Chan wins 3rd title but Ten steals show at worlds

Canada's Patrick Chan falls during his free program in the men's competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

Canada's Patrick Chan falls during his free program in the men's competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

First place winner of the men's free skate Patrick Chan of Canada, center, poses with second-placed Denis Ten of Kazakhstan, left, and third-placed Javier Fernandez of Spain at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013, in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Denis Ten, from Kazakhstan, celebrates after his free skate program in the men's competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. Ten won the silver medal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

Gold medalist Patrick Chan, center, of Canada, flanked by silver medalist Dennis Ten, left, of Kazakstan, and bronze medalist Javier Fernandez show off their medals during the flower ceremony in the men's competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Denis Ten of Kazakhstan reacts to his scores during the men's free skate program at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013, in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

LONDON, Ontario (AP) ? The title may have gone to Patrick Chan, but there was no question the night belonged to Denis Ten.

The little-known skater from Kazakhstan stole Chan's spotlight at the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday night with a beautifully breezy and technically impressive performance to "The Artist."

Uggie surely would have approved. The Canadian fans certainly did, giving Ten a standing ovation when he finished and greeting him with louder cheers than they did even for Chan when he was introduced as the silver medalist.

"I never expected this," Ten said, who knelt on the ice for several seconds when he finished, tapping the ice with one hand.

Though Ten won the free skate, he couldn't overcome the big lead Chan had from the short program. Chan finished with 267.78 points, 1.3 better than Ten.

"It is a two-program competition and I'm thankful for that beautiful short program," Chan said. "Maybe I'm saving the long for the Olympics."

Still, when Ten saw his marks, his mouth dropped open and he pumped his fists. He'd never been better than seventh at world championships or Olympics before. This is Kazakhstan's first medal ever at the world championships.

Javier Fernandez of third, giving Spain its first medal, too.

U.S. champion Max Aaron was seventh and Ross Miner was 14th, ensuring the Americans will have two spots in Sochi.

No one ? Ten included ? could have predicted this performance a few days ago. Heck, he'd been 12th just last month at Four Continents, a competition that doesn't include the Europeans or, this year, Chan.

But in one of those happy accidents of fate, everything came together at exactly the right time and place for the 19-year-old.

"Worlds was amazing," Ten said. "Every year this is the competition everybody is looking forward to. I was waiting for this moment so long."

Continuing a story he'd started with the short program, Ten was a revelation. He didn't so much as skate to "The Artist" as he did pick up where the Oscar-winning movie had left off.

He was a silent film star on ice, pantomiming and using every other inch of his body to talk to the audience ? and judges ? without ever uttering a word.

His skating was flawless, with centered spins and complex footwork. His quad was big and solid and the rest of his jumps were strong. But it was the landings that were most impressive, with his blades carving the ice like a diamond cutter.

Had he not doubled the first jump in his triple flip-double toe combination, he ? not Chan ? would have been standing atop the podium.

With the Sochi Olympics a year away and these world championships in his own country, Chan wanted this title badly.

Maybe too badly.

He got off to a spectacular start, doing a quadruple toe loop-triple toe combination and a solo quad toe that were so technically perfect, coaches all over went running for their DVR.

Then the downward spiral began. He splatted on a triple lutz, a jump that's simple in comparison to those quads, and fell on an underrotated triple axel. He flipped out of the landing on the last jump of a triple flip-single loop-triple salchow combination and watered down a triple lutz-double toe combo.

Chan knew this wasn't one of his more memorable performances, slapping his forehead several times when he finished. Did it again as he waited for his marks, giving the audience a sheepish smile.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I did not get to do a good program," said Chan, the first man to win three straight world titles since Alexei Yagudin (1998-2000).

Oozing charisma and swagger, Fernandez can sell his programs like few other skaters these days.

At 21, he's way too young to recall Charlie Chaplin. But Fernandez's portrayal of him was so spot on, no one could take their eyes off of him.

Early in the program, he did an old-fashioned royal curtsy, rolling his hand down from his nose to the ground. He started one footwork sequence by stuffing his hands in his pockets, fixing the audience with a flirty smile and shrugging his shoulders.

He even managed a little duck walk. That's tough to do in street shoes, let alone figure skates.

The flaws in his program, hard as it may be to believe, were with his jumps. Fernandez has always had great hops, and he did two quads ? one salchow and one toe loop ? that were very nice.

But he popped both jumps in what was supposed to be a quad salchow-triple toe combination into doubles, and singled the opening lutz in a planned triple lutz-double toe combination.

Earlier Friday, Tatiana Volosozhar and Makim Trankov won the pairs title, Russia's first since 2005.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-15-FIG-World-Championships/id-9284d550de3d4d518726b7349f9af3c0

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Red Nose Day fiddles whilst Rome according to our writer

It seemed to go on for ever.

?

Like a nightmare vision of the future with James Corden and his merry men let loose on the TV wearing bits of red stuff for charity. and, er, that was it.

?

It was hours of very rich celebs asking you to cough up charity and loads of people wearing red noses with comedians you had managed to avoid for years suddenly ramming their bloated faces back into your consciousness and making no effort to be funny because, well, it?s for charity.

?

Yeah, I know it?s all for charity and we should be grateful that the loaded showbiz world are giving up valuable time etc for the needy but there is something about Red Nose Day that is really irritating.

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For a start it seems to be an excuse for the worst comedians and the usual millionaires against poverty mob of family entertainers to spend hours of TV time being even worse than usual with endless painful, unfunny sketches where they implore us for our hard earned as they polish their brands in the full glare of the public spotlight.

?

It?s also an annual excuse to murder a musical classic in the name of charity. This year Simon Cowell boy band One Direction have mugged the Undertones classic Teenage kicks and Blondie?s One Way Or Another in the assault on the number one spot. Murdering two songs all at once, that takes some doing! and once you have drained all the sex, excitement and life out of the two great songs and clogged up the arteries of the mainstream with your turgid cholesterol pop and pumped up your crummy brand you still want us all to clap you for you charitable loveliness.

?

We we won?t , because you are part of the problem and not the solution. Simon Cowell fiddles whilst Rome burns and the entertainment industries audacious arrogance fiddles even harder whilst Africa starves and the great British public, generous as ever, stick their hands in their pockets and pay millions towards helping then poor.

?

It seems less like any kind of addressing of the problem of why we have starvation in the world and more like another puffing up of flimsy showbiz careers.

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The only winner is the Cowell brand and a load of lame comedians stumbling around TV studios on auto pilot. It?s a truly sorry spectacle. Simon Cowell, singer Jessie J, comedian Peter Kay and boy band One Direction all made appearances dancing on the bones of Africa?s broken homes. It was like the drooling death of everything, like the last days of Rome- a gladiatorial jamboree of feeding egos to the lions and patting their well fed backs for the effort.

?

Lovely stuff!

?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LouderThanWar/~3/uTBDbe-nmbA/

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2 missing after jumping into icy river to save boy

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

Emergency crews were searching Friday for a man and woman who jumped into the icy waters of the Big Sioux River in South Dakota to try to save a six-year-old child, before being swept off by the raging current themselves.

The two adults jumped into the river near Sioux Falls around 6 p.m. local time on Thursday after the young boy fell in, according to local NBC affiliate KDLT.

The woman is related to the child but not his mother, the man is not a relative of the boy, KDLT reported.

?By the time I got there he was already in there and they had him by the arm,? Napoleon Ducheneaux, a friend of the man who dove in, told KDLT.

?They had the kid in his arm and he slipped and fell. And then not too long after that the kid popped up a little bit to the right and climbed up the rocks by himself," he added.

The two adults found themselves in trouble.

?I heard him and the woman talking. He said something like, ?You hold on to me, I?ll hold on to you.? And I kept telling them to come to my voice,? Ducheneaux told KDLT.

The two then slipped under the water, Ducheneaux said.

Sioux Falls Fire Rescue Chief Jim Sideras confirmed two people were missing.

"We have some issues with very thick ice that we are trying to address. We also have a high flow of water because of ice melting," he said.

"We have a lot of foam. We have on the scene crews who are trained in swift water rescue and ice rescue. We also have on site a dive team. Because of the thickness of the ice it's not possible for that team to go in. We are still doing search patterns," he added.

Sideras told KDLT that the boy was safe with family members. ?I was with him and he?s with family members and he?s doing fine,? Sideras said.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/15/17323610-two-missing-after-jumping-into-icy-south-dakota-river-to-save-six-year-old-boy?lite

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Wells Fargo CEO's $19.3 million in pay leads peers

By Rick Rothacker

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co Chief Executive John Stumpf's pay increased 8 percent in 2012, making him one of the industry's best-paid leaders, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

Stumpf received $19.3 million in compensation, comprising a $4 million bonus, $12.5 million in performance-based stock grants and $2.8 million in salary , after the No. 4 U.S. bank by assets hauled in record profits. For 2011, Stumpf received total compensation of $17.9 million.

While many of its rivals suffered missteps, San Francisco-based Wells emerged from the 2007-2009 financial crisis as the nation's biggest mortgage lender and a coast-to-coast retail bank after buying Wachovia Corp. Berkshire Hathaway Inc's Warren Buffett is the bank's biggest investor, owning 8.8 percent of its shares, according to the filing.

Wells posted $18.9 billion in earnings in 2012, up 19 percent from the previous year, but investors are worried the bank will have trouble repeating the performance amid a decline in mortgage refinancings. The bank's shares rose 24 percent in 2012, below the 30 percent increase in the KBW Bank Index.

Stumpf is landing at the top of the banker pay scale as some of his peers are getting their paychecks docked.

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman's total pay for 2012 fell 7 percent to $9.75 million, while JPMorgan Chase & Co awarded CEO Jamie Dimon $11.5 million after slashing his bonus in half after the bank lost billions on disastrous trades by its Chief Investment Office.

Bank of America Corp chief executive Brian Moynihan, however, received a 73 percent raise that brought his total compensation to $12.1 million in 2012. New Citigroup CEO Mike Corbat made $11.5 million in 2012 for his work leading the bank and for his previous role as head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc CEO Lloyd Blankfein has received stock awards worth $13.3 million as part of his 2012 bonus, but the rest of his pay hasn't been disclosed.

Thursday's proxy filing also disclosed 2012 compensation for other top Wells Fargo executives. Wholesale banking head David Hoyt made $10.65 million, followed by Chief Financial Officer Tim Sloan ($8.8 million), community banking head Carrie Tolstedt ($8.73 million), consumer lending executive Avid Modjtabai ($8.43 million) and wealth, brokerage and retirement head David Carroll ($8.43 million).

UTAH, HERE WE COME

In a venue change, Wells' annual stockholder meeting will be held April 23 in Salt Lake City, Utah, according to the filing. Last year's gathering near the bank's San Francisco headquarters was disrupted by demonstrators protesting foreclosures and other issues. Goldman Sachs Group Inc is also holding its annual meeting in Salt Lake City this spring.

Before this year, Wells had held its last 14 meetings in San Francisco. Prior to Norwest Corp's 1998 acquisition of Wells Fargo, Norwest held meetings in its hometown of Minneapolis, and Wells sometimes held meetings in other California cities.

Holding the meeting in Salt Lake City "is consistent with the company's ongoing practice of holding many major company meetings outside of San Francisco in cities where we enjoy a significant presence of customers, team members and operations," bank spokeswoman Bridget Braxton said.

At the meeting, stockholders will vote on whether the bank should have an independent chairman, a proposal rejected last year. Stumpf currently holds both the CEO and chairman positions.

Shareholders will also vote on the election of 14 directors. Current board members Nicholas Moore and Philip Quigley aren't standing for re-election.

(Reporting by Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, N.C.; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wells-fargo-ceos-19-3-million-pay-leads-010429160--sector.html

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At CPAC, dueling visions for GOP's future

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.?The organizers of this year's Conservative Political Action Conference tossed political junkies a taste of premium-grade smack Thursday when they scheduled back-to-back speeches by Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio?two young Republicans who offered their own visions for the party.

Although Paul and Rubio agree on several things, they represent separate strands of the Republican Party. Paul embodies the more libertarian wing, which places a heavy emphasize on curtailing executive power. Rubio has set his sites on defending a traditional values agenda while focusing on policies that promote small business.

Both men, however, see a need for the party to extend its message to new constituencies, particularly minorities who traditionally support the Democratic Party.

The two junior senators, who joined the chamber together in 2010, are considered bright lights with promising futures in the party. Neither has denied interest in running for president in 2016. (Paul has said he's "seriously" considering it.) For a party desperately seeking a fresh face with bold ideas to lead them, these dueling speeches before the largest annual conservative conference gave the party faithful an early look at who could be players in the Republican primary field.

In recent months, both Rubio and Paul have been thrust into the spotlight. Rubio, in January, joined a bipartisan group of eight senators in unveiling a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform, putting him at the center of what could become one of the most important policy debates in Washington this year. He was also chosen by the party to deliver the official GOP response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address in February.

Last week, Paul captured the GOP's attention (and widespread support) when he spoke for 13 straight hours on the Senate floor in protest of Obama's controversial drone program.

At CPAC Thursday, Rubio spoke first, delivering a wide-ranging message that focused on several red-meat issues for the thousands of conservative activists at the conference. He urged them not to stray from principles and emphasized the need to explain Republican ideas to working-class Americans.

In one of his most passionate moments at the lectern, Rubio defended Republican opposition to gay marriage and abortion, two topics some have urged the party to avoid.

"Just because I believe that states should have the right to define marriage in a traditional way does not make me a bigot," Rubio said. "Just because we believe that life?all life, all human life?is worthy of protection at every stage of development does not make you a chauvinist."

Although Rubio called on Republicans to direct their message to the middle class to help shed the stereotype that they're the party that defends the rich, he concluded by urging them to refrain from abandoning long-held principles when striving to reach new voters.

"As soon as I'm done speaking, I'll tell you what the criticism of the left is going to be. No. 1, that he drank too much water," Rubio said, joking about his awkward water grab while delivering his response to Obama's State of the Union. "No. 2, that he didn't offer any new ideas. And there's the fallacy of it. We don't need a new idea. There is an idea, the idea's called America. And it still works."

The end of Rubio's speech was met with a standing ovation, immediately followed by Paul's address.

Paul, the son of the anti-war Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, largely kept his remarks focused on a single issue: limiting presidential power. Still riding high from the attention he received from his filibuster, Paul boasted that he was skipping a lunch with Obama that day to address the conference, and said he had a message for the president "that doesn't mince words." At that moment, a man in the audience shouted, "Don't drone me, bro!"

"That's not exactly what I was thinking," Paul said, laughing. "However, I think you may have distilled my 13-hour speech into three words. The message for the president is that no one person gets to decide the law."

Similar to Rubio, Paul shared his vision for the future of the GOP, one that emphasized "liberty," and had some sharp words for some of his fellow Republicans, who he said had allowed the party to go "stale."

"The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered," Paul said. "I don't think we need to name any names, do we? Our party is encumbered by an inconsistent approach to freedom. The new GOP will need to embrace liberty in both the economic and the personal sphere. If we're going to have a Republican Party that wins, liberty needs to be the backbone of the GOP."

For many, the speeches were the first side-by-side look at Rubio and Paul. Later in the week, CPAC organizers will announce the results of a conference-wide presidential straw poll that has both of their names on the ballot. The results won't be scientific by any means, but they will shine a speck of light on which vision of the future these conservative activists prefer for their party.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/rubio-paul-cpac-two-visions-future-gop-202444192--election.html

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Historic Single- & Two-Character .ORG Auction to ... - Domain News

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Ryan unveils GOP budget (CNN)

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Sea gull perches on Sistine Chapel smoke stack

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? With no pope, a sea gull is stealing the show at the papal conclave.

Smoke watching has become bird watching in St. Peter's Square after a sea gull perched atop the chimney that belches out smoke from the Sistine Chapel to signal whether or not a pope has been elected.

From the chapel's tiled roof, the gull had a commanding bird's eye view Wednesday of the sea of pilgrims eagerly waiting in the rain for papal tidings. Black smoke means no pope yet; white means "Habemus Papam" ? "We have a pope!"

The bird offered welcome comic relief.

Dublin tourist Harry Sheeran quipped that the gull was "nearer to heaven than we are."

Minutes after being spotted, the bird inspired a slew of Twitter accounts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sea-gull-perches-sistine-chapel-smoke-stack-173848159.html

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Democrats' Plan Mixes Tax Increases, Spending Cuts (WSJ)

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Fla. politician resigns, 57 charged in scandal

Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll speaks about the 1,578-acre land acquisition for Camp Blanding in Clay County in front of the Florida Cabinet Thursday, March 7, 2013, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. The $2.1-million land purchase, with $1.5 million coming from the U.S. Department of Defense, was approved. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)

Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll speaks about the 1,578-acre land acquisition for Camp Blanding in Clay County in front of the Florida Cabinet Thursday, March 7, 2013, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. The $2.1-million land purchase, with $1.5 million coming from the U.S. Department of Defense, was approved. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)

Jacksonville (FL) Sheriff John Rutherford describes a chart showing the key co-conspirators in the operation "Reveal the Deal", an investigation of illegal operations and racketeering by Allied Veterans of the World. The news conference was held inside the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in Jacksonville, Fla. on Wednesday March 13, 2013. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Bob Mack)

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2012 file photo, Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll speaks during Florida Space Center day in Tallahassee, Fla. Carroll abruptly resigned Wednesday, March 13, 2012 after authorities questioned her ties into internet cafes that authorities say are fronts for gambling. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference Wednesday, March 13, 2013, in Orlando, Fla. Florida's lieutenant governor resigned and nearly 60 other people were charged in a widening scandal of a purported veterans charity that authorities said Wednesday was $300 million front for illegal gambling.(AP Photo/John Raoux)

FILE- In this Oct. 26, 2010 file photo, Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, right, puts his arm around running mate Rep. Jennifer Carroll, R-Jacksonville, during a campaign stop in New Port Richey, Fla. Carroll abruptly resigned Wednesday, March 13, 2012 after authorities questioned her ties into internet cafes that authorities say are fronts for gambling. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? Florida's lieutenant governor resigned and nearly 60 other people were charged in a scandal involving a purported veterans charity that authorities said Wednesday was a front for a $300 million gambling operation.

The organization, Allied Veterans of the World, runs nearly 50 Internet parlors with computerized slot machine-style games, which are normally legal in Florida if most of the proceeds go to charity.

But investigators said the organization's executives gave precious little to veterans and lavished millions on themselves, spending it on boats, beachfront condos and Maseratis, Ferraris and Porsches.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi called the alleged scam "callous" and "despicable" and said it "insults every American who ever wore a military uniform."

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll was not among those charged but resigned a day after she was questioned by investigators.

The public relations firm she co-owned, 3 N&JC, did work for St. Augustine-based Allied Veterans. A Navy veteran who served in the Gulf War, Carroll also appeared in a TV ad in 2011 promoting the organization's work on behalf of veterans and their families.

Authorities refused to discuss any ties between the 53-year-old Republican and the investigation. Her aides had no comment.

Carroll said in a statement Wednesday that neither she nor the public relations firm was targeted in the probe, and she stepped down so that her ties to the organization would not be a distraction for Republican Gov. Rick Scott's administration.

The investigation involved 57 arrest warrants and 54 search warrants issued in Florida and five other states: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Nevada and Pennsylvania. As of midafternoon, 49 people had been arrested. Allied Veterans' 49 parlors in Florida were raided and shut down.

Authorities said they seized about 300 bank accounts containing $64.7 million, as well as sports cars and other property.

Bondi said that when charges are formally filed next week they will include racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering and possession of slot machines.

"It is shameful that Allied Veterans of the World allegedly attempted to use the guise of charitable organization to help veterans in order to lend credibility to this $300 million gambling scheme," she said.

A telephone number listed for Allied Veterans was disconnected. Emails to an address on the group's website were not returned. The address Allied listed as its headquarters appeared abandoned, the long, gray cinder-block building bare inside.

Gerald Bailey, commissioner of Florida's Department of Law Enforcement, said the arrests are only the first wave of the investigation and the second wave will look at the "large sums" of money spent on lobbying and donations to political campaigns. He would not give details.

Allied Veterans was founded in 1979 and evolved from a charitable organization that ran bingo games and held bake sales for veterans to a group suspected of widespread illegal gambling around Florida, according to an Internal Revenue Service affidavit. The IRS pronounced the charity a fraud.

One of those arrested, Jacksonville lawyer Kelly Mathis, was identified by authorities as the mastermind of the scheme. He allegedly made about $6 million from the operation.

A woman who answered the phone at Mathis' law firm said no one was available to talk about his arrest.

From 2007 to early 2012, investigators said, they found evidence of nearly $6 million in what appear to be charitable donations by Allied Veterans. That was only about 2 percent of the more than $290 million made from gambling during that period, they said.

Most of the money went to for-profit companies and the operators of Allied Veterans, authorities said.

To play games at one of the Internet cafes, a customer gets a prepaid card and then goes to a computer. The games, with spinning wheels similar to slot machines, have names such as "Captain Cash," ''Lucky Shamrocks" and "Money Bunny." Winners go back to a cashier with their cards and cash out.

Each of the locations had rows of computers and a big sign that read: "This is not a gaming establishment." On the walls were photos of company executives making donations and letters of recognition from some of the charities that supposedly benefited.

In Anadarko, Okla., the owner of International Internet Technologies, a company accused of supplying the cafes with software, was arrested along with his wife. Chase Egan Burns, 37, and Kristin Burns, 38, face charges including racketeering and conspiracy.

International Internet Technologies made $63 million from the Florida operation from 2007 to 2010, according to the IRS.

"What we do is legal," Chase Burns told The Oklahoman on Monday.

Carroll served 20 years in the Navy, working as a jet mechanic before retiring as a lieutenant commander. She was elected Florida's first black lieutenant governor in 2010, winning office as Scott's running mate. She is also a former executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs.

A married mother of three, Carroll has a son who plays for the Miami Dolphins.

Carroll became embroiled in a short-lived scandal last year when a fired staffer claimed that she walked in on Carroll and a female aide in a compromising position. Carroll denied that.

She became the brunt of late-night talk show hosts after she told a TV station that black women who look like her "don't engage in relationships like that." She later apologized for any implication that black lesbians are unattractive.

___

Associated Press writers Curt Anderson and Kelli Kennedy in Miami; Jeff Donn in Plymouth, Mass.; Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Fla.; and Tim Talley in Anadarko, Okla., contributed to this story.

Associated Press

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Queen Elizabeth excludes gays, trans from ?non-discrimination? charter (Americablog)

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12 PR Don'ts for Online Entrepreneurs | Young Entrepreneur Council

What's the Update?

"When you launched your website, you probably wrote text for a bunch of static sections like About Us, Contact, etc. Don't forget to check back on those later on and make updates as necessary. Reporters make enough mistakes as it is -- the last thing you need is for them to be getting outdated information on your company from your own website and then putting that in an article."

Source: http://theyec.org/12-pr-donts-for-online-entrepreneurs/

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Splitter helps Spurs beat Thunder 105-93

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? The San Antonio Spurs rebounded from their worst loss of the season with a balanced performance against one of the NBA's best teams.

This was one satisfying victory.

Tiago Splitter had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and San Antonio snapped Oklahoma City's five-game winning streak with a 105-93 victory on Monday night.

"I think everybody played well," Splitter said. "I was one of them. You play well and you feel better. You want to play well against these kinds of teams, these playoff teams. Of course, we've got to stay humble. It's one more game."

Kawhi Leonard scored 17 points, Danny Green had 16 and Tim Duncan finished with 13 as San Antonio (49-15) maintained the Western Conference's top record. Manu Ginobili had 12 points and Boris Diaw added 11 as the Spurs' reserves outscored their counterparts 34-16.

"We had a lot of great play from the bench," Duncan said. "That second squad came in there and kind of changed the tempo and took control of the game."

Kevin Durant had 26 points and Russell Westbrook added 25 for the Thunder (47-17), who have lost six straight in San Antonio. Serge Ibaka was the only other player in double figures, adding 13 points and 16 rebounds.

San Antonio's defense was the difference, turning an evenly matched battle into its third victory in four games without Tony Parker. The All-Star point guard is going to miss another three weeks with a sprained left ankle.

"Normally teams don't push us out so we can't run our offense," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "They did a good job of being physical with us. We're usually in attack mode and we're able to get better catches and better execution. That's something we can get better from. We've always done a great job of watching film and throwing it on the practice floor to improve on."

The Spurs lost 136-106 to Portland on Friday night, with the Trail Blazers setting a record for most points by an opponent at the AT&T Center and handing the Spurs their second-worst home loss ever.

A couple days later, it was a much different story for San Antonio.

Oklahoma City had only two baskets in the opening 10 minutes of the fourth, but was 11 for 12 on free throws. The Thunder went 4 for 20 from the field in the final period.

"We just stuck with it," Duncan said. "It was great to see the tide turn and us turn up our aggressiveness on defense."

Durant was 7 for 13 from the field, compared to 11 for 27 by Westbrook. Durant said the shot differential was a product of the flow of the game.

"I can do whatever I want on offense," he said. "I can come down and take 30 shots, but that is not the right brand of basketball for me. I was trying to make the right basketball play. The Spurs do such a great job of making me pass the ball. I was picking and choosing my shots. I trust my teammates."

Asked about San Antonio's defense and the Spurs' run in the second half, Westbrook offered the same terse reply.

"They made some shots," he said.

San Antonio scored the first nine points of the fourth to take a 92-74 lead with 9 minutes left.

Oklahoma City played Sunday afternoon in a 91-79 home victory over the Boston Celtics, but still managed to outrebound the Spurs 15-4 in the opening quarter, including a 5-0 advantage on offensive rebounds.

"No team ends up being a really good team without playing good 'D,' " Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "We played very poor defense in the first quarter. It looked like a continuation of the Portland game. But in the second quarter, we held them to 18 and we played a little more individual 'D,' took a look more pride in it. And the team 'D' was better. It's always about defense. If you don't play good defense, you're nothing in this league."

San Antonio made its first five shots, with Duncan hitting a pair of jumpers over Kendrick Perkins to help the Spurs to a 10-4 lead with 9 minutes left in the first. The Spurs then proceeded to go 2 for 10, enabling the Thunder to rally.

Ibaka drove to the hole and threw in a floater off Oklahoma City's fifth offensive rebound for a 24-14 lead.

After missing their first four 3 pointers, Green hit back-to-back attempts and Leonard hit another to pull San Antonio to 42-40 and force an Oklahoma City timeout. The 3s were part of a 23-4 run that gave San Antonio a 57-46 lead with 41.4 seconds left in the first half.

The run included Leonard stripping Westbrook at the basket, driving the length of the court and throwing down a left-handed dunk as Ibaka began to close in on the right. The basket made it 53-46.

Leonard guarded Durant primarily, and the All-Star attempted only one 3-pointer.

"Just coming out, having confidence in myself to guard him," Leonard said. "You know he's going to score points, but just trying to contest him. Not make it easy for him out there; he knocked down a couple of tough shots in the first quarter, so I just kept trying to move on from there."

NOTES: Splitter has eight double-doubles this season after collecting only three in his first two seasons. . Over the past four seasons, only the Spurs (210) have more victories than the Thunder (199). ... The Thunder, Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers are the only Western Conference teams with a winning road record.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/splitter-helps-spurs-beat-thunder-105-93-030241130--spt.html

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