Steve Ballmer To Buy L.A Clippers For $2 Billion

Former Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer, left, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver attend an NBA playoff game on May 11. GC Images

Steve Ballmer, Former Microsoft chief, reached an agreement to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion with Shelly Sterling, but it remains uncertain if her husband and embattled team owner, Donald Sterling, will fight it.

 

Mr. Sterling's attorney had said late Thursday—before Ms. Sterling announced the deal—that Mr. Sterling hadn't yet decided what he will do.

 

Ms. Sterling has been running a process to sell the team and said early Friday that she had signed a binding contract for the sale. She and Mr. Sterling each owns half of the team through a trust they share, though he is the owner as recognized by the NBA.

 

Ms. Sterling, in announcing the deal, said she was acting under "her authority as the sole trustee of the Sterling Family Trust." Ms. Sterling believes that she has the authority to declare Mr. Sterling mentally incapacitated and to sell the team without his consent under provisions lined out in the trust they share, people familiar with her thinking said.

 

It remains unclear what authority Ms. Sterling has or whether the NBA would agree to a sale without Mr. Sterling's approval

InspirationToday: Success Is Sum of Daily Input

Finally Apple confirms $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics and Beats Music

Apple will be purchasing both Beats Electronics and Beats Music for a total of $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in equity, reports The Wall Street Journal. News of the deal first surfaced earlier this month, when the Financial Times reported that Apple would be buying Beats for $3.2 billion, pretty close to the final amount. According to Apple's press release, the company expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. Apple's fiscal fourth quarter runs from the beginning of July to the end of September.

As has also been reported, Beats cofounders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine will both join Apple, and Iovine in particular will be leaving Universal Music Group to work at Apple full time. Iovine said the two men's titles at Apple would be "Jimmy and Dre" and that they will split their time between "Apple's electronics and music-streaming divisions." The two will also work to "bridge the cultural divide between technology and entertainment," implying that they will play a part in securing content deals for Apple. Dre will reportedly continue his other career as a music producer but will do "as much as it takes" for Apple.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had kind words to say about the Beats streaming music service in particular: "We love the subscription service that they built," said Cook.

Kim Kardashian makes it official, Changes name to Kardashian-West

A few days after marrying Kanye West, Kim has changed her name on her Twittter and instagram accounts to Kim Kardashian West. She did so yesterday May 28th.

 If you recall she refused to change her name to Humphries back in 2011, telling her husband then that the Kardashian name was already a brand and she couldn't drop it or add anything to it. I guess Kanye West brand is  a money bag decision

Stand Up For Justice

There are numerous situation within our circle and community that we have to stand or run against. We must not be silent. silence is for weak men. Rise up to the challenge, and rise up for a change.

Manchester United and Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer dies aged 85

Malcolm Glazer, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and English soccer club Manchester United, has died aged 85.

The NFL franchise released a statement on their official website announcing Glazer had passed away on Wednesday morning.

 

One of seven children, Glazer assumed control of the Buccaneers in 1995 and they went on to claim their first Super Bowl crown in 2002.

 

He bought English Premier League team Manchester United in 2005 in a controversial takeover that was heavily criticized by a large section of their fans for loading debt onto the club.

 

Despite this discontent, the club continued to enjoy huge success on the field, winning five Premier League titles and one European Champions League crown under his stewardship.

 

"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are saddened to announce the passing of Owner/President Malcolm Glazer earlier this morning at the age of 85," read the statement.

 

"Mr. Glazer's long established estate succession plan has assured the Buccaneers will remain with the Glazer family for generations to come.

 

"Linda Glazer, along with their five sons and daughter, will continue to own and operate the team as they have throughout the family's ownership."

 

"A private family funeral service will be held for Mr.Glazer. The opportunity for others to remember and celebrate Mr. Glazer's life will be announced at a future date."

What Makes A Leader

It was Daniel Goleman who first brought the term “emotional intelligence” to a wide audience with his 1995 book of that name, and it was Goleman who first applied the concept to business with his 1998 HBR article, reprinted here. In his research at nearly 200 large, global companies, Goleman found that while the qualities traditionally associated with leadership—such as intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision—are required for success, they are insufficient. Truly effective leaders are also distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence, which includes self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill.

These qualities may sound “soft” and unbusinesslike, but Goleman found direct ties between emotional intelligence and measurable business results. While emotional intelligence’s relevance to business has continued to spark debate over the past six years, Goleman’s article remains the definitive reference on the subject, with a description of each component of emotional intelligence and a detailed discussion of how to recognize it in potential leaders, how and why it connects to performance, and how it can be learned.

Every businessperson knows a story about a highly intelligent, highly skilled executive who was promoted into a leadership position only to fail at the job.

3 Golden Ways to Master the Hashtag

In an episode of his late-night show last fall, Jimmy Fallon held a Twitter conversation in real life with Justin Timberlake. Littered with spoken hashtags (my favorite: #lololololololololololol), the sketch skewered what happens when companies--and all of us--get a little carried away with tacking these things onto every social media utterance.

But hashtags don't have to be gratuitous and silly. They serve a purpose and can help tell your company's story, share your history and align you with an audience.
In social media, the pound symbol (or hash) turns any word or group of words that directly follows it into a searchable link or keyword on Twitter, Vine, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+ and Pinterest. A hashtag is a handy shortcut--a way for people to find, categorize and rally around topics and conversations. So if you want to chat about the return of 24 to the Fox Network this month, you might search for #24Fox to follow the conversation. You can track and follow trending hashtags on the various platforms themselves or via Hashtags.org, which categorizes and gives details for each.

Here are some ways you might consider using hashtags for your own organization.

Share your history. #throwbackthursday (or #tbt) began organically, with people on Instagram sharing pictures of themselves as kids or reminiscing about historical events. Even the First Lady (@michelleobama) regularly plays along with the popular meme, posting throwback photos of herself in college, with her brother as a child or from her high-school yearbook.

Some companies use the weekly ritual as a way to share their brand histories. People magazine (@peoplemag) celebrated its 40th birthday with an Instagram video that flipped through the pages of its first issue.

Homeless Teen Graduates As Valedictorian, Will Attend College Thanks To The Internet

Despite struggles, Griffin Furlong has 4.65 GPA. Griffin Furlong, from Jacksonville, Fla., has faced more trials than your average high school student, and yet he still managed to triumph over adversity and succeed.

The teen lost his mother to cancer when he was a child, leaving him with his father and older brother. Soon after the death of his mother, the three found themselves living in a homeless shelter for two years, CBS 10 News reported.

When Furlong was in sixth grade, his family finally moved into a home but money was scarce and they often went hungry, according to WFTV 9. Then, just a few weeks before graduation, Furlong found himself without a home once again.

"At some point I wanted to quit," he told WFTV 9. "It was horrible. A kid should not have to go through that."

Cristiano Ronaldo The World's Most Marketable Footballer

REPUCOM'S TOP 10 MARKETABLE FOOTBALLERS
Player Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi Gerard Pique Fernando Torres Wayne Rooney Andres Iniesta Neymar Iker Casillas Z. Ibrahimovic Thierry Henry	Club Real Madrid Barcelona Barcelona Chelsea Man United Barcelona Barcelona Real Madrid PSG NY Red Bulls	Rating79.49 75.87 62.90 62.69 59.47 59.47 59.36 59.09 59.07 57.56

Repucom have described the Portugal international, who has over 82 million Facebook likes and 26 million Twitter followers, as "an endorsers' dream"

 

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most marketable footballer in the world, according to a top global sports marketing research group.

The Real Madrid attacker pipped Lionel Messi to the Ballon d'Or in January and edges out the Argentine in Repucom's top 10 trend-setters in the game today

“Ronaldo is an endorser’s dream," the company's CEO, Paul Smith, stated.

"His value is as important to the teams he plays for as they are for the companies that endorse him.

"Global awareness of Ronaldo is what drives his commercial power and with over 82 million Facebook likes and 26 million Twitter followers, he is also one of the most liked in the business.”

Messi is a close second to Ronaldo, while the Argentine's Barcelona teammate, Gerard Pique, who has a child with pop star Shakira, occupies third place.

Even more surprisingly, Chelsea's much-maligned forward Fernando Torres is fourth in the rankings, just ahead of England international Wayne Rooney.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta is sixth, just ahead of another Blaugrana player (the fourth in total), Brazilian superstar Neymar.

Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas stands eighth, ahead of the only two players in the top 10 not plying their trade in either Spain or England: Paris Saint-Germain ace Zlatan Ibrahimovic and New York Red Bulls veteran Thierry Henry.

Repucom emply a marketing measurement tool that analyses the perceptions of over 6,500 people in 13 international territories, thus representing the views of more than 1.5 billion people worldwide.

 

Top 10 Quotes From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou

An incredible gem of her generation. She won three Grammys, spoke six languages and was the second poet in history to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration. Here is top 10 Quotes From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou:

“But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.”  

 

 “Anything that works against you can also work for you once you understand the Principle of Reverse.”  

 
“Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you....see, you don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking."
 
“Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”
 
“People whose history and future were threatened each day by extinction considered that it was only by divine intervention that they were able to live at all. I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed.”  

Canada Still Searching For 1st Win Since 2002, Another Tie With Moldova

Canada's Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, left, challenges for the ball with Artur Patras of Moldova during a friendly soccer match Tuesday in Mauer, Austria. (Ronald Zak/Associated Press)

The Canadian men's soccer team is still looking for an elusive win, but for now a pair of draws against European opponents is progress enough for head coach Benito Floro.

Canada played to its second-straight 1-1 draw Tuesday, coming from behind to tie Moldova in a friendly in Mauer, Austria.

Canada also tied Bulgaria 1-1 in a friendly last week.

Tuesday's result means Canada's 16-game winless streak that dates back to October 2012 remains intact as the team still searches for its first win in seven games under Floro's leadership.

Still, Floro said he was pleased with aspects of Canada's game.

"I am happy because the team is progressing, and the players are happy because they can see the progress," he said. "For us it isn't important to be looking at the results right now, that will take time."

Things got off to poor start for Canada when Moldova's Eugeniu Sidorenco, left unmarked in the penalty area, nodded the ball past Canadian goalie Milan Borjan in the seventh minute.

Spoiled Food Confiscated By Officials At World Cup Venue

A view of the Royal Tulip hotel, where the England soccer team will be staying at during the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian health and safety officials raided the England and Italy team hotels for next month's World Cup and confiscated fish, butter, ham and other food past their sell-by dates.

More than 50 kilograms of food deemed unfit for consumption was taken from the Portobello Hotel where Italy will stay and another 2kg was removed from England's Hotel Royal Tulip. Both hotels are in Rio de Janeiro.

 

As part of a wider campaign by the 'State Secretariat for the Defense and Protection of Consumers', officials visited 13 restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries, shops and hotels, and notified eight of them for irregularities.

 

“In total, 218kg of food unfit for consumption was discarded,” the Secretariat said in a statement.

 

One of the biggest raids came on Monday at Italy’s hotel in Mangaratiba, just outside the city of Rio.

 

Officials there discovered 25kg of seafood and margarine past the sell by date, and another 24kg of meat, sauces, cheese and sugar that had no visible sell-by date.

 

They also removed 2.6kg of salmon, parma ham and butter after visiting England’s hotel.

 

Both hotels were also warned for not providing condoms to guests, as is required under Brazilian law.

 

Agents also visited the Hotel Caesar Park where the Netherlands squad will be based but found no irregularities there.

 

Reuters

 

Thirty-two teams will take part in the World Cup next month, the first to be held in Brazil since 1950. Many of them will bring their own food and their own chefs.

 

Athlete Heather Dorniden Takes a Fall But Stuns The World By This..Watch and Be Inspired!

Heather Dorniden was leading a 600 meter race with one lap to go when she suddenly tripped and fell to last place. What she did next shook the entire crowd, and you're about to see why.

Hilarious! Hollywood Celebs Read Mean Tweets Directed At Them On Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmel Kimmel show gets A-List celebrities including Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Ashton Kutcher, Courteney Cox, Andy Garcia, Mindy Kaling, David Blaine, Don Rickles, Ethan Hawke, Matthew McConaughey, June Squibb, Jeremy Piven, Kit Harrington, Emma Stone, Gary Oldman and Sofia Vergara, to read mean tweets directed at them.

Apple Needs To Re-Invent To Maintain Market Leadership Says Expert

Tim Cook., Apple CEO

Apple is in the middle a "reset," says Walt Mossberg. 

Mossberg was the personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal for years. Recently, he started his own site, Re/code, with business partner and fellow journalist Kara Swisher.

Through the years, Mossberg became friendly with Apple founder Steve Jobs.

His criticisms of Apple have a tendency to reverberate inside Apple. When Apple released MobileMe, its own email system, Mossberg panned the product because it had "too many flaws."

Shortly after Mossberg's criticism, Jobs stood on stage at Apple's headquarters and ripped the team behind MobileMe. "You've tarnished Apple's reputation," said Jobs. "You should hate each other for having let each other down ... Mossberg, our friend, is no longer writing good things about us."

He then fired the manager in front of the project on the spot.

We spoke with Mossberg last week, and asked him what he thinks of Apple right now.

"Apple is going through a reset. There’s just no way around it," says Mossberg. "It’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Goldman Sachs Predicts the WorldCup Winner

The football (or soccer if you prefer) World Cup is nearly upon us. It’s a big deal.

Beginning June 12, millions of fans across the world will be suffering from an acute urge to watch the action on the screen. Symptoms may include frequent visits to the pub, tired eyes for those who stayed up all night watching games, or even, dare we say it, a certain prioritization of football over work.

Stocks of beverage companies will no doubt feel the benefit.  Plenty of funny headgear will make its way onto the TV. Even those with fairly gloomy dispositions will for a few weeks think that—just perhaps– their mediocre teams could topple much better outfits. Ha!
But which team will win the tournament?

Hosts Brazil, according to Goldman Sachs, which has crunched lots of numbers. Lots and lots of numbers (Dominic Wilson and Jan Hatzius from Goldman Sachs’s economics team joke that they wish staff showed the same level of dedication for their day jobs.)





Goldman explaining the methodology:

Solange's Music Sales Jumps Up By 230% After Jay Z Elevator Attack Went Viral

You would think if you did something like this, fans and the general public will find a way to punish you - by like not buying your music or not attending your concerts. But that's not what's happening in Solange's case, instead she's experiencing an increase in music sales.

According to Nielsen Soundscan, the week after video footage leaked of Solange punching, kicking and spitting on her sister's husband, Jay Z, her digital music sales jumped 233%!

The week prior to the fight footage becoming public, Solange's music sales hovered around 600 downloads but the week after the video leak, it surged to over 2000. Now it's nearing 3000 downloads

You know what they say, no publicity is bad publicity. Look at Kim K for instance, she became an international superstar after a leaked sex video.

Legendary Poet Maya Angelou has died at age 86

Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86.

Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she had served as a professor of American Studies since 1982.

Tall and regal, with a deep, majestic voice, Angelou defied all probability and category, becoming one of the first black women to enjoy mainstream success as an author and thriving in virtually every artistic medium. The young single mother who performed at strip clubs to earn a living later wrote and recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. The childhood victim of rape wrote a million-selling memoir, befriended Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and performed on stages around the world.

An actress, singer and dancer in the 1950s and 1960s, she broke through as an author in 1970 with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which became standard (and occasionally censored) reading, and was the first of a multipart autobiography that continued through the decades. In 1993, she was a sensation reading her cautiously hopeful "On the Pulse of the Morning" at former President Bill Clinton's first inauguration. Her confident performance openly delighted Clinton and made the poem a bestseller, if not a critical favourite. For former President George W. Bush, she read another poem, "Amazing Peace," at the 2005 Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the White House.

She remained close enough to the Clintons that in 2008 she supported Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy over the ultimately successful run of the country's first black president, Barack Obama. But a few days before Obama's inauguration, she was clearly overjoyed.

Taylor Swift Cancels Bangkok Show After Coup

Taylor Swift says she is sending her love to fans in Thailand after her sold-out concert next month was cancelled because of the country's military takeover. The American singer will not play in the Thai capital, where a night-time curfew was introduced when the army took over.

 

Concert promoter BEC-Tero said on its website that the show on June 9 was called off "due to recent events in Thailand".

It didn't elaborate but called the move "a difficult decision for all parties".

The country is under a night-time curfew which is currently being lightly enforced.

There have been political protests in Thailand

"I'm sending my love to the fans in Thailand," Swift tweeted." I'm so sad about the concert being cancelled."

The American singer-songwriter has other performances throughout Asia during her current Red Tour.

On Monday the King of Thailand formally appointed the country's army chief to lead the nation.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, officially endorsed General Prayuth Chan-ocha to run the country under the National Council for Peace and Order until new elections can be held.

Deadline for pro-Russian rebels to leave Donetsk passes

A deadline imposed by Kiev for pro-Russian rebels to leave buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk has passed.

Earlier Tuesday, a Ukrainian government spokesman told Fox News that the rebels should flee or face "precision weaponry."

 

The Ukrainian government said the pro-Russia separatist militants in Donetsk had until 4 p.m. local time to leave the buildings they are occupying.  An hour after the deadline passed, there were no signs of military action, according to a Fox News reporter in the city.

A spokesman with Ukraine's "anti-terror operation" said that if the rebels do not leave the buildings, those targets would be "hit with precision weaponry."

Fox News also confirmed from another source that Ukraine may use military action Tuesday against the pro-Russian rebels on the same day Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko said in an interview that the military operation in Donetsk would be over in "a matter of hours."

Donetsk mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko said a total 40 people, including two civilians, were killed Monday after troops repelled a rebel attempt to seize control of the airport, Ukraine's second-largest.
Local morgues were overflowing with bodies and rebel leaders said Tuesday that the death toll could rise up to 100.

The bodies of about 30 insurgents were brought Tuesday to a hospital morgue in Donetsk, said Leonid Baranov of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic, who was at the Kalinin morgue.

3 Month Pregnant Pakistani Woman Stoned To Death By Her Family For Marrying The Man She Loved

 

A pregnant Pakistani woman was stoned to death by her own family in front of a Pakistani high court - for marrying the man she loved, UK Daily Mail reports

 

Nearly 20 members of the woman's family, including her father and brothers, attacked her and her husband with batons and bricks in broad daylight.

Farzana Parveen, who was three months pregnant, was killed before a crowd of onlookers in front of the high court of Lahore, police have reported. (Her corpse seen above)

 

Police official Naseem Butt said the 25-year-old had married Mohammad Iqbal, with whom she had been engaged for years against the will of her family. 

Her father had filed an abduction case against her husband, which the couple was contesting, her lawyer Mustafa Kharal said. 

Kharal said Parveen's relatives waited outside the court, which is located on a main downtown thoroughfare. 

 

As the couple walked up to the court's main gate, the family members fired shots in the air and tried to snatch her from Iqbal, he said.

InspirationToday: Send A Drop of Kindness

Send A Drop Of Kindness

Send a drop of kindness,
And see a happy face.
A drop of kindness goes real far,
It may even reach outer space.

Send a drop of love,
And feel a loving embrace.
It feels so good to feel like,
You are in the right place.

Send a drop of hope,
But be that shinning star.
Hope is wonderful to have,
But sometimes you can't sit away so far.

Send a drop of faith,
With a single prayer.
And God will show the way,
As faith is always there.

 

Poet: Julie Hebert, © 2012

Canadian Hezbollah Commander, One Of FBI's 'Most Wanted,' Finally Killed In Syria

Lebanon's Hezbollah militants hold flags as they walk towards the cemetery where their fellow fighters were buried during a ceremony conducted one day after Hezbollah's Martyr's Day, in the Beirut's suburbs, November 12, 2010

A senior Lebanese-Canadian commander in the Shi'ite Muslim militant group Hezbollah has been killed in Syria where he was fighting alongside Syrian government troops against rebels, security sources and a monitoring group said on Tuesday.

Fawzi Ayoub, who is on the FBI's "most wanted" list for attempting to bomb Israel, was killed on Monday by the predominantly Sunni Muslim rebel forces who have been waging war on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for more than three years.

Hezbollah has joined the Syrian government in a increasingly sectarian conflict that is pulling in fighters from across the region and destabilizing Syria's neighbors.

Sunni Muslim Islamist groups, some of them linked to al Qaeda, have joined mostly Sunni Syrian rebels against the Assad, who belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

Ayoub was arrested in the West Bank in 2000 and spent four years in an Israeli jail before being released as part of a prisoner swap, the sources said.

Five Ways 'Game of Thrones' is Like America of Today

For many authors, historians and political scientists, the HBO hit show "Game of Thrones" raises issues that overlap with today's most combustible political debates. Some of the characters, they say, even have modern parallels. Click through the gallery to see some of these examples -- though please keep in mind this is a comparison of personality traits, not a suggestion that any of these real-life figures should meet the same fate as their fictional counterparts.

A fire-breathing dragon has never vaporized a senator giving a pompous speech on C-SPAN. No candidate has ever poisoned a rival at his wedding reception, and no "white walker" zombie has ever dragged a screaming climate change skeptic away.

Yet anyone who thinks HBO's popular "Game of Thrones" is just about kings and castles misses how much the show reflects contemporary America, several scholars, authors and fans of the show say.

                         

The fantasy TV series is set in the fictional kingdom of Westeros, where a small group of powerful families scheme against one another to seize control of the "iron throne." Look past the dragons and knights, though, and the show offers eerie political and racial parallels between the world of Westeros and the United States, fans and scholars say.

 

Only elites can play the game

There is no middle class in "Game of Thrones." The "99%" of Westeros -- the peasants, innkeepers and farmers -- survive at the whim of a small group of wealthy families who treat them with indifference and cruelty.

 

The HBO show is an adaptation of George R.R. Martin's series, "A Song of Ice and Fire." (HBO and CNN are both owned by Time Warner.) Martin modeled his books on medieval Europe, where there was a huge gap between the rich and poor, says Steven Attewell, author of "Race for the Iron Throne" and editor of a blog with the same title.

 

Medieval thinkers justified that gap by using some of the same rhetoric people use today to explain poverty: It's the poor's fault.

 

The poor were told that there was something inherently wrong with them: They were the descendants of Noah's son, Ham, a cursed Biblical figure, Attewell says.

 

The 99% of Westeros could identify with the anger of Occupy Wall Street, fans of the show say.

"They said that because the poor people are sons and daughters of Ham, it was God's will that they serve as peasants," Attewell says. "They also cited passages in the Bible that commanded obedience to the king and the servant to the master."

 

Social mobility was extremely limited by modern standards, Attewell says. A typical peasant paid taxes to a lord who essentially owned him.

Five Alarming Facts About The State Of Nuclear Weapons In Today's World

Fat Man nuclear bomb

In a piece titled Nuclear Weapons Modernization: A Threat to the NPT? in the May issue of Arms Control Today, Hans Kristensen reports that “all of the world’s nuclear-weapon states are busy modernizing their arsenals and continue to reaffirm the importance of such weapons.”

Bear in mind that it’s been 46 years since the five nuclear-weapons states that signed the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), along with states without nuclear weapons, agreed to work towards nuclear disarmament.
                                
Kristensen writes that "none of [the nuclear-armed states] appears willing to eliminate its nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future."

In the course of his piece, Kristensen reports on a number of characteristics of nuclear weapons of which most are not aware — facts that should alarm for reasons other than the potential humanitarian consequences of a future nuclear strike.

1. “…although the numerical nuclear arms race between East and West is over, a dynamic technological nuclear arms race is in full swing and may increase over the next decade.”

Due to treaties such as New START, the number of nuclear weapons deployed by the two major nuclear powers, the United States and Russia, is declining. However, those weapons still in existence are being reconfigured for use in perpetuity.

2. “All told, over the next decade, according to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, the United States plans to spend $355 billion on the maintenance and modernization of its nuclear enterprise, an increase of $142 billion from the $213 billion the Obama administration projected in 2011.”

To many American policy planners, money is no object for a deterrent that ostensibly guarantees that another world war will never start. But is there no limit to the cost we’ll bear? One of Kristensen’s least fun facts:

Pope Francis Plans Vatican Meeting With Sex Abuse Victims

Pope Francis talks to journalists during a press conference he held aboard the papal flight on his way back to Rome. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool

Pope Francis announced Monday he will meet with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican after comparing the “ugly crime” to performing “a satanic Mass.”

 

Pope Francis said he plans to meet soon with sex abuse victims and will show “zero tolerance” for anyone in the Roman Catholic Church who abuses children.

 

“There are no privileges,” the pope added.

Francis revealed that three bishops are currently under investigation by the Vatican for abuse-related reasons, although it wasn’t explicit if they had committed abuse themselves or covered it up.

The pope, 77, spoke after his Middle East tour to reporters for almost an hour on his flight from Jerusalem to Rome.

“Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime … because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord,” he said.

Francis plans to meet with up to eight victims in what will mark the first such encounter of his papacy. The Pope said the meeting and a Mass at the Vatican hotel would take place early next month.

A statement from the office of Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who is arranging the meeting and heads a commission established by the Vatican to investigate sex crimes, said the details hadn’t been finalized but that the meeting was expected to take place “in the coming months.”

Amazon 10,000 Robots Filling Customer Orders By The End Of The Year

Amazon currently uses some 1,000 robots by Kiva Systems, a company it bought for $775 million in 2012, to fill its customers' orders. Now CNN reports that Amazon will have 10,000 robots doing the same by the end of this year.

CEO Jeff Bezos revealed the plan to double down on robotics during a shareholder meeting and emphasized that despite the popular sci-fi theme of robotic uprising, no humans will lose their jobs as a result of the increased robotic workforce.

Below is a video that shows "a day in the life" of a Kiva robot navigating a complex warehouse environment, just like what you'd find at Amazon. Consider what Amazon is already doing with 1,000 of these guys to help its human workers, then imagine what it could do with 10,000 of them.

All inventory is stored on "pods," which are essentially cabinets that a robot can safely interact with. When a robot identifies the pod containing an item to shipped, it swivels underneath of it and effectively becomes a car jack that lifts the pod off of the ground.

 

High-Speed Rail Link Between Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and London For As Low As $10

Glen Murray, who was Ontario's transportation minister until an election call earlier this month, has laid out an ambitious plan for rail expansion in southern Ontario - including money-making, low-cost high-speed rail. A transit expert is skeptical of the plan

A proposed high-speed rail link between Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo and London would see 56 trains a day, or 28 each way, with fares around $40, according to Glen Murray, Ontario's Transportation Minister until the election call.

In an exclusive interview with CBC News, Murray said the high-speed rail service can be completed within 10 years, and would cost between $2 to $3 billion, which is part of the $29-billion infrastructure fund announced by the Liberal government in their spring budget

"For a lot of people it will be a $10, $20, $25 ride if they're doing it every day. If you're a frequent rider you pay a much lower fare, if you book early or in advance you get a lower fare and if you're an infrequent rider who rides it once or twice a month you're probably going to pay a higher than $40 fare," said Murray.

"If you're going to use it to commute it will be very inexpensive. If you're someone who's living in London who's going to the airport at the last minute it will be more expensive. The average fare will be $40 a ride going from London to downtown Toronto," he added.

Photo Of The Week: Pope Embraces Jewish Priest And Islamic Cleric

Pope Francis seen in a warm embrace with Jewish Rabbi (Abraham Skorka) & Muslim Iman (Omar Abboud) at the Western 'wailing' wall of Jerusalem during his state visit to Jerusalem recently.

Grouchy New York Post’s Report Of Kimye’s Wedding

ALERT (yawn): Kimye weds”

“Two jackasses got married in Italy Saturday.

 

Sex-tape star Kim Kardashian, 33, wed egotist Kanye West, 36, in a wedding opulent enough for Florence’s Medici dynasty and tacky enough for reality TV.

They were betrothed at Florence’s 16th-century Fort di Belvedere castle. Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner walked Kim down the aisle.

The republic still stands.”

It’s not clear why the paper took this cynical approach given that it’s devoted a lot of space to both Kim and Kanye’s adventures over the years.

No comment yet from the newly wedded couple but we can expect some media frenzy and melodrama after their honeymoon.

Tragic! Canadian Doctor Murdered In Pakistan While Visiting Parents' Graves

Canadian cardiologist Dr. Mehdi Ali Qamar was killed in Pakistan Monday while visiting the graves of his parents.

The brother of a Canadian cardiologist gunned down in Pakistan in front of his wife and two-year-old son says Mehdi Ali Qamar had just arrived in Pakistan to do volunteer work at a hospital.

Police say two gunmen riding a motorcycle shot Qamar 10 times at close range in the town of Chanab Nagar, adding that Qamar's wife and son were not harmed.

Hadi Ali Chaudhary says his brother and his family arrived in Pakistan several days ago from their home in Ohio and planned to treat patients at the Tahir Heart Institute in Rabwah.

Chaudhary says Qamar — who had lived in Ohio for about a decade — his wife and son were visiting the graves of his parents when he was killed on Monday.

Chaudhary says Qamar, 51, who had been living in Ohio for about 10 years, will be flown back to Canada for burial in Toronto.

A Foreign Affairs spokesman says they are in contact with local authorites to gather more information. Police have said they don't have a motive for Qamar's slaying, but the family says he was killed for being a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Canada community.

"The government of Pakistan, they made a law against our community that these are non-Muslim, and because of that law ... anybody can kill the person who is non-Muslim," Chaudhary said.

Qamar knew of the danger he faced, his brother said, but regularly went to the region for three or four weeks at a time to volunteer at the hospital, visit family and help the poor.

"That's the kind of generous man he was," Chaudhary said.

The Qamar's eldest son had remained in Ohio, and his other son was in Pakistan but not with his parents at the time of the shooting.
          
Jason Elsea, from the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Columbus, Ohio, said Qamar lived in Pickerington and had a practice in Lancaster. Qamar had recently taken a sabbatical to volunteer at the heart hospital. 

Canadian George Chen Identified As Victim In Elliot Rodger's California Rampage

George Chen, 19, was stabbed to death, along with two others, in Elliot Rodger's apartment before Rodger went on a shooting rampage.

A 19-year-old man from Ottawa has been identified as one of the victims of Friday's mass murder at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

George Chen, who was studying computer science, was a graduate from Leland High School in San Jose, Calif., and one of six people killed.

Family friend Sherry Shih told the San Francisco Chronicle that Chen was a gentle soul who had a fondness for working with children.

Shih said Chen was a "very good kid, very smart," and that his parents are in a "very, very sad mood" and unable to speak about what happened.

Chen's parents visited a makeshift memorial on Monday night and added their names in chalk to the sidewalk.

They told KABC-TV that the United States needs tougher gun laws to avert another mass killing.
"We would die a hundred times, a thousand times, but we don't want our kids to get hurt," Chen's mother, Kelly Wang, said as she spoke through tears. 

9 Signs You Know You Can Trust Someone With Your Heart

No matter how tough you may be, your heart is a delicate thing. Here are nine ways to know when you can trust someone with it.

It really amazes me what falling in love can do. It turns closed up, self-centered, arrogant, private individuals into people willing to open themselves up, expose themselves and voluntarily make themselves vulnerable. Love really does seem like a mental disorder. Love makes us want to give ourselves over to another.

We let down our guards and allow those we love to see the real us – naked and vulnerable. This is where the fun part comes: giving yourself up too soon will likely ruin what you have. The very same can be said for giving into love too late.

There’s a narrow window of time that relies heavily on those involved. Sometimes things align just right and they work out wonderfully. The real task is knowing that window when you see it.

1. You’ve known this person for at least a year (two if you want be safe).

You may not be able to help falling for someone, but you can help letting him or her know too early. Once you say those three words, your relationship goes to the next level; it will never be able to level back down again. Once you love someone, you’re supposed to love that person forever (or so we’re led to believe).

Before giving someone your heart and taking the relationship to the next level, make sure that you know who you’re getting into bed with. No pun intended.

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2. As far as you know, this person has never lied to you.

And if he or she has, you at least never found out. I understand that most people are entirely against lying, but the truth is that no one wants to be told the truth all the time. Reality is harsh and having it softened by those who love us can be a wonderful thing. There are some lies, however, that shouldn’t be told.

Certain types of lies are formed out of malice and deception. If you know you’ve been lied to before and were hurt by the knowledge itself then you may want to rethink moving forward. It’s not the lie that hurts, but the truth that it’s covering. You don’t want to be with someone who hurt you in the past while lying to you about it.

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3. This person doesn’t need to be chased after – you simply manage to find each other.

Before you hand your heart over, be sure that the person you’re handing it over to actually cares about you. It’s not difficult to tell. If he or she is there when you need and isn’t always the one who is in need, then it’s a good bet that this person really enjoys spending time with you. If he or she enjoys your company that much then he or she most definitely cares about you. Beware those who seem to be regularly unavailable.

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4. This person told you that he or she isn’t “going anywhere” and you believe it.

Before people say “I love you” they tend to ease in with an “I’m not going anywhere” remark, or its equivalent, strategically fitted as a witty and romantic response. If this person doesn’t plan on running off and is falling for you, he or she is likely to start by making you feel safe.

This person wants you to trust in him or her because this person wants to be able to one day, in the near future, exchange those words.

Top 10 Small Cities In Canada

Small cities are scattered throughout the Canadian landscape, but there are some that stand apart from others. The cities on this list represent the best quality of life that Canada has to offer. Each of these cities will make a great vacation spot or a perfect place to start a family.

These cities have rich historical roots, thriving economies and many leisure activities. Best of all, you can get a taste of the small-town atmosphere while having access to the same amenities that attract people to large cities. With distinct local traditions, each of the following cities has something unique to offer you.

 

10. Grande Prairie, Alberta

Located in northwest Alberta, Grande Prairie is one of the fastest growing small cities in Canada. According to Grande Prairie’s website, the population reached 55,032 in 2011 during its second major growth spurt. Average income per household was listed as $126,877 in 2012.

The most recent unemployment statistics from February 2014 listed this city as having a low 2.4-percent unemployment rate. Average home prices for 2014 are $324,385, while the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,124.

Grande Prairie’s first boom happened after the Elmworth Deep Basin Gad Field was discovered in 1977. The population of the sleepy village accelerated quickly, but even a dramatic increase in construction couldn’t keep up with the demand for housing. The good news is, Grande Prairie learned from its history and has adapted successfully to recent growth.

Grande Prairie officially became a city when it received a charter in 1958. The city quickly became known as the “Home of the Trumpeter Swan” because officials from the Canadian Wildlife Service had found nesting sites in the wilderness surrounding Grande Prairie.

In fact, the CityofGP website highlights the cooperative efforts of Canadian and American conservationists responsible for removing the trumpeter swan from the endangered species list.
Grande Prairie is a wonderful city for nature enthusiasts. Grande Prairie’s website lists Muskoseepi Park as one of its most popular attractions.

This park has 18 kilometers of trails for hikers, bikers and joggers. The trails run through the entire city from north to south, giving visitors the opportunity to enjoy beautiful scenery and diverse wildlife in the heart of a busy town.

Grande Prairie also has a variety of other attractions. According to CityofGP, The Art Gallery of Grande Prairie is the largest public gallery in the region. The Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum will be opening its doors to the public soon, and it will feature 41,000 square feet of educational displays for the family, as well as a research space for archaeologists from around the world.

9. Caledon, Ontario

Even though it wasn’t officially established as a town until 1974, Caledon has a history stretching back more than two centuries. According to Caledon’s website, Caledon was originally a part of the County of Peel, which was purchased by the British in 1805.

The area around Caledon was opened to settlers in 1820, and villages started to spring up around mills on the Humber and Credit rivers. In the 1870s, newly-built railroads in the area sparked another settlement boom. It’s the remnants of these early settlements that make Caledon such a fascinating historic community today.

On Caledon’s website, you can find many historic attractions. You can visit the Melville White Church, which was built in 1837. It is designated as the oldest church in the Region of Peel, and it has been completely restored by the Belfountain Heritage Society.

You can also rent the St. Andrew’s Stone Church, which was built in 1853. This beautifully restored Scottish Presbyterian church makes the perfect destination for weddings, reunions and more.

Proud of its title as “The Greenest Town in Ontario,” Caledon works hard to deserve its recognition as a leader in environmental practices. Citizens and local government share a commitment to preserve the natural beauty of their home by supporting sustainable development and lifestyles.

Reducing energy use, supporting solar projects throughout the community and a city-side recycling program are some of the ways Caledon “Lets their green show.”

Caledon is also a horse-lover’s paradise. The town’s website calls Caledon the “centre of all things equestrian.” In and around Caledon, you will find some of Canada’s top horse farms, as well as a variety of riding schools, boarding stables, equestrian events and more.

The Caledon Equestrian Parka popular destination for equestrian sportsmen and women from around the world. They have hosted Olympic Selection Trials, Pan Am Game Trials, and other world-class equestrian sporting events.

8. Ville de Saint-Georges, Quebec

In 2001 four municipalities merged to form the present-day Ville de Saint-Georges. The city now includes a thriving urban center, two suburbs and rural lands.

The Ville de Saint-Georges website lists this town as the third best city in Quebec and the eleventh best city in all of Canada for quality of life. With a population of 32,000, the local government bills the Ville de Saint-Georges as an economic hot spot.

This small city has an unusually high number of small businesses, and it serves as one of Quebec’s manufacturing hubs. It’s no accident that so many small and medium-sized businesses call Ville de Saint-George home. With no port, agriculture, forests or mines to provide employment, Ville de Saint-George municipal leaders turned to industry to develop the town’s local economy.

With such an excellent growth rate, it’s no wonder that the Ville de Saint-Georges is becoming a center for cultural, social and leisure activities. This town has numerous festivals throughout the year. In February, local artists gather at the Lacroix-Dutil Sports Center to showcase their ice sculptures.
There is a Summer Solstice Celebration in June, and a Winter Solstice Celebration in December.

People walk the Path of Gateways by torchlight on the evening of the longest and shortest days of the year. In July, the Ville de Saint-Georges holds the Dragon Boat Race. Boats decorated to look like dragons gather on the Chaudiere River for this day-long race.

According to the Ville de Saint-Georges website, this small town is also a popular destination for cyclists from around the globe. With a network of bike trails that winds through several parks, bicycling is a common way to travel the city.

The Ville de Saint-Georges also hosts many world-class races. Cyclists participate in the yearly Tour de Beauce, as well as the Canadian Championships and the Grand Tour.

7. Whitehorse, Yukon

Whitehorse, Yukon has a long and wild history. What started as a campsite for Indians of the First Nations grew, and became what it is today: the capital city of the Yukon. According to the Yukon info website, Whitehorse is named for the rapids on the Yukon River, just south of the city.

The plumes of these rough waters were said to have resembled the manes of running horses. During the Yukon Gold Rush, the White Horse Rapids were the most notorious danger gold seekers faced on their way to the Klondike.

Whitehorse became a city in 1950, and it was adopted as the capital of the Yukon in 1953. The infamous White Horse Rapids were tamed with the construction of the Whitehorse hydro-electric dam in 1958. The local government’s website names Whitehorse “The Wilderness City.” By most standards, Whitehorse is a small town, but with more than 27,000 residents, it is the largest city in the Yukon.

According to the Yukon Community Profile page, the residents of Whitehorse can enjoy the best of nature and technology. Situated on the banks of the Yukon River, this small city is a short drive from some of the world’s most beautiful mountains and lakes.

Eugenie Bouchard Wins 1st WTA Title By Beating Pliskova To Lift Nuremberg Cup Final

Eugenie Bouchard overcame some second set hiccups in Saturday's final to win the Nuremberg Cup.

The Westmount, Que., native prevailed by scores of 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 over Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic.

"I'm really excited, of course, second Grand Slam of the year and I think I've had great preparation," said Bouchard at centre court after Sunday's match.

"This week has really helped me get ready and I'm looking forward to playing some great tennis."

Bouchard appeared to be cruising to a straight sets win, but at 4-2 in the second she went on to drop the next five games. It was the first set she lost all week.

She began to experience problems with her serve toss and appeared discouraged before mounting the comeback.

"This is kind of like a stepping stone for me. Winning a WTA title is of course a goal I've had, and I'm so happy to accomplish it, but I still want to achieve more - more titles, bigger titles," Bouchard said.

Bouchard is ranked 19th in the world but was seeded second at the German tournament, reflecting the fact that nearly all of the top women's players elected to pass on the event ahead of the French Open, which begins Sunday. Still other tour players were in France playing a Strasbourg tuneup.

Outrageous! North Korean leader executes engineers behind collapsed building that killed 500

According to two Chinese newspapers, North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un ordered the execution by firing squad of 4 design and construction engineers who built the 23-storey building that collapsed in the capital of Pyongyang on May 13th 2014 leading to the death of about 500 people.

92 families lived in the building as at the time it collapsed and most of the people killed were top intelligence and security officials. Kim Jong Un gave a rare public apology to North Koreans after the collapse occurred and ordered an inquiry. The four engineers were reportedly executed last week.

The main cause of the building collapse remains unclear but shoddy construction is said to be a likely cause because onsite directors and workers often smuggle out steel and cement to sell in black market

 

Kim Jong-Un has been reported to execute anyone who falls short of his expectations, including members of his own family. Killing engineers though?  This is outrageous!

Canadian Icon of The Month: Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek was born on July 22, 1940, in Sudbury, Canada, a large city in northern Ontario. His mother, Lucille(Lagacé) Trebek, was a Franco-Ontarian woman with some First Nations ancestry, and his father, George Edward Trebek, was a Russian immigrant who worked as a chef at a local hotel

In 1966 he decided to shift his focus from journalism to hosting game shows. He became the host of the Canadian quiz show Reach for the Top. His first American television gig was as host of the short-lived 1973 NBC game show The Wizard of Odds. In 1984, ABC hired him to host Merv Griffin's new trivia show, called Jeopardy!.

Alex Trebek has served as the host of Jeopardy!, one of the most popular game shows in television history, for which he has won several Daytime Emmy Awards.

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Trebek graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in Philosophy. After his first decision to become a newscaster, he joined the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company), Canada's premier network in 1961. As he was working, he helped organize national news and covered a variety of special events for CBC's radio and television divisions, receiving high praise as a broadcaster who retained his poise and composure in the toughest places. Then, in 1966, he became a Canadian game show host on Reach for the Top (1965), and stayed there for the first seven years until he migrated to the United States to host his very first game show in that country, The Wizard of Odds (1973), for NBC.


On May 17, 2002, Jeopardy! (1984) celebrated a milestone, the show celebrated its 4000th episode and at the same time, it received another Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Game Show/Audience Participation", making it its 21st Emmy. Like Bob Barker, Alex Trebek had broken the world record as host of TV's #1 quiz show in the country, and he won 2 Emmy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame(located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard, near those for Ann-Margret and Vincent Price)., and, this year, was described as one of the Top 10 Canadians on U.S. Television. Today, as Alex began his 19th year as the host, he remains as popular as any other quizmaster

In March 2006, it was announced that he would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.^[31][32] He is the second game show host to be inducted (the first being Monty Hall of Let's Make a Deal and the third being Howie Mandel of Deal or No Deal). His star is located on King Street West near those of the Crazy Canucks and Eugene Levy. In 2011, it was announced that Trebek would be one of the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmy Awards.

Hunger Games Director's Son Kiiller Elliot Rodger's Six Victims' Names and Faces Revealed

 

On Friday May 23rd, Elliot Rodger the son of Hollywood movie director, Peter Rodger went on a crazed shooting spree for being rejected by girls and being a virgin at age 22. 

All six of his victims have been named. They are (top row, from left to right) Katie Cooper, Chris Michael-Martinez, Veronica Weiss, (bottom row, from left to right) Weihan Wang, George Chen, and Cheng Yuan Hong, who shared same apartment with the killer. All were students at UCSB.

 On Friday May 23rd, the privileged 22 year old son of Hunger Games assistant director Peter Rodger, Elliot Rodger took his own life after killing 6 people and leaving 13 others wounded in Isla Vista near the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The Santa Barbara City College student, who was angry at the world for still being a virgin at 22, posted a chilling video hours before he went on rampage warning of ‘retribution’ because girls rejected him.

The killer, who had Asperger’s syndrome and was in the care of several therapists, started by stabbing three of his roommates to death around 9.30pm on Friday then armed himself with three handguns and drove to nearby Alpha Phi sorority. According to law enforcement agent, Elliot knocked on the door but no one would let him in and that was when he spotted two women standing outside the sorority and fired shots at them killing two of them, Katie Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19.

After the shooting, Elliot Rodger returned to his black BMW and drove to IV Deli Mart in Golita where he shot dead 20-year-old UCSB sophomore Christopher Martinez, an unsuspecting bystander.

Elliot in his BMW before the shooting

Elliot then engaged in an exchange of gunfire with police before shooting himself dead.
In the video posted hours before the killing spree, Elliot ranted about women rejecting his advances.

‘I’m 22 years old and I’m still a virgin. I’ve never even kissed a girl,’ he says in the video. ‘College is the time when everyone experiences those things such as sex and fun and pleasure. But in those years I’ve had to rot in loneliness. It’s not fair. You girls have never been attracted to me. I don’t know why you girls aren’t attracted to me. But I will punish you all for it. I’m going to enter the hottest sorority house of UCSB and I will slaughter every single spoilt, stuck-up, blonde s*** that I see inside there. All those girls that I’ve desired so much, they would have all rejected me and looked down on me as an inferior man if I ever made a sexual advance towards them.