has, for all intents and purposes, been fired."
Interestingly, the move comes just one day after the normally media-shy Hinkie made an appearance on "The Lowe Post" podcast with Zach Lowe. When asked why he was suddenly available for an extended interview, Hinkie said it was one of the things "Jerry suggested I do ... to help people understand where we are and why we're here and where we're going."
One day later, wherever it is that the 76ers are going, they are going there without Hinkie.
Follow AOL Sports on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Report: Sam Hinkie is out as 76ers GM
Syracuse's Michael Gbinije (0) goes up for a shot against North Carolina defense during the first half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Saturday, April 2, 2016, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Simmons)
Oklahoma forward Khadeem Lattin (12) defends against Villanova guard Mikal Bridges (25) during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Saturday, April 2, 2016, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Ryan Arcidiacono goes up for a layup during the first half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game against Oklahoma, Saturday, April 2, 2016, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 02: Brice Johnson #11 of the North Carolina Tar Heels defends a shot by Tyler Roberson #21 of the Syracuse Orange in the first half during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Chris Steppig - Pool/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 02: Buddy Hield #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts in the second half against the Villanova Wildcats during the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 02: Brice Johnson #11 of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Marcus Paige #5 celebrate defeating the Syracuse Orange 83-66 as Tyler Roberson #21 of the Syracuse Orange reacts after the NCAA Men's Final Four Semifinal at NRG Stadium on April 2, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 27: Malachi Richardson #23 of the Syracuse Orange falls off of the court in the second half against the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional Final at United Center on March 27, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 26: The Villanova Wildcats celebrate defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 64-59 during the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at KFC YUM! Center on March 26, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 26: Frank Mason III #0 of the Kansas Jayhawks falls as he drives between Josh Hart #3 of the Villanova Wildcats and Kris Jenkins #2 in the second half during the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at KFC YUM! Center on March 26, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 25: Marcus Paige #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels celebrates after a basket in the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers during the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament East Regional at Wells Fargo Center on March 25, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - MARCH 24: Grayson Allen #3 of the Duke Blue Devils goes up for a shot against Jordan Bell #1 of the Oregon Ducks in the second half in the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at the Honda Center on March 24, 2016 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Notre Dame's Zach Auguste, left, goes up for a shot past North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks during the first half of a regional final men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 27, 2016, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Virginia's Isaiah Wilkins (21) attempts to shoot between Syracuse's Tyler Roberson (21) and DaJuan Coleman during the second half of a college basketball game in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 27, 2016, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Villanova forward Kris Jenkins (2) celebrates after a regional final men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament against Kansas, Saturday, March 26, 2016, in Louisville, Ky. Villanova won 64-59. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Oregon forward Dwayne Benjamin, left, and forward Elgin Cook react to their loss against Oklahoma during an NCAA college basketball game in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 26, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Oregon forward Chris Boucher leaves the court after their loss to Oklahoma during an NCAA college basketball game in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 26, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Gonzaga's Eric McClellan (23) and Josh Perkins (13) embrace in the locker room after an NCAA college basketball game in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 25, 2016, in Chicago. Syracuse won 63-60. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Syracuse's Tyler Lydon (20) celebrates with Trevor Cooney (10) after getting fouled in the final seconds of a college basketball game in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 25, 2016, in Chicago. Syracuse won 63-60. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) scores against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 25, 2016, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Notre Dame's V.J. Beachem reacts during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Wisconsin in the regional semifinals of the men's NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 25, 2016, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Virginia's Anthony Gill (13) dunks during the first half of a college basketball game against Iowa State in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 25, 2016, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Maryland guard Melo Trimble (2) passes the ball to a teammate between the defense of Kansas forward Landen Lucas (33) and guard Wayne Selden Jr. during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the regional semifinals of the men's NCAA Tournament in Louisville, Ky., Thursday, March 24, 2016. (AP Photo/John Flavell)
Oklahoma forward Dante Buford, left, scores as Texas A&M guard Jalen Jones looks on during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 24, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Oklahoma forward Ryan Spangler, left, battles Texas A&M center Tonny Trocha-Morelos middle, and Buddy Hield (24) for a rebound during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 24, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Texas A&M guard Jalen Jones, middle, battles Oklahoma center Jamuni McNeace, left, and guard Jordan Woodard for a rebound during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 24, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 17: Ben Bentil #0 of the Providence Friars dunks the ball in the first half over Elijah Stewart #30 of the USC Trojans during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PNC Arena on March 17, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 17: Kennedy Meeks #3 of the North Carolina Tar Heels rebounds against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles during the first round of the NCAA Men's Basbetball Tournament at PNC Arena on March 17, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 17: Zach Johnson #5 of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles dives to shoot the ball in the first half against Isaiah Hicks #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PNC Arena on March 17, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Arizona guard Gabe York hides his emotions as a teammate rests his hand on his head in the closing minute against Wichita State during the first round of the NCAA college men's basketball tournament in Providence, R.I., Thursday, March 17, 2016. Wichita State defeated Arizona 65-55. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
DENVER, CO - MARCH 17: Roger Woods #0 of the Arkansas Little Rock Trojans and P.J. Thompson #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers fight for a ball during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Pepsi Center on March 17, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
PROVIDENCE, RI - MARCH 17: Taurean Prince #21 of the Baylor Bears dunks the ball in the first half against the Yale Bulldogs during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Dunkin' Donuts Center on March 17, 2016 in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Indiana guard Yogi Ferrell drives past Chattanooga guard Johnathan Burroughs-Cook, right, during the first half of a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 17, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Kansas' Perry Ellis (34) dunks as Austin Peay's Jared Savage, right, watches, during a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, March 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Kansas forward Jamari Traylor, left, fights for a rebound with Austin Peay center Chris Horton during the first half of a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 17, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Yale forward Justin Sears (22) slams a dunk as he gets past Baylor forward Taurean Prince (21) in the second half during the first round of the NCAA college men's basketball tournament in Providence, R.I., Thursday, March 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Butler forward Austin Etherington (0) loses the ball as Texas Tech guard Toddrick Gotcher (20) prepares to pick it up during a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Thursday, March 17, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Connecticut's Rodney Purvis (44) dunks during a first-round men's college basketball game against Colorado in the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, March 17, 2016. Connecticut won 74-67. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes (10) and Xavier's Kaiser Gates (22) chase the ball during the first half of a second-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 20, 2016, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Providence guard Kyron Cartwright (24) shoots as North Carolina forward Brice Johnson (11) prepares to make the block during the first half of a second-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 19, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
North Carolina forward Brice Johnson (11) reacts after dunking the ball against Providence during the second half of a second-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday, March 19, 2016, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina won 85-66. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Wichita State's Markis McDuffie (32) and Miami's Davon Reed (5) battle for a loose ball during the second half of a second-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in Providence, R.I., Saturday, March 19, 2016. Miami won 65-57. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Texas guard Isaiah Taylor (1) reacts as the Northern Iowa team celebrates after guard Paul Jesperson made a last-second half-court shot to win the the first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 18, 2016. Northern Iowa won 75-72. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
Saint Joseph's forward DeAndre Bembry, bottom, and Cincinnati forward Octavius Ellis (2) go after the ball during the first half of a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., Friday, March 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)
Pittsburgh's Sheldon Jeter, top, grabs a rebound over Wisconsin's Zak Showalter during the second half in a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA tournament, Friday, March 18, 2016, in St. Louis. Wisconsin won 47-43. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Michigan State's Bryn Forbes, left, lose control of the ball on his way to the basket as teammate Javon Bess, right, watches and Middle Tennessee's Darnell Harris, center, defends during the second half in a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA tournament, Friday, March 18, 2016, in St. Louis. Middle Tennessee won 90-81. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Syracuse's Malachi Richardson (23) is fouled on his way to the basket by Dayton's Dyshawn Pierre as Syracuse's Tyler Roberson (21) and Dayton's Scoochie Smith (11) watch during the second half in a first-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA tournament, Friday, March 18, 2016, in St. Louis. Syracuse won 70-51. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
SPOKANE, WA - MARCH 20: DeAndre Bembry #43 of the Saint Joseph's Hawks goes up with a reverse dunk against hte Oregon Ducks in the first half during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on March 20, 2016 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Adam Woodbury #34 of the Iowa Hawkeyes goes up against Phil Booth #5 of the Villanova Wildcats in the second half during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 20, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
SPOKANE, WA - MARCH 18: Rasheed Sulaimon #0 of the Maryland Terrapins puts up a shot against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on March 18, 2016 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
DES MOINES, IA - MARCH 17: Derek Willis #35 and Skal Labissiere #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats reject a shot by Rayshaun McGrew #11 of the Stony Brook Seawolves in the first half during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 17, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Wisconsin's Bronson Koenig (24) shoots a last second 3-point shot over Xavier's Remy Abell to give Wisconsin a 66-63 victory in a second-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 20, 2016, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Notre Dame's Rex Pflueger, center, and Matt Farrell, left, celebrate with teammates after a second-round men's college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Sunday, March 20, 2016, in New York. Notre Dame won 76-75. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - MARCH 18: Isaiah Taylor #1 of the Texas Longhorns reacts after Paul Jesperson #4 of the Northern Iowa Panthers hit a half court three pointer to win the game with a score of 75 to 72 during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena on March 18, 2016 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
More from Business Insider: The 3 plays in sports everybody will be talking about today A high school basketball phenom is trying to skip college to go straight to the NBA, and it could change basketball forever ESPN NBA analyst Mark Jackson took a vicious shot at a former coaching colleague while discussing the D'Angelo Russell controversy | In a surprising move, Sam Hinkie has resigned from his positions as 76ers general manager and president of basketball operations. | 161.909091 | 1 | 10 | high | high | extractive |
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/sandra-lee-sees-wedding-bells-future-gov-cuomo-blog-entry-1.2024773 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609112320id_/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/blogs/dailypolitics/sandra-lee-sees-wedding-bells-future-gov-cuomo-blog-entry-1.2024773 | Sandra Lee sees wedding bells in her future with Gov. Cuomo | 20160609112320 | New York's First Girlfriend, celebrity chef Sandra Lee, said she sees wedding bells in her future with Gov. Cuomo.
But it doesn't sound like she'll be preparing a semi-homemade wedding cake just yet.
"We'll get married some day," Lee told the New York Observer. "It's been nine years. We talk about it. It's not like we don't know we're going to do it."
Both Lee and Cuomo have previous failed marriages.
In 2011, she told Vogue magazine that as she walked up the down the aisle, "I remember thinking, it's not too late to run."
But even then, she raised the specter of a lifetime commitment with Cuomo.
"Right now I'm happy being a girlfriend, but someday Andrew and I will get there," she told Vogue. "When his kids say we need to, we will."
Cuomo has three teenage daughters with ex-wife Kerry Kennedy.
Cuomo in his recently-released memoir called Lee, who he met in 2005 at a Hamptons cocktail party. a "godsend."
He described Lee as smart, successful and gorgeous. He called her his "opposite"--a west coast woman with expertise in cooking, entertaining, and decorating.
She was also a businesswoman who had never heard of New York politics, he wrote.
"I quickly fell in love with her," he wrote. "Why she got involved with me I don't know. I was not much of a catch."
The governor also praised her relationship with his three kids. "My children took to her immediately,and as they've grown older, she has been a significant presence in their lives," he wrote. "We have made a family."
Lee assumed a higher-profile role with Cuomo this fall, when she appeared with the governor in a campaign ad and at parades.
“I don’t really have any official responsibilities,” she told the Observer. "He’s very good with me. He says, ‘you know, honey, you can do anything you want, or nothing at all.’ He’s very good about giving me the flexibility and letting me be comfortable in whatever role. And I need a lot of space. I need someone who understands who I am."
While Lee expects to someday marry Cuomo, she made no predictions about whether the couple might ever take up residence at the White House given the widespread belief that the governor holds national aspirations.
"Oh God," she said. "We're not even thinking about that, honey. I have no aspirations. Absolutely not one." | New York's First Girlfried, celebrity chef Sandra Lee, said she sees wedding bells in her future with Gov. Cuomo. | 23.173913 | 0.956522 | 14.782609 | medium | high | extractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/26/world/2-killed-and-1-wounded-by-bomb-at-hotel-in-colombian-resort-city.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609124536id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/1989/09/26/world/2-killed-and-1-wounded-by-bomb-at-hotel-in-colombian-resort-city.html | 2 Killed and 1 Wounded by Bomb At Hotel in Colombian Resort City | 20160609124536 | BOGOTA, Colombia, Sept. 25— A bomb exploded tonight in the Cartagena Hilton Hotel on the Caribbean, killing two doctors and wounding another, the chief of the police in that coastal resort said.
Another bomb exploded at a Cartagena bank Monday night, injuring a passer-by, Col. Luis Herrera said in a telephone interview.
The Hilton bomb exploded in a room on the sixth floor, the Colombian radio chain Caracol said in a report from the scene. The two doctors who were killed were attending a medical convention at the hotel, Caracol said. Their identities were not immediately available. The wounded doctor was thought to be Colombian, witnesses told Caracol.
Colonel Herrera said no one had taken responsibility for the bombings. Campaign of Terror
However, Colombian security forces have presumed that scores of bombs that have exploded in the last month have been the work of drug traffickers, who have been waging a terror campaign against the Government.
The Hilton was evacuating the approximately 1,500 guests to other hotels in Cartagena, Caracol said, quoting its correspondent, who filed a report by radio telephone with Bogota.
Thousands of Americans, Canadians and other foreigners visit Cartagena each year.
It was the first time bombs hit Cartagena since the Colombian Government cracked down on drug trafficking last month.
The Government began its crackdown on the drug cartels when the country's leading presidential candidate, Luis Carlos Galan, was assassinated Aug. 18 at a political rally. ----Colombian Wanted in U.S.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (AP) - An accused drug trafficker arrested in Colombia is wanted on federal charges of running an operation that shipped tons of the illegal drug methaqualone to this country, officials said today.
Carlos Humberto Gomez-Zapata was arrested over the weekend by the Colombian Army, according to Justice Department officials.
A Justice Department spokesman David Runkel said that if the department confirms his identity, it would probably seek the extradition of Mr. Gomez-Zapata, who was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida in 1984.
A Drug Enforcement Adminstration spokesman, Frank Shults, said Colombian authorities had, indeed, confirmed through fingerprints that the suspect in custody is Mr. Gomez-Zapata.
The indictment charges that Mr. Gomez-Zapata headed a drug ring that shipped tons of methaqualone from West Germany and Austria through Panama to Colombia, where it was then smuggled into the United States.
The drug, also known as Quaaludes, is a hypnotic depressant. | LEAD: A bomb exploded tonight in the Cartagena Hilton Hotel on the Caribbean, killing two doctors and wounding another, the chief of the police in that coastal resort said. | 14.272727 | 0.939394 | 29.121212 | low | medium | extractive |
http://www.foxnews.com/category/tech/topics/video-games.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609152042id_/http://www.foxnews.com:80/category/tech/topics/video-games.html? | Video Games | Category | Fox News | 20160609152042 | The big thing about “Mirror’s Edge” is the ability to “free run” throughout the open-world city called Glass.
It was the day of the prom, and Chris Burwell needed a date.
The Iranian regime has banned the sale of a video-game that gives players a first-person perspective of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Overwatch is a beautifully created world with great back stories and depth to its characters.
Starting Wednesday, Xbox Live Gold customers can switch their gamertag to a coveted moniker.
The latest version of "Doom," released on May 13 by id software, is a reboot of a long-existing franchise.
The Russian Embassy in London is being mocked for illustrating a tweet about purported chemical weapon movements by Syrian rebels with a screenshot from a video game. | Video Games news articles and videos from FoxNews.com's Tech section. | 13.333333 | 0.333333 | 0.333333 | low | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2015/07/01/paypal-acquires-money-transfer-firm-xoom-for-890-million/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609205108id_/http://fortune.com:80/2015/07/01/paypal-acquires-money-transfer-firm-xoom-for-890-million/ | PayPal acquires money transfer firm Xoom for $890 million | 20160609205108 | PayPal has acquired money transfer company Xoom for $890 million to expand its digital payments business in prelude to splitting from parent, eBay.
Xoom, founded in 2001, lets people send money, pay bills and reload mobile phones from the United States to 37 countries. It is used widely by immigrants who send some of their earnings to family members back home.
PayPal’s president Dan Schulman said in a release that acquiring Xoom allows PayPal to offer a larger range of services, in overseas markets. Xoom has a particularly big presence in Mexico, India, the Philippines, China and Brazil.
Xoom will operate as a separate service within PayPal.
The acquisition comes shortly before PayPal spins off from eBay, which is expected later this month. PayPal will start publicly trading as an independent company on July 20. In the last quarter, PayPal’s payments revenue surpassed that of eBay’s marketplace business, highlighting their divergent paths as they prepare to separate.
In the first quarter of 2015, PayPal’s revenue grew 14% to $2.1 billion. Payment volume rose 18% to $61 billion and the number of transactions grew 24% to over 1 billion. Mobile payments through PayPal are up 40% year-over-year and now represent 30% of all transactions.
Outgoing eBay CEO John Donahoe had previously explained that the once-symbiotic relationship between the two businesses wasn’t as tight as it used to be and that they could do better alone while focusing on their respective businesses.
Interestingly, former PayPal CFO and Sequoia Capital partner Roelof Botha is on Xoom’s board.
PayPal is paying $25 per share for Xoom, representing a 32% premium above its average price over the past three months. | The online payments service is buying an emerging player in international remittances. | 25.692308 | 0.538462 | 0.538462 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.tmz.com/2016/02/15/britney-spears-vegas-show-penis | http://web.archive.org/web/20160609233945id_/http://www.tmz.com:80/2016/02/15/britney-spears-vegas-show-penis | Britney Spears: I Need A Nerd With A Giant Penis? | 20160609233945 | Britney Spears' ideal guy is a mix between Bill Gates and rapper The Game.
Spears was performing at her Vegas residency Sunday night, but went a little off script when it came time to pick out a random guy from the crowd.
Brit got real specific, saying she needs a "hot nerd" -- innocent enough -- but it sounds a lot like she wants one who's packing in the right places.
Makes you wonder how many guys raised their hands. Probably not many at first ... and then way too many to be true. | Britney Spears' ideal guy is a mix between Bill Gates and rapper The Game. Spears was performing at her Vegas residency Sunday night, but went a… | 3.483871 | 0.935484 | 9.83871 | low | medium | extractive |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.