Paul McCartney Makes Merry With Fallon and Timberlake on 'SNL' (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV9jwqGPi8dBlRXFDmGCUp4u3mSYxZgGodnDz8lOLd9G_gaUFJzZcJzJqBKuy-81lVqdwfHW8uHQvT6adWDnDvvSDIxc3OwgVRIg4gSKaU2L5D3vy0pMzhmhrcrWVui1ukdmmSbKFBny0/s1600/article-2527806-1A3F958D00000578-296_634x505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV9jwqGPi8dBlRXFDmGCUp4u3mSYxZgGodnDz8lOLd9G_gaUFJzZcJzJqBKuy-81lVqdwfHW8uHQvT6adWDnDvvSDIxc3OwgVRIg4gSKaU2L5D3vy0pMzhmhrcrWVui1ukdmmSbKFBny0/s320/article-2527806-1A3F958D00000578-296_634x505.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Remember the day before your school's Christmas vacation, when you and the other kids were so wild with excitement that you couldn’t even stay in your seats, so your teacher just passed out candy canes and put on a video and got the hell out of the way? I'm pretty sure that was exactly how it felt in Studio 8H last night, as Jimmy Fallon and <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/justin-timberlake" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Justin Timberlake</a> delivered a near-perfect Christmas episode to an ecstatic crowd. These guys were the ideal choice to finish out the year: They struck up a friendship on <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Saturday Night Live</em> ten years ago, and (as anyone who watches <em style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.012em; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Late Night With Jimmy Fallon</em> knows) their rapport has only gotten stronger. They finish each other's punchlines, they sing in perfect harmony: They're like the sexy Smothers Brothers. Between host Fallon, musical guest Timberlake, and an all-star line-up of celebrity cameos, this was the most exciting <em style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.012em; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SNL</em> episode of the season. But the funniest sketch of the night didn’t star Timberlake, McCartney or Madonna – just the mega-talented ladies of <em style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0.012em; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SNL, </em>doing their thing. On to the sketches!</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wrappinville Cold Open:</strong> It's the return of the rapping mascot! It hasn't been that long, actually; Timberlake played a dancing block of tofu for the "Veganville" sketch in March. This time, he's a giant roll of wrapping paper, accompanied by host Jimmy Fallon's human-sized gift bag. Aidy Bryant is trying to gift wrap for charity, but her pitches can't compete with the Wrappinville team's covers of Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" ("Wanna Be Starting a Wrap War"), Gotye's "Somebody that I Used to Know" ("Some Present That I Used to Know"), Ludacris' "Roll Out," and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop." You know that the show's off to a good start when an audience member has to be forcibly removed for being too enthusiastic. (Or at least, I assume that's what happened after her screams interrupted Bryant, twice.) Jimmy and Justin are amazingly in sync (HAHA) on everything here: the songs, the choreography, the belabored gay joke ("I sacked his deck") that is nonetheless funny. Aidy Bryant gets props for dance-bombing their big finish. Everyone's having so much fun that "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!" nearly gets lost in the cheers.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=x7r0susnzgogeopdxlmvea&partner=wenner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Monologue:</strong> Fallon sets up four microphones, explaining that they're for himself, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/paul-mccartney" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Paul McCartney</a>, respectively. Sadly, they all got stuck in the Lincoln tunnel (what wouldn't you give to be on <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">that</em> NJ Transit bus?), so Fallon had to sing "Joy to the World" as all four of them. It's an impressive performanOHMYGODITSPAULMCCARTNEY. Audience members are shouting, fainting, going into labor. If David Bowie shows up, too, I will be right there with them. Sadly, he does not. But Fallon and the Beatle sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as fake snow filters down through the lighting grid, and hearts are sufficiently warmed. In case you're wondering, Dylan has done <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SNL</em> before<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> – </em>just once in 1979, during his Christian period.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Family Feud Celebrity Edition:</strong> Right up until Timberlake exits the comedy stage to focus on music, every sketch tops the last one. Celebrity Family Feud, hosted by (of course) Kenan Thompson's Steve Harvey, has CBS and NBC celebrities facing off for charity. CBS celebs Jim Parsons (Fallon), Ashton Kutcher (Taran Killam), Jon Cryer (John Milhiser) and Allyson Hannigan (Noel Wells) are playing for the Red Cross; NBC stars Jimmy Fallon (Timberlake), Jane Lynch (Kate McKinnon), Ice-T (Jay Pharaoh), and Brooks Wheelan (himself) are playing for – low blow – the NBC/Universal company. Naturally, this whole sketch is an excuse for Timberlake to impersonate Fallon to his face. Within two minutes, Fallon is turning his back to the audience and ducking behind scenery, because he is <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">dying. </em>Watching these two crack each other up is worth the price of admission. Two of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SNL</em>'s most neglected players have their Christmas wishes granted by appearing in this sketch: Milhiser scores big laughs with his Cryer impression, and Wheelan, poor guy, has to convince Steve Harvey that he's actually on <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SNL, </em>because he appears so rarely. If only he could take fake <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Family Feud</em>'s advice and just be Justin Timberlake.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(Do It On My) Twin Bed:</strong> Best. Thing. Ever. The sexy ladies of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SNL</em> form a girl group for this song about having sex in your childhood bedroom over the holidays. The singers pair off with the male cast members for awkward sex scenes in twin beds, on a dresser full of trophies, and against a Jonathan Taylor Thomas poster. Fallon raps an interlude from the boyfriend's point of view: "Can't get fully undress in case your parents come through, just shirt no pants like Winnie the Pooh." And just when you think it can't get any better, the cast members twerk against blown-up images of their seventh-grade class photos. Normally, it would be a crime to exclude Justin Timberlake from a musical number during one of his <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SNL</em> episodes. "Twin Bed" is so good that it gets a pass.  </div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=649tviqfhbjw9snkvc-zcq&partner=wenner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Barry Gibb Talk Show:</strong> With Fallon and Timberlake in the house, this sketch was a sure thing. Not that I'm complaining. If you have a moment, go to Yahoo Screen and watch that first Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch from 2003. Fallon is more or less the same, but Timberlake seems like a different person. Becoming a movie star makes you really confident, I guess? Anyhow, Fallon rose to the challenge and didn't let Timberlake's Robin upstage his short-tempered, falsetto-crooning, Wiggles-dancing Barry. This is the first time they've revived this sketch since the real <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/robin-gibb-bee-gees-co-founder-dead-at-62-20120520" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Robin Gibb died in 2012</a>, but clearly they had his brother Barry's blessing, becauseOHMYGODITSBARRYGIBB. I love how Madonna was just the fake-out celebrity cameo. Did you notice how confused the audience was when she put in her grill? Like, is Madonna trying to be funny? Who knows anymore?</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=4hcwitwzpfv31c5ahbtkig&partner=wenner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Weekend Update:</strong> Let us all raise a glass, Drunk Uncle-style, to Seth Meyers, whose time at the Weekend Update desk has come to a close. Or has it? He's being all <a href="https://twitter.com/sethmeyers/status/414161283504553984" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">enigmatic on Twitter</a> now. Regardless, this was the night that Fallon gave his official blessing, as Meyers prepares to take over <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Late Night, </em><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jay-leno-to-leave-tonight-show-next-spring-20130403" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Fallon prepares to take over <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Tonight Show</em></a>, and Jay Leno prepares to read the headlines in his garage full of motorcycles while weeping softly to himself. To do the honors, Fallon brought along Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whose retirement plans include "enjoying a small soda on a non-smoking beach" and a possible tenure as the Naked Cowboy.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=tkagr0xh-n-ddns9jjjpcq&partner=wenner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Waking Up with Kimye:</strong> Aw,Lorne, you shouldn't have! This is just what I wanted for Christmas. Jay Pharaoh's Kanye West and Nasim Pedrad's Kim Kardashian are back with their morning chat show. Kim holds up a recent issue of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">US Weekly</em> with the headline "Kim Kardashian: My Body is Back." Kanye's comment: "Kim's body left and it rose again – remind you of anyone?" Kim's comment: "I'm starring in a book!" They close the show with a "video Christmas card," which is a re-creation of the "Bound 2" video with Kimye humping on a reindeer. It's slightly less hilarious than the Kardashians' actual Christmas card, with Bruce Jenner inexplicably in a pneumatic tube, but I'll take it. </div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" mozallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=3tclko1dxp51e8o3kplzfa&partner=wenner" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="600"></iframe></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">And with a few more holiday themed-sketches and some additional fake show, it is officially Christmas vacation! Everyone is wearing sweaters! Jimmy Fallon is hugging Barry Gibb! Justin Timberlake is hugging Paul McCartney! Madonna has turned into Chris Rock! And my heart grew three sizes this night. Happy holidays, everyone! </div>Rolling Stone</div>

Paul McCartney Makes Merry With Fallon and Timberlake on 'SNL' (BLOG)

Remember the day before your school's Christmas vacation, when you and the other kids were so wild with excitement that you couldn’t eve...

Read more »

Merry Christmas to Crazy Uncle Bubba

I found this just a few minutes ago and immediately thought of <a href="http://yourcrazyunclebubba.blogspot.com/">Bubba</a>.<br />Stevie Ray Vaughn doing a sound check with his band in 1986, right after he woke up. You can see him yawning trying to get woke up and then it's like someone flipped a switch! About 17 minutes of pure Stevie Ray with no background noise from a crowd. You can really see and hear him hit the licks.<br /><br />From the Youtube page;<br /><br /><blockquote>Published on Apr 12, 2013<br /><br />"Stevie just waking up then warming up. Insane how good can you really be that tired? Turn it up and enjoy. Original Source: This was filmed Jan 1986 by Greg Savage of Savage Guitar Design and is used with permission.</blockquote><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/grBmQwLSlDw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Merry Christmas to Crazy Uncle Bubba

I found this just a few minutes ago and immediately thought of Bubba . Stevie Ray Vaughn doing a sound check with his band in 1986, right af...

Read more »

Starlin Castro Has $3.6 Million Seized as Part of a Legal Dispute (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JKPAo1rqL4XU6T-0K2PT2fGaFa9ldfhLkWOpAhpCiHMtStIXQC6-aQPYeDw8QploJPT-iFETAVtdScA3utY8g_4dJUzPthIFZQNSHaHge-QspRnhJrwGHAP2-ogewsbD0H-OcgFmAGc/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5JKPAo1rqL4XU6T-0K2PT2fGaFa9ldfhLkWOpAhpCiHMtStIXQC6-aQPYeDw8QploJPT-iFETAVtdScA3utY8g_4dJUzPthIFZQNSHaHge-QspRnhJrwGHAP2-ogewsbD0H-OcgFmAGc/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Chicago Cubs shortstop</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><a href="http://bleacherreport.com/starlin-castro" style="border: 0px; color: #003366; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Starlin Castro</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">reportedly had $3.6 million seized from his bank accounts on Dec. 18 as a result of a legal dispute with a baseball school in his native Dominican Republic, according to</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><em style="border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Chicago Tribune</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">'s</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-cubs-starlin-castro-legal-dispute-20131219,0,1717542.story" style="border: 0px; color: #003366; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Paul Sullivan</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">.</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The removal of funds, which was made at several banks, according to reports, stemmed from a dispute over an eight-year-old agreement made between Castro's father and the school when the Cubs' star was just a teenager. </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Castro's father reportedly signed an agreement to pay the school a small percentage (roughly 3 percent) of his son's contract when he reached the majors.    </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The 23-year-old <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/sports/14784489-573/cubs-sign-starlin-castro-to-7-year-60-million-deal.html" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">signed a hefty seven-year</a>, $60 million deal with the Cubs in 2012. According to Sullivan, he subsequently paid a portion of his $45,000 signing bonus to the <span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">school, Mi Futuro Biliguer, which translates to "My Future Big Leaguer."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At the time of his new contract, ESPNChicago.com quoted Castro talking about the huge financial impact of the deal:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It's big. It's big especially for my family. We come from very poor people and now my family is going to be better. Their lives changing and that's really neat."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite the $45,000 donation, Sullivan reports that the school's coach, Manuel Nunez, is "<span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">trying to force Castro to give him 3 percent of his contract" and has plans to sue Castro. But sources close to the situation say Castro will file a countersuit against Nunez in an attempt to expose the agreement and the argument that a father can sign away a son's future earnings. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The bizarre agreement even has Sports<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Illustrated</em>'s Melissa Segura's eyebrows raised:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fortunately, Castro and the Cubs are in the midst of the offseason and won't have to worry about the shortstop missing playing time as a result of the off-field drama. However, the unwelcome publicity could damage Castro's relationship with his current team if it drags on for too long. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It remains to be seen whether Castro will win out and reclaim his earnings in court, but there's certainly a lot at stake with millions of dollars and Castro's reputation hanging in the balance.    </span></div></div>

Starlin Castro Has $3.6 Million Seized as Part of a Legal Dispute (BLOG)

Chicago Cubs shortstop   Starlin Castro   reportedly had $3.6 million seized from his bank accounts on Dec. 18 as a result of a legal disput...

Read more »

Obama and Climate Change: The Real Story (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYW6LD9kToD2zEuybEXoD4KqrBDhXKr0WoNVtiG9AJyzd1uGfsO-W4dJvTtA2dEkSISYf7_sfyV1UefN5uVvNMGoprPVRT0p554XqSNO9MsRbHrl5wXzkooDnG7WlpQ4LQG-Xq86AgK58/s1600/20131204-nataffairs-x600-1386190823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYW6LD9kToD2zEuybEXoD4KqrBDhXKr0WoNVtiG9AJyzd1uGfsO-W4dJvTtA2dEkSISYf7_sfyV1UefN5uVvNMGoprPVRT0p554XqSNO9MsRbHrl5wXzkooDnG7WlpQ4LQG-Xq86AgK58/s320/20131204-nataffairs-x600-1386190823.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Two years ago, on a gorgeous November day, 12,000 activists surrounded the White House to protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Signs we carried featured quotes from Barack Obama in 2008: "Time to end the tyranny of oil"; "In my administration, the rise of the oceans will begin to slow."</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><a class="inStoryLink" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Global Warming's Terrifying New Math</a></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Our hope was that we could inspire him to keep those promises. Even then, there were plenty of cynics who said Obama and his insiders were too closely tied to the fossil-fuel industry to take climate change seriously. But in the two years since, it's looked more and more like they were right – that in our hope for action we were willing ourselves to overlook the black-and-white proof of how he really feels.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">If you want to understand how people will remember the Obama climate legacy, a few facts tell the tale: By the time Obama leaves office, the U.S. will pass Saudi Arabia as the planet's biggest oil producer and Russia as the world's biggest producer of oil and gas combined. In the same years, even as we've begun to burn less coal at home, our coal exports have climbed to record highs. We are, despite slight declines in our domestic emissions, a global-warming machine: At the moment when physics tell us we should be jamming on the carbon brakes, America is revving the engine.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><a class="inStoryLink" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/greenland-melting" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Greenland Melting: Climate Change's Disasterous Effects</a></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">You could argue that private industry, not the White House, has driven that boom, and in part you'd be right. But that's not what Obama himself would say. Here's Obama speaking in Cushing, Oklahoma, last year, in a speech that historians will quote many generations hence. It is to energy what Mitt Romney's secretly taped talk about the 47 percent was to inequality. Except that Obama was out in public, boasting for all the world to hear:</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">"Over the last three years, I've directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. We're opening up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources offshore. We've quad­rupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We've added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the Earth, and then some. . . . In fact, the problem . . . is that we're actually producing so much oil and gas . . . that we don't have enough pipeline capacity to transport all of it where it needs to go."</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="float: left; font-size: 35pt; line-height: 0.7; margin: 0.13em 0.1em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">A</span>ctually, of course, "the problem" is that climate change is spiraling out of control. Under Obama we've had the warmest year in American history – 2012 – featuring a summer so hot that corn couldn't grow across much of the richest farmland on the planet. We've seen the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and the largest wind field ever measured, both from Hurricane Sandy. We've watched the Arctic melt, losing three quarters of its summer sea ice. We've seen some of the largest fires ever recorded in the mountains of California, Colorado and New Mexico. And not just here, of course – his term has seen unprecedented drought and flood around the world. The typhoon that just hit the Philippines, according to some meteorologists, had higher wind speeds at landfall than any we've ever seen. When the world looks back at the Obama years half a century from now, one doubts they'll remember the health care website; one imagines they'll study how the most powerful government on Earth reacted to the sudden, clear onset of climate change.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><a class="inStoryLink" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-fossil-fuel-resistance-20130411" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">The Fossil Fuel Resistance</a></div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">And what they'll see is a president who got some stuff done, emphasis on "some." In his first term, Obama used the stimulus money to promote green technology, and he won agreement from Detroit for higher automobile mileage standards; in his second term, he's fighting for EPA regulations on new coal-fired power plants. These steps are important – and they also illustrate the kind of fights the Obama administration has been willing to take on: ones where the other side is weak. The increased mileage standards came at a moment when D.C. owned Detroit – they were essentially a condition of the auto bailouts. And the battle against new coal-fired power plants was really fought and won by environmentalists. Over the past few years, the Sierra Club and a passel of local groups managed to beat back plans for more than 100 new power plants. The new EPA rules – an architecture designed in part by the Natural Resources Defense Council – will ratify the rout and drive a stake through the heart of new coal. But it's also a mopping-up action.</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Obama loyalists argue that these are as much as you could expect from a president saddled with the worst Congress in living memory. But that didn't mean that the president had to make the problem worse, which he's done with stunning regularity. Consider:</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">• Just days before the BP explosion, the White House opened much of the offshore U.S. to new oil drilling. ("Oil rigs today generally don't cause spills," he said by way of explanation. "They are technologically very advanced.")</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">• In 2012, with the greatest Arctic melt on record under way, his administration gave Shell Oil the green light to drill in Alaska's Beaufort Sea. ("Our pioneering spirit is naturally drawn to this region, for the economic opportunities it presents," the president said.)</div><div style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">• This past August, as the largest forest fire in the history of the Sierra Nevadas was burning in Yosemite National Park, where John Muir invented modern environmentalism, the Bureau of Land Management decided to auction 316 million tons of taxpayer-owned coal in Wyoming's Powder River basin. According to the Center for American Progress, the emissions from that sale will equal the carbon produced from 109 million cars.</div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Read more: <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-climate-change-the-real-story-20131217#ixzz2oDn3vjFj" style="color: #003399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-and-climate-change-the-real-story-20131217#ixzz2oDn3vjFj</a> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Follow us: <a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=bbJxak64Kr4kEzacwqm_6l&u=rollingstone" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">@rollingstone on Twitter</a> | <a href="http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=bbJxak64Kr4kEzacwqm_6l&u=RollingStone" style="color: #003366; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">RollingStone on Facebook</a></span></div>

Obama and Climate Change: The Real Story (BLOG)

Two years ago, on a gorgeous November day, 12,000 activists surrounded the White House to protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Signs w...

Read more »

Merry Fucking Christmas!! It's Music That Matters

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It’s Christmas week and I feel like takin’ care of the lack of messages that I am getting from my son….<br /><br />So let’s play some music that reminds me of my brothers who have passed:<br /><br />First up, my brother John.  John and I rarely interacted until late in his life, because only then did we acknowledge that we were as smart as each other, and it was at my brother Steve’s wedding that John requested this:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/FtP2GLGDBE4" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />And then of course, my brother Phil.  My brother Phil was going to change the world, but in the meantime, he was always betting on a particular racehorse and chicks who dug folk music:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hXdQB-mR4tg" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />And then unexpectedly, my brother Vince passed on this past Summer, and he was the one that lo those 30 years ago turned me onto The Cars:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_m0_8mr9rk4" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />The odd thing about my kid not giving a damn about me?  I don’t care that much any longer.<br /><br />I love him to death, but really, as much as I would like him to like me, I don't have time to dwell on that...Just ask my brothers, 'cause well, they're dead.<br /><br />But in other news, Jayman and I kicked ass celebrating the Holy Baby Jesus yesterday on Blog Talk Radio, If I'm a lyin' I'm a dyin', so check it out<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://player.cinchcast.com/?show_id=5830145&platformId=1&assetType=single" width="400"></iframe><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;">Discover Comedy Internet Radio with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid" rel="nofollow">IWS Radio</a> on BlogTalkRadio</div><br />Cheers!!<br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com" target="_blank">Matt-Man</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattmaniws</span></a><br /><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">My Facebook Page</span></a></i></div>

Merry Fucking Christmas!! It's Music That Matters

It’s Christmas week and I feel like takin’ care of the lack of messages that I am getting from my son…. So let’s play some music that remind...

Read more »

Why the NBA Should Ditch East-West Playoff Format (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpui0z5pmYvyZX7dW1y-qJ3DBvSPgZFkccgNqezaQcYc7fczPsVx6NMo2Ju2vDQPLYcio9vIM0X4rfvECccYGlixzsZluC-is8IIdBZFil0bQW5TLunOMgyCH_3fuWbrG6ufZYixxQc6o/s1600/WarriorsThunderBasketball_crop_north.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpui0z5pmYvyZX7dW1y-qJ3DBvSPgZFkccgNqezaQcYc7fczPsVx6NMo2Ju2vDQPLYcio9vIM0X4rfvECccYGlixzsZluC-is8IIdBZFil0bQW5TLunOMgyCH_3fuWbrG6ufZYixxQc6o/s320/WarriorsThunderBasketball_crop_north.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="ui-droppable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 29px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The drastic disparity between the Eastern and Western Conferences has been a hot topic throughout the 2013-14 <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/nba" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NBA</a> season, and unless the gap between the two shrinks, it will continue to be a source of discussion.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In a recent roundup of basketball minds at <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">USA Today</em> Sports Network, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2013/12/04/caucus-eastern-vs-western-conference-disparity-knicks-nets/3868707/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Ian Levy</a> of Hickory High put things in perspective:</div><blockquote style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) 0px 0px 15px inset; background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) 0px 0px 15px inset; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 25px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 1px 10px; quotes: none; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0px 1px 1px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I can sympathize with the frustration of West fans, knowing their team might miss out on the playoffs simply because of geographic orientation. The NBA is supposed to be a meritocracy and when that fundamental principle is overruled it feels like a gross miscarriage of justice.</div></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">To summarize: The East stinks, and yet the West and its fans are the ones losing.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My recap of Levy’s insight is far from an urbane declaration, but the concept is simple. Beyond the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers, not one Eastern Conference team would qualify for the postseason out West, and as of Dec. 21 at 12 a.m. ET, the Atlanta Hawks are the only other squad to boast a winning record.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Conversely, and here’s where the trouble lies, the West is a different story. The Portland Trail Blazers, who we thought would be a fringe playoff team, are in a clash for first place in the conference. The Phoenix Suns, who we assumed were tanking for Andrew Wiggins, are above .500 and look like a potential postseason player.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then, of course, there’s the additional myriad of teams battling for a spot come April. The Dallas Mavericks have exceeded expectations, the Denver Nuggets have done the same and the Golden State Warriors should improve before the year comes to an end.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Out East, it’s a two-horse race to the conference championship, and it’s not even close.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Heat and Pacers are legitimate title chasers; this we can’t deny. But below them are a group of pretenders without a single contender.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hawks, despite having a winning record, lack the star power to compete for a championship. The Boston Celtics, even after blowing up their roster, are in fourth at 12-15.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The hope here is that the Heat and Pacers bring some semblance of balance to the top of <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1824982-nba-power-rankings-opening-week-edition" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NBA power rankings</a>. This has been and will continue to be the case all year, but when it comes to the pre-finals version of the postseason, we’re stuck with that same two-horse race the entire way.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Taking a closer look at the Western Conference, here’s how the rankings would stand if the playoffs started today:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There’s power atop the conference, balance at the bottom and at least a sense that the second-tier teams could compete in a seven-game series.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Don’t forget, either, that teams like Golden State and the Minnesota Timberwolves are far from done. We’re just a quarter of the way through the season, and neither has yet to reach its potential at this point in the year.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then there’s the East:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Can you honestly say that any team between No. 3 and No. 8 can compete? Unlike the West, the next in line (Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, etc.) are dreaming if they think sneaking in as a bottom seed helps them earn respect on the national level.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even players and teams across the league are getting their shots in when it comes to the East’s poor performance. According to Yahoo! Sports' <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dirk-nowitzki-takes-a-dig-at-eastern-conference-154435890.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Marc J. Spears</a>, <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/dirk-nowitzki" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Dirk Nowitzki</a> doesn’t think too highly of his opponents on the other coast.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The big man was quoted saying, "If you look at the Western Conference, the quality so high. The teams are bunched up right there. We can beat each other every given night. It's not like the Eastern Conference, where you just roll through."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even the Trail Blazers (or at least their behind-the-scenes social media team) found the time to throw their hats into the mix.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Parity has disappeared from the East altogether, and something must be done to remove bad basketball from the climax of the season.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When it comes to altering the system, there’s an internal battle that takes place in the heads of decision makers. The concept of tradition versus modernization influences a number of changes, but when it comes to the NBA, tradition shouldn’t blind the authority figures.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At its most fundamental level, the game of basketball is just that—a game. It’s a contest between two competing rosters, and when bottom feeders try to contend with top-tier organizations, it creates undesirable playoff matchups year after year.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As a fan (not just of your favorite team, but of the game itself), think about this: We could legitimately see a 50-loss team in the playoffs out East.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For those counting, that’s a squad that loses more than 60 percent of its games, yet still squeezes in as an inevitable speed bump for the Heat or Pacers.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Take the Toronto Raptors, for instance. Through 24 games, the team is 10-14. That’s a winning percentage of just .417, yet it’s good enough for the eighth seed in the conference (13th out West).</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If the Raptors continue their current pace, they’ll win approximately 34 games. That’s enough to avoid the dreaded 50-loss mark, but if it weren’t for a stunning one-point win over the Mavs on Dec. 20, they’d be right on par for a 52-loss season.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Can you imagine watching the Raptors face the Heat while the Warriors are stuck at home? That’s a thought that should make any fan outside of Toronto cringe, and it’s one that puts the current discrepancy between the two conferences in a perfect nutshell.  </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s worth noting that the likelihood of a 50-loss playoff appearance is not strong. The teams in the East will continue to beat one another, and with every loss between Eastern Conference foes, there is inevitably a win for the other side.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">However, it’s also worth stating that simply having this discussion exemplifies how dreadful the Eastern Conference has become. Bleacher Report’s own <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1879317-could-we-see-a-50-loss-playoff-team-in-the-eastern-conference" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Joe Flynn</a> breaks down how this scenario could play out, bringing to light that this hypothetical situation could legitimately come to fruition.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So the question, of course, becomes: What are the alternatives? There’s no point in shouting about change if you don’t have a solution, and while this is just the beginning of the conversation, it makes sense to start in one place: abolish the current playoff format.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">First of all, let’s recognize that the 2013-14 campaign is not an aberration. We re-visit this narrative year after year, and while the current season is particularly dreadful, we must understand that the downfall out East is far from an anomaly.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One idea that’s been discussed in the past is contraction. Eradicating the non-competitive, small-market franchises would allow middle-of-the-road teams to acquire playoff-caliber talent, and it would create fewer blowouts throughout the regular season.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But once again, this isn’t just about the players—it’s about the fans, too. Fans in Charlotte don’t deserve to lose their team (again), and quite frankly, quitting on a franchise is admitting that it has no hope of a return to relevancy.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So without eliminating teams completely, let's consider a change in the postseason structure. While teams mired in mediocrity (or worse) can currently make the playoffs out East, fringe playoff teams out West are forced to exit early.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fans and players alike are given a raw deal come the postseason, and if you want evidence, look no further than the 2012-2013 Mavericks.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite being a modest underdog at 41-41, they—as well as the 43-39 Utah Jazz—got to witness the Milwaukee Bucks fall to the Heat in the postseason. Milwaukee won just 38 games that year, and while Dallas and Utah weren’t contenders in the traditional sense, they would have been more entertaining to watch than a <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/brandon-jennings" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brandon Jennings</a>-led team that couldn’t keep up.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What we need is a playoff system that is blind to conference. We need a 16-team tournament at the end of every season, and we need one that ranks squads in order of record.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Admittedly, implementation of this will not be easy. Schedules must be tweaked, traveling will change considerably, and it’s unlikely that everybody involved in the shift will agree upon a single solution.   </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But one thing’s for sure: something must change. The Eastern Conference epitomizes disparity, and it’s the fans and players out West who will inescapably suffer when the postseason comes around.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Upgrading tradition isn’t always simple, but if the NCAA can introduce a playoff to college football, the NBA can do what’s right for its most competitive franchises.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" class="twitter-follow-button twitter-follow-button" data-twttr-rendered="true" frameborder="0" id="twitter-widget-3" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.1387492107.html#_=1387728601256&id=twitter-widget-3&lang=en&screen_name=BryantKnox&show_count=true&show_screen_name=true&size=m" style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 236px;" title="Twitter Follow Button"></iframe></div></div>

Why the NBA Should Ditch East-West Playoff Format (BLOG)

The drastic disparity between the Eastern and Western Conferences has been a hot topic throughout the 2013-14  NBA  season, and unless the g...

Read more »

In Case You Thought I Was Joking

You guys are killin' me.<br />Buncha fucking perverts is all I got comin' around here.<br /><br />I checked my Blogger Stats briefly and there it was again.<br /><br />Boobs.<br /><br /><i>Nothing but boobs too</i>, except one Anti Feinstein query or so. At least someone out there must have already found the boobs.<br /><br /><br />Look for yourself.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNestMW0cGloy8fHakF9wwi0mAN9yo5H2zO9xPh3UEKdbam54kMKlgVozUHBzj2ilLCJ5S4q42qFLAQ6iW82jrrr85qCFt3iZZyQi4Hp73TYl7PGfR4F8vkVRofvDwCmjamfmYSX7lqoE/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNestMW0cGloy8fHakF9wwi0mAN9yo5H2zO9xPh3UEKdbam54kMKlgVozUHBzj2ilLCJ5S4q42qFLAQ6iW82jrrr85qCFt3iZZyQi4Hp73TYl7PGfR4F8vkVRofvDwCmjamfmYSX7lqoE/s640/Capture.PNG" /></a></div>(Click to embigify)<br /><br />I think what kills me is that if ya want boobs,that's what Google is for. I don't post <i>THAT</i> many pictures of chesty young ladies fer cryin' out loud.<br />How in the world looking for boobs gives ya a return to this joint flat out mystifies me.<br /><br />Like I said before though, if that's what y'all want.......<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0jcBwEtD43-40YlimCHKTsEBTDkT7TjvFw4eCBYJ-Zh1LobvcmkpZ97W6bX43z9WUbSBsyXDS57WsTar8wSqe5CwXNCk7XLfNtJzP3_UXHtCgz8E0srdC7-7Hl-btuuFBJ4_BoGY2asa/s1600/boobs_o_278002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0jcBwEtD43-40YlimCHKTsEBTDkT7TjvFw4eCBYJ-Zh1LobvcmkpZ97W6bX43z9WUbSBsyXDS57WsTar8wSqe5CwXNCk7XLfNtJzP3_UXHtCgz8E0srdC7-7Hl-btuuFBJ4_BoGY2asa/s640/boobs_o_278002.jpg" /></a></div><br />Ya sick puppies. <br /><br />Heh.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

In Case You Thought I Was Joking

You guys are killin' me. Buncha fucking perverts is all I got comin' around here. I checked my Blogger Stats briefly and there it wa...

Read more »

Brook Lopez's Broken Foot Busts Nets' 2013-14 Hopes—Is Pierce Trade Next? (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbmUZmI6MvWjnGzzU_B__nCg_RAwEi_KTjzV_nnbGn28BM4a6JdRf052jlmeAJMTkm81YlrCV1L3maD_5CJ_dncty_jFQVVqnIogeX2dqZFqCxTg0cYSU3-crlF-lsmPRltzOwhhUfRk/s1600/hi-res-7984292_crop_north.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbmUZmI6MvWjnGzzU_B__nCg_RAwEi_KTjzV_nnbGn28BM4a6JdRf052jlmeAJMTkm81YlrCV1L3maD_5CJ_dncty_jFQVVqnIogeX2dqZFqCxTg0cYSU3-crlF-lsmPRltzOwhhUfRk/s320/hi-res-7984292_crop_north.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="ui-droppable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 29px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">New York— Since arriving in Brooklyn some 17 months ago, the Nets have specialized in spending and sloganeering, often in tandem. Witness their offseason trade for <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/paul-pierce" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Paul Pierce</a> and <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/kevin-garnett" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kevin Garnett</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The transaction cost the Nets multiple assets and tens of millions in luxury taxes, with a single goal in mind: Win now, win big, whatever the cost. They declared themselves “all in”—a slogan echoed on billboards featuring Pierce and Garnett under the headline, “We’re in.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was a risky, expensive gambit, but with a certain romantic quality and just enough logic to seem reasonable. The two future Hall of Famers would join the Nets’ three existing stars and together they would launch an all-out assault on LeBron’s throne.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“All in” was exhilarating. “All in” was defensible. If it failed, it would fail spectacularly.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It just wasn’t supposed to fail like this, with the Nets losing their star center, their title hopes and perhaps an entire era to a single fragile foot.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.nba.com/nets/news/lopez-medical-update" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">The team learned Saturday</a> that <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/brook-lopez" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brook Lopez</a> had fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, an injury that will cancel his season and could threaten his career. Lopez broke the same bone two years ago, wiping out most of the 2011-12 season.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There is a long and sad history of 7-footers whose <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/nba" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NBA</a> careers have been cut short by chronic foot problems, and the Nets can only pray that Lopez avoids the fate suffered by <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/yao-ming" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yao Ming</a>, Bill Walton and Todd MacCulloch, among others.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This much is clear: The Nets’ chase for the 2014 championship is over, if it ever really began. Yet it is the future that should worry them most.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lopez is the Nets’ youngest star and perhaps their most irreplaceable—a 25-year-old center with elite scoring skills both inside and outside the paint. He shoots a high percentage, draws double-teams and provides the fulcrum for the offense. He is a better defender than his reputation suggests: As of Friday, Lopez rated as the best rim-protector in the league, based on opponents’ shooting percentage, according to NBA.com.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="article_image article-image cf image-upload block-level" style="background-color: #f1f1f1; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #373737; float: none; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 650px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><div class="article_image--body" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" height="433" src="http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/article/media_slots/photos/001/270/730/hi-res-458202225-brook-lopez-of-the-brooklyn-nets-grabs-a-rebound_crop_exact.jpg?w=650&h=433&q=85" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="650" /><div class="caption-overlay border-box" style="background-image: url(http://static2.bleacherreport.net/images/redesign/modules/overlay/bottom-117.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; bottom: 0px; height: 117px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; max-height: 90%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; vertical-align: baseline; width: 610px;"></div><span class="article_image-accreditation" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; bottom: 0px; color: white; display: block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; left: 0px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px; position: absolute; text-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images</span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Over the last two seasons, the Nets have gone 53-38 with Lopez on the court and 5-12 without him. He is vital to everything they do, and a key to their future.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lopez is under contract for two more seasons, at $15.7 million in 2014-15 and $16.7 million in 2015-16, his paycheck taking up about a quarter of the salary cap. A diminished Lopez would sink their chances of becoming an NBA power anytime soon.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The promise of that first <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/brooklyn-nets" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Brooklyn Nets</a> team, the one that rolled up 49 victories last season, is already eroding before our eyes.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Williams, just 29, has been plagued by ankle injuries, dropping him from the ranks of the elite at point guard. When healthy, he is still capable of dominating a game. He just isn’t healthy enough to merit much confidence, and he is owed $63 million over the three seasons after this one.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Joe Johnson, the third member of the Nets’ core, is still a potent scorer and clutch shooter, but at age 32 his best years are behind him, and his contract is crippling. Johnson is owed $23.2 million next season and $24.9 million in 2015-16, the final year of his deal.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Nets have no chance to create salary-cap room until 2016, and no first-round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018. It will be difficult to replenish the roster.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If Lopez returns next fall and stays healthy, if Williams’ ankles stay strong and Johnson’s shooting stays true, the Nets could maintain a respectable edge. The expected arrival next season of Bojan Bogdanovic, a sweet-shooting forward now playing in Europe, could bolster the lineup. Mason Plumlee, the Nets’ rookie center, has shown some promise.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The future may be salvageable, if not necessarily glorious.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="article_image article-image cf image-upload block-level" style="background-color: #f1f1f1; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #373737; float: none; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 650px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><div class="article_image--body" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="" height="435" src="http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/article/media_slots/photos/001/270/732/hi-res-7832922_crop_exact.jpg?w=650&h=435&q=85" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="650" /><div class="caption-overlay border-box" style="background-image: url(http://static2.bleacherreport.net/images/redesign/modules/overlay/bottom-117.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; bottom: 0px; height: 117px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; max-height: 90%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; vertical-align: baseline; width: 610px;"></div><span class="article_image-accreditation" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; bottom: 0px; color: white; display: block; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; left: 0px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px; position: absolute; text-shadow: rgb(0, 0, 0) 0px 0px 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sport</span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the present is a disaster, and it could have dramatic repercussions in the coming months.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pierce can leave as a free agent in July. Garnett is under contract through next season, at $12 million, but it is doubtful he would want to stay without Pierce. If they want another shot at the championship, it will probably have to be elsewhere.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nets officials must now confront the same calculus: If the title chase is lost, is there any reason to keep Pierce? Is there any reason not to trade him by the Feb. 20 deadline?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even at 36, Pierce could be valuable as a short-term rental for a contending team. A reunion with Doc Rivers in Los Angeles seems more than plausible, if the Nets and <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/los-angeles-clippers" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Clippers</a> can work out the details.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This Nets season was predicated on five stars working in unison, an experiment that never really got a chance to work. The Nets might have overcome their slow start—the injuries to Pierce, Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and Jason Terry, the rookie mistakes by coach Jason Kidd—and still put together a respectable season. In a watered-down Eastern Conference, all things seemed possible.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Even at 9-17, the Nets were just two games behind <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/boston-celtics" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Boston</a> for the Atlantic Division lead on Saturday. A little luck, a little good health, a late kick next spring and, who knows, the Nets might have given Miami and Indiana the fight they promised them.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now the Nets have lost their greatest advantage—a skilled big man who could have exploited the <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/miami-heat" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Heat</a>’s weak center rotation and challenged the <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/indiana-pacers" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pacers</a>’ beefy front line.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mikhail Prokhorov’s bankroll and general manager Billy King’s boldness made the Nets an instant power last year. Perhaps they will double down now, make a play for Omer Asik or Spencer Hawes, sacrifice one more future asset for the chance to save the present.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But maybe it’s time for the Nets to confront the toughest question of all: Just how much more “all in” can they afford to go?</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Howard Beck covers the NBA for Bleacher Report.</em></div></div>

Brook Lopez's Broken Foot Busts Nets' 2013-14 Hopes—Is Pierce Trade Next? (BLOG)

New York— Since arriving in Brooklyn some 17 months ago, the Nets have specialized in spending and sloganeering, often in tandem. Witness th...

Read more »

Doctors save hand by attaching it to man's calf (BLOG, VIDEO)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-7DSQ0hualAqD7xGPYQqfoe9G1ncvYdp4YObL05Jjsu5JGh6lvg8fnOsoz2WJLeQfaH8M5ZpfH7k5oZnh_llSYEaMW5KXZRN0oM9i0jzQl6F-54Jx1f4JxXNcyyRKZdiePpIRcSD4IQ/s1600/1.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/AVvXsEjo-7DSQ0hualAqD7xGPYQqfoe9G1ncvYdp4YObL05Jjsu5JGh6lvg8fnOsoz2WJLeQfaH8M5ZpfH7k5oZnh_llSYEaMW5KXZRN0oM9i0jzQl6F-54Jx1f4JxXNcyyRKZdiePpIRcSD4IQ/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="cnnStryVidCont" style="border: 0px; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; min-height: 384px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 640px;"><div id="cnnCVP1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="cnnvideo_wrapper" id="cnnCVP1-videowrapper" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Watch this video" height="360" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/131217105711-01-poy-hand-1217-story-top.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="640" /><a class="cnnvideo_clicklink" href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/17/health/china-hand-leg/index.html?hpt=he_t5#" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Click to watch this video"><div class="cnnvideo_playcontainer cnnvideo_click_standard" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/ClickToPlay.Default.640x360.png); background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 60px; left: 220px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 138px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 201px;"></div></a></div><div class="videoHeadline" style="background-color: black; border: 0px; bottom: 0px; color: white; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; vertical-align: baseline; width: 640px;"><h1 style="border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 33px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;">Man's hand grafted onto his ankle</h1></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br />Xie said that he went to local hospitals near the factory first, but he said they told him they "did not have the skills to help." Eventually he found a hospital about two hours away where doctors believed they could do it.(CNN)</strong> -- A worker operating a machine in a family workshop in China accidentally cut off his hand -- which doctors were able to save by grafting it onto his lower calf.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The worker, Xie Wei, said he was initially unsure if his right hand could be saved, but he thought it was worth a try. The hand went without a blood supply for many hours while Xie searched for a hospital that could perform such a surgery.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Xie kept his hand in a plastic bag at first, then stored it in a cooler of ice. In total, it took about seven hours to get to a doctor who could help.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The doctor, Dr. Tang Juyu, is a specialist in difficult tissue and wound repair cases. Before Xie went into the operation, Tang told him he was optimistic and predicted he would regain the use of his hand, according to Xie.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tang decided the best way to save the hand was to attach it to Xie's calf where there was a good blood supply. The hand would need to stay there until Xie's arm could fully heal.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tang believes there have been about 20 such cases in all of China and all of them have been successful. There is no data, as only case studies have been performed.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tang said in a similar operation in 2004, he grafted a hand onto a patient's belly. That operation was a success.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">When Xie woke up from the operation he said he was surprised to find his hand on his calf. He says his first reaction at the time was to think it was "unbelievable" and "weird."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The hand itself felt warm, he said, but it was numb since no nerves were connected and only blood vessels were attached. His leg felt no different, he said, but was "heavier than usual."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">After about a month his arm was better healed, and he had another surgery where his hand was reattached.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tang says this second stage of the operation is actually more challenging, but everything went smoothly.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Xie has recovered without complications and has been discharged. He is currently resting at home.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">He said he can twist his wrist to a certain degree, but doesn't have full movement with his fingers, at least not yet. Doctors told him a full recovery for the nerves in his hand should take about six months.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Xie said he isn't sure what his future may bring. Today he is concentrating on recovering fully. The factory did pay for his operation, which cost about 300,000 Chinese yuan, or about $49,400.</div><a href="" name="em0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most of all, Xie said, he is thankful to doctors for "living up to their promise" that they would be able to reattach his hand and make it functional again.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">-CNN</div><div><br /></div></div>

Doctors save hand by attaching it to man's calf (BLOG, VIDEO)

Man's hand grafted onto his ankle Xie said that he went to local hospitals near the factory first, but he said they told him they "...

Read more »

Countdown to Obamacare deadlines (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhj2YIMIpza6oNK-Wtf8psIGlstQ-CMANJPcQZPxoRcwi4VyWmurhyphenhyphenskD7pEo3-91JKr_1yL1KjCs5xRrgTCzud5yVoXS1tkzH-C1bXABJPf99nOI0Z1hYNLx4EVU2dYn6OFgxnELYTE/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhj2YIMIpza6oNK-Wtf8psIGlstQ-CMANJPcQZPxoRcwi4VyWmurhyphenhyphenskD7pEo3-91JKr_1yL1KjCs5xRrgTCzud5yVoXS1tkzH-C1bXABJPf99nOI0Z1hYNLx4EVU2dYn6OFgxnELYTE/s320/3.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="cnnStorySource" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">NEW YORK (CNNMoney)</div><h2 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 21px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 28px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Want health insurance by January 1? Better pick an Obamacare plan by Monday and pay for it before New Year's Day.</h2><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">There's been a lot of confusion surrounding the deadlines for applying for Obamacare -- and with good reason. Federal and state governments, as well as insurers, keep changing the dates, mainly to accommodate those blocked from completing enrollment due to technical problems.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">More than a million people have signed up for private insurance in the federal and state exchanges, President Obama said Friday. And exchanges are reporting heavy interest in the days leading up to Monday.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Each consumer faces two deadlines: One by which to choose a plan and another for making a payment.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Federal exchange:</strong> As of now, if you live in one of the 36 states serviced by the federal enrollment website, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/22/news/economy/obamacare-deadlines/www.healthcare.gov?iid=EL" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">healthcare.gov,</a> your best bet for getting hassle-free coverage in 2014 is to select a policy by end of the day on Monday<strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </strong>and pay your first month's premium by December 31.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">But procrastinators and those running into technical roadblocks might get a short reprieve.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Federal officials said recently that individuals who try to <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/11/news/economy/obamacare-exchanges/index.html?iid=EL" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">sign up,</a> but encounter a problem with the website, can qualify for a special enrollment period and gain coverage as soon as possible. The government is also "encouraging" insurers to allow people who miss Monday's deadline to still be eligible for coverage starting January 1, even if they sign up sometime in January.</div><div class="cnnplayer" id="cnnplayer0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="cnnVidplayer" style="background-color: black; border: 0px; height: 348px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><a class="summaryImg" href="http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/12/17/dumbest-moments-obamacare-heathcare-website-exchange-obama-promise.cnnmoney?iid=EL" id="vid0" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Healthcare.gov fails the uninsured" border="0" height="348" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/131217132740-dumbest-moments-obamacare-heathcare-website-exchange-obama-promise-00004322-620x348.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="620" /><span class="video_playbtn" style="background-image: url(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/.element/img/5.0/buttons/video_play_button_big.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; height: 120px; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 120px;"> </span></a></div><div class="cnnVidFooter" style="background-color: #ebebeb; border: 0px; height: 28px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 5px 8px 7px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="cnnHeadline" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Healthcare.gov fails the uninsured</div><div class="countdown" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; height: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">When it comes to paying for a plan selected on healthcare.gov, the insurance industry trade group said last week that folks who pay by January 10 can have coverage retroactive to the start of the year. But the group stressed that <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/05/news/economy/obamacare-insured/index.html?iid=EL" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">coverage doesn't begin until the first payment</a> is made. So people who wait until the 10th to pay might have to shell out for their initial medical care up front and file for reimbursement from their provider.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">State exchanges:</strong> If you are applying in one of the 14 states running its own exchange, you may have a different set of deadlines.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Minnesota became the latest state to change its dates. Residents there have until December 31 to pick a plan and have coverage start the next day, exchange officials said Friday. They have until January 10 to pay.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rhode Islanders also have until December 31 to pick a plan and have coverage start the next day. But they have to pay their first premium by January 6 and won't receive an ID card until they do.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">The change was made "to make sure more Rhode Islanders are able to have health care on January 1," said Dara Chadwick, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island exchange. "There's been a lot of confusion in the messaging."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">In Washington, residents who try to apply by Monday<strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </strong>but run into problems have until January 15 to pick and pay for a plan. Coverage will be retroactive to January 1.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Other states have extended either the deadline to choose a plan or to pay the premium. Oregon and Maryland pushed back the deadline to pick a policy to December 27, with one Maryland insurer giving applicants until December 31.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Consumers in Maryland and Oregon have until January 15 to pay, while <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/21/news/economy/obamacare-california/index.html?iid=EL" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">California</a> is giving residents until January 6, Vermont until January and Connecticut until January 10.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Regardless of where you live, you should call your insurer of choice to check its deadlines and, after you pay, check your enrollment status.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">For those who miss the deadline altogether, don't worry. You can still get coverage starting February 1 if you pick a plan by January 15 and pay by the end of January.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; vertical-align: baseline;">Open enrollment ends March 31. The uninsured must pick a plan by then to avoid a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/13/news/economy/obamacare-penalty/?iid=EL" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">penalty</a>. These procrastinators would see coverage start May 1. <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/22/news/economy/obamacare-deadlines/index.html?iid=s_mpm#TOP" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #004276; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="To top of page" border="0" height="7" src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/money/images/bug.gif" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="7" /></a></div></div>

Countdown to Obamacare deadlines (BLOG)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Want health insurance by January 1? Better pick an Obamacare plan by Monday and pay for it before New Year's Day. Th...

Read more »