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Friday, March 15, 2013
Re-Enact the Greatest Space Battle of All Time on Your Living Room Wall
Thursday, March 14, 2013
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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Wednesday, March 13, 2013
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.
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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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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
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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