Solution to the Herald Hunt




















Here are the solutions to the 2012 Herald Hunt. Hunters were told that the answer to every puzzle was a number.

The Signpost Puzzle

In Kenneth M. Myers Park, Hunters encountered a small forest of signposts, one of them marked as the starting point. A sign there said: FOLLOW THE HEAT TO VICTORY.





Each signpost had two words on it, pointing in opposite directions. The initial signpost had Jupiter pointing in one direction, and Venus in the other. Hunters had to divine that their cue was “follow the heat.” In this case, the “hotter” choice was Venus, the closest planet to the sun. Walking in the direction Venus was pointing brought them to another signpost labeled “passion” and “logic.” Clearly, passion is the hotter of the two. So Hunters on the right path continued in the direction passion was pointing them, and so on, until they finally got to a signpost with no words on it, the end of the road. So what had they learned? In addition to the two words pointing in opposite directions, each signpost also had a letter on it. If you collected the letters from each of the posts along your path, you came up with FOURSCORE+TWO. A score is old-fashioned lingo for “20.” But 82 was not a possible answer. Smart Hunters thought back to the use of the word HEAT in the opening hint. Was this a basketball reference? In hoops, a “score” is two points. Four score plus two, then, equals 10, which was the solution to this puzzle.

The Art Basel Puzzle

A Carnival cruise entertainer stood at a podium imitating a snobbish art lecturer named Art Basel. He was going on and on about the huge canvas at his side, a large painting of a black circle on a white background.

Hunters had been handed a printed catalog description of the painting, which was titled “Stop.” Art Basel, noting that the work was from the artist’s “Circular Period,” exhorted his audience to see the painting as “reduced to its essential element,” which was “all about finality, termination, endings and stopping points.” He urged them to “drink in of its symbolic meaning, a meaning which is echoed in many places.”

He continued: “The totality of its essence and the meaning of its symbolic nature can reveal the truth we all hold in our hands.

"It all adds up!" he insisted repeatedly.

Turns out this big black circle was in fact a large punctuation mark, namely a period. If Hunters added up all the periods they “held in their hands” in the form of the catalog copy, they got the solution: 15.

The Cruise Ship Comedians Puzzle

Carnival comics took turns doing stand up on the Hunt stage. They told lots of jokes, or parts of jokes. They set the jokes up, but always stopped before the end, then looked around at the lack of audience response and said variations on, “What are we missing here?"

What they were missing was: the punch lines.

Alert Hunters noticed that within sight of the stage, Hunt volunteers were handing out free punch at two punch stations. Each punch station had a serpentine bellrope for lines to form. In other word, these were the “punchlines” that the comics were drawing so much attention to. It so happened the bell ropes snaked in a distinctive pattern. The one on the left was in the shape of a 2, and the one on the right was the shape of a 5. The solution was 25.





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Buzzmakers: AJ is a Dad and Angus Apologizes

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. Charges Filed Against Lindsay Lohan

California prosecutors have officially filed charges against Lindsay Lohan.

The charges, which include willfully resisting, obstructing, or delaying an officer in the course of their duties, supplying false information to a police officer and reckless driving, stem from the car accident Lohan was involved in last June when she crashed her Porsche into the back of a dump truck on the Pacific Coast Highway.

All three charges are misdemeanors, and no court date has been set at this time.

The accident in June occurred when she was on her way to the set of Liz & Dick. According to The Los Angeles Times, Santa Monica prosecutors had been weighing charges against Lohan for weeks after police said they found evidence she lied when she claimed she was not behind the wheel of her Porsche.

The charges come just hours after Lohan was arrested early Thursday morning after a brawl broke out at a New York City nightclub. Lohan was arrested for allegedly punching a female patron at Club Avenue, and is facing third degree assault charges from the incident.

2. Nancy O'Dell Launches New App

ET host Nancy O'Dell is combining her love of two things -- reporting and kids -- by launching a new storybook app on iTunes.

The highly interactive app features a holiday theme and uses the story and games to educate users. The voice of Arty the cameraman is provided by Bryson Foster, the Muscular Dystrophy Association's National Goodwill Ambassador, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the MDA.

Nancy says of her endeavor, "As the host of Entertainment Tonight, one of the things I love most about my job is how much I learn by meeting interesting people and going to so many different places. So, I thought, how fun it would be for little kids to do that too! Obviously, they can't travel the world in reality by themselves, but they can via an app."

Nancy discloses, "Every app is a magical story as Ashby and her FUNtastic crew go on their adventures. And what better first assignment for a little reporter to cover than Santa's Big Premiere on Christmas Eve. Little Ashby files her report on what the Holiday Spirit is all about!"

Check out the app, available just in time for the holidays, here.

3. Backstreet Boy AJ McLean Welcomes Baby Girl

Backstreet Boy AJ McLean and wife, makeup artist Rochelle Deanna Karidis, had their first child together on Tuesday, In Touch reports.

According to the news source, the couple welcomed a baby girl named Ava Jaymes.

"We are all doing well and are thrilled to welcome Ava to the world," said the singer, 34.

Ava was born weighing 7 lbs. and 7 oz., according to In Touch.

AJ and Rochelle made their pregnancy announcement just four months after their Beverly Hills wedding.

AJ announced the baby's gender and name via Twitter in July.

4. Angus T. Jones Apologizes For 'Men' Remarks

In a self-written statement obtained by ET, Two and a Half Men star Angus T.

Jones breaks his silence on controversial remarks made by the actor about the series in a video testimonial for Forerunner Christian Church.

In the note, Jones apologizes for harm he might have caused to his colleagues for labeling the popular CBS show as "filth" and in urging viewers not to watch. He writes:

I have been the subject of much discussion, speculation and commentary over the past 24 hours. While I cannot address everything that has been said or right every misstatement or misunderstanding, there is one thing I want to make clear.

Without qualification, I am grateful to and have the highest regard and respect for all of the wonderful people on 'Two and Half Men' with whom I have worked and over the past ten years who have become an extension of my family.

Chuck Lorre, Peter Roth and many others at Warner Bros. and CBS are responsible for what has been one of the most significant experiences in my life to date. I thank them for the opportunity they have given and continue to give me and the help and guidance I have and expect to continue to receive from them.

I also want all of the crew and cast on our show to know how much I personally care for them and appreciate their support, guidance and love over the years. I grew up around them and know that the time they spent with me was in many instances more than with their own families. I learned life lessons from so many of them and will never forget how much positive impact they have had on my life.

I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that.

The video in question shows Jones opening up about his conversations with God and how his new-found religious beliefs led him to stop doing drugs and leading a selfish life.

5. Bobbi Kristina in Crash That Sent Car Off the Road

Bobbi Kristina Brown was cited by police after being involved in a car accident Wednesday in which the vehicle left the road and traveled down an embankment.

Police in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta confirmed to ET that a passerby called 911 just before noon to report that the black Chevrolet Camaro had veered off the road and traveled through a wooded area striking trees before eventually coming to a stop.

"The investigation revealed the driver lost control and the vehicle left Beaver Creek Road on the east side and traveled down an embankment," a police statement said. Damage to the vehicle was described in the statement as "moderate."

Upon the initial arrival, officers say they found Bobbi Kristina standing beside the vehicle and she was uninjured. "Our officer completed an official accident report and issued a traffic citation to Ms. Brown for the offense of failure to maintain lane," the police statement said.

Bobbi Kristina appeared to address the accident Wednesday on Twitter.

"My#PersonalGuardianAngel thankumommiss&loveumre u'lleverkno. NotAScratch&ok Wow,PraiseGod. @nickdgordon #SeriousChangeswithinME," she wrote.

She also tweeted: "#LETMELIVE without YOUppl crucifying me?! OH, yes now I remember .. YOUppl did the SAME DAMN THING2 JESUS.& he overcame you ALL. #NOWWATCH."

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'Macho' Camacho's devastated mother collapses as slain boxing champ son laid to rest








Jennifer L. Gonzeles


ANGUISH: Maria Matias, mother or murdered boxing great Hector (Macho) Camacho, is carried away after becoming overwhelmed with grief at her son's burial in The Bronx today.



She just couldn’t accept it was the final round.

The wailing mom of slain boxing champ Hector (Macho) Camacho had to be dragged kicking and screaming from her son’s grave in The Bronx this morning after she refused to leave him when the service ended.

The inconsolable mom, Maria Matias, flailed her arms and fought back mourners who grabbed her as she vainly tried to return to her son’s petal strewn casket at St. Raymond’s Cemetery shortly before noon.





Jennifer L. Gonzeles



Hector "Machito" Camacho, son of boxing legend Hector "Macho Camacho," bends at the foot of his father's grave





“My star. My star,” she screamed in Spanish, before she collapsed and was carried away, her arms outstretched in a prone position, to a waiting stretch limo.

But moments later Camacho’s brother, Ponchito, who was in the limo with his mother, yelled “Cardiac!”

An FDNY ambulance, which was on the scene, gave the unconscious woman oxygen and took her away in an ambulance.

She was taken to Jacobi Hospital, and listed in stable condition after suffering a panic attack, FDNY sources said,

It was a family affair of raw emotional outbursts throughout the day as the final bell tolled for the famous pugilist.

Camacho’s son, Christian, also lost it in front of hundreds of mourners and fans who braved the chill air to attend the brief grave side service.

“How could you do this to me? I’m his son. You’re the devil,” he yelled.

Even before the Spanish Harlem legend’s coffin was interred a few family members quietly argued and decided not to confront a woman there and question her about $125,000 missing from a bank.

Camacho, 50, was fatally shot while sitting in his car in Bayamon Puerto Rico on Nov. 20.

This morning a funeral mass was held at St. Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Church in East Harlem.

Some 300 mourners attended that service, while hundreds of others stood behind police barricades for a final glimpse of the homegrown hero’s Puerto Rico flag-draped casket.

Even then emotions ran high. Camacho’s grieving sister complained of chest pains and was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital. His son, Comachito, walked into the church, looked at his father’s closed casket but was too over wrought and left before mass.

Camacho’s past romantic entangles took another surprise left hook when a third woman came forward claiming she was his long time lover.

Shelly Salemassi, 50, said she flew in from Detroit to say farewell to the man she had spent Christmas with last year and had known for 16 years.

“Macho I owned his heart,” she said. “I’m sure eventually we would have wound up together.”

The recently widowed mother said she and Camacho had a long distance relationship, but that the pair had spent time together just a few months ago.

She dissed the two girlfriends back in Puerto Rico who began swinging at each other at his wake. Salemassi said “He would have been very embarrassed by it.”

REUTERS


FINAL FAREWELL: Maria Matias, mother of former boxing champion Hector "Macho" Camacho, touches her son's casket.












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Boat Show may block Miami’s 2016 Super Bowl bid




















This winter, the biggest NFL match-up in South Florida might be Super Bowl versus Boat Show.

As South Florida readies a bid for the 2016 Super Bowl, it must contend with a major potential conflict on the tourism calendar. The National Football League may move the Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day weekend, already home to the five-day Miami International Boat Show since the 1940s.

It’s a significant enough conflict that, in the past, local tourism officials have declined to pursue a Super Bowl if it fell on boat show weekend. But this time around they may have no choice. For the first time, the NFL is requiring that potential host cities agree to a Presidents’ Day weekend Super Bowl if they want to pursue the big game at all, said two people who have seen the NFL request for Super Bowl bids.





The NFL “invited South Florida [to bid] knowing there was going to be an issue with Presidents’ Day weekend and the boat show,” said Nicki Grossman, Broward’s tourism director. “In the past, South Florida has not responded to a Super Bowl date that included Presidents’ Day weekend. This package is different.”

South Florida vies with New Orleans as the top Super Bowl host, with government and tourism leaders touting the game as both a boon to the economy and a publicity bonanza. But the notion of accommodating both Super Bowl and boat show — not to mention a major arts festival in Coconut Grove — strikes some top tourism officials as a bad idea.

“There is not sufficient hotel inventory available in Miami that weekend to host a Super Bowl,” said William Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have taken a close look at that weekend, and it’s not physically possible in Miami to host Super Bowl during the Presidents’ Day weekend because of the boat show and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. The hotel inventory is all being used for these two great events.”

His comments are at odds with the region’s top Super Bowl organizer and reflect the burden that the boat show may be to South Florida’s Super Bowl hopes for 2016 and 2017. The NFL invited Miami and San Francisco to bid for the 2016 Super Bowl by April 1, with the loser vying with Houston for the 2017 game. Talbert said the bid package states both decisions will be made in May.

For now, South Florida’s Super Bowl organizers face a largely hypothetical challenge, because the current NFL schedule has the Super Bowl occurring two weeks before Presidents’ Day weekend. The bid requirements for the ’16 and ’17 Super Bowls include three consecutive weekends as possibilities for the game, with the latest falling on the Presidents’ Day holiday.

Still, possible logistical hurdles may combine with political obstacles if the Miami Dolphins resume their push for a tax-funded renovation of Sun Life Stadium, the Super Bowl’s South Florida home.

Last year, the Dolphins proposed that Broward and Miami-Dade counties subsidize a $225 million renovation at Sun Life as a way to keep the region competitive for Super Bowls and other large events. The renovation includes a partial roof that would prevent the kind of drenching Super Bowl spectators suffered in 2007 when a rare February downpour hit Miami Gardens.





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Remembering the rhythm: Fans celebrate life of Jaco Pastorius




















Tammy Goss is sitting on a park bench in a small patch of green wedged between Dixie Highway and the FEC railroad tracks. Staring down from the southeast wall of the corner community center is a huge blue-toned mural of a man’s face, his fingers curled around an electric bass guitar. She knows his name.

“Jaco Pastorius, I think,” said Goss, 45.

But that’s all she really knows about John Francis Pastorius III.





“I don’t remember him," admitted Goss, as she drags on a cigarette. “I guess he was before my time or something. So I’m not really sure what he did."

Johnny Boston says he hangs out in the park nearly everyday. He’s seen Pastorius’ name on a sign.

"And that’s who that dude is?" asks Boston, 57. “I didn’t know he was a musician."

Pastorius’ lightning-fast fingering and use of harmonics elevated the electric bass guitar from rhythm section pulse to a virtuoso’s instrument. He toured with jazz fusion band Weather Report and Joni Mitchell and won two Grammy nominations for his own debut album in 1977.

Unfamiliar to many but beloved by a solid group of devotees spanning generations and musical genres, Pastorius will have a tribute concert from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday marking the 25th year since his death. The concert, “A Tribute to Jaco,” will take place at Jaco Pastorius Park, 4000 N. Dixie Hwy. in Oakland Park.

The namesake park is a good start but much more is deserved, said Oakland Park resident Robert Rutherford, who in 2005 started a petition drive to name the seven-acre park near the railroad tracks after his musical hero.

“I think it could be a catalyst to more things in the future," said Rutherford, who is now throwing all his energy behind another grass-roots effort: a petition drive for a Jaco Pastorius commemorative postage stamp.

The spirit of Pastorius lives through devotees such as the four members of the Miami progressive metal band Neolythyc. All are 17 years old, born nearly a decade after Pastorius’ death. The band is among performers scheduled for Saturday’s concert.

Neolythyc bass player Jerry Caceres refers to Pastorius as "one of the old homies from down the block."

"He’s my dawg!” said Caceres, who sports a long mane of Jaco-ish hair. “He took a lot of trumpet leads, like in the be-bop days, and played it on the bass. And that’s amazing. To have that kind of speed."

In the late ’60’s, at just about the same age as the kids in Neolythyc, Pastorius was playing every gig he could get in South Florida, and earning the chops that would make him the most influential jazz fusion bass player of his time. Over a relatively short recording career, he managed to leave behind a huge body of work. But the guys in Neolythyc are unanimous when asked about their favorite Pastorius composition, Portrait of Tracy, recorded in 1976.

In Pastorius’ musical prime, the bi-polar disorder that plagued him all his life began to quell his incandescent talent. The illness often revealed itself in irrational behavior that left his fellow musicians baffled.

After struggling for years with the illness, the trail-blazing musician who performed with jazz fusion giants Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock ended up homeless on the streets of Fort Lauderdale.

In September 1987, after trying to force his way into a Wilton Manors nightclub, Pastorius was beaten by the bouncer on duty. He died nine days later, Sept. 21, at age 35.

But Rutherford said Pastorius was more magic than tragic. And he hears that in the music.

"I can picture flocks of ibis flying in the morning or in the evening back to roost,” Rutherford said. “You know, it’s going to be different for everyone how they interpret these songs. But the place and his music are so intertwined, they’re inseparable."





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Jelly Bean update for DROID RAZR HD and MAXX HD set to roll out next week












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George Clooney on Ben Affleck's Campaign for Sexiest Man Alive

George Clooney and Ben Affleck have both directed big budget Hollywood movies and during a recent roundtable discussion, they revealed their thoughts on directing themselves as actors.

In this sneak peek of The Envelope Directors Roundtable sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, Affleck points out that contrary to popular belief, there are only a handful of examples of directors acting in their own films.

VIDEO: Ben Affleck Calls the Success of Argo a 'Dream'

Affleck's latest combo film is the box office hit Argo, but in 2010 he took the acting-directing plunge on the crime thriller The Town. "I don't have any great wisdom about that," he said when asked by a moderator how he approached the dual role. "You know, for me it's about shooting enough footage that I have to work with in the cutting room."

The question is also posed whether Affleck consulted Clooney -- who had directed Good Night, and Good Luck in 2005 -- for advice. "Ben and I... when we first started talking, mostly he was campaigning at the time for Sexiest Man Alive," Clooney joked. "And he wanted some tips -- I worked with him," he continued, adding also that he also "worked with Matt (Damon), who also got it (Sexiest Man Alive)."

RELATED: Ben Affleck Sideswipes Car, Leaves Note

George did have some serious remarks on acting in the same movies he directs. "I will say this about directing yourself, there is this weird thing that happens -- which is, you try desperately not to do more takes on yourself than you do on other actors. Because you just feel like such a schmuck if you do it," he said. "So you have to have this understanding with the actors that you're going to break that rule."

Watch the video to also hear George give his thoughts on Affleck's performance as actor-director in Argo.

VIDEO: George Clooney: Brad Pitt's a Very Good Kisser

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'Devil' made firebug burn elderly woman to death








The evil firebug who burned an elderly woman to death in her elevator last year now claims he takes directions from the devil.

Jerome Isaac, 48, was set to be sentenced today for the horrific murder of Dolores Gillespie, 73 – but then the judge revealed his hellish hallucinations.

Isaac said he “hears voices” and “the devil tells him what to do” to Probation Department officials, said Justice Vincent Del Giudice – who postponed the sentencing so Isaac could undergo a psyche evaluation.

"I want to know if he’s making this up, malingering — or if he is actually delusional," Del Giudice said.




The decision upset the victim's daughter, who burst into tears after hearing that sentencing would be delayed.

"It's just not fair. They already know he's not crazy. The sentencing shouldn't have been delayed," said Sheila Hillsman, the daughter of the victim.

Gillespie, a generous, churchgoing woman, hired Isaac for odd jobs but had to fire him after he stole from her. Isaac was so angry he ambushed her in her elevator in December, spraying gasoline onto the helpless woman.

He then used a barbeque lighter to set her alight, and then – as her screams echoed through the building – threw a Molotov cocktail on her.

Isaac faced a sentence of 50 years to life for his heinous crime.

jsaul@nypost.com










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Saying thank you to your boss can pay dividends




















This season for counting blessings had barely begun when high-profile Miami event planner Karla Dascal got a message from her company’s controller, Raul Duran. He’d sent to her a text that read, at least in part, “Thank you for the opportunity to work and earn a living. I am so grateful.”

Dascal actually receives communication from Duran expressing the same sentiment all year long. And she’s certain that among all her employees it’s Duran’s appreciation — and not incidentally his positive outlook — that makes him absolutely indispensible to her company.

“Gratitude is one of the most powerful things,” says Dascal. “The three problems we all feel are ‘I’m not worthy, I’m not good enough, I’m not competent.’ But gratitude has the power to change everything.”





That’s why researchers are now saying that — like Duran — we should all be showing plenty of appreciation to our supervisors during the holiday season and beyond. It won’t just advance our relationships but can even improve how bosses view our on-the-job performance. With any luck, better work will bring bigger paychecks.

Thing is, if your feelings of gratitude are to be effective, you’ll have to actually express them — and in a way that doesn’t make everyone around you cringe because you’re brownnosing. (Ah, ha.) And it gets trickier: Feelings of appreciation are practically impossible to fake. But experts who reveal the psychology behind it all say once you adapt the right the mentality, the money may follow.

“We found that saying ‘thank you’ works because it makes a boss feel, ‘What I’m doing is worthy and makes a positive difference,’ ” says Yeri Cho, a researcher at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. “Bosses have a lot of power but that doesn’t mean they always feel competent. And there’s a tendency in those cases for the boss to act in self-defense — sometimes they even denigrate their employees. Gratitude reduces those tendencies.”

She found this out by pulling over 180 subjects into a lab and assigning them the job of supervising make-believe — they didn’t know that — subordinates named Taylor, who would be assembling a table. The Taylors “drafted” a work plan for their supervisors to evaluate and send back. The supervisors, in return, got a note from Taylor saying either, “Dear Supervisor, I received your feedback. Best, Taylor” or a nearly identical message that included the phrase “Thank you for your feedback.” Later, some of those supervisors got a message from the examiner — who could be considered, say, a CEO or a client — telling them their competence level fell below the average.

Even so, it was the supervisors who had received the ‘thank you’ from their subordinates that then rated those employees as being more competent and more intelligent.

“Bosses mistreat employees when they feel insecure, even if they have power that’s coming from their role as a boss,” says Cho. “But saying ‘thank you’ mitigates that.”

It’s tough to say exactly how or why gratitude changes our physiological and mental states, says Dr. Suzanne Lechner, an assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, because the research is in its infancy. But there’s good reason to assume that — like other positive feelings — both giving and receiving appreciation balances our levels cortisol, the stress hormone.





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Keys man gets prison for illegal lobster harvest




















(AP) — A Florida Keys man has been sentenced to more than a year in federal prison for illegally harvesting spiny lobsters from artificial underwater habitats.

The 16-month sentence was imposed Wednesday on Manuel Ravelo Jr., 40, of Big Coppitt Key. Ravelo had earlier pleaded guilty to illegally harvesting lobsters from about August 2007 to March 2009.

As part of his plea, Ravelo removed 200 artificial lobster habitat sites he had used in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is illegal to use artificial habitats to harvest spiny lobsters, and it is also illegal to alter the seabed of the Keys marine sanctuary. The sanctuary covers about 2,800 square miles.





Authorities say Ravelo made about $390,000 in the scheme, which also involved two wholesale lobster dealers in Key West.





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A 'Home Improvement' Reunion on 'Last Man Standing'

Fans of the hit '90s show Home Improvement have another reason to tune into Tim Allen's current ABC sitcom Last Man Standing -- Allen's former Home Improvement BFF Richard Karn (who played Al) is set to guest star!

Karn will play Bill, a "gruff good old boy" and the Outdoor Man's (Allen's outdoor sporting goods store in Denver, Colorado) original architect, TV Line is reporting. In the episode, Bill gets dumbfounded when he learns he may be losing the account to a young, attractive woman -- who he assumes got the job because of her good looks.

Video: 'Last Man Standing' Takes Politics Head-On

The episode is set to air in early 2013.

Related: Will Rider Strong Be on 'Girl Meets World'?!

And clearly, it's a good time to be a '90s television fan. It was announced Monday that Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel of Boy Meets World fame, will be reprising their roles in the beloved show's new spinoff, Girl Meets World.

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No verdict in model castration-slay trial








A Manhattan jury has begun deliberations in a grotesque, boy toy-on-sugar-daddy mutilation murder.

Jurors got the case in the mid-afternoon today, and deliberated for less than two hours before breaking for the day at 4:45 p.m.

Tomorrow is expected to be their first full day of weighing the fate of handsome young Portuguese underwear model Renato Seabra, 22, who admits he bludgeoned, then castrated alive, his lover, Carlos Castro, 65, in their Times Square hotel room as they vacationed together away from their native Portugal in February of 2011.

Seabra lawyers say Seabra had suffered a sudden-onset mental breakdown, and did not know his actions were wrong when he bashed Castro in the head with the hotel room computer monitor, gashed his face with a corkscrew, strangled the older man, stomped on his head wearing two successive pairs of sneakers, and then castrated the still-breathing, but likely unconscious victim with the same corkscrew.




Doctors had confirmed in the hours after the gruesome killing that Seabra was manic, grandiose, disorganized, and otherwise mentally ill. But prosecutor Maxine Rosenthal concluded her summations today by urging jurors not to be fooled by these findings, which she said could simply be "the results of having just brutally killed someone."

Sure, Seabra seemed agitated and stressed, and had racing thoughts, and was not making sense, the prosecutor told the six-woman, six-man panel. But "What," she asked, "could be more stressful than committing a murder?"

Seabra faces a maximum of 25 years to life if convicted of murder, and an indeterminate term in a locked mental health facility if found not guilty of murder by reason of mental disease or defect.










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Miami-Dade pending home sales spiked in October




















Despite a dearth of homes and condos on the market in Miami-Dade County, pending sales rose 67 percent in October with 4,172 residential properties going under contract compared with 2,488 a year earlier, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.

The number of pending sales rose 18 percent in October from September.

In a statement, Martha Pomares, chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors, said “The Miami real estate market is poised for another record year that would suprass the all-time sales record set in 2011. Strong demand persists despite the shortage of housing inventory, and listings are increasingly selling at a more rapid pace, driving in significant price appreciation.’’





With strong demand and little on the market, properties are selling for closer to their asking price and sellers aren’t inclined to offer discounts. For October, single-family homes in Miami-Dade sold at 95 percent of the original listing price, while condos went for 97.1 percent of original listing price on average, the Miami Realtors said. In October 2011, single family homes fetched 91 percent of listing price on average and condos got 93.6 percent of listing price.

Pending sales are a forward indicator based on the number of contracts signed over a given period.





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Convicted al-Qaida recruit Jose Padilla faces resentencing in Miami




















Jose Padilla, the convicted terrorist who once called the Fort Lauderdale-area home before joining the ranks of al-Qaida, faces up to life in prison at his resentencing Monday in Miami federal court.

But his defense attorney hopes a judge Wednesday will postpone the sentencing until January, so Padilla can improve his mental health by visiting with family members in the meantime at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami.

Padilla, 42, is serving a 17-year prison at the maximum security prison in Florence, Colo.





“Since his arrest in May of 2002, the government has systematically attempted to destroy Jose by psychologically torturing him and imprisoning him under the severest of conditions,” Federal Public Defender Michael Caruso, who represented Padilla at his 2007 trial, wrote in court papers.

“Not surprisingly, this psychological torture has taken a toll on Jose.”

Federal prosecutors voiced strong opposition to the delay, unless Padilla’s defense lawyer were to request a competency examination of his client.

Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that the one-time “enemy combatant” — perhaps better known as the “dirty bomber” — should receive harsher punishment reflecting his extensive criminal record.

The appellate court found that U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke was too lenient when she “unreasonably discounted” his criminal history before lowering a potential 30-year-to-life sentence.

Padilla, born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, was a former Chicago gang member with 17 arrests and a murder conviction before becoming a recruit for al-Qaida, according to federal prosecutors.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the controversial case back to Cooke to resentence Padilla, who trained with al-Qaida the year before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to trial evidence.

Caruso appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying Cooke “imposed a fair and reasonable sentence.” But the high court declined to hear his petition.

The appeals court in Atlanta, in a 2-1 ruling, upheld the terrorism convictions of Padilla and two others: Adham Amin Hassoun, a Palestinian who had met him at a Broward mosque in the 1990s; and Hassoun’s colleague, Kifah Wael Jayyousi, a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent. They were sentenced to 15 years and eight months, and 12 years and eight months, respectively.

All three defendants, convicted of conspiring to support Islamic extremists overseas, sought a new federal trial based on claims of improper testimony by the lead FBI agent and a terrorism expert, along with insufficient evidence and other allegations. Padilla also challenged Cooke’s decision to reject a motion to dismiss his indictment based on “outrageous government conduct” while the former enemy combatant was held in a Naval brig before his transfer to Miami to face terrorism charges in 2006.

Padilla was held without being charged in the South Carolina brig for 3 1/2 years — time that the Miami judge cut from his sentence.

The appellate court, in an opinion written by Chief Judge Joel F. Dubina and joined by Judge William H. Pryor, sided with the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami. Prosecutors, who were seeking life imprisonment for Padilla, appealed Cooke’s 17-year sentence. They argued the judge’s prison term was 13 years below the low end of sentencing guidelines — 30 years.

The appellate court wrote that Cooke’s punishment “reflects a clear error of judgment about the sentencing of this career offender.” The court noted that his codefendant, Hassoun, had no prior criminal history but received a sentence that was “only” 20 months less than Padilla’s.

Cooke “attached little weight to Padilla’s extensive criminal history, gave no weight to his future dangerousness, compared him to criminals who were not similarly situated, and gave unreasonable weight to the condition of his pre-trial detention,” Dubina wrote.

In a dissent, Appellate Judge Rosemary Barkett countered that Padilla’s sentence “should not be disturbed.” Barkett said “doing so simply substitutes sentencing judgment for that of the trial judge” with the inherent authority.





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Microsoft CEO defends its innovation record, financial results












BELLEVUE, Washington (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer defended his company’s record on innovation and financial performance at the annual shareholders’ meeting, but conceded that he should have moved faster to get into the booming tablet market dominated by Apple Inc‘s iPad.


Bill Gates, co-founder and now chairman of the world’s largest software company, was one of the first to champion tablet-sized devices more than 10 years ago, but Microsoft failed to come up with a product that worked as well as the iPad. Gates was silent throughout the meeting, attended by about 450 shareholders.












“We’re innovating on the seam between software and hardware,” said Ballmer, asked why his company had fallen behind rival Apple. “Maybe we should have done that earlier.”


A month ago, Microsoft launched the Surface tablet – its first own-brand computer – but has not revealed sales figures.


In the tablet market, “we see nothing but a sea of upside,” Ballmer said, an acknowledgement that until now Microsoft has effectively had zero presence in the tablet market.


“I feel pretty good about our level of innovation,” he added.


Ballmer said smartphones running Microsoft’s new Windows software were selling four times as much as they did at this time last year. Microsoft has never given sales numbers of Windows phones, primarily made by Nokia, Samsung and HTC.


Windows currently has 2 to 4 percent of the global smartphone market, according to various independent data providers. Its overall market share will not likely grow in proportion to its own sales, given that sales of other smartphones – mostly running Google’s Android system – are also growing quickly.


Ballmer, flanked by Gates and Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein, was asked by several shareholders to explain Microsoft’s lackluster share price, which has been stuck for a decade, and has been outperformed by Apple and Google Inc stock in recent years.


“I understand your comment,” he told one shareholder. He went on to explain that Microsoft had “done a phenomenal job of driving product volumes” and was focusing on profiting from that growth.


He suggested that whether investors recognized that value at any given time was out of his hands.


“The stock market‘s kind of a funny thing,” he said, adding that Microsoft had handed back $ 10 billion in dividends and share buybacks to investors in the last fiscal year.


Several shareholders at the meeting in Bellevue, an upscale suburb of Seattle, complimented the executives on how they had grown and managed the company.


Microsoft’s shares rose almost 18 percent during fiscal 2012, which ended in June of this year, compared with a 3 percent rise in the Standard & Poor’s 500.


Despite such fluctuations, Microsoft’s shares stand around the same level they did 10 years ago.


To see a graphic on U.S. tech share price performance, 1990 to present, click on http://link.reuters.com/rug53t


(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Gary Hill)


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Chris Hemsworth Empire Photoshoot

Empire magazine has named Australian actor Chris Hemsworth their Man of the Year for 2012, and he's certainly easy on the eyes in this behind-the-scenes footage from his sexy black-and-white photoshoot.

Chris, 29, gives a number of both sultry and silly poses for the camera, and he clearly has a reason to be happy -- he's starred in a string of box office hits this year including Snow White and the Huntsman and The Avengers, and, of course, witnessed the birth of his and his wife Elsa Pataky's very first child, daughter India, in May.

Video: Chris Hemsworth's Backstory

This is the second "Man of the Year" title Chris has earned -- he was named GQ Australia's Man of the Year earlier this month.

Check out the video to see the adorable Aussie in action.

Related: Chris Hemsworth and Wife Welcome Baby Girl

Empire's January issue, which also features an inside look at Django Unchained, will be available in the U.S. on iPad tomorrow.

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Sen. Susan Collins says she needs more information before she could consider backing Susan Rice for Secretary of State








WASHINGTON — A moderate Republican senator crucial to any White House hopes of getting UN Ambassador Susan Rice confirmed as secretary of state said Wednesday that there are still lingering unanswered questions about the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya.

Emerging from a 95-minute, closed-door meeting with Rice, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she would need more information before she could consider backing the ambassador if President Barack Obama tapped her to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

At issue is Rice's much-maligned explanation for the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. In a series of talk show appearances, Rice blamed the attack on a spontaneous demonstration to an anti-Muslim video rather than terrorism.





AP



Sen. Susan Collins today





"I still have many questions that remain unanswered," Collins told reporters after the meeting. "I continue to be troubled by the fact that the UN ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign by agreeing to go on the Sunday shows to present the administration's position."

Collins stopped short of saying she would try to block a nomination as Sens. Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte have said they would do.

But in a clear message to the White House, Collins said that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., would have a smooth path to confirmation if Obama chose him over Rice for the State Department job.

In back-to-back meetings, Rice met with Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who is in line to become the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Corker declined to say whether he would support Rice or not, but was highly critical of the intelligence apparatus and the administration.

"The whole issue of Benghazi has been a tawdry affair," Corker told reporters after his 90-minute session with Rice and acting CIA Director Michael Morell.

Pressed on a possible nomination, Corker said he will decide when Obama announces his choice, but he made it clear that the president should carefully weigh the decision.

"I would just ask that the president step back away from all of the buzz around this particular situation, take a deep breath and decide who is the best secretary of state for our country," Corker said.

The meetings with Collins and Corker marked the second straight day of private sessions for Rice as she tries to quell the uproar over her initial assessment of the Benghazi raid. Rice answered questions Tuesday from Sens. John McCain, Graham and Ayotte about her explanations about the cause of the September attack.










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Gift ideas for the techie on your list




















The holidays are coming fast, and if you’re like me, you’ve probably gotten very little of your gift shopping done.

Here are suggestions for a variety of gifts for the techie and the not-so-techie people on your list.

Some of these items can be found in stores and some are only available online, but you should be able to order them in time for Christmas or Hanukkah.





IOMEGA EZ MEDIA & BACKUP CENTER

What is it? A hard drive that lives on your home network so you can share files, store all your photos and music and back up your home computers. Works on Macintosh, Windows and Linux computers.

The EZ Media & Backup Center is available in 1-, 2- and 3-terabyte capacities. It is simple to set up. It lives next to your home router and plugs into the network via Ethernet.

Major features include a built-in iTunes server so your music is available to all connected computers, Time Machine support for easy Macintosh backups and Iomega’s Personal Cloud to access your data from any Internet connection.

It can also stream your video files to your TV if you’ve got a compatible streaming box or an Internet-connected TV.

Software for backing up Windows PCs is also included.

Who’s it for? Any family that wants central storage for their digital lives. This is a great home for your digital photo, music or video library.

What does it cost? One terabyte for $169.99, two terabytes for $209.99, three terabytes for $279.99.

Where can you get it? Online at www.iomega.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Apple store, Fry’s.

NETATMO URBAN WEATHER STATION

What is it? A wireless indoor/outdoor weather station that displays through an application on your Apple or Android mobile device.

There are two parts, one that lives in your house and one you place outside.

The indoor component plugs into the wall and monitors the temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, carbon dioxide level and even the sound level in decibels.

The outdoor module is battery-powered and measures temperature and humidity.

Once you connect the Netatmo to your home Wi-Fi network, you can download the free app and see your weather stats from anywhere.

Setup was easy enough, and you can set the app to notify you when carbon dioxide rises to levels that you should be warned about — which is great.

Who’s it for? Weather geeks and people who like to know what the temperature is without having to fire up a browser.

What does it cost? $179

Where can you get it? www.netatmo.com

3M LED ADVANCED LIGHT

What is it? 3M’s first foray into the home light bulb market is with the LED Advanced Light, which uses light-emitting diodes (LED) to produce 800 lumens (the light of a 60-watt bulb).

The Advanced Light has a life span of 25 years and costs just $1.63 per year if it’s turned on for three hours per day.

The bulb lights instantly and is dimmable.

It’s a little intimidating to start buying light bulbs that might outlive me, but my wallet approves.

Who’s it for? Anyone who wants to save money or wants a bulb that might not have to be changed until 2035.

What does it cost? $25

Where can you get it? Select Wal-Mart stores. For more information, go to www.3mlighting.com/LED.

STEM IZON 2.0 WI-FI VIDEO MONITOR

What is it? A small, wireless video camera that you can monitor remotely with an iOS device.





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Possible police-involved shooting in West Miami-Dade




















Miami-Dade police were at the scene Tuesday of another possible police-involved shooting.

The shooting happened at 1907 SW 107th Ave. How many people were hurt and the details of what happened leading up to the shooting were not immediately released.

It would be the second police-involved shooting this week. On Sunday, one man was killed and a second man was hurt in a police-involved shooting at Flea Market USA, 3015 NW 79th St.





In that shooting, Miami-Dade police believed the men may have been connected to a home invasion robbery earlier in the day.

When officers approached the van the men were in, police said the driver hit the gas and rammed a police vehicle. Officers fired, and the van tried to get away, hitting other parked cars before it came to a stop, police said.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.





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Welcome to the Twisted Age of the Twitter Death Threat












Never believe anyone who tells you that the Internet is all nice or all terrible. Just like real life, there are good people and bad ones here. The majority of people behave badly occasionally and decently most of the time. Yes, there are some truly horrible people lurking and behaving in ways consistent to their form, but the thing is, we’re complicated creatures, online and off. So I don’t buy into theories that the Internet is all nice anymore than I believe all commenters are trolls. Still, there is something worrisome going on online, and if you were the Chicken Little type (which none of us here are, obviously), you might be covering your head and hiding from the Twitterverse. It’s this matter of death threats online. 


RELATED: After His Vulgar Assault on Jenny Johnson, Chris Brown Quits Twitter












The most recent example of this, of course, is the recent Chris Brown/Jenny Johnson nastiness. Brown has his share of on- and offline haters, but he has plenty of adamant supporters, too. This became apparent when Johnson, a comedian who’d been on a Twitter crusade of sorts against Brown since his physical attack on Rihanna, after a stream of tweets intended to shame/provoke the singer, finally hit pay-dirt with a response (other than Brown blocking her at one point). Over the weekend, Chris Brown tweeted: “I look old as fuck! I’m only 23,” to which Johnson tweeted, “I know! Being a worthless piece of shit can really age a person.” (That tweet’s been retweeted by Johnson followers more than 7,000 times.)


RELATED: The Internet–Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be


You probably know what happened next, even if you don’t: After a pretty gross back-and-forth that doesn’t make either side look great, Brown deactivated his account. But his followers started to pile on, threatening Johnson with—what else?—death. There is no irony here about the followers of a guy who beat his girlfriend offering up a stream of brutish death threats; it is only sad. 


RELATED: Is Twitter for Girls?


Enter the age of the online death threat. It’s scary, yeah, because it’s a death threat. Humans rarely like being threatened with an end to their basic essence, no matter the delivery method for that announcement. And yet, on Twitter, this becomes such a weird, surreal concept: It’s deeply impersonal (these people don’t even know each other and probably never will; NONE of them know each other, likely), fueled by a false kind of rage spawned by the way the Internet works (one side gets self-righteously mad, another side self-righteously madder, and repeat). Fortunately, in most cases, the threat is also incredibly unlikely to be fulfilled. That doesn’t make it pleasant. One might be prone to try to laugh away the kind of death threats Johnson received, from people she doesn’t know (people who don’t know Chris Brown either), who might not recognize her on the street, who most likely live nowhere near where she does and probably also don’t plan to actually kill her. Yet a death threat is pretty much the ultimate “I hate you,” and it’s worth wondering, when “I hate you” doesn’t serve to deliver the message strongly enough and we start saying “I’m going to kill you”/”you deserve to die,” how far has humanity gone down some sick drain?


RELATED: Only Six Percent of Americans Use Twitter


As David Knowles writes for The Daily in a piece titled “Twitter Terror,” Johnson is hardly the first person to be threatened on Twitter. President Obama, Mitt Romney, Ellen Page, Tom Daley, and Taylor Swift can claim this dubious badge of fame, too. The list goes on. But before the little bird was the death-threat method of the year, death threats would arrive to famous people, politicians, and those in the public eye, particularly controversial figures, as a matter of course—on paper, perhaps by telephone, and in the movies, via the weird scrawlings or puzzle-piece letter constructions of madmen. Of course, there’s no handwriting to decipher on Twitter, there are only assumptions of power and education based on icons and followers, word choice and spelling, what the person says and has said, as well as their affiliations. But again, probably, the people threatening Jenny Johnson shouldn’t scare her (if you’re really going to try to kill someone and are dumb enough to publicize it on Twitter, that’s a clear benefit to your intended victim). If there’s anything to be afraid of, it’s this idea that death threats are this kind of new online norm. I think part of that fear, the fear that this is just a regular thing nowadays, is what subconsciously creates the need in us to assume a such a horrified shock-and-outraged position about such death threats. Knowles quotes digital media expert Jeanette Castillio as calling “the Twitterverse … a very uncivil place.” Is it any more uncivil than anywhere else, though? The Internet hardly created hate, or hate-speak, or bullying. Further, do we only increase the levels of that incivility by freaking out about what a bunch of random people are raging about behind the protection, and often anonymity, of Twitter?


RELATED: Friday’s Top Tweets


As Knowles writes, also, Twitter does have a rule against this sort of thing; people aren’t supposed to “publish or post direct, specific threats of violence against others.” Still, like everything online, there is too much information, and not enough time for comprehensive monitoring. Knowles adds, “A small percentage of violent tweets are investigated by police, but even then Twitter is reluctant to betray what it believes is a sacred duty to protect a user’s privacy.” 


That’s the other thing about online threats: They manage to be so incredibly cowardly, and an utterly ineffectual form of communication—until, suddenly, the media is paying attention to said threats and in some ways legitimizing them. I’m honestly not sure what the media’s role should be in acknowledging tweets of the sort that Brown and Johnson and Brown’s followers and Johnson exchanged. Sometimes it seems like that old “ignoring” tactic your mom taught you could work out to everyone’s benefit—and yet these things are bound to go viral; badly behaving celebrities are something TMZ taught us people want to know about. These things are also, when discussed calmly and rationally, fodder for good conversations about how we live now.


Like a rude comment, a Twitter death threat is a way of hiding in your comfy-safe basement in your comfy-safe boxers and saying really gross things to someone in the hopes that they will get upset. These people are bullying, or hope to bully. Which means we shouldn’t take the bait, a thing far more difficult to do than say. Turning the other cheek was hard in real life, too, and you never know, better safe than sorry. But more important than preventing “actual Twitter murders” (which I dare say and hope will not become the norm), it’s worth paying attention to this ratcheting up of the hate ante as a new kind of communication norm. A cynical person would say we no longer need to touch people, instead, we reach out to them online. We no longer need to talk on the phone, we simply tweet or email or text. We certainly don’t write letters, and we hardly write on paper. Instead we blog and Tumbl and Instagram and Facebook. And so, when we get angry, irrationally or otherwise, we take to those methods of communication to speak out, retaliate, vow revenge. The most worrisome thing about the Twitter death threat, I think, that if it’s just something people do now. I don’t want to be in the Age of the Twitter Death Threat. It makes me pretty nostalgic for the good old days of the handwritten love letter, actually. 


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Inside Neil Patrick Harris' 'Puppet Dreams'

While it could safely be assumed that Neil Patrick Harris has dreams in vivid colors with comedic themes, his new web series takes that idea even further to show the How I Met Your Mother star actually dreaming "in puppet."

In the first episode of the series -- called Neil's Puppet Dreams -- Neil and his partner David Burtka are first seen towering over a crib where presumably their twins are preparing to sleep. Neil drops several Muppet-like characters into the crib and then says to the camera, "Hi, I'm Neil and I sleep a lot... and when I dream I dream in puppet." He then immediately falls asleep and hits the floor.

VIDEO: Neil Patrick Harris Mimics LL Cool J

The series then continues with Neil falling through the sky surrounded by the puppets from the crib who initially try to assure him that he's actually flying, and they even serenade him to calm his fears. But the web show then takes a dark turn when the puppets begin to cheerfully sing about Neil's inevitable crash to the ground that will result in a violent and bloody death.

In an interview, Neil gives his unique description for Neil's Puppet Dreams. "Each episode revolves around one of my puppet-laden dreams -- as it turns out, I'm a bit of a narcoleptic, and, unfortunately, all of my dreams involve creatures of the felt persuasion, ranging from lullabies to documentaries, from fantasies to music videos."

Video Exclusive: Neil Patrick Harris Gets Tanked

Check out the video on YouTube's Nerdist Channel to see for yourself. 

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TMZ denies drone request








TMZ has denied they are pushing to own drones.

The gossip site responded to earlier reports that they put in a request with the FAA for the unmanned aircraft.

The Web site's plan to own drones was first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle.

"TMZ is NOT getting in the DRONE business ... we don't have a drone ... we don't want a drone ... we never applied for a drone," the site posted.

Drone makers have pushed for more missions, leading to provisions in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, signed into law Feb. 14.

The law requires the FAA to fully integrate the unmanned aerial vehicles into national airspace by September 2015, the Chronicle reported.



TMZ updated their post ]with a statement from the FAA: "TMZ does not have FAA authorization to fly an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), and we have no record that TMZ ever requested or inquired about an authorization."










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Carnival apologizes and says cruise passengers may dress in drag




















Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines quickly apologized Tuesday after finding itself in hot water with gay passengers on an upcoming drag cruise, who were told to "refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas" — or be kicked off the liner Glory.

"Anyone who wishes to dress in drag may do so," Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill wrote in a letter to passengers, adding that anyone still unhappy could cancel travel and receive a full refund including “reimbursement for any non-refundable travel related expenses.”

The Drag Stars at Sea cruise is scheduled to depart PortMiami on Sunday, visit ports throughout the Caribbean and return Dec. 9. About 1,000 passengers (one-third of the Glory’s total travelers) booked through AlandChuck Travel, a gay-oriented travel company in Sarasota, according to Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen.





The AlandChuck guests are scheduled to be entertained separately throughout the cruise by well-known drag stars who’ve appeared on Logo TV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Monday afternoon, AlandChuck’s guests received an “urgent notice” via email from Vicky Rey, Carnival’s vice president for guest services:

“Carnival attracts a number of families with children and for this reason; we strive to present a family friendly atmosphere. It is important to us that all guests are comfortable with every aspect of the cruise. Although we realize this group consists solely of adults, we nonetheless expect all guests to recognize that minors are onboard and, refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas,” Rey wrote.

“Arrangements have been made for drag performances in the main theater featuring stars from LOGO TV. These functions will be private and only the performers are permitted to dress in drag while in the theater. Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.”

Within hours, gay travelers and their friends had posted hundreds of angry messages on AlandChuck’s Facebook page.

“This is where I WANT my DISLIKE button. This is ridiculous and if this was the case it should have been communicated far before six days before the cruise. Drag is not a costume in my opinion it’s an expression of speech. Our rights are being violated,” posted Tommie Tiboni of Phoenix.

Al Ferguson of AlandChuck quickly posted in Carnival’s defense: “Please take note, Carnival’s regulation is NOT an example of discrimination. Carnival is an ally of the GLBT community. Please understand that this cruise could not even be happening on the GLORY if Carnival was not an ally of our segment of society. When they say they are a "family friendly" cruise line they mean it in both the traditional and metaphorical sense of the phrase.”

Still, some passengers demanded refunds.

“My husband doesn’t want to go now,” said Shane Windmeyer of Charlotte, N.C., who planned to travel with Tommy Feldman. “We’ve been together 17 years now and the last thing we want to do is go on a cruise where we don’t feel welcome.

“What was expressed by Carnival is discrimination in the worst way,” said Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization for LGBT students. “We paid about $2,500 for two of us. We got a balcony. it was my birthday gift for turning 40. I’ve been looking forward to it since May.”

Windmeyer said despite the apology, he and Feldman won’t be on the cruise.

“My husband does not want to go,” Windmeyer said. “It would be like dragging a cat on board.”

Michael Teague of Phoenix said on Facebook that he decided to take the trip. “This was a professional blunder of the highest order. I will still be on the cruise.”

The controversy put a spotlight on Carnival’s treatment of gay employees and travelers. This year, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest gay-rights group, rated the cruise line’s parent company “zero” on its Corporate Equality Index. (Royal Caribbean International scored 90 on the survey; American Airlines a perfect 100.)

Carnival, which told The Miami Herald on Tuesday that it offers medical/dental/disability insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners and protects gay workers with the company’s nondiscrimination policy, earned the zero for not responding to HRC’s survey.

“When I see a company like Carnival ... not engage with the nation’s largest LGBT rights organization that has for 10 years has been benchmarking corporate America, it strikes me as a missed opportunity,” said Deena Fidas, deputy director of HRC’s Workplace Project.

Carnival said Tuesday it would soon be in touch with HRC.

“We checked on the HRC survey and have been told that our human resources department has been in touch with the organization and is in the process of completing the survey,” Gulliksen said in an email to The Herald.





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Man who died during roach-eating contest choked on bug parts, autopsy says




















A man who collapsed during a roach-eating contest last month at a Broward pet shop died from choking on insect parts, according to the Broward medical examiner.

The death of Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach, has been ruled an accident, Medical Examiner Craig Mallak said Monday in an advisory. An autopsy tested negative for toxic substances.

Archbold’s airway became obstructed with “arthropod body parts” and he died of asphyxia, according to the medical examiner.





This article will be updated as more information becomes available.





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ChannelAdvisor says eBay sales up 57 percent early on Cyber Monday












(Reuters) – ChannelAdvisor said client sales on eBay Inc‘s online marketplace jumped 57 percent from a year before early on Cyber Monday.


The sales growth rate was five times higher than during the same period last year, said ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more on websites including Amazon.com Inc and eBay.com.












Client sales on Amazon.com were up 52 percent during the first part of Cyber Monday, ChannelAdvisor also reported.


(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Larry Hagman's First ET Interview

As fans of Larry Hagman continue to mourn his death, we delved into our video vault to find his first interview with ET!

In the interview -- which took place shortly after he received a star on Hollywood's historic Walk of Fame in 1981 -- the Dallas star talks about playing the show's villain J.R. Ewing, who at the time was one of television's most famous faces around the world. 

VIDEO: Larry Hagman Charms in Final ET Interview

When asked about the honor of getting his own star, Hagman jokes with the interviewer. "Have you ever been a star? Well I never have either and now I know what's its like."

Watch the video to hear Hagman speculate on why "bad guys finish first" and to hear his positive motto for living life to the fullest. 

RELATED: Barbara Eden Mourns Death of Larry Hagman

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Mob boss rats out 'pals' for feds at trial








Mob turncoat Joseph “Big Joey” Massino — who went from Mafia boss to canary for the feds — continued ratting out his old pals today as he took the witness stand in Brooklyn federal court.

But first he described his own greatest hits.

Testifying for the government at the racketeering trial of reputed Genovese capo Anthony “Rom” Romanello, prosecutors had Massino describe his mob resume of murder and mayhem as he rose through the ranks of the Bonannos, one of New York’s notorious Five Families.

The rotund Massino — wearing a black and grey zip-up sweatshirt — eased his considerable girth into the witness stand and put on his glasses before a prosecutor walked him through his life of crime.




Massino said he was in the Bonanno family from 1972 to 2004, rising to the level of boss.</p><p>“Is there anyone else in the Mafia in this courtroom?” the prosecutor asked.

Massino pointed straight to the defense table and calmly said: “The man sitting over there with the glasses, Romanello.”</p><p>Romanello is on trial for racketeering and extortion.

When the prosecutor asked Massino to sum up his life in the Bonanno family, the witness answered without flinching: “Twelve murders, bookmaking, breaking and entering into a factory, shylocking.”

“It’s all about money,” said Massino, adding that his business associates never hesitated to use violence to get their money. “All the time. If you don’t pay they put you in the hospital.”

Additional reporting by David K. Li










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Shifting tides of Panama real estate echo Miami trends




















PANAMA CITY, Panama — As a real estate agent shows off a model apartment — white leather sectional, stainless steel appliances, open concept, ocean views — in the 59-story Yacht Club Tower, and touts its fitness center and pool deck designed to mimic a ship floating on the sea, he makes a telling statement:

“We tried to emulate the Miami style in this building.”

Approaching this Central American capital from the air, the first thing a traveler notices is a skyline on steroids — gleaming towers jutting skyward like so many pickets on a fence. There’s even a Trump high-rise here — the sail-shaped 72-story Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower. And it’s not uncommon for those active in Miami real estate and development circles to try their luck in Panama or move back and forth between the markets.





Although Miami is nearly 1,200 miles from Panama City, the real estate markets of the two cities share certain similarities. Both went through booms and overbuilding and then had way too many empty condominiums. Wealthy Latin American buyers were a salvation in both cities when traditional segments of the market fell off.

“Now that things are starting to pick up in the States, they are picking up here too. Now that there’s not as much economic uncertainty in the United States, people feel more confident about Panama too,’’ said Morris Hafeitz, general manger of Emporium Developers. He used to work in Miami as a project manager for Odebrecht, the Brazilian conglomerate.

Now Hafeitz is trying to sell Allure at the Park, a 50-story building Emporium developed in Panama City’s Bella Vista neighborhood. The building is chock full of amenities — gym, teenage game room, adult lounge, toddler playroom, pool, squash court and even miniature golf on the roof — but one of its main selling points is that it overlooks a park and two low-rise historic buildings. “In the heart of the city without the hassles of the city,’’ said Hafeitz.

During the boom, many buildings in central Panama City went up practically on top of each other. “In the beginning of the boom there were no regulations on density,’’ said Mauricio Saba, a project manager at Zoom Development in Panama City and another Miami real estate alum. “I have a friend who said he could watch his neighbor’s TV from his balcony.’’

Margarita Sanclemente, a Miami real estate broker with offices in Panama City and New York, has seen it all — the boom, the irrational building and the slowdown — and has stuck with the Panamanian market.

She first ventured into Panama in 2005. The Panamanian real estate market, which had been sluggish for more than a decade, was undergoing a rebirth and Americans, lured by low prices and the low cost of living, were snapping up properties.

The sweet spot was the 1,000 to 1,500-square-foot apartment, sans maid’s quarters, which appealed to retirees from Canada and the United States, she said.

That was back when Americans still believed you couldn’t go wrong with real estate. “Some of the buyers didn’t even see the units. We sold them by phone,’’ Sanclemente said. Condo prices at new buildings such as Destiny averaged $98 to $120 per square foot. She herself bought a 1,000 square foot, one bedroom condo for $123,000 back in 2005.





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Rubio, Earth and the Elections Industrial Complex




















MiamiHerald.com/columnists

Don’t let the calendar fool you. It’s already 2016.

Like it or not, the Elections Industrial Complex has unofficially declared it so.





We are in a state of constant campaigns brought to you by the political-consultant class, polarizing bloggers, cable TV personalities and the ubiquitous partisan trolls who patrol Twitter in search of the latest outrage.

And they’re eying and arguing nonstop over people like Marco Rubio, Florida’s junior senator.

In the week leading up to and including Election Day, Rubio garnered about 304 media mentions, according to a news-clip search in the Nexis database. In the week after: 780 mentions – a 160 percent increase.

It won’t let up. Rubio will be a key surrogate in the mid-term elections in 2014 and he’ll play a major role in the next presidential election.

The first wave of post-election Rubio-related stories was fairly predictable, premised on the whither-the-GOP storyline after President Obama won a second term. As the most high-profile Hispanic Republican, Rubio was indispensible to a narrative about attracting minority support. His name was repeatedly mentioned as a 2016 presidential hopeful.

It didn’t hurt that Rubio, 11 days after the election, attended a birthday fundraiser for the governor of Iowa, site of the first GOP presidential caucuses four years hence.

Rubio actually accepted the invitation months before, during the Republican National Convention in Tampa. He expected Mitt Romney would actually have won the presidential contest Nov. 6, so Rubio’s attendance in Iowa wouldn’t have looked like a premature bid for national office.

This context got nary a mention in the Elections Industrial Complex. It didn’t fit the narrative. So it was discarded or never pondered by some. The Elections Industrial Complex thrives off conflict, contradictions and gaffes. It minimizes similarity and nuance in the cracked looking glass of our politics.

And Rubio has happily obliged.

On Nov. 19, GQ Magazine published an interview with Rubio in which he gave a rambling answer to an out-of-the-blue question about the age of the Earth:

“I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.”

The comment exploded like a Rorschach ink-blot. Partisans saw what they wanted.

To the left, it was evidence that Rubio’s a knuckle-dragging fundamentalist or a panderer to them. To the right, the ensuing controversy was evidence of the Godlessness of the left.





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Saudi telco regulator suspends Mobily prepaid sim sales












(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia‘s No.2 telecom operator Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily) has been suspended from selling pre-paid sim cards by the industry regulator, the firm said in a statement to the kingdom’s bourse on Sunday.


Mobily’s sales of pre-paid, or pay-as-you-go, sim cards will remain halted until the company “fully meets the prepaid service provisioning requirements,” the telco said in the statement.












These requirements include a September order from regulator, Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC). This states all pre-paid sim users must enter a personal identification number when recharging their accounts and that this number must be the same as the one registered with their mobile operator when the sim card was bought, according to a statement on the CITC website.


This measure is designed to ensure customer account details are kept up to date, the CITC said.


Mobily said the financial impact of the CITC’s decision would be “insignificant”, claiming data, corporate and postpaid revenues would meet its main growth drivers.


The firm, which competes with Saudi Telecom Co (STC) and Zain Saudi, reported a 23 percent rise in third-quarter profit in October, beating forecasts.


Prepaid mobile subscriptions are typically more popular among middle and lower income groups, with telecom operators pushing customers to shift to monthly contracts that include a data allowance.


Customers on monthly, or postpaid, contracts are also less likely to switch provider, but the bulk of customers remain on pre-paid accounts.


Mobily shares were trading down 1.4 percent at 0820 GMT on the Saudi bourse.


(Reporting by Matt Smith; Editing by Dinesh Nair)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News


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Jamie Chung Once Upon A Time Interview

Like many actors before her, Jamie Chung cut her teeth working on a soap opera. And like many actors before her, that 2007 Days of Our Lives entry on her resume has been forever eclipsed by her work alongside actors like Bradley Cooper, Russell Crowe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and for directors like Zack Snyder, Todd Phillips and David Koepp.

Now, Chung is busier than ever, playing Mulan on ABC's Once Upon A Time, reprising her role in the final Hangover film and suiting up for Sin City 2. ETonline caught up with Chung to talk about all these projects and discovered the personal mantra that led to all of them.


ETonline: What appealed to you about playing Mulan on Once Upon A Time?


Jamie Chung: Well, it's just an incredible show. It is so bizarre and nuts and wonderful, and to be a part of the fairytale storyline with the two female leads, who I just adore, has been so fun. almost every other week I got to roll in the hay with Ginnifer Goodwin. I love that although there's a reference point for my character, you still have the freedom to make up a story. To play this strong female woman warrior, who is fun and a tough ass but loyal like a samurai is so fun to play.


RELATED - Once Star Previews Red's Rough Road


ETonline: We know Mulan's backstory from other sources, but will we see any of that on OUAT?


Chung: You'll see a snippet of her past. Everything ties in very nicely this season, I'll say that.


ETonline: What are you excited for the fans to see this season?


Chung: I can't give away a lot, but it gets stranger and darker. People are going to think we're a cable show with how dark it gets. The dream [that Henry and Aurora share] is hugely important to the rest of the season. We discover that we can use to our benefit – but then, whatever can be used for good can also be used for evil. That's a big theme in the next two episodes. What was once good can be used for evil, and vice versa. It's really important to keep that in mind over the next two weeks.


ETonline: You've played a string of very physically capable women. Are you more drawn to physical roles or is that just how things have shaken out?


Chung: It's so interesting. I do feel more confident in a scene when my character has a weapon. You're much more aware of what your body is capable of doing: how fast you can run, how hard you can hit, how quickly you can evade a punch. You're so much more conscious of that, and that confidence makes all the difference. Yeah, it can give you a false sense of confidence in real life, but I have no intentions of getting in a bar fight [laughs].


ETonline: You've also stepped in for a pregnant Devon Aoki to play Miho in Sin City 2. With its stunt work and greenscreen filming, I kind of feel like all your other roles have kind of prepared you for this part.


Chung: That's so true. And Robert [Rodriguez, director] is really taking it to the next level. In terms of technology, there's so much more for him to play with. Robert is such a creative man. His work process is so fascinating to me. There's not much time to prep. You get up there and he says do it and you just do it. It's by the far the most physical role I've ever done. I'm in action hero heaven!


FIRST LOOK PHOTOS: The Hangover - Part III


ETonline: And then you've also got The Hangover Part III -- how does the finale stack up?


Chung: It has the spirit of the first two Hangover movies, but it's much more different. The fans are going to love it.


ETonline: In general, are you someone who meticulously plans their career or just operates on a role-to-role basis?


Chung: I don't plan too far ahead, it really is one script to the next. I'm such a scrapper, I'll take whatever comes my way. That's why I get a lot of leftovers. But when those leftovers are Sin City 2, I won't complain. The goal is to constantly create and keep moving – if you have movement going forward and hopefully the work will be there to match your desires.


Once Upon A Time
airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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No way out: 112 killed in fire at 'high risk' Bangladesh garment factory








AP


Bangladeshis and firefighters battle a fire at a garment factory in the Savar neighborhood in Dhaka, Bangladesh,where more than 100 workers were killed Saturday.



DHAKA, Bangladesh — At least 112 people were killed in a fire that raced through a multi-story garment factory just outside of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, an official said Sunday.

The blaze broke out late Saturday at the eight-story factory operated by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which supplies Walmart and other major retailers in the U.S. and Europe.




By Sunday morning, firefighters had recovered 100 bodies, fire department Operations Director Maj. Mohammad Mahbub told The Associated Press. He said another 12 people who had suffered injuries after jumping from the building to escape the fire later died at hospitals. The death toll could rise as the search for victims was continuing, he said.

Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed in the fire. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, and authorities have ordered an investigation.

Army soldiers and paramilitary border guards were deployed to help police keep the situation under control as thousands of onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered at the scene, Mahbub said. He would not say how many people were still missing.

Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after May 16, 2011, audit conducted by an ethical sourcing assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify the conditions or violations that led to the rating.

A spokesman for Wal-Mart said online documents indicating that the factory received an orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared to pertain to the factory where the fire occurred.

The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would conduct another inspection within one year. Spokesman Kevin Gardner said it was not clear if that inspection had been conducted, or if the factory was still making products for Wal-Mart.

If a factory is rated "orange" three times in a two-year period, Wal-Mart won't place any orders for one year. The May 2011 report was the first orange rating for the factory.

There was no indication whether the violations had been fixed since the May inspection. Neither Tazreen's owner nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for comment.

AP


Smoke billows out of the building as firefighters try and bring equipment to bear.












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Is the electric car dying again?




















A second administration of President Barack Obama will be forced to revisit the issue of subsidies for renewable energy and, with it, those for electric vehicles. Despite the millions of dollars spent on government incentives, marketing and promotion, sales of fully electric cars are well below projected targets. Investment in vehicle charging infrastructure also has fallen victim to budget cutbacks, limited usage and concern over the return on money spent.

Indeed, only last month, a leading automotive battery manufacturer, A123 Systems, was forced to declare bankruptcy. And the founder and CEO of Better Place, Shai Agassi, whose company (in which I was employed) promotes all-electric vehicles with batteries that can be both charged and replaced, was himself replaced due to low sales figures and high capital expenses arising from the deployment of battery-switching stations.

As a result, the question is now being raised: Are we again bearing witness to the death of the electric car?





Any such conclusion over the longer term may be premature. With declining costs and gradually improving technologies that can extend battery range beyond its current limitations, the electric car continues to hold promise. Rising gasoline prices and potential disruptions in oil supply favor alternative sources of energy.

To achieve mass market adoption, however, cars running on electricity — or any other alternative energy source — must satisfy the three “C’s”: cost, convenience and connectivity.

Few buyers are able or willing to pay more for a car running on clean energy unless the upfront cost of the car roughly equals or is below its carbon-powered alternative. Advertised savings over time in powering a car using alternative “fuels” so far have failed to persuade the average driver to buy. And while government subsidies play a role in reducing initial costs to consumers, such incentives so far have not been sufficient to attract large numbers of drivers to switch to electric vehicles.

Cars driven solely or partially by electricity or other alternative energies also must be at least as convenient as those powered exclusively by internal combustion engines. Drivers appear unwilling to sacrifice the expected hundreds of miles in driving range between refuelings. Likewise, drivers demand refueling times equal to what they are accustomed — about five minutes at the gasoline station.

Further, there must be adequate infrastructure in place to enable large numbers of drivers to connect to an alternative energy source before that source can be widely adopted. While a scattering of drivers simultaneously connecting to a power grid may not have much impact, large numbers of drivers doing so can cause major power outages that escalate absent the real-time balancing of energy loads across the network. Moreover, the environmental impact of the connected cycle between car and infrastructure, often referred to as the “well-to-wheel” balance, has to result in less pollution overall for alternative energy vehicles to achieve significant market traction.

Until the fully electric car can satisfy all three C’s, any assessment of projected vehicle sales must reflect a variety of energy sourcing options, both traditional and alternative, all competing for market share.

Gasoline and diesel likely will remain the predominant source of energy in the foreseeable future for new car buyers, with hybrid vehicles that run on both petroleum and alternative energy sources taking an increasingly larger share of the market. Although more costly than pure gasoline-driven cars, hybrids do offer a more environmentally friendly solution and provide the driving range demanded by car buyers.





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