Tuesday, August 28, 2012

How Ann Romney learned to love politics

The potential first lady and mother of five didn't always love campaigning.

Ann and Mitt Romney in a visit to Poland, Warsaw in July. (Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

TAMPA--When the three major news networks announced last week that they would not air Ann Romney's Republican National Convention Monday night speech in Tampa, Republicans started scrambling. Romney's likeable wife of 43 years needed a primetime spot, they decided, and party leaders were reportedly ready to bump the popular Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to make that happen. Eventually, they moved New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez's appearance to another night so that Ann could steal the spotlight on Tuesday. Meanwhile, party officials denied they had ever considered dumping Rubio.
This last minute jockeying is a testament to just how vital the campaign considers Ann to her husband's election efforts, something that wasn't always the case over the course of Romney's political career. Back in 1994, during Romney's failed U.S. Senate bid (and first run for office), the new political spouse on the block was a gaffe-prone potential liability without the polish or PR skills to handle the press. But over the years, Ann has learned how to spin family tales into political catnip--wooing voters by offering a dimension to her husband that no one else has seen before—and becoming a smooth and competent politician in her own right.
The 63-year-old mother of five and grandmother to 18 has emerged as an important humanizing force for Romney on the campaign trail. While the presumptive Republican nominee can come across as stiff and awkward on the stump, Ann charms the crowd with personal stories, casting her husband in a softer light. At a rally in Michigan on Friday she choked up while expressing gratitude that so many supporters in her home state had shown up. "Mitt and I grew up here, we fell in love here, and this is a special place for us," she said.

News source: yahoo

Isaac now a hurricane, aims for Gulf Coast

The storm could make landfall tonight, one day before the seventh anniversary of Katrina

Why is Christina Aguilera dressed like this?

The "Voice" star flaunts her curves in a mesh dress that leaves very little to the imagination.

Christina Aguilera shoots her new music video. (Splash News)It's unclear exactly what the plotline of Christina Aguilera's upcoming video for her tune "Your Body" is at this point, but here's a guess: A stripper is at home trying on rainbow-colored wigs when she gets a call to participate in a last-minute softball game. She quickly grabs her bat, throws on some neon-pink stiletto pumps and heads for the ball field, making sure to not to get distracted by the beer sale going on at a local liquor store on her way.

Enter to win a trip and tickets to the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas!
We'll find out what the actual scenario is when the video debuts, but in the meantime, just studying the photo of the 31-year-old pop singer in this outrageous getup is entertaining enough. And the longer you look, the more wild things you notice, like her multiple metal rings, her bright pink lipstick, that stark white manicure, lengthy false eyelashes, and, well, plenty of skin in a mesh-laden dress that looks like it's literally bursting at the seams.
While this photo was taken by a paparazzo who happened to be wandering by during the shoot in Los Angeles last week, Aguilera tweeted a more mysterious pic that only revealed her fishnet-covered leg atop a suitcase. "Its finally here- MUSIC VIDEO shoot day!!!!!!!!! Get ready guys!!!!!!!!!!" she wrote alongside the photo.

Aguilera in a recent promo shot for the new season of The Voice. (Mark Seliger/NBC)
Billie Joe Armstrong to mentor on 'The Voice'
The look is quite different from the recent ad campaign she participated in for the upcoming season of the reality singing competition series "The Voice," where she serves as a mentor along with fellow musicians Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, and Cee Lo Green. In that promo photo, the songstress showed off her signature blond tresses and red lips, along with a trim figure … which had some wondering if she was perhaps a little too trim. Several media outlets (including Yahoo!) posted the photo next to other recent ones of Aguilera, asking readers if they thought "The Voice" shot had been retouched. While many across the Web did believe the pic had been digitally altered, others just thought more old-fashioned smoke and mirrors were at play. "A good bit of it has to do with the way she is posed, the dress pattern, and how she has her hair," one Yahoo! TV commenter wrote. Others simply chalked it all up to show business as usual. "She's beautiful," another commenter added. "So what, all promo pics are messed with."

News source: yahoo

Insane dunk leaves LeBron dumbfounded

Indiana Pacers guard Paul George didn't even warm up before performing his never-before-seen slam.
It never fails — head out for a long weekend to be a groomsman in your college roommate's wedding,

The Brooklyn Nets' $1 billion arena, the Barclays Center, is already covered in rust.

The outside of the Barclays Center, as pictured last April (Getty Images)

When Brooklyn Nets part-owner Jay-Z opens up the new Barclays Center with a series of hippin' and the hoppin' concerts in late September, those attendees who haven't walked by the new Nets arena might be surprised at the building's rustic exterior look. Or "rusty" exterior look. Because, seriously, there's rust all over the outside of the place. On purpose.
The New York Times is reporting that the building has been covered in 12,000 pieces of something called "weathering steel," which appears to be a needlessly long way of describing "rusted metal." The impetus behind the use of the product is apparently a mix of function and fashion, and popular in some parts of New York City. Though some, according to the Times' piece, have yet to be swayed.

News source: yahoo

Friday, August 24, 2012

'Sane' Norwegian killer gets max sentence

Anders Breivik will be imprisoned for 10 to 21 years for murdering 77 people.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was jailed for a maximum term on Friday when judges declared him sane enough to answer for the murder of 77 people last year, drawing a smirk of triumph from the self-styled warrior against Islam.

An unrepentant Breivik, 33, gave the Oslo court a stiff-armed, clench-fisted salute before being handed the steepest possible penalty, 21 years. His release, however, can be put off indefinitely should he still pose a threat to a liberal society left traumatized by his bomb and shooting rampage last July.

Justifying blasting a government building and gunning down dozens of teenagers at a summer camp as a service to a nation threatened by immigration, he had said only acquittal or death would be worthy outcomes. But his biggest concern was being declared insane, a fate he said would be "worse than death."

News source: yahoo

Billionaire's generous gift to stranger

Billionaire Ty Warner gives woman $20,000 for her cause after asking her for directions.

A man who pulled over to ask for directions ends up changing Jennifer Vasilakos's life.

Jennifer Vasilakos (Jennifer Vasilakos)

A woman who helped a lost man ended up with a surprise $20,000 gift.

That's what happened last month when Jennifer Vasilakos guided Ty Warner when he stopped and asked for driving directions in Santa Barbara, Calif.

While Warner didn't know exactly how to get to where he was going, Vasilakos didn't realize who she was helping.

Warner is the billionaire founder of Ty Inc., the Beanie Baby company.

Vasilakos was at the intersection trying to raise $20,000 for a stem cell procedure she needs to help save her life because she suffers from kidney failure and does not qualify for a transplant.

She describes their encounter in her blog:

I often get asked by random strangers for directions. Not one to miss an opportunity, I handed him my flyer and he made a fifty dollar donation. As he drove off, I thought that was the end of our encounter... He'd returned after an hour or so. Rolling down his window, he reached out his hand and introduced himself. I immediately recognized his name. He was kind and sincere as he looked directly into my eyes... I listened as he repeated over and over that he was going to help me. That my fundraising was done. That I didn't need to worry any longer. He said he would send a check after he returned to his offices during the week.

He was true to his word. Vasilakos, an herbalist and Reiki teacher, received a package on July 16 with a $20,000 check and with a handwritten note from Warner. The note read in part, "Someone up there loves you because I was guided to meet you Saturday. I never lose my way, but fate had me lost and ask you for directions. The rest of the story I hope will be a wonderful new life for you."

Courtesty of Jennifer Vasilakos

"Of course I started crying, because that's what girls do," Vasilakos said. "I'm incredibly thankful to Ty Warner and to everyone who has supported me with love and prayer."

The check cleared a few weeks later and she booked a surgical procedure at an undisclosed foreign hospital to begin hematopoietic stem cell treatment. Hematopietic treatment takes a cell from the blood or bone marrow that can renew itself and develop into a variety of specialized cells.

"After I serendipitously met Jennifer, I further educated myself on her stem cell needs. I was shocked that this particular type of treatment wasn't available to her in the U.S.," Warner said in a media release. "My hope is that we can bring this lifesaving treatment to the forefront so that it can become more readily available and provide alternatives for people like Jennifer."

News source: yahoo

Youngster sets record on very first play

Andrew Robison is in sixth grade, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that he has been known to listen to Justin Bieber and sports a sweeping hairstyle modeled after the Canadian heartthrob.

Franklin Christian Academy quarterback Andrew Robison — FCA football

Franklin Christian Academy quarterback Andrew Robinson — FCA football
What is surprising is that the 5-foot-1, 100-pound middle schooler has already thrown a touchdown pass in a varsity high school football game. According to at least one site, that feat may have made the 12-year-old the youngest player in history to do so.
Robison achieved his feat for Franklin (Tenn.) Christian Academy during a 66-30 loss to McClain (Tenn.) Christian Academy on Friday. The pass in an 8-man football game was no screen job, either, with the eventual touchdown coming on a slant route from the shotgun, accounting for 63 yards.
Even more impressively, the scoring pass to junior Aaron Thon came on Robison's first-ever varsity snap, with the passer and his FCA teammates catching McClain off guard after Robison was brought off the bench to relieve the FCA starter, sophomore K.C. Jorgensen, who had fallen prey to a bout of cramps.
Robison's height, age and weight were all confirmed to Prep Rally by FCA director of communications Kimberly Cook.
As MaxPreps reported, no formal records exist about the youngest quarterback to throw a scoring pass, but there are no claims that anyone in sixth grade, let alone a 12-year-old, has ever produced one before. Notably, current Bear (Del.) Red Lion Christian Academy quarterback David Sills threw nine varsity touchdown passes when he was an eighth-grader in 2010.
As far as young quarterbacks making a varsity team, former NFL quarterback Tim Couch was a member of the Leslie County (Ky.) High varsity squad as a seventh-grader, but he never connected on a touchdown pass until he was a full-fledged high school QB.

News source:yahoo

New details emerge in deadly NYC shooting

A man who opened fire near the Empire State Building targeted his former supervisor, police say.

Nine people were wounded and two people were killed outside the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan Friday after a disgruntled women's accessories designer named Jeffrey Johnson shot his 41 year-old former boss, Steven Ercolino. The two dead include the gunman, who was shot and killed by police near the tourist entrance of the landmark skyscraper.
Fifty-three year-old Johnson lost his job last year during a corporate downsizing at Hazan Imports, where Ercolino was a vice president. He returned to his office Friday morning to target his former supervisor.
The shooting occurred at 9:03 a.m. ET on West 33rd Street.
Johnson followed his former co-worker down 33rd Street and shot him outside of Legends Bar, according to the New York Post. It is unclear if he fired into a crowd of pedestrians outside of the Empire State Building, or if pedestrians were caught in crossfire, reported the New York Daily News.
A construction worker who witnessed the shooting followed the suspect and then alerted police who were posted nearby. As the officers approached Johnson, he pulled his gun and fired on the officers. They returned fire and killed him, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
None of the other people who were shot were seriously wounded and they are all expected to recover. Some of those wounded may have been hit by police gunfire, Bloomberg said.
After the shooting, police immediately cordoned off a one-block perimeter around the Empire State Building. Around 10 a.m., a lone tourist bus headed down Fifth Avenue, and a guide could be heard over the bus's microphone explaining that they were nearing the landmark. As police waved the bus to detour down 36th Street, the guide was openly mystified. "I don't know what's going on, folks," he said, as the bus turned. The bus's passengers looked up at the sky at a news helicopter floated overhead. Some stood, clutching their cameras.

Along 35th street, hundreds of people photographed the scene with iPhones and iPads. Officers could be seen standing in the middle of 34th Street around a scene surrounded by police tape. Television producers roamed the crowd looking for witnesses. "Was anybody here when this happened? Was anybody here when this happened?" one NBC producer yelled.

Word of the shooting spread rapidly on social media networks.

"On 5th avenue surrounded by helicopters and police," @CeciliaHalling wrote on Twitter. "I'm very glad I wasn't 20 blocks further down half an hour ago."

News source:yahoo

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Things you should never say to a teacher

Miss World winner comes under fire

The pageant, which Halle Berry has competed in, is less well-known than Miss Universe.

This past weekend 116 contestants gathered in the remote town Odros City in China's Inner Mongolia district for the annual Miss World Pageant.

Representatives from countries around the world, including South Sudan, Guatemala, The Netherlands and the U.S., formed a kind of United Nations summit on bathing suits and ball gowns.
PHOTOS: The weirdest beauty pageants in recent history
So it stands to reason, when China's Wenxia Yu was crowned as the winner on Saturday, not everyone was in agreement.
"I was not surprised at all to see that the winner of the pageant was Miss China given that it was held in a Chinese city with Chinese hosts and a huge group of screaming Chinese fans that erupted into applause every time she was mentioned," one commenter wrote on a Huffington Post article announcing the winner. He also added the hashtags: "#Rigged #Fake #SecondPlaceOlympicsRebound"
A Daily Mail reporter also caught the Olympic connection, cheekily congratulating China on its Miss World win over the U.S., after its London losses last month. Was this really a staged win or are we all just sore beauty pageant losers? A request for a comment from Miss World's London-based staff wasn't returned at press time.
After Wenxia's win, the Miss World Facebook page practically lit up with angry commenters accusing judges of pandering to politics.
"MWO you sold miss world for the Chinese! They poured MILLIONS into the contest, so it is not very surpris[ing] that they won," wrote one commenter among a chorus of hundreds slamming Yu as a "fake" winner.
Wenxia is the second winner from China in the contest's history, after Zhang Zilin's win in 2007. Both Yu and Zilan won their titles when their home country served as host to the awards. For that reason, critics wonder whether Miss World's judges were swayed by China's hosting duties.

China's Wenxia with first runner-up Sophie Elizabeth Moulds of Wales and second runner-up is Jessica Michelle …
Although news of the Miss World pageant may have passed many Americans by, the contest remains as popular as Donald Trump's Miss Universe across Asia.
Established in 1951 in the United Kingdom, it's the oldest major international beauty contest on the planet with Oscar winner, Halle Berry and Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, among its alumni.
To enter Miss World, contestants in the U.S. and in many other countries are selected by modeling agencies, rather than pageant judges, in order to participate. This year's representative, UCLA student and exotic bird collector Claudine Book, competed in all five categories -- talent, fitness, swimwear, evening wear and the charity-driven "beauty with a purpose" division- and won zilch.
Wales' Sophie Moulds, a Kate Middleton lookalike, took second place. If skeptics are questioning China's win, they should also consider the fact that Moulds and the contest's creators share a British commonwealth bond. The BBC broadcast the contest more prominently, than any network in the States. (It aired on E! On Sunday at 8 am.)
Before the crowning event, Miss Mexico had been the bookie's pick for winner with Miss Philippines earning her own fan base, after her beat-boxing performance during the talent competition went viral.
But it was 23-year-old Wenxia, a music student and dumpling fanatic according to her Miss World profile, who won the talent competition with her vocal performance, and ultimately the year-long Miss World tenure.
The real winner of the competition may have been the host city Ordos, a resurrected "ghost town" that fell short of being "the next Dubai" with the global financial crisis. "I had never heard of Ordos, but I've been very impressed by it so far," said Tapiwa Anna- Marie Preston, Miss Botswana in a press conference.
With the world watching, the largely unpopulated area drew international attention, despite controls on media access.
"It seems Ordos, which has made global headlines for building a giant new city with hardly any residents, is now intent on controlling exactly how it is seen by the rest of the world," writes Women's Wear Daily's Kathleen E. McLaughlin. The fashion trade paper was on location covering a portion of the contest when, according to McLaughlin, "a contingent of threatening men in plainclothes and uniformed police followed and chased a reporter from WWD to the Ordos airport after just 48 hours in the city." Authorities also questioned contacts and sources McLaughlin interviewed for her story.
It's unclear what exactly city officials were trying to protect from the media. But one thing is apparent: Both the city of Ordos, and the new Miss World, have gotten more attention than they bargained for. It's a lesson so many scandalized pageant winners homegrown in the States have learned in years past. Winning isn't everything.

News source: yahoo

Five celebs who share way too much

Kim Kardashian sends out at least one bikini photo a day; other stars are just as bad.

LL Cool J captures intruder in his house

The buff "NCIS: Los Angeles" star was uninjured — but the same can't be said for the trespasser.

LL Cool J (Getty Images)Burglars take note: It's not a good idea to break into the home of someone who wrote the song "Mama Said Knock You Out."

Early Wednesday morning, LL Cool J busted a burglary suspect who had broken into his Los Angeles home. The actor-rapper, whose real name is James Todd Smith, discovered the man just before 1 a.m., when the alarm system in his Studio City residence was tripped. A scuffle ensued, but the "NCIS: Los Angeles" star — whose arms (and abs!) are legendary in Hollywood — took down the trespasser and detained him while one of his daughters called 911.

When officers arrived, they took the man — whose name has not been released — into custody. The suspect, who will be arrested on suspicion of burglary, had minor bruises.
It's really no surprise tough guy LL Cool J — who has shared his fitness secrets in books including "LL Cool J's Platinum Workout" and has one of the most chiseled bodies in the biz — was uninjured during the fracas. Further, nothing was taken from the home, which he shares with his wife, Simone, and four children: a son Najee, 22, and daughters Italia, 21, Samaria, 17, and Nina, 11.
When reached for comment about the incident, a rep for LL Cool J told omg!: "LL Cool J and his family are safe and thank everyone for their thoughts and concern. As a father, husband, and citizen, he is committed to keeping his family safe and is cooperating with authorities on this private matter."

News source: yahoo

Teen athlete devastated by prison sentence

College hoops recruit Tony Farmer collapses to the floor after receiving his punishment.

Instead of sifting through scholarship offers, selecting a school and launching his college basketball career as he originally planned, an Ohio high school standout will have to put his dreams on hold.

Tony Farmer, an 18-year-old senior at Garfield Heights High School, received a three-year prison sentence on Tuesday as a result of pleading guilty to kidnapping, felonious assault and other crimes.
The 6-foot-7 forward had been hoping to receive probation after teachers, coaches and family members testified on his behalf. When he learned he'd be going to prison as the judge read his sentence, he crumpled into the arms of a sheriff's deputy and collapsed to the ground in anguish.
In an odd twist, among those in the gallery sobbing in reaction to the judge's decision was the victim herself, Farmer's ex-girlfriend Andrea Lane. Even though the two remain separated since Farmer attacked Lane last April after she didn't want to reconcile their relationship, Lane had previously asked Judge Pamela Barker not to put Farmer in prison.
"I know he was a good person," she said, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "I hope he still is."
The entire courtroom scene is depressing and painfully hard to watch because Farmer had such a bright future prior to this incident. Before video cameras caught his altercation with Lane on tape last April in the lobby and parking lot of her apartment complex, Farmer was a consensus top 100 prospect who had drawn interest from the likes of Ohio State, Xavier, Dayton and Michigan State.
The punishment he received from Barker is just yet severe. Unless Barker reduces Farmer's sentence when she reviews it in 180 days, his hopes of playing major college basketball are likely now over.

News source: yahoo

Monday, August 20, 2012

A very close encounter with humpbacks

Celeb dares to wear Spears's iconic look

'Batman running around...in a stupid cape'

Director David Cronenberg slams "The Dark Knight Rises," claiming it's not a work of art.

(photo:Getty Images/Warner Bros. Pictures)Count out one fan of "The Dark Knight Rises." The indie filmmaker David Cronenberg slammed supporters of the movie who call the blockbuster art, saying," I don't think they know what the f--k they're talking about."

The director was speaking to MTV to promote his new film, "Cosmopolis," starring "Twilight" heartthrob Robert Pattinson as a young billionaire whose rarefied world unravels in just one day.

Money-Eating Beagle At It Again?

Arnie O’Kelley, a 10-year-old beagle, has been the money-eating scourge of Clearwater Florida, striking unsuspecting money stacks twice in the last 7 years. This past week the money hungry mutt got into his

Star copies Miley's edgy hairdo

A day after the teen shows off her new look, another famous face mimics her style.

Since chopping off her locks and dying them blond, Miley Cyrus, 19, has gotten mixed reviews from her Twitter followers on her latest look. But Ellen DeGeneres proved she’s a big fan of Miley and her hair when she posted a pic of herself on Twitter sporting a very similar style, just a day after Miley debuted her new ‘do

Super power you may not know you have

Your mouth does more than the average mortal's if you're like 25 percent of the population.
Supertasters make up about 25% of the population, but most of them don't even know it! In this episode of

15 things women do that turn off guys

Wearing too much makeup is a common complaint — but that's just the beginning.
Woman applying makeupIf you are looking to attract a man with your fluffy false lashes and your flowing fake mane, it is time to take a different approach. We scouted the truth and discovered the things women do that make men turn the other way. All in all, men love to see the woman underneath the makeup, so ditch the dramatic routine and go natural for once.