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Showing posts from 2015

Duggars open up on family sex scandal

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, the Christian conservative reality-TV stars reeling from a family molestation scandal, appeared on television Wednesday night for the first time since the shocking revelations that their son confessed he groped underage girls years ago, including his own little sisters. In their first TV interview since the revelations two weeks ago, the Duggars talked about how son Josh Duggar, now 27, came to them at age 14 and tearfully told them that he had "improperly touched" some of their daughters. "We were shocked, we were devastated," Michelle Duggar told Megyn Kelly on Fox News. "As parents we felt, we're failures. We tried to raise our kids to do what's right — to know what's right. And yet one of our children made really bad choices." Still, they insisted their son is not and was not a pedophile, because he was too young at the time of his offenses. Josh was never charged with a crime. For the first time, the

Third-period rally lifts Blackhawks over Lightning 2-1 in Game 1

TAMPA – Breaking down the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at  Amalie Arena . What happened:  The Blackhawks finally flipped the switch in the third period, coming from behind to beat the young Lightning. Chicago had trailed for most of the night, and it seemed goaltender  Ben Bishop  was completely on his game until  Teuvo Teravainen  and Antone Vermette scored within 1:58 of each other in the final frame. Chicago had struggled to get scoring chances for most of the night, at one point trailing 10-3 in shots against Bishop, who won more games than anyone in the league this year (regular-season and post-season). But after taking a 1-0 lead, the shots seemed to dry up for the Lighting. Tampa Bay won more games at home than any other team this season, but it had sputtered at Amalie for most of the post-season, holding only a 5-6 record. Bishop in particular had been vulnerable, surrendering 15 goals in his last three starts. But against Chicago

Southwest Airlines Says Sale Response Overwhelmed System

Southwest Airlines Co.'s website is slowing to a crawl, and the airline blames heavy response to a sale on fall travel. Visitors to southwest.com late Wednesday afternoon saw a "system alert" warning that "you may experience difficulty" on the site. When one visitor tried to book a trip, there was no immediate response from the site, and eventually the screen flipped to a "Gateway Timeout." Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said the airline added capacity to the website in anticipation of high demand from a 3-day sale that began Tuesday, but the response was bigger than expected. King said workers were trying to restore the website's functions. She said customers could try later or call the airline for help. The sale included prices as low as $49 one-way on short trips to $149 each way for long trips, and covered travel between Aug. 25 and Dec. 16. Like most airline sales, there were many conditions including blackout dates around Labo

Caitlyn Jenner, Formerly Bruce, Introduces Herself in Vanity Fair

Caitlyn Jenner, formerly Bruce Jenner, in a photograph by Annie Leibovitz on the cover of July's Vanity Fair. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story Share This Pag Continue reading the main story In April, Bruce Jenner spoke about her transition to being a woman in a television special that drew nearly 17 million viewers. On Monday, that woman revealed her new identity, appearing as Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair. The photograph of Ms. Jenner in a corset, shot by Annie Leibovitz and accompanied by the headline “Call Me Caitlyn,” immediately became a sensation on social media when the magazine posted the article online. Ms. Jenner, 65, who won an Olympic gold medal in the decathlon, has had a long public life. As Bruce Jenner, she had been on the cover of Playgirl, an author, an actor and most recently a part of the Kardashian family’s reality television empire. Earlier this year, reports emerged that Bruce

Tracy Morgan, Wal-Mart settle after crash

Comedian Tracy Morgan has settled with Wal-Mart after a crash involving one of the company’s 18-wheelers last year left the future of his career uncertain. On June 7, Morgan — best known for his work on “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” — was in a limo bus when it was rear-ended by a Wal-Mart tractor-trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike. The crash killed comedy writer James McNair, but it seemed Morgan, even with a broken leg and broken ribs, was relatively unscathed. However, he has not appeared publicly since the incident. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Morgan praised the agreement. “Wal-Mart did right by me and my family, and for my associates and their families,” Morgan, 46, said in a statement, as the Los Angeles Times reported. “I am grateful that the case was resolved amicably.” [ Tracy Morgan may not fully recover from traumatic brain injury sustained in car accident ] Wal-Mart also said it was doing the right thing. “While we know there is nothi

Who is On Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat and Other Networks? [Infographic]

It’s important to know your audience if you’re going to be an effective marketer in any medium. For social media marketers, knowing who the core users are on each social network could be invaluable in helping decide which platforms to focus on. Social media marketing software provider Sprout Social dug into the demographic data and pulled it all together inone handy infographic. Overall, the data supports what we already know, that women dominate social media. This is especially true on Pinterest where women made up 42 percent of users, and Snapchat where women represented 70 percent of users. On other networks, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, the numbers were a little more even, but women represented a higher percentage of users. Men use Twitter slightly more than women and Google+ was an outlier with men making up 74 percent of the user base. Social media audiences are also relatively young. Indeed, 18-29-year-olds make up the largest age group on nearly every platfor

WWE Elimination Chamber: Kevin Owens stuns John Cena, Dean Ambrose gets robbed

Sunday night's WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view was an important event for WWE. It's the first time the organization has put a pay-per-view together exclusively on the WWE Network. Despite it being a last minute proposition, the special Elimination Chamber show was loaded with two epic chamber matches and the official in-ring WWE debut of NXT Champion Kevin Owens, who faced off against John Cena. The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. The Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension vs. Los Matadores (Tag Team Championship match) The first of the night's two Elimination Chamber matches was a doozy. The Chamber has always been about chaos. So why not add more wrestlers to the mix. Just about every participant in the six-team tag match shined. It was arguably the best performances teams like The Lucha Dragons, Los Matadores and The Ascension have put on in recent months. The ending was a little sloppy, as Tyson Kidd and Cesaro were probably elimi

Kim Kardashian Is Pregnant With Her Second Child With Kanye West

Kim Kardashian  promised earlier today,  on Twitter , that she had some “exciting news” to share during tonight’s mid-season finale of  Keeping Up With The Kardashians , and it was pretty major: she’s pregnant. After a very public struggle to get pregnant with her second child (much of which was covered in detail on this season of the show), the news was broken not in the actual episode but rather in the trailer at the end, teasing the second part of the season (which will air later this year). We see Kim, in the teaser, tell sister Khloe the news: “I just got the blood test back, and I am pregnant.” Kim and  Kanye West’s  first child,  North West , will turn two years old on June 15. So raise a glass of Dash bottled water, and prepare for months’ worth of jokes about what Kim and Kanye will name their second child.

Beau Biden, son of vice president and former Delaware AG, dies at 46

Washington (CNN) Joseph "Beau" Biden III, an Iraq War veteran who served as the attorney general of Delaware and was a son of Vice President Joe Biden, died Saturday at age 46, the White House said in a statement. He died after battling brain cancer, according to the vice president's office. "Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known," his father wrote in a statement. Biden had suffered known health problems dating back to 2010, when he experienced a stroke that did not affect his motor skills or speech. In 2013, Beau Biden was treated at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after he became disoriented and weak while on vacation.   He was diagnosed with brain cancer, and after undergoing surgery was given a clean bill of health. The cancer returned this spring and Biden pursued aggressive treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the vice president's office said. He died Sa

Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison

ROSS ULBRICHT CONCEIVED  of his Silk Road black market as an online utopia beyond law enforcement’s reach. Now he’ll spend the rest of his life firmly in its grasp, locked inside a federal penitentiary. On Friday Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in creating and running Silk Road’s billion-dollar, anonymous black market for drugs. Judge Katherine Forrest gave Ulbricht the most severe sentence possible, beyond what even the prosecution had explicitly requested. The minimum Ulbricht could have served was 20 years. “The stated purpose [of the Silk Road] was to be beyond the law. In the world you created over time, democracy didn’t exist. You were captain of the ship, the Dread Pirate Roberts,” she told Ulbricht as she read the sentence, referring to his pseudonym as the Silk Road’s leader. “Silk Road’s birth and presence asserted that its…creator was better than the laws of this country. This is deeply troubling, terribly

Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment - Surf first listen review: Chance the Rapper goes psych

Releasing a rap album in 2015 isn’t as straightforward as it should be. From Lil Wayne’s perpetually delayed final Carter album to early releases/leaks forcing Earl Sweatshirt and Kendrick Lamar’s hands, often things are mothballed or shunted forward by forces well outside of an artist’s or label’s control. Chance the Rapper has taken a different approach entirely in releasing Surf, a  sort-of  follow up to 2013’s mixtape hit Acid Rap, with Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment (the latter being the live band he tours and records with). It’s a sort-of follow-up because he’s not simply moonlighting as Donnie Trumpet. That’s the alias of 21-year-old trumpeter Nico Segal who is joined by other members Nate Fox, Peter Wilkins and drummer Greg “Stix” Landfair Jr, while Chancelor Bennett is billed just as another part of the group. A self-effacing, limelight-sharing side man. But that cameo role isn’t obvious on Surf. Opening track Miracle sees him take centre stage while

Warriors Beat Houston Rockets To Head To NBA Finals

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry had 26 points and eight rebounds, Harrison Barnes added 24 points and the Golden State Warriors advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years with a 104-90 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. After decades of wishing and waiting for this moment, the Warriors have finally arrived. They shook off a slow start and sweated out a shaky finish in Game 5 to close out the Rockets and set up a matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers beginning June 4. All five Rockets starters scored at least 10 points, but MVP runner-up James Harden had a forgettable finale. Harden had a playoff-record 13 turnovers and scored 14 points on 2-of-11 shooting. Dwight Howard led Houston with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

MVP Stephen Curry is ‘way up’ but aiming higher for Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry tried to keep his daughter Riley under control at the podium on Wednesday night after leading the Golden State Warriors to the NBA Finals for the first time in 40 years. Curry moved her from one side of his lap to the other, holding her tightly by the waist, but Riley, 2, continued to fidget, yawn, wave and shout. Finally, she spotted the microphone and started to sing the hook of a popular song by rappers Big Sean, Drake and Kanye West, “Blessings.” “Waaaaay up, I feel blessed,” Riley shouted. “You wanted to say that,” Stephen Curry said, looking down at her, with a laugh. Riley continued to lunge toward the microphone to repeat the words as her father held back laughter and attempted to listen to questions: “Way up, I feel blessed.” Based on Riley’s knowledge of the song, there’s a decent chance that it has been played many times in the household or in the car rides to the arena. And it probably is reflective of the mood as Stephen Curry gets ready to take on L

Rivalry between James Harden and Klay Thompson has roots in Southern California

Klay Thompson’s name wasn’t even mentioned on the scouting report. The sophomore at Santa Margarita High School was getting ready to face a junior from Artesia High School, James Harden, in the California Interscholastic Federation Championship. The Artesia coach at the time, Scott Pera – now an assistant at Rice – said he doesn’t remember Thompson then. “I might have had him listed as a guy who could shoot the ball, a guy not to leave open,” Pera said. “But he certainly wasn’t their best player or anyone we were game planning against.” Harden’s team won that day. Almost a decade later, he and Thompson are competing for another championship. This time it’s for the Western Conference title and both are at the top of the scouting report. Thompson and Harden have both come a long way. Both were late bloomers in an area with an abundance of talent. And now both are trying to lead their teams as the Warriors and Rockets battle it out for a spot in the NBA Finals. “It’s re