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

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,

NBA team's new building unlike any other

 

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