Britney Spears will celebrate Christmas with her boyfriend and his sons

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtJL1Jf6AKrRz3nljT7OnVGPCQmDxhxJvWNZsVCK0TSm80CQSmtO3nmxWSruJDB8Gcc20WiGx0lh5zAtXa9KXUyP8mAQ7ErlW0Jk0jJqx7F17uSMums1V4pk1GqPtutbGduh_oKc1iMg/s1600/Britney+Spears+will+celebrate+Christmas+with+her+boyfriend+and+his+sons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrtJL1Jf6AKrRz3nljT7OnVGPCQmDxhxJvWNZsVCK0TSm80CQSmtO3nmxWSruJDB8Gcc20WiGx0lh5zAtXa9KXUyP8mAQ7ErlW0Jk0jJqx7F17uSMums1V4pk1GqPtutbGduh_oKc1iMg/s1600/Britney+Spears+will+celebrate+Christmas+with+her+boyfriend+and+his+sons.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/search/label/Britney%20Spears" target="_blank">Britney Spears</a></b> said in an interview that the holidays with her boyfriend David will Lucado and sons - 8-year-old Sean and 7-year-old Jaden. Star says: <br /> <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"> We will be a big family Christmas dinner. And in the new year we will probably go to a party at Koi Restaurant in Las Vegas. </blockquote><br /> It was in Vegas will host a series of concerts 32-year-old singer, she has been actively promoted. <br /> <br /> Despite his busy star, she says, is the time to buy gifts for loved ones - especially, of course, sons: <br /> <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"> They want different things: iPad mini, new phones. It seems as if they are already 27 years old, not seven and eight: they are so passionate about gadgets - computers, games and all sorts of electronic pieces. </blockquote><br /> Itself Britney admits that no longer knows what he want and, because her and so everything is there. So he wishes for himself star exclusively intangible assets: <br /> <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"> What would you like to receive a gift from Santa? I have everything and I'm happy. I do not need anything. Only good health, happiness and love. </blockquote><br /> We would have wished all the above except the singer also successful shows, because she planned as many as 55 concerts at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. <br /> <br /> Recently By the way, became known list of songs that Britney will perform during each show. The first number is the track Work Bitch - the first single from her new album Britney Jean. Also the program includes all the major hits of his career Spears - from Baby One More Time, Oops ... I Did It Again and Toxic to Womanizer and Gimme More.<br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8bqHdZmzR-AxCuOlhQLZWb5dljMasHGpnsiZdcr6lO7aSH9w52qO3Z1_PkF5jCPmu4FgdVw6W2NC57_SWP6-xbd13G8cq4GD3bX0yteAa-o5XCzo50DkQtFUbv2A5fwXG_lxbcWNfwJI/s1600/Britney+Spears+will+celebrate+Christmas+with+her+boyfriend+and+his+sons-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8bqHdZmzR-AxCuOlhQLZWb5dljMasHGpnsiZdcr6lO7aSH9w52qO3Z1_PkF5jCPmu4FgdVw6W2NC57_SWP6-xbd13G8cq4GD3bX0yteAa-o5XCzo50DkQtFUbv2A5fwXG_lxbcWNfwJI/s1600/Britney+Spears+will+celebrate+Christmas+with+her+boyfriend+and+his+sons-1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Britney Spears and David Lucado</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><center><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* video */ google_ad_slot = "9278264705"; google_ad_width = 300; google_ad_height = 250; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script></center><br />

Britney Spears will celebrate Christmas with her boyfriend and his sons

Britney Spears said in an interview that the holidays with her boyfriend David will Lucado and sons - 8-year-old Sean and 7-year-old Jaden...

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Obama: 2014 can be 'breakthrough year for America' (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/AVvXsEiXxD9kBfBuGimqWpxbK6JGpLdvRUg3flcdluIxbDFrbE0LTtj8rzFD3RW6hwVwfbtV0wCyhHU6x80CY8bJM-mv8daxkp52tmD6HBLYNZEZ-jGQs-oiQRnSI70U2KUl1a9a-ZnrnvpTmcM/s1600/c8b55553be797b2a460f6a706700a062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxD9kBfBuGimqWpxbK6JGpLdvRUg3flcdluIxbDFrbE0LTtj8rzFD3RW6hwVwfbtV0wCyhHU6x80CY8bJM-mv8daxkp52tmD6HBLYNZEZ-jGQs-oiQRnSI70U2KUl1a9a-ZnrnvpTmcM/s320/c8b55553be797b2a460f6a706700a062.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_8594" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing strong progress on the economy, President Barack Obama said at his annual year-end news conference Friday that 2014 "can be a breakthrough year for America" after a long season of recession and slow recovery.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_8614" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">And when it came to the universally panned roll out of his health care law, Obama conceded that "we screwed it up," and said, "I'm going to be making appropriate adjustments once we get through this year." It was unclear if he meant to signal high-level personnel changes.Yet he suggested that given widespread criticism, he may alter the power of the National Security Agency to collect information on Americans.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The president praised Congress for a recent, relatively modest budget compromise. "It's probably too early to declare an outbreak of bipartisanship. But it's also fair to say we're not condemned to endless gridlock," he said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_8660" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">He also renewed his long-standing refusal to negotiate concessions with Republicans in exchange for legislation that will be needed in late winter or early spring to raise the nation's debt limit. "It is not something that is a negotiating tool. It's not leverage. It's a responsibility of Congress," he said, although he added that he was willing to discuss other issues separately.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_8670" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Obama spoke from the White House briefing room podium as he concluded his fifth year as president, his hair far grayer than the day he was first sworn in. He and his family were departing later in the day for their holiday vacation in Hawaii.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The president opened his remarks with an upbeat assessment of the state of the economy, and seemed determined not to stray from it.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Asked if this year had been the worst of his presidency so far, he laughed and said, "That's not how I think about it."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Obama's polls are at or near the low point of his tenure in the White House. The rollout of his health care website bombed, and high-visibility parts of his agenda have yet to make it through Congress, including a call for gun safety legislation in the wake of the shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school a year ago and a sweeping overhaul of immigration laws.</div><div class="body-related" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative;"><a class="body-related-link body-related-image go-to-slideshow-lightbox rapid-noclick-resp landscape onesize get-lbdata-from-dom" data-rapid_p="13" data-uuid="404ded7e-1b52-3b0c-b473-99151e0733ec" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/president-barack-obama-speaks-during-end-news-conference-photo-193300715--politics.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="President Barack Obama speaks during an end-of-the&nbsp;&hellip;"><div class="img-wrap" style="position: relative;"><div class="cta-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.24s linear; font-size: 13px; height: 202px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: background-color 0.24s linear; width: 300px;"><span class="clearfix title cta-text medium" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; color: white; font-size: 16px; left: 5px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; top: 5px; transition: opacity 0.24s linear; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px; zoom: 1;"></span><span class="cta-text xsmall" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; bottom: 5px; color: white; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 42px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.24s linear;">View gallery</span><span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow-xsmall" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.16s linear; background-color: #324fe1; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: cover; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; bottom: 5px; cursor: pointer; height: 23px; left: 5px; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-indent: -1000em; transition: opacity 0.16s linear; width: 32px; z-index: 1;"></span></div><img alt="President Barack Obama speaks during an end-of-the&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="202" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/8RBL4vmiQz9snrmr5pI7IA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMjtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/6a4b101bbe6d7b2a460f6a7067005058.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: visible !important;" width="300" /></div></a><div class="body-related-title photo-caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: grey; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px 5px 0px 0px; position: relative; width: 300px;">President Barack Obama speaks during an end-of-the year news conference in the Brady Press Briefing  …</div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"If you're measuring this by polls, my polls have gone up and down a lot over the course of my career," he said, and then repeated that the economy was finally showing significant progress.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The president fielded questions a few hours after the government announced the economy grew at a solid 4.1 percent annual rate from July through September, the fastest pace since late 2011 and significantly higher than previously believed.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Much of the upward revision came from stronger consumer spending at a time when unemployment is at a five-year low of 7 percent. Obama did not mention it, but the stock market is also at or near record levels.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">In his review of the year, Obama also noted that U.S. combat troops will finally be withdrawn from Afghanistan during the coming year.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">As he has before, he promised to speak in more comprehensive terms in the near future about the future of NSA surveillance programs.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"I have confidence that the NSA is not engaged in domestic surveillance or snooping around," he said. Yet he added, "we may have to refine this further to give people more confidence."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">A presidential advisory panel this week recommended sweeping changes to government surveillance, including limiting the bulk collection of Americans' phone records by stripping the NSA of its ability to store the data in its own facilities.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Separately, a federal judge ruled earlier in the week that some of the NSA's activities were likely unconstitutional. Judge Richard Leon called the NSA's operation "Orwellian" in scope and said there was little evidence that its vast trove of data from American users had prevented a terrorist attack.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Obama was challenged on his 6-month-old statement that he and his administration had gotten the balance about right, in terms of the NSA's activities, between concern for terrorism and protection of civil liberties.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">He replied that the same assessments are made on a daily basis and noted pointedly that if an attack were to occur, "the question that's coming from you is, 'Mr. President, why did you slip?'"</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">On a key foreign policy concern, Obama said it would be wrong to impose new sanctions on Iran at a time the United States and other nations are testing an interim accord designed to rein in Tehran's nuclear program. If necessary, "we can pass new sanctions in a day," he said, referring to lawmakers.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">As for health care, Obama said that despite the problems, including the rollout of the website, "more than 2 million people have signed up or more" since enrollment began.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"What that means is ... the demand is there and the product is good," he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">He turned aside a suggestion that the administration has made so many exemptions that it should have simply delayed the requirement for individuals to purchase coverage or face a penalty. Several lawmakers have called on him to do that, even some Democrats who voted for the legislation.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Obama faced the type of challenging questions that presidents have long encountered, and he drew laughter with his answer to one of them.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_8681" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"My New Year's resolution is to be nicer to the White House press corps," he said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_8681" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">YahooNews.</div></div>

Obama: 2014 can be 'breakthrough year for America' (BLOG)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing strong progress on the economy, President Barack Obama said at his annual year-end news conference Friday that 2014...

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Knowledge The Advantages Of Cinnamon And Honey Weight-Loss

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Celeste Borgese</div><br /><br /> <div class='uawarticle'>The mixture of cinnamon and honey features a potent impact around the body. It inhibits the buildup of excess fat! Cinnamon by itself influences how your blood sugar is utilized. This will likely assist the body break down insulin in an efficient way, as opposed to storing it as unwanted fat. A few proponents of the cinnamon and honey weight loss diet regime maintain that cinnamon includes a good effect on abdominal fat.<br /> <br /> Honey on the other hand, is actually a potent antioxidant. Apart from combating free radicals, it enables vital functions in your body, including supplying power, assisting fight sore throats, aids sleeplessness and hangovers, and combats fungal infections such as yeast and athlete's foot. <br /> <br /> When both ingredients are combined, and consumed, folks can take advantage of cinnamon and honey weight reduction. To get the good results of both components, make the next drink.<br /> <br /> Necessary ingredients:<br /> <br /> 1. 1 cup of water, boiled<br /> <br /> 2. 1 teaspoon of honey<br /> <br /> 3. teaspoon of cinnamon powder<br /> <br /> Method:<br /> <br /> 1. Bring water to the boil point. Then enable it to cool slightly.<br /> <br /> 2. Add honey and cinnamon. Stir it properly.<br /> <br /> Consume this drink a 50 percent an hour or so ahead of breakfast, and a single 50 % an hour ahead of going to bed.<br /> <br /> Suggestions and Ideas:<br /> <br /> 1. It is far better to allow the water to cool a little prior to adding honey. This will sustain the nutrient worth of honey.<br /> <br /> 2. You can make this mixture, and very easily store it in your fridge. <br /> <br /> 3. Try employing various varieties of honey, for example lavender, to alter the flavor of the drink. Modify the type of cinnamon utilized, since it may also affect the flavor.<br /> <br /> 4. By drinking this cinnamon-honey mixture twice daily, dieters will achieve a weight-loss of 3 to 5 pounds weekly. No other alteration in your diet is needed. <br /> <br /> 5. The kind of cinnamon employed, will affect your final results. You will find three types of cinnamon offered in the market place: Ceylon, Cassia, and Indonesian. Cassia is marketed as cinnamon; nevertheless, it is just not the same.<br /> <br /> Specific Notice:<br /> <br /> To achieve permanent fat loss outcomes, it is crucial that you just combine a wholesome diet, and bodily exercise. Medical doctors advise a minimum of 30 minutes of cardiac per day, to remain healthy. Make certain you consume various foods from food group. This cinnamon and honey drink, is meant to be an extra device in your fat loss regimen.<br /> <br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawresource'><br /> <div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br /> About the Author:<br /> </div><br /> <div class='uawlinks'>Want to find out more about <a href="http://ewalktc.com/experience-the-benefits-of-cinnamon-and-honey-weight-loss/">Cinnamon and Honey Weight-loss</a>, then visit 's EWALKTC on how to choose the best HERBAL product for your needs.</div><br /> </div><br />

Knowledge The Advantages Of Cinnamon And Honey Weight-Loss

By Celeste Borgese The mixture of cinnamon and honey features a potent impact around the body. It inhibits the buildup of excess fat! Cinn...

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Syrian helicopter bomb raids kill 42 in Aleppo: monitors (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/AVvXsEhYVS9uBcdnjN4qJrUy_JloGpcbTNb6J3mN7a0lvfswHovnMbLPyi2j88UndwVSXcF1Olu0E7BHXA5i13o3rjhm8jZuG_vm2LWgWtayWuLUMIfc9q2E3vIKfPOKqJBm7_Y8SrKw0zas0FE/s1600/2013-12-04T115334Z_1682048475_GM1E9C41J2A01_RTRMADP_3_SYRIA-CRISIS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVS9uBcdnjN4qJrUy_JloGpcbTNb6J3mN7a0lvfswHovnMbLPyi2j88UndwVSXcF1Olu0E7BHXA5i13o3rjhm8jZuG_vm2LWgWtayWuLUMIfc9q2E3vIKfPOKqJBm7_Y8SrKw0zas0FE/s320/2013-12-04T115334Z_1682048475_GM1E9C41J2A01_RTRMADP_3_SYRIA-CRISIS.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_4575" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 42 people, including children, were killed on Sunday when Syrian army helicopters dropped improvised "barrel bombs" in the northern province of Aleppo, a monitoring group said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said separate air raids hit several districts in Aleppo, but the biggest toll was in Hanano, east of the city. At least six children were among the dead.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"They hit a convoy of cars on a road in Hanano, many cars were destroyed. There were civilians there," said the Observatory's Rami Abdelrahman.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Human Rights Watch said in a report over the weekend that barrel bomb attacks had killed scores of civilians in Aleppo in the last month. It described the attacks as illegal and said they had hit residential and shopping areas.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_4606" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"The Syrian air force is either criminally incompetent, doesn't care whether it kills scores of civilians, or deliberately targets civilian areas," HRW senior emergency researcher Ole Solvang said in the report.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Barrel bombs are explosive-filled cylinders or oil drums that are often rolled out of the back of helicopters with little attempt at striking a particular target. They are capable of causing widespread casualties and significant damage.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">President Bashar al-Assad's forces, battling rebels in a 2 1/2-year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people, frequently deploy air power and artillery against rebel-held districts across the country.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_4684" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">They have been unable to recapture eastern and central parts of Aleppo, which rebels seized in the summer of 2012, but they have driven rebel fighters back from towns to the southeast of the city in recent weeks.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1387735221220_4669" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">(Reporting by Mariam Karouny; Editing by Larry King)</div></div>

Syrian helicopter bomb raids kill 42 in Aleppo: monitors (BLOG)

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least 42 people, including children, were killed on Sunday when Syrian army helicopters dropped improvised "barre...

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Jessica Alba with her eldest daughter in Los Angeles

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBD1z-uQJw0tzo9PkgMOV6Tr1aWgSMi9FD25NLRAjMLZUWkoxo10tYqiqyiAvFm0bI6K1wi5safUF_lTmllMxdeZT0mo6D_xKL-WL19-k9W6Y5CEzQdY5hP-YzHDhOY9dFuRwe3FiTuIk/s1600/Jessica+Alba+with+her+eldest+daughter+in+Los+Angeles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBD1z-uQJw0tzo9PkgMOV6Tr1aWgSMi9FD25NLRAjMLZUWkoxo10tYqiqyiAvFm0bI6K1wi5safUF_lTmllMxdeZT0mo6D_xKL-WL19-k9W6Y5CEzQdY5hP-YzHDhOY9dFuRwe3FiTuIk/s1600/Jessica+Alba+with+her+eldest+daughter+in+Los+Angeles.jpg" /></a></div><br />Eldest daughter of <b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/search/label/Jessica%20Alba" target="_blank">Jessica Alba</a></b> - Honor Marie - not behind his stellar mom: recent paparazzi constantly meet the actress in the company's 5-year-old little girl, who along with actress walks the fashionable boutiques, restaurants and visiting friends' birthdays Alba. <br /><br /> At this time, photographers have caught mom and daughter when they left one of the restaurants in Los Angeles, where he had dinner with his mother Jessica. <br /> <br /> worth noting that appeared in the press information on the involvement of Jessica Alba in awards ceremony Peoples' Choice Awards, although the list of nominees for the actress did not appear. I wonder what role the star will appear at the annual event.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgGjzgSYf6Te8je2Sxmlg7L7E8-DNJkKTQjoR1MTQmoDkEaTa7jNBraDlzMcnNCGm1DyqwZKAckwkPuIRfHYJrIDUqW_8gLzSChdHw4h2RS4iz1AvbibN2sBf78HhjPg_lFFp9byuk7o/s1600/Jessica+Alba+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBgGjzgSYf6Te8je2Sxmlg7L7E8-DNJkKTQjoR1MTQmoDkEaTa7jNBraDlzMcnNCGm1DyqwZKAckwkPuIRfHYJrIDUqW_8gLzSChdHw4h2RS4iz1AvbibN2sBf78HhjPg_lFFp9byuk7o/s1600/Jessica+Alba+1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessica Alba with daughter Honor Marie </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJC6L8y21anKJ1tjRTl5QVCWh4w7KN-Qa7UC_sNtdwFzXQEWHzhxiSV05BFmqgDQHFk-53IKOI4OMKSz68iA5gIL8_BZ0W8DyaAaveY1PrHnM55SynYDUNvy5022qUve9y-srjkvXl10/s1600/Jessica+Alba+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJC6L8y21anKJ1tjRTl5QVCWh4w7KN-Qa7UC_sNtdwFzXQEWHzhxiSV05BFmqgDQHFk-53IKOI4OMKSz68iA5gIL8_BZ0W8DyaAaveY1PrHnM55SynYDUNvy5022qUve9y-srjkvXl10/s1600/Jessica+Alba+2.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSs-hf5sm46VmFe8ZDzYXl3FtyGJVVjV72X3Z5o3wHuWXFkaRN4l3ke4mHCh4SMATQvABtOz0BBal0B9H8AiOCyk2cxgNw1MAISnYlnEME4dBwwC3HADFho6lYvug43c8_rXuPBUL4g7E/s1600/Jessica+Alba+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSs-hf5sm46VmFe8ZDzYXl3FtyGJVVjV72X3Z5o3wHuWXFkaRN4l3ke4mHCh4SMATQvABtOz0BBal0B9H8AiOCyk2cxgNw1MAISnYlnEME4dBwwC3HADFho6lYvug43c8_rXuPBUL4g7E/s1600/Jessica+Alba+3.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-vGRXR3xWaI9slKaXZOobcViFNKZCUWLB3vN54ArBoC8izM8jZ-yGxI8dtg0LUuU5HPPj9ON5QQ8T82My2eWDIJ_T-ORtxYxqPrLxdWbd8M5WXjstFDJpqKZ0E6Lc12CYkzGkWXIUQ4/s1600/Jessica+Alba+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-vGRXR3xWaI9slKaXZOobcViFNKZCUWLB3vN54ArBoC8izM8jZ-yGxI8dtg0LUuU5HPPj9ON5QQ8T82My2eWDIJ_T-ORtxYxqPrLxdWbd8M5WXjstFDJpqKZ0E6Lc12CYkzGkWXIUQ4/s1600/Jessica+Alba+4.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZdgT_iJebub4OMfL9Iz14RAZzTGuzjVOPBLG3v1iBptaH1ti7y_Njt2ZVjRqOiOWIPy2oYAsM9ohRtPAbhKNmHbixaGaFNN-jsJgTAXQ0on00zzLBYZ5xKyMUy8k2uhDT9ffm4JkIvg/s1600/Jessica+Alba+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZdgT_iJebub4OMfL9Iz14RAZzTGuzjVOPBLG3v1iBptaH1ti7y_Njt2ZVjRqOiOWIPy2oYAsM9ohRtPAbhKNmHbixaGaFNN-jsJgTAXQ0on00zzLBYZ5xKyMUy8k2uhDT9ffm4JkIvg/s1600/Jessica+Alba+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjqof3_2ciqxkE_f8Fom9Chyphenhyphen2eP-RQyScUgAlmcZ7e7wb0EmuQ2NApTDbuH6zN0cSRoSmDk9pHz7MSRMq7C5fibX_aMWFnI5KUcGeZYWGVzw7ZuxnF-_J5MvrbJ56mgyt9-Mu5naXcms/s1600/Jessica+Alba+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjqof3_2ciqxkE_f8Fom9Chyphenhyphen2eP-RQyScUgAlmcZ7e7wb0EmuQ2NApTDbuH6zN0cSRoSmDk9pHz7MSRMq7C5fibX_aMWFnI5KUcGeZYWGVzw7ZuxnF-_J5MvrbJ56mgyt9-Mu5naXcms/s1600/Jessica+Alba+6.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA42qxOVWGwIW0mc8QefnTOl6zHsC_IBhbRzzfBKmbUbAEmO64RTzywLTYh5hO0ewXj5C74yFnEuCNR_2eCIwWEI_Twz8BQ4P_QtACUJyqk_7-psR2q9PmMexZZ4HGOaGiMKnAsyV7VJw/s1600/Jessica+Alba+with+her+eldest+daughter+in+Los+Angeles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA42qxOVWGwIW0mc8QefnTOl6zHsC_IBhbRzzfBKmbUbAEmO64RTzywLTYh5hO0ewXj5C74yFnEuCNR_2eCIwWEI_Twz8BQ4P_QtACUJyqk_7-psR2q9PmMexZZ4HGOaGiMKnAsyV7VJw/s1600/Jessica+Alba+with+her+eldest+daughter+in+Los+Angeles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br />

Jessica Alba with her eldest daughter in Los Angeles

Eldest daughter of Jessica Alba - Honor Marie - not behind his stellar mom: recent paparazzi constantly meet the actress in the company...

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Mary Alekhine was released

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Zx_KpXhdiPK4spgGEdme-JR3jHZ0Dod5mvjRsfKb9QdZJLungA91IiF5FYnUsV7F7sE7qG9vDVhKYRxbxMPQ1j3wzT1VFZIM0ZxVXTvn-4ZrQQcGAR2leTWgGu6ZTI9Y64QtiB_EQAs/s1600/Mary+Alekhine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Zx_KpXhdiPK4spgGEdme-JR3jHZ0Dod5mvjRsfKb9QdZJLungA91IiF5FYnUsV7F7sE7qG9vDVhKYRxbxMPQ1j3wzT1VFZIM0ZxVXTvn-4ZrQQcGAR2leTWgGu6ZTI9Y64QtiB_EQAs/s1600/Mary+Alekhine.jpg" /></a></div><br />Participant punk band <span style="color: #0b5394;">Pussy Riot</span> <b>Mary Alekhine</b> convicted of hooliganism in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, was set free. Previously, she and her workmate in the group Hope Tolokonnikova came under a presidential amnesty. According to a law enforcement source, Tolokonnikova were released from prison in Saransk at 11:00 Moscow time, but so far we only know that it will be released "later". <br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br />That Alekhine started freedom, said her lawyer, Peter Zaikin: <br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Maria Alekhine was set free. All documents are prepared and signed. </blockquote><br />Currently she is actively communicating with the press. <br /><br />Recall that in February 2012, four members of the band Pussy Riot staged a "punk prayer" in Christ the Savior Cathedral. Under the court were three girls: Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria and Ekaterina Samutsevich Alekhine. <br /><br />In August 2012 Khamovnichesky Court sentenced them to two years in prison each common mode. October 10 last year, Catherine Samutsevich court changed to a suspended sentence. In total, Tolokonnikova and Alekhine were detained for one and a half years, not counting the pre-trial detention, Samutsevich - three months. <br /><br />Performance Pussy Riot caused a wide resonance around the world. Participating groups were included in the list of "100 thinkers of the Year", a petition on their behalf signed Paul McCartney, Madonna, Adele, Sir Elton John, Patti Smith, the group U2, Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, Coldplay and many others. Hope Tolokonnikova recognized as "Woman of the Year" by the magazine Le Figaro, a film about the band was short-list "Oscar" nominees.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script>

Mary Alekhine was released

Participant punk band Pussy Riot Mary Alekhine convicted of hooliganism in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, was set free. Previously, ...

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Wes Welker Injury: Updates on Broncos WR's Concussion and Return (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/AVvXsEiTeu37yC2eRaTbVV_pOP6w46Qzt4XQxR2-TDgLib2ItSdysKugf9R59PDmV5U86HiI_8CJNiU_IQdu6zlZlZBccTxm-_E_T5unzVaadYIdouzT4N6HE7r07SjlIj0B837IH4ZB7qjXtkk/s1600/nfl_g_welker_gb1_600x400.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/AVvXsEiTeu37yC2eRaTbVV_pOP6w46Qzt4XQxR2-TDgLib2ItSdysKugf9R59PDmV5U86HiI_8CJNiU_IQdu6zlZlZBccTxm-_E_T5unzVaadYIdouzT4N6HE7r07SjlIj0B837IH4ZB7qjXtkk/s320/nfl_g_welker_gb1_600x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="article-body" data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-0" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 20px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ESPN's <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SportsCenter </em>Twitter account (via ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Jeff Legwold) reports <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/wes-welker" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wes Welker</a> is unlikely to play again until the postseason:</div><br /><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mortensen and Legwold provided additional context via ESPN.com:</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; 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;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The team's hope is that Welker, who left games in Week 11 and Week 14 with concussions, will recover in time to play in the postseason. Welker continues to be evaluated by the team's medical staff and an independent doctor as part of the league's concussion protocol.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A third concussion in such a short span could end Welker's season, and one source said the player's well-being is "still the highest priority."</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Welker has not been medically cleared to practice, but on Thursday he spent some time working with the strength and conditioning staff in the team's weight room.</span></div></blockquote><span style="background-color: transparent;">Gray Caldwell of DenverBroncos.com reports that Welker is officially out.</span></div><div class="entry" data-id="512698" id="entry-512698" style="background-color: white; 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;"><div class="entry-body" data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-1" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com confirms <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/wes-welker" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Welker</a> has yet to be medically cleared to even return to practice:</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; 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; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/5941/wes-welker" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wes Welker</a><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> has not been medically cleared to return to practice, and</span><a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/den/denver-broncos" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Denver Broncos</a><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> coach John Fox said only that the wide receiver is "day-to-day.''</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">[...]</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Before he can play in a game, Welker would have to be declared symptom-free by both the Broncos' medical staff and a designated independent physician who has been approved by the NFL and the players' association. Welker would then have to proceed through multiple days of limited activity before he could return to practice on a limited basis.</span><strong style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </strong></div></blockquote></div></div><div class="entry" data-id="506800" id="entry-506800" style="background-color: white; 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;"><div class="entry-body" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As expected, Welker was officially listed on the <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/denver-broncos" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Broncos</a> inactives list for Week 15 vs. the <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/san-diego-chargers" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">San Diego Chargers</a> according to the <a href="http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Inactives-Broncos-vs-Chargers/ed40a8d3-89c2-48c3-876c-f3a46309c259?campaign=den:fanshare:twitter" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Denver Post</em></a>. </div></div></div><div class="entry" data-id="506352" id="entry-506352" style="background-color: white; 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;"><div class="entry-header" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) 0px 0px 20px inset; background-color: #eeeeee; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) 0px 0px 20px inset; height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div class="entry-body" data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-4" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reports Denver Broncos wide receiver <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/wes-welker" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wes Welker</a> will not play in Week 15.</div></div></div><div class="entry" data-id="504800" id="entry-504800" style="background-color: white; 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;"><div class="entry-body" data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-6" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Denver Broncos wide receiver <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/wes-welker" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wes Welker</a> suffered a concussion in their Week 14 matchup with the Tennessee Titans during the third quarter. The team's official Twitter account confirmed the news.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Welker, <span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">one of <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/peyton-manning" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Peyton Manning</a>'s most reliable weapons, </span>suffered the injury on a hit by Titans safety Bernard Pollard. After Welker went down to catch a ball, Pollard came crashing in and delivered a blow to Welker's head and neck.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A few plays later, Pollard hit <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/eric-decker" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eric Decker</a> and was then flagged for unnecessary roughness as a result, though it appeared Pollard led with his shoulder.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mike Pereira, the former vice president of officiating for the <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/nfl" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NFL</a> and current rules guru for Fox Sports, disagreed with the penalty.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Welker had five receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game. The slot receiver has compiled 73 receptions for 778 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season.</div><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ESPN's <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10105779/wes-welker-denver-broncos-suffers-concussion-miss-thursday-night-game" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #003366; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeff Legwold</a> reports that Welker will likely miss Thursday's game against the Chargers: </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; 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; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Welker is now subject to the NFL's concussion protocol, which will include baseline testing Monday. However, even if Welker were to be cleared for activity this week with that exam, the protocol would preclude him from playing in Thursday night's game against the San Diego Chargers.</em></div></blockquote><div style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Broncos are fighting for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and they'll need all their playmakers healthy for the final few weeks of the regular season. But this is Welker's second concussion of the season, which means the team will be especially cautious with his return.  </div></div></div></div>

Wes Welker Injury: Updates on Broncos WR's Concussion and Return (BLOG)

ESPN's  SportsCenter  Twitter account (via ESPN's Chris Mortensen and Jeff Legwold) reports  Wes Welker  is unlikely to play again u...

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Santa Baby: Irina Shayk sang Christmas carols

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEGOTNZ36hQPNDRCLjNWbqFFwQJvV6248qUtoYCY8RupmdVdEhPGSMENOLzwRPzEOkyVdGd2xtXebTKS1cp74ClcKkWB-1mjpYOLDQk-jZX8KYvMq0c84m69aFy52tN01jTz_Rq8KZHE/s1600/Santa+Baby+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas+carols.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEGOTNZ36hQPNDRCLjNWbqFFwQJvV6248qUtoYCY8RupmdVdEhPGSMENOLzwRPzEOkyVdGd2xtXebTKS1cp74ClcKkWB-1mjpYOLDQk-jZX8KYvMq0c84m69aFy52tN01jTz_Rq8KZHE/s1600/Santa+Baby+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas+carols.jpg" /></a></div><br />Irina Shayk certainly versatile personality: it turned out that the supermodel is not averse to try himself as a singer. Recently appeared on the Internet movie with sultry beauty, in which she performs a Christmas song.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br />Sheik took part in filming for the digital magazine Love, where not just posing in underwear from Calvin Klein, but also danced, sang a few lines from the song Santa Baby, which once performed an American singer, actress, dancer and cabaret star Eartha Kitt. <br /><br />setting for the little music video with Irina served regular studio with lots of twinkling garlands.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNA8fY-SkCYXzBP5ZOZo-vqwBgRV03ajSApmQbWRZXD69Tp00mBQ7Yt9l_Qu0qMuUZpICq_qZ34HyFFUJezhQVEWWhaA9Nysjc4W2svEH32L3ij5LwBPwKnP_z1hNPMLjHfPMj6UvywHI/s1600/1+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNA8fY-SkCYXzBP5ZOZo-vqwBgRV03ajSApmQbWRZXD69Tp00mBQ7Yt9l_Qu0qMuUZpICq_qZ34HyFFUJezhQVEWWhaA9Nysjc4W2svEH32L3ij5LwBPwKnP_z1hNPMLjHfPMj6UvywHI/s1600/1+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX36BK1rw225uwG6vqEJ3XI1kG69g_ihWXRdjSK1EVrviODUO3tMOYyl3FGmx1VGodwfEgmvtrS0NgkzqlZ2plTFIGsehfLAxG23pcQoTfxb3Xnv7K23V-IKE-ZhCcC3zIlYlFilC08r4/s1600/2+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX36BK1rw225uwG6vqEJ3XI1kG69g_ihWXRdjSK1EVrviODUO3tMOYyl3FGmx1VGodwfEgmvtrS0NgkzqlZ2plTFIGsehfLAxG23pcQoTfxb3Xnv7K23V-IKE-ZhCcC3zIlYlFilC08r4/s1600/2+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8rZuGA1Yrjw1GlTvA9TzNdn4LtNaSr492pMjTu7jepVqngdPS0Ea34xmHVMxjh-0W1tAR2p9i-IWVCphFONXxdQk54Z0druT4OK8hYaJytvnnt0PpawqDb_X7e_ii0vnmBHIDtBhu7E/s1600/3+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8rZuGA1Yrjw1GlTvA9TzNdn4LtNaSr492pMjTu7jepVqngdPS0Ea34xmHVMxjh-0W1tAR2p9i-IWVCphFONXxdQk54Z0druT4OK8hYaJytvnnt0PpawqDb_X7e_ii0vnmBHIDtBhu7E/s1600/3+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglE_t_Is4gbolD0zP5pfbUiIR9qWzbnBew0k3WZa7zbIs8vE4CvBp63ap0E5iTIulcWljn1LBkf66wvOZUAWDph40YaO81Rbncr8NyhvcNKkxJf7Ufod_RHSJqMqPGs3VH6ciG7-cad8E/s1600/4+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglE_t_Is4gbolD0zP5pfbUiIR9qWzbnBew0k3WZa7zbIs8vE4CvBp63ap0E5iTIulcWljn1LBkf66wvOZUAWDph40YaO81Rbncr8NyhvcNKkxJf7Ufod_RHSJqMqPGs3VH6ciG7-cad8E/s1600/4+Irina+Shayk+sang+Christmas.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rKmYWnkpw6Q?feature=player_embedded" width="460"></iframe></div><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br />

Santa Baby: Irina Shayk sang Christmas carols

Irina Shayk certainly versatile personality: it turned out that the supermodel is not averse to try himself as a singer. Recently appeared ...

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Mariah Carey congratulated Christmas in red bikini

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9c0bCue4lsHLdcg9pDTpAMrKL1LQYoBdEwZyMeTUSAUymqL_6BYCzoBCNwUDQKfKfE4o0JU8V0xIzsrwnBfvv9iblvzyYZj5It2ICMTtgp5gHJZ1hIJkssvD2K2dx23CNNJbkOi55LA/s1600/Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9c0bCue4lsHLdcg9pDTpAMrKL1LQYoBdEwZyMeTUSAUymqL_6BYCzoBCNwUDQKfKfE4o0JU8V0xIzsrwnBfvv9iblvzyYZj5It2ICMTtgp5gHJZ1hIJkssvD2K2dx23CNNJbkOi55LA/s1600/Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" /></a></div><br />Mariah Carey is very original congratulated his fans a Merry Christmas. In Instagram she posted photos of herself in a red bikini and a scarlet silk robe. <br /><br />Singer posed in her yard, preparing to take a jacuzzi. Swimsuit and gown complemented Mariah red slippers with feathers. Signature on one of the pictures says: <br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Short warm-up before a jacuzzi. </blockquote><br />Behind bikini pictures Carey posted a picture with her charming children Morokkanom and Monroe. <br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">It's just a tradition. Magic couples and my kids. </blockquote><br />The only thing missing in this Mariah Carey impromptu photo shoot, so it's caps of Santa Claus. However, the star has a couple of days for a more thorough preparation for the holiday.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSp6Rq4HbfeTWjoaG05WG8fmYVnlp8g8LlyL2w7mtcmOkC5zoxeuew8agSFfpBT0HcMu-9z48ScnzXmh6NRk3opmVD4J2WwKp1RZ52LHmsOIvxQx7MlZvABJgtrbZ4b-BFBbqI0UvBuE/s1600/1+Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSp6Rq4HbfeTWjoaG05WG8fmYVnlp8g8LlyL2w7mtcmOkC5zoxeuew8agSFfpBT0HcMu-9z48ScnzXmh6NRk3opmVD4J2WwKp1RZ52LHmsOIvxQx7MlZvABJgtrbZ4b-BFBbqI0UvBuE/s1600/1+Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QSf5xeOjo_R-Vlbcc8a0tBcNAQ1YDCneN8kbs3Owo8sv2B1TYpnMYNvwEVbEUxy1q8EbcltE680r2yGf6p8qs2W0FLG26vrskmripIkTIBB3y6zJ3RCBDlKgAbtKInff75-n71DjVZM/s1600/2+Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8QSf5xeOjo_R-Vlbcc8a0tBcNAQ1YDCneN8kbs3Owo8sv2B1TYpnMYNvwEVbEUxy1q8EbcltE680r2yGf6p8qs2W0FLG26vrskmripIkTIBB3y6zJ3RCBDlKgAbtKInff75-n71DjVZM/s1600/2+Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XkiNaWw2osWufDW5QarQR12n_ZmOvEf0r_6ccRJHsKzRpp9AcZ0j8B3fQedI4zRqJ5R-6W4uzkSYrq0mUkLV9J09Gvvwe80W7F8PxqdxFtPeLSnTIsWYm_xhJ9hKkUjFmOLbmZkcG3w/s1600/3+Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XkiNaWw2osWufDW5QarQR12n_ZmOvEf0r_6ccRJHsKzRpp9AcZ0j8B3fQedI4zRqJ5R-6W4uzkSYrq0mUkLV9J09Gvvwe80W7F8PxqdxFtPeLSnTIsWYm_xhJ9hKkUjFmOLbmZkcG3w/s1600/3+Mariah+Carey+congratulated+Christmas+in+red+bikini.jpg" /></a></div><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br />

Mariah Carey congratulated Christmas in red bikini

Mariah Carey is very original congratulated his fans a Merry Christmas. In Instagram she posted photos of herself in a red bikini and a sca...

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Fast and Furious 7 : the premiere date announced

<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStlOQP3OGJUrFz42m2GtEcNgXgcdbKlOLc_qRwKHoc5MA2gUv7StZeJozWrnRbcJ8a6cAK_VHjWJksozK_OubHWSjCcPfTK0_YIQAI1pTKw7y86z4x7YQmvoGO637GcYFL8aDs215y_w/s1600/Fast+and+Furious+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStlOQP3OGJUrFz42m2GtEcNgXgcdbKlOLc_qRwKHoc5MA2gUv7StZeJozWrnRbcJ8a6cAK_VHjWJksozK_OubHWSjCcPfTK0_YIQAI1pTKw7y86z4x7YQmvoGO637GcYFL8aDs215y_w/s1600/Fast+and+Furious+7.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last scene together Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in "Fast and the Furious 7" </td></tr></tbody></table><br />A couple of hours ago, Vin Diesel announced on his Facebook page the release date for the next installment in the franchise "Fast and Furious", which became one of the last works by <b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/search/label/Paul%20Walker" target="_blank">Paul Walker</a></b>. The movie "Fast and Furious 7", which itself produces diesel, will be released April 10, 2015. <br /> <br /> Vin also published photos from the set, writing: <br /> <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"> last scene we shot together .. . It was a unique feeling of satisfaction, a sense of pride ... We were proud of the film on which he worked, his magic and how much we have achieved. "Fast and Furious 7" will be released April 10, 2015! PS: He would like you to know about it first ... </blockquote><br /> premier action was originally scheduled for July 2014, but work on the film was suspended due to the tragic death of Paul Walker. Earlier this month, the project director James Wan said that despite the tragedy still picture will be released. <br /> <br /> Information that in the final stages of the deceased actor will replace his brother Cody Walker, has not yet been confirmed.<br /><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* biner3 */ google_ad_slot = "7346003106"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_GL06qfd7_SI60B5QM2FE8A1rRM9CLxSssT9cv2UvhrvE3LmKQdPaQvgW17fj6nZ8t-m2CCZWybbEJ_KHBShmWAIB5SEBysREFdPHMtLAX58w_nkk7yZbshbT9K_cRDGtnd8IDTzWmI/s1600/Paul+Walker+and+Vin+Diesel-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_GL06qfd7_SI60B5QM2FE8A1rRM9CLxSssT9cv2UvhrvE3LmKQdPaQvgW17fj6nZ8t-m2CCZWybbEJ_KHBShmWAIB5SEBysREFdPHMtLAX58w_nkk7yZbshbT9K_cRDGtnd8IDTzWmI/s1600/Paul+Walker+and+Vin+Diesel-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9T97SAKG_9VSsf1EOh6c3eP6SGjQu4D4e3-R3Ilwii1EL7oBWHm5D3UMw0xQ5uwcr7OB-2rL54ezE9RHr-n4eA7wadOz2MEcsS1Zon1hOkVcGuTB0nZBudyab6B7Skr768gwBCgtgo_I/s1600/Paul+Walker+and+Vin+Dieselr-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9T97SAKG_9VSsf1EOh6c3eP6SGjQu4D4e3-R3Ilwii1EL7oBWHm5D3UMw0xQ5uwcr7OB-2rL54ezE9RHr-n4eA7wadOz2MEcsS1Zon1hOkVcGuTB0nZBudyab6B7Skr768gwBCgtgo_I/s1600/Paul+Walker+and+Vin+Dieselr-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4NEK92OjdKZh2HWr2KYJ3myhMfySncGZvSPXYmLfjJZIMliUdHUo92epYXwDUOOyigKGXhWRijDL4_L3WqbyuSXOahIWRLZCvhd0nKQyDICVq0P-fR_WOwXiuNasQcMeFc-0BODv5cSY/s1600/Paul+Walker+and+Vin+Diesel-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4NEK92OjdKZh2HWr2KYJ3myhMfySncGZvSPXYmLfjJZIMliUdHUo92epYXwDUOOyigKGXhWRijDL4_L3WqbyuSXOahIWRLZCvhd0nKQyDICVq0P-fR_WOwXiuNasQcMeFc-0BODv5cSY/s1600/Paul+Walker+and+Vin+Diesel-1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Walker and Vin Diesel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "ca-pub-8441125172513237"; /* boton */ google_ad_slot = "4392536701"; google_ad_width = 200; google_ad_height = 90; //--></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script><br />

Fast and Furious 7 : the premiere date announced

Last scene together Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in "Fast and the Furious 7" A couple of hours ago, Vin Diesel announced on his Face...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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