Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- February 10, 2014

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7lG1WkgHP28" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Major Powers to Take Bigger Role in Syria Talks -- Al Pessin, Voice of America</b></span></div><br />LONDON — Senior U.S. and Russian officials are to take a bigger role in the UN-sponsored talks on Syria's future that reconvened in Geneva Monday. The move comes as the Syrian government and opposition delegations remain far apart on how to end the nearly three-year-long civil war. <br /><br />It was a familiar sight as the UN and Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi arrived for another round of talks. The opposition and government delegations held separate sessions with the mediator, who canceled his usual news conference.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/major-powers-to-take-bigger-role-in-syria-talks/1848473.html">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2014/02/10/syria-the-evacuation-of-homs/">On the Ground in Homs, Syria </a>-- Wall Street Journal<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/02/is-syria-now-a-direct-threat-to-the-united-states/283681/">Is Syria Now a Direct Threat to the United States?</a> -- David Rohde, The Atlantic<br /><br /><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2014/0210/Nurturing-the-impulse-to-save-Syria-s-millions">Nurturing the impulse to save Syria's millions </a>-- Christian Science Monitor editorial<br /><br /><a href="http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2014/02/08/the_war_of_wills_between_us_and_iran_110280.html">The War of Wills Between U.S. and Iran</a> -- Christopher Griffin, Real Clear World<br /><br /><a href="http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/india-china-the-end-cold-peace-9853">India and China: The End of Cold Peace?</a> -- Jeff M. Smith, National Interest<br /><br /><a href="http://thediplomat.com/2014/02/the-weakest-link-how-china-seeks-to-destabilize-the-us-rok-japan-triangle/">How China Seeks to Destabilize the US-ROK-Japan Triangle</a> -- Jin Kai, The Diplomat<br /><br /><a href="http://thediplomat.com/2014/02/chinas-push-into-americas-backyard/">China’s Push Into ‘America’s Backyard’</a> -- Shannon Tiezzi, The Diplomat<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/370692/four-ring-circus-andrew-stuttaford">Four-Ring Circus: The Olympics’ opening ceremony plays fast and loose with Russian history.</a> -- Andrew Stuttaford, NRO<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/snowdens-hypocrisy-on-russia/2014/02/07/23c403c2-8f51-11e3-b227-12a45d109e03_story.html">Edward Snowden’s hypocrisy on Russia</a> -- Gabriel Schoenfeld, Washington Post<br /><br /><a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/analysis-of-swiss-vote-against-mass-migration-a-952531.html">A Land of Money and Fear: The Swiss Vote Against 'Mass Migration'</a> -- David Nauer, Spiegel Online <br /><br /><a href="http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/hard-choices-if-a-greek-tragedy-looms-for-europe-29992760.html">Hard choices if a Greek tragedy looms for Europe</a> -- Dan O'Brien, Independent.ie<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/how-entrepreneur-stopped-being-a-european-word/article16751736/">How ‘entrepreneur’ stopped being a European word</a> -- Doug Saunders, The Globe and Mail<br /><br /><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/10/us-debating-whether-to-kill-citizen-suspected-in-terror-plot/">US debating whether to kill citizen suspected in terror plot</a> -- Chris Bing, Daily Caller<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/opinion/sunday/after-war-a-failure-of-the-imagination.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0">After War, a Failure of the Imagination </a>-- Phil Klay, New York Times<br /><br /><a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304680904579365412479185116">America's Power Is Under Threat</a> -- Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- February 10, 2014

Major Powers to Take Bigger Role in Syria Talks -- Al Pessin, Voice of America LONDON — Senior U.S. and Russian officials are to take a bigg...

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Norovirus Shuts Down Historic New York State Resort

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCLmWF1FmXrCcVJ3JZSMXexDzTgYX03HozipiDlPLt_NVyISxakc9Kah2ksGp3FEVqN2gt0iIMA6wyXrH2MsQMGsKdIksdsUYaqY1RSZFG5gqmF6WGx1KaJtfYzYg5JZOvqG9Z3J4Hns/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCLmWF1FmXrCcVJ3JZSMXexDzTgYX03HozipiDlPLt_NVyISxakc9Kah2ksGp3FEVqN2gt0iIMA6wyXrH2MsQMGsKdIksdsUYaqY1RSZFG5gqmF6WGx1KaJtfYzYg5JZOvqG9Z3J4Hns/s1600/0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Cruise ships aren't the only venues in the travel industry susceptible to norovirus.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">A historic New York state resort has elected to shut down temporarily after an outbreak of an intestinal virus infected staff and hotel guests last week, resort officials said today.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">"Mohonk Mountain House has been working closely with the Ulster County and New York State Departments of Health regarding a stomach virus reported by resort guests over the past several days," Katie Martello, a spokesperson for the resort, told ABC News. "To ensure the health and safety of our guests, we have engaged a company that is a global expert in this field to conduct a thorough sanitization of the entire resort, to include all public spaces, guest rooms, offices, staff areas, Conference House, and surrounding buildings."</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Six samples collected from individuals at Mohonk Mountain House by the New York State Department of Health have since been confirmed as norovirus, officials said.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Symptoms of norovirus include nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. The illness typically lasts for a few days but is not considered serious for the general population, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">"The virus, which is easily spread, is generally passed from person to person by direct contact and/or by touching contaminated surfaces or objects," he said. "Mohonk Mountain House has taken the proactive step to temporarily close their facilities."</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">After receiving multiple reports of illness from both guests and employees of the 145-year-old resort, owners issued a letter to employees on Feb. 7 announcing that they planned to close the property for a week for sanitization. <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/northern_suburbs&id=9422693" style="color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="external">WABC-TV</a> printed a copy of that internal communication on its website.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The Smiley family, which has operated the resort since its founding in 1869, also released a statement on the Mohonk Mountain House Facebook page to alert guests to the situation.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">"Although it has not been required of us, we have chosen to close for seven days because the health and well-being of our guests and staff are our top priorities," read the post. "We are grateful for the support of you, our Mohonk friends. We will look forward to reopening and welcoming guests again starting Friday, February 14."</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The closure of Mohonk Mountain House is the latest in a series of health snafus in the travel industry. In January, a Royal Caribbean cruise returned to port early after an outbreak caused 630 passengers to get ill. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has since determined that a new Sydney strain of norovirus was responsible for the widespread illness.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">While representatives for Mohonk Mountain House would not share the name of the company they are working with to sanitize the resort, their spokesperson did share that the expert "has conducted successful remediation work on hospitals, schools and libraries, and on projects as large as a 44-acre University campus after Hurricane Katrina."</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Frequent, thorough hand washing and cleaning of potentially contaminated surfaces can also help protect against transmission, according to the state Health Department.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">ABCNews</div>

Norovirus Shuts Down Historic New York State Resort

Cruise ships aren't the only venues in the travel industry susceptible to norovirus. A historic New York state resort has elected to shu...

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Not Again! Bobsledders Tweet They’re Stuck – This Time in Elevator (BLOG)

<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAL8nrEbMgZJ9pbH4O5wjQJVp5fi-eJefTFu9q-1sBaCHcV1MbcjDa3a_libQR1cPmkKmbn0JBE5bK9SD2CKE2xhD9bXhsYCuYVfYIdzPEdIZ7yTJ7CGWz8at1ZLzf_42Zx_akG2I7yYc/s1600/111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAL8nrEbMgZJ9pbH4O5wjQJVp5fi-eJefTFu9q-1sBaCHcV1MbcjDa3a_libQR1cPmkKmbn0JBE5bK9SD2CKE2xhD9bXhsYCuYVfYIdzPEdIZ7yTJ7CGWz8at1ZLzf_42Zx_akG2I7yYc/s1600/111.jpg" /></a>Olympic bobsledders trapped in tight spaces seems like it’s becoming a daily thing in Sochi.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In today’s edition, Team USA bobsledders Johnny Quinn and Nick Cunningham tweeted that they were stuck in a broken elevator.</div><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cunningham tweeted to ABCNews.com that he and Quinn weren’t trapped for too long.</div><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quinn became an internet sensation over the weekend after he posted a photo of his Hulk-like smash through a Sochi bathroom door after it jammed.</div><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quinn told “Good Morning America” he was so happy to escape the bathroom but after he saw the gaping hole, he thought he would get in trouble.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“At that time I was so mad and frustrated I didn’t even have a towel in there. I was just excited to finally get out of there. Once I got out of there and put a towel on, I looked back at the door and said ‘Oh man there’s a giant hole in there. I might get in trouble for this,’” Quinn said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quinn said his teammates and neighbors didn’t hear his loud bangs on the wall for help, prompting the 6-foot, 220-pound athlete to use his bobsled training to finally bust down the door.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On Sunday, British bobsledder <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/winter-olympics-2014-bobsledder-nearly-walks-into-open-elevator-shaft-in-sochi/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Rebekah Wilson</a> tweeted that she had a near-miss with an open elevator shaft in Sochi.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It sure is dangerous in Sochi for a bobsledder, and their event hasn’t even started.</div>

Not Again! Bobsledders Tweet They’re Stuck – This Time in Elevator (BLOG)

Olympic bobsledders trapped in tight spaces seems like it’s becoming a daily thing in Sochi. In today’s edition, Team USA bobsledders Johnny...

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Iraq: 21 Die as Militants Accidentally Blow Themselves Up (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVq06t_LSwaOimRWEzFQY-IypsNE8LgxWJbEAr1EsccfbFXD8PBm0T-2JnIzKnt2LgZ8mbxpYjU0mT_GeeBiLpyrWtL_W1hNUJdTUy0dgMXMgxQO7c7TABvzBvs1FOk9KzKtUjdyAvQsw/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVq06t_LSwaOimRWEzFQY-IypsNE8LgxWJbEAr1EsccfbFXD8PBm0T-2JnIzKnt2LgZ8mbxpYjU0mT_GeeBiLpyrWtL_W1hNUJdTUy0dgMXMgxQO7c7TABvzBvs1FOk9KzKtUjdyAvQsw/s1600/11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">An instructor teaching his militant recruits how to make car bombs accidentally set off explosives in his demonstration Monday, killing 21 of them in a huge blast that alerted authorities to the existence of the rural training camp in an orchard north of Baghdad. Nearly two dozen people were arrested, including wounded insurgents trying to hobble away from the scene.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The fatal goof by the al-Qaida breakaway group that dominates the Sunni insurgency in Iraq happened on the same day that the speaker of the Iraqi parliament, a prominent Sunni whom the militants consider a traitor, escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb attack on his motorcade in the northern city of Mosul.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Nevertheless, the events underscored the determination of the insurgents to rebuild and regain the strength they enjoyed in Iraq at the height of the war until U.S.-backed Sunni tribesmen turned against them. The militants are currently battling for control of mainly Sunni areas of western Iraq in a key test of the Shiite-led government's ability to maintain security more than two years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">While the Iraqi army has been attacking insurgent training camps in the vast desert of western Anbar province near the Syrian border, it is unusual to find such a camp in the center of the country, just 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The discovery shows that "the terrorist groups have made a strong comeback in Iraq and that the security problems are far from over, and things are heading from bad to worse," said Hamid al-Mutlaq, a member of the parliament's security and defense committee.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The militants belonged to a network now known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an extremist group that recently broke with al-Qaida. The ISIL, emboldened by fellow fighters' gains in the Syrian civil war, has tried to position itself as the champion of Iraqi Sunnis angry at the government over what they see as efforts to marginalize them.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Car bombs are one of the deadliest weapons used by this group, with coordinated waves of explosions regularly leaving scores dead in Baghdad and elsewhere across the country. The bombs are sometimes assembled in farm compounds where militants can gather without being spotted, or in car workshops in industrial areas.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The explosion Monday took place at a camp tucked away in an orchard in the village of al-Jalam, a farming area that has been a stronghold of al-Qaida close to the Sunni city of Samarra. According to a police officer, an army official and a hospital official, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, the events unfolded as follows.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The militants were attending a lesson on making car bombs and explosive belts when a glitch set off one of the devices during the car bomb part of the demonstration. Security forces rushed to the area after hearing the thunderous blast and arrested 12 wounded militants along with another 10 trying to flee.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Authorities searched two houses and a garage in the orchard, finding seven car bombs as well as several explosive belts and roadside bombs. The cars did not have license plates. Bomb experts then started the work of defusing the devices.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Later Monday, a bomb exploded near a cafe in western Baghdad shortly after nightfall, killing three people and wounding 11 others, according to police and medical officials who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.</div>

Iraq: 21 Die as Militants Accidentally Blow Themselves Up (BLOG)

An instructor teaching his militant recruits how to make car bombs accidentally set off explosives in his demonstration Monday, killing 21 o...

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Sochi 2014: Canada Dominates Freestyle Skiing ( BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbb0LkPT13Uu8_n5I_XnhmAbfXtlljshL9IIasi1N4gpfncujVRAVFs0THSelezQAi3XGWQ6oQWl4MRxurQqh7wWxbgWoHTWLtYfw1lc2e62be65JImupbGjYf7eRHgUfSbxaTVLvd7U/s1600/ss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhbb0LkPT13Uu8_n5I_XnhmAbfXtlljshL9IIasi1N4gpfncujVRAVFs0THSelezQAi3XGWQ6oQWl4MRxurQqh7wWxbgWoHTWLtYfw1lc2e62be65JImupbGjYf7eRHgUfSbxaTVLvd7U/s1600/ss.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Two Canadian athletes captured the top two spots in the men's mogul freestyle skiing event today at the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/winter-olympics.htm" style="color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="internal">Winter Olympics</a>. Alex Bilondeau took the gold medal while his teammate, Mikael Kingsbury, took the silver.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Canada also dominated the women's mogul event, though it was much more of a family affair. Sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/winter-olympics-2014-canadian-sisters-justine-chloe-dufour/story?id=22432080" style="color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="internal">took gold and silver respectively</a> at that event, held on Feb. 8.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Bilondeau was not the fastest down the slope in an event where speed matters. However, the judges saved their best scores for Bilondeau's ability to navigate the bumpy slope, as well as executing complicated tricks on the slope's two jumping points.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Alexandr Smyshlyaev from Russia rounded out the winners, taking the bronze. American skier Patrick Deneen made it to the last round of finals, finishing in sixth place.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Yahoo</div>

Sochi 2014: Canada Dominates Freestyle Skiing ( BLOG)

Two Canadian athletes captured the top two spots in the men's mogul freestyle skiing event today at the  Winter Olympics . Alex Bilondea...

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Smoke Found on PATCO Subway (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXg7l5_iv4Ab-r3QeQpa87kWiRqfZAZV7voXzWeJNDh3sZ7kPPG6yBYYR1g-hIxgV9EOAOYcjcL2wU0qbGwo1zucVeCTSMckJAyOUC032tvcuFWHIwxl9FTSD3pUm9tTUG_sZiTaMiBU/s1600/patco_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXg7l5_iv4Ab-r3QeQpa87kWiRqfZAZV7voXzWeJNDh3sZ7kPPG6yBYYR1g-hIxgV9EOAOYcjcL2wU0qbGwo1zucVeCTSMckJAyOUC032tvcuFWHIwxl9FTSD3pUm9tTUG_sZiTaMiBU/s1600/patco_5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="paragraph1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Passengers are being evacuated after smoke was found on a PATCO subway heading to New Jersey from Philadelphia. The smoke was spotted on the subway at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge near 7th and Race streets, according to officials.</div><div id="paragraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“At 5:16 p.m., a motor shorted-out on a six-car train headed eastbound onto the Benjamin Franklin Bridge,” said PATCO spokesman Tim Ireland. “The first two cars are filling with smoke and passengers are being evacuated."</div><div id="paragraph3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Douglas Robbins, a passenger on the train, tweeted updates on the evacuation to NBC10.</div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div id="paragraph12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Robbins also sent NBC10 a picture of the inside of one of the train cars.</div><div id="paragraph13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Officials say 50 passengers were on the train and only two passengers have been evacuated so far. Officials say another train is traveling to the scene to move the remaining passengers out.</div><div id="paragraph14" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No injuries have been reported so far. Officials say PATCO is experiencing a 20 minute delay in both Wast and Westbound service.<img align="left" alt="" height="253" src="http://media.nbcbayarea.com/images/PATCO+Fire.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="338" /></div><div id="paragraph15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.</div>

Smoke Found on PATCO Subway (BLOG)

Passengers are being evacuated after smoke was found on a PATCO subway heading to New Jersey from Philadelphia. The smoke was spotted on the...

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World News Briefs -- February 10, 2014 (Evening Edition)

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ggH91Ygn0NM" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Syrian Peace Talks Resume Acrimoniously As Assad Regime Alleges Massacre In Hama -- Washington Post</b></span></div><br />BEIRUT — A second round of Syrian peace talks started acrimoniously on Monday as the two sides traded accusations over disruptions to humanitarian operations in the city of Homs and the Syrian government alleged mass killings in nearby Hama.<br /><br />The government accused Islamist rebel battalions of a “massacre” in a village in central Hama province, making for a tense beginning to negotiations in Geneva.<br /><br />Meanwhile, aid operations in Homs, planned as a confidence-building measure between the government and opposition in initial talks last month, have been plagued by violence, with both sides blaming each other for violations in a supposed cease-fire.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-peace-talks-resume-acrimoniously-as-assad-regime-alleges-hama-massacre/2014/02/10/c571aa84-927c-11e3-b3f7-f5107432ca45_story.html">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MIDDLE EAST</b></span></div><br />UN says Homs operation extended<b><a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Feb-10/246913-humanitarian-pause-for-syrias-homs-extended-for-3-days-un.ashx#axzz2sxRrfc9B"> until Wednesday night</a></b>.<br /><br />Syrian talks resume as <b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/syria-talks-resume-as-homs-aid-runs-continue-201421092245133797.html">Homs mission continues</a></b>. Second round of Syria talks <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-syria-crisis-idUSBREA1912Z20140210">makes faltering start</a></b>. Syrian regime and opposition begin <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/10/syrian-regime-and-opposition-begin-new-round-of-talks-in-geneva">new round of talks in Geneva</a></b>.<br /><br />Six hundred Syrians flee besieged<b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-syria-crisis-homs-idUSBREA170S120140210"> Old Homs in aid convoy</a></b>.<br /><br />Rebel attack on <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/rebel-attack-syrian-alawite-village-kills-40-085123549.html">Syrian Alawite village kills 40</a></b>.<br /><br />Netanyahu to talk curbs on Iran with <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-israel-usa-netanyahu-idUSBREA1914U20140210">Obama in Washington in March</a></b>.<br /><br />Turkey and Israel <b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/02/turkey-israel-close-reviving-ties-201421019715799747.html">'close to reviving ties'.</a></b><br /><br />Iraq speaker <b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/iraq-speaker-escapes-assassination-attempt-2014210142135531229.html">escapes assassination attempt</a></b>. Iraq speaker targeted in blast <b><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jI_Topy3079OPGnrNFXsCn3OkmdA?docId=533a21ed-9537-4c4f-b432-9bd00341c738">as 21 militants killed</a></b>. Iraq: Militants set off own car bomb, <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-militants-set-off-own-car-bomb-21-140753442.html">21 dead.</a></b><br /><br />Iran sets 'red lines' <b><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gk68IRFFhxxCZJCkFSiGKKOd7MAg?docId=4bbe6c22-4b76-4838-bf4f-6b9fc8a6b989">ahead of fresh nuclear talks</a></b>.<br /><br />Weekend violence<b><a href="http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24424/Default.aspx?hp=readmore"> rocks Israel.</a></b><br /><br />Yemen to become <b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/yemen-become-six-region-federation-2014210124731726931.html">six-region federation</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ASIA</b></span></div><br />Bomb kills two American contractors <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-afghanistan-attack-idUSBREA190Y620140210">in Afghan capital Kabul</a></b>.<br /><br />Afghan bomb targets <b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/02/afghan-bomb-targets-nato-prison-convoy-2014210113155516497.html">NATO prison convoy</a></b>.<br /><br />Pakistani separatist militants <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-pakistan-pipelines-bombing-idUSBREA1903T20140210">blow up three gas pipelines</a></b>.<br /><br />Kenneth Bae worried about his health <b><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/10/world/asia/north-korea-kenneth-bae/">in North Korean camp</a></b>.<br /><br />South Korea-US exercises announced as <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26080072">Kenneth Bae visit blocked</a></b>.<br /><br />Abe, Aquino views on China unhelpful,<b><a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/us/abe-aquino-views-on-china-unhelpful-u-s-general-says-1.266737"> U.S. general says</a></b>.<br /><br />China export growth seen slowing,<b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-china-economy-idUSBREA190AK20140210"> loans surging in January</a></b>.<br /><br />Spain orders arrest of <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/spain-orders-arrest-former-chinese-president-others-over-143941453.html">former Chinese president, others over Tibet</a></b>.<br /><br />Nepal's new PM pledges new constitution <b><a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-02/10/c_133104390.htm">within one year</a></b>. Nepal's new prime minister raises hopes <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/nepal-39-prime-minister-raises-hopes-democratic-momentum-133731964.html">of democratic momentum.</a></b><br /><br />Italy tells India handling of marines case <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/italy-tells-india-handling-marines-case-could-hurt-141153020--finance.html">could hurt EU ties</a></b>.<br /><br />Asylum seekers accuse Australia navy of abuse as <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-australia-indonesia-asylum-idUSBREA1903F20140210">boat towed to Indonesia</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>AFRICA</b></span></div><br />South Sudan rebels say they will <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-southsudan-unrest-talks-idUSBREA191G320140210">boycott latest peace talks</a></b>.<br /><br />Nigerian president <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-nigeria-politics-idUSBREA191F220140210">sacks chief of staff: sources.</a></b><br /><br />France rules out <b><a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/africa/2014/02/10/France-rules-out-Libya-military-intervention-.html">Libya military intervention</a></b>.<br /><br />Lynching of Christian man by Muslims is sign of chaos <b><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/lynching-of-christian-man-by-muslims-is-sign-of-chaos-in-central-african-republic/2014/02/09/ecd02e54-91d5-11e3-b3f7-f5107432ca45_story.html">in Central African Republic</a></b>.<br /><br />Lynchings and religious violence increase in <b><a href="http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/10/lynchings-and-religious-violence-increase-in-violence-torn-central-african-/">conflict-torn Central African Republic</a></b>.<br /><br />Egyptian authorities accuse Islamist group of <b><a href="http://world.time.com/2014/02/09/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-military/">forming ‘military wing’</a></b>.<br /><br />Mali says MUJWA Islamist group responsible<b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/09/us-mali-islamists-idUSBREA180YN20140209"> for killing 31 Tuaregs</a></b>.<br /><br />Congo warlord Bosco Ntaganda faces <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/10/congo-warlord-bosco-ntaganda-war-crimes-hague">war crimes charges at The Hague.</a></b><br /><br />Two car bombs explode in Somali capital,<b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/two-car-bombs-explode-somali-capital-least-five-144818264.html"> at least five wounded</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>EUROPE</b></span></div><br />Sochi 2014: <b><a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/live/winter-olympics/25886331">Day three: Live</a></b><br /><br />Bosnians ratchet up demands on<b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-bosnia-protest-idUSBREA1917120140210"> sixth day of protests.</a></b><br /><br />EU must be ready to impose sanctions <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/eu-must-ready-impose-sanctions-ukraine-czech-minister-210101319.html">on Ukraine: Czech minister.</a></b><br /><br />Huge crowds gather for 10th weekly <b><a href="http://rt.com/news/ukraine-protest-kiev-opposition-299/">anti-govt rally in central Kiev</a></b>.<br /><br />Worse than Greece: Fitch says <b><a href="http://rt.com/business/ukraine-default-fitch-downgrade-386/">Ukraine's default risk high</a></b>.<br /><br />EU neighbours regret Swiss vote <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26116648">for immigration quotas</a></b>. Europe warns Swiss of consequences<b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/europe-warns-swiss-consequences-immigration-vote-143556240--sector.html"> after immigration vote</a></b>.<br /><br />François Hollande expected to get 'super red-carpet'<b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/francois-hollande-us-state-visit-french-president"> treatment in US</a></b>.<br /><br />NSA flap strains <b><a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303874504579372832399168684?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303874504579372832399168684.html">ties with Europe</a></b>.<br /><br />UK floods: Swollen Thames <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26111598">threatens thousands of homes</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>AMERICAS</b></span></div><br />White House delays health insurance mandate for <b><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/white-house-delays-health-insurance-mandate-for-medium-sized-employers-until-2016/2014/02/10/ade6b344-9279-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html">medium-sized employers until 2016</a></b>.<br /><br />UK minister's visit to contested Falklands <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-britain-argentina-falklands-idUSBREA191JR20140210">angers Argentina.</a></b><br /><br />U.S. Embassy warns of <b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2014/02/09/possible-guyana-threat/5349989/">possible Guyana threat</a></b>.<br /><br />Ex-Guatemalan army officer tied to massacre <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-usa-guatemala-massacre-idUSBREA1920H20140210">sentenced to U.S. prison</a></b>.<br /><br />Hollande and Obama make joint <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26117455">call for climate accord</a></b>.<br /><br />Threat of more snow and ice in U.S. South <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/threat-more-snow-ice-u-south-puts-officials-145406859--finance.html">puts officials on alert</a></b>.<br /><br />Mexico vigilantes enter <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26103464">Knights Templar cartel stronghold</a></b>.<br /><br />Toyota to<b><a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/02/09/toyota-leave-venezuela"> leave Venezuela</a></b>. Venezuela's currency squeeze <b><a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304626804579361430760853514">threatens nation's newspapers</a></b>.<br /><br />As inflation and crime soar in Venezuela, <b><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/07/3920606/as-inflation-and-crime-soar-in.html">those who can head abroad</a></b>.<br /><br />Argentina falling again, but no longer drags down <b><a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2014/02/10/argentina-falls-but-no-longer-drags-down-brazil?s_cid=rss:argentina-falls-but-no-longer-drags-down-brazil">neighboring Brazil like in past crises</a></b>.<br /><br />Vancouver home to Canada's first <b><a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/vancouver-home-to-canada-s-first-crackpipe-vending-machines-1.1677066#ixzz2spaXdqtr">crackpipe vending machines</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR</b></span></div><br />Boston bombing suspect <b><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/10/boston-bombing-suspect-wants-trial/5371973/">wants trial next year</a></b>.<br /><br />US suspect possibly targeted <b><a href="http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/ap_ca2280e951cf462fbf8e308fd52b7a9b">for drone attack</a></b>.<br /><br />Al Qaeda splinter group withdraws <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-syria-crisis-rebels-idUSBREA1909V20140210">from oil-rich Syrian province</a></b>.<br /><br />Al Qaeda won't execute kidnapped South African, <b><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/al-qaeda-won-behead-kidnapped-south-african-article-1.1606954">despite ransom deadline</a></b>.<br /><br />Intelligence chair: ‘Guards, gates and guns’ <b><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/9/house-intel-chair-concern-about-possible-attack-ou/">mitigate Olympics threats</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS</b></span></div><br />Bitcoin plunges after major platform <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-investing-bitcoin-idUSBREA191Y220140210">indefinitely halts withdrawals</a></b>.<br /><br />Exclusive: Regulator plans purge of<b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-finra-arbitration-idUSBREA191SI20140210"> Wall Street arbitrators</a></b>.<br /><br />Boeing sees Asia-Pacific fleet <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-airshow-forecast-boeing-idUSBREA190PR20140210">nearly tripling over 20 years</a></b>.<br /><br />Icahn drops <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-apple-icahn-idUSBREA1913T20140210">Apple buyback demand</a></b>.<br /><br />Google passes Exxon <b><a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Google-passes-Exxon-to-be-No-2-US-company-5220775.php">to be No. 2 US company</a></b>.<br /><br />Europe, China help McDonald's<b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/10/us-mcdonalds-sales-idUSBREA190U620140210"> offset soft U.S. sales in January</a></b>.

World News Briefs -- February 10, 2014 (Evening Edition)

Syrian Peace Talks Resume Acrimoniously As Assad Regime Alleges Massacre In Hama -- Washington Post BEIRUT — A second round of Syrian peace ...

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Detroit: What it's like to live in the most famous bankrupt city in America (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_T5lf6ueUxANo2Kd6HBKaG9I2I9wGaAx2WxZ-D-7YE5ZlBLGwMp8FKA5yWpO5xQ0IwslCzhx6pCLMVwgZyoSbyair-Neu30RkBXmTsipmO4gfXq3HTRQ_3k01tsMfITU3tf6y3DLDkA/s1600/1111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_T5lf6ueUxANo2Kd6HBKaG9I2I9wGaAx2WxZ-D-7YE5ZlBLGwMp8FKA5yWpO5xQ0IwslCzhx6pCLMVwgZyoSbyair-Neu30RkBXmTsipmO4gfXq3HTRQ_3k01tsMfITU3tf6y3DLDkA/s1600/1111.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3107" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">DETROIT — Ora Williams has lived in her home in the Brightmoor section of Detroit for more than 35 years, and over those decades, she’s seen what was once a thriving middle class neighborhood sink into what many regard as the wasteland of the city.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3125" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Crime and economic turmoil drove many residents away. Their homes, left to decay, became epicenters for murders and drug deals. The overgrown trees and brush became illegal dumping grounds for everything from old boats to dead bodies. Neighbors pleaded with city officials to do something, anything, but the government, broke and famously dysfunctional, offered little help.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3135" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">But Williams, a retired caseworker for the state Department of Human Services, refused to give up on Brightmoor — even as many around her packed their bags and looked for more stable ground. Her endurance is slowly paying off.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3145" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Over the past two years, private foundations have come in to help Brightmoor, setting up a community action group to help revitalize and rebuild. The Detroit Blight Authority, a nonprofit that demolishes abandoned homes and cleans up empty lots, cleared out 14 blocks of decay in the neighborhood last summer and plans to tackle another 35 blocks this year.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">But the initial work has already transformed the neighborhood — making the streets a little safer and energizing residents who had never given up on the idea that Brightmoor could bounce back, even if it’s getting little help from the city government.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Williams is the first to acknowledge that Brightmoor has a long way to go, and she admits the transformation will be arduous and could take many, many years. But she refuses to walk away, even if it would be easier to live someplace else.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“This is my home,” Williams said. “This is where I raised my kids. … Besides, if everybody decides to run, you don’t have a community anymore. They beat you at your own game. It’s about stick and stay, and believing in what can be.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Williams is not alone in her hopefulness and her resilience. Her words could be a mantra for the other estimated 700,000 residents of Detroit who are a testament for survival and strength in a city that has struggled for decades and is now in the midst of the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">But what is it really like to live and work in the most famous bankrupt city in America?</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The headlines about Detroit are constantly doom and gloom — and for good reason. The city has major problems. Its long-term debts are at least $18 billion and growing. The infant mortality rate <a data-rapid_p="10" href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140130/LIFESTYLE03/301300005" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">rivals that in developing countries.</a> Unemployment is at 11 percent. City Hall, long mired in corruption scandals, is now under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. Municipal services, which had already been lacking for years, have been cut to the bone. Retired city workers are worried about losing their pensions. Half of the city’s 88,000 streetlights don’t work. Roads go largely unplowed during snowstorms. The police reportedly take in upwards of an hour to respond to even the most serious of crimes. And the list goes on and on.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Today, Detroit’s iconic image is almost always a picture of one of its estimated 78,000 empty buildings, which have become an odd tourist attraction. The “ruins,” as they are described, are a striking monument to what the Motor City used to be.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">But just as there is blight in virtually every corner of the city, there is also hope and glimmers of new life. It’s an odd dichotomy for a city that many have written off as dead.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">In Midtown, just blocks from the boarded up mansions of historic Brush Park, there is a new Whole Foods store — the first new grocery store to open in the inner city in decades. A few miles away in downtown, all the tables at Roast, a restaurant owned by Food Network chef Michael Symon inside the renovated Westin Book Cadillac hotel, are perpetually booked and not just by visitors to the city.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">At the bar on a recent Wednesday, a frantic server paused and laughed. “What bankruptcy?” he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">And that’s what locals say the world doesn’t get about Detroit: that life here goes on, fueled in part by the strength of residents who believe very strongly that the city will come back. And many are working to make it happen in both big and little ways.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">In downtown Detroit, Dan Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, has purchased several buildings and relocated his 10,000 employees into what was vacant office space in hopes of reviving the city’s urban core. He’s hoping to create a Silicon Valley of the Midwest by helping lure startups to Detroit with grants and other assistance.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">And all over town, small businesses are starting to pop up, founded by a younger generation of entrepreneurs who have descended on the city to take advantage of what locals say is an atmosphere friendly to people who want to test out business ideas with nothing to lose.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“Things are sparking here in spite of the financial challenges of the municipality itself,” said Sandy K. Unruh, president of the Detroit Regional Chamber, who is pitching the city as a comeback story in hopes of wooing potential investors.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Over the last year, companies that make bicycles, handmade jeans and luxury watches have launched in Detroit. At the same time, the city’s bar and restaurant scene is booming — aided largely by Detroit natives who came back to the city because they wanted to build something in their hometown.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“If you are someone who wants to build something, to do something of your own, Detroit is really cool because you can do that right now,” said Amanda Brewington, who opened Always Brewing Detroit, a coffee shop and community space last year.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Brewington, a native of the Detroit suburbs, had been working as a music supervisor in Lansing, but she had dreamed of opening a business in Detroit for years — in spite of the city’s struggles. “This place has always been magical to me,” she said. “People are different here. There is a lot of pride in the city and a ‘do it yourself’ mentality that you don’t find in other places.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Her parents were supportive but worried. “Detroit? Are you sure you want to do this?” her mother asked.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Brewington, who is 28, scouted locations all over the city and settled on a spot along a gritty stretch on Grand River Avenue in the Rosedale neighborhood of Northwest Detroit — not far from Brightmoor — because she wanted to be a part of a community of people willing to stay and live in Detroit even in the tough times.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“They don’t show them on the news or talk about them when they mention the bankruptcy, but there are people who live here, who work and have a house and have kids and dog and are normal people who are making it,” Brewington said. “Sometimes I think it takes a tougher person to do that because why would you choose to live in a place that isn’t exactly easy or workable to live in? But that’s the thing about Detroiters. They are the people who make it work and help each other and do what needs to be done.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Many Detroiters liken that resilient mentality to the psychology passed down from auto workers who toiled on the assembly lines to build fleets of cars — a technology that was invented in Detroit back in 1913 during the city’s industrial boom.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“The auto industry really shaped the consciousness that we are all in this together,” said Mary Byrnes, a Detroit native who is a sociology professor at Marygrove College. “Everyone has to work at the same pace, and we are all interdependent with one another. That hasn’t gone away. We depend on each other.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">In her neighborhood in Southwest Detroit, there is little indication of a city under financial duress. The local pub is packed, and new businesses are opening. But she acknowledged that as tough as Detroiters are, there is underlying concern about what the future holds for the city as it tries to navigate its way through bankruptcy.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“On a day to day basis, you don’t feel it. Nothing has changed,” Byrnes said. “But I think people would be lying if they said they weren’t worried about what is happening to our city and the things we love and cherish.”</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3154" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">But, she added, “I am not only worried for us in Detroit, I am worried for other cities because we are the blueprint for how this is going to go down in other cities. We aren’t the only ones who have problems.”</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3169" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">But like Williams and others, she wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3179" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“We know what bad times are like, and we push through them,” Brynes said. “That’s the strength of Detroit.”</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3179" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><br /></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392063571193_3179" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Yahoo</div>

Detroit: What it's like to live in the most famous bankrupt city in America (BLOG)

DETROIT — Ora Williams has lived in her home in the Brightmoor section of Detroit for more than 35 years, and over those decades, she’s seen...

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Bringing up baby: A tour of baby panda Bao Bao’s crib at the National Zoo (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSM6uFhASa7qA1VqcMy7UIlZN4FrMRw8BcNY3fWMKWYvGf93wdSAy1l8L9IRniJ-n-dzfkW9PUozYikwfsid9GEE9i3FUfbY_vZka3BG9318vB-aRJx0izhMWoGJIvgSZQ8Wvj9OGYmc/s1600/00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSM6uFhASa7qA1VqcMy7UIlZN4FrMRw8BcNY3fWMKWYvGf93wdSAy1l8L9IRniJ-n-dzfkW9PUozYikwfsid9GEE9i3FUfbY_vZka3BG9318vB-aRJx0izhMWoGJIvgSZQ8Wvj9OGYmc/s1600/00.jpg" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_9198" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">It’s “panda-monium” at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where a baby giant panda, Bao Bao, has recently made her debut to the ooh’s and aah’s of the admiring public.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_9210" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">And in this special episode of “Power Players,” we go behind the scenes at the zoo for an exclusive play date with Bao Bao, a furry 5-month-old cub. Bao Bao’s keepers, Marty Dearie and Juan Rodriguez, led the cub in her daily training session, called “targeting,” during which they reward her for completing certain desired behaviors, such as touching her nose to a ball.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_9220" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“The purpose of the targeting is to start building new behaviors,” Dearie said. “So think about it, if you get her to touch her nose to a ball, well what if I want her to stand up? Well now I just move the target up a little higher, she has to stand up to it, and eventually you can take the target out and you can get her to stand up on her own without using it.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Though Bao Bao currently has a limited grasp of the targeted skills – choosing to wander off to explore rather than obey on most occasions—Dearie and Rodriguez said her performance will improve in the coming months as she is weaned from her mother’s milk.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“By the time she starts kind of consuming more solids, then we can start building a lot more behaviors,” said Dearie, explaining that adult pandas are very responsive to food-based rewards, such as pear pieces, cooked sweet potato and apples.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Bao Bao’s learning will also hasten once she becomes more active, Dearie said. The cub currently sleeps for at least 20 hours out of the day.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“Most of the energy she's taking from mom's milk is going to make her get bigger,” he said. “She was born at 4.8 ounces. Now, she weighs over 20 pounds.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The animal keepers also introduced us to Bao Bao’s dad, Tian Tian, to demonstrate the progress that Bao Bao is expected to make in the coming months and years over the course of her training. Tian Tian willingly comes into a cage where he places his arm on a platform to have blood drawn and lies on his side when commanded. Tian Tian is promptly rewarded with honey water and fruit pieces upon performing the action.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Tian Tian also lies down on command and will scoot left or right. It looks sweet, amazing even, but Dearie and Rodriguez say the point of the training isn't to enable the bears to perform. All of these behaviors, the same ones they are starting to nurture in Bao Bao, are critical for the bears comfort. Although the bears don't know it, they are working hard to help save their species. They are treated by doctors and examined by experts regularly. And they are comfortable around humans, moving into the right position upon command.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Despite the comfort level between the pandas and their human care takers, these bears are not pets – something Rodriguez said he has to tell himself during those “excruciatingly hard” moments when he wants to cuddle with the baby Bao Bao.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“The main thing you have to keep reminding yourself is these guys are a critically endangered species and as much as you want to cuddle with them, you have to sort of respect the fact that they are endangered and we don't want to make them into pets,” Rodriguez said. “You want to keep their wild instincts intact as much as possible.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Once Bao Bao is fully grown and fully weaned from her mother, Mei Xiang, at the age of four, she will leave the U.S. for China to be part of a breeding program. Dr. Brandie Smith, the senior curator of giant pandas at the National Zoo, said that while Bao Bao will be missed once she’s relocated, it’s for a good cause.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“It is hard, but we know that we're sending her back to be part of the breeding program and to make more baby pandas,” Smith said. “So, I think a lot parents can relate, from the moment our kids are born we train them to go off and succeed on their own. So, that's what we're doing for Bao Bao.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">For more about the raising of baby pandas, and to get an up close look at Bao Bao for yourself, check out this episode of “Power Players.”</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_9282" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><em id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_9291">ABC News’ Ben Krolowitz, Betsy Klein, Gary Westphalen, Tom D’Annibale, Danny O’Shea, and Gary Rosenberg contributed to this episode.</em></div>

Bringing up baby: A tour of baby panda Bao Bao’s crib at the National Zoo (BLOG)

It’s “panda-monium” at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where a baby giant panda, Bao Bao, has recently made her debut to...

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Amusingly "Cool" Map of the Day

<b>January 30, 2014</b><br /><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/01/map-how-much-snow-it-typically-takes-to-cancel-school-in-the-us/283470/">Map: 'How Much Snow It Typically Takes to Cancel School in the U.S.'</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>Using data "taken from hundreds of various points from user responses...interpolated using NOAA's average annual snowfall days map," Trubetskoy made a map showing how much snow it typically takes to close schools in the U.S. and Canada.</i></div>

Amusingly "Cool" Map of the Day

January 30, 2014 Map: 'How Much Snow It Typically Takes to Cancel School in the U.S.' Using data "taken from hundreds of variou...

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Allure of Rebel Dirt Bike Pack Explored in ’12 O’Clock Boys’ (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tWBaNEKSrsSzI3YpYOkNO_qF7RY44DLUtl2eZH1Kw5zjZ1yJ9iXrHKJgq3-k0R0rjEdqmxU6san9o2E5M6tvA5I4OVZKL-6hDun49W0zSeUih7u3WtGC161de_OqBOXFGXUm4uezHys/s1600/HT_12_oclock_boys_film_sk_140205_16x9_992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9tWBaNEKSrsSzI3YpYOkNO_qF7RY44DLUtl2eZH1Kw5zjZ1yJ9iXrHKJgq3-k0R0rjEdqmxU6san9o2E5M6tvA5I4OVZKL-6hDun49W0zSeUih7u3WtGC161de_OqBOXFGXUm4uezHys/s1600/HT_12_oclock_boys_film_sk_140205_16x9_992.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4574" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">In the blighted neighborhoods of inner city Baltimore, lined with abandoned buildings and broken down cars, the loud, rhythmic, menacing choir of dirt bikes and four-wheelers can be heard cutting through the silence.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4559" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Ranging in age from teenage boys to men in their 30s, the large pack of illegal dirt bike riders race, weave and perform acrobatics at high speeds through the streets with almost celebrity stature. They are known as the 12 O'Clock Boys and people line the sidewalks with their smartphones and iPads to take in their spectacle.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4375" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">To some, the ride together is a street sermon of sorts, a Sunday ritual.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4610" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">To the Baltimore police and to many city residents, the bikers are a public safety hazard, who can seem intimidating as they perform stunts in traffic.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4620" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">But to a 12-year-old boy, who calls West Baltimore home, being a part of this urban dirt-biker pack would be a dream come true. Born Taekwon Ford, friends and family call him “Pug.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"When I ride, I feel powerful. I feel like a super hero," Pug said. "It feels like, you know, on top of the world."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The 12 O'Clock Boys' name comes from the group's trademark maneuver: speeding down the street with the front wheel of their bike pointing straight up, like the hands on the clock.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The 12 O'Clock Boys are the subject of a new controversial film by the same name that came out last month. The film explores the attraction and motivation behind the urban dirt biker group through the eyes of Pug and a few older members.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The film follows Pug for three years, from a precocious 12-year-old on the shy side of puberty to an edgy, often angry, teenager, hardened by circumstance. It details Pug's primary aspiration in life, which is to become a 12 O'Clock Boy.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">When asked why, he told "Nightline," "It's fun."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"You're seeing people's faces, they be so excited to see you," he said. "It just be amazing."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The film's director Lotfy Nathan was a college student from Great Britain studying at an art school in Baltimore when he started following the Baltimore dirt biker group as a class project.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The 12 O’Clock Boys have been described as many things -- a fearless pack, a gang, a menace, troublemakers –- but according to Nathan, they are not only “rebels,” but also “mentors” and “children.”</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4528" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"Right outside of [Pug's] door in West Baltimore, there was drug dealers, there's violence all the time. He would see these dealers waving cash in front of them and they seemed like the most successful people on the block," Nathan said. "It's seductive from a young age. So that's why I kind of shy away from calling [the 12 O'Clock Boys] a gang, from calling them menaces. As problematic as it is, it's still kind of lesser of evils."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Nathan said he understands the conflict between the 12 O’Clock Boys and the rest of the city, but he sees how the group can have a positive impact on someone like Pug.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"It's not necessarily the right kind of out, but it is an out for a lot of kids in Baltimore," Nathan said. "It's actually a kind of edification for a lot of kids in Baltimore. It's kind of like Boy Scouts or something in the context of what gangs can really be in Baltimore and what violence can really be and what can be."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">For its size -- Baltimore City as a population of roughly 621,000 -- Baltimore is one of the most violent crime and drug ridden cities in the country. There have been 28 homicides so far this year.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4625" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Pug said he has gotten used to seeing people walking around with guns, and has seen people get shot and stabbed on the street, but he doesn't pay attention to violent gangs.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"You gotta be careful out there, people get shot, sometimes for no reason, just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time," Pug said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4520" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">To him, the 12 O'Clock Boys are his role models and mentors.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4510" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"They taught me to stay in school, do all my work, pass my classes. They just taught me to focus on school, don't worry about bikes all the time," he said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4500" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Pug said he wants to be a veterinarian when he grows up. He is bright and ambitious enough, but the road out of these rough Baltimore streets is lined with more obstacles that even the most skilled 12 O'Clock Boy could maneuver.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4490" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"He's a really smart kid, and I think he's pretty resourceful too, so I would hope that he would put it all into school, if he can. That's what I always tried to tell him," Nathan said. But "there's no easy out."</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048736428_4490" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px;">VIDEO: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/nightline-fix-abc-news/allure-rebel-dirt-bike-pack-explored-12-o-145430670.html</span></span></div>

Allure of Rebel Dirt Bike Pack Explored in ’12 O’Clock Boys’ (BLOG)

In the blighted neighborhoods of inner city Baltimore, lined with abandoned buildings and broken down cars, the loud, rhythmic, menacing cho...

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A Great Disturbance in the Civilian Labor Force

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFw5A4eFq0O8a66pEieOKmVN176_LigxL5_JLX4ACnooKnwq_PUz4aVR_Va2M-UogZ1R3xxNOl89c0GzRFcD_NiKy_61kyYbwKC04eNt0aDfiUTPCy9PdhiJ38KdnMwYyInkcxL30K2EI/s1600/Civilian+Labor+Force.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFw5A4eFq0O8a66pEieOKmVN176_LigxL5_JLX4ACnooKnwq_PUz4aVR_Va2M-UogZ1R3xxNOl89c0GzRFcD_NiKy_61kyYbwKC04eNt0aDfiUTPCy9PdhiJ38KdnMwYyInkcxL30K2EI/s320/Civilian+Labor+Force.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />The blue line (left scale) shows the civilian labor force participation rate of those aged 25 to 54. It peaked in the late 1990s and it has been pretty much going down ever since.<br /><br />The red line (left scale) shows the civilian labor force participation rate of those aged 55 and over. It bottomed in the early 1990s and it has been generally going up ever since (recent flattening notwithstanding).<br /><br />The green line (right scale) shows the civilian labor force participation rate of those aged 25 to 54 divided by the civilian labor force participation rate of those aged 55 and over.<br /><br />In a truly healthy economy, should those aged 25 to 54 really be dropping out of the labor force at faster pace than those aged 55 and over (as seen in that green line since the early 1990s)?<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="236" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EZG0fBMT7Tc" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_sucking_sound">Wikipedia: Giant Sucking Sound</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>The "giant sucking sound" was United States Presidential candidate Ross Perot's colorful phrase for what he believed would be the negative effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he opposed.</i></div><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/taglines">In space no one can hear you <strike>scream</strike> suck.</a><br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rXt">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

A Great Disturbance in the Civilian Labor Force

Click to enlarge. The blue line (left scale) shows the civilian labor force participation rate of those aged 25 to 54. It peaked in the late...

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Leonardo DiCaprio: I've "Never Done" Drugs (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1_oap2LKtmGQWcIL6IavFsM2FhOEZl4ct6D45hyphenhyphentzay1t-ZcnTH5xuEucA1gfjE22olnOS5xd-ODD9M9rTwmSota7_qmS-OhDfoQ2W-Ojx7RHKjcww0fXKOR5hdUkPEsGvelGhM9xic/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1_oap2LKtmGQWcIL6IavFsM2FhOEZl4ct6D45hyphenhyphentzay1t-ZcnTH5xuEucA1gfjE22olnOS5xd-ODD9M9rTwmSota7_qmS-OhDfoQ2W-Ojx7RHKjcww0fXKOR5hdUkPEsGvelGhM9xic/s1600/22.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048530966_3528" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><a data-rapid_p="8" href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrities/leonardo-dicaprio" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048530966_3535" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><strong id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048530966_3534">Leonardo DiCaprio</strong></a> is not the <em>Wolf of Wall Street</em>. Sure, he may party on yachts occasionally with beautiful women and be worth millions, but the 39-year-old actor says he really was acting while portraying his character Jordan Belfort's rampant drug use. In a recent interview with the <a data-rapid_p="9" href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-leonardo-dicaprio-20140130,0,611473.story#axzz2sYpIj6Vi" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><em>Los Angeles Times</em></a>, DiCaprio opened up about growing up "very poor," and why it helped him to resist the temptation of drugs in Hollywood.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048530966_3550" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"Never done it," DiCaprio said about drugs. "That's because I saw this stuff literally every day when I was 3 or 4 years old. So Hollywood was a walk in the park for me . . . I'd go to parties and it was there and, yeah, there's that temptation," he admitted.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048530966_3556" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"Hollywood is a very volatile place where artists come in and they essentially say they want to belong. It's incredibly vulnerable to be an actor and also get criticism at a young age when you're formulating who you are," DiCaprio explained. "We've seen a lot of people fall victim to that, and it's very unfortunate."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><a data-rapid_p="10" href="http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/leonardo-dicaprios-ladies-2011911/18365" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">PHOTOS: Leonardo DiCaprio's ladies</a></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The actor's parents, George and Irmelin, divorced when he was was very young, and he lived mostly with his mother. Until the age of 9, DiCaprio lived in an L.A. neighborhood near Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue. He told the<em> Los Angeles Times </em>that there "used to be a major prostitution ring on my street corner, crime and violence everywhere."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">DiCaprio eventually won a scholarship to University Elementary School, located in a wealthier neighborhood. "It was like this little Garden of Eden," he recalled. "And if I went to play with my friends, I would drive to Beverly Hills and go in their backyard and there'd be a waterfall there. I mean, a waterfall! In the backyard? What the . . ."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">When he had to go back to the public school system, DiCaprio decided to try and become an actor to change his lifestyle.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"That was the motivational thing that happened to me in my life," he explained. "I was 15, and I said to my mom, 'I want to be an actor. Please take me to auditions.' Because I had to get out of that public school system."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">In DiCaprio's opinion, his background makes him more than qualified to discuss the subject of income disparity in America as depicted in the <em>Wolf of Wall Street</em>. "Who am I to talk about this?" the Oscar-nominated actor asked. "It goes back to that neighborhood. It came from the fact that I grew up very poor and I got to see the other side of the spectrum."</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048530966_3581" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: <a data-rapid_p="13" href="http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/leonardo-dicaprio-ive-never-done-drugs-201472" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048530966_3586" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Leonardo DiCaprio: I've "Never Done" Drugs</a></div>

Leonardo DiCaprio: I've "Never Done" Drugs (BLOG)

Leonardo DiCaprio  is not the  Wolf of Wall Street . Sure, he may party on yachts occasionally with beautiful women and be worth millions, b...

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We Can't Catch A Break!

The alternate title would be, Oh, the humanity!<br /><br />A major fire broke out yesterday at a Winchester Ammunition plant in East Alton IL.<br /><br />Thankfully I guess, it was in a storage unit and not the main manufacturing plant.<br /><br /><a href="http://gunssavelives.net/gun-industry/video-breaking-fire-at-winchester-ammo-plant/">Video and story here</a>, thanks go to <a href="http://angrymikeshood.blogspot.com/">AngryMike </a>for the heads up.<br /><br />Alternative storage can always be leased and it sucks that they lost a bunch of inventory but thank goodness the actual processing facility escaped damage.

We Can't Catch A Break!

The alternate title would be, Oh, the humanity! A major fire broke out yesterday at a Winchester Ammunition plant in East Alton IL. Thankful...

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How will Marcus Smart's blowup affect his NBA draft stock? (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTgob8Wbkqsf_eTSDctAKSoPz0WmUil1W3vAegqzgoyWMVbNSdOEAjc4dlhZ0kKOts9IQ-5fGuv2Oz5PLrTODCdtG6ICA_YrfuV8iKXCef-SYY5MxhWRHrhPc4r4sp1OZMjxfYYtuTrU/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTgob8Wbkqsf_eTSDctAKSoPz0WmUil1W3vAegqzgoyWMVbNSdOEAjc4dlhZ0kKOts9IQ-5fGuv2Oz5PLrTODCdtG6ICA_YrfuV8iKXCef-SYY5MxhWRHrhPc4r4sp1OZMjxfYYtuTrU/s1600/1.JPG" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3787" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Evaluating <a class="yom-entity-link yom-entity-sports_player" data-rapid_p="10" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/116604" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Marcus Smart</a>’s draft stock has NBA executives split in the aftermath of the guard’s actions Saturday.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3811" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><a data-rapid_p="11" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marcus-smart-continues-downward-spiral--shoving-fan-during-oklahoma-state-loss-064154430-ncaab.html" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3820" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">The Oklahoma State star shoved a vocal Texas Tech fan in the chest</a> with two hands late <a data-rapid_p="12" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/oklahoma-state-cowboys-texas-tech-red-raiders-201402080592/" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3830" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">in a 65-61 road loss on Saturday night</a>. A Texas Tech official told The Oklahoman that as the 19-year-old sophomore was being led to the locker room after the shoving incident, he continuously repeated that the fan called him the "N-word."</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3841" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">DraftExpress.com currently ranks Smart as the sixth-best prospect in this year's NBA Draft.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3851" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"His stock is going to take a hit," one NBA general manager told Yahoo Sports. "He has shown in the past few months that he is prone to outbursts. He kicked a chair (against West Virginia). He's under a lot of pressure. The team is not doing well, struggling.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3861" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"Fans say things in the NBA every day. He has a history of letting people get under his skin. The NBA fans will test him."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Said an NBA assistant general manager: "Unfortunately for Smart, there is going to be a fallout after this. His reputation has taken a hit. That is all people and the media are going to want to talk about with him before and after the draft. Some teams won't want to deal with that."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><strong>[Related: <a data-rapid_p="13" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/black-coaching-legends-think-marcus-smart-should-ve-controlled-his-emotions-212443526-ncaab.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Black coaches give their opinion on Marcus Smart's in-game blowup</a>]</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Other NBA executives told Yahoo Sports that Smart's incident would not affect their feelings about the guard.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"It seems way out of character for him," one NBA general manager said. "I saw the video of that fan in the past. I can only imagine what he said to the kid."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Said another NBA GM: "I hope not. He would get punished for responding to someone calling him the 'N-word'? Wow."<span class="yui-editorial-embed" id="yui_3_0_0-2-1391993335817"><span id="schemaorg"></span></span></div><div class="yom-figure yom-fig-right" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; width: 310px;"><img alt="" class="editorial " src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/bSjegn2cxetFUfp8.guV0Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTMxMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/sports/2014-02-09/62c029c0-91d1-11e3-b06a-0b4567eea64e_marcussmart800_209getty.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: inline; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; vertical-align: bottom; visibility: visible !important;" title="Texas Tech fan Jeff Orr's comments set off Marcus Smart. (Getty)" width="310" /><div class="legend" style="background-image: none; color: grey; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; max-width: 100%; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;">Texas Tech fan Jeff Orr's comments set off Marcus Smart. (Getty)</div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Said another NBA GM: "Marcus Smart just needs to play better. Pushing some [expletive] will not affect his stock."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">One long-time NBA scout said he still likes Smart, is impressed by his athleticism and sees him as a top-five draft prospect. An NBA assistant GM said that he has to hear all the facts before making a determination on Smart and said that his play is hurting him more than the push.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">When asked if the push affects Smart's draft stock, another NBA GM said: "No, it's due to his game."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Smart averaged 17.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a freshman, but decided to return for his sophomore season despite being projected as a top overall pick in last year's draft. While participating in USA Basketball's senior team mini-camp last July, Smart told Yahoo Sports that he would enter the 2014 NBA draft. Smart is averaging 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists this season.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"He's not a 'can't-miss' talent. He doesn't shoot the ball well enough," one NBA GM said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Said one NBA assistant GM: "He absolutely should've went to the NBA last year."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">One NBA GM said Smart is overhyped. The GM added that Connecticut's Shabazz Napier, Missouri's Jordan Clarkson and West Virginia's Juwan Staten are less-heralded guard prospects who are just as good if not better than Smart.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"[Smart is] a pretty good player, a solid player, but there is a lot of hype," the GM said. "But by no means is he a superstar player. He's tough. Not necessarily a point guard or a shooting guard. He's a guard.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"There are other guards out there just as talented that aren't getting the publicity. He's going to be good, but he is being built up to fail early in his NBA career just like Kansas' Andrew Wiggins is."<br /><br />Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford addressed the incident in a press conference on Sunday night after it was announced that <a data-rapid_p="14" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-state-guard-marcus-smart-230524996--spt.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Smart would be suspended three games</a>.<br /><br />"One day the NBA will get an incredible player and an incredible person that has learned a lot of lessons," Ford said.<br /><br /><span class="yui-editorial-embed" id="yui_3_0_0-2-1391993335819"></span></div><div class="yom-fig-frame" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3969" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 714.125px;"><span id="schemaorg"><div class="yom-figure yom-fig-middle" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3968" style="float: none; margin: 0px auto 15px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; width: 630px;"><figure class="cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox" data-orig-index="0" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3967" style="cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><a class="cover-anchor" data-rapid_p="15" href="" id="cover-d44613fead6ed88da0cdba95cb6044da" name="cover-d44613fead6ed88da0cdba95cb6044da" style="color: #8ec0ff; cursor: pointer; position: absolute; top: -100px;"></a><div class="cta-overlay" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3966" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.24s linear; font-size: 13px; height: 349px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: background-color 0.24s linear; width: 630px;"><span class="clearfix title cta-text medium" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; color: white; font-size: 16px; left: 5px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; text-align: left; top: 5px; transition: opacity 0.24s linear; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 567px; zoom: 1;"></span><div class="cta-text large" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; color: white; font-size: 16px; margin-top: 35px; opacity: 0; position: relative; top: 174.5px; transition: opacity 0.24s linear;">View photo</div><span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.16s linear; background-color: #324fe1; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: cover; border-bottom-left-radius: 7px; border-bottom-right-radius: 7px; border-top-left-radius: 7px; border-top-right-radius: 7px; cursor: pointer; height: 54px; left: 315px; line-height: 0; margin-left: -38px; margin-top: -27px; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-indent: -1000em; top: 174.5px; transition: opacity 0.16s linear; width: 76px; z-index: 1;">.</span></div><img alt="" class="editorial " data-preembed="image" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/O0RnkNiyiLjVIge8DjCxCg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/sports/2014-02-09/d4fd0610-9150-11e3-af9e-c7c48465647e_SmartShovebigger.gif" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: inline; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 1px; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; vertical-align: bottom; visibility: visible !important; width: 630px;" title="Marcus Smart shoves Texas Tech superfan Jeff Orr in the closing moments of Oklahoma State's loss. (Yahoo)" width="630" /></figure><div class="legend" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392048403838_3983" style="background-image: none; color: grey; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px; text-align: left;">Marcus Smart shoves Texas Tech superfan Jeff Orr in the closing moments of Oklahoma State's loss. (Yahoo)</div></div></span></div>

How will Marcus Smart's blowup affect his NBA draft stock? (BLOG)

Evaluating  Marcus Smart ’s draft stock has NBA executives split in the aftermath of the guard’s actions Saturday. The Oklahoma State star s...

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