A Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy and Graham Firefighters work around the smoldering remains of a house near Fredrickson, Wash., Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, where, according to a sheriff’s spokesman, three bodies were were found. The bodies are believed to be Josh Powell and his two sons. The explosion occurred moments after a Child Protective Services worker brought the two boys to the home for a supervised visit. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Peter Haley)

GRAHAM, Wash. — Days after a judge ruled against him in a child custody hearing, a father and his two young sons were killed Sunday when police said he appeared to intentionally blow up a house with all three inside – a tragic ending to a bizarre case that began more than two years ago when the man’s wife went mysteriously missing in Utah.

A social worker brought the two boys to Josh Powell’s home for what was to be a supervised visit, and Powell let his sons inside – but then blocked the social worker from entering, Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz told The Associated Press.

The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas, and moments later the home exploded.

Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman, said emails that Powell sent authorities seemed to confirm that Powell planned the deadly blast. Troyer didn’t elaborate on the contents of the emails, but said they make police believe “this is intentional, this is planned.”

Authorities said they found three bodies in the home late Sunday afternoon as fire crews and police continued to search the rubble. Troyer said it appeared some sort of accelerant was used to make the house burn faster.

Jeffrey Bassett, who represented Powell in the custody case, said he received a brief email from his client just minutes before Powell and the two boys died. It said, “I’m sorry, goodbye.”

The email arrived at 12:05 p.m. Sunday, about 10 minutes before the explosion, but he didn’t see it until two hours later, when others told him Josh and the boys had been killed. He said he knew Josh was upset after being ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation recently, but he didn’t see this coming.

Powell was under investigation in the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife Susan from their West Valley City, Utah, home in December 2009. He claimed he had taken the boys on a midnight excursion in freezing temperatures when she vanished.

The children, 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles, had been living with Susan Powell’s parents since Josh Powell’s father, Steven, was arrested on child porn and voyeurism charges last fall. On Wednesday, a judge had denied an attempt by Josh Powell to regain custody, saying she wouldn’t consider returning the two boys to their father until he underwent a psycho-sexual evaluation.

Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services, said the social worker who was with the children was not a Child Protective Services employee but a contract worker with a private agency that supervises visits for the state.

“The visit supervisor for this particular agency had taken the children to the home. When she does that, she sits through the visit and might take notes on her observations,” Hill said. “She pulled up in the car, and the kids ran out ahead of her. He closed the door and locked it. She wasn’t able to get in, and that’s when she smelled gas.”

Lawyer Steve Downing, who represented Susan Powell’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, in the custody fight, said: “It’s the most horrifying thing you can imagine happening …The Coxes are absolutely devastated. They were always very fearful of him doing something like this, and he did it.”

Bassett said he represented Powell free of charge because “every parent deserves the right to an attorney.” Powell called or emailed him at least once a day, and often more than that, and in their conversations “he never once admitted doing anything regarding Susan. In fact, he denied it.”

Sgt. Mike Powell of the West Valley City Police Department in Utah, which is handling the investigation into Susan Powell’s disappearance, said it was too soon to say how Josh Powell’s death may impact their probe.

“Quite frankly, this has obviously quickly unfolded up in Washington and we’re obviously just working through the details ourselves here,” said Powell, who is not related to the family.

Kirk Graves, 39, of West Jordan, Utah, whose wife is Josh Powell’s brother-in-law, said they were stunned by the news.

“We never contemplated the idea he would do something like this. You just don’t expect it from a father,” he said. “His world was falling apart around him and he was going to lose his boys and get arrested for Susan’s disappearance. He’s a narcissist and he has no love for anyone but himself.

The day of the hearing last Wednesday, Josh Powell submitted a six-page affidavit attesting to his love of the boys and his competence as a caregiver and insisting that it was time for the boys to come home.

“For over four months already, my interactions with my sons and many other aspects of my character have been investigated and documented by CPS,” he wrote. “I have proven myself as a fit and loving father who provides a stable home even in the face of great adversity. … It is time for my sons to come home.”

—

Associated Press writers Brian Skoloff in Utah and Martin Griffith in Nevada contributed to this report. Johnson reported from Seattle.

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Josh Powell

Elaine Thompson/AP

Josh Powell, a person of interest in the Dec. 6, 2009 disappearance of his wife Susan, killed himself and the couple’s two young sons on Sunday in a planned, intentional explosion, police confirm Sunday.

According to the The Seattle Times, a case worker delivered the boys to Powell’s house Sunday near Tacoma, Wash., when Powell pushed the worker out of the house. Moments later, there was an explosion. Officials have recovered three bodies from the house that they believe are Josh Powell and his sons Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5.

The case worker “was forced out, and an explosion happened shortly thereafter,” Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, told the newspaper.

The Associated Press reports that Powell’s lawyer in his custody case, Jeffrey Bassett, received a three-word email from his client minutes before the explosion. It said, “I’m sorry, goodbye.”

Only days earlier, a family court judge told Powell that he was not likely to get custody of the boys anytime soon, and that he needed to undergo a psychological review. The boys were in the custody of their grandparents, Chuck and Judy Cox.

Powell had denied any role in his wife’s disappearance, and had told police that she went missing while he took the boys on an overnight camping trip in a snowstorm. He recently told the family court judge that Chuck and Judy were not taking good care of the boys and were turning their two sons against him.

Powell lost custody on Sept. 22 after his father, Steve Powell, was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography.

From left: Braden, Josh and Charlie Powell

Brian Smale

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The Super Bowl 2012 Kickoff is at 6:30pm ET. The 46th Super Bowl kickoff is scheduled for 6:30pm EST, 5:30 CST, 4:30 PST, which is now. Get your beer ready for a great line-up of Super Bowl commercials. The first major Super Bowl 2012 Ad is going to be aired right before the Kickoff. The Hyundai Super Bowl All for One is a great start for the 2012 Super Bowl Ad Line-Up.

The Super Bowl broadcast has already started at 2pm ET on NBC and also the Super Bowl online stream started at the same time (ok, a little delayed). Now the NFL posted on their site the official kickoff time schedule for the Super Bowl XLVI.

The Super Bowl 2012 teams are the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Read more Super Bowl 2012 Facts.

We continue to provide live coverage of the Super Bowl 2012 Ads. Watch all released Super Bowl 2012 Ads Now!

Ads that are not in our Super Bowl video library are will be added as soon as they air during the Super Bowl 2012 game.

The Super Bowl 2012 is today, Sunday, Feb. 5 and we provide live coverage of the Super Bowl Ads.  I4U News is featuring again the Super Bowl for Geeks Guide. Of course the Super Bowl 2012 for Geeks Guide is all about the Super Bowl Commercials and not the game. Watch the all 2012 Super Bowl Ads in our Super Bowl Ad Video Gallery or Mobile Super Bowl Ad Video Viewer. For even more Super Bowl 2012 Ads coverage visit our new Super Bowl Ads Blog.

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Luigi LugmayrLuigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.

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We spoke with Joel Siegel of Siegel Jewelers.  His family has been running Siegel Jewelers in Grand Rapids since 1889. 

“Known as the 4 c’s cut, color, clarity and carat weight.  Which really means the size of the diamond, how white it is, how clean it is and how bright or sparkly it is,” said Siegel. “So they all boil down to beauty really. To get a diamond that truly sparkles, a diamond works like a mirror and it reflects light and makes it sparkle.  To get the best cut diamond, you usually have to waste more diamond, so the cutter goes through a decision making process, ‘Do I make it smaller and more sparkly, cut better or do i retain weight and not cut it as well?’  And that’s why most diamonds are not cut to ideal proportions as they’re trying to keep the weight up. Can a person visibly see the difference in diamond qualities? And my answer is, if you in simplistic terms think of diamonds going from 1 to 10 in quality and if you look at a 1 and look at a 10 it’s night and day. Lets say a 2 and a 9, it’s going to be pretty obvious. Get to a 3 and 7, it’s going to be a little fuzzy. You get down to a 4 versus a 5, no you can’t visually see the difference.”

We tried our test with Kelsey Haven of Eastown who recently got engaged. We had three different diamonds, all half carats.  With a “D” being the top of the line in color we had an “F” an “I” and an “L” but we didn’t tell Kelsey anything about their grading or prices. We only allowed her to look with the naked eye, and when asked which she preferred Kelsey chose the “L” colored diamond with a lower clarity and the much lower price. 

“I’d say it’s most sparkly clear with the most reflection,” said Haven.  

The diamond Haven chose was $900 at Siegel Jewelers. The middle diamond was $1,600 and the top diamond, the ”F” color cost $2,400 at Siegel. That was looking at the diamonds from above.  We then turned all three upside down to look at them from another angle.  That’s when the color difference was more obvious.  

We told Haven the prices of all three and she changed her top two choices, instead now preferring the “F” colored diamond, the most expensive.  Her second choice was her original favorite, the “L” colored diamond.  Even after all that, she still clearly had a third or least favorite of the three, the middle graded and middle priced “I” colored diamond.  “I mean they’re all beautiful,” said Haven but to her, picking the most expensive one wasn’t worth the extra money.

We also showed her two 3/4 carat diamonds, one was an “F” color and the other an “I”.  I asked Haven if she noticed any differences. She said one was clearly bigger than the other, but it wasn’t. 

Siegel reminder Haven that carat was weight, not necessarily size.  Siegel explained the smaller faced one was deeper thus the same weight. 

“What you see when you see size is really the top diameter,” Siegel said.  Once we flipped them over the color difference was a little more apparent to Haven.  “That top one looks clearer, whiter.” But once we told her the price difference between the two, it was easy which she’d prefer.  The “F” was for sale for $3,900 and the “I” was for sale for $1,200. 

“Wow, that’s quite a difference,” said Kelsey. 

Siegel says make sure you know everything about each before making up your mind, and then if you still prefer the cheaper one, great. 

“If you don’t examine each of the factors, you’re not getting the whole story.  The answer may be, ‘Yeah, that’s interesting but I’ll save the money,’” Siegel said.

If Haven had bought on this day, using nothing but her two eyes, she definitely would have saved money.  

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If there is one person in the NFL whom you may want to avoid antagonizing, it would be Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady.

I have a funny feeling that he’s going to be taking this game very seriously.

Does Trash Talking Impact The Game

Does Trash Talking Impact The Game

It Can Motivate The Other Team

No, It’s Irrelvant

Total votes: 64

Brady is a notorious competitor—check the three Super Bowl rings—and a fiery one at that. It’s not all that of a surprising thing to look down on the Patriots’ bench to see Brady getting in the ear of one of his teammates, trying to keep him focused, or just simply sitting with a determined and quite scary look in his eyes.

The guy’s all business, and his cage is not the one I’d want to rattle before the Super Bowl.

Apparently the Giants are either too cocky to care or too arrogant to realize that it may make a difference in the game. Either way, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, the team is talking really confidently heading into the Super Bowl:

They certainly are confident heading into their rematch with the AFC champion New England Patriots on Sunday night. They also haven’t been shy about expressing it, whether it was Antrel Rolle saying “we’re going to win this thing,” Chris Canty telling fans to prepare for a parade, or Jason Pierre-Paul insisting the Giants’ pass rush is already in Brady’s head.

This could end up being a fatal mistake for the Giants.

Not only do they run the risk of coming into this game overconfident and then losing a ton of momentum when the game evens out and the reality of two very good football teams playing each-other sets in, but they also run the risk of giving Brady even more motivation than he already has.

This may be arguably the most focused and polished Brady we have seen since the last time his team was in the Super Bowl, but now there is much more than just a ring on the line for him.

He’s got his legacy and possible all-time greatness at stake, the chance to redeem himself and his team from their last Super Bowl—which was a loss to the Giants remember—and now he has the chance to shut the Giants and their brash trash talk up.

A confident Brady is a scary one. An angry Brady is almost unbeatable.

The Giants may have sealed their fate before the game even started.

Super Bowl XLVI: Sun. Feb. 5th at 6:30 p.m. EST on NBC

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But wait, that is not all.

The NFL has teamed up with Verizon so that you can also watch the New England Patriots (15-3) and the New York Giants (12-7) go head-to-head on your mobile via the NFL Mobile (iOS, Android) app.

As the official wireless provider to the NFL, Verizon is letting users download NFL Mobile Premium on their devices to get the live video app feature and much more. Users with 4GLTE-ready devices will get the premium service app is free. Those with 3G capability will have to pay $10 per month to watch the live video streams.

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When the Patriots and the Giants met in the 2008 Super Bowl game, the outcome was a 17-14 victory by the Giants over the previously undefeated Patriots.

Can the Giants take it home again once more or will the Patriots stop their show? Check out the pre-game and full match here.

Super Bowl XLVI comes to you live from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will provide commentary.

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Before you watch the Super Bowl tonight, you could, should you be so inclined, head over to YouTube and watch a preview of an ad Kia will be airing during the game. The spot features the Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima wearing very little and doing even less: She spends the entirety of the ad, hilariously and (one presumes) at least partially satirically, swaying, saying nothing, and waving a checkered racing flag. Very, very slowly.

The ad — the “tease,” as it were, of what we’ll see tonight — is five hours long. 

Five. Hours. Long.

Super Bowl commercials (the experience of, the economics of, etc.) used to be pretty straightforward: Advertisers would gladly pay tons of money for a slot during the game’s broadcast because an ad aired during the game’s broadcast was an amazingly efficient way of getting a message out to tons of people. That’s still the case — a 30-second space is going, this year, for $3.5 million, up from $3 million last year – but the mechanics of the messaging are changing, and rapidly. Super Bowl ads are no longer simply ads, in the Traditional Teevee sense; they’re campaigns that play out, strategically, over time. Instead of functioning as commercial broadcasts unto themselves, they’re acting more and more like episodic touchpoints for an expansive cultural conversation.

In that context, Kia’s five hours’ worth of semi-satiric substi-porn aren’t actually that — that — unusual. Many of the other ads that will air during the game tonight won’t be airing for the first time, either. They’ll have made their debuts already … on the Internet. Volkswagen’s Super Bowl spot has already been posted to YouTube, where it has garnered over 3 million views. Chevy’s? More than 1 million views. Honda’s, starring a re-Bueller-ized Matthew Broderick? Over 11 million. 

In part, that’s about marketers racing each other for relevance in an environment where marketing messages no longer need to be confined to TV. But it’s a bigger story, too — of communications, overall, breaking free of the boxes that used to contain them. One function of the media, traditionally, has been the regulation not just of information, and not just of entertainment, but of time itself. Our broadcast networks, in particular, have segmented time into neat little boxes — 30 seconds here, 30 minutes there — and populated them with sounds and images that entertain and (occasionally) edify us. They have plotted our days into grids, scheduling our experience and helping us to forget that, in fact, there’s very little that’s natural about a time slot. 

Super Bowl ads have been pretty much the Platonic culmination of the gridded media system. They have operated on the assumption that a Big Event itself (the experience of, the economics of) is significant not just because of its content, but because of the community it convenes (111 million people!). The Super Bowl is time rendered collective and contained — so of course marketers want to buy themselves a chunk of it. When better to make your pitch to the world than during the period when the maximum amount of eyes are focused on, effectively, the same screen? 

***

YouTube, and social networks in general, encourage precisely the opposite marketing model. Rather than containing consumer attention, they disperse it. They take the typical 30-second ad spot and condense it to five seconds … or expand it to five hours. Or both. Or neither. It doesn’t matter, because digital spaces remove time as both a constraint and a value in commercial production, allowing for marketing that insinuates itself on its intended audiences much more slowly, and much more manipulatively, and potentially much more effectively, than its analog counterparts. 

You’d think all that would be bad news for broadcast networks, with marketers trading YouTube for boob tube and abandoning the pricey Super Bowl altogether. Why buy the milk, and all that. But: Not only are marketers continuing to pay for something they could ostensibly get for free; they’re paying more for it than they ever have before. They’re still finding value — millions of dollars worth of it — in the connective consciousness that the Super Bowl represents. 

And that’s because, in a world of atomized attention, anything that can aggregate us is becoming more valuable than it’s ever been before. Ads aired during the Super Bowl aren’t just ads; they’re Super Bowl ads. That branding will give them a spot — and a continued life — in Monday’s write-ups of Sunday’s best Super Bowl spots, and in all those “Super Bowl Ads: 2012″ collections that will function as archives for future generations. Their context will make them more than what they are. And that will make them, implicitly, more engaging than they might be otherwise. Super Bowl ads, as my colleague Jordan Weissman has pointed out, have been found to be 58 percent more memorable than regular ads. And while that’s partly, sure, because those ads generally represent the best stuff that J. Walter and friends have to offer, it’s also because the ads, aired when they are, adopt the warmth of assumed connection that convened attention can confer. I am watching Matthew Broderick as 110,999,999 other people do. There is something epic — and rare — about that.

So Super Bowl ads are increasingly valuable because the kind of mass-conscious event they’re part of is increasingly rare. Mass-ness itself is increasingly rare. Overall, in the U.S., TV viewership is declining. Audiences are fragmenting. The Gladwellian connectors that used to bring us together — Lucy, J.R., Oscar – are departing, leaving individual impulse as the driver of our time. This is wonderful, and liberating, but introduces its own set of quandaries. TV Guide, after all, wasn’t just a guide book; it was a framework. It was a power structure. It assembled us, effortlessly, within its neat little boxes. By limiting our experience, it also connected our experience. 

No longer. Increasingly, we’re looking to social networks rather than TV networks for our entertainment, for our information, for our sense of the world. And those social networks are fluid and box-less and limitless in a way that traditional media never could be. What happens to events themselves – those shared moments of cultural connection — in a world where time is unconstrained? Is a Super Bowl ad really a Super Bowl ad when I can watch it long before kickoff? 

Image: Kia/YouTube.

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Have no fear — we’ll give you five quick bits of information to get you prepared before the game begins at 6:30 EST.

When and Where is the Super Bowl?

The game is played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and the kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. EST. The game is broadcasted on NBC and live streamed on NBCSports.com and NFL.com. Pre-game coverage is already long underway and available both on your local NBC affiliate and on NBCSports.com.

What Teams are Playing?

The teams in the Super Bowl are the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. The New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional game and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship to advance to the Super Bowl.

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The Giants defeated the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers on their road to the Super Bowl. The Giants entered the playoffs with a 9-7 record and would be the only seven-loss team to ever win a Super Bowl.

Who is Playing in the Halftime Show?

Legendary pop singer Madonna is the main act of Super Bowl XLVI. The “Material Girl” is expected to be joined by Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., and possibly Cee Lo Green and Will.i.am during the heavily anticipated performance.

What Players Should you Keep an Eye On?

There are a lot of players that could play a big part in either team’s game plan but there are a few that stand out above the rest.

For the Giants:

Quarterback Eli Manning

Wide receivers Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz

Defensive linemen Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck

Defensive secondary Corey Webster and Antrel Rolle

For the Patriots:

Quarterback Tom Brady

Wide receiver Wes Welker

Tight end duo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski

Defensive lineman Vince Wilfork

Defensive secondary Kyle Arrington and Julian Edelman

Why Do People Keep Discussing a Rematch?

In the 2008 Super Bowl, the New York Giants defeated the New England patriots, 17-14. Many fans and media are looking back on that game and considering Super Bowl XLVI as a rematch of sorts.

It could also refer to the fact the Giants and Patriots met earlier this season in a game that the Giants also won. The Giants defeated the Patriots 24-20 in what was one of the biggest wins of the season for “Big Blue.”

But the last three times that two teams met in the regular season and again in the Super Bowl, the loser of the regular season game went on to win the Super Bowl.

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Webb awarded United two penalties – both converted by Wayne Rooney – that changed the course of the game.

United’s draw at Stamford Bridge helped them close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to two points.

“The first one is an obvious penalty, nothing to say, but the second one is very, very dubious,” said Villas-Boas.

“I don’t know if Howard Webb had the correct angle to make the decision but it is very unlucky for him to give it.

“It is Danny Welbeck’s leg that collides against Branislav Ivanovic’s.”

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson insisted that both penalties were “justified”, even suggesting, with particular reference to Gary Cahill’s first-half collision with Danny Wellbeck, that: “We could have had four penalties.”

Villas-Boas added: “I don’t know if Howard is compensating for anything from the first half but it is a wrong decision.

“To go from 3-1 to 3-2 is immense and 3-3 is almost normal service for United. They have great desire and ambition. They never give up and manage to get the result, not the completely positive one they wanted, but a draw from 3-0 is important.

“The way it happened is a big disappointment. We expect top referees in the top games and at the moment it is not happening for us.

“It didn’t happen for us against Manchester United at Old Trafford with two offside goals and it didn’t happen for us again here with a dubious decision that shifted the running of the game.”

Chelsea looked to be on course for three points when Jonny Evans’ own goal, a spectacular strike from Juan Mata and David Luiz’s deflected header looked to have give them an unassailable lead.

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Fightback epitome of English game – Ferguson

But Rooney’s two penalties gave United the momentum to earn a point courtesy of Javier Hernandez’s late header.

Villas-Boas admitted his disappointment at Chelsea’s failure to protect their 3-0 lead, saying: “You have to try and hold on to a lead, but it was cut short by two penalties.

“The decision to give a second penalty for a team has to be taken with a clear mind and hopefully it was taken with a clear mind by Howard.

“The disappointment from our fans is most noticeable and they are right. We wanted to give them a massive lift in terms of motivation, so it’s a pity we couldn’t give them that.”

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While a decent portion of the Super Bowl audience may know little about football, there are plenty who will be tuning in for the commercials and the special half time performance by a certain pop icon.

Madonna’s halftime performance is expected to start between the times of 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. EST. (Or between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. CST; 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. MST; 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. PST.)

With the game starting at 6:29 p.m. EST, and each quarter lasting between 30 and 60 minutes, Madonna may take the stage as early as 7:30 p.m. EST, and as late as 8:30 p.m. EST.

More than likely, Madonna will go on stage at about 8:00 p.m. EST. She will be performing at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with multiple guests, including Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.

Some of her songs have supposedly leaked. “Ray of Light,” “Vogue,” “Music,” and “Holiday” are the expected tracks.

On Jan. 30, Madge went on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and announced the performance would run 12 minutes — the staging will require eight minutes to be set up and seven minutes to be taken down.

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Madonna was her usual charming self during the interview, but the Material Girl described her upcoming performance as “the most nerve-racking thing” she has ever done.

There will be a rule, though, according to Madonna:  “no nipples.”

Here is the link to the interview: http://youtu.be/jBrR2shNRv0  — the video is inverted.

Cee Lo Green is expected to join Madonna on stage. LMFAO is also rumored to be involved in the half-time performance.

Before the kickoff, Kelly Clarkson will sing the National Anthem.

Here is Madonna’s video “Music”:

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The big game is finally upon us, and the New York Giants and New England Patriots will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time live on NBC across the United States.

The game will also be available to watch via two official live streams:

NBC will offer an official free Super Bowl 2012 live stream online at NBCSports.com. This is one of only two officially sanctioned sites on which to watch a live stream of the game for free online.

The NFL will also offer an official free Super Bowl 2012 live stream online at NFL.com. This is the only other officially sanctioned site on with to watch a live stream of the game for free online.

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And this year you can watch the Super Bowl 2012 legally on your mobile device for the very first time:

The NFL Mobile (iOS, Android) app is the first one that will allow viewers to watch a Super Bowl 2012 live stream legally on a mobile device. Download NFL Mobile Premium on your Verizon device to get a live video app feature, which allows for watching of live games, NFL RedZone and the 24/7 NFL Network. The premium service app is free for 4GLTE-equipped mobile device users, while 3G users must pay $10 per month to watch the live video streams.

Super Bowl 2011 was broadcast live on Fox, as was the 2008 Super Bowl, in which the Giants beat the Patriots in the epic precursor to tonight’s rematch. The 2010 Super Bowl was broadcast on CBS.

CBS will broadcast Super Bowl L in 2016, Super Bowl LIII in 2019 and Super Bowl LVI in 2022, along with Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans in 2013, according to Sports Illustrated, while Fox will broadcast Super Bowls LI, LIV & LVII, and NBC will broadcast the 2015, 2018 and 2021 Super Bowls.

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Ambassador Bridge (courtesy Detroit Free Press)

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) — During a political year, you’ll see a number of ads, some of which make outlandish claims. You may have noticed one attacking Gov. Rick Snyder about the Ambassador Bridge.

WZZM 13 News did some fact checking regarding that ad.

The ad is sponsored the company that’s currently in a legal dispute with the state. The man who owns that company is billionaire ‘Matty’ Moroun. He has one of the only privately-owned bridges in the country – in this case, the one connecting Detroit to Windsor, Ontario.

The ad is true when it claims Gov. Snyder wants to build a second bridge.  In October, a state Senate panel failed to approve a measure authorizing the new bridge.

To find out how the rest of the ad fares, you can watch our fact check in the video box on this web page.

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After the shiny Lombardi Trophy has been awarded, the zip line has been taken down and the celebrities have left town, Indianapolis will return to what we know and love it as — home. A little spiffier, no doubt, and maybe a little more confident.

While the big game has given us a chance to see our city in the spotlight, what we love most about it might not have shown up on camera. So here is what makes Indianapolis special to us.

It’s the people

Behind the service counter. Behind the badge. On the street or stage. Especially behind the smile. It’s the people. This is really what I love about Indianapolis.

In the past few years, Indy has become this eclectic vibrant burg. Sure, we’re made fun of and kicked to the curb by much bigger cities with ocean views. And yes, some think we’re a test market for bad fashion. Who cares? We make it up in the friendly department.

Feel the positive vibe when you enter India Garden on Delaware Street, and you are greeted with a smile by owner Tony Mehra, who started his popular restaurant 19 years ago. He lets you know he feels truly grateful for your business.

Or hear a big “Welcome” from David Goff, doorman at the Conrad, as he helps you from your car at the main entrance on Washington Street. These real everyday, hard-working people make up the face of Indianapolis.

Jerry Sedam, a 32-year veteran of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, sums it up best when asked what he loves about the Circle City: “I love the way the community comes together solving problems. There is a great network of people in this city working as one big team for us in law enforcement, helping to make Indianapolis a better place. From mail carriers to policemen. And especially, Crime Watch captains who are the eyes of the community helping keep Indianapolis safe.”

If you believe a city is reflected by its people, then you have to believe our city is great. Friendly, funny and, above all, helpful. Some call it Hoosier hospitality. I just call it Indy.

– Frank Espich

It’s the neighborhoods

A neighborhood should have trees. And dogs. And apartment buildings and kids on bicycles and ice cream shops and houses that don’t all look alike.

And sidewalks. A neighborhood should definitely have sidewalks.

Sidewalks that lead somewhere.

Even though I wasn’t born here, I’m a city girl, I’ve decided. Suburban subdivisions, with their cul de sacs and winding walkways, just aren’t for me.

I love my city’s neighborhoods, with their easy-to-navigate, numbered streets.

Our first home here was a two-room apartment on the upper floor of a big, old historic Meridian Park house. Though it had been split into four units, its magnificent center staircase and French doors had, happily, remained untouched.

I check it out whenever I drive by, and have been pleased to see it restored to a single-family home. I’m still fond of the neighborhood and its fabulous old houses.

I love Broad Ripple, too, and Butler- Tarkington and Herron-Morton and Woodruff Place and the Old Northside.

Irvington and Fountain Square are great, too, and I love how more and more restaurants and businesses are opening there.

But my heart is in Meridian-Kessler.

Bounded by 38th Street, Kessler Boulevard, Meridian Street and the Monon Trail, the neighborhood has a population of about 15,000 — about as big as my hometown when I was growing up, but much more compact and eminently more walkable.

We bought a house in Meridian-Kessler in 1989, a fixer-upper that we spent the next 18 years fixing up.

We moved to bigger digs about five years ago, when our growing boys outgrew their bunk beds, and we all needed a little more space.

But we stayed close by because, even though it’s in the middle of a city of more than 800,000 people, the neighborhood feels like a community. I shop there, I bank there, I support the small businesses and restaurants that serve the area.

I watch the seasons change and admire my favorite trees and gardens and houses.

I listen for the Butler University carillon that plays “Back Home Again in Indiana” and for the parrot that squawks from a nearby front porch.

And I try to figure out where the rooster is that crows on summer mornings and why some blocks have alleys and others don’t.

And I walk.

I walk with the kids and with the dog. I walk to the coffee shop and the ice cream shop and the hardware store.

Because there are sidewalks that lead somewhere.

– Jolene Ketzenberger

It’s the fitness activities

Despite the bad rap Indianapolis gets about its unhealthy habits, a vibrant and active environment exists that anyone can enjoy if they choose.

It’s what I love most about the city.

That’s true even though the Indianapolis- Carmel area ranked poorly last year — 45th of the top 50 most populous metro areas — in the American College of Sports Medicine’s American Fitness Index.

So, we’ve obviously got a long way to go to be considered a “fit city.” We can improve in everything from reducing smoking and eating healthier to building more parks and bike lanes.

Yet there’s much going on if you want to be physically active or participate in recreational sports — not just watch professional, college or high school sports, as fun as that is.

An active Indianapolis Hiking Club of some 700 people hosts more than a thousand hikes annually at Eagle Creek Park, neighborhoods, parks, trails, malls and sites outside the city. The Indianapolis Ski Club takes trips to Colorado, Michigan and other sites.

Cyclists have an active group, the Central Indiana Bicycling Association, which plans regular rides and events for newcomers and seasoned cyclists. Thanks to cycling enthusiasts, including Mayor Greg Ballard, the city is sporting more miles of bicycle lanes, too.

Of course, the Monon Trail, Towpath, beautiful Eagle Creek and the expanding Cultural Trail give many people a good place to walk, run and bike. I’ve enjoyed, too, walking and running along the Downtown Canal and seeing so many people, young and old, exercising, walking dogs and getting outside.

While they may be relatively small, vibrant running and biking communities in the city support a large number of road races and bike rides — from small 5Ks and sprint and triathlons to longer races. The annual Turkey Trot race attracted some 15,000 participants this year on Thanksgiving Day!

Long-time event organizers such as Tuxedo Brothers and Ken Long & Associates help make all of that happen. I get a kick out of doing many of these races each year and seeing so many others participate, too.

Lots of other good examples, such as Planet Adventure excursions and the Indiana Senior Games, exist to show we’re getting more active. Plus, the city boasts many YMCA branches, the Arthur M. Glick JCC and other good facilities.

It’s clear not enough people are taking advantage of what’s available, but I see signs the culture is slowly changing.

– Barb Berggoetz

It’s the Cultural Trail

The Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick is a wide, pleasant walking and biking trail that links neighborhoods, a university, an urban state park, the Downtown Canal, museums, theaters, restaurants, markets, department stores and hotels like charms on a bracelet.

I recently walked the four-mile central loop, just a block from my home, to experience what has been five years in the making. I found that the Cultural Trail is a reality and is ready to enjoy.

And because the reality has lived up to its promise, I put it at the top of my reasons for loving Indianapolis.

Along the trail there are many “moments,” I’ll call them, that satisfy and refresh, invigorate and inspire. Here are a few of my favorite trail moments:

History: I like how the Trail rubs shoulders with Ransom Place, a historic district once home to Indianapolis’ most prominent African-American business leaders. After a chance to walk on famed Indiana Avenue, near Madame Walker Theatre Center, the trail goes past Lockfield Gardens, Indy’s first public housing project, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stately trees: My favorite Downtown oasis, Military Park, is home to giant sweet gum and catalpa trees. It held the city’s first Fourth of July celebration in 1822 and the first Indiana State Fair in 1852, and it was a Union encampment during the Civil War.

Inspiring view: The city skyline seen from the bridge that crosses the Canal is one of the most photographed vistas in the city. Here, it’s possible to hear the Indiana State Museum steam clock play “Back Home Again in Indiana.”

White River State Park: Green space, water, art and architecture converge here. “The Tent,” a large public sculpture by artist Donald Lipski, shimmers and quakes in the wind. The sound of its colored metal shingles is echoed by the rustling American flag nearby.

Gardens: The Wishard Slow Food Garden will rise from winter dormancy this spring, as will the Washington Street Wildflower Meadow, whose dried stalks and brown seed pods have a rustic beauty even now, in winter’s light.

Public art: The Glick Peace Walk is especially beautiful near sunset, when the trail lights have come on and the glass portraits of famous peacemakers glow from within.

According to Kären Haley, executive director of Indianapolis Cultural Trail Inc., two short portions of the trail on Washington Street and Virginia Avenue will be finished after the Super Bowl. But for all intents and purposes, this trail is a done deal.

I think the Cultural Trail is a good way to get exercise, learn about the city and see the progress we’ve made as a community, thanks to the vision and hard work of so many.

For more information about the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and for downloadable maps, go to indyculturaltrail.org.

– Janet Schneider

It’s First Friday

If you love art and culture, the First Friday of every month is the night to put on your gold-sequin hot pants and a pair of nerd glasses and gallery-hop through artist studios, boutiques and galleries.

The First Friday scene has spread to Fountain Square, the Indy Indie Artist Colony, the Harrison Center, Mass Ave. and many more locations throughout the city. On the first Friday of the month, thousands of people make their way from location to location, some walking the Cultural Trail, some on Vespas, as I do, and some on bicycles, checking out new shows and new bands and mingling with the who’s-who in Indy’s cultural scene.

First Fridays offer some of the best times for people-watching. Art students and the fashion-forward parade through the streets, wearing anything from art-school chic to hipster-hip, designer labels to vintage finery or any combination thereof.

I generally end my evening at a locally owned restaurant with friends for dinner and drinks. If you haven’t made it Downtown for First Friday, then you’re missing out. Pull that 1970s leisure suit out of your closet — I know you still have one — and join the party.

First Fridays are sponsored by the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association. More info: www.idada.org.

– Michelle Pemberton

It’s the place for families

I used to think the phrase, “It’s a great place to raise kids” was a euphemism for “But what adult would want to live there?” Then I moved to Indianapolis — and had kids, in that order.

Pardon the cliche, but Indianapolis is a fantastic place for children. When my son was born a Hoosier, the New Yorker in me bemoaned all that he would miss — subway rides, museum visits, the department store windows at Christmas time, the Bronx Zoo. But by the time, he turned 1, four years ago, it became clear to me that Indianapolis is a pretty good place to be a child.

While The Children’s Museum could well be considered our second home, there’s much, much more: the Indianapolis Zoo, Conner Prairie, the basement of the Eiteljorg Museum with its stagecoach, general store and sod house. Don’t feel like shelling out money? These attractions are free a few special days a year.

Then there are all the free child-friendly places. Visits to the Central Library rarely last less than an hour, from the “green screen” where children can play on a stage and view themselves on a television, to escalator rides to the sixth floor for one of the best views in the city. And if your children are old enough, consider a trek to the top of the Soldiers and Sailors’ Monument Downtown. If you forgo the elevator, it’s free, a pretty good deal considering they’re likely to sleep well afterward.

Indianapolis may not have a subway, but it does have the Indiana University Health people mover, known in our house as “the quiet train.” It’s been down for repairs for a few months now, but it will be back.

In warmer weather, we have our pick of parks. During one weekend last summer we visited five or six different playgrounds. There’s the “biggest playground,” aka Holliday Park, with its three play areas geared for children of different ages. Carmel has West Park, which we call “the tractor playground.”

Come Memorial Day, we’re all about the splash park. Yes, we belong to the YMCA and sometimes crib visits with friends to the Jewish Community Center’s posh outdoor facility with its lazy river. But if we don’t want to get in the car, we just walk over to one of the city’s splash parks, where all you need is a palm to get the water flowing.

Because our extended family lives east, we travel to New York City every two months or so. Even navigating the Indianapolis Airport proves a breeze. Recently, the TSA agent gave my child a toy from a happy meal. Contrast that with New York’s La Guardia Airport, which seems designed to persuade you to leave the kids at home.

Yes, New York City has some marvelous things to do and see as well — and we enjoy many of them when we’re there. But what would consist of an entire day’s excursion in New York, is so easy here. Parking is almost always free and ample. Lines, if they exist, are not long. Sidewalks aren’t as crowded.

Every now and then, a disquieting thought flits through my head: Will there be this many things to do when my boys are teenagers? But I don’t ponder it for long before we’re on to the next activity.

– Shari Rudavsky

View full post on what time is the super bowl 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

It’s the Super Bowl XLVI!

And for fans eager to witness the sporting event of the year, the most common question on their mind is: What time does Superbowl 2012 start?

AFC’s New England Patriots will face NFC’s New York Giants on February 5, 2012 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

Kickoff time for the 46th Super Bowl is at 6:30 PM EST / 5:30 PM CST.

It will be will be broadcast exclusively LIVE on NBC.

As the most watched American television program year in and year out, expect fans to grab a seat, pop corn and beer ready before the kickoff time so as not to miss the pregame ceremonies and the National Anthem which will be sang by former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.

The Super Bowl commercials are also a delight to watch as well as the half time show which would feature performances by Madonna, M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj.

Super Bowl 2012 will be aired LIVE on TV by NBC with kickoff time of at 6:30 PM EST / 5:30 PM CST.

However, if you can’t watch it on TV, several sites will actually offer it online like Justin TV, Freedocast, LiveStream and UStream. You just have to look for them patiently.

Or better yet, you can watch it from the Super Bowl 2012 LIVE stream online below. You can even watch all the other sports events after Super Bowl 2012 has wrapped up!

Check it out!

Enjoy!

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Tags: new england patriots, new york giants, super bowl 2012

View full post on what time is the super bowl 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

When is the Super Bowl 2012? Such questions and many more are answered by our Super Bowl 2012 Facts Guide. The focus of Super Bowl Ads for Geeks are the Super Bowl ads, but we are also reporting about anything else interesting about the Super Bowl XLVI.

The Super Bowl is the biggest TV event of the year and the reason for many Americans to host parties or spend a relaxed day with the family in front of the TV with a fridge full of beer. Read our Super Bowl 2012 FAQs below to plan your Super Bowl Sunday and to show off your Super Bowl knowledge to your friends at Super Bowl party.

Super Bowl 2012 Facts and Times:(last updated: 02/05/2012)

What is the Super Bowl?A lot of people will watch the Super Bowl just for the ads, but it sure does not hurt to know what the Super Bowl actually is. The Super Bowl XLVI (46) is a professional football championship game by the National Football League (NFL). The teams include the winners of the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League. The winner of the Super Bowl receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Who plays the Super Bowl?The New York Giants will play against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl 2012. The Patriots have lost last time against the Giants in a Super Bowl. This year it is payback time. All eyes will be on the quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Brady.

Super Bowl 2012 Date and LocationThe Super Bowl 2012, Super Bowl XLVI (46) takes place on Sunday, February 5, 2012 in the Indianapolis.  The Lucas Oil Stadium will be the venue for the Big Game. More about the Super Bowl 2012 Stadium can be found below.

When is the Super Bowl 2012 Kickoff Time?It is official. The Super Bowl XLVI will kick off at 6:30pm EST.

Super Bowl 2012 StadiumThe Lucas Oil Stadium opened in 2008. It is a seven-level multipurpose facility with retractable roof. In addition to being the home of the Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium is used year-round for conventions and events. The stadium, which normally seats 63,000, will seat an increased capacity of about 70,000 for the 2012 Super Bowl. See also the Lucas Oil Stadium site.

Super Bowl 2012 TV BroadcastNBC is broadcasting the 2012 Super Bowl in the United States. The Super Bowl 2012 pre-game coverage starts hours ahead of the Super Bowl XLVI kickoff. Last year Fox started at 2pm Eastern. NBC will also start the 2012 Super Bowl pre-game coverage at 2pm ET.The Super Bowl XLVI game coverage stats at 6:30pm Eastern.

Main National TV stations around the world will broadcast the big game as well, but you will not get to see the Super Bowl ads outside of the United States. For the fun and cool Super Bowl 2012 ads you have to tune in to the web and hit our site or Youtube. More about where to watch Super Bowl ads during the big game can be found below under Super Bowl XLVI Ads. Note that the Super Bowl XLVI will be streamed online this year. The Super Bowl stream will though be blocked for viewers outside of the United States.

How to watch the Super Bowl 2012 OnlineFor the first time ever the Super Bowl will be streamed online. NBC reached a deal with the NFL to stream the big game on February 5th online. The Super Bowl 2012 will be streamed online at NBCSports.com and NFL.com through SNF Extra, which features an HD broadcast, DVR-style controls, additional camera angles, in-game highlights, live statistics and interactive elements.Find out how to watch the Super Bowl Online for Free.

If you are Verizon customer you can watch the Super Bowl on the Verizon NFL Mobile App on your smartphone. More details.

Super Bowl 2012 AdsBesides the football the Super Bowl Ads are the main attractions. NBC has sold out all Super Bowl 2012 spots at the end of November with some 30 seconds slots catching close to $4 million. There will be more of the “epic” Super Bowl ads this year. The reason for that is the tremendous success Chrysler had with their Eminem ad and also the wildly popular Volkswagen The Force Spot wast 60 seconds long. The list of Super Bowl 2012 advertisers is complete.

At the post of this Super Bowl FAQ we count 35 excluding Hollywood movie studios. The Super Bowl 2012 will see again a lot of car ads, not as many as last year as several car makers that advertised in 2011 are not coming back. Anheuser-Busch InBev runs the most Super Bowl ads again this year. The most online buzz ahead of the Super Bowl generated Honda with the Ferris Bueller Honda ad and the Acura Ad staring Jerry Seinfeld. Watch all released Super Bowl Ads.

Super Bowl 2012 Halftime Show Madonna is performing the Super Bowl 2012 halftime show. The Super Bowl Halftime show is the most watched music event of year. Madonna’s performance will be supported by Cirque du Soleil, Jamie King and multimedia artists from Moment Factory. Madonna will perform several top hits and her new single Give me all your Luvin’.

The Super Bowl halftime show is the most-watched music event of the year. Over 162 million watched the Super Bowl halftime show in 2011. This year marks the fifth time Bridgestone Americas has sponsored the Super Bowl halftime show. The tire company’s new brand campaign, fittingly titled “Time to Perform,” will debut during the game.If you are not a fan of Madonna there is an alternative Super Bowl half-time show. The Lingerie Bowl IX will again be aired on Super Bowl Sunday. Details of that sexy Super Bowl half-time show are still developing.

Who sings the Super Bowl 2012 National Anthem? There is no official announcement yet who will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl 2012, but AP just issued a report saying that Kelly Clarkson will have the honors to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl XLVI. Last year Christina Aguilera sang the National Anthem. There are some social campaigns of fans frrom Sandi Patty and Adam Lambert underway to get them selected to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl 2012.

Who Sings America The Beautiful at the Super Bowl 2012?Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert sing America The Beautiful at the Super Bowl 2012.

Super Bowl 2012 TV SpecialsAfter the big game NBC will air the season premiere of the casting show The Voice 2. NBC will actually air a special The Voice Super Bowl ad. The 60 seconds commercial has been directed by Peter Berg and has martial arts in it. That is right Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green will battle for real in the Super Bowl commercial for The Voice. Watch The Voice Super Bowl Ad.

Have fun watching the Super Bowl XLVI!

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Luigi LugmayrLuigi is the founding chief Editor of I4U News and brings over 15 years experience in the technology field to the ever evolving and exciting world of gadgets. He started I4U News back in 2000 and evolved it into vibrant technology magazine.Luigi can be contacted directly at ml@i4u.com. Luigi posts regularly on LuigiMe.com about his experience running I4U.

View full post on super bowl 2012 kickoff time – Yahoo! News Search Results

In this account, the singer-songwriter will relate personal experiences and memories of friends who lost their lives to AIDS, including Queen singer Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991 from the illness.

The book will be published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton this July, along with an audio book that John will read. Little, Brown will publish in the US, with a release planned for August.

In a statement published in Billboard, John has said that AIDS “is a disease that must be cured not by a miraculous vaccine, but by changing hearts and minds, through a collective effort to break down social barriers.”

Proceeds of the book sales will benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

John is up for another Grammy Award for his duet with Lady Gaga, “Hello, Hello,” from the Gnomeo & Juliet soundtrack.

RC

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Super Bowl 46 will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. Super Bowl XLVI will be broadcast live on NBC with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth doing commentary. It is the first time ever that NBCSports.com will stream the game on its Web site. The match between the New England Patriots (15-3) and the New York Giants (12-7) promises to be an exciting one, as just four years ago these two teams met up with each other in a memorable NFL Super Bowl game that saw a 17-14 victory by the Giants over the previously undefeated Patriots.

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NFL Making Live Stream Possible

The NFL is also making it possible for viewers to watch the 2012 Super Bowl via live stream online at NFL.com or with the NFL Mobile (iOS, Android) app. Verizon is the official wireless service provider of the NFL. Users will have to download NFL Mobile Premium on their Verizon devices in order to get the live video app feature and other great features. For users with 4GLTE-ready devices, the premium service app is free. However, for those only 3G capable, they will have to pay $10 per month to watch the live video streams. With this app app users will also get various camera angles, stats and more.

There are talks that if the Patriots and its quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick win on Sunday, they are setting a legacy that involves being called the “greatest ever.”

Tom E. Curran’s NBC Sports post spelled out why they would be talked about as greats, “Four Super Bowl wins and five appearances in 10 seasons. The sixth ring for Belichick in his coaching career, Brady with a 141-40 lifetime record and a 17-5 postseason mark.”

Super Bowl Halftime Show

Besides the electrifying game that is about to take place in less than eight hours, viewers who watch the Super Bowl are also anticipating the halftime show. This year’s show will feature acts such as Madonna, The Black Eyed Peas, The Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and U2.

Madonna is currently working on a new album scheduled to be released next year. It is fifth time that Bridgestone Americas has sponsored the Super Bowl halftime show.

Super Bowl Ads, Commercials

Another big part of Super Bowl Sunday is the ads and commercials that will be seen by some 11 million people on Sunday. Several of those ads and teasers have been released in the days leading up to the 2012 Super Bowl event and it has been reported that companies have shelled out big bucks to get that 30 second ad features in the game. Approximately 36 ads will be shown.

It has been estimated that the ads each sold for approximately $3.5 million each. Big names such as Honda, Priceline, Kia and Sketchers are some of the most-anticipated ads.

View full post on super bowl 2012 kickoff time – Yahoo! News Search Results

Over 100 million Americans will be watching Tom Brady and Eli Manning battle it out in Super Bowl XLVI, the biggest game of the season, which is billed as the rematch of Super Bowl XLII in 2008, when the Giants ended New England’s bid for a perfect season with a 17-14 upset victory.

Tom Brady and Co. will enter Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. on Sunday with the aim of seeking revenge for that 2008 loss.

No wonder, Sunday’s game promises to be a classic, on paper at least.

Kickoff Time:

The game will kickoff on Sunday at Feb. 5 at 6.30pm (EST) or 3.30pm (PST). Pre-game coverage begins at 2pm (EST) or 11am (PST).

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Where to Watch Super Bowl 2012 Live Coverage:

The game will be aired live online in the U.S. for the first time legally. You can watch the game live for free on NBC, which is the broadcast partner for this year’s game.

The Super Bowl can be watched online at NBCSports.com or NFL.com.

How to Watch Super Bowl 2012 Live Coverage:

The big game can be watched on any laptop or desktop PC via live streaming. However, all smartphones won’t be supported as only Verizon has secured the exclusive rights this year for streaming Super Bowl on mobile devices.

Verizon is the exclusive mobile partner of NFL and if you’re interested in watching Super Bowl 2012 on your mobile device, you’ll need to download the free NFL Mobile Premium app by Verizon Wireless. The app gives you access to live games, NFL RedZone and the 24/7 NFL Network. If you’re a 4G LTE customer, no separate data plan is necessary but 3G users have to pay $10 per month data plan to watch live video streams. And yes, it will work with Verizon phones.

Canadian fans can watch the game via Bell’s mobile apps.

NBCSports.com has teamed up with NFL to offer an “All Access” page where you can watch the entire game live as well as pre-game action. The game will be streamed live (HD-quality) and fans will be able to watch the game from multiple camera angles. The DVR-like functionality to pause and replay the action and a number of social features are an added bonus.

Live streaming should work for tablets too, such as iPad and Galaxy Tab, via the device’s built-in Web browser.

The Giants and the Patriot can also be followed via their official apps for iOS and Android OS-powered devices.

The Giants app offers real-time news, on-demand videos, stats, photo galleries and streams Big Blue-related tweets. The app is synced with Facebook and Twitter, allowing you to update your social networking profiles from the app.

The Patriots app is the go-to app for New England fans who crave news, videos, stats, scores and video and audio streams about their favorite team.

You can also follow your favorite teams – New York Giants and New England Patriots - on Twitter. Craving for more? Check out the official Super Bowl XLVI Twitter page.

And, now for the big question – can NBC or NFL handle the online audience? NBC says yes. The stream is based on Microsoft Silverlight, will have a maximum resolution of 720p. If your screen can’t support that resolution, it will automatically adjust the resolution into something your screen can handle so that there is no buffering.

However, if the stream quality goes down, simply refresh and hope for the best. And, if the server crashes, all you can do is pray.

As for those who are on a dial-up plan (God forbid!) that can’t handle live streaming, don’t fret – you can get live play-by-play information on Sunday on ESPN Super Bowl Central.

Or even better, go and watch the game on your telly – click here to find your local station.

Finally, if you’re in the mood for some betting, you’ll be better off knowing that bookers are favoring the Patriots for a win. According to the AP, the Glantz-Culver line has favored the Patriots to win by 3.5 points, with an over/under of 55.5 points.

According to Oddssharks, the Patriots are favored to win, by between 2.5 and 3 points, the over/under being set at around 54.

And, don’t forget to watch American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson belt out the national anthem while Madonna and Cirqque du Soliel headline the halftime entertainment.

So grab some popcorns and sodas, call over your friends over and have a blast!

What do you think? Which team will win Super Bowl 2012? Leave your comments below.

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View full post on super bowl 2012 kickoff time – Yahoo! News Search Results

Here is some last minute information for you to remember before kickoff.

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN

Watch: NBC

Kickoff time: 6:29 p.m. ET

National Anthem: Kelly Clarkson

Halftime Show: Madonna

Betting Line

Lines have stayed at New England (-2.5 or 3) depending on the source.

Unexpected Move

Wide receiver Tiquan Underwood was cut on Super Bowl Eve, according to Ian R. Rapoport of the Boston Herald.

Rob Gronkowski Injury

Gronkowski showed “no limp” for 75 minutes on the field Saturday, according to Mike Whitmer of Boston.com.  

Gronkowski’s injury is kind-of-sort-of like Ben Roethlisberger’s late in the season. It’s going to be very interesting to see how much his high ankle sprain will impact his cuts and breaks. There is one thing about going to through the motions in practice but playing in a game is a completely different story.

He, most likely, won’t look 100 percent come kickoff time.

Super Bowl XLVI is going to be difficult to rival Super Bowl XLII when the Giants stunned the Patriots and their undefeated team, but this should still be a great game.

Who do you think will win?

Who do you think will win?

Giants

Patriots

Total votes: 106

Both offenses are superb, with two franchise quarterbacks (Tom Brady and Eli Manning) who have won at least one Super Bowl. New England and New York don’t have quality rushing attacks but have players capable of rushing the football if given the opportunity.

The difference is defense.

New York can get after Brady with their front four which will allow seven to drop in coverage. Their ability to rush the passer with Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and others allow the Giants to have some of the best success against Brady and the Patriots offense.

Will it be enough?

We’ll find out at 6:29 p.m. ET. 

View full post on super bowl 2012 kickoff time – Yahoo! News Search Results

Although the rivalry for Super Bowl XLVI might cause some excitement, there is another event Sunday night that will really get the blood pumping – Madonna’s first-ever Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.

The Queen of Pop will take to the stage Sunday night and perform for more than 110 million. “I am so excited to be here [and] incredibly nervous,” she told reporters. “This is a Midwesterner girl’s dream, to be performing the Super Bowl halftime, so if I speak fast or run out of breath, you’ll know why.” Because of the immense exposure, Madonna is doing this one for free. Instead of a paycheck, she will get promotion for her new album “MDNA” out March 26. 

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For someone who has traveled the world and has been acknowledged as one of the most famous superstars of all time, Madonna said that the Super Bowl Halftime Show 2012 will be one of her proudest moments. “I’m sure of all the things I’ve ever done in my life, this will be the thing he’s [her father] most excited about,” she laughed.

“I was raised in the Midwest, and he is the personification of Midwestern values. He gave me the work ethic that I have, so if I’m a hard-working girl that never stops, it’s because of him.”

Madonna, who recovered just in time from a hurt leg and a bumped nose, insisted that there will be no wardrobe malfunctions at her performance, a la Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2004.

“Great attention to detail has been paid to my wardrobe. There will be no wardrobe malfunctions. Promise,” she told reporters. Madonna is the first female invited back to perform at the Super Bowl since Jackson’s nip-slip. 

Here are all the details you need to know for the Super Bowl Halftime Show 2012 plus two teaser clips to hold you over until Sunday night.

Start Time

Super Bowl 2012 will start at 6:30 p.m. EST. Since football is notorious for its stoppages, penalties and tons of Super Bowl commercials, you can expect Madonna to hit the stage at approximately 8:00 p.m. or 8:15 p.m. EST. Madonna revealed on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” that she has a 12-minute set, with an eight-minute set-up and a seven-minute strike

Performers

Madonna is not the only big name to hit the stage Sunday night. She will be joined by rap goddess Nicki Minaj, MIA, Cee Lo Green and LMFAO.

Set-List

Madonna’s set-list has also been revealed, though it is likely that surprise songs will be added in as every showman loves to give the crowd an unexpected thrill.

Madonna’s set-list currently includes: “Gimmie All Your Luvin,” “Ray of Light,” “Vogue,” “Music” and “Holiday.” Minaj and MIA are both featured on Madonna’s new song, “Gimmie All Your Luvin,” and appear in the music video.

Where Can You Watch?

You can watch the Super Bowl 2012 and the Super Bowl Halftime Show 2012 live on TV , airing on NBC. You can also watch the Super Bowl live streaming online at NFL.com/superbowl. Click here to view the stream. This is the first time ever the NFL is offering a live online stream.

Related Article: Super Bowl 2012: Live Stream Giants vs Patriots 2 p.m. EST Before Kickoff Time

Related Article: Gisele Bundchen: Mrs. Tom Brady’s Sexiest Runway Moments [PHOTOS] 

View full post on what time is the super bowl 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

The much-anticipated rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl will be broadcasted on NBC and live-streamed through NBCSports.com for the first time ever. The Super Bowl typically draws in more than a hundred million viewers each year and this year figures to be no different. NBC’s Super Bowl coverage begins at noon and features sit-down interviews with many of the players and coaches involved in the Super Bowl.

The Patriots come into the game as a 2.5-point favorite, but the Giants have gotten a lot of the hype and public support in the two weeks leading into the Super Bowl. The game could ultimately come down to a duel between Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Giants quarterback Eli Manning — with Manning having the recent upper hand.

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The two teams previously met in the regular season and the Giants won 24-20. The Giants’ win doesn’t bode well with past history, though, as the last three times teams met for a regular-season rematch in the Super Bowl, the loser of the first game won the Super Bowl.

It’s statistics like that one that are worth knowing if you decide to make any bets on the big game. A host of gambling Web sites are offering prop bets on everything from how long it will take Kelly Clarkson to sing the National Anthem to who the Super Bowl MVP will thank first in his acceptance speech. These Web sites are illegal in the United States, but offer some fun ideas on things to play bet on at your Super Bowl party.

In addition to all of the action on the field, casual viewers have a lot to be excited about as well. Legendary pop singer Madonna will be teaming up with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.  for the Super Bowl halftime show. Some have criticized the selection of Madonna, but she’ll certainly generate a lot of conversation with her performance – for good or bad.

One can’t forget about all of the commercials either. Honda’s Ferris Bueller-inspired advertisement looks like the early winner, but there should be more than a handful of funny commercials to delight viewers.

View full post on what time is the super bowl 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 04:

(Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS – Hours after Nevada presidential caucus locations had closed on Saturday, more than 300 voters wrapped around the Adelson Educational Campus here to participate in an unusual exception to the state’s election laws: a chance for orthodox Jews and Seventh-day Adventists to cast their ballots after sundown.

But near the table where participants were to sign an affidavit stating under penalty of perjury that their religious beliefs precluded their ability to vote during regular caucus hours, a cluster of voters who did not meet that requirement slowed the line as they were turned away, one by one. Most had come at the urging of the Ron Paul campaign, which had placed calls to its supporters informing them of the “second chance” to vote Saturday night.

“I received probably 10 phone calls today saying if you didn’t make it this morning to your caucus, you can come down here – 30 minutes away from my home – and they would let you vote, get a second chance at it,” said 23-year-old Henderson resident Michael DiCicco, a Paul supporter who said he was not aware the late caucus was reserved solely for those who practice certain religions. “It’s discrimination.”

Stephen Melancon, another Ron Paul supporter who was a delegate in 2008, said he was aware that the exception was to accommodate based on religious beliefs, but, “I thought there’s no way they’re gonna be able to restrict registered Republicans who were not able to vote in the caucus.” Melancon, a high school teacher, said he was working a second job in the morning during the regular caucuses.

Critics weren’t limited to Paul backers. Newt Gingrich supporter James Grindstaff, a Seventh-day Adventist who made it inside and knew the conditions of the late caucus, called the exclusion of those who did not meet the religious requirement “ridiculous,” and was asking around for someone with whom he could lodge a formal complaint.

Clark County GOP Chair David Gibbs said the exception was approved under caucus rules, and had been vetted by attorneys. Asked why the county chose to make an exception for religious purposes and not other circumstances that would potentially prevent attendance on a Saturday morning, Gibbs reasoned, “there’s a difference.”

“If somebody wanted to be there but they don’t have the means, they have friends, you know, they have other opportunities,” he said. “I know folks who took the day off at work today in order to participate in the caucuses this morning.”

Gibbs added that the exception “had nothing whatsoever to do with anything other than the fact that these folks who could not participate because of religious observances. Nothing.”

Prior to the event, skeptics questioned the coincidence that the late caucus would take place at a Jewish school named for casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who has poured millions of dollars into a pro-Newt Gingrich Super PAC. Adelson, who attended the caucus, has denied any involvement in organizing it.

After a delayed start and more than an hour of hearing arguments from various candidate supporters, Paul was declared the winner of the special caucus with 183 votes over Mitt Romney, Gingrich, and Rick Santorum, who received 61, 57, and 16 votes, respectively.

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

Last updated at 2:50 PM on 5th February 2012

Follow Sportsmail’s coverage of the Barclays Premier League as Newcastle host Aston Villa at the Sports Direct Arena to kick off Sunday’s action. The Toon will aim for three points to maintain their challenge for a Champions League spot against Alex McLeish’s side, who will target moving into the top 10. Email me your thoughts on the action at dan.ripley@dailymail.co.uk or via Twitter @Ripinho.

Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa (1.30pm)

Click here for the live goals as they go in

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Ryan Taylor (Obertan 34), Guthrie, Perch, Gutierrez, Ba, Best (Cisse 14).Subs: Elliot, Ben Arfa, Gosling, Shola Ameobi, Ferguson.

Goals: Ba 30.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, Ireland (Bannan 46), Petrov, Clark, N’Zogbia, Keane, Bent.Subs: Guzan, Heskey, Weimann, Lichaj, Baker, Gardner.

Goals: Keane 45+5

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)

Click here for the live Premier League table

57min: And the swing in play continues. A half-chance each as first Obertan fires off target following a break, before Keane rifles over at the other end.

54min: Villa hit back by winning a corner themselves, but the home defence is alert to nod away the cross into the box. An even game – but a decent one.

51min: Aston Villa midfielder Marc Albrighton on Twitter:

Tired after training this morning! Watching @AVFCOfficial at my mom and dads! Come on boys! #UTV

50min: Newcastle starting the stronger here as they now win a corner. Danny Guthrie’s delivery easily cleared at the near post however.

47min: It’s carnage in the Villa box and I don’t know how Newcastle’s strikers failed to score.

Given unusually fumbles a cross and as the ball pings around the six-yard area, both Ba and Cisse fail to make the most of the incident as Villa scramble clear.

Second-half: As Villa get us underway, they also make a change with Barry Bannan on for Ireland.

14.35: From OptaJoe:

11 – Aston Villa have claimed 11 points from losing positions this season (before today), only Wolves (13) have more. Dogged.

14.33: Some injury news on Ryan Taylor – and it’s relatively optimistic as Newcastle medics think it is bruising rather a break that the midfielder has suffered. He is on his way to hospital either way.

14.29: A slow start but I have enjoyed this game so far that has ticked by nicely, despite the injuries.

Keane’s goal was just rewards for the Irishman, who has proved to me he has lost nothing – one of the best players on the pitch during that half.

Late show: Robbie Keane equalises for Aston Villa on the stroke of half-time

Half-time: Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa

45+5min: GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 ASTON VILLA

Part and parcel of having N’Zogbia in your team? The winger gets into a promising position inside the box on the left, but this time delivers a superb cross into the six-yard-box where Robbie Keane taps home and runs off to perform that timeless cartwheel celebration.

45+3min: Given was helpless with this one. Santon cuts inside from the left, but his shot cannons off Clark from the edge of the box before flashing just wide of the post.

45+2min: No doubting Cisse’s alertness. The striker ghosts in behind Alan Hutton from a cross but he just can’t make clean contact with his head as he nods past the post. The Scottish defender caught napping there.

45+1min: Injuries galore mean we will have six added minutes – Villa will be the more pleased with the additional time as they seek an equaliser.

Cautioned: Aston Villa’s Richard Dunne (right) was booked for tripping Newcastle’s Jonas Gutierrez

43min: That’s not far away from Ireland though, who from the edge of the box has an effort that curls just wide. Not sure Krul had that covered despite the lack of power.

40min: Part and parcel of having N’Zogbia in your team? The winger gets into a promising position inside the box on the left, but rather than cross he attempts a shot from a very tight angle that hits the side-netting. What a waste.

39min: Meanwhile, Dunne joins Simpson on the yellow list for a pretty cynical attempt of a trip on Jonas Gutierrez.

Attempt being the word – there doesn’t seem to be any contact despite the intent.

37min: Warnock has been involved with everything but general play today, as this time he is barged off the ball and into the advertising hoardings by Danny Simpson, who is booked.

Too much Super Bowl fever I assume is running through the lad.

34min: Play finally restarts with Gabriel Obertan on for Taylor, who is applauded as he is carried away from the pitch – let’s hope that injury isn’t serious.

33min: Unfortunately for Newcastle, Ryan Taylor was wiped out by Warnock with a sliding challenge shorty after Dunne failed to properly head clear the initial cross, and he is being taken off on a stretcher.

Alert: Demba Ba pounced inside the box to hand Newcastle the lead

30min: GOAL! NEWCASTLE 1-0 Aston Villa

Well he didn’t take long to settle again. Demba Ba pounces on a loose ball inside the box to bury from close range after the visitors twice fail to clear a cross.

He celebrates with Cisse by kissing the ground in unison – not too sure that is going to catch on chaps.

27min: Another top save from Krul. Dunne splits the home defence with a through ball and like a flash Bent is on to it.

The Newcastle stopper is quick out of his goal though and he once again manages to block the England striker’s shot from the edge of the box.

24min: These always make me wince. Stephen Warnock is now receiving treatment after his attempt to head the ball clear only succeeds with crashing into the back of Ryan Taylor’s skull. He should be okay though.

22min: Newcastle starting to up the gears now as Demba Ba’s shot cannons off Dunne for a corner. Villa clear again but the visitors are slightly on the back foot.

19min: Although Ryan Taylor’s initial delivery is cleared, the ball falls back to him inside the box. But with a crowd of players in front of him he blasts miles over.

18min: He could have another chance here too as Newcastle win a free-kick on the left flank after Clark trips Davide Santon.

16min: Not a bad opening from him too, as the striker heads a near post cross on target. It slightly lacks power though and Shay Given eats those in his sleep.

Early end: Leon Best injured his knee after his shot was blocked, leading to the introduction Papiss Cisse

14min: To encouraging cheers from the home fans, Cisse does indeed make his Newcastle debut as he replaces the injured Best.

13min: Back on the pitch and our first chance as Keane threads through a lovely ball for Bent inside the box.

he striker does well to beat the offside trap, but at a slightly awkward angle sees his shot blocked by Tim Krul. I would have stuck money on him to score from there to be honest.

11min: We could see Cisse earlier than expected. Best has a shot from the edge of the box, but it’s instantly blocked and he his down holding his knee and receiving treatment as I type.

10min: No side has got a hold of this game yet, but Alex McLeish is furious with his side after they fail to make the most of a counter attacking opportunity which falls apart through a basic lack of communication.

7min: Newcastle win a free-kick on the halfway line, but although Leon Best wins the flick on from Ryan Taylor’s long ball, Villa comfortably clear their lines.

5min: And we haven’t really progressed from that. Villa keen to play a direct ball to Bent at every opportunity but there has been no other pattern (or action) so far.

2min: One man who is getting jeered is Darren Bent. His Sunderland connections not forgotten in this part of the world – sparring start here.

Heads up: Aston Villa’s Stephen Ireland (left) and Newcastle’s Jonas Gutierrez challenge for the ball

Kick-off: Newcastle get us going then.

13.27: Out come the teams then on a sunny but very cold afternoon in the north east.

13.24: You don’t have to go that far back to find Newcastle’s last stunning moment in this fixture though – only last season in fact.

Villa, under caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald, were thumped 6-0 in late August, when some chap called Andy Carroll scored a hat-trick.

13.21: Regarding InfostradaLive’s stat at 13.15, you may recall that was the day team-mates Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer infamously got involved in a scuffle and received two of those three red cards.

13.18: Newcastle striker Demba Ba returns to the starting line-up for this afternoon’s Barclays Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

The 15-goal frontman goes straight back into the team after his sabbatical at the African Nations Cup, although international team-mate and new signing Papiss Demba Cisse had to make do with a place on the bench as Ba and James Perch replaces Shola Ameobi and Hatem Ben Arfa.

Villa boss Alex McLeish names an unchanged side, which means Shay Given returns to Tyneside for the first time, while there are places too for fellow old boys Charles N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland.

Out of control: Newcastle team-mates Lee Bowyer (left) and Kieron Dyer were sent off back in 2005

13.15: InfostradaLive – taking you from one red card extreme to the other:

Aston Villa’s last win at Newcastle United (2005) was helped by the home side having three players sent off, equal most of any club in PL.

13.12: Any of you still doubting whether Newcastle can get a Champions League spot, it’s worth knowing three points today will take Alan Pardew’s side level on points with Chelsea in fourth.

An outside bet? yes, but they are still well in the hunt.

13.09: From InfostradaLive:

Newcastle United are one of only two clubs yet to win a PL match this season after going behind. The other is Manchester United.

13.06: While we may get a penalty today, we probably won’t get a red card. Mark Halsey is one of two referees not to have sent anyone off this season.

13.03: And that team in full: Given, Dunne, Williams, Devine, Stevens, Carruthers, Ireland, Clark, Burke, Keane, Drennan.

A few rough diamonds in there but they could rely on some Irish luck I suppose.

13.00: Just been pointed out to me on the desk that Villa could field a whole team of Irishman if they wanted to. There’s five in the team today with Given, Richard Dunne, Ireland, Ciaran Clark and Robbie Keane – Villa for Poland/Ukraine?

12.57: Remember folks, you can catch up with all the goals involving a Premier League side as they go in by following our excellent live goal service on Twitter.

12.42: Back to the Sports Direct Arena though, who fancies taking a spot-kick for Aston Villa today? This from OptaJoe:

8 – Newcastle United have conceded the joint-most penalties in the Premier League. Clipped.

12.39: Not every game has beaten the weather though folks. As far as I know Chelsea are not as keen to call off their fixture with Manchester United this season, but the East Midlands derby in the Championship between Derby and Nottingham Forest has been postponed due to safety reasons.

12.36: Shay Given and Charles N’Zogbia to start against their former sides then. I assume the former will be given a resounding reception, the latter…I’m not so sure.

12.33: Aston Villa starting XI:

Given, Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, N’Zogbia, Ireland, Petrov, Clark, Bent, Keane.

12.30: Not going anywhere because of the white apocalypse? Then may I offer you an afternoon of Premier League action starting with the intriguing warm-up act of Newcastle v Aston Villa, followed later by the main event of Chelsea v Manchester United.

Planes, trains and automobiles may be unreliable this weekend, but you can bank on the Premier League carrying on as usual.* Team news on the way folks.

*hopefully.

Ba-ck in business: Demba Ba (left) is expected to return for Newcastle against Aston Villa

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But near the table where participants were to sign an affidavit stating under penalty of perjury that their religious beliefs precluded their ability to vote during regular caucus hours, a cluster of voters who did not meet that requirement slowed the line as they were turned away, one by one. Most had come at the urging of the Ron Paul campaign, which had placed calls to its supporters informing them of the “second chance” to vote Saturday night.

“I received probably 10 phone calls today saying if you didn’t make it this morning to your caucus, you can come down here – 30 minutes away from my home – and they would let you vote, get a second chance at it,” said 23-year-old Henderson resident Michael DiCicco, a Paul supporter who said he was not aware the late caucus was reserved solely for those who practice certain religions. “It’s discrimination.”

Stephen Melancon, another Ron Paul supporter who was a delegate in 2008, said he was aware that the exception was to accommodate based on religious beliefs, but, “I thought there’s no way they’re gonna be able to restrict registered Republicans who were not able to vote in the caucus.” Melancon, a high school teacher, said he was working a second job in the morning during the regular caucuses.

Critics weren’t limited to Paul backers. Newt Gingrich supporter James Grindstaff, a Seventh-day Adventist who made it inside and knew the conditions of the late caucus, called the exclusion of those who did not meet the religious requirement “ridiculous,” and was asking around for someone with whom he could lodge a formal complaint.

Clark County GOP Chair David Gibbs said the exception was approved under caucus rules, and had been vetted by attorneys. Asked why the county chose to make an exception for religious purposes and not other circumstances that would potentially prevent attendance on a Saturday morning, Gibbs reasoned, “there’s a difference.”

“If somebody wanted to be there but they don’t have the means, they have friends, you know, they have other opportunities,” he said. “I know folks who took the day off at work today in order to participate in the caucuses this morning.”

Gibbs added that the exception “had nothing whatsoever to do with anything other than the fact that these folks who could not participate because of religious observances. Nothing.”

Prior to the event, skeptics questioned the coincidence that the late caucus would take place at a Jewish school named for casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who has poured millions of dollars into a pro-Newt Gingrich Super PAC. Adelson, who attended the caucus, has denied any involvement in organizing it.

After a delayed start and more than an hour of hearing arguments from various candidate supporters, Paul was declared the winner of the special caucus with 183 votes over Mitt Romney, Gingrich, and Rick Santorum, who received 61, 57, and 16 votes, respectively.

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

Four former Steelers could be part of the NFL Hall Of Fame’s 2012 class.

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Feb 4, 2012 – At 5:30 PM on Saturday, the list of enshrinees to the 2012 NFL Hall Of Fame will be announced. Here are the finalists:

Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Jack Butler, Cris Carter, Dermontti Dawson, Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Chris Doleman, Kevin Greene, Charles Haley, Cortez Kennedy, Curtis Martin, Bill Parcells, Andre Reed, Willie Roaf, Will Shields, Dick Stanfel, and Aeneas Williams

For Steelers fans, Jerome Bettis — who racked up 13.662 career rushing yards, most of them with Pittsburgh — heads the list. There’s also Butler (a Pittsburgh native and a 1950s Steelers defensive back), Dawson (one of a long line of great Steelers centers) and Greene (who played with the Steelers from 1993 to 1995).

Dawson notes that he doesn’t worry too much about whether he’ll be enshrined, and says he’s already happy with what he’s achieved.

“A lot of people ask me about the process, but I don’t spend energy on something I can’t control,” he said. “If it happens, it happens.

“Apparently, I’ve met the qualifications to potentially to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. It’s great to be mentioned for the Hall of Fame. Believe me, I don’t take it lightly.

There’s nothing for him to do now but wait until Saturday evening.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Read More: Curtis Martin (RB – NYJ), Willie Roaf (OT – KAN), Will Shields (G – KAN), Tim Brown (WR – ARI), Jerome Bettis (RB – PIT), Pittsburgh Steelers

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San Diego, CA (Sports Network) – The San Diego Padres agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Micah Owings on a one-year contract.

“Micah will compete for a spot on our staff,” said executive vice president/general manager Josh Byrnes. “He is a proven contributor as a starter and as a reliever. Micah’s character and versatility made him a priority for us as we looked to add depth to our pitching staff.”

Owings finished the 2011 campaign perfect, going 8-0 and compiling a career- best 3.57 earned run average in 33 games (four starts) for Arizona.

A third-round draft pick in 2005, Owings has played five seasons with the Diamondbacks (2007-08, 2011) and Reds (2009-10), appearing in 132 games (68 starts) with a 32-31 record and a 4.91 ERA.

The Tulane graduate is also known for his prowess at the plate, where he boasts a .286 career average with nine home runs and 35 RBI in 203 at-bats.

The Sports Network

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View full post on Today is International Kissing Day – Yahoo! News Search Results

We spoke with Joel Siegel of Siegel Jewelers.  His family has been running Siegel Jewelers in Grand Rapids since 1889. 

“Known as the 4 c’s cut, color, clarity and carat weight.  Which really means the size of the diamond, how white it is, how clean it is and how bright or sparkly it is,” said Siegel. “So they all boil down to beauty really. To get a diamond that truly sparkles, a diamond works like a mirror and it reflects light and makes it sparkle.  To get the best cut diamond, you usually have to waste more diamond, so the cutter goes through a decision making process, ‘Do I make it smaller and more sparkly, cut better or do i retain weight and not cut it as well?’  And that’s why most diamonds are not cut to ideal proportions as they’re trying to keep the weight up. Can a person visibly see the difference in diamond qualities? And my answer is, if you in simplistic terms think of diamonds going from 1 to 10 in quality and if you look at a 1 and look at a 10 it’s night and day. Lets say a 2 and a 9, it’s going to be pretty obvious. Get to a 3 and 7, it’s going to be a little fuzzy. You get down to a 4 versus a 5, no you can’t visually see the difference.”

We tried our test with Kelsey Haven of Eastown who recently got engaged. We had three different diamonds, all half carats.  With a “D” being the top of the line in color we had an “F” an “I” and an “L” but we didn’t tell Kelsey anything about their grading or prices. We only allowed her to look with the naked eye, and when asked which she preferred Kelsey chose the “L” colored diamond with a lower clarity and the much lower price. 

“I’d say it’s most sparkly clear with the most reflection,” said Haven.  

The diamond Haven chose was $900 at Siegel Jewelers. The middle diamond was $1,600 and the top diamond, the ”F” color cost $2,400 at Siegel. That was looking at the diamonds from above.  We then turned all three upside down to look at them from another angle.  That’s when the color difference was more obvious.  

We told Haven the prices of all three and she changed her top two choices, instead now preferring the “F” colored diamond, the most expensive.  Her second choice was her original favorite, the “L” colored diamond.  Even after all that, she still clearly had a third or least favorite of the three, the middle graded and middle priced “I” colored diamond.  “I mean they’re all beautiful,” said Haven but to her, picking the most expensive one wasn’t worth the extra money.

We also showed her two 3/4 carat diamonds, one was an “F” color and the other an “I”.  I asked Haven if she noticed any differences. She said one was clearly bigger than the other, but it wasn’t. 

Siegel reminder Haven that carat was weight, not necessarily size.  Siegel explained the smaller faced one was deeper thus the same weight. 

“What you see when you see size is really the top diameter,” Siegel said.  Once we flipped them over the color difference was a little more apparent to Haven.  “That top one looks clearer, whiter.” But once we told her the price difference between the two, it was easy which she’d prefer.  The “F” was for sale for $3,900 and the “I” was for sale for $1,200. 

“Wow, that’s quite a difference,” said Kelsey. 

Siegel says make sure you know everything about each before making up your mind, and then if you still prefer the cheaper one, great. 

“If you don’t examine each of the factors, you’re not getting the whole story.  The answer may be, ‘Yeah, that’s interesting but I’ll save the money,’” Siegel said.

If Haven had bought on this day, using nothing but her two eyes, she definitely would have saved money.  

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View full post on Today is International Kissing Day – Yahoo! News Search Results

We spoke with Joel Siegel of Siegel Jewelers.  His family has been running Siegel Jewelers in Grand Rapids since 1889. 

“Known as the 4 c’s cut, color, clarity and carat weight.  Which really means the size of the diamond, how white it is, how clean it is and how bright or sparkly it is,” said Siegel. “So they all boil down to beauty really. To get a diamond that truly sparkles, a diamond works like a mirror and it reflects light and makes it sparkle.  To get the best cut diamond, you usually have to waste more diamond, so the cutter goes through a decision making process, ‘Do I make it smaller and more sparkly, cut better or do i retain weight and not cut it as well?’  And that’s why most diamonds are not cut to ideal proportions as they’re trying to keep the weight up. Can a person visibly see the difference in diamond qualities? And my answer is, if you in simplistic terms think of diamonds going from 1 to 10 in quality and if you look at a 1 and look at a 10 it’s night and day. Lets say a 2 and a 9, it’s going to be pretty obvious. Get to a 3 and 7, it’s going to be a little fuzzy. You get down to a 4 versus a 5, no you can’t visually see the difference.”

We tried our test with Kelsey Haven of Eastown who recently got engaged. We had three different diamonds, all half carats.  With a “D” being the top of the line in color we had an “F” an “I” and an “L” but we didn’t tell Kelsey anything about their grading or prices. We only allowed her to look with the naked eye, and when asked which she preferred Kelsey chose the “L” colored diamond with a lower clarity and the much lower price. 

“I’d say it’s most sparkly clear with the most reflection,” said Haven.  

The diamond Haven chose was $900 at Siegel Jewelers. The middle diamond was $1,600 and the top diamond, the ”F” color cost $2,400 at Siegel. That was looking at the diamonds from above.  We then turned all three upside down to look at them from another angle.  That’s when the color difference was more obvious.  

We told Haven the prices of all three and she changed her top two choices, instead now preferring the “F” colored diamond, the most expensive.  Her second choice was her original favorite, the “L” colored diamond.  Even after all that, she still clearly had a third or least favorite of the three, the middle graded and middle priced “I” colored diamond.  “I mean they’re all beautiful,” said Haven but to her, picking the most expensive one wasn’t worth the extra money.

We also showed her two 3/4 carat diamonds, one was an “F” color and the other an “I”.  I asked Haven if she noticed any differences. She said one was clearly bigger than the other, but it wasn’t. 

Siegel reminder Haven that carat was weight, not necessarily size.  Siegel explained the smaller faced one was deeper thus the same weight. 

“What you see when you see size is really the top diameter,” Siegel said.  Once we flipped them over the color difference was a little more apparent to Haven.  “That top one looks clearer, whiter.” But once we told her the price difference between the two, it was easy which she’d prefer.  The “F” was for sale for $3,900 and the “I” was for sale for $1,200. 

“Wow, that’s quite a difference,” said Kelsey. 

Siegel says make sure you know everything about each before making up your mind, and then if you still prefer the cheaper one, great. 

“If you don’t examine each of the factors, you’re not getting the whole story.  The answer may be, ‘Yeah, that’s interesting but I’ll save the money,’” Siegel said.

If Haven had bought on this day, using nothing but her two eyes, she definitely would have saved money.  

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(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110602/NY12760LOGO)

“Ireland continues to be a huge draw for travelers from around the world, and particularly for North American vacationers, who recently gave Ireland its highest rating in 12 years for value for the money,” said CIE Tours International President Brian W. Stack.

Renowned for its breathtaking natural landscapes, rich history, and warm, friendly people, there is simply no place quite like Ireland. From the spectacular Northern Lights currently illuminating Donegal to the opening this spring of the fascinating new Titanic Belfast Museum, Ireland’s appeal has never been more compelling.

With 80 years of experience, CIE Tours showcases the absolute best aspects of each destination it serves. Moreover, with over 20 different Ireland itineraries of varying lengths and price options, CIE Tours’ 5- to 14-day vacation packages ensure that travelers’ valuable vacation dollars are put to optimal use.

According to Mr. Stack, “We are proud of CIE Tours’ reputation as the #1 tour operator to Ireland, delivering the most exciting and affordable tour programs. We continuously fine-tune our itineraries in order to meet the widest possible range of travel tastes, lifestyles and interests.” 

With offerings to suit every price point and excellent booking incentives for 2012, CIE Tours’ top three Ireland itineraries provide unique and memorable travel opportunities for vacationers of all ages. Top selling packages (to name but a few) include the following:

Irish Gold Program – An 8-day coach tour featuring deluxe and first class hotels in Dublin, Galway, Killarney and Waterford. Includes gourmet dinners, traditional shows, a Killarney Fjord catamaran cruise, visits to the Cliffs of Mother, Ring of Kerry, Clonmacnoise Monastic Site, and much more. Land-only rates begin at $1,398 per person.
Original Irish Pub & Folk Tour – An 8-day coach tour featuring a brilliant selection of first class hotels in Dublin, Kilkenny, Killarney and Westport, with exceptional experiences including dinner in the famed 12th Century Brazen Head Pub; kissing the Blarney Stone; visits and tastings at the Guinness Storehouse; a pub dinner at the legendary Kate Kearney’s; sheepdog trials on the Ring of Kerry; and outstanding pub experiences along the way, featuring live music. Especially attractive to young, active travelers, land-only rates for the Irish Pub & Folk Tour begin at $1,248 per person.
Irish Heritage and Dromoland Castle Tour – An 8-day coach tour featuring deluxe hotels throughout Bunratty, Killarney, Waterford, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, and Dromoland Castle Hotel in Newmarket-on-Fergus, consistently named among the world’s most stunning five-star castle properties. Travelers enjoy a host of pampering experiences, including a banquet at Bunratty Castle, a pub dinner and show at the Merry Ploughboy, visits to the fabled Cliffs of Moher, the Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens, and a trip to the Foynes Flying Boat Museum, where Irish coffee was born in the 1930s. The package also includes a memorable, one-of-a-kind dining experience at Dromoland Castle. Land-only rates begin at $1,398 per person.

For itinerary details or to reserve a tour, call CIE Tours International at 1-800-243-8687 or visit www.cietours.com.

About CIE Tours International

For 80 years, CIE Tours International has set the standard for fully escorted motorcoach tours of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. This leading tour operator offers a broad selection of attractively priced itineraries of varying lengths, to ensure unsurpassed vacation experiences with maximum value for every budget. All CIE Tours travel itineraries are protected by the company’s $550+ Advantage, which guarantees that travelers are never charged for special features considered optional extras with other tour companies. For additional information, please contact 1-800-243-8687 or visit www.cietours.com.

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NFL Hall of FameWikimedia Commons

Charles Haley

Charles Haley has done almost everything you could want to do in an NFL career. He won five Super Bowl titles, splitting time between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. No player in the history of the NFL has ever won five Super Bowl rings and yet Haley still is not in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Haley played in five Pro Bowls, earned two All-Pro honors and played in seven NFC Championship games over his career. If you want to know how important Haley was, his San Francisco 49ers were the most dominant team of the ’80s but when they sent him to Dallas, the Cowboys exploded and won three Super Bowls in four seasons. Was this all because of Haley? Of course it wasn’t but it is more than just coincidence.

Haley finished his career with 100.5 sacks, 485 tackles, eight fumble recoveries and two interceptions over his eight year career.

Bill Parcells

The Big Tuna will get into the NFL Hall of Fame. It’s just a question of when. This year’s only skill player, Curtis Martin, said during the selection show that he would not have made it to the level he did if not for Parcells, when he coached the New York Jets.

Parcells coached the New York Giants to Super Bowl victories in 1987 and 1991 and also lost the 1997 Super Bowl while coaching the New England Patriots. His career record, including postseason appearances, is 183-138-1.

Parcells final stop as a head coach was with the Dallas Cowboys. The team had suffered three straight 5-11 finishes when he came in. In his first year, he led Dallas to a 10-6 record and became the first NFL head coach to lead four different teams to the playoffs.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys’ fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys’ related news, good or bad

Source: Pro Football Hall of Fame

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

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Carter is one of the greatest receivers of all time, and he still missed out on the Hall of Fame.

His stats are great, his accolades are good and he was one of the best receivers of his generation.

When you look at Cris Carter’s stats, it’s a little surprising how good he actually was.

He caught 1,101 passes in his career, which puts him at fourth all time. When he retired, he was second on the list, which is even more impressive, considering the new rules that facilitate passing/receiving records.

Carter’s 130 career receiving touchdowns puts him at fourth on the all-time list. In the history of the NFL, there are only three other players who could find the end zone through the air more often.

That’s not too shabby.

In addition, Carter had 13,899 receiving yards, putting him at eighth on the all-time list. He is dropping on that list as well, but that doesn’t take away from his eight straight 1,000-yard seasons.

He was an incredible player, and his numbers, as well as his accolades, prove that.

Carter made eight straight Pro Bowls. Therefore, he was one of the best receivers in the NFC for eight straight years.

That’s pretty incredible.

Should Chris Carter be a Hall of Famer?

Should Chris Carter be a Hall of Famer?

Of course!

No, he’s completely overrated.

Total votes: 92

Finally, Carter was one of the best receivers of his generation. He was great for a long period of time, and somehow, that seems to be forgotten.

He was a great receiver, and he was a focal point on the second-best offense of all time. Carter could do some great things, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Unfortunately, it has been forgotten.

That’s just a shame.

The Hall of Fame is supposed to be an honor to all great football players. Right now, a great player has been snubbed once again.

At some point, this wrong needs to be righted.

Carter is one of the best receivers of all time, and he continues to be on the outside of the Hall, looking in, which is completely unfair.

Carter is more than deserving to be nominated. Until he is, the Hall of Fame will continue to be a disappointment.

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The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said she was “disgusted” by the vote, which came a day after activists say Syrian forces bombarded the city of Homs, killing more than people in the worst night of bloodshed of the 11-month uprising.

“Any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands,” ambassador Susan Rice said after the Russian-Chinese veto.

All 13 other members of the Security Council voted to back the resolution, which would have “fully supported” an Arab League plan under which Assad should cede powers to a deputy, withdraw troops from towns and begin a transition to democracy.

Russia said the resolution was biased and would promote “regime change.” Syria is Moscow’s rare ally in the Middle East, home to a Russian naval base and a customer for its arms.

The Syrian National Council, which represents major opposition groups, said it holds Moscow and Beijing “responsible for the escalating acts of killing and genocide; it considers this an irresponsible step that is tantamount to a license to kill with impunity.”

The Security Council’s sole Arab member, Morocco, voiced “great regret and disappointment” at the veto. Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki and said the Arabs had no intention of abandoning their plan.

Syrian U.N. envoy Bashar Ja’afari criticized the resolution and its sponsors, which included Saudi Arabia and seven other Arab states, saying nations “that prevent women from attending a soccer match” had no right to preach democracy to Syria.

He also denied that Syrian forces killed hundreds of civilians in Homs, saying that “no sensible person” would launch such an attack the night before the Security Council was set to discuss his country.

In Syria on Sunday state television showed live footage of Assad praying with Sunni Muslim clerics and listening to the recitation of the Koran in a Damascus mosque to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad.

Much of the opposition to Assad is rooted in the Sunni majority, some of whose members resent the wide influence of members of Assad’s Alawite sect.

Residents of Homs’s battered Baba Amro district, speaking by telephone, denounced the Russian-Chinese veto, some chanting, “Death, rather than disgrace.”

One resident who identified himself as Sufyan said: “Now we will show Assad. We’re coming, Damascus. Starting today we will show Assad what an armed gang is.” Assad has called his opponents “armed gangs” and “terrorists” steered from abroad.

Russia’s U.N. envoy, Vitaly Churkin, accused the resolution’s backers of “calling for regime change, pushing the opposition towards power and not stopping their provocations and feeding armed struggle.”

“Some influential members of the international community, unfortunately including those sitting around this table, from the very beginning of the Syrian process have been undermining the opportunity for a political settlement,” he said. Moscow is sending Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Damascus on Tuesday.

BOMBARDMENT

If activists’ accounts are accurate, the bombardment of Homs on Friday night was one of the bloodiest episodes of the Arab Spring uprisings sweeping the region and the deadliest incident in the Syrian conflict.

Syrian activist groups gave varying tolls above 200 killed, saying tanks and artillery blasted the Khalidiya neighborhood of Homs, a restive city that has become a heartland of resistance to Assad’s rule.

Rami Abdullrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said as of late on Saturday he had a list of 128 names of people confirmed killed, accounting for about half the total.

Damascus denies firing on houses and says images of dead bodies on the Internet were staged. Western governments say they believe the activists.

“Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children, in Homs through shelling and other indiscriminate violence, and Syrian forces continue to prevent hundreds of injured civilians from seeking medical help,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement before the U.N. Security Council vote.

“Any government that brutalizes and massacres its people does not deserve to govern,” Obama said.

France called the Homs killings a “massacre” and a “crime against humanity.” Tunisia ejected the Syrian ambassador and announced it would withdraw recognition of Assad’s government. Crowds of Syrian activists stormed embassies in London, Cairo, Berlin and Kuwait.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who held what U.S. officials described as “a very vigorous discussion” with Russia’s Lavrov ahead of the U.N. vote, said it had not been possible to work constructively with Moscow.

“I thought that there might be some ways to bridge, even at this last moment, a few of the concerns that the Russians had. I offered to work in a constructive manner to do so. That has not been possible,” she told reporters at a Munich conference.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Paris would consult with Arab and European countries to create a “Friends of the Syrian People Group” that would marshal international support to implement the Arab League plan the crisis.

“France is not giving up,” Sarkozy said in a statement.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Logan, Mariam Karouny and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Arshad Mohammed and Stephen Brown in Munich, Ahmed el-Shimy in Cairo, Caren Bohan and Katharine Jackson in Washington, Steve Gutterman in Moscow and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Giles Elgood.)

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The star running back with the Patriots and Jets for 11 seasons was one of six players elected Saturday to the shrine. Martin once disliked playing the game, but used it to escape a neighborhood where his grandmother was murdered.

“When I get awarded something like the Hall of Fame, it’s almost foreign to me,” said Martin, the NFL’s No. 4 career rusher. “This wasn’t something I planned on doing. Football is something I did so I didn’t end up jailed or dead.

“If you make up your mind to just do the right thing no matter what … and you stick to it, which I did, this is how things can turn around. I feel as if my life turned around from what it used to be, and I think anyone has a chance.”

Martin and four linemen were elected to the hall, along with one senior committee choice. He is joined by Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, Dermontti Dawson, and senior selection Jack Butler.

Jerome Bettis, Cris Carter and Bill Parcells were among the finalists who didn’t make it.

“I’m not even close to this position, I actually don’t think I’d play more than four or five years without Bill Parcells,” Martin said, indicating he will have his former coach present him for induction on Aug. 4 in Canton, Ohio.

A panel of 44 media members voted.

Martin made it for his consistency and durability, rushing for 14,101 and 90 touchdowns. He rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first 10 seasons, the first three with New England and the others with the Jets. The 1995 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Martin won the NFL rushing title in 2004 with 1,697 yards.

Doleman and Kennedy were sackmasters from the defensive line, Doleman at end and Kennedy at tackle.

Doleman had 150 1/2 sacks in his 15 seasons, mostly with Minnesota, and was one of the prototype agile yet powerful pass rushers who dominate the game today. He made the Pro Bowl eight times and was fourth on the sacks list when he retired.

“I am totally blown away by this and humbled by it,” Doleman said, adding his son, Evan, would present him for induction. “When they call your name, you’re absolutely numb.”

Kennedy was a force inside, both as a run stopper and in threatening quarterbacks. The 1992 Defensive Player of the Year made eight Pro Bowls, had 58 sacks — an unusually high total for a tackle — and spent his entire 11-season career with Seattle.

He waited by his phone to hear whether he’d made it after a six-year wait, and was happy he had the television on when the announcement was made.

“I thought I was supposed to get a call. I didn’t get a call. I had to watch it on TV,” Kennedy said.

“I am very excited right now.”

Roaf spent enough time in his 13 seasons with New Orleans and Kansas City blocking the likes of Doleman and Kennedy. He played one season at right tackle, then the rest of his career on the left side, making 11 Pro Bowls. He made the All-Decade team for the 1990s.

“He possessed exceptional physical talent and a great work ethic,” said Jim Mora, who coached in New Orleans for 11 seasons. “He was blessed with high quality character and a team-oriented attitude. He was a team leader, always positive, upbeat, and a fun guy to coach and have on the team. Without question Willie was one of my best and favorite players ever.”

Dawson made seven Pro Bowls as the Steelers’ center, that rare snapper who also could block defensive players one on one. He replaced a Hall of Famer, Mike Webster, and started for Pittsburgh for most of his 13 pro seasons.

“You never know what your career is going to turn out to be,” Dawson said. “I knew I had big shoes to fill ’cause it was my first year playing center. I never would have thought I would be in this position after my career.”

“It is a great honor and because of being selected today, my phone has blown up.”

Butler also played for the Steelers as a cornerback from 1951-59, picking off 52 passes, at the time second most in NFL history. But he was best known for his tackling skills.

“They told me I was good. I didn’t know I was good,” Butler said. “I never, ever, ever thought I would be here.”

Guard Will Shields didn’t get in — the only first-year eligible player to make the 15-man finals. Shields started all but one of the 224 games in his 14 seasons in Kansas City.

Bettis also fell short. He was the 1993 Offensive Rookie of the Year with the Rams who retired in 2006 after winning his only Super Bowl with the Steelers. He is the NFL’s No. 5 career rusher.

Parcells coached the Giants to Super Bowl titles in the 1987 and 1991 games and also lost the 1997 Super Bowl with New England. He coached the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys, too.

Carter is the No. 4 career receiver with 1,101 in 16 seasons with three teams.

Others not voted in were receivers Tim Brown and Andre Reed, defensive end/linebackers Kevin Greene and Charles Haley, defensive back Aeneas Williams, and former 49ers owner Ed DeBartolo Jr.

The other senior finalist, guard Dick Stanfel, was not chosen, either.

View full post on nfl hall of fame 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

Last updated at 1:15 PM on 4th February 2012

England v Pakistan: Essentials

England: Andrew Strauss (c), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (w), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.

1st innings: 141

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (w), Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Aizaz Cheema.

1st innings: 99

Umpires: Simon Taufel and Steve Davis

Click here for a full scorecard

STUMPS: PAKISTAN ARE 222-2 AND LEAD ENGLAND BY 180 SECOND-INNINGS RUNS

82nd over: Pakistan 222-2 (Ali 75, Khan 115)

There’s nothing Stuart Broad can do in the last over of the day. And that is stumps.

81st over: Pakistan 218-2 (Ali 72, Khan 114)

More in hope than any belief something will happen, jimmy Anderson is roped in for one over before the close of play. Nowt ding though as Anderosn sends a series of six wide of off stump. Last over of the day on the way.

NEW BALL TAKEN

80th over: Pakistan 216-2 (Ali 71, Khan 113)

New ball is available after this over. fancy they will only get one… maybe two overs out of it, depends how quickly they can get the new cherry on. England face more woe as they watch a leg-sider race fine for four byes. Ouch.

79th over: Pakistan 209-2 (Ali 70, Khan 112)

Something interesting almost just happened. Swann appeals positively for an lbw decision. They ask for a review but it was sailing over after meeting all the other criteria. Just one from the over as Ali punches to mid-on.

78th over: Pakistan 209-2 (Ali 70, Khan 111)

Two more added, two nondescript singles to boot. Sorry, that’s all I have to report.

77th over: Pakistan 207-2 (Ali 69, Khan 110)

All rather sedate now as we enter the final dregs of the day. Swann takes his time with the over, Ali takes a break from a drink mid-over. No hurry whatsoever. Think both teams will be happy to get back in the hutch and plan for tomorrow’s action.

Plenty to ponder: Strauss’ side have laboured in the field on day two

76th over: Pakistan 205-2 (Ali 68, Khan 109)

Credit to Matt Prior who’s bouncing around and chirping away like Pakistan are eight down with 40 runs on the board. And England haven’t lost their sense of humour, oh no. Khan fails to offer a shot to a leg-side delivery, no run is taken but Morgan is urged to scamper after it. With his back to play he’s implored ‘c’mon, c’mon, they’re running’. He didn’t look best please when he turned round to see they hadn’t moved.

75th over: Pakistan 204-2 (Ali 68, Khan 108)

England at a go-slow here. After the speed of the afternoon session, England are taking an age between overs, talking through tactics and what have you. Or maybe they’re discussing what they’ll do with their two extra days off.

74th over: Pakistan 201-2 (Ali 67, Khan 106)

First-day predictions of this being a decent surface are coming true. Monty gets a bit of bounce and turn, but the Pakistan pair are seeing it like a beachball now. It is going to take a mistake, rather than a moment of quality to break this partnership.

73rd over: Pakistan 200-2 (Ali 67, Khan 105)

Believe it or not, the last wicket to fall – that of Mohammad Hafeez was 63 overs ago. I know cricket is a game of patience, but this series has been anything but. There’s been no nip and tuck, just smash grab and go. England haven’t read the script, here. Four singles from the over… milky, milky.

72nd over: Pakistan 196-2 (Ali 65, Khan 103)

There it is! Khan leans forward and clips a fullish delivery off his ankles for the run which takes him to his 100. Helmet off, half way down the track, he punches the air and acknowledges the balcony where his Pakistan team-mates are ensconced. A match-winning innings? Looks very much like it at the moment.

Ton up: Khan acknowledges the crowd and his team-mates after reaching his century

71st over: Pakistan 192-2 (Ali 65, Khan 99)

Three more for Khan who moves to within a single of reaching his century. 

70th over: Pakistan 189-2 (Ali 65, Khan 96)

Grief. Two long hops from Monty get the treatment from Younis Khan. Both go through midwicket area, neither had any chance of being cut out. Khan into the nervy 90s and one shot away from becoming the first player to reach three figures in this series. Incredible, really. England still nowhere near making a breakthrough.

69th over: Pakistan 180-2 (Ali 65, Khan 87)

Yeeeeeeees, Jim! Anderson receives a huge bellow of support from the slip cordon as his first delivery of a new spell slides on a good length past the off stump. one of those areas that can tempt the wayward drive. Big hour on the way for England. They need to take three or four wickets of they are to make this game competitive. can anyone be certain their batsman can chase 200+? Maiden over.

68th over: Pakistan 180-2 (Ali 65, Khan 87)

‘A few sarcastic email have dropped’ chirps Nasser. ‘Why don’t Pakistan declare now. they’ve got enough.’ I did that gag about 20 overs ago. Getting painful now for England. They were desperate for a wicket before tea. Now its critical. Khan heaves another four over the leg side, the partnership is now past the 150 mark. Drinks break…

67th over: Pakistan 170-2 (Ali 62, Khan 80)

Punishment. Swann dips one in short, Khan’s eyes light up as he dances down the track and heaves over midwicket for SIX runs.

Plan of action: Swann and Strauss talk tactics

66th over: Pakistan 163-2 (Ali 62, Khan 73)

So DRS has completely changed the game of cricket forever, has it? This Pakistan second innings would suggest not. Sir beef has tweeted his thoughts: ‘You see DRS is not ruining the game if you use your bat & head oh and you can also leave the crease… #battinglesson’ Six from the over, three doubles, all to Azhar Ali.

65th over: Pakistan 157-2 (Ali 56, Khan 73)

Shot! Khan dazzles with a perfectly-timed reverse-sweep. Right off the meat of the bat it zooms to the rope in the blink of an eye. He then tries to repeat the feat, but toe-ends it and it is reduced to just the two runs.

64th over: Pakistan 151-2 (Ali 56, Khan 67)

150 comes up for Pakistan and the lead is now 109 runs. Azhar Ali looks like he has a touch of cramp and so we have an unscheduled interlude while he gets some treatment and everyone else takes an early drink.

63rd over: Pakistan 148-2 (Ali 54, Khan 66)

The over rate has been excellent today. There are only 13 remaining in the day after this one which means we will have a time finish rather than on the overs. This one will be wrapped up by 1pm (GMT). Ali takes a big step down the track and heaves Swann over mid-on/midwicket for four runs.

62nd over: Pakistan 143-2 (Ali 50, Khan 65)

Dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. Maiden for Monty Python.

61st over: Pakistan 143-2 (Ali 50, Khan 65)

Maiden over for Swanny. And it is about that time that I ask (in desperation) for your input on the events today. I need cheering up as I have friends coming round tonight for dinner. I’m doing a chilli (classy guy, me). So, emails and Twitter, please.

60th over: Pakistan 143-2 (Ali 50, Khan 65)

‘Where’s the wicket going to come from?’ the question offered to Nasser Hussain is replied rather dubiously. On seeing Khan sitting deep in his crease, Nasser says: ‘By someone playing French cricket, like that’. Are you allowed to say things like that?

59th over: Pakistan 142-2 (Ali 50, Khan 64)

A series of dots from Graeme Swann, that’s a maiden over.

58th over: Pakistan 142-2 (Ali 50, Khan 64)

The 50 comes up for Azhar Ali (takes him 165 deliveries, mind)  – and the single he takes via midwicket also takes Pakistan’s lead to 100 runs. A huge psychological barrier is passed and the hosts have lost only two wickets.

Easy does it: The Pakistan pair have been untroubled in the evening session

57th over: Pakistan 141-2 (Ali 49, Khan 64)

Panesar continues, but if my eyes aren’t deceiving me, this pitch is actually improving as the day progresses. I’ll explain: pitches tend to deteriorate as a Test goes on, footholes develop and cracks appear, giving the spinner more to play on. But not this pitch, it’s as flat as a pancake now.

56th over: Pakistan 139-2 (Ali 48, Khan 63)

The Pakistan fans are all on their feet at the moment. Granted, they aren’t numbered in their thousands, but there’s more than enough to make a racket which says: ‘Pakistan are winning this match.’ There’s one chap with a guitar which is getting a fair old thrashing. Ali snaffles two towards mid-on.

55th over: Pakistan 137-2 (Ali 46, Khan 63)

Panesar starts around and then moves over the wicket to Younis Khan who pushes towards cover where Trott is positioned to tidy up. Just the two runs.

54th over: Pakistan 135-2 (Ali 46, Khan 61)

Broad looks anguished as Khan just jabs his bat down to swat away a delivery which would have been absolutely plumb was it not for the late introduction of bat. As it was, Khan played it well for a single. Ali has been the passive partner for most of this partnership, but he plays a beautiful punch back down the ground for four.

53rd over: Pakistan 130-2 (Ali 42, Khan 60)

England steamed through 36 overs in the afternoon session. No wonder I’m feeling so fatigued at this stage. Officially there are only 24 further overs in the day, but I fancy England can squeeze in a few more than that. Monty’s roped into the action, Ali angles his bat backward of square for a couple more. And I think we’ve already found the rhythm for this session.

Down and out? This Test match is slowly slipping from England’s grasp

52nd over: Pakistan 126-2 (Ali 38, Khan 60)

England need something to happen here and happen soon. Granted there is bundles of time left in this Test, but you have to think a score above 160-170 will be enough. If Pakistan take it past 200 England might as well pack up and prepare for the one-dayers. Stuart Broad is handed the cherry for this post-tea spell, Khan picks up where he left off with a straight push back down the ground for two. And there’s a [positive punch through midwicket for four runs. Worrying signs for England.

TEA: PAKISTAN ARE 120-2 IN THEIR SECOND INNINGS AND LEAD ENGLAND LEAD BY 78 RUNS

Sportsmail’s Sam Peters in Dubai writes: England endured easily their worst session of the third Test as Younis Khan and Azhar Ali put on an unbeaten 92 run stand to put Pakistan firmly in control.

Pakistan, already 2-0 up in the three Test series, reached tea on day two of this extraordinary Test match on 120-2, a second innings lead of 78 runs.

Younis and Azhar were rarely troubled as the demons that had appeared to be in the pitch in the first four sessions completely vanished as the Pakistani pair employed canny footwork and soft hands to put their side in charge.

After failing miserably to chase down 145 in the second Test, England need a third session miracle to avoid a probable series whitewash.

51st over: Pakistan 120-2 (Ali 38, Khan 54)

Trott’s spell lasts two overs, Monty comes back, two from the over and that is tea.

50th over: Pakistan 118-2 (Ali 37, Khan 53)

Last couple of overs now before the tea break. Incredibly, it look like this session will pass without any wickets falling. Incredible scenes. Pakistan milk the runs, three in total as Ali adds to his total for the first time in an age.

49th over: Pakistan 115-2 (Ali 34, Khan 53)

Khan guides a length ball, well wide of off stump down toward the vacant third man area to bring up his half century. he waves tot he balcony and celebrates like a man who has just bagged a very special 50 runs. Could be a match-winning innings.

Striking out: Pakistan have piled on the runs in the afternoon session

48th over: Pakistan 108-2 (Ali 33, Khan 47)

Boom! Khan gives Swann the treatment now with a slog/heave over square leg for four more. I don’t want to make that shot sound industrial – as it wasn’t – just he made it look a touch unorthodox.

47th over: Pakistan 104-2 (Ali 33, Khan 43)

Bowling change: Jonathan Trott is the go-to guy, hoping (beyond hope) his medium-paced wobblers can snaffle a rare wicket. But its quite the opposite: he drops in a juicy wide half-volley which is spannered square for four runs, to take Pakistan past the century mark.

46th over: Pakistan 97-2 (Ali 32, Khan 37)

This is all so comfortable for Pakistan at the moment. This has the makings of a session which wins the series and completes the whitewash. Let’s not forget, there are still three and a half days to go.

45th over: Pakistan 96-2 (Ali 32, Khan 36)

These runs starting to hurt England now. Khan clips a couple to midwicket and there’s one more and there’s a single towards third man. Do I need to say England need a breakthrough before tea? Thought not. 

44th over: Pakistan 93-2 (Ali 32, Khan 33)

Bowling change: Graeme Swann returns. But not only is there no breakthrough, the spinner is heaved backward of square for four runs which takes Pakistan’s lead to 51 runs. Chastening times these for England.

In a spin: England have struggled for wickets in the afternoon session

43rd over: Pakistan 88-2 (Ali 32, Khan 28)

Dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. That’s a maiden over for Jimmy.

42nd over: Pakistan 88-2 (Ali 32, Khan 28)

Giles Clarke is in the stands and, if I’m not mistaken, he’s wearing an early 1990s TopMan suit. You know the one: silver, shiny, three button number. rascal gear, I think it’s called. Boom crash, pow!the monotony of singles comes to an end as Ali times one through midwicket for three. Six from the over in total. What scenes!

41st over: Pakistan 82-2 (Ali 27, Khan 26)

More dots and another single. Listen, I’m sorry about the monotony of this. I’m blaming a rather toothless England display. A punishing session so far for the team chasing pride in the series.

40th over: Pakistan 81-2 (Ali 27, Khan 26)

Another single for Khan. Any danger of letting Ali have a go, lad?

39th over: Pakistan 80-2 (Ali 27, Khan 25)

Matt Prior chunters away behind the stumps. Something along the lines of the old ‘one wicket will bring two lines’. My favourite is catches win matches. Not sure it is applicable in this scenario, however. Khan takes the solitary single from a third consecutive over.

38th over: Pakistan 79-2 (Ali 27, Khan 24)

Howizaaaat? Panesar looks hopeful after Khan fails to connect on the sweep and the ball hits his back leg. Looks like it struck him outside the line so Strauss decides against the review.

37th over: Pakistan 78-2 (Ali 27, Khan 23)

The key of this partnership is the rotation of the strike says a bright spark in the Sky commentary box. it’s true, though. Pakistan are making England do the work by taking two or three singles an over which means the bowlers and fielders are constantly changing mindset. Khan rolls his wrists to direct a single via square leg.

36th over: Pakistan 77-2 (Ali 27, Khan 22)

We’re back after the brief break for drinks. England huddle up in the middle and discuss how they want the next hour up to the tea break to go. It probably went along the lines of: ‘take some bloody wickets’. Panesar begins the attack, a single for each.

35th over: Pakistan 75-2 (Ali 26, Khan 21)

Hallelujah! Bowling change! Graeme Swan is hooked for James Anderson. Ali adds one, clipping off his pads square to take Pakistan’s lead to 33 and the partnership is 47 precious runs.

34th over: Pakistan 74-2 (Ali 25, Khan 21)

My word, I nearly fell off my chair just then. Monty Panesar gets the ball to beat the outside edge… I repeat, etc, etc. I might have to take a jog down to Dubai and let Andrew Strauss know he needs to change the bowling up as this is going down a cul-de-sac for a team chasing this Test.

33rd over: Pakistan 73-2 (Ali 24, Khan 21)

I’m getting tires of typing ‘two more runs to Pakistan’. But that’s all that’s happening at the moment. Pakistan are milking the runs, England going through the motions.

Close! Cook just fails to stop Khan’s clip onto the leg side

32nd over: Pakistan 71-2 (Ali 23, Khan 20)

This little vignette is becoming the Test match we thought it would be. Nowt from the pitch, batsmen looking at ease in the crease. Feels like these two cold bat all day now. And they probably will. Two more singles add to the total, Strauss needs to make his move.

31st over: Pakistan 69-2 (Ali 22, Khan 19)

Two more goes in the runs against column for Swann. Pakistan’s lead is now 29… the declaration can’t be far off.

30th over: Pakistan 67-2 (Ali 21, Khan 18)

Earlier in the piece I questioned why Friday and Saturday are referred to as ‘holidays’ in Dubai, rather than the ‘weekend’. Now I appreciate cultural differences mean people do things differently, but I didn’t know exactly. But wait, an email has flooded in. ‘Today is a holiday in the UAE as we normally work a six day week Saturday to Thursday as today is the Prophets Birthday all companies have a holiday, hope that helps.’ Yes it does John Highfield, yes it does.

29th over: Pakistan 67-2 (Ali 21, Khan 18)

Nope, nothing going on for England and it has gone noticeably quieter in the field. Strauss needs to earn his corn here. Two from the over, a couple of singles.

28th over: Pakistan 65-2 (Ali 21, Khan 17)

Sir Beef would like to see more variation from Panesar who is arrowing them in at a pace a medium/fast wouldn’t be too disappointed with. ‘Variation is all I want to see, just a bit’, is the call from IT Botham. Maiden.

All action: Panesar’s fielding is mush improved from his early days in the England team

27th over: Pakistan 65-2 (Ali 20, Khan 17)

Three more runs for Pakistan. I’d tell you more, but it’s the most I can do to stay up with the cricket at the moment what with Swann and Panesar screaming through their overs at a fair old lick.

26th over: Pakistan 62-2 (Ali 17, Khan 17)

A themeless spell at the moment as neither England are creating chances or Pakistan scoring big runs. Something of an impasse as the two teams wait for something big to happen. England need to force the issue unless the game moves away from them.

25th over: Pakistan 60-2 (Ali 16, Khan 16)

Plenty of flight, plenty of guile, but not much turn or bounce for Swann who isn’t his usual exuberant self out there at the moment. One from the over, a single and we move on.

24th over: Pakistan 59-2 (Ali 16, Khan 15)

Short extra cover comes in for Panesar to Ali. Not much going on at the moment for England, they need a spark of creativity fro somewhere. One from the over: Khan nurdles onto the off side.

23rd over: Pakistan 58-2 (Ali 16, Khan 14)

Now, my grasp of urdu isn’t great, but I’m pretty sure the Pakistan fans have adopted the West Bromwich chant of ‘Boing, Boing, Baggies, Baggies’. I could be wrong. Either way, the Baggies fans are on their feet to cheer Ali’s fine cut backward of point for four more runs. The partnership is a mammoth 30 runs and the lead is 12 – they could probably declare?

Flying the flag: Forge Valley cricket club are in attendance

22nd over: Pakistan 53-2 (Ali 12, Khan 13)

Panesar concedes his first runs of the session and they’re big runs. Ali takes a big stride down the track and thumps high up and over wide long-off for SIX of the best.

21st over: Pakistan 47-2 (Ali 6, Khan 13)

What’s this? Some atmosphere! Yep, genuine levels of atmosphere fill the ground now as the Pakistan contingent swells and finds their voices i the stands of this enormo-bowl of a stadium. Bowling change: Graeme Swann comes in for only his second over of the Test match – Khan glides a couple off his hips for four runs. And Pakistan now lead.

20th over: Pakistan 41-2 (Ali 5, Khan

Panesar continues to zoom them in. Arrowed darts, little or no flight and that is another maiden.

19th over: Pakistan 41-2 (Ali 5, Khan

Much confusion over stickers on the sides of Younis Khan’s bat. Will that affect HotSpot? Is there something afoot? Probably not, the HotSpot replays would still show up – we’re promised. Shot! Khan plays the best stroke of the innings so far: a delightful punch back down the ground on the off side for four runs. there’s three more via midwicket which Cook chases down and stops just shy of the rope. Good work, but the England opener might have hurt his knee in the dive to halt the ball, there.

18th over: Pakistan 31-2 (Ali 2, Khan 1)

Another ridiculously fast over. Another maiden for Panesar who has figures of 6-3-13-1. Tidy.

One of those days: England have failed to build on their early gains

17th over: Pakistan 31-2 (Ali 2, Khan 1)

Howizaaaaaat? Stuart Broad appeals wildly (how else?) for an lbw decision. Not given on field and the consensus from the slip cordon  was that there was an inside edge before the pad. however HotSpot shows nothing and the ball was hitting leg. BUT only by a whisker, would have stayed with the umpire. Just one from the over – a scampered single.

16th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1, Khan 1)

Hello. Here we go then with the afternoon session. Like you I’m expecting at least half a dozen wickets and a few runs. You know, the usual. Monty’s handed the ball to dart six in after the break, bowling quick and straight. Maiden.

LUNCH: PAKISTAN ARE 30-2 IN THEIR SECOND INNINGS AND TRAIL ENGLAND BY 12

Sportsmail’s Sam Peters in Dubai writes: England’s hopes of avoiding a shock series whitewash were hanging in the balance at lunch on day two of the third Test.

Wickets continued to tumble with astonishing regularity, as Andrew Strauss men were only able to muster a 42 run first innings lead after resuming on 104/6 in reply to Pakistan’s 99 all out.

Strauss top scored with 56 but England lost four wickets for 37 runs after nightwatchman James Anderson fell in the first over of the day.

Abdur Rehman finished with 5-40 before Pakistan reached 30/2 at the interval to trail by just 11.

Anderson and Monty Panesar both took wickets but England need a strong showing after the break to avoid chasing yet another tricky total.

15th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1, Khan 1)

Sir Beef has taken to Twitter to pass his judgement on the DRS debate: ‘Great entertaining cricket changing the game in this part of the world for the better, ball doesn’t bounce over wkts here as in uk & Aus !!’ Stuart Broad ends the session with a maiden.

14th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1, Khan 1)

Hang on, what happened there? I reach over to pour a coffee from my flask – the canteen doesn’t open until 8am, you see – look back and Monty has completed his over. Am i that slow at pouring hot beverages? Still, you didn’t miss too much, that was another maiden.

Full Monty: Panesar celebrates his wicket

13th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1, Khan 1)

Bowling change: Stuart Broad replaces Anderson for a couple of overs before lunch. Maiden over.

12th over: Pakistan 30-2 (Ali 1, Khan 1)

Last few overs before lunch now. Fancy we’ll squeeze in another three before the break. Just a couple from Monty’s over, but it should have been more: Ali fails to dispatch a juicy half-volley. Maybe time for Swann to turn his arm over before its time for cucumber sandwiches and a cup o’rosy?

11th over: Pakistan 28-2 (Ali 0, Khan 0)

Anderson continues: dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. That’s a maiden.

10th over: Pakistan 28-2 (Ali 0)

Busy over from Monty. Matt prior thinks he’s caught one behind, another very nearly scoots through the gate and than Hafeez takes a big step down the pitch and fires Panesar back over long-on for SIX! He then hangs back in his crease and cuts past pint for another four. Oh and there was a wicket in there, too. Cripes!

WICKET! Mohammad Hafeez lbw b Panesar 21

The opener goes, attempting to sweep, the ball stays low and bounces through, hitting his back leg. No review asked for.

Bumper crowd: The fans (both of them) enjoy the action on day two in Dubai

9th over: Pakistan 18-1 (Hafeez 10, Ali 0)

Any thoughts on the day’s action thus far? You can send ‘em in this direction: TWITTER or EMAIL

8th over: Pakistan 17-1 (Hafeez 9, Ali 0)

Bowling change: time for a it of spin from Monty Panesar. Matt Prior urges him to ‘fire them in’. Which he duly does. Just a single from the over.

7th over: Pakistan 16-1 (Hafeez 9)

Shot! Umar fair hammers a short and wide one past point for four runs… but then loses his partner to a beauty from Anderson. The game’s afoot!

WICKET! Taufeeq Umar c Strauss b Anderson 6

A dramatic series of events leads to England’s early breakthrough. Anderson believes he has a big shout for lbw/caught behind, but its given as a no ball as he’s stepped outside the return crease. He follows that up with a peach: sliding across the left-hander who edges to first slip.

6th over: Pakistan 11-0 (Hafeez 9, Umar 2)

Howizaaaaat!? Broad races away – as he does – cocking his head over his shoulder in anticipation of the umpire raising his finger. But there’s nowt doing. Replays show it was very high – England call it right to not bother with the review. Hafeez ends the over with a dashing drive through cover point. No point running for that one, it arrived at the fence in the blink of an eye. Four runs.

All smiles: Anderson celebrates making the early breakthrough of Umar’s wicket

5th over: Pakistan 7-0 (Hafeez 5, Umar 2)

The continuing enjoyment every time Monty fields without any mishaps remains one of the more endearing aspects of watching Panesar back in the side. Just a couple of singles from the over and no wickets, I repeat NO WICKETS!

4th over: Pakistan 5-0 (Hafeez 4, Umar 1)

Hallelujah! A run for Pakistan and Umar successfully negotiates avoiding a pair with a clip of his hips for a single. Hafeez moves off the mark after Broad slides another down the leg side, the ball is guided to the fine leg boundary for four.

3rd over: Pakistan 0-0 (Hafeez 0, Umar 0)

The ICC Twitter boffins have been busy at work and come up with this gem: ‘The last time England bowled out its opposition for less than 100 in either innings and lost was at Johannesburg in 1906.’ Still no runs, lead remains 42. England need to take wickets before parity is reached to ensure this game remains finely poised.

2nd over: Pakistan 0-0 (Hafeez 0, Umar 0)

News elsewhere in the cricket world reaches us this morning: The IPL auction has come and gone three England players have gone unsold. James Anderson, Matt Prior and Ian Bell. No takers. Not necessarily a comment on their ability, maybe more the financial conditions surrounding the Indian behemoth. Stuart Broad joins the attack another maiden.

1st over: Pakistan 0-0 (Hafeez 0, Umar 0)

Erm, we’re three and half sessions into this match and we’re already into the penultimate innings. Incredible. In other news, the Barmy Army have just right embarrassed themselves with a dreadful rendition if Jerusalem. Oohs and aaahs rise from the slip cordon as Anderson gets one to slide past the outside edge. Maiden to start.

Fine reply: Pakistan responded well to being bowled out for 99 runs

ENGLAND ALL OUT FOR 141 AND LEAD PAKISTAN’S FIRST-INNINGS TOTAL OF 99 BY 42 RUNS

Good work by Pakistan to take four remaining wickets inside the opening 45 minutes of the morning session. Now it’s up to the England bowlers to make inroads again and make them early – their lead is only 42 runs, remember.

WICKET! Graeme Swann c Rehman b Saeed Ajmal 16

Swann holes out to the man racing square from long leg. And that is that.

54th over: England 133-9 (Swann 8, Panesar 0)

I was just about to enter into a diatribe about smallest scores by openers who have carried their bat. Its a moot now, anyway. Monty’s in – he lasted two deliveries last time round. What can he do here?

On the attack: Swann’s brief cameo came to an end after scoring 16 runs

WICKET! Andrew Strauss st Akmal b Rehman 56

The captain goes, trying a big heave over mid-on, misses the ball and Akmal makes the simplest of stumpings.

53rd over: England 127-8 (Strauss 55, Swann 3)

Yes Nasser, I like it. The Sportsmail columnists makes a very valuable point. This DRS system will make cricket on the subcontinent far more interesting. Not sure if the batsmen would agree, mind. Coulpe more singles for Swann and England’s lead is now 28. Hardly time to sit back and relax, mind.

52nd over: England 123-8 (Strauss 54, Swann 1)

A couple more for England, Strauss keeping the scorecard and strike ticking over. Good work from the captain.

51st over: England 121-8 (Strauss 53, Swann 0)

I’ve got good news and bad. The bad is that England’s lead is just 22 runs. The good is that Graeme Swann has come out wearing a cap. None of this lid nonsense for him. Oh, no! Wicket maiden.

WICKET! Stuart Broad lbw b Rehman 4

Broad fails to pick the doosra, plays outside the line of the delivery, is hit in front and that is out. On-field umpire fails to give it – with the naked eye it looked like it struck outside the line of the stumps but the DRS system – once again – proves us all wrong.

Captain’s job: Strauss has scored a vital half century for his team

50th over: England 121-7 (Strauss 53, Broad 4)

It wasn’t the best shot he’ll play but Strauss’ push down the ground, which squirts off the outside edge backward of point runs for four brings up his half century. Took him 141 deliveries. From Bumble (via Twitter): ‘Nice to see a firm handshake from Broad to Strauss for his 50 No kissing the ground , badge …or each other’.

49th over: England 117-7 (Strauss 49, Broad 4)

Excuse my ignorance, but why are Friday and Saturday in Dubai described as ‘holidays’? I appreciate they shouldn’t necessarily have the same days for a weekend as we do in England, but why is it always refereed to as a holiday and not just a weekend? Answers in this direction, please: EMAIL or TWITTER. Strauss plays a decent late cut via point for a couple.

48th over: England 114-7 (Strauss 46, Broad 4)

Five overs inside the opening 20 minutes. Now that’s what I like. England’s over rate was painfully slow at some stages yesterday, but with two spinners on, Pakistan are rattling along. Just a couple of singles from Rehman’s over.

47th over: England 112-7 (Strauss 45, Broad 3)

Back to Adnan Akmal. He screams and shouts like an excitable teenager for abso-bloody-lutely everything. Paddle/sweeps that clearly come off the bat: his voice screeches as though the middle stump has been rattled. Big inside edge onto the bat – he’ll scream until he’s blue in the face for lbw. Fine. But then when Broad edges toward Younis Khan at first slip, not a peep. The ball dropped just short of the fielder, but Akmal didn’t even look interested. I don’t understand him.  Broad survives a run out chance via an early and decisive dive.

46th over: England 110-7 (Strauss 44, Broad 2)

I’ve seen it all now. Captain Cautious aka Andrew Strauss takes a little dance down the track to attack Rehman’s bowling. Incredible scenes. The England captain doesn’t quite time it right and inside edges square when he was looking for something lofty and straight.

Early exit: Anderson lost his wicket in the first over of the morning

45th over: England 109-7 (Strauss 43, Broad 1)

Adnan Akmal’s up to his old tricks again. Screaming like a wailing banshee at every opportunity. Now I understand that is the wicketkeeper’s prerogative, but it’s his winy voice – goes right through me. Broad paddles a couple towards fine leg to move off the mark.

44th over: England 106-7 (Strauss 42)

Much better rendition of Jerusalem from the hardy bunch of Barmy Army fans who have made it in early this morning. It was truly shocking yesterday. I mean, they sounded drunk. Which for lots of reasons is highly unlikely. Well played. Abdur Rehman is handed the ball for the first over this morning, takes a scalp and we sit back and wait for the inevitable deluge wickets that will follow today.

WICKET! James Anderson b Rehman 4

Any thoughts today would be different to yesterday evaporate inside the first over. Anderson goes, driving against the spin, Rehman turns one inside the gate and the nightwatchman is gone.

5.58: Here they come: players, officials, one small red ball and that to me makes it look like we’re ready for play. Tidy.

5.55: Do I need to tell you there aren’t too many in the ground today? I’ll stick my neck out and say a couple of hundred. At best.

5.48: The major theme of this Test series will forever be the dominance of the DRS system. Wickets have been tumbling at phenomenal rates under the guidance of the new(ish) technology. The upshot of it is that umpires are now having to guess if batsmen are out. Nasser Hussain isn’t a huge fan, but he concedes it does make games more entertaining. Have a read.

5.41: Receive Graeme Swann’s autobiography for Christmas? Think you know all there is to know about England’s No 1 spinner? Did you know he wears the same pants for the journey to the ground for every game for England since his debut? Thought not. Swanny reveals more in his Top Secret interview right here.

Leg before: Morgan’s wicket was one of 34 to have fallen so far in this series lbw

5.38: Bumble did the pitch review ahead of the start of lay yesterday. He said the track was a belter to bat on and then 16 wickets fell! He’s adamant though, that its the batsmen’s fault. have a read of his Test diary here. 

5.35: If you’re still playing catch up on that incredible first day of this test, have a read of Paul Newman’s match report. Go on, you’ve got plenty of time before the start of play. 

5.30am: Wakey, wakey rise and shine! Welcome to Sportsmail’s coverage on day two of the third Test between England and Pakistan.

Events at the Dubai International Stadium yesterday were remarkable.

We saw 16 wickets fall, 203 runs scored and we enter the second day no closer to knowing who will win this one.

There are some things we do know, however. England’s bowling attack continues to pull its weight. The batsmen remain clueless in sub-continental conditions. This Test was about building towards series in Sri Lanka and India later this year: learn lessons and exorcise demons. That clearly hasn’t happened.

A number of top-order batsmen are no longer justifying their places. Decisions will have to be made before the next series. And still it made for compelling viewing on day one. Thanks in no small part to the DRS system which is changing the face of the game.

Both England and Pakistan made schoolboy errors with the bat, but can you blame them for being so uncertain? Even the umpires are feeling the pressure to give men out. If this Test makes it past day three, I’ll be very surprised.

The action begins at 6am, I’ll bring you the news as it happens and you can join the fun via TWITTER or EMAIL. Many thanks. 

Drama: Sadly there were few in the ground to witness a stunning day of Test cricket

View full post on Today is International Kissing Day – Yahoo! News Search Results

“It is with enormous sadness that Nottingham Forest announce the death of the club’s owner,” the team said on its website today. Doughty was found dead in his gym at his home in northeast England, the team said.

Doughty founded his private equity firm with Richard Hanson in 1995. They had worked together since 1985, when they started a buyout unit at Standard Chartered Plc. Between 1987 and 2002, they generated $1.94 billion of cash from investments that cost $733 million.

Doughty had a net worth of about 130 million pounds ($205 million), according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List. Among Doughty Hanson’s investments are luggage-maker Tumi, British cinema operator Vue and Norit, a Texas-based maker of activated- carbon purification systems, according to the firm’s website.

“On behalf of Dick Hanson, and all the management and staff of Doughty Hanson, we are tremendously sorry to learn of the death of Nigel Doughty,” London-based Doughty Hanson said in an e-mailed statement today. “Our thoughts are very much with his family at this time.”

Among causes he supported, Doughty was a donor to the U.K. Labour party. In 2009, he contributed 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) to Labour, led at the time by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as it prepared for a general election it lost in 2010 to current Prime Minister David Cameron.

Doughty bought Nottingham Forest for 11 million pounds in 1999, saving it from bankruptcy, according to the U.K. Press Association. He invested almost 100 million pounds of his own money in the team, the Press Association said.

He stepped down as chairman on Oct. 13, 2011, the same day as Steve McClaren, a former manager of the English national soccer team, quit as Nottingham Forest’s manager.

Nottingham Forest had a “very poor start” to the current season, the team said in announcing Doughty’s resignation. Doughty had been responsible for hiring McClaren.

The team currently stands 23rd in the 24 team Championship, the second-tier league in English soccer. It had reached the playoffs for promotion to the Premier League in the past two seasons.

Doughty was born on June 10, 1957.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Harrison at mharrison5@bloomberg.net

View full post on Nigel Doughty – Yahoo! News Search Results

Defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, offensive tackle Willie Roaf, defensive end Chris Doleman, center Dermontti Dawson and cornerback Jack Butler, a seniors category nominee, were also selected to the US sport shrine.

On the eve of Sunday’s Super Bowl 46 championship showdown between the New England Patriots and New York Giants, the Hall of Fame selection committee gathered to pick 2012 inductees from among 17 retired NFL legend finalists.

Among those who were denied a place among the all-time gridiron elites were coach Bill Parcells, receivers Cris Carter and Andre Reed, running back Jerome Bettis and defender Charles Haley, the only five-time Super Bowl champion.

New England coach Bill Belichick and New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin each worked as assistants under Parcells.

A candidate needed at least 80 percent support from the 44-member panel to be enshrined. Induction ceremonies will be staged August 4 at the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Martin recounted his rise from a troubled youth in Pittsburgh, spent fearing he or his family would become victims of violence.

“Football was something I did so I didn’t wind up dead or in jail,” Martin said. “For it to turn out this way, it’s so humbling. It just shows if you stick to it and don’t give up how life can turn around.”

The panel eliminated Bettis, receiver Tim Brown, lineman Will Shields, linebacker Kevin Greene and former San Francisco 49ers owner Ed DeBartolo Jnr in a first round of voting that trimmed the candidate list to 12.

From there, the committee voted down Parcells, Carter, Reed, Haley, defensive back Aeneas Williams and 1950s guard Dick Stanfel, leaving the final enshrinees.

Doleman made 150 career sacks, fourth in NFL history at the time of his retirement, in a 15-season career with Minnesota, Atlanta and San Francisco.

Butler ranked second in NFL career interceptions when he retired in 1959 after nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the same team for which Dawson blocked for 13 seasons before retiring in 2000.

Kennedy spent 13 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks before retiring in 2000 while Roaf played 13 NFL seasons, nine with New Orleans and four more at Kansas City before retiring in 2005.

View full post on nfl hall of fame 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

The six-member class includes Martin, defensive end Chris Doleman, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, offensive tackle William Roaf, center Dermontti Dawson and cornerback Jack Butler, one of two senior nominees.

Guard Dick Stanfel, the other senior nominee, didn’t make it.

The Class of 2012 will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 4.

The 44-member selection committee met for 7 hours, 36 minutes to whittle the 17 finalists, including the senior nominees, to the six-member class.

Martin (14,101 yards), who played for New England and the New York Jets, and Barry Sanders are the only backs to begin their careers with 10 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

“It’s one of the most humbling experiences I’ve ever had,” Martin said. “I feel tremendously grateful to my players and coaches.

“It’s bittersweet, though, because of coach Parcells. Without him, my career wouldn’t have been 30 percent of what it was.”

Parcells, who made the cut to 10 but failed to make it to five, drafted Martin when he was New England’s head coach. When Parcells was hired by the New York Jets, he traded for Martin.

Martin said he would ask Parcells to be his presenter when he’s enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

Doleman registered at least 10 sacks in eight seasons. When he retired, he ranked fourth on the league’s career list.

Kennedy was voted NFL Defensive Player of the Year on a 2-14 team. He’s one of the greatest two-gap players in history.

Roaf, the epitome of what coaches want in a left tackle, who was voted to 11 Pro Bowls in his 13-year career with New Orleans and Kansas City.

Dawson is the second Pittsburgh Steelers center to be voted into the Hall of Fame. The late Mike Webster was the first. Dawson replaced Miami’s Dwight Stephenson, another member of the Hall of Fame, as the NFL’s most dominant center. He was voted to seven consecutive Pro Bowls.

Butler played for the Steelers for nine years. When he retired after the 1959 season, he had 52 interceptions, second in history at the time of his retirement. He had at least seven interceptions in four different seasons.

In the reduction from 15 modern-era finalists to 10, owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., running back Jerome Bettis, guard Will Shields, receiver Tim Brown and outside linebacker Kevin Greene didn’t survive the cut.

Eliminated on the reduction from 10 to five were Parcells, receiver Cris Carter, receiver Andre Reed, defensive end Charles Haley and cornerback Aeneas Williams.

With Martin being voted in, it should clear the way for Bettis next season.

With Doleman finally making it, Haley has a better chance of making it in 2012.

Carter, Reed and Brown seemed to cancel each other out. All are worthy of induction.

View full post on nfl hall of fame 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney received 50 percent of the support in Friday’s Public Policy Polling poll of likely voters in the Nevada GOP caucus. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., was at 25 percent; U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, at 15 percent; and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.

Many experts, however, see Paul finishing a strong second. Others see Romney winning big with the real fight being for second place between Paul and Gingrich.

How to caucus

Caucusgoers had to be registered as a Republican by Jan. 20 in order to be eligible for the Nevada GOP caucus today.

Caucusgoers who have not preregistered need to go to the Washoe County Republican website, www.washoecountygop.org, to find their caucus location.

14 caucus sites are across Washoe County, and the proper caucus location may not be the same as where one votes. All caucusgoers must bring a government-issued photo ID to participate.

Schedule

Caucus registration opens at 9 a.m. across Washoe County, and the caucus is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Each caucusgoer will be given their ballot/caucus package at registration. The caucus should last no more than two hours. All Republicans need to be out of the schools used as caucus sites by 1 p.m.

What’s next

Maine’s week-long caucus also begins today with 24 delegates at stake.On Tuesday, the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses will take place. Colorado has 36 delegates at stake, Minnesota 40. All will be awarded proportionally depending on the percentage of the votes each candidate gets, like in Nevada.

Candidates schedules today

The Washoe County GOP reported late Friday that presidential candidates were expected to be in Reno today. Specifics were not immediately known.

Santorum on Friday had already left Nevada and was to campaign in Colorado on Saturday. Romney and Paul were expected to be in Las Vegas.

Gov. Brian Sandoval

Nevada’s Republican chief executive will be busy today. He plans to visit the caucus in Carson City at 8 a.m. At 9:30 a.m., he plans to be at Billinghurst Middle School. At 10:30 a.m., he is to be at Swope Middle School, his precinct caucus site. At 11:30 a.m., he is set to visit Pine Middle School. Sandoval is expected to fly to Las Vegas in the afternoon.

— Ray Hagar, RGJ

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

Jan White, left, Brenda Robertson, center, and Janet Freixas, right, count paper ballots at the headquarters of the Douglas County Republican Party Saturday in Minden, Nev., following county-wide Nevada caucus meetings.

Ted S. Warren/AP

Jan White, left, Brenda Robertson, center, and Janet Freixas, right, count paper ballots at the headquarters of the Douglas County Republican Party Saturday in Minden, Nev., following county-wide Nevada caucus meetings.

Imagine this: You’re the Super Bowl host city, and you’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get the big game in your town. Now everyone’s watching as the game comes to an end, and you can’t get the scoreboard to work. Suddenly no one’s sure who’s ahead or how much time is left to play.

That nightmare scenario probably could not happen. But we have seen some highly improbable events lately that embarrassed the host states in the presidential nominating process.

Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn resigned this week, taking the hit for the botch that was made of the caucus count in his state last month. Mitt Romney was initially declared the winner, then told he had finished second by 34 votes behind Rick Santorum. But the party admitted it was not really sure, and some votes might be missing. Ouch.

Take the Republican caucuses in Nevada this weekend. Most of the community meetings at more than 100 sites were held in the morning or early afternoon and had their tallies in by evening. But no official results were released for hours, and the official count went on well into the night.

Why? There appeared to be delays from Washoe (Reno) County and a few other venues. But the main holdup was in Clark (Las Vegas) County, home to more than 60 percent of the Republican vote. Clark had said it would hold its release until its last caucus site reported, and at one point the state GOP said it would not release data either.

This got confusing as the evening wore on, and Clark waited on its last caucus site, at the Adelson Educational Center in Vegas. Here, the doors did not open until after sundown, so that Orthodox Jews and Seventh Day Adventists could vote after their Sabbath ended.

Awkward. The networks and other news organizations had “entrance polls” taken at caucus sites during the day all over the state. They knew Romney had won in a walk. But it’s been catechism for decades that major news organizations do not name a statewide winner until all the polling places in that state have closed.

But this time the networks got impatient. Waiting seemed especially silly given the apparent margin of victory being run up by Romney. Why hold everybody up for one caucus?

They didn’t. Shortly after 7 p.m. Nevada time, the call went out. And it was indeed nearly three hours before the late caucus finally finished. It was delayed because scores of Ron Paul supporters showed up, and some balked at signing an affidavit saying they had to vote at night for religious reasons. Some walked away. Others stayed, signed and prevailed.

Paul, who entrance polls showed won a clear majority of voters professing no religion at all, wound up winning handily at the late-night caucus specifically arranged for religious voters.

In the end, however, the slow count in Nevada should have no effect on the contest. Romney was declared the winner in prime time all over the country, and his speech reached as many voters as one can hope will be watching on Saturday night. The losers were simply that.

The Iowa mess, by contrast, wound up costing Santorum his best shot at the winner’s circle. Sure, he got a decent bounce from finishing in a virtual tie with Romney that night (Jan. 3). But it was nothing like what might have happened if he’d been called the winner when all the cameras were on and much of the country was watching.

So far this year, we have had two caucus states and three primary states. It should be noted that the vote count in the latter states was swift and without controversy. We shall see how proceedings go in the caucus events in Minnesota and Colorado next week.

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

The heaviest reported day of death since the Syrian uprising began coupled with the second UN veto in four months triggered a wave of international outrage at the failure to reach a common stand at the United Nations.

Washington on Saturday said it was “disgusted” with the rare double veto and France denounced Friday’s massacre in the city of Homs as a “crime against humanity.”

President Bashar al-Assad’s troops shelled Homs “randomly” during the night killing men, women and children, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said.

It said at least 260 civilians were killed in the onslaught. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 100 women and children were among the 237 dead in its toll. Both said hundreds more were wounded.

The Assad regime “committed one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria,” the SNC said. Opposition groups say more than 6,000 people have now been killed in the country since last March.

Dozens of bodies and scenes of chaos could be seen in video images shown by the Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya television channels.

Church bells rang out and Muslim prayers were recited in Homs mosques for those killed, activists said. Thousands took part in funeral processions across the city.

AFP was not able to verify the authenticity of videos or the tolls because of restrictions on reporting in Syria. But US President Barack Obama denounced the “unspeakable assault” and demanded that Assad step down.

“Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately,” Obama said in a statement.

The Syrian government denied responsibility for the deaths, blaming them on opposition rebels seeking to influence Security Council debate on Syria. But Russia and China used their diplomatic muscle for the second time in four months to block a resolution condemning the violence.

The other 13 countries in the 15-member council voted for the resolution, proposed by European and Arab nations to give strong backing to an Arab League plan to end the crackdown.

Russia and China “remain steadfast in their willingness to sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant,” US ambassador Susan Rice told the council.

In a separate message on Twitter, Rice wrote: “Disgusted that Russia and China prevented the UN Security Council from fulfilling its sole purpose.”

Britain is “appalled” at the veto, said its UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy “strongly deplores” the veto by Russia and China, his office said.

The Arab League meanwhile renewed its call for Syria to end the crackdown. It said “the escalation of violence has put the Syrian crisis on a dangerous new curve which will lead to an aggravation of the situation and an increase in deaths.”

But Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin defiantly rejected attacks from the European and Arab nations that proposed the resolution, which has been negotiated for several weeks.

Churkin justified the veto by saying the proposed resolution “sent an unbalanced signal to the Syrian parties.”

His Chinese counterpart Li Baodong said pushing through such “a vote when parties are still seriously divided… will not help maintain the unity and authority of the Security Council, or help resolve the issue.”

Western envoys said they had bent over backwards to change the text after Russia had balked at any resolution that could be used to justify foreign military intervention, called for Assad to quit or imposed an arms embargo on Syria.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she had tried to negotiate with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

But the resolution’s backers said they decided to end negotiations and call for a vote after Russia demanded new changes early Saturday.

Russia — for whom Syria is its last remaining major ally in the Middle East — announced that Lavrov and intelligence chief Mikhail Fradkov would travel to Damascus on Tuesday to press Assad to discuss a political solution.

As news of the Homs killing spread, protesters stormed Syrian embassies in Athens, Berlin, Cairo, Kuwait and London. Tunisia announced it was expelling Syria’s ambassador and withdrawing its recognition of the Assad government.

The Homs attack came on the 30th anniversary of a massacre by Assad’s father Hafez in the city of Hama in which tens of thousands died.

View full post on Russia and China – Yahoo! News Search Results

“You have given me your vote of confidence,” Romney said in Las Vegas on Saturday night. “And this time, I’m going take it all the way to the White House.”

Romney’s Nevada win comes the same week as his convincing victory in the Florida primary.

“This is an extraordinary and broad victory for the Romney campaign and team,” said Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, co-chairman of Romney’s campaign in Nevada. “The organization of the campaign and the work of the volunteers throughout the state and the professional organization both in Nevada and nationally, they have just been exquisite.

“When you got a great candidate and a great organization, that is how you get the results that we did tonight in Nevada,” Krolicki said.

Romney leaves Nevada with the potential to soon unite the GOP behind him, one Reno political expert said.

“I think you are seeing the party coalesce,” Reno political consultant Greg Ferraro said. “Republicans may be saying, ‘We’re ready for the main event.”

On Tuesday, Romney hopes to win the big states of Colorado and Minnesota, where a combined total of 76 delegates to the national convention are at stake.

“This (Nevada victory) is a real show of strength for Romney,” said Ferraro, who is not involved in any of the presidential campaigns. “Back-to-back wins in two battleground states (Nevada and Florida) at opposite ends of the nation is significant for him. It sustains the critical momentum that he created in Florida.”

Romney won at least 10 delegates in Nevada’s caucus, with eight delegates still to be determined. Newt Gingrich won at least four delegates, Ron Paul won at least three and Rick Santorum at least two.

Nevada awards delegates in proportion to the statewide vote.

Romney has a total of 97 delegates to the party’s national convention, including endorsements from Republican National Committee members who automatically will attend the convention and can support any candidate they choose.

(Page 2 of 3)

Romney also earned the endorsements of two of Nevada’s largest newspapers last week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Gingrich now has 30 delegates, Santorum 16 and Paul has seven. It takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.

If Romney were to go on and win the GOP nomination, it could do wonders for the Nevada GOP ticket on Election Day, a state senator up for election said.

“You always want someone at the top of the ticket who is going to maximize party enthusiasm and party turnout,” said Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno.

“The key is to nominate the one who will generate enthusiasm among party loyalist and give us the best turnout,” Brower said. “Also you also want the candidate who will have the best appeal to the crossover vote, the independents or folks who may be a member of one party but always don’t vote on the party line.”

Romney’s week began with a double-digit win in Tuesday’s Florida primary. That contest was as intense as Nevada’s caucuses were sedate — so quiet that they produced little television advertising, no candidate debates and only a modest investment of time by the contenders.

Nevada Democrats, seemingly anticipating a Romney nomination, focused on him during a news conference Saturday afternoon. Former State Democratic Chairwoman Jill Derby and State Treasurer Kate Marshall said Romney is callous toward Nevada homeowners, noting what he has said about the foreclosure process.

In an October, 2011 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Romney said: “As for what to do for the housing industry specifically, and are there things that you can do to encourage housing? One is don’t try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom, allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let it turn around and come back up.”

“He said let the foreclosure process run its course,” Derby said. “That’s no help to Nevada homeowners.”

Derby calls the GOP presidential field “wrong for Nevada.”

(Page 3 of 3)

“We welcome the national spotlight on Nevada, and we welcome the fact that Nevada has a say with this very exciting caucus process,” Derby said. “But in the last few days, when we have had the Republican candidates here, we have had a great opportunity to listen to their message and as far as we can tell, they are just wrong for Nevada.

“What are the issues in Nevada? High unemployment, the nation’s worst foreclosure crisis and these candidates have so little to say to Nevadans on these issues.”

One caucus goer said she stood up to speak for Romney because Republicans need a moderate candidate who can work with all sides.

“We need somebody who is of more moderate opinions so they can work with Congress and the Democrats and independents who are on the fence,” Jan Thomas of Reno said. “If we have somebody who is so extreme right in their views .. well I’m just tired of the extreme polarism. We need to have someone like Mitt Romney who is a little bit more workable with everybody and will get more done in Washington D.C.”

Not all Nevada Republicans were pleased with Romney’s caucus victory.

“I believe that Mitt, not to put him down too much, but he does not have a real conservative base,” said Joe Trombley, 59. “And when it comes to making a decision, you fall back on your principles and I just don’t think he has a conservative core.

“I just think there is an opportunity this year to get a real conservative in office whether it be Santorum or Newt. These guys have conservative principles. So when push comes to shove, they have the basic (conservative) ideals to fall back on.”

Santorum’s last-place finish could force him to drop from the race soon, Ferraro said.

“It may not be today or tomorrow, but I just don’t see how a campaign like that can survive on fumes,” Ferraro said. “Financing a campaign, crisscrossing the nation, it takes a lot of money. You have to continue to show some viability, some win-ability and I just don’t see that here.”

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

While the Nevada GOP caucus vote now ranks fifth, Nevada still plan on playing a key role in deciding who the GOP sends out to face President Barack Obama in the 2012 general elections.

* The Republican National Committee has rules that the first four states to hold primaries, or caucuses are to be Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

* Because the Florida GOP made a decision to hold their primary at an early date, and will be penalized for doing so. Nevada responded by moving their caucus date to a date preceding the Florida GOP primary. This threw New Hampshire and Iowa into a tail spin, as the date came too close to their own primary and caucus dates. Both Republican candidates and state officials voiced their concerns.

* Nevada listened, and responded, by moving its 2012 caucus to the Feb. 4 date, winning the gratitude of the candidates, and the RNC, but stepping out of its coveted top four spot. This leaves the caucus to precede the Colorado caucus by just days.

* At stake in the caucus are 28 delegates. Nevada splits its delegates proportionally to match the outcome of the voting. This is not a “winner take all” state. No matter who ends up winning, it is likely that there will be delegate votes at the convention for all four candidates.

* The Nevada GOP is a diverse group, with a large Mormon base, many retirees who formed their voting views elsewhere, and native Nevada residents, who hold a strong belief in personal rights.

* Because of the large Mormon population, Mitt Romney was an easy winner in Nevada in 2008, and he is expected to win in 2012, as well.

* While Nevada Republicans caucus in groups, they cast private ballots to vote. Most groups expect to have made their decisions by then end of the morning.

* Clark County, the largest in the state, plans to withhold it decision until evening to allow the smaller counties to make their decisions individually.

* Having made concessions this year to squelch up uproar over Florida’s early primary, the Nevada GOP now worries that Colorado, a state with a much larger voting population, will make an effort in the future to jump ahead of Nevada, as it works to retain its “First in the West,” distinction. Voters will have to wait until 2015 to see how that will play out.

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

The slimmed-down 246-pound version of Nelson was looking to get into the hunt for the UFC heavyweight title, while Werdum was looking to make his return to the Octagon a successful one.

To start the fight, Werdum showed great strikes and kicks, before taking Nelson down and immediately taking his back. Nelson fought his way back to the feet quickly, but Werdum held him in the clinch and connected with countless knees. Nelson reversed the position, but Werdum was able to land more knees out of the clinch. With about a minute left in the round, Nelson blocked a kick and got a knockdown on Werdum after a beautiful punch. With Werdum on his back, Nelson was unable to garner any offense as the horn sounded.

My scorecard: Werdum takes first round easily, 10-9.

The second round saw Werdum continue at an amazing pace, connecting with kick after kick and punch after punch. The pace slowed a bit in this round, but Werdum still landed vicious knees to the body, but Nelson seemed unfazed. Much like the first round, Nelson gained some offense, but it wasn’t enough to take the round.

My scorecard: second round to Werdum, 10-9.

As Werdum attempted a takedown at the start of the round, Nelson caught him in a guillotine, but was unable to put his opponent in serious jeopardy. As the round continued, Werdum continued to display amazing accuracy with his strikes and controlled the whole fight.

My scorecard: third round to Werdum, 10-9, 30-27 overall.

Official Decision: Fabricio Werdum via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Kudos to Nelson for continuing to transform his body to a position where he may be able to compete with the best in the world, but it didn’t matter in this fight. Werdum showed the best striking of his career and controlled Nelson for 15-minutes, proving that he is one of the best heavyweights in the world.

For a look at the best fights for some of the most popular fighters in the UFC and 2011 division recaps, go here.

More from this contributor:

Best of Strikeforce Challengers

Should Tito Ortiz finish career with Forrest Griffin?

Did Jon Jones Show his True Colors after Machida win?

2011 MMA Awards

Who will replace MMA stars of yesterday?

Hobson Lopes has been a fan of mixed martial arts since the days of Tank Abbott and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

View full post on Roy Nelson – Yahoo! News Search Results

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View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

Here’s a guide to the Nevada caucus, including how to watch for live results as they become available the evening of Feb. 4.

Process

There are 17 counties in Nevada and around 125 caucus locations. Start times vary and are determined by the GOP in each county. Voters had a deadline of Jan. 20 to register for the caucus. Doors will open for a few hours before the actual caucus begins. Registered voters can find their caucus sites on the official website.

Usually people who show up to the caucus will be allowed to speak for a few minutes before ballots are cast. Voting is done by secret paper ballots and are tabulated at the precinct level at this point. In March, counties will select delegates to the state GOP convention which will be held in May. The 28 delegates at the state level will go to the Republican National Convention in Florida in August. The caucus today is to determine which candidate delegates will nominate for the county conventions held a month later.

Demographics to Watch

The largest and most complicated caucus will take place in Clark County , where Las Vegas is located. There are over 1.95 million people in Clark County, or around 72 percent of the state’s population. Washoe County, including Reno, is next with a population of over 421,000. Nearly 88 percent of Nevada’s population is split between these two counties, making them the places to watch when results start to come in.

Precincts in Clark County open their doors for check in at 8 a.m. and the meeting starts at 10 a.m. PST. Washoe County observes similar times. The earliest caucus is in Carson City, which opens the doors at 7 a.m. and begins the caucus at noon.

Results

The easiest way to get up-to-date results is through the Nevada GOP’s official website and the Twitter feed . A map will be posted to the website starting a 5 p.m. PST once results start coming in. Look for media outlets to possibly call a winner in Nevada at those times. Because the nomination contest in Nevada is a caucus and not an election, the state’s Republican Party handles the results as opposed to the Nevada Secretary of State.

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

Gary Reed holds up a precinct number sign before the start of caucusing at a high school caucus site, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, in Las Vegas.

(Credit: AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Nevada Republican caucus-goers are primarily concerned with defeating President Obama in November, according to early CBS News entrance polling.

As many as 44 percent of Nevada Republican caucus-goers named electability as the candidate quality that matters most, the data shows. Another 20 percent said strong moral character matters the most, while 17 percent said being a true conservative. Sixteen percent say having the right experience matters the most. The entrance poll was conducted as caucus-goers across the state entered their caucus on Saturday.

Electability has been the most important candidate quality in each of the states that have weighed in on the Republican presidential race so far.

Only 22 percent of Nevada voters decided on their candidate in the last few days, the entrance polling shows. Twenty percent decided in January while 57 percent decided earlier than that.

Nevada caucuses: A viewer’s guideNevada caucus sites open for businessRomney likely to see Mormon boost in Nevada caucuses

The economy is far and away the top issue for Nevada Republican caucus goers today, with 54 percent identifying it as their top issue. Another 33 percent said the budget deficit, while 5 percent said illegal immigration and 3 percent said abortion.

The economy has been the top issue in all of the primaries and caucus so far.

As many as 41 percent of Nevada voters said campaign ads were in important factor in their vote; but more – 54 percent — said they were not an important factor.

Polls in the week leading into the Nevada caucuses showed Mitt Romney with a sizeable lead there — the former Massachusetts governor won 51 percent of the state vote in the 2008 GOP race. Romney also is likely to draw a boost from the relatively large Mormon population in the state. He also has momentum coming off of a strong victory in the Florida primaries.

Nevada is the fifth state in the nation, and the first Western state, to choose among the candidates in the Republican presidential field. Only registered Republicans can participate in this contest. There are 400,000 active registered Republican voters in Nevada, and 10-15 percent of them are expected to participate in Saturday’s events.

The last caucus in Nevada will convene at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time — that’s the earliest time CBS News and other media outlets will make a projection of a winner.

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

At the local precinct caucuses, voters will hear speeches from representatives of the candidates, then vote. They are required to have registered by Jan. 20, and 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by Nov. 6 – Election Day – are eligible to vote at the caucus. Absentee votes are accepted only from active duty military and their family members.Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

All but one of the caucuses open between 9 a.m. and noon PST, and end when the party’s business is complete. Out of respect for orthodox Jewish Republicans, who are not supposed to participate in non-religious activities on the Sabbath, a special 7 p.m. caucus will be held. This caucus will take place at a school bearing the name of a major donor to a pro-Gingrich super PAC, though a spokesman said the donor, Sheldon Adelson, was not involved in the special caucus.

Prior to the speeches and presidential vote, caucusgoers conduct local party business, including selection of delegates to county-level conventions, which meet in March.

The Nevada GOP is expected to start releasing results from almost all counties at 5 p.m. PST. Results from the special religious caucus will be released after 7 p.m. PST.

Also see:

Romney on ‘poor’ comment: I misspoke

McDonnell open to spot as GOP running mate

Romney hits U.S. Taliban proposal

A Trump endorsement: Where imagination and reality meets

Gingrich to challenge Florida delegates

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

The high-level diplomatic setback came after world leaders and Syrian opposition activists accused Assad’s forces of a massacre in a sustained shelling of Homs, the bloodiest episode in 11 months of upheaval in the pivotal Arab country.

Russia and China joined in a double veto of a Western- and Arab-driven resolution at the U.N. Security Council endorsing the Arab League plan for Assad to hand power to a deputy to make way for a transition towards democracy.

The other 13 council members voted for the resolution that would have said the council “fully supports” the League plan aimed at stopping Syria’s bloodshed, whose sectarian overtones threaten stability in the wider Middle East region.

Russia complained that the draft resolution was an improper and biased attempt at “regime change” in Syria, which is Moscow’s sole major Middle East ally, an important buyer of Russian arms exports and host to a Russian naval base.

With an eye to events in Homs, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice dispensed with the usual diplomatic courtesies and declared she was “disgusted” by the Russian-Chinese veto, adding that “any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands”.

Shortly before the Security Council voted, U.S. President Barack Obama denounced the “unspeakable assault” on Homs, demanded that Assad leave power immediately and called for U.N. action against Assad’s “relentless brutality”.

“Any government that brutalizes and massacres its people does not deserve to govern,” Obama said.

He and other Western and Arab leaders exerted unprecedented pressure on Russia to allow the Security Council to pass the Arab League-backed resolution that calls for Assad to relinquish his autocratic powers and end the violence. The world body says over 5,000 civilians have been killed.

SECOND VETO IN FOUR MONTHS

But Russia, and China following Moscow’s lead, weighed in to torpedo U.N. action on Syria for the second time in four months. In October, they vetoed a European-drafted resolution condemning Syria and threatening it with possible sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it had not been possible to work constructively with Russia ahead of the vote, even though military intervention in Syria – fiercely opposed by Moscow – had been absolutely ruled out.

“I thought that there might be some ways to bridge, even at this last moment, a few of the concerns that the Russians had. I offered to work in a constructive manner to do so. That has not been possible,” she told reporters at a Munich conference.

Clinton warned that the risk of more bloodshed and civil war in Syria had risen after the collapse of the U.N. resolution.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after the vote that France was consulting with Arab and European countries to create a contact group on Syria to try to find a solution to the crisis [ID:nnL5E8D40M5].

“France is not giving up,” Sarkozy said in a statement, saying Paris was in touch with Arab and European partners to create a “Friends of the Syrian People Group” that would marshal international support to implement the Arab League plan.

The uprising pits Syria’s majority Sunni Muslims against Assad’s minority Alawites, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, who have dominated the country’s power structure for decades.

After what U.S. officials called “vigorous” talks between Clinton and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow announced that he and its foreign intelligence chief would fly to Syria on Tuesday to meet Assad, although the trip’s goal was not given.

Moscow objected that the resolution contained steps against Assad, but not against his armed opponents, Lavrov said in Munich before the vote. “Unless you do it both ways, you are taking sides in a civil war.”

In New York, Western delegations rejected what they called “wrecking amendments” by Russia to add language blaming the opposition along with the government for violence and diluting calls for Syria to withdraw its security forces from cities.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied that Moscow’s amendments were last-minute, or that Russia was standing in the way of a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

“Some influential members of the international community, unfortunately, including those sitting around this table, from the very beginning of the Syrian process have been undermining the opportunity for a political settlement,” Churkin said.

Syrian U.N. envoy Bashar Ja’afari criticized the resolution and its sponsors, which included Saudi Arabia and seven other Arab states, saying nations “that prevent women from attending a soccer match” had no right to preach democracy to Syria.

He also denied that Syrian forces killed hundreds of civilians in Homs, saying that “no sensible person” would launch such an attack the night before the Security Council was set to discuss his country.

Residents of Homs’ battered Baba Amro district, speaking by telephone, denounced the Russian-Chinese veto, some chanting, “Death, rather than disgrace”.

One resident who identified himself as Sufyan said: “Now we will show Assad. We’re coming, Damascus. Starting today we will show Assad what an armed gang is.” Assad has called his opponents “armed gangs” and “terrorists” steered from abroad.

Mohammed Loulichki, the U.N. ambassador of Morocco, the sole Arab member of the 15-nation council, voiced his “great regret and disappointment” at the veto and said the Arabs had no intention of abandoning their plan. British envoy Mark Lyall Grant said there would be a new U.N. push if violence continued.

France called the Homs assault a “massacre” and a “crime against humanity.”

Turkey said hundreds had been killed and the United Nations must act. Tunisia expelled the Syrian ambassador, and the flag above its embassy was brought down.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 237 to 260, making the Homs attack the bloodiest so far in Assad’s crackdown on protests and one of the deadliest episodes in the “Arab Spring” of revolts that have swept the region.

Residents said Syrian forces began shelling the Khalidiya neighborhood at around 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses were completely destroyed with families inside.

“We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads,” said Waleed, a resident of Khalidiya.

“The morning has come and we have discovered more bodies, bodies are on the streets,” he said. “Some are still under the rubble. Our movement is better but there is little we can do without ambulances and other things.”

An activist in the neighborhood contacted by Reuters said:

“We have dug out at least 100 bodies so far, they are placed in the two mosques.” He put the total number of wounded at 500.

CONDEMNATION

Video footage on the Internet described as being from Homs showed at least eight bodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blown off. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the footage was filmed.

As news of the violence spread, angry crowds of Syrians stormed their country’s embassies in Cairo, London, Berlin and Kuwait and protested in other cities.

Syria denied shelling Homs and said the Internet video was staged. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, quoted a “media source” as saying, “The corpses displayed by some channels of incitement are martyrs, citizens kidnapped, killed and photographed by armed terrorist groups as if they are victims of the supposed shelling.”

The official Syrian account was disregarded across the globe, where international condemnation was thunderous.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe declared that “those responsible will have to answer for it” and, in remarks aimed at Moscow, said any country that blocked U.N. action would bear a “heavy responsibility in history.”

The Syrian government says it is facing a foreign-backed insurgency and that most of the dead have been its troops. SANA reported funerals of 22 members of the security forces.

Some Syrian activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests.

(Additional reporting by Joseph Logan, Mariam Karouny and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Arshad Mohammed and Stephen Brown in Munich, Ahmed el-Shimy in Cairo, Caren Bohan and Katharine Jackson in Washington, Steve Gutterman in Moscow and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Mark Heinrich and Peter Graff; Editing by Louise Ireland and Peter Cooney)

View full post on Russia and China – Yahoo! News Search Results

Defensive linemen Chris Doleman and Cortez Kennedy, offensive linemen Dermontti Dawson and Willie Roaf, as well as Jack Butler, a cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1950s, also were selected by the media members who serve as Hall of Fame voters. Enshrinement ceremonies are scheduled for August in Canton, Ohio.

(Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) – President of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Steve Perry announces the Class of 2012 inductees during the Pro Football Hall of Fame news conference.

(LENNY IGNELZI/Associated Press) – In this Jan. 15, 2005, file phot, New York Jets running back Curtis Martin carries the ball against the San Diego Chargers during an NFL football game in San Diego. Martin was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Dick Stanfel, a guard who finished his career with three seasons with the Washington Redskins in the 1950s, was among the finalists who failed to gain election. Stanfel, like Butler, was a nominee of the seniors committee. Former coach Bill Parcells, former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo, Jr. and former players Cris Carter, Jerome Bettis and Charles Haley were among the modern-era finalists passed over Saturday.

The Hall of Fame selections were made as part of a busy Super Bowl eve on which the major award winners for this season also were announced. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named most valuable player and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs won the defensive player of the year award.

Martin ran for more than 14,000 yards in 11 seasons for the New England Patriots and New York Jets between 1995 and 2005. He ranks behind only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders on the NFL’s career rushing list.

“I feel tremendously grateful for all the players that I played with and all the coaches that coached me throughout my career,” Martin said. “I guess the bittersweet part of it is Parcells [not being elected]. He meant so much to my career. Without him, my career would not even have been 30 percent of what it was.”

It was a good day for linemen. Doleman, a defensive end, was a relentless pass rusher who had 1501/ 2 sacks in 15 seasons, 10 of them with the Minnesota Vikings, in the ’80s and ’90s.

“When they call your name, you’re absolutely numb,” Doleman said.

Kennedy was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection as a defensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks between the 1990 and 2000 seasons.

“It’s one of the greatest feelings in the world,” Kennedy said. “I thought I was supposed to get a call. I didn’t get a call. I had to watch it on TV.”

Dawson played center for the Steelers between 1988 and 2000. He was selected to seven Pro Bowls and played in 170 straight games. He succeeded another Hall of Famer, Mike Webster, as the Steelers’ center.

“I knew I had big shoes to fill,” Dawson said. “I never thought I would be in this position after my career. . . . It was just an honor to learn from Mike my rookie year.”

Roaf was an 11-time Pro Bowler in 13 seasons as an offensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs between 1993 and 2005.

Stanfel played for the Redskins between 1956 and ’58 after beginning his NFL career with four seasons with the Detroit Lions. He and Butler, as the seniors nominees, automatically were included in the final round of voting at Saturday’s selection meeting, but Stanfel failed to get the necessary votes while Butler was elected.

View full post on nfl hall of fame 2012 – Yahoo! News Search Results

NEVADA – 3:30 p.m. update: The GOP presidential caucus attracted about 6,700 voters on Saturday, down from the estimated 11,000 to 14,000 that showed up for the presidential caucus in 2008. (Washoe County Republican Party officials say there’s no official voter-count from four years ago).

Meanwhile, party officials and voters largely reported a smoother – and faster – experience on Saturday compared to the disorganization that plagued the GOP caucus in 2008.

Most precinct meetings located inside one of 15 polling locations lasted between a half-hour to an hour after voters showed up at 10 a.m. to cast their vote on one of the blue ballots given to them at the registration table.

Some voters did show up late and were not able to vote, said Dave Buell, the chairman of the Washoe County Republican Party, though those cases were limited to “handfuls” of people.

“We were on the radio on TV stations in the press, and apparently some people just didn’t hear the message,” Buell said. “Thought they we’re in a primary and could vote at any time.”

1:50 p.m. update: Unlike the chaos that plagued the 2008 GOP presidential caucus, Nevada Republican voters in Washoe County cast their ballots for the four remaining presidential contenders with no reported hitches on Saturday.

Most of the voting ended by noon after caucus goers chose one of four GOP presidential nominees on blue ballots that were given to them when they registered at one of 15 polling locations in Washoe County, up from four in 2008.

By early afternoon, preliminary reports suggested Gov. Mitt Romney was maintaining a strong lead, as predicted by his commanding 2008 performance in the Silver State and a recent Public Policy Polling poll, which predicted the former Massachusetts governor getting 50 percent of the vote.

For example, Las Vegas Sun pundit Jon Ralston reported on Twitter that Romney had 348 supporters at Galena High School, compared to U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 158, Rep. Ron Paul’s 88 and Sen. Rick Santorum’s 82.

Gov. Brian Sandoval cast his ballot at Swope Elementary School in Northwest Reno, though did not say who he was going to support for the nomination.

“I’m going to support the next president of the United States,” said Sandoval, who endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry late last year. Perry later ended his campaign following a few stumbles during debates and lackluster support on the trail.

Before Sandoval left his precinct, which ultimately gave Romney 56 percent of its support, the governor told the 45 other Republicans in the classroom to support whoever ultimately gets the GOP nomination.

1:00 p.m. update: LAS VEGAS – Republican presidential front runner Mitt Romney reached for his second straight victory Saturday in quiet Nevada caucuses, a contest that Newt Gingrich and the rest of his rivals conceded in advance.

Unlike contentious earlier events from Iowa to Florida, this one featured little television advertising, no debates and a small investment of time by Romney, Gingrich, former Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

A total of 28 Republican National Convention delegates was at stake in caucuses held across a sprawling state that drew little attention in the nominating campaign, but figures to be a fierce battleground in the fall between the winner of the GOP nomination and President Barack Obama. The state’s unemployment rate was measured at 12.6 percent in December, the worst in the country.

According to the AP count, Romney began the day with 87 of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination. Gingrich had 26, Santorum 14 and Paul 4.

The caucus rules were a demonstration of democracy and a reflection of religious diversity.

Nevada awarded its delegates in proportion to the caucus vote totals, meaning that any candidate who captured at least 3.57 of the total number of ballots cast would be rewarded. By contrast, Romney’s victory in the Florida primary on Tuesday netted him all 50 of the delegates at stake there.

While most caucuses were held during the day, an exception was made in Clark County, the state’s largest. There, party officials arranged to hold one meeting well after sundown at the request of orthodox Jews who observe bans on driving, writing or other work-a-day activities during the Sabbath.

Romney’s victory in the state’s 2008 caucuses, coupled with the heavy presence of voters who share his Mormon faith, turned Nevada into something of a way-station on the campaign calendar.

There are just over 175,000 Mormons in the state, roughly 7 percent of the population. But they accounted for nearly a quarter of all 2008 Nevada GOP primary-goers.Gingrich said he’d be happy to finish second, behind Romney and ahead of Paul, who was one of two candidates to air television ads in the state.

Romney was the other, joined by Restore Our Future, the ubiquitous organization that supports him and has been heavily involved in earlier states.

Santorum campaigned relatively little in Nevada, although he picked up the support of Sharron Angle, a tea party favorite who won the GOP Senate nomination in a 2010 upset and then lost her race to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

From Nevada, the calendar turns to caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and a non-binding primary in Missouri on Tuesday.Maine caucuses end next Saturday.

Nevada caucuses, coming four days after the Florida primary, meant little time for the type of intense campaign that characterized the first month of the race.

The most memorable event of the four-day Nevada campaign was an endorsement that flamboyant billionaire Donald Trump bestowed on Romney in Las Vegas in a circus-like atmosphere that followed reports he would back Gingrich. The campaign event was brief, and Paul mocked The Donald and his decision. “I don’t think he has that much credibility. I don’t understand why we pay attention to him,” he said.

RGJ.COM

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By Nidaa Bakhsh

(Updates with Doughty Hanson history in third paragraph, net worth in fourth, Nottingham Forest in seventh.)

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Nigel Doughty, co-founder of private equity firm Doughty Hanson & Co. and owner of English soccer team Nottingham Forest, died today in his home at age 54.

“It is with enormous sadness that Nottingham Forest announce the death of the club’s owner,” the team said on its website today. Doughty was found dead in his gym at his home in northeast England, the team said.

Doughty founded his private equity firm with Richard Hanson in 1995. They had worked together since 1985, when they started a buyout unit at Standard Chartered Plc. Between 1987 and 2002, they generated $1.94 billion of cash from investments that cost $733 million.

Doughty had a net worth of about 130 million pounds ($205 million), according to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List. Among Doughty Hanson’s investments are luggage-maker Tumi, British cinema operator Vue and Norit, a Texas-based maker of activated- carbon purification systems, according to the firm’s website.

“On behalf of Dick Hanson, and all the management and staff of Doughty Hanson, we are tremendously sorry to learn of the death of Nigel Doughty,” London-based Doughty Hanson said in an e-mailed statement today. “Our thoughts are very much with his family at this time.”

Among causes he supported, Doughty was a donor to the U.K. Labour party. In 2009, he contributed 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) to Labour, led at the time by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as it prepared for a general election it lost in 2010 to current Prime Minister David Cameron.

Nottingham Forest

Doughty bought Nottingham Forest for 11 million pounds in 1999, saving it from bankruptcy, according to the U.K. Press Association. He invested almost 100 million pounds of his own money in the team, the Press Association said.

He stepped down as chairman on Oct. 13, 2011, the same day as Steve McClaren, a former manager of the English national soccer team, quit as Nottingham Forest’s manager.

Nottingham Forest had a “very poor start” to the current season, the team said in announcing Doughty’s resignation. Doughty had been responsible for hiring McClaren.

The team currently stands 23rd in the 24 team Championship, the second-tier league in English soccer. It had reached the playoffs for promotion to the Premier League in the past two seasons.

Doughty was born on June 10, 1957.

–Editors: Mike Harrison, Dick Schumacher.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Harrison at mharrison5@bloomberg.net

View full post on Nigel Doughty – Yahoo! News Search Results

Here at The BoomBox, we thoroughly enjoy R&B music. We also enjoy pointing out some of the idiosyncrasies of the things we love — like the Annoying Things About Hip-Hop, for example. So here’s a little list of things about R&B that tend to irk us from time to time. They’re clearly bothersome but not enough to boycott the genre that spawned the term “baby-making music.” So get your shower ready — or get your clubbin’ shirt on — and check out our list of grievances.

10. ‘Epic’ Album Titles

Dave J Hogan, Getty Images

R&B artists always have this terrible habit of crafting gigantic “I’m in the building” album titles. Most of the time they forget they’re just making music, not rewriting the Constitution. Take Kelly Rowland‘s ‘Here I Am’ LP, released in 2011. Yes, Kelly, here you are. OK, now what? How about Ne-Yo‘s ‘Apprenticeship of Mr. Smith (The Birth of Ne-Yo),’ a collection of tracks created before he signed with Def Jam. Obviously, the crooner was trying to compare his emergence to the Birth of Jesus. Meanwhile, the songs on the project are about dancing at a party and getting over a breakup. Most of the time the actual album rarely lives up to the “epicness” of its title.9. Changing the Genre Then Going AWOL

Kevin Winter, Getty Images | Frank Micelotta, Getty Images

We’re looking at you, Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo. Ms. Hill has been popping up more and more on stages and now D’Angelo has started to perform again, but let’s not forget their past. More than a decade passed by and these game-changers gave us nothing musically. Loyal supporters get fed up fast. You can’t create soulful works of art and then drop off the face of the Earth without reason. Yet these two aren’t the only ones to ditch the R&B game. Think about the entire neo-soul movement — Martin Luther and Amel Larrieux ring a bell? Where are half of those artists?8. Songs About Happiness

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Mary J. Blige has to be the biggest offender of crafting tracks about the joys in life but often times not practicing what she preaches. On her ‘My Life’ album, Mary made a whole song about wanting to ‘Be Happy.’ That was a great time; you know, back when Mary was miserable and stuff. Then she found her smile and all of a sudden it’s a non-stop celebration. Certain R&B artists aren’t meant to craft such celebratory anthems, and Mary is one of them. On ‘My Life II: The Journey Continues, Act 1′ she thankfully returned to some struggle songs. Maybe she finally took the hint from her fan base.7. Dropping Mixtapes Like Albums

Clinton Gilders, FilmMagic | Trey Kevin Winter, Getty Images | Michael Loccisano, Getty Images

It’s bad enough that rappers do this to us, but now R&B singers do too. These are half-baked, phoned in projects to tide everyone over until their album drops on Nevuary 32nd. Triple C member and Rick Ross affiliate Masspike Miles had a forthcoming LP planned for forever now. Instead, we got the ‘Say Hello to Forever’ mixtape. How about The-Dream‘s ’1977′ or Trey Songz‘ ‘Anticipation 2′? Let’s not even get into the fact that The Weeknd keeps dropping mixtapes and we have yet to see a debut LP. It’s nice to have new music, but where is the new album? We can only hear some sing-songy freestyles over ‘Otis’ so many times, people.6. Shirtless Singing Equals Better Singing

KMazur, WireImage

There is no scientific evidence which proves that exposing the skin covering your diaphragm somehow makes your voice sound better. We can blame Jodeci for this phenomenon, particularly member K-CI. Then again, nobody really wanted to see him shirtless anyway. The blame can also lie with Usher. Everybody wanted to see his abs even if it was through a TV screen. Still, that’s not the point. Your pecs are not going to add an octave to your voice, R&B singers. At live performances, chances are, crooning culprits will rip off their T-shirt by song No. 2 — Trey Songz is a prime example of this act. It’s like unbuttoning your pants to eat more at dinner. No point in doing it, especially if the reveal displays a scrawny frame.

5. Overly Emotional Men

Wendy Redfern, Redferns

We all know hip-hop has been guilty of this one as of late — ‘sup, Kid Cudi? — but seriously, the emotional level in R&B sometimes exceeds any and all emo allowances. Frank Ocean, you are a national treasure. But, goodness, man, your music can make you want to fling yourself against a brick wall sometimes. It’s one thing to be sad — yes, people are sad — but wow, jumping into an ocean and drowning yourself in it on ‘Swim Good’? Like we said, these songs are brilliant. However, the “whoa, he’s really emotional” factor sometimes goes into overdrive.4. “Blue Eyed Soul” Term

Kevin Winter, Getty Images | Joe Scarnici, Getty Images

OK, what does this even mean? Is this a polite way to say, “white people who sing R&B music”? If so, then just say it, because not all white people have blue eyes. It started with Jon B. — he has brown eyes, by the way — then eventually carried over to Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake and any other R&B artist who requires SPF 200 to sit out in the sun. We get the reference — Frank Sinatra aka “Ol’ Blue Eyes” — but really, this makes no sense whatsoever, and yet it’s still hanging over the heads of certain R&B singers. No need to categorize by eye color.3. Auto-Tune Use in Songs

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

The blame completely still rests on Auto-Tune’s biggest sponsor, T-Pain. What was once a way to smooth out shaky vocals has now become a total crutch for some artists. We’re not naming any names, because then we’d basically be admitting who is a terrible singer and who isn’t. Since T-Pain sounds decent without Auto-Tune, we’ll continue to blame him for this messy trend. After announcing he would stop using Auto-Tune about 15 different times, he created an iPhone app to make everyone else sound like their vocals were sprinkled with Auto-Tuned too. Do you hate us, Mr. Rappa-Turnt-Sanga?2. Making Reckless Behavior Seem Sexy

Andrew D. Bernstein, National Basketball | Larry Busacca ,Getty Images

We know by now that anything sounds good in an R&B song, even when it isn’t. Some of the most ridiculous activities are sung about in R&B, yet the finished product sounds like it’s the most sensible thing on the planet. Rihanna has progressively pioneered this “are you insane?” movement. From songs like ‘Breakin’ Dishes’ to the video for her song ‘We Found Love,’ which features a Chris Brown look-a-like arguing with her in a car — familiar and dangerous territory — Rihanna’s gone off the deep end, yet we all love it. That doesn’t make it any less annoying though.1. Sometimes Singing, Sometimes Rapping

Gary Gershoff, Getty Images

Pick a side and stay there. While many want to wrongfully blame Drake for the downfall of humanity, the one thing he is definitely responsible for recently is the indecisiveness of R&B singers. It’s great that Chris Brown knows how to rap sometimes and even Trey Songz. But when guys like Ne-Yo jump in, rhyme and then throw out the “Ha! I’m just playing around!” phrase, even though the public knows he’s dead serious, there are big problems. This results in the R&B set priding themselves on versatility when in reality they are just getting on our nerves. Stop rapping, stick to singing. It’s for the greater good.

View full post on RIP Drake – Yahoo! News Search Results

GOP caucuses began as early as 7 a.m. in the state capital of Carson City, with a “vote and go” option for shift workers and others unable to attend the regular caucus meeting. Depending on the county, caucuses were scheduled at various times throughout the day, the last scheduled for 7 p.m.

Rita Homer and her husband, Brad, were the first in line when the doors opened in Carson City around sunrise.

For them, unemployment and immigration are the biggest concerns in this year’s presidential race. They voted for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“He has some off-the-wall ideas, but I have no problem with that,” said Rita Homer, 60, an office manager and tea party backer. “If he wants someone on the moon, let’s get there first.”

By midday, some caucuses were in full swing, with voters debating the attributes and shortcomings of the four remaining GOP hopefuls — Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.

Others were over quickly, sparking anger from latecomers at one site in Henderson. About three dozen voters were turned away from Green Valley High School when they showed up after the fact.

Party officials chalked it up to a learning experience, saying some voters are still unfamiliar with how caucuses work, believing they can show up at any time and cast a ballot.

“Contact the party and complain,” precinct captain Dale Napier told some disgruntled voters.

Nevada changed from a presidential primary to a caucus state in 2000 — and many bemoan the switch. Petitions were being circulated at some GOP caucuses to go back to primaries.

“This whole process disenfranchises too many people,” said Carol Howell, site manager in Carson City. “We lose early voting and absentee voting. Most people don’t understand the process.”

Statewide, 1,835 GOP precincts were meeting at 125 caucus sites.

More than 1,000 people were at a middle school in Sparks.

Vinney Tolman, a 35-year-old small business owner, was backing Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who won Nevada four years ago and was favored to repeat on Saturday.

“He has some ethics and morals that are going to be a stable foundation for his policies,” Tolman said.

Rosemary Millet, 56, liked Romney’s business experience.

“We need a financial genius at this point and I think he’s it,” she said in Carson City.

Charlene Bybee, a Sparks flight attendant and tea party organizer, said former House Speaker Gingrich was the better candidate because he talks about “facts, not rhetoric.”

In the Las Vegas community of Summerlin, Steve Commander bounced around a middle school science classroom wearing a tea party lapel pin and a tie spangled with $100 bills.

He serenaded volunteers with a rendition of the Sammy Davis Jr. song, “I’ve Gotta Be Me.”

“I’m excited about the America that was and will be,” said Commander, 67, a former adviser to Sharron Angle in her failed bid to unseat Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Republicans this year are hoping to generate the kind of buzz and voter enthusiasm that Democrats garnered in 2008 to propel Obama to the White House.

At Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas, about 1,200 people from 26 precincts turned out, and by 10 a.m. most had finished voting.

“We had some minor issues and had to call the central party office to verify registered voters,” said site manager Tom Thomas. “A few showed up late after their precincts finished. We didn’t turn anyone away.”

A special 7 p.m. caucus was to be held to accommodate religious voters in Clark County who celebrate the Saturday Sabbath. Caucus results will be released by the state Party via Twitter and Google.

Romney was a projected favorite, though all of the candidates had their share of backers.

Jeff Coppens, 45, and his wife decided just before the caucus to support Santorum, and dismissed talk that Romney was the presumptive Republican nominee.

“I feel differently that Romney’s the only one who can beat Obama,” Coppens said, adding that Santorum “is consistent on what he says and very tough.”

The Nevada caucuses are the first-in-the-West Republican presidential contest and the fifth in the nation.

Romney carried the state four years ago, benefiting in part by the large Mormon presence in Nevada.

Paul, a Texas congressman, finished second in Nevada in 2008, and was counting on continued support Saturday from a loyal base and voters like Ruth Dodrill who are attracted to his libertarian, anti-government and anti-tax message.

“I doubt he will make it, but I still believe there are steps this country needs to make to get its economics in shape,” said Dodrill, 76, a former teacher. “Government should not be running anything. That’s unconstitutional.”

State GOP leaders expect 50,000 to 60,000 voters — out of 400,000 active registered Republicans in Nevada — to participate. At stake are 28 delegates to this summer’s Republican nominating convention that will be awarded proportionally based on the outcome of Saturday’s contest.

All four candidates crisscrossed the state this week, trying to woo voters in a state that has been slow to recover from the economic blows of the Great Recession.

Nevada’s unemployment rate has been highest in the nation since May 2010, soaring to just shy of 15 percent later that year. By December 2011, the rate receded to 12.6 percent, but more than 166,000 people remained out of work.

The collapse of the housing market left a majority of homeowners underwater on mortgages, and one in every 177 homes was in foreclosure in December, also the highest rate in the nation.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels, Ken Ritter and Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas and Scott Sonner and Martin Griffith in Reno contributed to this report.

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum are the only four candidates left after one caucus and three primaries so far.

Romney is favored to win the Nevada caucus, with Paul poised for a possible surprise win over Gingrich for second place. Rick Santorum is expected to finish last in the state, with single-digit returns.

For those who want to track each candidates’ progress in Nevada, however, have no fear: CNN is live-streaming up-to-date results and reactions to tonight’s caucus.

Other political news organizations and blogs began posting up-to-date live blogs before the polls closed.

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Below, find out where to watch live-streamed results and reactions on the ground in Nevada, and how to get live updates on everything about the caucuses.

Where Can I Watch The Nevada Caucus Results Live?

CNN is hosting breaking news coverage of the 2012 Nevada presidential caucuses tonight. The site’s coverage is expected to begin around 7:00 p.m. EST, but it has not yet been able to confirm a set start time. Check in on the live-stream here for full coverage.

Where Can I Get Live Updates?

Numerous political blogs and news sites are posting live updates of the Nevada 2012 caucus polls and aggregating reports from the Silver State in anticipation of the final results. Politico and The Huffington Post are two of them to check out.

What Do The Exit Polls Say So Far?

CBS is compiling exit polls for Nevada, and it should release them later this evening. Check out its political news site here for further updates.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: To contact the editor, e-mail:

View full post on nevada caucus – Yahoo! News Search Results

Here at The BoomBox, we thoroughly enjoy R&B music. We also enjoy pointing out some of the idiosyncrasies of the things we love — like the Annoying Things About Hip-Hop, for example. So here’s a little list of things about R&B that tend to irk us from time to time. They’re clearly bothersome but not enough to boycott the genre that spawned the term “baby-making music.” So get your shower ready — or get your clubbin’ shirt on — and check out our list of grievances.

10. ‘Epic’ Album Titles

Dave J Hogan, Getty Images

R&B artists always have this terrible habit of crafting gigantic “I’m in the building” album titles. Most of the time they forget they’re just making music, not rewriting the Constitution. Take Kelly Rowland‘s ‘Here I Am’ LP, released in 2011. Yes, Kelly, here you are. OK, now what? How about Ne-Yo‘s ‘Apprenticeship of Mr. Smith (The Birth of Ne-Yo),’ a collection of tracks created before he signed with Def Jam. Obviously, the crooner was trying to compare his emergence to the Birth of Jesus. Meanwhile, the songs on the project are about dancing at a party and getting over a breakup. Most of the time the actual album rarely lives up to the “epicness” of its title.9. Changing the Genre Then Going AWOL

Kevin Winter, Getty Images | Frank Micelotta, Getty Images

We’re looking at you, Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo. Ms. Hill has been popping up more and more on stages and now D’Angelo has started to perform again, but let’s not forget their past. More than a decade passed by and these game-changers gave us nothing musically. Loyal supporters get fed up fast. You can’t create soulful works of art and then drop off the face of the Earth without reason. Yet these two aren’t the only ones to ditch the R&B game. Think about the entire neo-soul movement — Martin Luther and Amel Larrieux ring a bell? Where are half of those artists?8. Songs About Happiness

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Mary J. Blige has to be the biggest offender of crafting tracks about the joys in life but often times not practicing what she preaches. On her ‘My Life’ album, Mary made a whole song about wanting to ‘Be Happy.’ That was a great time; you know, back when Mary was miserable and stuff. Then she found her smile and all of a sudden it’s a non-stop celebration. Certain R&B artists aren’t meant to craft such celebratory anthems, and Mary is one of them. On ‘My Life II: The Journey Continues, Act 1′ she thankfully returned to some struggle songs. Maybe she finally took the hint from her fan base.7. Dropping Mixtapes Like Albums

Clinton Gilders, FilmMagic | Trey Kevin Winter, Getty Images | Michael Loccisano, Getty Images

It’s bad enough that rappers do this to us, but now R&B singers do too. These are half-baked, phoned in projects to tide everyone over until their album drops on Nevuary 32nd. Triple C member and Rick Ross affiliate Masspike Miles had a forthcoming LP planned for forever now. Instead, we got the ‘Say Hello to Forever’ mixtape. How about The-Dream‘s ’1977′ or Trey Songz‘ ‘Anticipation 2′? Let’s not even get into the fact that The Weeknd keeps dropping mixtapes and we have yet to see a debut LP. It’s nice to have new music, but where is the new album? We can only hear some sing-songy freestyles over ‘Otis’ so many times, people.6. Shirtless Singing Equals Better Singing

KMazur, WireImage

There is no scientific evidence which proves that exposing the skin covering your diaphragm somehow makes your voice sound better. We can blame Jodeci for this phenomenon, particularly member K-CI. Then again, nobody really wanted to see him shirtless anyway. The blame can also lie with Usher. Everybody wanted to see his abs even if it was through a TV screen. Still, that’s not the point. Your pecs are not going to add an octave to your voice, R&B singers. At live performances, chances are, crooning culprits will rip off their T-shirt by song No. 2 — Trey Songz is a prime example of this act. It’s like unbuttoning your pants to eat more at dinner. No point in doing it, especially if the reveal displays a scrawny frame.

5. Overly Emotional Men

Wendy Redfern, Redferns

We all know hip-hop has been guilty of this one as of late — ‘sup, Kid Cudi? — but seriously, the emotional level in R&B sometimes exceeds any and all emo allowances. Frank Ocean, you are a national treasure. But, goodness, man, your music can make you want to fling yourself against a brick wall sometimes. It’s one thing to be sad — yes, people are sad — but wow, jumping into an ocean and drowning yourself in it on ‘Swim Good’? Like we said, these songs are brilliant. However, the “whoa, he’s really emotional” factor sometimes goes into overdrive.4. “Blue Eyed Soul” Term

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OK, what does this even mean? Is this a polite way to say, “white people who sing R&B music”? If so, then just say it, because not all white people have blue eyes. It started with Jon B. — he has brown eyes, by the way — then eventually carried over to Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake and any other R&B artist who requires SPF 200 to sit out in the sun. We get the reference — Frank Sinatra aka “Ol’ Blue Eyes” — but really, this makes no sense whatsoever, and yet it’s still hanging over the heads of certain R&B singers. No need to categorize by eye color.3. Auto-Tune Use in Songs

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

The blame completely still rests on Auto-Tune’s biggest sponsor, T-Pain. What was once a way to smooth out shaky vocals has now become a total crutch for some artists. We’re not naming any names, because then we’d basically be admitting who is a terrible singer and who isn’t. Since T-Pain sounds decent without Auto-Tune, we’ll continue to blame him for this messy trend. After announcing he would stop using Auto-Tune about 15 different times, he created an iPhone app to make everyone else sound like their vocals were sprinkled with Auto-Tuned too. Do you hate us, Mr. Rappa-Turnt-Sanga?2. Making Reckless Behavior Seem Sexy

Andrew D. Bernstein, National Basketball | Larry Busacca ,Getty Images

We know by now that anything sounds good in an R&B song, even when it isn’t. Some of the most ridiculous activities are sung about in R&B, yet the finished product sounds like it’s the most sensible thing on the planet. Rihanna has progressively pioneered this “are you insane?” movement. From songs like ‘Breakin’ Dishes’ to the video for her song ‘We Found Love,’ which features a Chris Brown look-a-like arguing with her in a car — familiar and dangerous territory — Rihanna’s gone off the deep end, yet we all love it. That doesn’t make it any less annoying though.1. Sometimes Singing, Sometimes Rapping

Gary Gershoff, Getty Images

Pick a side and stay there. While many want to wrongfully blame Drake for the downfall of humanity, the one thing he is definitely responsible for recently is the indecisiveness of R&B singers. It’s great that Chris Brown knows how to rap sometimes and even Trey Songz. But when guys like Ne-Yo jump in, rhyme and then throw out the “Ha! I’m just playing around!” phrase, even though the public knows he’s dead serious, there are big problems. This results in the R&B set priding themselves on versatility when in reality they are just getting on our nerves. Stop rapping, stick to singing. It’s for the greater good.

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GOP caucuses began as early as 7 a.m. in the state capital of Carson City, with a “vote and go” option for shift workers and others unable to attend the regular caucus meeting. Depending on the county, caucuses were scheduled at various times throughout the day, the last scheduled for 7 p.m.

Rita Homer and her husband, Brad, were the first in line when the doors opened in Carson City around sunrise.

For them, unemployment and immigration are the biggest concerns in this year’s presidential race. They voted for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“He has some off-the-wall ideas, but I have no problem with that,” said Rita Homer, 60, an office manager and tea party backer. “If he wants someone on the moon, let’s get there first.”

By midday, some caucuses were in full swing, with voters debating the attributes and shortcomings of the four remaining GOP hopefuls — Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.

Others were over quickly, sparking anger from latecomers at one site in Henderson. About three dozen voters were turned away from Green Valley High School when they showed up after the fact.

Party officials chalked it up to a learning experience, saying some voters are still unfamiliar with how caucuses work, believing they can show up at any time and cast a ballot.

“Contact the party and complain,” precinct captain Dale Napier told some disgruntled voters.

Nevada changed from a presidential primary to a caucus state in 2000 — and many bemoan the switch. Petitions were being circulated at some GOP caucuses to go back to primaries.

“This whole process disenfranchises too many people,” said Carol Howell, site manager in Carson City. “We lose early voting and absentee voting. Most people don’t understand the process.”

Statewide, 1,835 GOP precincts were meeting at 125 caucus sites.

More than 1,000 people were at a middle school in Sparks.

Vinney Tolman, a 35-year-old small business owner, was backing Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who won Nevada four years ago and was favored to repeat on Saturday.

“He has some ethics and morals that are going to be a stable foundation for his policies,” Tolman said.

Rosemary Millet, 56, liked Romney’s business experience.

“We need a financial genius at this point and I think he’s it,” she said in Carson City.

Charlene Bybee, a Sparks flight attendant and tea party organizer, said former House Speaker Gingrich was the better candidate because he talks about “facts, not rhetoric.”

In the Las Vegas community of Summerlin, Steve Commander bounced around a middle school science classroom wearing a tea party lapel pin and a tie spangled with $100 bills.

He serenaded volunteers with a rendition of the Sammy Davis Jr. song, “I’ve Gotta Be Me.”

“I’m excited about the America that was and will be,” said Commander, 67, a former adviser to Sharron Angle in her failed bid to unseat Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Republicans this year are hoping to generate the kind of buzz and voter enthusiasm that Democrats garnered in 2008 to propel Obama to the White House.

At Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas, about 1,200 people from 26 precincts turned out, and by 10 a.m. most had finished voting.

“We had some minor issues and had to call the central party office to verify registered voters,” said site manager Tom Thomas. “A few showed up late after their precincts finished. We didn’t turn anyone away.”

A special 7 p.m. caucus was to be held to accommodate religious voters in Clark County who celebrate the Saturday Sabbath. Caucus results will be released by the state Party via Twitter and Google.

Romney was a projected favorite, though all of the candidates had their share of backers.

Jeff Coppens, 45, and his wife decided just before the caucus to support Santorum, and dismissed talk that Romney was the presumptive Republican nominee.

“I feel differently that Romney’s the only one who can beat Obama,” Coppens said, adding that Santorum “is consistent on what he says and very tough.”

The Nevada caucuses are the first-in-the-West Republican presidential contest and the fifth in the nation.

Romney carried the state four years ago, benefiting in part by the large Mormon presence in Nevada.

Paul, a Texas congressman, finished second in Nevada in 2008, and was counting on continued support Saturday from a loyal base and voters like Ruth Dodrill who are attracted to his libertarian, anti-government and anti-tax message.

“I doubt he will make it, but I still believe there are steps this country needs to make to get its economics in shape,” said Dodrill, 76, a former teacher. “Government should not be running anything. That’s unconstitutional.”

State GOP leaders expect 50,000 to 60,000 voters — out of 400,000 active registered Republicans in Nevada — to participate. At stake are 28 delegates to this summer’s Republican nominating convention that will be awarded proportionally based on the outcome of Saturday’s contest.

All four candidates crisscrossed the state this week, trying to woo voters in a state that has been slow to recover from the economic blows of the Great Recession.

Nevada’s unemployment rate has been highest in the nation since May 2010, soaring to just shy of 15 percent later that year. By December 2011, the rate receded to 12.6 percent, but more than 166,000 people remained out of work.

The collapse of the housing market left a majority of homeowners underwater on mortgages, and one in every 177 homes was in foreclosure in December, also the highest rate in the nation.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels, Ken Ritter and Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas and Scott Sonner and Martin Griffith in Reno contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press

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Mitt Romney carried the Florida 2012 Republican primary by 14.5 percentage points on Tuesday, garnering 46.4 percent of the vote.

But in Nevada, the former Massachusetts governor is expected to get at least 50 percent of the vote.

This estimate is backed by polls conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and by Public Policy Polling, as well as by aggregates of 538 and HuffPollster, compiled by The New York Times and The Huffington Post, respectively.

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Romney’s history in the state bodes well, too. The Nevada caucus went big for Romney back during the 2008 Republican nomination process, and the state shows no sign of changing in 2012.

The candidate’s Mormon background, meanwhile, appeals greatly to the state’s GOP electorate, a quarter of whom are members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

Newt Gingrich is expected to place a distant second with approximately 25 percent of the vote, with Ron Paul in third and Rick Santorum in fourth.

In terms of delegates, Nevada offers only a modest 28 to the winner. Romney has 87 delegates so far, followed by Gingrich, at 26; Santorum, at 14; and Ron Paul, at four.

A GOP candidate needs 1,144 delegates to win the nomination.

In terms of symbolic significance, however, Romney’s Nevada victory will be his first back-to-back win in the race, and it would help him put some distance between himself and the “anti-Romney” candidates trailing him.

So far, Romney has never lost a race he was projected to win.

All of which helps to explain why, on the day of the Nevada caucus, neither Newt Gingrich nor Ron Paul nor Rick Santorum is in Nevada.

“We’re going to be competing there,” Gingrich told Fox News on Saturday.

But the “there” the former Speaker referred to was not Nevada, but Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, with Maine, Michigan and Arizona to follow soon after.

After a primary or caucus each week in January, February will see a slew of caucuses and primaries, all of them leading up to the 10-state, swing-state-heavy Super Tuesday, on March 6, 2012.

In order to survive the merciless campaign schedule, and to convince voters that they still have a chance in the race, candidates can no longer afford to stay in a state if they expect a loss.

Rick Santorum, meanwhile, campaigned today in Colorado, and he was in Missouri on Friday, tearing into Romney and Gingrich in anticipation of their gains in Nevada.

During a speech in Missouri on Friday, Santorum criticized Romney for being detached from the American people, and he lambasted Gingrich for his sometimes outlandish ideas, like his call for a moon base built by private corporations.

“We need someone who is more multidimensional than Governor Romney,” Santorum told the crowd, “and not as multidimensional in every idea in the world as Newt Gingrich.”

Missouri is an interesting state for Santorum to choose in the days before the Nevada caucus.

It will hold both a primary and a caucus this year, and the earlier date, the Feb.17 primary, will give its winner no delegates.

A symbolic victory in the deeply conservative state, however, could give the former Pennsylvania senator the boost he needs to stay in what has become a three-way race.

His expected fourth place single-digit finish in Nevada will be a blow that the candidate needs to work on compensating for immediately.

Even Ron Paul has left Nevada to carry on to Minnesota — but not without putting in some serious hours in Nevada first.

Unlike Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both of whom spent a limited amount of time and effort in the Silver State, Paul has devoted a lot of resources to the caucus.

And while Gingrich and Santorum are rallying on the defensive side, Paul’s retreat from Nevada on the night of the primary actually reads like a move from the offense.

Ron Paul has great organization in Nevada, and he remains the candidate with the greatest number of polling errors in the Republican primary race.

Based on his late lead over Santorum, and the difficulty of polling the younger voters who often come out for him in full force, Paul could even challenge Gingrich for second place.

And for his campaign team, second place is the perfect spot to be.

“Our goal is to win,” Paul said at a news conference on Wednesday in Las Vegas, Nev. “And you win by getting the maximum number of delegates.”

According to Paul’s advisers, the candidate is looking to avoid putting too much into expensive winner-take-all primaries like Florida and Arizona in favor of states that allocate their delegates and cost less in campaign funds.

“I’m delighted Nevada makes it fair, where we can compete for the votes,” Fox quoted Paul as saying. “When we get the delegates and build up momentum, we can win.”

And with 46 states yet to vote, and just six percent of the delegates claimed so far, that strategy is one of the best ways to take on front-runner Mitt Romney.

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AMERICAN character actor Ben Gazzara has died at the age of 81.

HIs powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in such iconic productions over the decades as the original Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway and the film The Big Lebowski.

Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he’s playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.

In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt, the disturbed alcoholic son and failed football star in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

He left the show after only seven months to take on an equally challenging role, Johnny Pope, the drug addict in A Hatful of Rain. It earned him his first of three Tony Award nominations.

In 1965, he moved on to TV stardom in Run for Your Life, a drama about a workaholic lawyer who, diagnosed with a terminal illness, quits his job and embarks on a globe-trotting attempt to squeeze a lifetime of adventures into the one or two years he has left. He was twice nominated for Emmys during the show’s three-year run.

Gazzara made his movie debut in 1957 in The Strange One, Calder Willingham’s bitter drama about brutality at a Southern military school.

He had previously played the lead role of the psychopathic cadet, Jocko de Paris, on Broadway in Willingham’s stage version of the story, End of Man.

He followed that film with Anatomy of a Murder, alongside Hollywood legend James Stewart, in which he played a man on trial for murdering a tavern keeper who had been accused of raping his wife, played by Lee Remick.

After Run for Your Life ended in 1968, Gazzara spent the rest of his career alternating between movies and the stage, although rarely with the critical acclaim he had enjoyed during his early years.

In the 1970s, he teamed with his friend director John Cassavetes for three films, including The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night. In another Cassavetes film, he appeared with Peter Falk, and the two became friends (it was Cassavetes who introduced them to the Wyndham Hotel, according to a 1982 article in New York magazine).

Gena Rowlands appeared with Gazzara in Opening Night, which also starred Cassavetes. Cassavetes and Rowlands were married; he died in 1989. Falk died last year.

“It breaks my heart to have this era come to an end. Ben meant so much to all of us. To our families. To John. To Peter. To have them gone now is devastating to me,” she said in a statement.

She said her prayers and thoughts went out to “all his loyal and wonderful fans throughout the world.”

Rita Moreno, who played Gazzara’s wife in the 2000 film Blue Moon, said: “He was a wonderful man, and I so enjoyed working with him. I wish I could have had the pleasure more often.”

Other Gazzara films included The Bridge at Remagen, The Young Doctors, They All Laughed, The Thomas Crown Affair, If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium, The Spanish Prisoner, Stag and Road House. He also made several films in Italy.

He appeared on Broadway in revivals of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Awake and Sing!, Strange Interlude and several other plays.

Gazzara began acting in television in 1952 with roles on the series Danger and Kraft Television Theater. Before landing Run for Your Life, he played a police detective in the series Arrest and Trial, which lasted two seasons.

Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York on Aug. 28, 1930, he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a cold-water flat with a bathtub in the kitchen.

His parents were immigrants from Sicily who met and married in New York, and his first language was Italian. Although he was baptized under his birth name, his parents always called him Ben or Benny.

As a child he became fascinated with movies, and after giving his first performance, in a Boys Club play, he knew he had found his life’s work.

“I disliked high school,” he once said, “and after two years of it I left without telling anyone at home.”

Instead he spent his days in movie theaters.

He entered Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop in 1948. Eighteen months later he auditioned for the Actors Studio run by Lee Strasberg and was accepted.

The school was a beehive of activity in those days, turning out such followers of method acting as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Barbara Bel Geddes, Shelly Winters, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Rod Steiger and Julie Harris.

“There’s a lot of voodoo about the Actors Studio,” Gazzara told The Associated Press in 1966.

“In the best sense it was a place for professionals to stay in touch with their craft, where newcomers and professionals mingled, to grow, to try parts they would never get in the professional theater and to even fall on their face.”

Gazzara’s first two marriages, to actresses Louise Erikson and Janice Rule, ended in divorce.

While filming Inchon in Korea in 1981, he met Krivat. They married the following year, and the union endured.

“Elke saved my life,” Gazzara said in 1999.

“When I met her, I was drinking too much, fooling around too much, killing myself. She put romance and hope back in my life.”

He adopted Krivat’s daughter, Danja, as his own. She recalled on Friday that he was a “complex soul” and that his role as a father to her and his own daughter was challenging.

“I adored Ben, and so did his daughter,” she said.

“But we both had difficulty with him … I think the difficulty lay in his complexity of being an actor and those layers that you have, that you bring with you.”

Besides Danja, Gazzara is survived by his wife, daughter Elizabeth and a brother.

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Forest, which currently plays in the second tier of English football, released a statement saying Doughty was found dead in the gym at his home in Skillington, a village in the central-eastern county of Lincolnshire.

Doughty saved Forest from going into administration—a form of bankruptcy protection—by buying the club for 11 million pounds ($17.4 million) in 1999, and invested more than 100 million pounds ($160 million) of his money in an attempt to revive the team’s fortunes.

Forest won the European Cup—the pre-cursor to the Champions League—in 1979 and 1980 under late manager Brian Clough but has been outside the Premier League since 1999.

English golfer Lee Westwood, who is a supporter of Forest, tweeted: “Terrible news to hear that the Forest chairman Nigel Doughty has died.”

Doughty also played an influential role in British politics, contributing to the Labour party’s policy-making process.

“I am shocked and saddened to hear of Nigel Doughty’s death. I was with him only a week ago and he was full of life, enthusiasm and vigor,” Labour leader Ed Miliband said.

“He was a kind, generous man with a deep desire to make the world a better place. My heart goes out to his wife Lucy and his children. We mourn his death deeply and will sorely miss him.”

Doughty stepped down as chairman of Forest, the club he supported throughout his life, in October after a decade in the position.

The club has reached the second-tier League Championship playoffs for the past two seasons but failed to gain promotion to the top division.

“It is with enormous sadness that Nottingham Forest announce the death of the club’s owner Nigel Doughty,” the club’s statement read.

“The club would like to appeal for the privacy of Mr. Doughty’s family to be observed at this sad time.”

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A native New Yorker, the Emmy winner studied with drama guru Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and became a Broadway stage sensation in the 1950s thanks to leading roles in plays like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Hatful of Rain.

Gazzara made a string of TV appearances in the late 1950s and hit the big screen in Anatomy of a Murder, opposite James Stewart, in 1959.

The film picked up seven Oscar nominations and shot Gazzara into the Hollywood spotlight – where he became a revered actor for 50 years. Key projects have included Convicts 4, Saint Jack, The Big Lebowski, Buffalo 66, Happiness, Dogville, Summer of Sam and the 1999 Thomas Crown Affair remake.

Gazzara also enjoyed a string of movie successes as legendary director John Cassavetes’ collaborator – the two old pals teamed up in Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night.

He always brought a sense of great drama and a tremendous physical presence to his roles, often playing villains and morally corrupt characters.

On TV, he is best known for his role as Paul Bryan in the long-running 1960s series Run For Your Life.

He returned to the stage in recent years and toured his one-man show throughout the New York area as he battled throat cancer.

Gazzara was working with Jerry Lewis and Peter Bogdanovich on new movie Max Rose when he died. As WENN went to press it was not known if he had completed his work for the film.

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Legendary stage and screen actor Ben Gazzara lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Friday, his lawyer Jay Julien told the New York Times. He was 81.

PHOTOS: Us Weekly’s tribute to the stars we’ve lost

Originating the role of Brick Pollitt in Broadway’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955, the method actor went on to perform on the Great White Way as drug addict Johnny Pope in A Hatful of Rain. His role in Rain earned Gazzara his first of three Tony Award nominations.

Making a splash on the small screen in 1965′s Run for Your Life, Gazzara received two Emmy nominations during his three-year stint on the series.

PHOTOS: Memorable TV performances

In the years since Run for Your Life wrapped, the actor often teamed with pal John Cassavetes on projects including The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night.

More recently, Gazzara appeared in The Thomas Crown Affair, The Big Lobowski and costarred alongside Nicole Kidman in 2003′s Dogville.

PHOTOS: Nicole Kidman through the years

He is survived by his brother, wife and two children.

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The heaviest reported day of death since the Syrian uprising began coupled the second such UN veto in four months, triggered a wave of international outrage, with Washington saying it was “disgusted” with the veto and France calling the massacre a “crime against humanity.”

President Bashar al-Assad’s troops shelled Homs “randomly” during the night killing men, women and children, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said.

It said at least 260 civilians were killed in the onslaught. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 100 women and children were among the 237 dead in its toll. Both said hundreds more were wounded.

The “Assad regime committed one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria,” the SNC said. Opposition groups say more than 6,000 people have now been killed in the country since last March.

Dozens of bodies and scenes of chaos could be seen in video images shown by the Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya television channels.

Church bells rang out and Muslim prayers were recited in Homs mosques for those killed, activists said. Thousands took part in funeral processions across the city.

AFP was not able to verify the authenticity of videos or the tolls because of restrictions on reporting in Syria. But US President Barack Obama denounced the “unspeakable assault” and demanded that Assad step down.

“Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately,” Obama said in a statement.

The Syrian government denied responsibility for the deaths, blaming them on opposition rebels seeking to influence Security Council debate on Syria. But Russia and China used their diplomatic muscle for the second time in four months to block a resolution condemning the violence.

The other 13 countries in the 15-member council voted for the resolution, proposed by European and Arab nations to give strong backing to an Arab League plan to end the crackdown.

Russia and China “remain steadfast in their willingness to sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant,” US ambassador Susan Rice told the council.

In a separate message on Twitter, Rice wrote: “Disgusted that Russia and China prevented the UN Security Council from fulfilling its sole purpose.”

Britain is “appalled” at the veto, said its UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy “strongly deplores” the block by Russia and China, his office said.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the failure to agree a resolution “undermines” the United Nations.

But Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin defiantly rejected attacks from the European and Arab nations that proposed the resolution, which has been negotiated for several weeks. He said it was “unbalanced” and that the western backers only wanted “regime change” in Damascus.

Western envoys said they had bent over backwards to change the text after Russia had balked at any resolution that could be used to justify foreign military intervention, called for Assad to quit or imposed an arms embargo on Syria.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she had tried to negotiate with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

But the resolution’s backers said they decided to end negotiations and call for a vote after Russia demanded new changes on Saturday morning.

Russia — for whom Syria is its last remaining major ally in the Middle East — announced that Lavrov and intelligence chief Mikhail Fradkov would travel to Damascus on Tuesday to press Assad to discuss a political solution.

China said it backed Russia’s demand for changes to the UN resolution and Lavrov’s visit.

As news of the Homs killing spread, protesters stormed Syrian embassies in Athens, Berlin, Cairo, Kuwait and London. Tunisia announced it was expelling Syria’s ambassador and withdrawing its recognition of the Assad government.

The SNC said it took over the embassy in Tripoli.

The Homs attack came on the 30th anniversary of a massacre by Assad’s father Hafez in the city of Hama in which tens of thousands died.

Homs was not the only city to suffer in the recent explosion of violence.

Assad’s forces also “bombed” the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur near the Turkish border, and suburbs of Damascus, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Twelve people were killed when security forces opened fired on a funeral procession in Daraya, outside Damascus, the Observatory’s Abdel Rahman said.

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Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he’s playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.

In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt, the disturbed alcoholic son and failed football star in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” He left the show after only seven months to take on an equally challenging role, Johnny Pope, the drug addict in “A Hatful of Rain.” It earned him his first of three Tony Award nominations.

In 1965, he moved on to TV stardom in “Run for Your Life,” a drama about a workaholic lawyer who, diagnosed with a terminal illness, quits his job and embarks on a globe-trotting attempt to squeeze a lifetime of adventures into the one or two years he has left. He was twice nominated for Emmys during the show’s three-year run.

Gazzara made his movie debut in 1957 in “The Strange One,” Calder Willingham’s bitter drama about brutality at a Southern military school. He had previously played the lead role of the psychopathic cadet, Jocko de Paris, on Broadway in Willingham’s stage version of the story, “End of Man.”

He followed that film with “Anatomy of a Murder,” in which he played a man on trial for murdering a tavern keeper who had been accused of raping his wife.

After “Run for Your Life” ended in 1968, Gazzara spent the rest of his career alternating between movies and the stage, although rarely with the critical acclaim he had enjoyed during his early years.

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In the 1970s, he teamed with his friend director John Cassavetes for three films, “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” and “Opening Night.” In another Cassavetes film, he appeared with Falk, and the two became friends (it was Cassavetes who introduced them to the Wyndham Hotel, according to a 1982 article in New York magazine).

Gena Rowlands appeared with Gazzara in “Opening Night,” which also starred Cassavetes. Cassavetes and Rowlands were married; he died in 1989. Falk died last year.

“It breaks my heart to have this era come to an end. Ben meant so much to all of us. To our families. To John. To Peter. To have them gone now is devastating to me,” she said in a statement.

She said her prayers and thoughts went out to “all his loyal and wonderful fans throughout the world.”

Rita Moreno, who played Gazzara’s wife in the 2000 film “Blue Moon,” said, “He was a wonderful man, and I so enjoyed working with him. I wish I could have had the pleasure more often.”

Other Gazzara films included “The Bridge at Remagen,” ”The Young Doctors,” ”They All Laughed,” ”The Thomas Crown Affair,” ”If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium,” ”The Spanish Prisoner,” ”Stag” and “Road House.” He also made several films in Italy.

He appeared on Broadway in revivals of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” ”Awake and Sing!” ”Strange Interlude” and several other plays.

Gazzara began acting in television in 1952 with roles on the series “Danger” and “Kraft Television Theater.” Before landing “Run for Your Life,” he played a police detective in the series “Arrest and Trial,” which lasted two seasons.

Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York on Aug. 28, 1930, he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a cold-water flat with a bathtub in the kitchen. His parents were immigrants from Sicily who met and married in New York, and his first language was Italian. Although he was baptized under his birth name, his parents always called him Ben or Benny.

As a child he became fascinated with movies, and after giving his first performance, in a Boys Club play, he knew he had found his life’s work.

(Page 3 of 3)

“I disliked high school,” he once said, “and after two years of it I left without telling anyone at home.”

Instead he spent his days in movie theaters.

He entered Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop in 1948. Eighteen months later he auditioned for the Actors Studio run by Lee Strasberg and was accepted.

The school was a beehive of activity in those days, turning out such followers of method acting as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Barbara Bel Geddes, Shelly Winters, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Rod Steiger and Julie Harris.

“There’s a lot of voodoo about the Actors Studio,” Gazzara told The Associated Press in 1966. “In the best sense it was a place for professionals to stay in touch with their craft, where newcomers and professionals mingled, to grow, to try parts they would never get in the professional theater and to even fall on their face.”

Gazzara’s first two marriages, to actresses Louise Erikson and Janice Rule, ended in divorce.

While filming “Inchon” in Korea in 1981, he met Krivat. They married the following year, and the union endured.

“Elke saved my life,” Gazzara said in 1999. “When I met her, I was drinking too much, fooling around too much, killing myself. She put romance and hope back in my life.”

He adopted Krivat’s daughter, Danja, as his own. She recalled on Friday that he was a “complex soul” and that his role as a father to her and his own daughter was challenging.

“I adored Ben, and so did his daughter,” she said. “But we both had difficulty with him … I think the difficulty lay in his complexity of being an actor and those layers that you have, that you bring with you.”

Besides Danja, Gazzara is survived by his wife, daughter Elizabeth and a brother.

Former Associated Press writer Bob Thomas in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Film and stage actor Ben Gazzara has died in New York at the age of 81.

He was best known for playing tough characters and villains in the films Anatomy of a Murder in 1959 and 1970′s Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

Gazzara, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, later appeared in cult comedy The Big Lebowski, directed by the Coen Brothers.

He began his career in the theatre, starring in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Method actor

Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died on Friday.

The son of Italian immigrants, Gazzara was a proponent of method acting and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career.

In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt, the disturbed alcoholic son and failed football star in the Tennessee Williams’ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

He left the show after only seven months to take on the role of Johnny Pope, the drug addict in A Hatful of Rain, which earned him the first of three Tony Award nominations.

In 1965 he starred in the TV series Run for Your Life which saw him twice nominated for an Emmy during the show’s three-year run.

His other films included The Strange One, The Thomas Crown Affair and Opening Night, one of three appearances directed by his friend John Cassavetes.

Gazzara’s marriages to actresses Louise Erikson and Janice Rule, ended in divorce. He married his third wife, the model Elke Krivatand, in 1982.

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Rumors that actor Eddie Murphy had died began circulating the Internet last night, on Friday. The hashtag “RIP Eddie Murphy” began trending wildly on Twitter as fans voiced their grief at the sudden (fake) passing of Murphy. The actor is very much alive. 

TMZ discovered that the rumor rooted back to a Web site called MediaFetcher.com. The site has reportedly been spinning numerous bogus celebrity death hoaxes including those about Jon Bon Jovi, Charlie Sheen, Adam Sandler, TooShort, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Luke Perry, Jack Black, Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Tom Green, Mac Miller, Tiger Woods, George Clooney and others.

MediaFetch.com wrote: “Actor Eddie Murphy died in a single vehicle crash between Ipswich and Willowbank in Queensland as confirmed by Royal Queensland Police – Feb. 3, 2012. The accident occurred at approximately 5:30 a.m. (UTC/GMT +10). Eddie Murphy is believed to have been in the area while on vacation. He was identified by photo ID found at the scene. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to have been a factor in this accident.”

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Global Associated News then reported that he died after his luxury yacht crashed off St. Tropez: “The French Maritime Gendarmerie, a division of the French Navy, responded to distress calls from 10 persons aboard a 120′ luxury yacht cruising off of the coast of St. Tropez. Actor Eddie Murphy was reportedly vacationing aboard the privately chartered vessel.”

Both “reports” are obviously false. Murphy was previously killed off in early December when gossip spread that he died after a snowboarding accident in Switzerland.

Celebrity death hoaxes have become quite popular lately. From Drake to Jon Bon Jovi to Adele, Web sites are killing off some of the most beloved artists around!

Some of the “victims” have joined in on the joke. After news spread that Jon Bon Jovi died around Christmas, the New Jersey rocker tweeted a photo of himself holding up a sign that read “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey.”

Anonymous tweeted Friday night, “RIP Eddie Murphy? Man, Twitter kills more people each year than cars, airplanes and trucks combined!”

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The veteran actor, who died Friday in New York City, found fame on Broadway in the 1950s, starred in the TV series “Run for Your Life” in the 1960s and was closely identified on the big screen with independent filmmaker John Cassavetes. His later roles included a part as a wealthy pornographer in “The Big Lebowski.”

The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, said his attorney Jay I. Julien. He was 81.

During his 60-year acting career, Gazzara appeared in more than 100 films and TV movies, including the indie films he made with writer-director Cassavetes: “Husbands,” “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” and “Opening Night.” Late in life, Gazzara won an Emmy Award for his supporting role as the love interest of an aging waitress played by Gena Rowlands in the 2002 HBO drama “Hysterical Blindness.”

He also received an Emmy nomination for the 1985 TV movie “An Early Frost,” in which he and Rowlands played a middle-age couple coping with the revelations that their son is gay and dying of AIDs.

Peter Bogdanovich, who directed Gazzara in two films — “Saint Jack” in 1979 and “They All Laughed” in 1981 — once described his working relationship with Gazzara as the best he’d ever had with an actor. “Benny has the conscience of an artist, which is a rare thing,” Bogdanovich told the Los Angeles Times in 1998.

An alumnus of the Actors Studio, Gazzara first gained notice in 1953 playing a sadistic bullying cadet at a military academy in an off-Broadway production of Calder Willingham’s “End as a Man” that eventually moved to Broadway, marking Gazzara’s debut there.

On Broadway in 1955, Gazzara also originated the role of Brick, the troubled, alcoholic son and husband in Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” directed by Elia Kazan. Later that year, he returned to Broadway to play junkie Johnny Pope in Michael V. Gazzo’s drama “A Hatful of Rain,” which garnered Gazzara a Tony Award nomination.

After making his movie debut starring in “The Strange One,” the 1957 film version of “End as a Man,” Gazzara resurfaced on the big screen two years later as Lee Remick’s Army lieutenant husband, accused of murdering her alleged rapist, in director Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder.”

On television in the 1960s, Gazzara played a police detective opposite Chuck Connors’ attorney in the ABC series “Arrest and Trial.” And from 1965 to 1968, Gazzara starred in “Run for Your Life,” an NBC adventure series about a successful lawyer diagnosed with a terminal illness who decides to live life to the fullest in the time he has left.

“I hated it,” Gazzara, who received two Emmy Award nominations for his work on the series, told the New York Daily News in 1999. “So predictable I could almost do the next show without reading the script.”

The day he finished the last episode of “Run for Your Life,” he ran into Cassavetes on the Universal lot. He had a passing acquaintance with the filmmaker from their days as struggling actors in New York, and Cassavetes told him that they would do a film together.

The picture was “Husbands,” the 1970 drama about three suburban New York City commuters — Gazzara, Cassavetes and Peter Falk — whose lives are affected by the death of a middle-age friend. The film received mixed reviews but led to an enduring friendship between the three actors.

Gazzara went on to star in Cassavetes’ “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” in 1976 and “Opening Night” in 1977.

“John created a climate where you could do no wrong,” Gazzara said in 2005 in the Times Union of Albany, N.Y. “He allowed you to surprise yourself while he talked around the characters and the action.”

Rowlands, who was married to Cassavetes, recalled in 1998 in The Times: “John and Benny had a great artistic understanding, and I think Benny was relieved to find someone like John, who took things as seriously as he did.”

“It breaks my heart to have this era come to an end,” Rowlands said in a statement that referred to the deaths of Cassavetes in 1989, Falk last year and now Gazzara. “Ben meant so much to all of us. To our families. To John. To Peter. To have them gone now is devastating to me.”

Cassavetes’ death had thrown Gazzara into a deep depression.

At the time, he and his third wife, Elke, were living in Italy, where Gazzara made a number of films and where, as he once explained, “I fell in love with the lifestyle.” His first two marriages — to actresses Louise Erickson and Janice Rule — ended in divorce.

In his 2004 book “In the Moment: My Life as an Actor,” Gazzara described his constant womanizing and several affairs, including one with Audrey Hepburn, with whom he co-starred in “Bloodline” and “They All Laughed.”

He had met the German-born Elke in South Korea in 1979 while he was filming the Korean War film “Inchon.” She was producing a behind-the-scenes documentary.

“Elke saved my life,” Gazzara said in 1999 in the New York Daily News. “When I met her, I was drinking too much, fooling around too much, killing myself. She put romance and hope back in my life.”

In the late 1990s, Gazzara had a career renaissance and appeared in a string of films, including playing a corporate criminal in writer-director David Mamet’s “The Spanish Prisoner,” a wealthy pornographer in Joel and Ethan Coen’s “The Big Lebowski,” and a Bronx mob boss in Spike Lee’s “Summer of Sam.”

Gazzara credited his discovery by a young generation of independent film directors to the video release of the movies he’d made with Cassavetes.

As an actor, Gazzara told Backstage in 2006, “Nobody ever knew what to do with me because I wasn’t easily pigeonholed.” But he was never bitter when a coveted role went to someone else, he once told The San Francisco Chronicle.

“I don’t know why,” he said. “Maybe my ego, my Sicilian pride. And I was never jealous of another actor, ’cause … I knew I had the goods.”

The son of Sicilian immigrants, Gazzara was born Aug. 28. 1930, in New York City into a family that struggled during the Depression.

At 13, he appeared in a play staged at the nearby Boys Club, “heard the applause and could never turn back,” he later said.

After graduating from high school, he entered Manhattan’s Dramatic Workshop on a scholarship and in 1951 was accepted into the prestigious Actors Studio.

Throughout his career, Gazzara periodically returned to the stage. He received a Tony nomination in 1975 for “Hughie/Duet” and another nomination in 1977 for a revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Gazzara is survived by Elke, his wife of 30 years; a daughter, Elizabeth; and a brother, Anthony.

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City officials said the renovations should be complete by late spring.

The Mandeville City Council recently awarded a $208,900 contract to a New Orleans company for the work at the launch at the end of Jackson Avenue. The work is expected to begin soon, Mandeville Public Works Director David deGeneres said. Sopena Corp. submitted the lowest of the 10 bids the city received.

DeGeneres said the work includes the replacement of the concrete extending into Lake Pontchartrain, as well as dredging the channel around the launch. The concrete is currently several pieces laid end to end, but will be replaced by a single slab.

Brian Burke, vice commodore of the Pontchartrain Yacht Club across the street from the launch, said the repair work will make the launch much safer.

He said sand had eroded from the areas between the sections of concrete, creating a hazard for people launching boats.

“It’s pretty dangerous,” Burke said. “You can get your foot caught in there.”

The launch will have to be closed while the work is being done, deGeneres said. Another city boat launch, which was renovated several years ago, is located nearby on Jackson.

The project is largely being funded through a 2009 Community Development Block Grant administered by the state. The city has $199,893 in CDBG money and the council, in awarding the construction bid, agreed to cover up to $15,000 in additional costs.

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The Washington Parks Commission Thursday night recommended moving forward with funding a permanent main stage, restrooms and multipurpose facility at the city’s fairgrounds north of Lions Lake.

Ron Unnerstall, vice president of Washington Engineering & Architecture, P.C., detailed the plans his firm developed.

The proposed project would put a flat, concrete slab with a metal backdrop to be used as a permanent stage near where the current temporary stage is set up each year for the Washington Town and Country Fair.

Unnerstall said having a permanent stage with concrete tie-downs would make it as safe as possible.

“It will be the safest structure we have on the fairgrounds,” he said.

Incorporated in the building design are dressing rooms, handicapped-accessible restrooms, and multiple rooms for storage and other uses.

Unnerstall said the usable space would be roughly 1,800 square feet.

He noted the stage itself also will be handicapped accessible.

“It’s not elaborate, but it is multipurpose. It’s just right for the size Fair we have,” said Unnerstall, adding that the building will help the Fair attract big-name acts.

“This upgrades the Fair to where we can continue to get big-time entertainment,” he said.

Unnerstall said his firm donated design work to help kick-start the project.

‘Good for the City’

Dale Westhoff, this year’s Fair chairman, said the proposed building is a community project, noting that during the rest of the year, the building can be used to hold a variety of functions.

Sparky Stuckenschneider, Park commission vice president, said the project would be good for the city, not just the Fair and the parks department.

“It’s very important for us to go forward with it,” he said.

Westhoff said the Chamber will ask the city council to approve the project this Monday, Feb. 6.

“We hope to start this by April, as it will be at least a three-month project,” he said.

Westhoff estimated the total cost at $550,000 to $600,000.

“We are still waiting on a few things to finalize the plans,” he said.

The Chamber has pledged $250,000 previously to the main stage project.

Brian Boehmer, assistant city administrator, said the city has allocated $210,000 for the proposed project. That money will come from revenue from the city’s half-cent capital improvement sales tax budgeted for 2011-2012.

More Money Available

“We have $100,000 in the budget for restrooms on the east side of the riverfront trail. We could forego that,” Boehmer noted.

He said the two portable stalls on the east end of the trail currently “are pretty functional.”

“I don’t want my point to be mistaken — we’re not going to cut the restrooms (at the trail) out, but push it back. If we use this $100,000, we can see what’s left at the end of the tax or maybe work with the Rotary somewhere down the line,” Boehmer said.

He noted that finding a site for the restrooms on the trail, in an area that has flooded frequently in the past, would be another issue.

“My thought isn’t to cut it, but if we need the money for the (stage and restrooms) project, it’s there,” Boehmer said.

Looking at Options

Commission member Bill Kackley said he hopes the city council will “look at its much larger budget” to come up with some additional funding.

If the additional $100,000 was available, funding for the project between the city and Chamber would total $560,000.

Westhoff said estimates haven’t been separated to determine the cost of building just the restrooms versus the rest of the building.

The Chamber and Fair board could look for volunteers to donate labor to help lower the overall cost of the project, he said, as well as finding a sponsor for the stage.

A sponsor would help pay part of the cost for the stage in return for having it named after them or their business.

Unnerstall, who served on the Fair Board for many years and was a Fair chairman himself in the 1990s, said a permanent stage has been proposed for years.

The stage used for the Fair now is a temporary one. It was built in 1993.

Unnerstall said the disaster at the Indiana State Fair on Aug. 13, 2011, is part of the reason entities, including the Washington Chamber of Commerce and the Fair Board, are looking at permanent stages.

Seven people were killed and 43 injured in the tragedy in Indianapolis, Ind.

Posted in Washington news on Saturday, February 4, 2012 12:00 pm. Updated: 3:22 pm.

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Doughty, 54, quit as Forest chairman in October following the sacking of former England manager Steve McClaren.

He was replaced by former Forest manager Frank Clark but remained owner of the struggling second-tier club, which he saved from administration with an £11 million takeover in 1999.

“It is with enormous sadness that Nottingham Forest announce the death of the club’s owner Nigel Doughty,” the club said in a statement.

“Mr Doughty, who was 54, was found dead earlier today in his gym at his home in Skillington, Lincolnshire.

“The club would like to appeal for the privacy of Mr Doughty’s family to be observed at this sad time. The club will be making no further comment.”

Forest, two-time European champions during Brian Clough’s reign, are currently languishing in the Championship relegation zone and face a local derby at arch rivals Derby on Sunday.

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The Internet blew up this week when people began searching for answers as to whether Murphy died. But those reports turned out to be false.

Celebrity Web site TMZ verified that Murphy was in fact alive after MediaFetcher.com triggered the false report. Several other celebrities have been claimed dead in false reports. Those celebrities include Adele, Rick Ross, LeBron James, Jon Bon Jovi, Charlie Sheen, Adam Sandler, TooShort, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Luke Perry, Jack Black, Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Tom Green, Mac Miller, Tiger Woods, and George Clooney to name a few.

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Here is how Twitter fans have been responding to the RIP Drake trending topic:

– “One person posts RIP DRAKE as a joke and now it’s trending cause of everyone saying “why is it tending?!” you ignorant twitter children.”

– “Drakes not dead .. Why are ppl saying RIP drake? … #mostdefinitelyalive”

– “RIP Drake – Trending, Really? :/ . I bet he doesn’t even know twitter have killed him yet.”

– “RIP Drake is trending?? Really??? If this keeps up, when someone ACTUALLY dies no one on Twitter is going to believe it!”

– “RIP Drake -ef’ it I’m Over with all these cyber deaths…”

– “RIP Drake is tending..? like don’t people have anything better to do than lie about the deaths of celebrities..”

– “RIP Rick Ross? RIP Drake? Twitter is killing everybody.”

While many of the responses seemed concerned that rumors were spreading that the rapper has passed away, there were other Twitter reactions that came off as mean.

– “RIP Drake – Sources say he overdosed on confidence »» << wow!! Lol”

– “RIP DRAKE , his last words were whining “I just hope you miss me a little when I’m gone.”

– “RIP Drake? Guess he overdosed on confidence.”

It is uncertain where the Drake death rumors started , causing RIP Drake to launch as a trending topic on Twitter. However, Global Grind has reported that the rapper is very much alive and was seen gearing up for the upcoming Super Bowl.

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Reated Article: RIP Demi Moore: Actress Becomes Victim of Random Twitter Death Hoax

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“The city is in very good condition, and there are no findings to report to the council,’ Mr. Arnold said. “The staff did an excellent job in keeping the records.”

In other business, the council approved a resolution approving the submission of an application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program.

City Secretary George Fite said the application is to apply for tax credit money to rehabilitate the Patman Switch Apartments.

The council ordered an election for May 12. The council terms of Lee Newsom, Tommy Estes, and Bill Jones will expire. Signup to run for a position on the council is from Feb. 4 through March 5.

The council was given updates on grant status of a disaster recovery grant on drainage that is completed.

“We are preparing for a walk through to meet all final construction specifications,” Mr. Fite said. “The disaster recovery contract had been signed, submitted back to the General Land Office and individuals in the Bruce Barnes Street area will soon be getting first time sewer service.

“Generator work has begun for the installation of the generator to go in the water plant. The slab has been poured with the generator to be installed and connected in February. The sidewalk grant has been completed, inspected, and the city is waiting on letter from Texas Department of Agriculture to close it out.”

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On Friday night and early Saturday morning, while much of the world slept, Syrian security forces carried out what the opposition Syrian National Council called a “horrific massacre” targeting Homs’ Khaldiyeh and Qusoor neighborhoods, one of the worst in the 11-month uprising. Various activist groups offered differing figures, but somewhere between 217 to perhaps as many as 337 people were killed in Syria’s third-largest city in a barrage of mortar-fire and artillery. More than 1,000 were injured. (PHOTOS: Syria’s Protests Rage On)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears to have gone “Hama” on Homs, emulating his father and predecessor Hafez al-Assad’s ferocious crackdown on the Syrian city of Hama almost 30 years ago to the day, which left at least 10,000 dead and a trauma so enduring that for decades it crushed all who would question the absolute authority of the Assads.

The bloodbath came on the eve of a United Nations Security Council vote on a draft resolution backing the Arab League’s call for Assad to step aside. Russia has continued to shield its stalwart Syrian ally from censure, and watered down the resolution considerably to remove calls for Assad’s ouster or the imposition of sanctions on his regime.

Damascus denied claims of an assault on Homs. The state-run news agency quoted an unnamed “information source” saying that the allegation was part of a “hysterical campaign of provocation and incitement to the shedding of more Syrian blood” undertaken by “the TV satellites of instigation, partners with the armed terrorist groups and the so-called Istanbul council,” SANA said, referring to Qatar and its al-Jazeera channel, Saudi Arabia and Al-Arabiya, as well as the Syrian National Council (SNC), the umbrella group at the forefront of the Syrian opposition.

The gruesome amateur footage of bloodied corpses posted online and “aired by satellites of lies” did not show victims of a government assault, SANA asserted, but rather people kidnapped and killed by “armed terrorist groups.” The alleged disinformation was part of “a sinister bid to negatively affect the ongoing U.N. Security Council discussions about Syria,” state media said. (WATCH: Why They Protest in Syria)

The SNC urged Russia in a statement to reverse its policy and “clearly condemn the regime and hold it responsible for the massacres.” SNC chief Burhan Ghalioun also asked “people of the world” to demonstrate in front of Syrian embassies in support of the Syrian people. His call was heeded in several capitals, with protests, and in some cases the storming of embassies in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, the United Kingdom and Greece as well as gatherings outside the United Nations in New York by pro- and anti-Syrian government supporters.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday condemned the “unspeakable assault” on civilians in Syria. British Foreign Minister William Hague criticized the “chilling” violence in Homs and Assad’s “cold-blooded cynicism.” Tunisia, birthplace of the Arab Spring, expelled the Syrian ambassador in Tunis. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he would be visiting Syria in the next few days, perhaps with a stronger private message for the Syrian leader that Moscow is unwilling to utter in public.

The people of Homs also had a message for the world as they buried their dead on Saturday. As has become the norm, the funeral in Khaldiyeh quickly turned into a demonstration. “This is a message to Arab leaders, to Russia and China, to the Russian and Chinese people, the United Nations Security Council, you are all partners in the biggest massacre in the uprising!” a young man leading the chants in Khaldiyeh’s square yelled into a microphone.

MORE: “The Real Threat in the Middle East” (for TIME subscribers)

“When will you recognize the National Council, the only one speaking in the name of these people?” he said referring to the SNC, which has received little international recognition, even from Arab states. He read out the names of “martyr heroes” as the huge crowd listened in silence. He stopped at 35. “These martyrs were identified. Others are in pieces, others are still unidentified,” he said. “What do they want?” the young man continued, “either we kneel before Bashar’s picture or…” He was interrupted by thunderous chants of “We kneel only to God!”

Highlighting the angry defiance among protesters, the young man, who made no attempt to conceal his identity, looked up toward the camera perched high above the crowd: “We have not knelt Bashar! Do you hear? We will not kneel to anyone but God! These people,” he said, waving toward the crowd, “we are all martyrs!” (MORE: Syria: The Brutal, Shadowy War for Hearts and Minds)

“The people demand the execution of Bashar,” the crowd yelled. (Assad is not even referred to as the president anymore, even in chants calling for his execution.)

It’s unclear what triggered the latest bloodbath, which happened shortly after an amateur video aired on Arabic satellite television channels showed 19 uniformed soldiers detained by the Free Syrian Army’s Farouk Brigade in Homs, the same brigade that says it has seven Iranians in custody.

Syrian opposition members pointed to a cynical ploy by Assad’s forces to try and out-and-out crush several stubbornly defiant neighborhoods in Homs, while Russia holds an increasingly agitated international community at bay with its threat of a veto over any Syria resolution.

Still, Homs wasn’t the only city under siege at the start of the weekend. Activists were reporting large-scale assaults on Zabadani, a town on the outskirts of Damascus which some two weeks ago negotiated a cease-fire with the regime. The towns of Rastan, near Homs, as well as Darraya near Damascus and others were also reportedly being attacked by loyalist troops.

The 19 loyalists were captured when defectors overran their checkpoint outside a medical dispensary in Homs. The men are seated in three neat rows, and every man bar one (a former State security officer in a black leather jacket, the mukhabarat’s default uniform) holds a laminated military ID card in front of him. (MORE: Arab League Tells Assad To Go)

A voice off-camera mocks the soldiers. “If we were fighting teenage girls, the fight would have lasted longer. It didn’t take 10 minutes. What’s the reason? Don’t you have anything to fight for? We always hear ‘God, Syria, Bashar’ on Addounia,” the man off-camera says, referring to a Syrian state television channel. After a moment of silence, a loyalist who says he is from the Special Forces answers: “Bashar is in his palace leaving us here to get killed.”

Most of the men are Alawites, although a few in the front row are Sunnis. “The regime is trying to create differences between the sects and start a civil war,” the voice off-camera says. “And now we have Russia and its veto, do you understand me? So that a civil war will start between you and us. But it won’t God willing. We are smarter, more honorable and cleaner than that as a people and we are more nationalistic than they are. That is why we will keep you for three days and then you’ll be freed should the lowest-ranking Russian diplomat in the embassy come to claim you.” Russia may yet rue its decision to stick so closely to a regime most observers say will eventually fall. The only questions are when, and how many more will die?

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The Eugène-Lalonde arena will be closed for six months at least in 2012 while the concrete slab under the ice is replaced by the City of Sherbrooke at a cost of $900,000.It was reported back in September that a study by consulting firm SM inc. indicated that one of two concrete slabs underneath the ice has been rising anywhere from 20 to 80 millimetres in certain areas.The only permanent solution, according to the city’s director of maintenance services Yves Vermette, was to tear up the entire thing and replace it with one single slab.“At this step, the only option submitted by our experts is to eventually redo the slab,” he said at the time. “It’s a question of time until we have to do the work.”The $900,000 sum required for the work was slipped into the municipal budget last December without much discussion on the part of the council or mayor Bernard Sévigny.Destroying the concrete slab under the ice will also allow the experts to effectively determine the cause of the shifting slab, be it their initial assumption that frost is forming underneath the slabs or any other reason, in order to prevent it from happening again.Back in September city councillor Bruno Vachon said that if the slabs were to be torn out and replaced it would be done during the off-season so as to not influence the hockey leagues, meaning work will likely start next summer.The Eugène-Lalonde Olympic-size ice is part of the Roland Dusseault multisport centre.

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After a July fire severely damaged the enclosed concessions area, bidding was opened to reconstruct that part of the building and put a new roof on the rest, among other restorations. However, even with the insurance settlement, the lowest bid was still about $100,000 above what the city could afford to pay, according to city manager Troy Royer.

Instead, what had been the concessions building, adjoining the west end of the pool house, will now be an open-sided, shaded area with tables and chairs. City public works employees have already torn down the damaged block structure.

“It’s a little different from what we had, but I think the people will be happier with having that open area and being able to watch their kids or grandkids in the pool,”said Neosho Parks and Recreation Director John Jordan.

Royer said that the cost of rehabilitating it aside, the concessions building was both dark and stuffy inside, and people couldn’t see the pool.

“This way, people are out in the breeze and they can watch their kids and not have to worry about being in a humid, enclosed block building,” Royer said.

Having adequate shade outside was also a factor, Jordan said. He said that before, people would cram underneath the overhang of the pool house roof to get out of the sun but still be within eyesight of their kids in the pool.

“We don’t want them to have to do that,” Jordan said. “This will eliminate that problem and they’ll have a whole area to sit in.”Meanwhile, the concessions area will move to the poolhouse, sharing the main floor with the admissions area.

Not much will change with the restroom facilities and showers. The fire didn’t damage the girls’ room at all, though the boys’ portion was partially damaged and some of the plumbing will have to be replaced. Some electrical work will also be required in the building.

The undamaged portion of the roof won’t have to be replaced, as was originally thought, Royer said. Most of the repair work will be done in-house, he said. Jordan estimated the total project would be complete by mid- to late-April.

Royer said that when it comes time to repaint the interior, plans are to give it a Neosho-theme and Jordan said that he wants to get the community involved in that project somehow.

“We would like to see something different and unique and something that shows pride in Neosho,” Royer said.

Regarding the restoration of the pool house in general, including the decision to not rebuild the concessions building but turn it into an open, shaded sitting area, Royer said it was a matter of the city using “what resources we can with the money we have.”

“We bid it out that first time and it was just way, way more than what we thought it would be and more than we could do,” he said. “We had to redirect, put our pencils down and think ‘What can we do different?’”

Overall, Jordan said he believes people will like the changes.  

“I know the citizens of Neosho will be proud,” Jordan said. “I think they’ll be really happy with what we end up coming up with.”

View full post on slab city – Yahoo! News Search Results

EMERGENCY work will be done to a city building after a granite block fell several storeys.

Melbourne City Council will slap an emergency order for safety work to be done to the Collins St offices of Suncorp to prevent a repeat incident.

The area of the Suncorp building on Collins St where the slab apparently fell from. Picture: Mike Keating

Source: Herald Sun

The area of the Suncorp building on Collins St where the slab apparently fell from. Picture: Mike Keating

Council engineers are inspecting the building where city workers miraculously escaped injury after a granite block measuring a metre by a metre-and-a-half plummeted to the ground.

The block was a decorative feature of the post-war building, which broke into pieces on impact and smashed a shop front window before noon today.

Remarkably, no one was in the vicinity at the time and no one was injured.

A witness told 3AW radio that the incident sounded like a bomb going off, and that they initially presumed there’s been an explosion in a nearby store.

The area has been roped off.

Are you in the area? Tell us belowSend video or pictures: MMS to 0404 333 444 or email online@heraldsun.com.au

There was minor damage to shops at the base of the building after the slab shattered on the ground. Picture: Mike Keating

Source: Herald Sun

There was minor damage to shops at the base of the building after the slab shattered on the ground. Picture: Mike Keating

View full post on slab city – Yahoo! News Search Results

Throughout Thursday night and Friday, protesters battling to reach the Ministry of the Interior skirmished with police, breaking down barricades and pushing forward through volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets. “It was like a war,” said a young doctor who had spent the night working at one of at least five field hospitals set up in Tahrir to treat the wounded. He declined to give his name for fear of retribution from the police. “We didn’t sleep at all,” said another. “In just this tent, we had 500 people in eight hours. It started with tear gas, then wounds from stones. And after that it was shotgun pellets.” Four people have died and more than 1,500 have been injured in major cities across the country since protests broke out on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. (PHOTOS: Egyptian Protests Continue After Deadly Soccer Riot)

The protests began after an incident in a soccer stadium in the coastal city of Port Said, where a riot broke out at the end of match, leaving 74 people dead — most of them fans of the popular Cairo team al-Ahly. Medical officials say most of the deaths resulted from a stampede toward the stadium’s locked exits, as fans and players from al-Ahly surged in desperation to escape supporters of the home team, al-Masry, who attacked them with sticks and knives.

Stadium stampedes and fights between rival fans are not uncommon in the history of international soccer. But Egypt’s disaster, in which police stood by and watched as fans fought and were trampled, stirred allegations of a conspiracy by the country’s military rulers and the widely hated police force. The hardcore al-Ahly fans known as ultras have taken a leading role in the Tahrir Square rebellion over the past year, often serving among its front-line fighters in confrontations with the police. With postrevolutionary Egypt a tinderbox of frustration and anger, the Port Said deaths provided the spark that lit the most recent fire.

Young protesters, soccer ultras among them, have clashed repeatedly with Egyptian security forces in the year since President Hosni Mubarak was forced out by a popular uprising. Despite the dramatic events — Egypt completed its first truly democratic election for a new parliament in January — little else has changed in the lives of ordinary Egyptians. The faltering economy that had helped fuel last year’s uprising has descended into crisis mode, leaving many Egyptians even more desperate than they were a year ago, while Mubarak’s system of endemic corruption in every sector of public and private life has barely been budged. The military council to which he ceded power has drafted its own rules and continues to mete out harsh justice in closed military courts to thousands of dissenters, behavior that has prompted many to view the military as an obstacle to a democratic transition. And there’s been little serious effort to hold accountable those authorities responsible for hundreds of deaths in the regime’s attempts to to suppress the rebellion. (PHOTOS: Police and Protesters Clash in Cairo)

“We came today to stop the bloodshed of Egyptians, to take down the military council and to have immediate presidential elections,” said Ahmed Hamdi, a 28-year-old day laborer who joined the protest on Friday. The generals have said they would hand over executive authority to a President to be chosen in a vote expected before June 2012.

Others on the streets Friday said they wanted to see an end to corruption, justice for an abusive police force and better living conditions for themselves. “We demonstrate because of what happened to the youth, and they promised us certain things like stability, but we’ve been here for 13 months, and it hasn’t happened,” said protester Mona Mahmoud, 49.

On Friday, the start of the Egyptian weekend, thousands flooded into Tahrir Square after a night of clashes to voice their dissent or simply to watch. Some were soccer fans; many said the deaths in Port Said had spurred them to action. But the anger over the government’s failure to prevent Tuesday’s bloodshed and, more specifically, the police force’s alleged collusion in the stadium violence, reignited broader grievances.

Indeed, the continued willingness of scores of young Egyptians to put their lives on the line in a battle that many beyond the square deem pointless — challenging the police force for control of the building that houses the Ministry to which it answers — speaks more to a widespread sense of frustration among Egypt’s youth than to a unified and coherent goal.

By nightfall on Friday, the streets branching from Tahrir to the Interior Ministry still resounded with the cracks of tear-gas canisters and rocks hitting pavement. On Fahmy Street, which leads straight to the hulking pink Ministry building, young rebels continued to chant, hurling stones at the seemingly impenetrable fortress. Periodic volleys of tear gas rained down, one after the other, landing in their midst and turning the air white with choking gas and panicking the crowd of mostly young men (some of them children) into stampedes of coughing, shouting to retreat. Some fell to the ground and were trampled by others or choked on the gas. Swarms driven into side alleys searched for a way out. But once the gas cleared enough to breathe and the wounded were ferried away on the backs of motorcycles, the protesters invariably regrouped for a new assault. (MORE: The Brutal, Shadowy War for Hearts and Minds)

Some say their goal is to burn the Ministry to the ground. Others say the point is to send a message through perseverance. They know that this demonstration — like scores before it — is unlikely to bring down the military council or even win reforms in the police force, said Mohamed Adel, 20, as the men around him threw rocks. “But it’s a way of mounting pressure,” he said. “After 18 days of pressure, Mubarak left.” For many Egyptians who watched last year’s uprising topple a dictator after 30 years of stagnation, protest remains the only clear method of instigating change.

“It’s not political goals,” says Adel Radwan, a doctor working at one of Tahrir’s field hospitals. “It’s that they want to live as human beings.” Most of the wounded he has treated in this fight as well as the ones before it are young men, he says. Some are poor. Others are educated and middle class. All are angry. Says Radwan: “They’re asking for their freedom, to be treated as human beings and to have the minimum required to live.”

– With reporting by Sharaf al-Hourani / Cairo

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ADVANCE WARNING

FEBRUARY 15

VERTIGORT-02 Rooftop (6th Flr), The Gardens,Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, KL

Future Sound Asia in partnership with Vertigo is proud to present Calvin Harris. The past one year has been a busy year for this Scottish DJ, singer-songwriter and producer with the release of club bangers such as Awooga, Bounce (featuring Kelis) and Feel So Close.

He’s also featured on Rihanna’s global chart topper We Found Love besides making a huge 60 spot climb to #34 on the coveted DJ Mag top 100 DJs ranking. The man who’s previously brought you hits such as Flashback and UK chart topper I’m Not Alone is scheduled to release a third studio album in a couple of months, following the UK best-selling Ready For The Weekend (2009) and I Created Disco (2007).

Calvin Harris will be supported by fellow Scottish DJ, Producer, Burns from the UK, KL’s favorites Goldfish and Blink as well as Thirst finalist Nick Haydez. Admission (with one drink): RM45. Reservations and contact: 010 215 9701 / 013 351 5359/ rsvp@vertigo.my

FEBRUARY 11

ZOUK113, Jalan Ampang, KL

LOUD presents HARDWELL. Award-winning DJ, producer, label manager, music lover, DJMag Top 100 list newcomer and barely 23 years old. Let us present to you: Hardwell! This talented genius, better known as Robbert van de Corput started his DJ career at the age of 13.

After this blow-out Hardwell’s talent was picked up by a Dutch label and they signed him when he was only 14 years old. Shortly after his label signing he started to play at all major clubs in the Netherlands.

For the last couple of years, Hardwell has been recognised by the industry as having a new and refreshing take on a scene that continues to evolve and seems to have an everlasting shelf life. His identity and musical development can be summed up in a single phrase, Big Room House.

His growing reputation and success was picked up by party-minded people, they voted for him for the DJMAG Top 100 this year and he got a well deserved #24 spot in the Top 100 list, his first entry into their charts. They pinpointed him as one of the leaders of a new generation of DJs and unequivocally one to watch in the future.

The growing momentum of his ‘fresh and open-minded’ label, Revealed Recordings, certainly proves their point, and fans can expect loads of exciting new releases very soon. Supported by Goldfish and Blink. Admission (with one drink): RM55 Ladies / RM65. Reservations call 03-2171 2075 (12pm – 6pm) or 016-332 3191 (after 6pm) or email rsvn@zoukclub.com.my

BIANCO @ VERTIGORT-02 Rooftop (6th Flr), The Gardens,Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, KL

VOLT with Phil K Lee and Viona — a yin-and-yang combination of two up-and-coming versatile DJs — both with impressive backgrounds. Phil K Lee was the winner of 2010’s Found At Thirst. Viona, on the other hand, has played alongside big shots such as Sean Tyas, John 00 Fleming, W&W and Aly & Fila to name a few. These two have collaborated to bring you a monthly instalment of everything progressive (from house to techno). Both will use their musical experiences and skills combined to give you purely unique progressive sets. Get ready to travel into a journey of pure progressive charged sessions! Admission (with one drink): RM30 Ladies / RM40 Men. Reservations and contact: 010 215 9701 / 013 351 5359/ rsvp@vertigo.my

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

TONIGHT

ZOUK113, Jalan Ampang, KL

NASTY HYPE featuring Mr Nasty and HypeEmBeats – marrying two of Zouk’s most promising upstarts, Mr Nasty and HypeEmBeats.

The duo will be setting their sails for the main room, armed with their high energy sets and unfailing crowd pleasing anthems, dosed with steady basslines that guarantee to rock the dance floor like no other.

Sounds like: Zedd, Calvin Harris, Avicii, Alesso, Nicky Romero with a dash of Zouk’s favourite “Internet Friends”, Knife Party. Admission (with one drink): RM25 ladies / RM35 men. Reservations call 03-2171 2075 (12pm – 6pm) or 016-332 3191 (after 6pm) or email rsvn@zoukclub.com.my

MILK18, Jalan Liku, off Jalan Riong, Bangsar, KL

RWNW 1.1 with ULTRAMODE. UltraMode kicks of their 2012 with “ Rave With The New Wave 1.1” Pumping it harder, with twice the power and groovier than ever. Admission (with one drink): RM30. Free entry for ladies before midnight. Reservations and information call 03-2282 2018 / 012-932 1018 (before 6pm) / 012-720 8018 (after 6 pm).

VERTIGORT-02 Rooftop (6th Flr), The Gardens,Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, KL

NERO: HOLY CHIC! DIVA EVA T BIRTHDAY BASH with Eva T, Ernest C and MC Sean Bizzie. A special night of party and celebration for Eva T. Let them dish out their fusion of hip hop, R&B and electro house.

BIANCO: Electronic Dance Music continues with the rovingly popular Chemistry house nights moving over to Vertigo. Tonight – Miss Chanel, Sica, WymanT and MaxYu

Admission (with one drink): (Nero and Bianco): RM30 ladies / RM40 men. Reservations call/sms 010-215 9701 / 013 351 5359 / 016 339 0860 (after 4PM).

TOMORROW

QUINTE @ MANORHeritage Row, 64, Jalan Doraisamy, KL

Guest headliner tonight – Marco Bailey (BE). Marco grew up in a small village in Belgium. Nothing much happened there really, but he did learn that one doesn’t achieve much without working hard.

He is a true hedonist but a workaholic as well. Marco loves to work hard and spin records as much as possible. At the age of 12, Marco wanted nothing more than to become a sportsman since motocross and competitive cycling were his passions until injuries made it impossible to continue and Marco soon had a new obsession – music, then shortly after that DJing, his burning, all-consuming drive could only be calmed by getting into music.

Having superstar status in Belgium, he travels the world playing the biggest events as well as the small intimate clubs.

His mixture of party techno, minimal and electronic house means he is a permanent fixture at all major European festivals and clubs.

Killer releases on Intec Records, Primate, Zync & Tortured, confirmed his strong reputation as a producer over the last eight years.

He has since set up MB Elektronics & MB Selektions to release high quality music and remixes by none other than Adam Beyer, Umek, Ben Sims, Smith & Selway, Claude Young, Christian Varela, Redhead, Axel Karakasis and Takaaki Itoh.

The night’s warm up and closing will be provided by Alex Martin and Kuma. Admission (with one drink). RM30 ladies / RM50 men. RSVP and Booking please contact Ezra Wong : 012-9784016

MILK18, Jalan Liku, off Jalan Riong, Bangsar, KL

MILK presents DJ AMIGA. Amiga is a Japanese electrical (or is that electronic) musician from Tokyo who started her musical career in 2001 as the brains of the ambient music project Electrical Lovers.

Her second single Double Helix was regarded highly in the world, where it attracted Norman Cook and incorporated in Fat Boy Slim’s Live On Brighton Beach – BIG BEACH BOUTIQUE DVD.

Most recently, AMIGA provided music for DVDs, motion picture soundtracks, and video works. She has also been appointed as the music producer for Roppongi Hill’s ‘Sky Aquarium’.

As one of the most talented and respected female DJs in Japan, Amiga stages reception parties for world’s top brands such as Tiffany, Cartier, HERMES, Louis Vuitton, Ferrari and Lamborghini.

She DJs at top underground parties in Tokyo with her unique mix of eletronic music. As an experienced DJ, this year she made a brilliant debut in Ibiza. Admission (with one drink) RM30. Free entry for ladies before midnight. Reservations and information call 03-2282 2018 / 012-932 1018 (before 6pm) / 012-720 8018 (after 6 pm).

BAKITA33, Jalan Berangan, KL

After a pumping Soundhertz in January that saw a packed house and deliciously fun tunes from our own legendary Jungle Jerry, Soundhertz brings in DJ Alam for tonight.

Since beginning his career 11 years ago, Alam has held residencies at most of KL’s major clubs, as well as spreading his wings to Jakarta’s famed Stadium, Embassy and Co2, and then to Melbourne, where he built up a following and went on to start his own successful nights at two of Melbourne’s forefront nightclubs — Room680 and Miss Libertine.

Alam touts himself as having a soulful, groovy sound that will keep your head nodding for more. Also featuring NYL for the night. FREE ENTRY. Reservations call 03-2141 7733.

BARSONIC @ ZOUK113, Jalan Ampang, KL

OMFG! Your friendly neighbourhood android Mr Nasty and GuruGuru come out to play, accompanied with the biggest and freshest house tunes. Admission (with one drink): RM25 Ladies / RM35 Men. For reservations please Please call 03-2171 2075 (12-6pm) / 016-332 3191 (after 6pm) or email rsvn@zoukclub.com.my

VIEW ROOFTOP GTOWER199, Jalan Tun Razak, KL

Playhouse with DJ Faith. From fashion shows to club nights, cocktail parties to grand openings, Faith has done them all, performing and becoming a regular face amongst the movers and shakers of Malaysia. Faith has the unique ability to switch seamlessly between; sexy, groovy, grimy, dirty, jacking, smooth, funky and uplifting, thanks to her monstrous varied collection of music, and most importantly, knowing it like the back of her hand. Reservations call 03-2168 1881 or e-mail ask@view.com.my

SUNDAY

SIXTY9 MANSION69, Jalan Batu Ferringhi, PENANG (Next to Holiday Inn)

Fancy a trip up North for a change? Sixty9mansion Penang, are organizing a Sundaze Mansion Fiesta in conjunction with the long weekend holidays. Journey into house with special guests from Indonesia, DJ Iwan Sidrink and DJ Tosse plus our own Headmasta on the decks. Featuring Models from Amber Chia Academy. Call 012-434 3669 or e-mail info@69mansion.com for information.

BIANCO @ VERTIGORT-02 Rooftop (6th Flr), The Gardens,Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, KL

DJs Monkey, Funkzu and MC Terry are in this Sunday to keep the weekend momentum going. Catch the boys in the hood, as they shake the walls of Bianco with their party rock style beats. Admission (with one drink): RM30 men. Free entry for ladies. Reservations and contact: 010-215 9701 / 013-351 5359/ rsvp@vertigo.my

ZOUK113, Jalan Ampang, KL

Public Holiday celebration at Velvet Underground (going Mambo Jambo) and Aristo (Funklife with Shazan and DJ Luqe). ADMISSION: RM30 Men (inc 1 drink) / Ladies FREE ENTRY + 5 drinks. Reservations call 03-2171 2075 (12pm – 6pm) or 016-332 3191 (after 6pm) or email rsvn@zoukclub.com.my

MONDAY

ZOUK113, Jalan Ampang, KL

EVE of PUBLIC HOLIDAY at Phuture (Flava with DJs Luqe and Radzi), Velvet Underground (Fab with DJ Ken and Pietro) and Aristo (Shazz and friends) Admission (with one drink): RM38 ladies / RM48 men. Reservations call 03-2171 2075 (12pm – 6pm) or 016-332 3191 (after 6pm) or email rsvn@zoukclub.com.my

QUINTE @ MANORAsian Heritage Row, 64, Jalan Doraisamy, KL

Holiday Eve Special featuring. Special guest appearance: P.I.C – Partners in Crime. From the instant they met at Astro Hitz.TV Spinmaster Season 1, they hit if off like Thelma & Louise.

Although they spend a lot of time bitching on Twitter, they also love creating jaw-dropping music combinations and pretty much anything else half drunk clubbers can handle. Faith and Darling Sabrina in the house.

Closing set by Alex Martin and Kuma. Admission (with one drink): RM30 ladies / RM50 men. Reservations call 012-978 4016.

TUESDAY

ZOUK113, Jalan Ampang, KL

PUBLIC HOLIDAY at ZOUK: GHETTO HEAVEN with DJ Luqe & DJ Face / ARISTO: Shazz and Friends. Admission (with one drink): RM18 Ladies / Men. Reservations call 03-2171 2075 (12pm – 6pm) or 016-332 3191 (after 6pm) or email rsvn@zoukclub.com.my

THURSDAY

BIANCO @ VERTIGORT-02 Rooftop (6th Flr), The Gardens,Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, KL

DNB XTRA featuring Makoto (JP), brought to you by Loops Collective and Take Off Records. Makoto Shimizu, more widely known simply as “Makoto”, is a testament to the international scope and power of electronic music. Born, raised and still based in Tokyo, Makoto was influenced at a young age by a wide variety of music ranging from classical to soul and funk.

Since 1999, Makoto has gone on to be one of the most highly respected artists in the genre, pushing his unique blend of fast breaks and soul drenched music to every corner of the globe as both a DJ and producer.

Alongside a hefty release time line and a touring schedule jam packed with gigs across Asia, Europe, UK and USA, Makoto set up his own label – HE:Digital. Focusing mainly on digital releases, the label has given Makoto an opportunity to not only release his own material, but that of others as well.

Makoto has just finished work on his brand new full length album for brand new all format label Human Elements titled “Souled Out”. Supported by Duster, DJ Low, Az1. Admission (with one drink) RM35. Reservations and contact: 010 215 9701 / 013 351 5359/ rsvp@vertigo.my

View full post on slab city – Yahoo! News Search Results

Slab City is an informal community in the California desert on the site of a former WWII artillery range. The recent recession has sent the town a new wave of people who have fallen on hard times and are looking to escape the burdens of modern life.

Gloria Hillard/For NPR

Slab City is an informal community in the California desert on the site of a former WWII artillery range. The recent recession has sent the town a new wave of people who have fallen on hard times and are looking to escape the burdens of modern life.

There are no signs leading to Slab City. From Los Angeles you head east deep into the desert, and then south, past the Salton Sea. For years, a diverse group of people has been drawn to the abandoned Marine base, but the troubled economy has driven even more travelers to the place dubbed “The Last Free Place in America.”

Following the tire tracks of countless RVs, trailers, vans and campers, you pass a landscape of the vehicles that have taken root here, their tires now soft on the desert floor.

“You kind of give yourself your own address out here, and we’re 100 Low Road,” resident Vince Neill says. Neill parked his aging brown and tan RV here a few months ago.

We’re in, umm, what’s that word? Transition? We also came out here to experience life in Slab City because we heard so much about it.

- Allie Neill

“We all live in there, me and the wife and six of the kids,” he says, referring to his family’s RV. The makeshift home is anchored by a long concrete slab, encircled by a couple abandoned trailers and a speed boat filled with bottles and cans. The Neills came here from the Sacramento area. A few puppies are running in circles as a teen in a pink tank top sweeps up debris from recent winds.

“I clean up around the slab, I treat it like as if I was living in a house,” Allie Neill says. The 18-year-old is Vince Neill’s oldest daughter.

“We’re in, umm, what’s that word? Transition?” Allie says. “We also came out here to experience life in Slab City because we heard so much about it.”

Slab City gets its name from the numerous concrete foundations that dot the land, the only reminder of Camp Dunlap, a World War II Marine artillery training base. The state is somewhat of an absentee landlord on this 600-acre patch. Population estimates are anywhere from several hundred to a few thousand people.

A nearby RV has a generator. There’s no running water, no power lines, no sewage service and no trash pickup, which can give the place a Mad Max post-apocalyptic feel. Rusted bicycles and box springs peek through small mountains of twisted metal.

Enlarge Gloria Hillard/For NPR

Eighteen-year-old Allie Neill and 20-year-old Eliza Aseltine sit on the front steps of Neill’s family’s RV in Slab City, Calif. Slab City is an informal, off-the-grid community in the California desert.

Gloria Hillard/For NPR

Eighteen-year-old Allie Neill and 20-year-old Eliza Aseltine sit on the front steps of Neill’s family’s RV in Slab City, Calif. Slab City is an informal, off-the-grid community in the California desert.

Down Low Road at the Oasis Club, a few residents are sitting at an outdoor table rolling their own cigarettes. A camper truck piled high with belongings approaches. They look up warily.

“There’s people, before you take anybody’s picture you want to ask them to make sure its ok, cause there are people out here being stalked,” a resident known as “Tennessee” Ken Freeland says.

Freeland is a man of undetermined age and background in a cowboy hat and plaid shirt. This is his fourth year living in Slab City.

“Out here, nobody bothers you,” Freeland says. “You treat people like you want to be treated. Everybody gets along great.”

A yearly membership to the Oasis Club costs $20. Coffee is served from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Lynne Bright runs things at the club. The 55-year old says some people who come to Slab City have a misconception about the place.

“They think that, come to Slab City and you will be provided for, and that’s the furthest from the truth,” Bright says. “This little piece of ground that you’re standing on is free. That’s all.”

Everything you need to survive, from propane to water, you need to buy or bring with you. Bright, a former public service employee, met her husband here three years ago.

“I like the community. I like what I do,” she says. “I like being not part of the stuff out there in the world. I like being unplugged.”

Are They Allowed To Live There?

The land Slab City is on is owned and managed by the state of California. Camp Dunlap, the former World War II base that left the concrete “slabs” that form the foundation of Slab City, was given back to the state in 1961 and subsequently dismantled. The state still owns the land, and the people living in Slab City are technically “squatters,” but the government has left the settlement alone. There are no services, so the state is not spending any money to keep the place up. But garbage and human waste has become a problem in the area, which is bothering some of the neighbors. “In my opinion, the county should come and check and make them clean it if they’re going to stay there,” says Alma Holcomb, a longtime resident of the closest town, Niland, who works at a general store there. “Because they make us clean our yard.” At the same time, Holcomb says the Slab City residents bring a lot of business to Niland, especially when the snowbirds arrive in the winter. Norma Wright, owner of Bobby D’s Pizzeria in Niland, agrees. “We really need those people to come, it’s good for our businesses.”

— Natalie Jones

Sources: California State Military Museum, Slab City Organization

Toward the end of Low Road the desert neighborhood starts to change. There’s no trash and the motor homes are more expensive. Rick Lee recently sold his house in Texas and bought one here.

“It was better for me to just go ahead and take the loss and sell it,” Lee says. “Since I been out here, I’ve heard quite a few people that’s done the same.”

Michael Depraida operates Slab City’s pirate radio station out of his fully equipped 1995 polished and solar-powered Airstream. He’s an artist from New York.

“Up until 2008 I was doing very well, and in 2008 the market collapsed for me,” Depraida says. He still makes art work and sells custom designed T-shirts for the increasing number of tourists who drive by. “There’s a great sense of community here,” he says.

The snowbirds made up one of the first communities here years ago, mostly retirees that flocked here in the winter. In fact, Low Road gets its name from a club called Loners on Wheels. Gas barbeques and lawn furniture take their place in front of fully equipped RVs. Sixty-two-year-old Barbara Russell agrees that it doesn’t look like the rest of Slab City.

“A lot of those are young people who have run away from this or that,” she says. “We haven’t run away — we’ve run to.”

The sky has turned a shade of turquoise and in a few more weeks the desert flowers will bloom. Come May, temperatures can reach over 120 degrees here. That’s when the snowbirds will depart. And only the rattlesnakes, scorpions and Slab City’s most hardy residents will remain.

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Slab City, their home for the past three months, is a squatters’ camp deep in the badlands of California’s poorest county, where the road ends and the sun reigns, about 190 miles southeast of Los Angeles and hour’s drive from the Mexican border. The vast state-owned property gets its name from the concrete slabs spread out across the desert floor, the last remnants of a World War II–era military base. In the decades since it was decommissioned, dropouts and fugitives of all stripes have swelled its winter population to close to a thousand, though no one’s really counting. These days, their numbers are growing thanks to a modest influx of recession refugees like the Angios, attracted by do-it-yourself, rent-free living beyond the reach of electricity, running water and the law. And while the complexion of the Slabs, as the place is locally known, may be changing in some ways, the same old rule applies: respect your neighbor, or stay the hell away.

“It’s pretty much as close to the Old West as you’re gonna get. Most of us don’t own guns or none of that garbage, but if we have problems, we take care of [them],” says Ray, 56, a former drug addict turned born-again Christian who has traversed the country six times with a giant wooden cross on his back. Katie Ray, 30, a perennial visitor from Oakland, Calif., calls the place a “postapocalyptic vacation zone.” (PHOTOS: After Foreclosure: A Photographer’s Requiem for the American Home)

Although Slabbers tend to defy easy characterization, de facto neighborhoods (“Poverty Flats,” “Lows”) and tribes have emerged. There are Year-Rounders who brave the 120°F summer inferno, and Snowbirds who land from as far as Canada with their souped-up RVs and pensions, soul-searching Gypsy Kids who arrive by train with little more than the ragged clothes on their back, Spaz Kids and their electro-psychedelic outdoor parties, and Scrappers who risk life and limb to collect shrapnel from the gunnery range that flanks the camp, where Navy SEAL teams train year-round (and where rumor has it they prepared for the Osama bin Laden raid). That’s to say nothing of the rowdy bikers who pass through, or the meth-addled loners on the outer edges inclined to greet a trespasser with a gunshot. If the Burning Man festival were a permanent settlement instead of a weeklong escape — remixed with a hard dose of reality — this might be it.

“The Last Free Place in America” lives up to its nickname. Want to hang out nude in thermal mud baths or skateboard stoned in the bowl of an Olympic-size pool? Go for it. In the mood to construct outlandish pieces of art with scrap metal, dig an SUV-size trench for no particular reason or play 18 holes of golf on a grassless course to the sound of bombs in the distance? This is the place. Yet despite the anything-goes reputation, those who stick around the Slabs long enough insist they are made to feel welcome, provided they have the right attitude. Free meals and entertainment are on offer, capped by Saturday-night concerts at the Range, a clapboard venue that showcases live acts of varying quality. This bohemian aspect was featured in the 2007 film Into the Wild, rare mainstream attention that drew a surge of newcomers to Slab City.

One of them is Sandra “Sandi” Andrews, 61, a nomadic mother of eight without a retirement plan. Her daughter saw the film and figured it was her mom’s kind of place. She was right. “When I first got here, I thought this is a whole new planet, there’s no place like it,” she exclaims. Initial concerns about her safety as a woman alone did not last long. Three years on, she’s surrounded by friends and lives on less than $100 a month, supplementing her Social Security check with paintings she sells to tourists that stop by her studio, a converted school bus. Among her neighbors are two widows in their 90s and an 89-year-old who jokes that she’d die as soon as she set foot in a retirement home. “We’ve all chosen and like Slab City,” Andrews says, “so the caring and sharing is always there.” (MORE: The Tale of a Lost Mortgage)

Well, it depends on whom you ask too. “Builder Bill” Ammon, 63, a year-round resident who manages the Range, says that when he moved from San Diego to the Slabs back in 1999, the community was more tight-knit. “In those days, you could be poor and be separate from the engine of the world and still be all right,” he says, fondly recalling how most everyone talked to one another on their CB radios and exchanged services and goods at regular swap meets to support themselves. “People had skills to offer.” These days, he grumbles, a new generation of youngsters is turning up ill equipped for the sobering demands of life off the grid, looking for handouts. No one is left to go hungry, he notes. But if they don’t adapt, they are given the cold shoulder, which may help explain the rise in petty theft at the camp. “A kind of segregation has developed here” between young and old, he says.

No one would disagree that the Wild West element has its darker side. Hang around the evening campfires a while and strange stories pour out: disappearances, mysterious drownings in the mud baths, the man who showed up in camp with his finger apparently bitten off, claiming he’d been attacked by a cannibal. The border patrol keeps a visible presence, searching for illegal immigrants that ply the region. When there’s serious trouble, though, firemen must drive over from Niland, a derelict town five miles to the west that boasts the closest grocery store and post office. In 40-plus years on the job, Michael Aleksick, 63, the recently retired fire marshal, says he’s been repeatedly shot at, stabbed and gotten in too many fistfights to remember, often with people he knows. Crime has worsened. “The crystal-meth influence,” he says, “has been huge.”

“There’s the good, bad and the ugly,” says “Shotgun” Vince Neill, 38, a newcomer who got his nickname partly for stopping a man from stealing a friend’s solar panels with a blast of rock salt. He first visited the Slabs as a boy and returned this winter with his wife and six children in tow after he lost his audiovisual business and their home in Northern California. Sometimes he worries about his family’s safety, but Neill reckons that Slab City’s problems are proportionate to any normal city in the country. And he has no regrets about bringing his kids (ages 2 to 18). In this case, math and English lessons are rounded out with training on catching scorpions and rattlesnakes. “They’re much happier learning in the great outdoors; it’s the best school,” he says. Still, Slab City is more of a parking spot than a long-term solution: come summer, the family will head to Los Angeles so he can look for full-time work. (VIDEO: The New Poor of Fresno)

Others, like “Radio” Mike Depraida, 60, keep choosing to return. The native New Yorker was living the fast life as a consultant and photographer but grew weary of the hectic pace and an apartment building where he didn’t know his neighbors. A chance visit with friends three years ago got him hooked on the Slabs, and he’s since become the perpetually tan guy in a polo shirt who operates a radio station and greets travelers with a gin and tonic at his makeshift tiki bar. The freedom and mix of people keep him coming back, a dearth of single women notwithstanding. “Why are these some of the most intelligent people I’ve met in my life?” he asks aloud. “I came to the conclusion that if you’re smart enough to get out of the rat race, well, then, you’re pretty damn bright.”

Chicago Joe and Anna are proof positive. They ended up parking their trailer in East Jesus, a renegade open-air art space with Mad Max accents. The view outside their window features a half-buried coach bus and, beyond that, a giant mammoth made of tires; their neighbors include an ex-chef, a documentary filmmaker and a wandering magician cum tattoo artist. What started as an adventure has settled into a routine filled with solar projects and other odd jobs that will keep them busy and fit. Joe’s already lost 80 lb. “People back home still think we’re crazy for doing what we’ve done,” he says. “It’s not for everyone, but this lifestyle has grown on us, tremendously.” The couple swear their relationship has also improved because they no longer fight about money. It’s not hard to understand why: their living expenses have dropped from about $4,000 to $200 a month. Less than their electricity bill when they owned a house.

MORE: 5 Events that Really Mattered for Housing in 2011 and Beyond

MORE: The Rise of American Tent Cities

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Legendary soul singer Etta James has passed away at the age of 73 following a battle with cancer.

Last month, it was announced by Etta’s live-in doctor that she had terminal cancer, and she was rushed to hospital just weeks later. 

According to CNN, Etta died at a hospital in Riverside, California, with her sons and manager Lupe De Leon by her side. She had previously been diagnosed with dementia and Hepatitis C and succumbed to complications from Leukemia.

“This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world. She was a true original who could sing it all – her music defied category. I worked with Etta for over 30 years. She was my friend and I will miss her always,” De Leon said.

Etta, who was most known for songs such as ‘At Last’ and ‘Something’s Got A Hold Of Me,’ would have turned 74 on Wednesday.

RIP, Etta.

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His lawyer confirmed to The New York Times, that the cause of his death was pancreatic cancer.

Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara to Italian immigrant parents, he began his career in live theatre, most notably with the role of Brick in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Elia Kazan. The role was played by Paul Newman in the 1958 film version.

A three-time Tony award nominee for his stage work, Gazzara made his film debut as a sociopathic military academy cadet in the 1957 drama The Strange One, followed by his breakout role as an accused killer in Otto Preminger’s 1959 hit courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder.

His credits also included a role as porn-film producer Jackie Treehorn in the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult comedy classic The Big Lebowski and a supporting role in the 1999 remake of the art heist drama The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.

Gazzara was married three times, with his first two ending in divorce. He is survived by his third wife, Elke, and daughter, Elizabeth.

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Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he’s playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.

In 1955 he originated the role of Brick Pollitt, the disturbed alcoholic son and failed football star in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” He left the show after only seven months to take on an equally challenging role, Johnny Pope, the drug addict in “A Hatful of Rain.” It earned him his first of three Tony Award nominations.

In 1965 he moved on to TV stardom in “Run for Your Life,” a drama about a workaholic lawyer who, diagnosed with a terminal illness, quits his job and embarks on a globe-trotting attempt to squeeze a lifetime of adventures into the one or two years he has left. He was twice nominated for Emmys during the show’s three-year run.

Gazzara made his movie debut in 1957 in “The Strange One,” Calder Willingham’s bitter drama about brutality at a Southern military school. He had previously played the lead role of the psychopathic cadet, Jocko de Paris, on Broadway in Willingham’s stage version of the story, “End of Man.”

He followed that film with “Anatomy of a Murder,” in which he played a man on trial for murdering a tavern keeper who had been accused of raping his wife.

After “Run for Your Life” ended in 1968, Gazzara spent the rest of his career alternating between movies and the stage, although rarely with the critical acclaim he had enjoyed during his early years.

In the 1970s, he teamed with his friend director John Cassavetes for three films, “Husbands,” “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” and “Opening Night.”

Gena Rowlands appeared with Gazzara in “Opening Night,” which also starred Cassavetes. She said that Gazzara meant “so much” to her and that her prayers and thoughts went out to “all his loyal and wonderful fans throughout the world.”

“It breaks my heart to have this era come to an end,” she said in a statement.

Other Gazzara films included “The Bridge at Remagen,” “The Young Doctors,” “They All Laughed,” “The Big Lebowski,” “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium,” “The Spanish Prisoner,” “Stag” and “Road House.” He also made several films in Italy.

He appeared on Broadway in revivals of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “Awake and Sing!” “Strange Interlude” and several other plays.

Gazzara began acting in television in 1952 with roles on the series “Danger” and “Kraft Television Theater.” Before landing “Run for Your Life,” he played a police detective in the series “Arrest and Trial,” which lasted two seasons.

Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York on Aug. 28, 1930, he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a cold-water flat with a bathtub in the kitchen. His parents were immigrants from Sicily who met and married in New York, and his first language was Italian. Although he was baptized under his birth name, his parents always called him Ben or Benny.

As a child he became fascinated with movies, and after giving his first performance, in a Boys Club play, he knew he had found his life’s work.

“I disliked high school,” he once said, “and after two years of it I left without telling anyone at home.”

Instead he spent his days in movie theaters.

He entered Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop in 1948. Eighteen months later he auditioned for the Actors Studio run by Lee Strasberg and was accepted.

The school was a beehive of activity in those days, turning out such followers of method acting as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Barbara Bel Geddes, Shelly Winters, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Rod Steiger and Julie Harris.

“There’s a lot of voodoo about the Actors Studio,” Gazzara told The Associated Press in 1966. “In the best sense it was a place for professionals to stay in touch with their craft, where newcomers and professionals mingled, to grow, to try parts they would never get in the professional theater and to even fall on their face.”

Gazzara’s first two marriages, to actresses Louise Erikson and Janice Rule, ended in divorce.

While filming “Inchon” in Korea in 1981, he met Krivat. They married the following year, and the union endured.

“Elke saved my life,” Gazzara said in 1999. “When I met her, I was drinking too much, fooling around too much, killing myself. She put romance and hope back in my life.”

Survivors include his wife and a daughter.

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According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the number one killer of women in the US. Statistics show heart disease kills a woman every minute, and in Michigan,, 41 women are killed by heart disease every day. Heart attacks and strokes have killed more women than men over the last 27 years.

One Mid-Michigan woman is making it her mission to bring awareness to heart disease, after a close call.

“Two years ago I had a stint placed in my left main artery,” said Dotti Pearson, with the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. “My cardiologist told me I was very lucky because I was poised to have a major heart attack and that just kind of woke me up. And I thought I didn’t know that much about heart disease.”

Pearson says many women think that their number one concern is breast cancer, but breast cancer will take 40,000 lives this year, and heart disease will take 400,000.

“That’s why ‘Go Red’ is out there,” Pearson said. “It’s a call to action to get women to understand their risks and make changes to their lifestyle.”

Those changes could save your life. While the disease is deadly, it is highly preventable. Experts suggest adding exercise into your daily routine, choosing healthy food options, and knowing your family history. The number one risk factor for heart disease is smoking.

“If you’re a smoker – stop,” Pearson advises. “And stop again and again until it works.”

It’s also important to know your body. Experts say some symptoms of heart disease can be shortness of breath, pain in the upper back and even being overly tired. Pearson says it’s important women become their own advocates, since heart disease is often overlooked.

“There are women being sent home for indigestion, acid reflux, stress – anything but heart disease,” Pearson explained.

With a smart diet and exercise, the American Heart Association says women can decrease their risk of heart disease by over 80 percent.

“Just the thought that we’re losing these wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, daughters,” said Pearson. “We’re important. We matter.”

Hundreds of thousands of women and men have made the commitment to beat heart disease, and you can do the same. You can start by wearing red today.

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Gazzara, the always-working actor who specialized in tough guys, bad guys and every other kind of guy in between, died Friday at a New York hospital of pancreatic cancer, the New York Times reported.

He was 81.

R.I.P.: R&B singer David Peaston 

Gazzara’s screen and Broadway credits, well more than 100 in all, date back some 60 years. He considered the 1959 black-and-white procedural classic Anatomy of a Murder to be a breakthough: “I got to work with my first movie star,” he told The A.V. Club in 2009, “Jimmy Stewart.”

His most celebrated work was with Cassavetes.

Gazzara starred in three of the revered actor-director’s tour de forces, Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night. He routinely credited the movies with keeping his name alive to new generations of filmmakers.

As noted elsewhere, Gazzara’s death came 23 years to the day of Cassavetes’, who passed away in 1989 at age 59.

Other popular Gazzara roles included porn-peddler Jackie Treehorn in the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski, and the dastardly Brad Wesley, who despite being possessed of the least villainous-sounding name of all-time pushed Patrick Swayze to the limit in the cult classic, Roadhouse.

In another lifetime, Gazzara was a prime-time star who put in a three-season stint on the Fugitive-esque Run for Your Life.

A one-time Emmy winner, for the TV movie Hysterical Blindness, which costarred his frequent leading lady (and Cassevetes widow), Gena Rowlands, Gazzara also won acclaim for An Early Frost, a 1985 telepic that broached the then-unbroachable AIDS crisis.

In a memoir, Gazzara, who was married three times, opened up about a love affair with Audrey Hepburn, with whom he acted alongside in two movies. “So obviously I wasn’t in love,” Gazzara said in 2004.  “I was enraptured.”

PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths: 2012′s Fallen Stars

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NEW YORK, N.Y. – Ben Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in films, on television and on Broadway in the original “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” has died at age 81.

Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he’s playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.

In 1955 he originated the role of Brick Pollitt, the disturbed alcoholic son and failed football star in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” He left the show after only seven months to take on an equally challenging role, Johnny Pope, the drug addict in “A Hatful of Rain.” It earned him his first of three Tony Award nominations.

In 1965 he moved on to TV stardom in “Run for Your Life,” a drama about a workaholic lawyer who, diagnosed with a terminal illness, quits his job and embarks on a globe-trotting attempt to squeeze a lifetime of adventures into the one or two years he has left. He was twice nominated for Emmys during the show’s three-year run.

Gazzara made his movie debut in 1957 in “The Strange One,” Calder Willingham’s bitter drama about brutality at a Southern military school. He had previously played the lead role of the psychopathic cadet, Jocko de Paris, on Broadway in Willingham’s stage version of the story, “End of Man.”

He followed that film with “Anatomy of a Murder,” in which he played a man on trial for murdering a tavern keeper who had been accused of raping his wife.

After “Run for Your Life” ended in 1968, Gazzara spent the rest of his career alternating between movies and the stage, although rarely with the critical acclaim he had enjoyed during his early years.

In the 1970s, he teamed with his friend director John Cassavetes for three films, “Husbands,” ”The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” and “Opening Night.”

Gena Rowlands appeared with Gazzara in “Opening Night,” which also starred Cassavetes. She said that Gazzara meant “so much” to her and that her prayers and thoughts went out to “all his loyal and wonderful fans throughout the world.”

“It breaks my heart to have this era come to an end,” she said in a statement.

Other Gazzara films included “The Bridge at Remagen,” ”The Young Doctors,” ”They All Laughed,” ”The Big Lebowski,” ”The Thomas Crown Affair,” ”If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium,” ”The Spanish Prisoner,” ”Stag” and “Road House.” He also made several films in Italy.

He appeared on Broadway in revivals of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” ”Awake and Sing!” ”Strange Interlude” and several other plays.

Gazzara began acting in television in 1952 with roles on the series “Danger” and “Kraft Television Theater.” Before landing “Run for Your Life,” he played a police detective in the series “Arrest and Trial,” which lasted two seasons.

Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York on Aug. 28, 1930, he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a cold-water flat with a bathtub in the kitchen. His parents were immigrants from Sicily who met and married in New York, and his first language was Italian. Although he was baptized under his birth name, his parents always called him Ben or Benny.

As a child he became fascinated with movies, and after giving his first performance, in a Boys Club play, he knew he had found his life’s work.

“I disliked high school,” he once said, “and after two years of it I left without telling anyone at home.”

Instead he spent his days in movie theatres.

He entered Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop in 1948. Eighteen months later he auditioned for the Actors Studio run by Lee Strasberg and was accepted.

The school was a beehive of activity in those days, turning out such followers of method acting as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Barbara Bel Geddes, Shelly Winters, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Rod Steiger and Julie Harris.

“There’s a lot of voodoo about the Actors Studio,” Gazzara told The Associated Press in 1966. “In the best sense it was a place for professionals to stay in touch with their craft, where newcomers and professionals mingled, to grow, to try parts they would never get in the professional theatre and to even fall on their face.”

Gazzara’s first two marriages, to actresses Louise Erikson and Janice Rule, ended in divorce.

While filming “Inchon” in Korea in 1981, he met Krivat. They married the following year, and the union endured.

“Elke saved my life,” Gazzara said in 1999. “When I met her, I was drinking too much, fooling around too much, killing myself. She put romance and hope back in my life.”

Survivors include his wife and a daughter.

___

Former Associated Press writer Bob Thomas in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

View full post on ben gazzara – Yahoo! News Search Results

Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Gazzara was a proponent of method acting, in which the performer attempts to take on the thoughts and emotions of the character he’s playing, and it helped him achieve stardom early in his career with two stirring Broadway performances.

In 1955, he originated the role of Brick Pollitt, the disturbed alcoholic son and failed football star in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” He left the show after only seven months to take on an equally challenging role, Johnny Pope, the drug addict in “A Hatful of Rain.” It earned him his first of three Tony Award nominations.

In 1965, he moved on to TV stardom in “Run for Your Life,” a drama about a workaholic lawyer who, diagnosed with a terminal illness, quits his job and embarks on a globe-trotting attempt to squeeze a lifetime of adventures into the one or two years he has left. He was twice nominated for Emmys during the show’s three-year run.

Gazzara made his movie debut in 1957 in “The Strange One,” Calder Willingham’s bitter drama about brutality at a Southern military school. He had previously played the lead role of the psychopathic cadet, Jocko de Paris, on Broadway in Willingham’s stage version of the story, “End of Man.”

He followed that film with “Anatomy of a Murder,” in which he played a man on trial for murdering a tavern keeper who had been accused of raping his wife.

After “Run for Your Life” ended in 1968, Gazzara spent the rest of his career alternating between movies and the stage, although rarely with the critical acclaim he had enjoyed during his early years.

In the 1970s, he teamed with his friend director John Cassavetes for three films, “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” and “Opening Night.” In another Cassavetes film, he appeared with Falk, and the two became friends (it was Cassavetes who introduced them to the Wyndham Hotel, according to a 1982 article in New York magazine).

Gena Rowlands appeared with Gazzara in “Opening Night,” which also starred Cassavetes. Cassavetes and Rowlands were married; he died in 1989. Falk died last year.

“It breaks my heart to have this era come to an end. Ben meant so much to all of us. To our families. To John. To Peter. To have them gone now is devastating to me,” she said in a statement.

She said her prayers and thoughts went out to “all his loyal and wonderful fans throughout the world.”

Rita Moreno, who played Gazzara’s wife in the 2000 film “Blue Moon,” said, “He was a wonderful man, and I so enjoyed working with him. I wish I could have had the pleasure more often.”

Other Gazzara films included “The Bridge at Remagen,” ”The Young Doctors,” ”They All Laughed,” ”The Thomas Crown Affair,” ”If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium,” ”The Spanish Prisoner,” ”Stag” and “Road House.” He also made several films in Italy.

He appeared on Broadway in revivals of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” ”Awake and Sing!” ”Strange Interlude” and several other plays.

Gazzara began acting in television in 1952 with roles on the series “Danger” and “Kraft Television Theater.” Before landing “Run for Your Life,” he played a police detective in the series “Arrest and Trial,” which lasted two seasons.

Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York on Aug. 28, 1930, he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a cold-water flat with a bathtub in the kitchen. His parents were immigrants from Sicily who met and married in New York, and his first language was Italian. Although he was baptized under his birth name, his parents always called him Ben or Benny.

As a child he became fascinated with movies, and after giving his first performance, in a Boys Club play, he knew he had found his life’s work.

“I disliked high school,” he once said, “and after two years of it I left without telling anyone at home.”

Instead he spent his days in movie theaters.

He entered Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop in 1948. Eighteen months later he auditioned for the Actors Studio run by Lee Strasberg and was accepted.

The school was a beehive of activity in those days, turning out such followers of method acting as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Barbara Bel Geddes, Shelly Winters, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Rod Steiger and Julie Harris.

“There’s a lot of voodoo about the Actors Studio,” Gazzara told The Associated Press in 1966. “In the best sense it was a place for professionals to stay in touch with their craft, where newcomers and professionals mingled, to grow, to try parts they would never get in the professional theater and to even fall on their face.”

Gazzara’s first two marriages, to actresses Louise Erikson and Janice Rule, ended in divorce.

While filming “Inchon” in Korea in 1981, he met Krivat. They married the following year, and the union endured.

“Elke saved my life,” Gazzara said in 1999. “When I met her, I was drinking too much, fooling around too much, killing myself. She put romance and hope back in my life.”

He adopted Krivat’s daughter, Danja, as his own. She recalled on Friday that he was a “complex soul” and that his role as a father to her and his own daughter was challenging.

“I adored Ben, and so did his daughter,” she said. “But we both had difficulty with him … I think the difficulty lay in his complexity of being an actor and those layers that you have, that you bring with you.”

Besides Danja, Gazzara is survived by his wife, daughter Elizabeth and a brother.

___

Former Associated Press writer Bob Thomas in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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Gazzara’s career began in earnest in the mid-’50s, when starred in a pair of Broadway hits. First was Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in which he played Brick (the role later went to Paul Newman when director Elia Kazan turned it into a movie). Next was A Hatful of Rain, which earned him a Tony nomination. Just like that, Gazzara’s career was off and running. In 1959, he had his breakthrough role on screen in Otto Preminger’s controversial courtroom drama, Anatomy of a Murder, playing a lieutenant on trial for murdering the man he believes raped his wife. Even with a powerhouse cast that included Lee Remick, George C. Scott, and Jimmy Stewart, the smoldering Gazzara stood out. Not that you could tell that from the film’s hokey, old-timey trailer.

In the mid-’60s, Gazzara landed the lead role in the NBC TV series Run For Your Life, playing a lawyer named Paul Bryan, who is given nine months to live. Ironically, the show lasted for three seasons.

Gazzara’s greatest artistic collaboration was with actor-director John Cassavetes. Decades before independent film as we know was born, Cassavetes and his pair of macho pals, Gazzara and Peter Falk, created a new kind of down-and-dirty cinema. It was emotionally messy, raw, and true. 1970′s Husbands is a perfect example.

Here’s a clip of the three amigos (Cassavetes, Falk, and Gazzara) giving the usually unflappable talk show host Dick Cavett a hard time while promoting the film.

My personal favorite of all of Gazzara’s performances is in Cassavetes 1976 bleak and ballsy drama The Killing of Chinese Bookie. He plays the blowhard owner of a seedy strip club who loses money gambling to the wrong people and is forced to pay off his debt by committing the sin of the film’s title. It’s a harrowing movie — and Gazzara is tragic and electric.

Gazzara wasn’t all Method seriousness, though. He could a mischievous prankster, too. Take his performance as the baddie who sends his goons after Patrick Swayze in 1989′s Road House. There are plenty of great Gazzara scenes in this pop-culture guilty pleasure, but my favorite will always be when he, without a care in the world, swerves behind the wheel of his convertible while singing the doo-wop oldie “Sh-Boom”.

In the later years of his career, Gazzara worked non-stop, often giving small character parts his own unique, indelible stamp. One of the best is his role as porn kingpin Jackie Treehorn in 1998′s The Big Lebowski. After the film became a cult hit, Gazzara explained that even though his role was a nothing part, he agreed to do it because he couldn’t stop laughing when he read the Coen brothers’ script.

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Posted on January 27, 2012 12:01PM by Molly Goodson

The Sundance Film Festival has been jam-packed with parties, red carpets, and star-studded events since it kicked off witha rip-roaring, blizzard-filled opening weekend. The Bing Bar played host to everyone from Drake on Saturday night to Kristen Bell for her House of Lies happy hour on Sunday. Elsewhere in Park City, Emma Roberts partied with her cast of Celeste and Jesse Forever, while Joshua Jackson caught up with his Lay the Favorite costars. LTF was getting a lot of buzz coming into the festival and was completed just days before it premiered.

Aziz Ansari took advantage of Sundance to schedule some stand-up, and he actually acted as Drake’s opening act at the Bing Bar on Saturday. During the show, Cuba Gooding Jr. stormed the stage when he thought people weren’t giving Aziz the attention he deserved. Aziz also stepped out to support his Parks and Recreation costar Rashida Jones, who made her screenwriting debut in Celeste and Jesse. Lizzy Caplan and Kirsten Dunst‘s movie Bachelorette hits Sundance on Monday evening, but the girls caught up beforehand as well. On Sunday, Lizzy joined Allison Brie, Christina Hendricks, and her husband Geoffrey Arend all sat together to enjoy a relaxing dinner at Chefdance. Bradley Cooper rolled into town late, since his film The Words is one of the last to premiere at the festival. There’still the final weekend and Sundance awards to come, but here’s all the latest party pics from all the awesome events!

Check out all of our Sundance Film Festival coverage!

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The actor died of pancreatic cancer at Bellevue Hospital Center, his lawyer, Jay Julien, told the newspaper. Gazzara lived in Manhattan.

Noted for his naturalistic performances, Gazzara played in three Cassavetes films during a seven-year span in the 1970s: Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night. He also starred as an alcoholic Italian writer in Marco Ferreri’s Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981).

While linked aesthetically with Cassavetes and independent-minded films, Gazzara also excelled in mainstream movies including Road House (1989), starring Patrick Swayze. Even in the broadest of such popular entertainments, he invested his supporting characters with gritty dimensions, as in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.

A native of New York’s Lower East Side, Gazzara played Brick in the original Tennessee Williams Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starred in the 1959 classic Anatomy of a Murder and won an Emmy in 2003 for his supporting role in the HBO telefilm Hysterical Blindness.

Throughout his career, Gazzara positioned himself for “creative elbow room,” seeking edgy characters in non-mainstream productions or infusing mainstream productions with idiosyncratic supporting turns. But he always felt he should have done more.

“I turned down so many movies because I was idealistic,” he once said. “If I had the same chances today, I would take them all because you never know where it will lead.”

Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara on Aug. 28, 1930, he grew up in a cold-water flat, speaking Italian as his first language. Despite the hardships, Gazzara persevered to study engineering at City College of New York but gravitated to acting, going on to study with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Gazzara made it to Broadway in 1953 as a manipulative cadet in End as a Man. Two years later, he co-starred in Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and followed with a starring role in A Hatful of Rain. Despite acclaimed performances, Gazzara was not selected to play either role in the film adaptations: Paul Newman got the part in Cat, and Don Murray starred in the movie version of Hatful.

However, End was made into a 1957 film, now titled The Strange One, and his intense performance attracted attention.

Gazzara was next cast in Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder (1959), playing a belligerent Navy officer and murder defendant whom lawyer Jimmy Stewart gets off — and who then skips town without paying his legal bill. The film earned seven Oscar nominations, and Gazzara’s strikingly sinister portrayal led to similar roles including a turn in Convicts 4 (1961), in which he played a hostile inmate whose life changes when he discovers art.

Gazzara’s ability to show multiple dimensions, from amoral toughness to sensitivity, led to meaty roles. He thrived on playing highly conflicted and desperate characters. In 1963, he co-starred with Chuck Connors in the 90-minute series Arrest and Trial. Two years later, he gained national attention with his performance as a lawyer with a short time to live in Run for Your Life.

The series ran for three seasons. At his peak of popularity and recognition after Run, Gazzara starred in TV’s first miniseries, QB VII (1974), an adaptation of Leon Uris’ best-selling novel.

During this period, Gazzara hooked up with Cassavetes, his acting-school buddy. Cassavetes’ psychologically turbulent subject matter, often involving personal demons and midlife crises, was a fitting canvas for Gazzara’s searing portrayals. Along with Cassavetes and Peter Falk, Gazzara co-starred in Husbands (1970), playing one of three middle-aged men whose best friend’s death triggers their panicky spiral into debauchery in New York and London.

Next for Cassavetes, Gazzara starred as a seedy L.A. strip-club operator who is deep in hock to the mob in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). He took a supporting role in Cassavetes’ next opus, 1977′s Opening Night, which starred Gena Rowlands as an actress traumatized by witnessing the accidental death of a longtime fan.

Gazzara also starred with Cassavetes in the oddball disaster film Capone (1975), which Gazzara ratcheted up as the dying, syphilis-ridden gangster. (Cassavetes did not direct the film.)

Amid such dark peculiarities, Gazzara played in lighter fare during the late 1960s and ’70s, including If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, The Neptune Factor, High Velocity and Sidney Sheldon’s Bloodline.

He also hooked up with director Peter Bogdanovich, starring in Saint Jack (1979) and They All Laughed as well as the Reverend Sun Myung Moon-produced Korean War extravaganza Inchon, the latter two released in 1981. In addition, Gazzara brought his mix of surly toughness and psychological complexity to mainstream roles, most notably his intimidating performance as a bisexual thug in Road House.

In the ’90s, a new generation of independent filmmakers, weaned and schooled on Cassavetes fare, cast him in their movies: In three 1998 films, Gazzara was featured as a pornographer in the Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski; played an obsessed father in Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ’66; and portrayed a husband walking away from a 40-year-marriage in Todd Solondz’s Happiness. The same year, he was featured in Too Tired to Die, as an artist romancing a much younger Korean girl, and as a senile actor in John Turturro’s Illuminata.

A year later, Gazzara brought his gritty intensity to the role of a Bronx crime lord in Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam.

Starting in 2003, Gazzara portrayed New York Yankees legend and linguist Yogi Berra in the off-Broadway production Nobody Don’t Like Yogi and appeared in Lars von Trier’s controversial Dogville (2003). Despite being treated for throat cancer, which made his voice gravelly, Gazzara brought his one-man Yogi to such New York venues as Sag Harbor and Syracuse. He also was featured in a segment of the 2006 collaborative film Paris, Je T’aime.

Gazzara had been married to actress Elke Krivat since 1982 and had previous marriages to actresses Louise Erickson and Janice Rule. In addition to Krivat, survivors include two daughters and a brother.

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Ben Gazzara

Stephen Lovekin/Getty

Ben Gazzara, who made a career of playing virile roles on stage, screen, TV and in real life, died Friday in Manhattan. He was 81.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, his lawyer told The New York Times.

Accomplished as an actor, dapper and irresistible to women, Gazzara came by his many streetwise roles naturally. Born Biagio Anthony Gazzara on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the child of an Italian immigrant carpenter and roofer got the acting bug starting at age 12, at the Madison Square Boys’ Club. “My voice was this deep even then,” he told PEOPLE in 1976.

The urge to perform “screwed up my schooling,” he said, “because up until then I was a fantastically gifted student. I stayed out of school 54 days in a row and went to movies.”

Briefly attending night school at City College of New York, before making his way to Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop and the Actors’ Studio, Gazzara then burst onto Broadway in three straight hit roles. These included the booze-deflated Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (the role Paul Newman played in the movie) and the junkie in A Hatful of Rain (Don Murray did the movie). Theater critics hailed him as the new heir to Humphrey Bogart or Marlon Brando.

When Broadway stage roles dried up, Gazzara moved to California and appeared in movies, including Anatomy of a Murder and The Young Doctors. He also played his most famous role on TV, as a doomed attorney on NBC’s answer to ABC’s The Fugitive. Called Run for Your Life, it ran from 1965-68.

Even before early professional success there was an early marriage, to actress Louise Erickson. The union lasted from 1951 until their divorce in 1957. “I was married at 21,” he told PEOPLE. “What a moron I was! … It was that kind of romantic thing, built on nothing.”

His second marriage, to actress Janice Rule, with whom he had a daughter, actress Elizabeth Gazzara, ran longer, from 1961 until their 1982 divorce. At the time of his death, Gazzara was still married to his third wife (since 1982), former model Elke Stuckmann.

Gazzara’s later roles included those in movies directed by his close friend, the actor John Cassavetes, as well as in 1979′s Bloodlines and 1981′s They All Laughed, both of which costarred Audrey Hepburn, with whom Gazzara was romantically linked.

Even in his 70s and 80s, after having battled throat cancer diagnosed in 1999 and suffering a stroke in 2005, Gazzara remained active. He costarred with Nicole Kidman in the arty Dogville, and the Internet Movie Database currently lists him as filming two movies still in production.

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By Adam Satariano and Ian King

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Steve Appleton, who took charge of Micron Technology Inc. at 34 and went on to become the memory- chip industry’s longest-serving chief executive officer, died after crashing an experimental plane in Boise, Idaho. He was 51.

Appleton was flying a private aircraft with a fixed wing and single engine when it crashed between two runways, said Patty Miller, a spokeswoman for the Boise airport. Appleton was the only fatality. Chief Operating Officer Mark Durcan will assume the CEO’s responsibilities until a successor is chosen.

“Steve’s passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large,” Boise-based Micron said yesterday in a statement.

A skydiving triathlete who flew stunt planes and raced motorcycles, Appleton navigated the sole U.S. maker of computer memory through a period of volatile price swings that left Micron unprofitable eight of the past 14 years. Before his death, Appleton was working to decrease Micron’s reliance on sales of the chips, which help computers process information.

Last year, Appleton was awarded the Semiconductor Industry Association’s Robert N. Noyce Award, a prestigious honor named for the inventor of the integrated circuit. In the 1980s, Appleton worked with the U.S. government as a main negotiator to help American chip companies gain access to Japanese markets.

Wisdom and Insight

“There is such a long list of things he did for the industry,” Ray Stata, chairman of Analog Devices Inc., said in an interview. He introduced Appleton at the award ceremony last year. “He was one of those kinds of people when he decided to speak, he had wisdom and insights and thoughts that were taken seriously,” Stata said.

Micron shares fell 3.1 percent to $7.70 in late trading yesterday, after having been halted at $7.95 prior to the announcement. The company has a market value of $7.85 billion.

Appleton’s death follows recent management changes at the company. Micron said last month that Durcan will retire as operating chief and president at the end of August, and that two board members, Teruaki Aoki and James W. Bagley, also are departing.

Even so, Micron has a “very deep bench” of executives who can step in for Appleton, especially Mark Adams, who was recently named president, Daniel Berenbaum, an analyst at MKM Partners LLC, said in a research note. Adams was already being groomed to take the helm, Berenbaum said.

Under Appleton, Micron suffered from the price fluctuations that plagued the broader memory-chip industry. Micron, the last remaining U.S. maker of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, reported a second-consecutive quarterly loss in December as weak demand for personal computers hammered chip prices.

The Crash

Appleton’s aircraft crashed at about 8:56 a.m. yesterday in Boise, shortly after his second takeoff of the day, Zoe Keliher, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, said during a press conference. His Lancair IVP aircraft first departed at 8:46 a.m. and landed after getting 5 to 10 feet off the runway, she said.

After departing again, Appleton requested permission to land a second time. He indicated that there was a problem and said, “I’m going to taxi back in and see if I can figure it out,” according to a recording of Boise airport air-traffic control conversations posted on LiveATC.net.

“I’d like to turn back in and land,” he said. “Coming back in.”

Soon after that, people at the control tower can be heard yelling, “Oh my God,” over and over as the plane crashed.

Lancair Fatalities

The Lancair aircraft that Appleton was piloting when he died was had had a “disproportionate” number of fatal accidents, according to a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration notice to Lancair operators on Sept. 25, 2009.

“The Lancair fatal accident rate is substantially higher than both personal-use general aviation as well as the overall fatal accident rate for all amateur-built experimental aircraft,” the FAA said.

A Los Angeles native, Appleton flew stunt planes as a hobby and experienced an earlier crash, in 2004. He later showed off photographs of the destroyed aircraft while regaling reporters with his account of crawling from the wreckage only to return to work the following day. The NTSB said that accident was caused by the pilot’s failure to stay clear of the ground while performing acrobatic maneuvers.

Appleton also enjoyed other high-adrenaline activities, including triathlons, skydiving, kite-boarding and motorcycle racing.

‘Bigger Than Life’

“Everything Steve did was bigger than life — whether it was flying one of his planes, running the only DRAM company in the U.S.A., or the many other daredevil activities in which he engaged,” former Intel Corp. Chairman Craig Barrett said in a statement. “Having worked with Steve in the semiconductor industry for over two decades, I grew to respect his energy, commitment and integrity.”

Appleton started at Micron at the age of 22, working the graveyard shift in a factory. He once said he slept just four hours a night, framing his days around 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. workouts, and that he kept his body fat to 5 percent. Appleton attributed his intensity to a rough upbringing in Los Angeles.

“It was sticks in elementary school, knives in junior high, and guns in high school,” Appleton said in a Businessweek interview from 1996. He said he lost one friend to a shotgun blast and others to prison.

Appleton also was a nationally ranked tennis player at Boise State University and learned to play left-handed after breaking his right wrist.

‘On the Edge’

“He was aggressive,” said Gordon Smith, a former Micron board member. “He was the kind of guy who was out on the edge all the time with his flying. I think he liked to do things that maybe a traditional-type pilot wouldn’t do.”

His competitive nature helped him prevail in a power struggle with Micron’s board that saw him fired and rehired eight days later.

“He was intense,” said Smith, who said he had disagreed with Appleton about his management style before leaving Micron’s board. “He spent a lot of time worrying about Micron.”

Micron’s U.S. rivals, including Intel and Texas Instruments Inc., abandoned the memory-chip market in favor of other semiconductors. Samsung Electronics Co., which also generates money from sales of products such as mobile phones and screen displays, is the industry leader.

CEO Pilots

Flying is a hobby of several technology company executives, including Zynga Inc. CEO Mark Pincus, Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt and Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison.

Chief executives with pilot licenses are more prone to take risks in business, according to a study last year.

Companies led by pilot CEOs were 40 percent more likely to make an acquisition in any given year than other companies, said Matthew Cain, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame, who co-wrote the study.

Companies suffering fatalities from aviation accidents include Tesla Motors Inc., which lost three employees in a crash in 2010, and Atlas Air Inc., whose CEO died in 2001. Hedge-fund owner Michael Klein died in a 2007 crash.

“The things that I do outside of work are why I’ve been successful inside that industry,” Appleton said in an interview in November. “When you look at airplanes and cars and motorcycles and big-wave surfing and all of that stuff, those things reflect the same personality traits that make us successful as a company and make me successful.”

–With assistance from Ari Levy, Danielle Kucera, Douglas MacMillan, Jon Erlichman in San Francisco, Rebecca De León in Boise, Alan Levin in Washington, Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta and Sarah Gill in New York. Editors: Tom Giles, Nick Turner

To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net; Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net.

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In a short statement from Micron Technology, the company announced that 51-year-old Chairman and CEO Steve Appleton passed away Friday morning in a small plane accident in Boise.

“Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time,” the company said. “Steve’s passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large.”

Additional reports claim that Appleton, a professional stunt plane pilot and former motocross racer, was the only one in the plane — an experimental fixed wing single engine Lancair — when it crashed at the Boise airport. Ada County dispatch in southwestern Idaho said it received reports that the plane was actually on fire even before it attempted to land.

“I’d like to turn back in… and land. Coming back in,” Appleton said to air traffic controllers before he went down.

Appleton crashed once before back on July 8, 2004. According to reports, Appleton sustained a punctured lung, head injuries, ruptured disk and broken bones after his stunt plane crashed in the desert just east of Boise. Even more, he didn’t immediately reveal the severity of his injuries, leading to an investigation in 2006.

“My description of myself, whether I’m the CEO of a very competitive industry or whether I happen to fly aerobatics in airplanes, it’s all one package,” he said at the time. “I mean, it’s the personality that comes through in my business at my personal life.”

Appleton joined Micron back in 1983 after graduating from Boise State University with a BA in Business Management in 1982. He became chairman and CEO in 1994. According to his profile, one of his passions was participating in adventure sports. He also owned more than 20 airplanes.

Trading in Micron shares on the NYSE has been halted as of this report, and so far there’s no indication that trading will resume today. Shares were reportedly up 23 cents at $7.95 before the announcement was made on Friday afternoon. Over the past year, shares have traded between $3.97 and $11.95.

Micron said it will release additional information later on Friday.

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Micron Technology is a global maker of DRAM, NAND and NOR flash memory.

The company’s stock (MU) which trades on the NASDAQ was halted and up nearly 3% on the day. Appleton was 51 years old. He joined Micron in 1983 and became chairman and CEO in 2007.

Appleton started on the factory floor at Micron in 1983 and worked his way up. In 1991, he was named president and chief operating officer, and in 1994 he was named chairman, chief executive officer and president. He assumed his current position in 2007. Micron, based in Boise, has 20,000 employees worldwide and is one of Idaho’s largest employers.

The company issued the following statement:

“Steve’s passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large.”

In a recent blog post (http://wikibon.org/blog/get-ready-for-project-lightning/) Wikibon’s Dave Vellante indicated that Micron was one of the suppliers of flash cards to EMC’s Project Lightning.

I’m headed to the announcement on Monday in SFO to learn more about this technology. I talked to Vellante and he said he didn’t expect any supply chain impact from Appleton’s demise as this is a small part of Micron’s overall business. He pointed out that Micron is one of the world’s most important suppliers of memory systems including DRAMs, flash memory, CMOS and other memory technologies.

Flash is a key part of Micron’s long term growth plan. On the latest earnings call, Appleton said SSD revenues grew 60%. Further, speaking about Micron’s joint venture with Intel for NAND products he indicated:

“IMFS continues to ramp and perform well. As we had mentioned the last quarter, I think within a month, we should be at full wafer starts. It’s all going really according to plan, better than planned…this facility has been ramping on our MLC technology. So I’d just point out that, obviously, that helps us a lot on the cost, but a lot of that product by virtue of the channel that goes into also lowers the average ASP for those, for the overall NAND bit.”

Traditionally, enterprise class flash has been SLC (Single Layer Cell) technology whereas the Multi Layer Cell (MLC) that Appleton spoke about on the last call has been more consumer-oriented. According to analysts, EMC has qualified MLC flash which will provide continued cost advantages for flash in the enterprise.

It’s sad to see such a dedicated leader who has been with the company so long pass.

Update:  Eric Savitz at Forbes has more details - http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/02/03/micron-ceo-steve-appleton-dies-in-small-plane-accident/

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TODAY

Seeing red: TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford and Natalie Morales take part in Wear Red Day on Feb. 3.

By Rina Raphael

Red isn’t just the color of seduction. It’s also the shade of supporting women’s health.

Today, the first Friday of February, is Wear Red Day, which promotes awareness of heart disease, the number one killer of women. (It’s also American Heart Month). On this day, ladies are encouraged to wear anything red, be it a dress, shoes, scarf — or even just a pin.

“I learned late in life that my heart health is my greatest asset, which is why I celebrate National Wear Red Day,” said Star Jones, TODAY contributor and National Volunteer for the American Heart Association. “Join me.”

In honor of the campaign, TODAY’s lovely talent donned the striking crimson hue this morning. Join them in their fight against the disease by sharing your own photos! If you’re in the chosen color today, upload a photo to the Wear Red Day Facebook page and TODAY’s Facebook wall!

Learn more about Wear Red Day by visiting their website and check out TODAY Facebook submissions below:

Facebook submission by Rachel Levy Konik

Attention team members wear red.

Facebook submission by Medinah Sires

“Wearing red today … have a brother with heart disease.”

Facebook submission by Diana Brown

“We must all pay attention to what our bodies tell us! Red for the heart.”

More: Online diversity campaign targets bra colors Michelle Obama recycles her J.Crew favorites

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The 51-year-old Appleton, a three-decade industry veteran who performed stunts at airshows, died after the small plane he was piloting crashed at an airport in Boise, Idaho, where the chipmaker is headquartered.

His death stunned the tight-knit semiconductor industry. Appleton was a prominent figure in Boise, a city of 200,000 in the western United States, and a member of the Idaho Business Council.

President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Durcan, who was due to retire in August, will take up the CEO’s responsibilities until the company’s board can appoint a permanent successor. Directors will meet over the weekend, Micron said in a statement.

Shares in Micron, halted prior to the announcement, resumed trade after the regular market close and promptly slid 6 percent.

“Steve was a high-energy, never-give-up type of inspirational leader of the company. The entire industry will miss Steve’s energy,” said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Kevin Cassidy. “That said, Micron has a deep bench of managers that shared Steve’s vision.”

The accident happened while Appleton flew an experimental Lancair single-engine airplane, Boise Airport spokeswoman Patti Miller told Reuters. Lancair sells kits to build high-end planes.

After taking off and reaching an altitude of about 200 feet, Appleton radioed that he had a problem and needed to turn around, Boise police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower told reporters.

The aircraft rolled left, then plummeted to the ground, where it crashed, causing a large fire and leaving a twisted, black wreckage.

Appleton, a California native, joined Micron to work a night shift right after graduating from Boise State University in 1983. His subsequent meteoric ascent led to his becoming the youngest CEO on the Fortune 500 at the age of 34, in 1994.

He resigned in 1996, amid speculation about a boardroom power struggle, only to return nine days later after the board asked him to reconsider.

Appleton, a noted sports enthusiast who also scuba-dived, surfed and raced offroad cars and motorcycles, received the prestigious Robert Noyce award – the industry’s highest honor – from the Semiconductor Industry Association in 2011.

The award, named after Intel Corp cofounder Robert Noyce, is conferred on those who have made major contributions to the chip industry.

Employees at Micron’s sprawling headquarters and plant, where several flags flew at half mast, were visibly upset while others stuck to routine.

“I was in a meeting, which proceeded normally, but at the end when it broke up it was nothing but sad talk about Steve.” said employee Mike Peterson. “I know he liked airplanes so if he was going to go I guess this was fitting.”

Co-worker Melanie Wood said: “Someone told me over my cubicle and then I read the email and we all didn’t believe it at first. He’s so young, you don’t expect something like this.”

A BIG LOSS

“Steve was a visionary and a true leader in our industry. He will be deeply missed by the entire semiconductor community and our prayers and thoughts are with his family,” Brian Toohey, President of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said in a statement.

Micron makes memory chips used in personal computers, smartphones and tablets and competes against Asian rivals Hynix Semiconductor Inc, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Toshiba Corp.

Memory chip makers are struggling as falling prices and huge investments to stay competitive saddle them with massive losses. Micron is the last remaining U.S. producer of memory chips.

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter said Appleton was sensitive to how job cuts by Micron in recent years affected the community.

“He called me and told me about the layoffs coming up and explained how the business-end of chip technology would develop and that Micron would come out strong on the other end. And it happened exactly the way he said it would,” Bieter told reporters.

The company announced just last week that Durcan would retire in August, but Appleton’s death raised questions about whether he might stay on.

Seen as Micron’s even-keeled top technologist, Durcan has taken on a greater role running the chipmaker day-to-day in the past few years, while larger-than-life Appleton has focused more on strategy.

The loss of Micron’s dealmaker could waylay a possible acquisition of troubled Japanese rival Elpida Memory. Saddled with millions of dollars in operating losses and major upcoming debt payments, Elpida may be in talks to be bought by Micron or reach some kind of partnership, media recently speculated.

RISKY LIFESTYLES

Appleton’s death raises questions about whether some CEOs’ daredevil lifestyles are too risky for shareholders.

British tycoon Richard Branson has tried to circle the world in hot air balloon and in 1985 had to be rescued after capsizing a sailboat. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison races sailboats and also flies planes.

Micron’s recent regulatory filings make no mention of a “key man” life insurance policy on Appleton, nor do they specifically mention directors’ and officers’ insurance that would cover him.

A senior executive at a national insurance brokerage said it is entirely possible to get directors’ and officers’ insurance on someone like a CEO who flies his own planes, but added that Appleton’s death could still cause legal headaches for the board.

“D&O really is about, at its core, for a public company, whether or not the company is susceptible to litigation by shareholders,” said the broker, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The broker said Micron’s board would have an obligation to have a contingency plan in place, particularly given Appleton’s risky lifestyle, and that the degree to which the company might face legal questions depends a great deal on what Micron’s stock does on Monday.

“If trading opens substantially lower it could be the case that a plaintiffs’ attorney or two or three will start to conduct an investigation,” the broker said.

Trading in Micron shares was halted on Friday morning pending the company’s announcement. The shares were down at $7.48 in extended trading, from a last quote of $7.95 on the Nasdaq, before the halt.

(Additional reporting by Himank Sharma in Bangalore, Ben Berkowitz in New York, Writing by Edwin Chan, Editing by Andre Grenon, Gary Hill and Tim Dobbyn)

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Micron CEO Steve Appleton, shown with one of his stunt jets in 2005, died in a plane crash Friday.

EXECUTIVES
Micron CEO dies in crash

A small experimental plane piloted by the chief executive and chairman of Micron Technology crashed after takeoff Friday at the Boise airport, killing the head of the Idaho memory-chip maker who survived a similar crash eight years ago.

Steve Appleton, a professional stunt pilot and former motocross racer, was the only person aboard the plane when witnesses said it steeply banked, stalled and rolled to the ground, according to Zoe Keliher, air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. It was the aircraft’s second takeoff attempt for the morning.

Appleton’s death was confirmed by Micron spokesman Daniel Francisco, and trading in the company’s stock was halted. The company’s shares have traded between $3.97 and $11.95 over the past year, and shares were up 23 cents at $7.95 Friday before the announcement.

FINANCING
N.Y.’s top cop sues big banks

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed suit Friday against Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase over the use of a mortgage database that the state said led to improper foreclosures.

The banks’ use of the database, known as MERS, misled homeowners, undermined foreclosure proceedings and created uncertainty about ownership interests in properties, the state said in the complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.

The lawsuit comes three days before a Monday deadline for states to join a proposed multistate agreement over foreclosure practices said to be worth as much as $25 billion. Last week, Schneiderman was selected by the Obama administration to help lead a state- federal group probing misconduct in the packaging and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.

TECHNOLOGY
Motorola wins patent ruling

Motorola Mobility Holdings won a German patent ruling over Apple’s iCloud service that may allow the company to block sales of devices including the iPhone and iPad in the country if they use the software that accesses it.

The Mannheim Regional Court found Apple infringed a patent used to synchronize e-mail accounts. The ruling holds Apple liable for damages and allows Motorola Mobility to ask for information about past device sales, Presiding Judge Andreas Voss said.

This article appeared on page D – 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Or not. We didn’t see that many. Which is a pity, because it’s for a good cause.

Feb. 3 is dedicated to women’s heart health, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Don’t look good in red but want to show support? Get yourself a Red Dress Pin. The three-quarter-inch enamel pin shows that “Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear — It’s the Number 1 Killer of Women.”

You can also get a tool kit for social media — banners for your website, joining the Facebook page or posting pix of yourself in red for the event’s Facebook wall.

For more information, visit http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/materials/wear-red-toolkit.htm.

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“We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Appleton, Micron Chairman and CEO, passed away this morning in a small plane accident in Boise,” the company said in a statement. Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time. Steve’s passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large.”

According to the Idaho Press, Appleton was flying alone in “an experimental fixed wing single engine Lancair” aircraft. Just after takeoff from Boise Airport, Appleton told air traffic controllers that he needed to return.

“I’d like to turn back in… and land.  Coming back in,” Appleton said, just before he lost control of the aircraft, according to NWCN.com.

Appleton was a known daredevil. According to his Wikipedia page, Appleton’s “hobbies include scuba diving, surfing, wakeboarding, motorcycles and more recently off road car racing. His aviation background includes multiple ratings and professional performances at air shows in both propeller- and jet-powered aircraft. He also has a Black Belt in Taekwondo.” In 2010, Appleton took 7th overall in the epic Baja 1000 race, with a time of 20:32:18.

In July of 2004, Appleton crashed one of his 20 planes while performing stunts over the Idaho desert. In that instance, he only sustained minor cuts and scrapes

Appleton began his career at Micron, which makes DRAM, NAND and NOR flash memory, back in 1983. He held a number of positions in the company before being named CEO in 1994.  He was only 34 at the time, which made him the third youngest CEO in the Fortune 500.

Following news of Appleton’s accident, Micron, the largest memory chip maker in the US, suspended trading of its stock on Nasdaq. According to Dow Jones Newswires chip reporter Shara Tibken, Appleton’s death “comes at a time when the memory-chip market is going through a lot of changes. Prices have been falling and demand has been softening, largely due to PC and macro weakness, and some Asian rivals are struggling to stay in business. MU has been doing fairly well and is one of the stronger memory-chip makers, but it’s not immune to the market weakness. Meanwhile, [Micron] President Mark Durcan said last month he planned to retire at the end of August.”

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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That’s right, a current and active trend moving quickly through the Twitterverse going by the “RIP Eddie Murphy” phrase is apparently trying to catch the same bottled lightning that Jon Bon Jovi and the aforementioned Soulja Boy provided. Now, it’s clear what started out as a joke as become a playful, albeit morbid trend.

According to the gossip kings of the web, Murphy is alive and well. Surprisingly, the collective known as “TMZ” indicates a site called MediaFetcher.com is responsible for all of these “RIP” hoaxes. Granted, a quick search for further information finds there are other hoaxes related to the MediaFetcher keyword, but TMZ’ post is one of the first to outright implicate the site.

As for Twitter, well, the usual fun was had:

Is this irony?

And with that, I think we all know what the meme of the day is:

“Twitter kills more people than _______”

That’s actually t-shirt worthy. Considering the recent victims of the Twitter Murderer, who do you think will be next? There doesn’t appear to be a discernable pattern, so your guess is as good as mine. In order to pay proper respect to someone who could’ve been the best stand-up comedian, perhaps ever (no disrespect to Richard Pryor), here’s one of Eddie Murphy’s greatest moments. Be warned, however.

The language is entirely NSFW:

Ah, the memories.

About Chris Richardson
Chris writes about the Internet, in all of its unpredictable glory. You can find him on Google+ and WebProNews.

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