Kim Jong Un's executed uncle was eaten alive by 120 hungry dogs: report (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/AVvXsEjTG9RABTAXF5m1Cjd17-P8UYZMO91G4OcqoU7CZWDPN81sSVgzvV_7aJj7VwL46k5DIR4uf6ZH2VfRt9WtDsgVHcrHBmynui4JdcpDRpjU8HKfN79mYwv0VqZTnioqJOUMxerxiiw8gcs/s1600/140103-nk-uncle-court-3a.photoblog600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTG9RABTAXF5m1Cjd17-P8UYZMO91G4OcqoU7CZWDPN81sSVgzvV_7aJj7VwL46k5DIR4uf6ZH2VfRt9WtDsgVHcrHBmynui4JdcpDRpjU8HKfN79mYwv0VqZTnioqJOUMxerxiiw8gcs/s320/140103-nk-uncle-court-3a.photoblog600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="byline" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 25.59375px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By Eric Baculinao and Alexander Smith, NBC News</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle was stripped naked, thrown into a cage, and eaten alive by a pack of ravenous dogs, according to a newspaper with close ties to China's ruling Communist Party.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jang Song Thaek, who had been considered Kim's second-in-command, was <a href="http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/12/21880254-a-very-worrisome-sign-north-korea-executes-uncle-of-leader-kim-jong-un?lite" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #336699; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">executed last month</a> after being found guilty of "attempting to overthrow the state," <a href="http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/12/21880254-a-very-worrisome-sign-north-korea-executes-uncle-of-leader-kim-jong-un?lite" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #336699; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">North Korea’s state-run news agency reported</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The official North Korean account on Dec. 12 did not specify how Jang was put to death.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">U.S. officials told NBC News on Friday that they could not confirm the reports. "This is not ringing any bells here," said one senior official. </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hong Kong-based pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po reported that Jang and his five closest aides were set upon by 120 hunting hounds which had been starved for five days. </div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kim and his brother Kim Jong Chol supervised the one-hour ordeal along with 300 other officials, according to Wen Wei Po. The newspaper added that Jang and other aides were "completely eaten up."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The newspaper has acted as a mouthpiece for China's Communist Party. The report may be a sign of the struggle between those in the party who want to remain engaged with North Korea and those who would like to distance themselves from Kim's regime.</div><div class="inlinePhoto photo_landscape photo_align_right slideshow" data-contentid="22157271" id="vine-inlinePhoto__22157271" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0px 25px 10px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 380px;"><a class="slideshow_link" href="http://nbcnews.com/id/50785689/displaymode/1247?beginSlide=1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #336699; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="285" id="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-130212-kim-jong-un/ss-130213-kim-jong-un-tease.jpg" src="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-130212-kim-jong-un/ss-130213-kim-jong-un-tease.380;380;7;70;0.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 10px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="380" /></a><div class="photo_credit_container" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 0px 7px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><div style="border: 0px; color: #525252; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The youngest son of Kim Jong Il succeeded his late father in 2011, becoming the third member of his family to rule the unpredictable and reclusive communist state.</div></div><div class="slideshow_callout" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: inline-block; float: none; height: auto; margin: 5px 7px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><div style="border: 0px; color: #525252; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div></div><div class="clear" style="border: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jang was seen by many experts as a regent behind North Korea's Kim dynasty and a key connection between the hermit nation and its ally China.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the highly scripted execution, North Korea accused him of "attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kim's government also accused him of of corruption, womanizing, gambling and taking drugs, and referred to him as "despicable human scum."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jang was married to <a href="http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/15/21909377-kim-jong-uns-aunt-appears-safe-after-husbands-execution?lite" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #336699; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Kim's aunt, Kim Kyong Hui</a>, the younger sister of Kim Jong Il.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25.59375px; outline: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alexander Smith reported from London; NBC News' Robert Windrem contributed to this report.</em></div></div>

Kim Jong Un's executed uncle was eaten alive by 120 hungry dogs: report (BLOG)

By Eric Baculinao and Alexander Smith, NBC News BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle was stripped naked, thrown i...

Read more »

Woman Ate Only Starbucks Food for All of 2013 (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/AVvXsEiAPaProJPkSVZV3nZsdqotAU6RUZpOydpGCUU19R6gwV0gv7ZppEu1ctuEuuAXA-nP8jf6IGassMG50EDGWvYsnlqTRhgM59MHqZRl91Pht6TjsT14rvGVUYNWQK6MHDG7eyVf3oAcZ5M/s1600/challenge2n-4-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAPaProJPkSVZV3nZsdqotAU6RUZpOydpGCUU19R6gwV0gv7ZppEu1ctuEuuAXA-nP8jf6IGassMG50EDGWvYsnlqTRhgM59MHqZRl91Pht6TjsT14rvGVUYNWQK6MHDG7eyVf3oAcZ5M/s320/challenge2n-4-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_13911" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">New Year’s resolutions are usually predictable: lose weight, quit smoking, find a significant other, or maybe budget money more effectively. A Seattle woman went on a diet but took the task <a data-mce-href="http://for1yearofmylife.com/" data-rapid_p="10" href="http://for1yearofmylife.com/" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">a step further</a>, testing her will to see if she could limit her food consumption to just one outlet.</div><div class="body-slot-mod" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em 10px; max-width: 300px;"><div class="yom-remote"><div class="" id="mediacontentrelatedstory_container"><section class="yom-mod " data-ylk="mid:mediacontentrelatedstory;mpos:1;elm:hdln;elmt:ct;cat:Related Stories;rspns:nav;t1:a3;itc:0;sec:lst-ct;" id="mediacontentrelatedstory" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></section></div></div></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_13917" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">That one “restaurant” is coffee chain Starbucks. That woman is named Beautiful Existence. Yes, that is her real name.</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;">Existence spent 365 days eating and drinking exclusively at the coffee store and Starbucks-related restaurants. She spent $500-600 dollars per month, and did not impose the restrictions on her two children – although she would bring them treats from time to time. Existence claims she both lost weight and feels great after the diet.</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;">“So many reasons...brand awareness, partner treatment, personal dedication, etc.,” she tweeted to us. “Personal dedication” is nothing out of the ordinary to Existence.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_13940" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The mother of two has found herself in the news for yearlong commitments on multiple occasions. In 2011, she bought every item of clothing and then some from the Goodwill. The following year, she tested out every idea and tip in Parents magazine.</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;">For the New Year, Existence will try to learn every recreational sport from Recreational Equipment Inc. There are over 80 sports on her list.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_13945" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">And even though her Starbucks challenge is complete, Existence says she’ll still partake in the company’s food and beverages from time to time.</div></div>

Woman Ate Only Starbucks Food for All of 2013 (BLOG)

New Year’s resolutions are usually predictable: lose weight, quit smoking, find a significant other, or maybe budget money more effectively....

Read more »

Five Doctors Without Borders workers abducted in Syria (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/AVvXsEhw18QxQnZ6CgZcQZhNczSIc1EzM8NxQJaKQNIYfLgqD5WFtbF_VzvLEApBf1JkUPOYwLTB5Nm8F6vJEdQynJSdBct74__V1ViWZTdNG2ioUbpfQzSvplH2s0ruCnJNOMW67tt_dvgrlNM/s1600/131215125555-01-syria-unrest-1215-horizontal-gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw18QxQnZ6CgZcQZhNczSIc1EzM8NxQJaKQNIYfLgqD5WFtbF_VzvLEApBf1JkUPOYwLTB5Nm8F6vJEdQynJSdBct74__V1ViWZTdNG2ioUbpfQzSvplH2s0ruCnJNOMW67tt_dvgrlNM/s320/131215125555-01-syria-unrest-1215-horizontal-gallery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(CNN)</strong> -- Five workers for Doctors Without Borders were abducted from a house the organization was using in northern Syria, the group said Friday.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The five were abducted Thursday evening "by a group allegedly for questioning," said Guillermo Agar, a Doctors Without Borders representative. He passed along the group's statement to CNN in an e-mail from his base in Madrid.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rebel forces and Islamic militants control much of Syria's northern territories.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We are in contact with all the relevant stakeholders and the families of our staff members, and are doing all we can to reestablish contact with our colleagues," the statement said. He said that he does not know all the nationalities of the workers and would not release more information, citing safety concerns for the workers.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres, operates six hospitals and four health centers in northern Syria and has been trying to help Syrian refugees who have fled the violence that has gripped the country since the war began in April 2011.</div></div>

Five Doctors Without Borders workers abducted in Syria (BLOG)

(CNN)  -- Five workers for Doctors Without Borders were abducted from a house the organization was using in northern Syria, the group said F...

Read more »

NY bathers splash into new year with ocean swim (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/AVvXsEgQhvgOOuewNsq9EXKoaWzMvZXyfjl8nj8wGhbj-dejrhCW95I4vL8WNCGwZxnXiv6uMKpSwppokBTk4jZaWS8RbMGHXA9ekkTbzTrfazQRGva-r1aaFDs-iLWPMp3ImufOEMMUMDE2Y6Y/s1600/ce3e392923514ec38cf9755b02b0b184-ae38398a1e1f4e23848e566410b2e7a4-0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQhvgOOuewNsq9EXKoaWzMvZXyfjl8nj8wGhbj-dejrhCW95I4vL8WNCGwZxnXiv6uMKpSwppokBTk4jZaWS8RbMGHXA9ekkTbzTrfazQRGva-r1aaFDs-iLWPMp3ImufOEMMUMDE2Y6Y/s320/ce3e392923514ec38cf9755b02b0b184-ae38398a1e1f4e23848e566410b2e7a4-0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_11784" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of brave bathers rang in 2014 with a plunge into the icy ocean off Coney Island.</div><div class="body-slot-mod" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em 10px; max-width: 300px;"><div class="yom-remote"><div class="yom-loading" id="mediacontentrelatedstory_container"></div></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;">Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear and Ice Breakers clubs and other hardy swimmers stripped down to their trunks or dressed in costumes on Wednesday for the annual New Year's Day splash.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_11800" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Some people hit the surf dressed only in bikinis or briefs. A group of guys wore bow ties and top hats and had a tea party, and others waved giant American flags. Temperatures outside were in the low 30s. People screamed at the shock of the cold water.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_11806" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Polar Bear club president Dennis Thomas, whose club has hosted the annual dip since 1903, said it was a perfect day for a swim.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_11811" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"It was a glorious beach day," he said. "New York City beaches are great even in the winter. We love being out in 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;">Thomas has been a member for more than 30 years and has done countless swims. Others, though, were jumping in for the first time.</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="8" data-uuid="5b7cea96-a71a-30d6-a6bd-67235a53e6f1" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/over-250-people-ran-40-f-degree-potomac-photo-110329496.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="Over 250 people ran into the 40 (F) degree Potomac&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: 172px; 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="Over 250 people ran into the 40 (F) degree Potomac&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="172" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/BJuqNXpnu9Y72ikn2XPgGg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE3MjtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/c6eb7f132854b300470f6a706700b482.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;">Over 250 people ran into the 40 (F) degree Potomac River during the 11th Annual Polar Bear Plunge, W …</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;">Michael Haltman and his 17-year-old son, Cory Haltman, took the plunge to raise awareness for the bone marrow donation registry. His 23-year-old daughter, Samantha Haltman, is donating bone marrow to a patient struggling with blood cancer, and they wanted to show support.</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 water was a shock — Haltman said he felt it was difficult to breathe.</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 wore a winter coat until it was time to go, but others were out there for an hour and a half only in bikinis," Haltman said. "Parts of my body are still re-emerging. The sun wasn't out. It was freezing. Water temperature wasn't much warmer."</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 Polar Bear club swim raises money for Camp Sunshine, a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses. The club hosts swims weekly during the winter months.</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;">Just east of Coney Island at Brighton Beach, the Ice Breakers plunged into the Atlantic. The group has 14 members over the age of 70, including 90-year-old Michael Friedman. The group is a loose membership of eager winter swimmers who raise awareness for environmental issues.</div><div class="body-related-container" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_11840" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; max-width: 300px !important;"><div class="body-related" style="clear: right; float: right; 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="9" data-uuid="8f1cc223-b6e0-3455-a1d8-33685ac85227" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/swimmers-improvise-formal-tea-jumping-frigid-waters-coney-photo-110329173.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="Swimmers improvise a formal tea after jumping into&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: 196px; 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="Swimmers improvise a formal tea after jumping into&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="196" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/cB5zckQlDL_AToD0rSIhyg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE5NjtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/183c0a472860b400470f6a706700f979.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;">Swimmers improvise a formal tea after jumping into the frigid waters at Coney Island beach in New Yo …</div></div><div class="body-related" style="clear: right; float: right; 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="10" data-uuid="8875fc6f-51bf-3bfc-b0e5-b0a2e42bf3e9" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/swimmers-emerges-jumping-frigid-waters-coney-island-beach-photo-110329745.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="A Swimmers emerges after jumping into the frigid waters&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: 193px; 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="A Swimmers emerges after jumping into the frigid waters&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="193" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/j8d1_faYx0BcLMLkGIve7w--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE5MztxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/51da750b2860b400470f6a7067004b48.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;">A Swimmers emerges after jumping into the frigid waters at Coney Island beach in New York Wednesday, …</div></div><div class="body-related" style="clear: right; float: right; 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="11" data-uuid="d9c08b79-4f11-36f4-8eda-7b33eefb96ff" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/man-waves-american-flag-joins-others-jumped-frigid-photo-110329244.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="A man waves the American flag as he joins others who&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: 201px; 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="A man waves the American flag as he joins others who&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="201" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kG0CT12Xebu6VUK3Reph3A--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMTtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/55a239422853b300470f6a706700ba8a.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;">A man waves the American flag as he joins others who jumped into the frigid waters at Coney Island b …</div></div><div class="body-related" style="clear: right; float: right; 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="12" data-uuid="88db5f8d-e370-3cba-9aaf-eb431d9bb8ca" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/swimmer-waves-american-flag-jumping-frigid-waters-coney-photo-110329079.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="A swimmer waves the American flag after jumping into&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: 201px; 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="A swimmer waves the American flag after jumping into&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="201" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/qYLIAbtvYdXdG3e2L1enpw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMTtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/36a3e08d2840b300470f6a70670039a7.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;">A swimmer waves the American flag after jumping into frigid waters at Coney Island beach in New York …</div></div><div class="body-related" style="clear: right; float: right; 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="87b1cfc7-4de7-313f-b9b8-5ad77df69fff" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/first-wave-swimmers-jump-frigid-waters-coney-island-photo-110329509.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="A first wave of swimmers jump into frigid waters at&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: 200px; 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="A first wave of swimmers jump into frigid waters at&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="200" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/3nlYw_4nqDNfneqdTBYkKg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMDtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/053e593f2871b400470f6a7067000524.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;">A first wave of swimmers jump into frigid waters at Coney Island beach in New York, Wednesday, Jan.  …</div></div><div class="body-related" style="clear: right; float: right; 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="14" data-uuid="8b0963a5-ec7c-3bc1-ba86-33feaf909d7d" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/swimmers-neck-deep-splash-frigid-waters-coney-island-photo-110329408.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="Swimmers, some neck deep, splash about in the frigid&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: 201px; 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="Swimmers, some neck deep, splash about in the frigid&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="201" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/f1Fd0BscnT2OzYgVLJP2WA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMTtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/c38de5eb283eb300470f6a70670048b4.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;">Swimmers, some neck deep, splash about in the frigid waters at Coney Island beach in New York, Wedne …</div></div><div class="body-related" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_11846" style="clear: right; float: right; 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="15" data-uuid="b5c4ee96-fe1f-3da5-911f-fe9cb42278ef" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/swimmers-jump-frigid-waters-coney-island-beach-york-photo-110329329.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="Swimmers jump into frigid waters at Coney Island beach&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: 198px; 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="Swimmers jump into frigid waters at Coney Island beach&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="198" src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/U2sbKmtC2UJx0..E2E4FMA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE5ODtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/a2c4b4b32870b400470f6a706700e9a2.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" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_11845" 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;">Swimmers jump into frigid waters at Coney Island beach in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 1 2014, as they  …</div></div></div></div>

NY bathers splash into new year with ocean swim (BLOG)

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of brave bathers rang in 2014 with a plunge into the icy ocean off Coney Island. Members of the Coney Island Polar ...

Read more »

After the storm ... the cold (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/AVvXsEiT4xxIdDrr4qaU-UlxbM7ccq1-XVpokV0jEJKXqP7xnHUVS9J7swJFosd1bzxB9Hnbr9UwIBsmHHCAMOt5uNU75INZ1jcnvI6pYExDGLOKmai7FblZ962b4ei8GfVQweUJccDCMh-ZVoE/s1600/img_0825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4xxIdDrr4qaU-UlxbM7ccq1-XVpokV0jEJKXqP7xnHUVS9J7swJFosd1bzxB9Hnbr9UwIBsmHHCAMOt5uNU75INZ1jcnvI6pYExDGLOKmai7FblZ962b4ei8GfVQweUJccDCMh-ZVoE/s1600/img_0825.jpg" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(CNN)</strong> -- If you thought the snow was bad, just wait for the cold and ice.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Don't put your tongue on a flagpole today," Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Friday, advice that may prove useful over the long term.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"We're going to see a warmup, and then we're going to see another cold snap," he said. "This may be something that we're dealing with for the next 60 days or so.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The combination of cold and wind gusts exceeding 30 mph was expected to lower wind chill temperatures to near zero in the nation's capital and to 45 below in northern Maine.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">And another storm is forming that will bring blizzard conditions to the northern Plains on Friday night and Saturday, it said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the Northeast, the heavy snow that upended routines for about a third of the nation's residents had tapered off by noon, but snow drifts were complicating the cleanup, in some cases requiring replowing of streets that had already been cleaned.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">New York was draped Friday in a near-10-inch layer of white, but that didn't faze some residents.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"A lot of people are walking, and some were even running in Central Park," said CNN iReporter Matthew Burke, who<a href="http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1072120" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">snapped a photograph</a> of the entrance to the park at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It's freezing," he said. "I had three layers on, and I was still cold."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The snowfall abated early Friday in the nation's capital and was expected to stop in the afternoon in Boston, which got nearly 15 inches.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">North of Boston, residents of Topsfield, Massachusetts, were inundated with nearly 2 feet of snow.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Approximately 100 million people in 22 states were in the path of the storm.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/05/us/winter-weather-tracker/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Track the storm: Radar, temperatures</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Weather knocks out flights</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Across the country, the weather forced many to change their travel plans.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/today#stats" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">FlightAware.com</a>, which tracks cancellations due to weather and mechanical problems, said that more than 2,300 flights had been canceled for Friday within, into or out of the United States. That's after more than 2,600 U.S. flights were canceled Thursday.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Flights resumed by late Friday morning in much of New England, though delays were common, and ticket holders were urged to check with their airlines.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Barb Plooster had planned to fly Friday from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Grand Rapids, Michigan, but her flight was canceled. She told <a href="http://www.erietvnews.com/story/24351996/winter-weather-impacting-travel-on-road-in-air" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">CNN affiliate WICU</a> that she was on the phone with United Airlines for five hours trying to find a way to get home but has concluded that she will have to wait until Monday. "We got a warm place to stay, get to visit the kids, the grandkids, so it's OK," she said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Here's a breakdown of what to expect where:</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">New York and Long Island</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">A winter storm warning was to remain in effect across the five boroughs until 1 p.m., with wind gusts dropping wind chills to as low as 15 below, the mayor's office said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Friday's high was predicted to be 18 degrees, and the temperature was expected to go below zero by nightfall, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">He urged anyone who might see a homeless person to call 311, "and an outreach team will go out immediately to help that individual."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">And de Blasio cautioned residents whose homes and apartments are not warm to call the city rather than trying to improvise their own solutions.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the newly sworn-in mayor -- who shoveled in front of his home in Brooklyn on Friday morning before handing off the duty to his 16-year-old son, Dante -- praised his team for their work.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I'd give everyone an A" for effort and effectiveness, he said, but noted that their work was not over.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Ask again in a few hours," he said. "This is an hour-to-hour thing."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/cvplive/cvpstream2.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Watch live radar</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">New York had gotten nearly 10 inches of snow by the time it abated late Friday morning, de Blasio said. "It's hard to drive out there," he said. "If you do not need to travel today, please stay home."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sanitation workers were on 12-hour shifts to clear the city's 6,200 miles of roadways, he said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Long Island will be under a blizzard warning until 1 p.m. Friday, with wind chills as low as 10 below zero and sustained winds of at least 35 mph.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Flight operations resumed late Friday morning at John F. Kennedy International Airport; they were continuing -- despite hundreds of cancellations -- at LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Temperatures in the single digits were predicted for Saturday morning.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">New York City public schools were closed Friday.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph38" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Upstate, the capital of Albany could get buried under 14 inches of snow, with wind chills of 15 to 25 below zero, the National Weather Service said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The weather had its fans. In Rochester, New York, CNN iReporter Blake Sampson, 29, <a href="http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1072184" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">took a picture from his apartment window</a>. "I grew up in Minnesota, so I'm used to it," he said. "I like how quiet things get when there is a fresh blanket of snow."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph40" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Massachusetts</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph41" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">That blanket covered Boston, which expected to see 10 to 18 inches of snow and temperatures as low as 6 degrees below zero by Friday night.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph42" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">But limited flights were continuing into and out of Boston's Logan Airport.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph43" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The state's emergency management agency predicted up to 2 feet of snow on parts of the North Shore, South Shore and Cape Cod.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph44" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Students in scores of school districts were told to stay home Friday.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph45" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"I guess Mother Nature wanted to give me one more gift," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said Thursday, one of his last days in the office he has held since 1993.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph46" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Blizzard warnings were in effect for parts of nearby Essex and Plymouth counties -- including the communities of Gloucester, Brockton and Plymouth -- as well as Cape Cod.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph47" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The state warned that midday high tides could produce "significant flooding" along the coast. The towns of Scituate and Duxbury requested voluntary evacuations of certain low-lying areas.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph48" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Connecticut and Delaware</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph49" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wind chills in parts of Connecticut were expected to range from -5 to -20 degrees Friday, and the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for most of the state through Friday morning.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph50" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Malloy, the Connecticut governor, urged residents to take it slow and give themselves extra time for their commutes Friday. He said he expects delays but not cancellations in public transit.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph51" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Delaware said state offices were closed for all but "essential employees."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph52" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Chicago and points beyond</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph53" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the Windy City, wind chills Friday will creep down to minus 12, with more snow possible over the weekend.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph54" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The arctic blast was expected to be the coldest in 17 years, with temperatures predicted to drop below zero Sunday evening and not return to positive digits until Wednesday.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph55" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Though snow in Chicago in the winter is a common event, it "can still wreak havoc on daily routines," city emergency director Gary Schenkel said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph56" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Next week could be no better for some U.S. residents.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph57" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The new shot of colder air that will start to move into the northern Midwest by Saturday will dive south Monday and Tuesday, carrying zero-degree cold as far south as Nashville. "That's the coldest air we've seen that far south in several years," CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph58" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The cold air will kick off a new storm Sunday into Monday that could affect a number of NFL playoff games this weekend. In Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers will give a cold welcome to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1909122-nfl-playoffs-2014-how-cold-inclement-weather-will-impact-the-postseason?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">when temperatures could bottom out at -17</a>.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph59" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The U.S. weather had international implications, too: All meetings were canceled Friday at the United Nations headquarters complex on New York's East Side.</div><a href="" name="em1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><a href="" name="em2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><a href="" name="em3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><a href="" name="em4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; padding: 4px 24px 37px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">CNN meteorologists Dave Hennen and Sherri Pugh and CNN's Lateef Mungin, Jareen Imam, Kristin Hamill, Chuck Johnston, Ashley Fantz, Greg Botelho and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report.</div></div>

After the storm ... the cold (BLOG)

(CNN)  -- If you thought the snow was bad, just wait for the cold and ice. "Don't put your tongue on a flagpole today," Connec...

Read more »

Marketing efforts to uninsured youth ramp up (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/AVvXsEgBvfTuFroWdjA4UWuPCwt69iJuS7qEUb6OJ0ggUSko7iVv4sudvMMMPtssujlbIX4LkT0Ge43sksc8S-qF3YJFyd65PKs7OX7TPwBTa3wJevxEnGm8AW9xxNfqNzMaKwOdkAblviHj_bg/s1600/8d2b11ac28b6b500470f6a706700e65f.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/AVvXsEgBvfTuFroWdjA4UWuPCwt69iJuS7qEUb6OJ0ggUSko7iVv4sudvMMMPtssujlbIX4LkT0Ge43sksc8S-qF3YJFyd65PKs7OX7TPwBTa3wJevxEnGm8AW9xxNfqNzMaKwOdkAblviHj_bg/s320/8d2b11ac28b6b500470f6a706700e65f.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_8102" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">MIAMI (AP) — The so-called "young invincibles" are so important to the success of the Affordable Care Act that supporters and detractors are spending millions to reach them with racy ads, social media campaigns and celebrity endorsements. The president is even (gasp) asking their mothers to help convince them to sign up for insurance.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_8109" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><br />Eric Fisher, a 28-year-old from Salt Lake City, said he still hasn't seen any of the social media campaigns — one of which targets Utah residents with images of people snowboarding and rock climbing.The federal government and states running their own exchanges have launched marketing efforts for this crucial demographic of healthy young adults, but it's unclear if the messages are getting through.</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 tried to sign up online when the federal marketplace first launched but couldn't because of the long wait times and other website glitches. He said he'll try again at some point. He added that the historic health care overhaul isn't a topic he and his friends spend much time talking about.</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;">"It's not like a coffee table conversation," Fisher 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;">According to a recent Harvard survey, many of Fisher's peers are undecided.</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="8" data-uuid="dcec3356-13ea-3338-a771-33bd226bd8a4" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/saturday-nov-9-2013-photo-jack-murphy-left-photo-060027989--finance.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, Jack Murphy,&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: 207px; 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="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, Jack Murphy,&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="207" src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/09g7e2W3GixWBEubqJJ45w--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwNztxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/fff1349428b7b500470f6a70670070b6.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;">In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, Jack Murphy, left, 20, celebrates after wining a game of pong  …</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;">A poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics shows about 40 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 are on the fence about whether to sign up, with the rest split fairly evenly between those likely to enroll and those who probably won't.</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 survey of 2,000 young adults was conducted from Oct. 30 to Nov. 11, after the first month of enrollment on the health care exchanges and when sign-up problems were at their peak.</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;">Consisting of healthy college students and twenty-somethings, the so-called "young invincible" demographic is the holy grail of the Affordable Care Act. Insurers need their participation to offset the costs of covering older, sicker Americans. If enough young people decide not to buy insurance through state or federal marketplaces, it could throw off the market's equilibrium and cause insurance rates to rise dramatically the following 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;">Federal officials haven't released detailed demographic information on who's enrolled so far, so it's not clear how many young people have signed up.</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;">Ad campaigns in many states are courting undecided young adults. In Colorado, a nonprofit group created a series of provocative "got insurance?" ads. One features a blonde standing next to a life-sized cut-out of celebrity heartthrob Ryan Gosling with the caption, "Hey girl, you're excited about easy access to birth control and I'm excited about getting to know you. She got insurance." Another touting "Brosurance" encourages men doing a keg stand not to tap into their beer money to cover medical bills. When the exchange launched, models wearing nothing but underwear and "Get Covered" signs passed out fliers in downtown Denver.</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="9" data-uuid="a12778c0-9abb-36ef-ae33-cff7d525729f" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/saturday-nov-9-2013-photo-bowl-free-items-photo-060027808--finance.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, a bowl of free&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: 224px; 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="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, a bowl of free&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="224" src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/rrO2ZE9JtqljL6yjjqmKHg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIyNDtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/93fad33728bcb500470f6a706700ec7b.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;">In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, a bowl of free items is shown in a tent set up by Generation O …</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;">Arizona and Utah ads targeting weekend warriors and other athletes note the risks of getting hurt without health insurance.</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;">Shmuel Johnson, who works in Los Angeles at a small sound studio, hasn't seen any ads or perused the state's health exchange.</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;">"There's this elitist attitude that (politicians) think they know what's better for us than ourselves and that's part of why I take issue with this. I'm being forced to do something that's not necessarily in my best interest," said Johnson, a 31-year-old who's never had insurance. "I don't need insurance, man. I'm healthy."</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'll wait until March to enroll and says he'll select the cheapest, lowest-level of coverage available simply to avoid the fine. Experts expect many young adults, like Johnson, to wait until March.</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 2012, 18 million 19 to 34-year-olds lacked insurance — or 27 percent of all people in that age group, according to U.S. census data.</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="10" data-uuid="7ebd14c5-c263-3fed-a77b-824da8306480" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/saturday-nov-9-2013-photo-djs-zaz-left-photo-060027916--finance.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, DJs ZAZ, left,&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: 213px; 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="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, DJs ZAZ, left,&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="213" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/pAL7gzx5oORHgp_cWVqjFg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIxMztxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/e865d0d028b9b500470f6a706700557f.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;">In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, DJs ZAZ, left, and Joseph Michael provide music for tailgaters …</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;">The Obama administration is making the rounds on college campuses to encourage people to sign up and has enlisted celebrities including Lady Gaga and Kerry Washington in its Get Covered social media campaign. Jennifer Hudson and Olivia Wilde were featured in skits pushing the Affordable Care Act on the humor website FunnyorDie.com. In the latest push, an Obama impersonator encourages young adults to tell their friends to get covered in an online rap.</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 himself recently told a group of mothers visiting the Oval Office that: "Moms can tell young people who think they're invincible that they're not and prod them to at least get information."</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;">California state exchange officials even tried to persuade women to pay the first month's premium as a Christmas gift to their adult children and grandchildren.</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;">Experts say engaging young invincibles requires a nuanced touch. They prefer to talk with their peers about pragmatic things they can do to impact the world, but aren't interested in ideological debates, said Morley Winograd, author of 3 books on millenials, including "Millenial Momentum."</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;">But the cost of coverage will play the biggest role, experts say.</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="11" data-uuid="1fd891a6-8043-30e5-a795-ef66141bd07e" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/saturday-nov-9-2013-photo-tailgaters-hang-near-photo-060027667--finance.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, tailgaters hang&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: 200px; 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="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, tailgaters hang&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="200" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/aYEWa8rbvrOwAI4arrCxgw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMDtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/ea50005d28b8b500470f6a70670099c7.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;">In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, tailgaters hang out near a row of tents set up by Generation O …</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;">More than 3 million young adults have health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act because they remained on their parents' health insurance, according to the feds. The law extended the age that children can stay on their parents' plan to 26.</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;">Joshua Benson stayed on his parents' insurance until he turned 26 last year. After that, Benson, who had his pancreas removed and needs daily insulin for his Type 1 diabetes, struggled to find coverage. He was either denied or quoted $2,000 monthly premiums, said the South Florida resident, who works part-time as a grocery store cashier.</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 recently enrolled in a platinum plan with no deductible that costs him $170 a month and even covers his endocrinologist. The federal government kicks in another $200 a month.</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;">Benson says he was amused by the Funnyordie.com skits, but said many other ads "are focusing more on getting our attention than actually giving us any valid information."</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 the other side of the aisle, groups that oppose the health overhaul such as Generation Opportunity are spreading their message at college tailgate parties. The organization gained a following after disturbing-by-design social media videos featuring a creepy Uncle Sam popping up at gynecological and proctology exams went viral. The tagline urged young adults to keep big government out of their personal health decisions.</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="12" data-uuid="7a267a28-f297-3fd7-a75f-4113201edea4" href="http://news.yahoo.com/photos/saturday-nov-9-2013-photo-pickup-truck-bed-photo-060027151--finance.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, a pickup truck&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: 200px; 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="In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, a pickup truck&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="200" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/UWhsYm0v4AYbJyygzHCRog--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMDtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/f32bb97728b3b500470f6a706700d649.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;">In this Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013 photo, a pickup truck bed full of empty pizza boxes is shown near a r …</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;">The group's recent tailgate party at the University of Miami had all the markings of the South Beach club scene: hired glossy-haired models handing out swag, free alcohol and a sea of sweaty twenty-somethings bumping and grinding to a live DJ.</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;">Mette Jensen, a 22-year-old student, says she supports "Obamacare" even though she signed a petition against 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;">"Well, why not. I love free stuff."</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;">__</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;">Follow Kelli Kennedy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kkennedyAP</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;">__</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1388759550002_8134" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Associated Press writers Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City, Utah and Gillian Flaccus from Los Angeles contributed to this report.</div></div>

Marketing efforts to uninsured youth ramp up (BLOG)

MIAMI (AP) — The so-called "young invincibles" are so important to the success of the Affordable Care Act that supporters and detr...

Read more »

Five reasons James Avery was one of the greatest TV dads (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/AVvXsEi849amdK98uEu65RlU7x_tvJnKsTXmRUy_o4LiFCBQmGKJZsQrKkBn9ZZ_3cfhNtbg32F7z-gFth5i9p9tWG2SZwZg41Tpv9ahGFLd80zzkQcP4LgKmDY8ceDSzaJ48Fc_zD3kWur2aGg/s1600/140102100749-james-avery-uncle-phil-fresh-prince-story-top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi849amdK98uEu65RlU7x_tvJnKsTXmRUy_o4LiFCBQmGKJZsQrKkBn9ZZ_3cfhNtbg32F7z-gFth5i9p9tWG2SZwZg41Tpv9ahGFLd80zzkQcP4LgKmDY8ceDSzaJ48Fc_zD3kWur2aGg/s320/140102100749-james-avery-uncle-phil-fresh-prince-story-top.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(CNN)</strong> -- James Avery was a prolific and versatile actor during his 68 years, but he's best known to several as Uncle Phil.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">A classically trained thespian, Avery filled the role of the tough but caring head of the Banks' household on the '90s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" for six years. Along the way, he crafted a character that stands apart as one of the greatest fictional dads on TV.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">His costar Joseph Marcell, who portrayed the family butler Geoffrey, had it right when he said that Avery "strove to present an Uncle Phil that everybody wishes was their uncle." As a result, his death this week has left a lot of fans feeling as though they've lost a family member.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Every "Fresh Prince" fan probably has his or her own reasons why Uncle Phil was at the heart of the memorable comedy. Here are our top five:</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. He was there for you in a jam.</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">In case you missed "Fresh Prince" during its run from 1990 to 1996, or somehow have escaped the endless repeats on basic cable in the years since, here's a recap of the premise: Now-famous blockbuster actor Will Smith portrayed a mischievous Philadelphia teen who was sent to live with his rich relatives in Bel-Air. Cue the culture clash as free-spirited Will had to adjust to his Uncle Phil's rigorous rules.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most of the humor came from that dynamic, but when Will -- and, often, Phil's son Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) -- really needed him, he didn't hesitate to help them out. That was established clearly with an episode in season one, when Phil came to Will's rescue at a pool hall after the kid lost money and a car to a hustler.</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i7u1SGsT51w" style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Underneath his grizzly exterior was a sensitive role model.</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Although Uncle Phil and Will had their fights, the lawyer and eventual judge became a father figure for Smith's character.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">This was shown in one heartbreaking season four episode, when Will's biological father re-enters the picture only to leave his son once again. A distraught Will turned to his uncle, who readily embraced him. No matter how many times we watch this, we always get misty.</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oSKyaXkzVvc" style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3. He was not a man to be trifled with.</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Every so often we saw glimpses of Uncle Phil's soft side, but it was his stern parenting style that always left us in stitches. Take, for example, the way he handled one of Carlton and Will's failed schemes in season two:</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o0MRisuE52I" style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Or how he completely shut down this guy's attempt to smoke in an elevator ... and then took his phone:</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ANEur7L9dVU" style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">And how could we forget his confrontation at a police station in season one?</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AW9pklBXqk4?feature=player_embedded" style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4. He had a go-to move for kicking people out of his house.</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whenever you saw Will Smith's real-life friend and recording partner DJ Jazzy Jeff on-screen in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," you knew he wasn't going to be around for long. The running gag on the sitcom was that Jazzy Jeff's character, Jazz, was always getting thrown out of Uncle Phil's mansion. It happened so often it became a patented move.</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N9vUNDY45Jc" style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5. He could bust a move when he wanted to.</strong><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></strong><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Uncle Phil was constantly getting ribbed by his family -- and especially Will -- about his weight, but the regal patriarch wasn't without a sense of humor.</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WAlF6xH60j8" style="border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="450"></iframe></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Will brought it out of him with this classic dance scene from season five.</div><div><br /></div></div>

Five reasons James Avery was one of the greatest TV dads (BLOG)

(CNN)  -- James Avery was a prolific and versatile actor during his 68 years, but he's best known to several as Uncle Phil. A classicall...

Read more »