text:
Welcome back to Midweek Madness, your friendly neighborhood tabloid roundup. Today, Pax Jolie-Pitt has a BlackBerry, Christina Aguilera is a lush, and Jennifer Aniston is adopting a child from a Mexican orphanage. We're betting she'll name her "Margarita"!
Life & Style
"Bachelor Dirty Secrets"
Basically, the magazine attempts to call Brad the Bachelor out on some inconsistencies, alleging that he was dating people when he said he wasn't dating anyone, and printing stuff like "can a player really change? Brad's new ready-to-settle down persona seems to be based on a foundation of lies." Of course, Brad says, "I want to be an incredible husband," and so on. Meanwhile, Bachelor contestant Michelle Money admits she dated basketball player Carlos Boozer (Money and Boozer? What a couple!) while he was married. She says: "What I did was wrong." Moving on: Seven year old Pax Jolie-Pitt has a Blackberry (see Fig. 1) Jessica Simpson will get married this year, but there won't be any TV cameras — she and Eric want it to be a "very small, intimate affair." Kim Kardashian is totes in love with Kris Humphries and wants to have his baby. Mark your calendars! The Twilight: Breaking Dawn wedding scene will be filmed in Vancouver in April! Lady Gaga's relationship with boyfriend Luc Carl "has always been tumultuous" and is now "hanging by a thread," according to a source. Lastly, here is the wedding dress of Real Housewives Of Atlanta's Cynthia Bailey. Silver! A bold choice. (See Fig. 2)
Grade: F (cold mac and cheese)
Sustainable beauty
Caprea's Essential Organic PH Cleanser is just $10 with promo code TEN. Normally $19, this foaming face wash is crafted with organic Monoi oil. It's meant to target the production of oil secretion while protecting your skin against air pollution. Normally $19, you can save big on this richly-lathering face wash while supporting a brand that keeps the environment top of mind.
"Love, Lies & Betrayal."
Last week we learned all about Brad from The Bachelor's criminal past — public intoxication, forgery, writing a bad bad check — and this week, in an exclusive interview, Brad says, "I had a couple of missteps when I was a teenager — some 20 odd years ago." He adds: "Some of the claims have been blown out of proportion." He's been in therapy for three years, he's a new man, ready to commit and very much in love! Oh, and you know Madison Garton, aka the girl with the vampire fangs? Brad says she should be the next Bachelorette."She'd be incredible." Moving on: Kendra dropped 10 lbs. by swapping Cheetos for watermelon and cheeseburgers for Lean Cuisine. Scintillating. In other news, the mag spoke to a "friend" of Angelina Jolie, who says the kids have a lot of freedom! The house in France is covered in crayon and magic marker. Pax and Angelina aren't as close as Pax and Brad, but Angie does have a Vietnamese nanny so Pax can keep speaking the language — he only spoke Vietnamese when he was adopted. Zahara is a mommy's girl and "needs the most lap time of all." Shiloh brings out Angie's playful side, and Maddox is her closest confidant. As for Knox and Vivienne, they like to burrow in their piles of stuffed animals and play hide-and-seek around bedtime. Cute! BTW: did you know that Ali, one of Leah from Teen Mom 2's daughters, is legally blind without her thick glasses? Lastly, Sammi from Jersey Shore reveals how she got her bikini body: "I miss it like crazy, but I don't eat pasta anymore." That'll be fun when you get to Italy! And by "fun," I mean "torture."
Grade: D- (plain iceberg wedge)
"Stabbed In The Heart."
People are always getting stabbed in the heart in tabloids! It's a crime wave. Anyway, this story is about how Jesse James is an insensitive jerk because he returned to Twitter just to gush about how much he loves Kat Von D and she is his best friend and so on. In 2007, Kat was chosen as the "Garage Gal" for Garage magazine, which Jesse owned. "Jesse has been obsessed with Kat for years," a source says. "Sandra never worried. Kat was the girl Jesse was allowed to have a jokey crush on. Sandra thought Jesse was in love with her, his wife, and never figured Jesse would do anything about Kat." But! Sandra has adorable baby Louis now, and he "keeps her busy and fulfills everything she needs right now." Jake Gyllenhaal showed up unannounced in Taylor Swift's hometown begging to see her, "for closure." Jake and Taylor went to dinner, and Jake said he didn't feel that he ended things right, and wanted to talk to TayTay face to face. Ugh, the break-up dinner. Fuck that. Kate Middleton will wear some kind of crown or tiara at her wedding, and has nearly 80 headpieces from the royal collection to choose from! SO JEALOUS. She likes the ornate Strathmore Rose Tiara, and so do we. Sure, it's worth about $10.5 million, but more important? It's pretty. (see Fig. 3). For her bouquet, Kate will carry cream and green blooms, but also a snippet of myrtle grown from a sprig that was used in the bouquet of Queen Victoria. And, of course, Kate has gotten her teeth whitened. Duh. Also, for a year prior to the engagement, she was wearing "high-tech" invisible braces to close the slight gap between her teeth which we didn't even know existed. Lastly, in "25 Things You Don't Know About Me," we learn that Lamar Odom, who is 6'10", was 6 feet tall when he was 10 years old. And! He is afraid of heights. He's also afraid to ski.
Grade: C- (watery lasagna)
In Touch
"My Kids Saved Me"
Jennifer Lopez gives the mag an exclusive interview, in which she reveals that she's had some rough moments in her marriage. She and Marc Anthony fight, but "having kids made us both see that there's a bigger picture." They have promised each other to never go to bed angry. Yawn. In the past, being overworked led to depression… and also, after giving birth, she says "all that chemical stuff peaked." The "baby blues" made her appreciate her husband more. Moving on! The Sandra Bullock story here says that in the wake of Jesse's engagement announcement, Sandy has been "sad and mopey," and that she "barely leaves home, except to go to business meetings or the gym" and is just "down all the time." Sniffle. Kim Kardashian is being really controlling with Kris Humphries, and is "obsessed" with who he hangs out with and who he talks to. His parents listen to Kim, because "they think she can get him into the Hollywood scene." There's an interview in here from Andrew Lewis, the baby daddy of Janelle from Teen Mom 2, and he says that the kid, Jace, doesn't have anyone stable in his life. Andrew secretly visits Jace at daycare, and has had six two-hour visits that Janelle doesn't know about. Pretty shady, since Andrew signed papers to give Janelle full custody. Andrew also says he saw Janelle smoke weed when she was 3 months pregnant, and that he once found speed in her jeans pocket. Reese Witherspoon's fiancé, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, won't let Reese pay for anything. He bought her a $450,000 ring, spent $26,000 on Lakers tickets and treats her to dinner at all of her favorite restaurants. The headline on this is "It's Expensive To Marry Reese!" like it's all her fault. Jake Gyllenhaal flew to Nashville to beg for Taylor Swift's forgiveness, and when his connecting flight was delayed, he rented a car and drove 200 miles so as not to stand her up. They went to dinner, and even though he had a hotel, he spent two nights with Taylor in her apartment. Break-up sex?! Robert Pattinson "has resorted to begging" Kristen Stewart to marry him. She's not sure she is ready. Michael Jackson's kids are moving into a new house — rented by Katherine Jackson — and away from MJ's brothers and their scheming wives — one of whom was trying to write a tell-all. Brad the Bachelor "hasn't really changed," says a source. He sent emails and text messages to his ex-girlfriend while he was on the show, and is just doing the TV thing "to salvage his public image." A source says: "Women everywhere hated what he did. Brad basically had no choice but to fall in love." Say what now? No choice? Calling the ORLY owl. ORLY owl to the white courtesy phone. Three random thin actresses are even skinnier now, hence the spread called "The Return Of Size Zero." (see Fig. 4) And last, but not least, in an epic feat of investigative journalism, "How Tan Is Too Tan" explores the spectrum of celebrity skin tones, from Emma Roberts to Snooki. (see Fig. 5).
Grade: C (SpaghettiOs®)
"Yes, I'm Adopting!"
You know how Jennifer Aniston is always going to Mexico? In between yoga on the beach and drinks in the cabana, she likes to volunteer at one specific orphanage, Casa Hogar Sion in Tijuana, and the orphanage director calls her a "friend." According to the mag, Jen has already signed papers to adopt a child, and the kid will be in her arms by her 42nd birthday on February 11th. We don't know for sure that the baby is coming from Casa Hogar Sion, but the director says "no comment," which, in celebland, totes means yes! We can't wait for the paparazzi pix of little Margarita in a tutu to arrive! In 2005, Jen said, "In five years, I would hope to have a kid." So if she wants to follow some old random timeline she once told a reporter about, she'd better get cracking. Jen already has a gender-neutral nursery in her Beverly Hills home, with a Harry Potter mural on the ceiling. Courteney Cox's daughter Coco has volunteered to babysit. This should be fun! Also inside: In an Unsolicited Uterus Update, we learn that Carrie Underwood is two months pregnant and will make a big announcement soon. Bradley Cooper's dad's "dying wish" was that Bradley marry Renée Zellweger. Shakira, 34, is dating a hot 24-year-old soccer player named Gerard Piqué. What else? Jillian Michaels and her girlfriend Heidi Rhoades have adopted a puppy! Kim Richards of Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills has apparently been hiding her alcoholism for over a decade. She was being set up for a blind date at a dinner party on the show, but got so drunk that they couldn't use all the footage. She went to rehab eight years ago, and Bravo won't renew her contract unless gets sober. Colin Firth has a "secret family" with Meg Tilly, but it's not that secret if it's in his Wikipedia, so we're moving on. Lastly: Christina Aguilera is "in crisis!" Christina recently got wasted and crawled into bed at Jeremy Renner's birthday party, and a week after that, she "unleashed a booze-filled verbal assault" on Julianne Hough at the SoHo House in West Hollywood. Christina was also seen sloshed at a Golden Globes after party, where she kept lifting her dress and making out with her boyfriend. A sidebar called "Bruised & Bloated" points out that Xtina's drinking has her "piling on the pounds." (see Fig. 6) See it's okay to be a lush, you just have to be one of those skinny drunks. Heaven forbid you gain weight! Christina's ex-husband, Jordan Bratman, is allegedly infuriated by her boozing and may go to court to request sole physical custody of their 3-year-old son Max. But Christina wants you to know that she is beautiful, no matter what they say. Words can't bring her down!
Grade: C+ (gnocchi with pesto)
Fig. 1 (from Life & Style)
Fig. 2 (from Life & Style)
Fig. 3 (from Us)
Fig. 4 (from In Touch)
Fig. 5 (from In Touch)
Fig. 6 (from Star)


text:
Another way to rent your house to vacationers launches in L.A.
Move over, Airbnb. A new competitor in the rent-your-home-to-vacationers business is launching in Los Angeles with the aim of giving visitors the feel of living like a local — or at least a local with money.
The London service, Onefinestay, is focusing on popular neighborhoods and niceties such as fresh linens and snacks from trendy restaurants. Along with a nicely appointed pad, starting at $250 a night, travelers also get use of a iPhone loaded with insider info on things to do and places to eat.
With its debut Monday in L.A., Onefinestay joins the emerging "sharing economy," in which technology-driven businesses, including Lyft and TaskRabbit, tout rides and expertise.
That one can use the Internet to look at Onefinestay home offerings is about the extent of similarities to online listing platforms for travelers such as Airbnb or HomeAway.
Service-oriented Onefinestay aims to arm home-stay visitors with local knowledge gleaned from the homeowners — and not just where to eat and shop or the route to the nearest cup of good coffee.
Yoga practitioners, a local acupuncturist and a good masseuse are among contact details that Venice architect David Hertz has compiled for whoever lands in his family home in the canal area.
"We tend to feel like we live in a spa-like environment, a resort-like environment," Hertz said.
He also included walking and biking routes to shops and points of interest along hip Abbot Kinney Boulevard and at the beach.
To make the most of the Southern California penchant for indoor-outdoor living, he designed and built a Bali-inspired, four-structure compound, which is connected by three bridges and centers on a lap pool.
Onefinestay homes are a "curated" collection of distinctive dwellings, company co-founder Evan Frank said. Staff visits member houses to be sure they meet company standards and interviews the owners. Most homes on the roster are primary residences.
"The personal stamp of the owner is something we look for," Frank said. "We would not have the character and richness of our portfolio if the homes sat empty all year-round."
A West Hollywood home once owned by "Wonder Woman" actress Lynda Carter, a Bel-Air house with a swimming pool and an ocean-view house in Pacific Palisades are among the nearly two dozen choices available in the L.A. area. Prices range from $250 a night for a one-bedroom Western-decorated apartment in WeHo to $2,159 a night for Hertz's four-bedroom home in Venice. Most stays are at least a week.
The owners are often involved in creative fields or endeavors that require extended travel during which the homes would otherwise be vacant.
Work can take Hertz away from home for a month at a time. With children away at college, his wife usually joins him.
"This gives us the freedom to travel and have our expenses covered," Hertz said. "Every bit helps with three kids in school."
Plus, he is spared the expense of hiring a house-sitter to keep an eye on the notable residence, which was used as a location for the first two seasons of "Californication."
The epiphany that family homes can offer a broader experience than hotel stays came to co-founder Greg Marsh in his own travels and led to the company's formation in 2010. New York City homes were added last year. Paris also joined the roster Monday with two dozen houses.
All the legwork is done for the homeowner members, called hosts by Onefinestay despite their absences. The company sends a photographer to take photos for the website, markets the property and screens guests.
Onefinestay cleans the house and makes sure it is returned in the shape in which it was found. Hotel-like amenities are stocked, including high-quality linens and towels, toiletries and even snacks from Joan's on Third.
Guests are met on arrival and given the use of an iPhone loaded with local information.
That greeting at arrival isn't all about goodwill, however. Onefinestay staff checks that passports match those of the expected visitors and takes other security measures.
"We provide assurance that everything will be managed and controlled," Frank said. "Should anything go wrong, we will be there to rectify it."
Company insurance provides a further safety net.
Home sharing with vacationers is stirring controversy in parts of Los Angeles, where some residents are trying to ban short-term rentals. Airbnb, in particular, has come up against opposition in Silver Lake because of residents' concerns about noise, traffic and parking congestion.
The initial Onefinestay homes, gathered largely by word of mouth, are thinly spread across the Westside, but the goal is to increase the number to close to 100 by the end of the year.
So far, the 1,000 houses and apartments that have opened their doors to Onefinestay in London and New York have been most popular with Australians, although travelers come from all parts of the globe. Families wanting to experience a slice of life elsewhere make up most of the visitors.
Hertz is cautiously optimistic that guest stays will go smoothly at his Venice showplace. A friend who lists a New York home with the service introduced him to Onefinestay. And, Hertz said, he likes the shared-economy aspect of the enterprise.
But, as an architect, he receives an added professional benefit: "Having people see the house is one of the best ways I get work."
Twitter: @LATHotProperty

subset: commoncrawl


text:
TruClean™ 590 Heavy Duty Rotary Moulder
- Rebuilds
Machines nearing the end of their useful life can often be revitalized by rebuilding This is often a cost-effective way to restore the performance and reliability of a machine and extend its life.
Rebuilding can take place either on-site, or in a Baker Perkins factory.
Rebuilds use proven Baker Perkins Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts so high quality and long life are assured. These are made to the original or improved specifications.
Rebuild Options: TruClean™ Rotary Moulders
Level 1: Return to original performance levels
The machine is returned to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) specification. This involves a complete strip down, replacement of worn parts, re-machining of critical areas, and re-assembly to 'as new' condition:
- Cleaning
- Replacing wear parts including all bearings and bushes
- Replacing or repairing broken or missing parts.
Level 2: Upgrade and improve
This involves all the work involved in Level 1. It also involves the addition of upgraded parts and / or new technology. These can raise the performance level above that of the original machine, and include:
- Complete strip down and cleaning
- Re-machining areas critical to performance
- Renewing paint and non-stock coatings
- Overhauling the knife mechanism
- Re-assembling to 'as new' condition
Contact Baker Perkins
Contact us to discuss all Customer Service and Aftermarket requirements for your Baker Perkins, APV Baker and Werner Lehara equipment.
Lifetime Support for Pet Food Equipment
Parts, service, upgrades and rebuilds for your Baker Perkins machines for as long as they remain in production.


text:
Up until now, only Apple's Safari browser had blocked third-party cookies by default. Last week's release of Firefox 22 to its developer's channel also came with the feature, indicating that the option will soon make it to all Firefox users.
Firefox 22 Aurora (download for Windows, for Mac, and for Linux) blocks third-party cookies by default, putting the ad industry on notice that browsers are about to start looking askance at them. While Safari has had the feature for a long time, no other major browser has supported it until now.
Mozilla first announced in February that it was changing its third-party tracking cookie policy.
The browser vendor cited "many years of observing Safari's approach to third-party cookies, a rapidly expanding number of third-party companies using cookies to track users, and strong user support for more control" as the reasons why Firefox will soon block third-party cookies by default.
While Google isn't likely to adopt the stance anytime soon, given that it was the last to include the Do Not Track header, Microsoft may jump on quickly. It was the first major browser maker to offer built-in tracking-protection lists, back in Internet Explorer 9, and has the Do Not Track header activated by default.
Other Firefox improvements include better memory management and faster load times on sites heavy with images; automatically word-wrapping plain-text files displayed in the browser; changes to make otherwise broken sites more compatible; and support for the HTML5 < time > and < time > elements.
Meanwhile, Firefox 22 Aurora for Android includes mostly code support changes. Like the desktop version, CSS3 Flexbox, the new Web Notifications API, and improved WebGL rendering performance through asynchronous canvas updates are in the new Aurora build.
The full changelog for Firefox 22 Aurora on desktops can be read here, and the Android release notes are here.


text:
Rachel Power
I started the practicum with little research experience. But after three months researching the stable site in Penola and the Seven Stars Hotel in Mallala, I now feel that I can approach any research task with confidence. I have a better understanding of where to begin research and what sources can be useful, as well as how those which may appear to be irrelevant (i.e. rate books) can actually provide you with plenty of information. I think the most valuable lesson I have learnt is that you don't always find what you are looking for. Participating in the excavation at Penola was definitely the highlight of the practicum, not only did it increase my experience in the field and add to my understanding of how an excavation is run, but it also reinforced my love of archaeology and strengthened my belief that this is the career for me.
This whole experience has provided me with a taste of what Australian archaeology is all about and the challenges you can come across. While I know that research is a major part of being an archaeologist, it is getting out in the field, meeting with local community members and discovering artefacts from our past that really motivates me. I am so glad that I chose to take this topic and I know it has helped prepare me for the future – whatever it may hold!


text:
There is always talk, calendars, posters, charity events
The Little-Known Mammal Faces Destruction
Controlling a Species: Humans Being Humane
Humane. There is a reason why this word and human
Doing Our Part
There are books being published as of late – wonderful books
Separating Fiction in this Time of Natural Disasters
There is always fact versus fiction when speaking about the news
It's a Busy Time for Geologists
January 2016: The very first month of this year began with headlines about the hard-hitting weather in Australia
Abandoned Parks Contaminate the Environment
Areas that were once just a spark in someone's mind
Communities Communing: Building a Certified Wildlife Habitat
Everyone knows, whether "green" minded or not, that human activity
Help a Monarch: Be a Butterfly Hero
Not many know that one of the most beautiful species that we have
Visit the Most Beautiful Nature Locales in the Country
Wildlife habitat gardens are being created in a variety of locations, in a variety of sizes.
Our Wild "Next-Door" Neighbors
The population grows and grows and it's becoming clear


text:
Peering into the past is always fraught with uncertainty, and historic climate reconstructions are no exception. Built from data gleaned from things like ice cores, tree rings, and sea floor sediments, these models acknowledge the fickle nature of some data and often account for it. Sediments that include the remains of calcareous marine organisms are a significant source of paleoclimate information. While calcium-rich sediments record ocean temperatures thousands of years ago, scientists have been unable to get the sorts of detail they would prefer from them. A new discovery may help paleo-oceanographers breath a little easier at night.
Scientists have long known the ratio of magnesium to calcium in marine "hard parts'—exoskeletons, shells, and the like—correlates well with ocean temperatures. More magnesium in the hard parts indicates warmer waters. By drilling into sea floor sediments, researchers can pull material from a layer of known date and test the magnesium-calcium ratio to get a rough idea of the prevailing temperatures.
The caveat, though, is the material was once made by living things, sometimes by different species of them. Those organisms may have formed their hard parts in subtly different ways, a phenomenon experts call "vital effects." To compensate for this uncertainty, climate modelers have incorporated a bit of sway into their reconstructions. That degree of uncertainty, though, may soon narrow thanks to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science.
Vital effects are "not really well understood," said Allison Stephenson, a doctoral candidate in biogeochemistry at Virginia Tech and the paper's lead author. Paleooceanographers currently apply an organism-specific coefficient depending on the source of the sediment. But the biochemistry that shapes these differences has eluded researchers. The study's goal was to "find a root cause of the behavior," Stephenson told Ars.
Stephenson began by growing calcium crystals in different concentrations of magnesium. In one batch, she only increased the magnesium concentration. In another, she increased the magnesium levels and added a peptide chain. Peptides are the building blocks of proteins, chemical compounds found ubiquitously in all living things. Adding peptides to the solution, thought Stephenson and her colleagues, would be a simple yet elegant test: Could a living thing control how much magnesium it put into its hard parts?
To find out, Stephenson grew the crystals under an atomic force microscope, allowing her to track the crystals as they developed. She then ran the crystalline samples through a mass spectrometer to decipher the calcium-magnesium ratio. The calcite grown in peptide-enhanced solutions incorporated more magnesium than that grown without. If this weren't accounted for, it would make the waters appear warmer than they actually were
So does this throw out decades of paleoclimatology? Probably not. "I don't think our study throws anything out the window," Stephenson said. While it may throw current models into fits of greater uncertainty, it is likely that future models will be more accurate because of this research.
"Our study is aimed towards understanding some of the causes behind the geochemical signal in biogenic minerals," Stephenson said. "There's still a really strong temperature dependence for magnesium and calcium."
Science, 2008. DOI: 10.1126/science.1159417


text:
Gabriel E. Gomez, a former US Navy SEAL who is running for the Republican nomination for US Senate, promised to support President Obama's agenda on immigration and gun control in a letter he wrote to Governor Deval Patrick in January asking him to appoint him to the interim Senate seat.
The Gomez campaign released the letter Wednesday, as well as some personal financial information showing that Gomez, a private equity investor from Cohasset, earned $8.5 million in adjusted gross income from 2007 to 2011.
The letter could create problems for Gomez in the GOP primary, because the seat was widely understood to be a Democratic placeholder and because Gomez tries to appeal to the Democratic governor by praising him and vowing to help Obama.
The letter also appears to contradict at least one policy position, on guns, that Gomez has taken on the campaign trail.
Gomez wrote the missive at a time when Patrick had publicly stated that he was looking for a strong ally to fill John F. Kerry's Senate seat.
In the letter, Gomez tells Patrick that appointing him to the job would help bring the parties together and "would reinforce your growing national reputation for bold and thoughtful leadership."
"I fully understand that naming a moderate Republican like me would be completely unconventional," Gomez writes in the two-page letter dated January 17. "However, given the partisan and acrimonious atmosphere in the US Senate today, this is even more of a reason to consider appointing a moderate Republican with my background. I supported President Obama in 2008. I strongly believe that this appointment would be good for the Democrats as well, since it is in everyone's interest to have the two parties at the negotiating table."
Gomez hand-delivered the letter to Patrick's chief of staff, William "Mo" Cowan, and never heard back from the governor. Two weeks later, Patrick named Cowan to the seat.
On Wednesday, Gomez defended his decision to seek the appointment from Patrick, saying, "I had the guts to ask him."
Gomez has previously acknowledged that he asked Patrick to name him to the Senate but released the letter on Wednesday, after he was questioned about it during the first Republican primary debate.
In his pitch to the governor, Gomez predicts that guns and immigration will dominate the debate during his appointed tenure and says, "I support the positions President Obama has taken on these issues, and you can be assured I will keep my word and work on these issues as I have promised."
Now, as a candidate for the Senate seat, Gomez has said he opposes a federal assault weapons ban, a key element of Obama's gun-control agenda. On immigration, Gomez has said he supports "some kind of pathway to citizenship" but has not embraced Obama's plan.
On Wednesday, Gomez's rivals pounced on the letter to question his honesty and Republican credentials.
"How can voters ever trust Gomez again when he tells Governor Patrick one thing in a private letter that he never thought would see the light of day and then tells Republican primary voters something completely different on very important issues?" said Charles Pearce, a spokesman for Daniel B. Winslow, a state representative running for Senate. "He can't have it both ways, and I think the voters of Massachusetts will see through his double-dealing."
Paul Moore, campaign manager for Michael J. Sullivan, a former US attorney running for Senate, said it was clear why Gomez was initially reluctant to release the letter.
"It will probably be somewhat difficult to explain to Republican primary voters why he supported the president and so many of his policies as recently as January," Moore said.
Gomez said he does not regret writing the letter."Like many independent-minded people, I believed Governor Patrick had an opportunity to reach across the aisle and appoint a new Republican voice to help solve our spending problem and to represent all the people of Massachusetts," he said Wednesday.
Gomez, who has vowed to release six years of tax returns, released a snippet of financial information showing that he paid an effective tax rate of 21 percent on earnings of $8.5 million from 2007 to 2011.
Levenson can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
As soon as the confetti dropped in New Orleans, Fred Fillah launched production of thousands of T-shirts adorned with a smiling Ray Lewis standing amid that confetti shower.
"We've been printing … all night," said Fillah, president of Fanatics Only LLC, a Maryland T-shirt company licensed by the NFL Players Association.
Businesses of all sizes are looking to cash in on the Ravens' success. For small-time online sellers and major international brands alike, the end of the Super Bowl means the beginning of promotional tie-ins, trying to profit from the good feelings that come along with a Super Bowl win.
Tide laundry detergent, for instance, was one of the brands that invoked the Ravens during its Super Bowl commercial. Baltimore's team and the San Francisco 49ers were mentioned in the ad to make it as "relevant" to the Super Bowl as possible, said Chris Lillich, a marketing executive for Procter & Gamble, which makes Tide.
Renowned jeweler Tiffany & Co., which made the Vince Lombardi Trophy awarded to the Super Bowl winner, is offering a crystal football-shaped paperweight decorated with a Ravens' logo for $120. On eBay, the online auction site, handmade Ravens-themed charm bracelets began to appear Monday, selling for roughly $20.
"People feel very passionately about the Ravens," said Alice Rhodes, of Timonium, who sells her jewelry online. "They've done really well."
Based on the number of points scored by the Ravens during the Super Bowl, the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court at the Inner Harbor is offering 34 percent off hotel room rates through the end of the month in what it calls the "Ravens Win, You Win" offer. The SpringHill Suites downtown is offering rooms for $52 per night throughout the month to acknowledge the retirement of Lewis, whose jersey number is 52.
Restaurants, too, are getting in on the action. At the Rockfish in Annapolis on Monday, Maryland-brewed beers were on special at the bar and appetizers were being discounted by 25 percent "in honor of the Ravens win," said Chad Wells, the executive chef.
At Smyth Jewelers in Timonium, "the phone has been ringing off the hook," said Rhoula Monios, the senior sales manager.
The company has been the official jeweler of the Ravens since 2005, she said, and sells items that include autographed footballs, official helmets and Ravens-themed cuff links and watches. The partnership highlights Smyth's dedication to the Baltimore region, she said.
It's a beneficial relationship, she said, because it draws a wide variety of customers — men and women — into Smyth stores, which have Ravens product displays throughout their showrooms. She thinks much of their Ravens-related sales are people buying collectibles for themselves, she said.
"We feel like we're Baltimore's jeweler and they're Baltimore's team," Monios said.
The Baltimore Sun also stands to make some money from the Ravens' win. The newspaper produced a book, available online early Monday, that chronicles the Ravens' 2012-2013 season. Plus the company is selling reprints of Monday's paper, shirts emblazoned with the front page and a limited-run championship poster.
"It's a good way to be able to promote our brand," said Tim Thomas, senior vice president of business development for Tribune Publishing Mid-Atlantic, part of The Sun's parent company.
The demand for Ravens-related products is high. Sporting goods stores throughout metro Baltimore opened just after the game as fans clamored for hats and shirts to wear Monday morning to show their purple pride.
"I've got to rock my Ravens gear every day this week," said Dominique Fowler, who was shopping at the Sports Authority on Baltimore National Pike in Catonsville shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday.
Larry Hall, the store's sales manager, said the decision to open Sunday night was made "as soon as we knew that they made it to the Super Bowl." The store stayed open until 12:45 a.m. Monday and reopened at 6 a.m. to continue sales.
It was important to have hats, the most popular item, on shelves as soon as the game ended, said Terry Kenkel, a representative from the retailer's corporate office in Denver who came to Baltimore to make sure the region's 11 Sports Authority stores were stocked and ready for the postgame rush.
"It's definitely a local economy boon," said Sol Schwartz, a manager and buyer at Holabird Sports in Middle River. "This is where everybody's discretionary funds end up."
People were waiting for Ravens Super Bowl apparel at the sporting goods store as it was being unloaded from trucks Monday morning, Schwartz said. He's telling customers to check back for new items later this week because it takes a few days for some collectibles to be manufactured and delivered.
"A lot of what we've done relies on what happened [after] the last Super Bowl," Schwartz said of the Ravens' championship in 2001. Buyers base orders on what was popular then, such as beer steins, he said.
Sales of Ravens products are likely to remain higher than normal throughout the offseason because of the Super Bowl win, Schwartz added.
Fillah, who has been in the T-shirt business since the mid-1960s, had a late shift of 25 people producing commemorative shirts to get them to stores for early sales.
He hopes to make about 10,000 shirts featuring Lewis and Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco, which will be sold for $20 each at local retailers, including grocery stores. With Lewis retiring and Flacco playing the part of the comeback kid, he said, there's a good chance sales will meet his expectations.
"I think the Flacco thing might be really big," Fillah said. "He's an elite and a story of redemption. … He's a likable guy. We have that going for us — and really terrific graphics."
Baltimore Sun Media Group reporter Julie Baughman contributed to this article.


text:
Sisley is a French luxury beauty brand, created by Hubert d'Ornano who was one of the first to use botanical essences in cosmetology. The family-owned company creates the highest quality skincare and make-up products, combining the best of nature and science. The brand is renowned for its anti-ageing range, face masks and award-winning sun care. It is also well known for its fine perfumes which are created in the tradition of the French 'haute parfumerie'.
199 items
Sort By


text:
Oakland mayor's warning puts immigrants, advocates on high alert
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's warning that U.S. immigration agents were preparing to conduct a major enforcement operation in the Bay Area put advocates for immigrants on alert, and heightened the tension between federal and local authorities over California's limited cooperation with deportation efforts.
Several people were reported to have been detained by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents around the region Sunday, but it was not clear whether the reported arrests were part of a larger immigration enforcement action.
Hotlines for immigrant advocacy groups at the same time were flooded with calls as reports and rumors of ICE activity swirled.
At least one person was detained by ICE agents in Napa around 9:40 a.m., said Susan Shawn, co-director of the North Bay Organizing Project. ICE agents also detained people with deportation orders Sunday in El Sobrante, Pinole and Atwater (Merced County), said Maricela Gutiérrez, executive director of the San Jose's Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network, or SIREN.
The Power, Not Panic immigrant alliance said Sunday night that advocates had confirmed 11 arrests in Northern California, including five in Merced County, two in Sacramento County, and one apiece in Monterey and Napa counties.
Officials did not provide further details on the arrests.
The Chronicle reported in mid-January that federal officials were preparing for a big Northern California operation designed to send a message that immigration policy will be enforced in the sanctuary state.
At a Sunday afternoon news conference, Schaaf said she learned about the immigration operation from "multiple sources" that she would not identify. She said the information did not come "through official channels."
"My understanding is this is ICE activity, and it will be Bay Area-wide," she said.
ICE officials gave a statement to KGO-TV on Saturday night, saying, "There are ICE operations every day and it is unclear what the mayor is referring to." ICE did not respond to several email requests for comment by The Chronicle.
Schaaf said she sought legal counsel before taking to social media Saturday evening with an alert about immigration action. She called the warning an "ethical obligation."
She acknowledged sending the alert could perpetuate fear within immigrant communities, but nevertheless, said it was her duty. "This is an opportunity for people to learn their rights and responsibilities," she said.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said Sunday that he had learned of "a few isolated arrests," and urged families to avail themselves of legal resources without giving in to fear.
"I want to make sure that families are not keeping their kids home from school, and they're not refraining from taking sick family members to the doctor because of some fears that are being stoked by ICE activities," he said.
ICE has taken a series of enforcement actions in California in recent weeks, while expressing frustration with sanctuary laws, which by restricting cooperation between local and federal authorities seek to persuade immigrants not to live in the shadows. President Trump said Thursday that he was "thinking about" pulling ICE out of California, but it appears that his administration is doing the opposite.
An operation in Los Angeles this month resulted in 212 arrests of immigrants suspected of being undocumented, ICE said. Federal agents also told 122 businesses there that they will be auditing their hiring records to determine whether they are following immigration law, according to officials. Last month, immigration agents visited 77 Northern California businesses in one week, demanding proof that employees were allowed to work in the United States.
Schaaf referred anyone targeted by immigration enforcement officials to the website of Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal services organization that advocates for the immigrant community.
Its hotline had received an influx of calls since Schaaf's announcement from worried residents asking for more information, said Malena Mayorga, a coordinator for the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership. The group works in conjunction with Centro Legal as part of a "rapid response network" that seeks to deploy observers to ICE operations, document interactions and enlist legal defense for families.
Hundreds of volunteers were notified of the potential sweep Sunday, and attorneys were standing by, Mayorga said. "We are doing everything we can to make sure that things are running as smoothly as possible and that we have as many people available as possible."
Advocates at SIREN sent text messages to 2,000 community members reminding them of their rights should a federal officer show up at their door, Gutiérrez said.
"This is the message that has been going out since Trump got into office — a message of tearing families apart. But families are resilient. We are strong. We are powerful," she said, explaining that the group's hotline was expanded to 24 hours, with three attorneys on call.
Schaaf said residents should understand their legal rights in advance of federal actions. She noted that Oakland public schools have strict protocols in place to protect students, that city police officers are prohibited from participating in ICE enforcement, and that state law limits business owners in assisting ICE.
"I have reached out to local leaders and partners in our immigrant communities to share this information," Schaaf said. "Our shared message is clear: We want residents to prepare, not panic. We understand ICE has used activity rumors in the past as a tactic to create fear; our intent is for our community to go about their daily lives without fear, but resiliency and awareness."
The Chronicle reported last month that a planned ICE operation in Northern California was expected to go after people who have been identified as targets for deportation, including those who have been served with final deportation orders and those with criminal histories. According to a source familiar with the plans, the number of arrests could increase if officers come across other undocumented immigrants in the course of their actions and make what are known as collateral arrests.
The tension between the White House and liberal leaders in California intensified after the July 2015 killing of Kate Steinle on a San Francisco Bay pier. The undocumented immigrant shooter, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, had previously been released from San Francisco County Jail under the city's sanctuary ordinance, even though immigration officers had asked that he be turned over for a sixth deportation.
After Garcia Zarate was acquitted of murder charges in November, Thomas Homan, the acting director of ICE, blamed the city for Steinle's death, saying the shooting "could have been prevented if San Francisco had simply turned the alien over to ICE, as we requested, instead of releasing him back onto the streets."
While San Francisco was a pioneer as a sanctuary city, statewide legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year limits the circumstances under which jails across California turn over undocumented inmates to the federal government. It also forbids police officers from arresting people on civil immigration warrants and from joining federal agents in task forces intended to enforce immigration laws.
Under the Trump administration, ICE has repeatedly warned that if the agency can't detain people from local jails, it will be forced to arrest them in the communities that hold such policies.
"Because sanctuary jurisdictions like Los Angeles prevent ICE from arresting criminal aliens in the secure confines of a jail, our officers are forced to conduct at-large arrests in the community, putting officers, the general public and the aliens at greater risk and increasing the incidents of collateral arrests," Homan said.
Last week, when he threatened to remove federal immigration authorities from California, Trump said, "If I wanted to pull our people from California you would have a crime nest like you've never seen in California. ... In two months they'd be begging for us to come back."


text:
The Bachelor Alum Shayne Lamas Pregnant With Second Child
Bachelor winner Shayne Lamas is pregnant with her second child with husband Nik Richie, Us Weekly reports.
"Shayne's 12 weeks pregnant," Richie tells the magazine. "Like the great husband I am, I knocked her up during her birthday trip to Maui, Hawaii last November. Definitely a love baby"
The craziest celebrity baby names
Lamas, who was previously engaged to Season 12 Bachelor Matt Grant, gave birth to her first child, Press Dhal Lamas-Richie, on Nov. 11, 2011. Richie and Lamas, 28, who split with Grant in 2008, eloped in April 2010.
The daughter of actor Lorenzo Lamas, Shayne is also known for her role on General Hospital and for her family's E! reality series, Leave it to Lamas.
View original The Bachelor Alum Shayne Lamas Pregnant With Second Child at TVGuide.com
Related Articles on TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


text:
Washington (CNN) - Sen. Lindsey Graham vowed on Sunday that he would continue to block President Barack Obama's nominations until Congress hears from Benghazi survivors.
The South Carolina lawmaker told CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union" that he will place holds on any nomination put forth by the administration unless it makes available five survivors of the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, who have been interviewed by State Department investigators but remain out of Congress' reach.
[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker'][twitter-follow screen_name='jhseher']
"I've been trying for a year to get these interviews without holds," Graham said.
Graham scoffed at any notion his maneuver amounts to political grandstanding, portraying his actions as a last resort and couching them as part of "trying to perform oversight."
"I don't want to hold anybody. All I want to do is talk to the survivors," Graham insisted. "I'm not trying to prosecute a crime."
Graham announced his intention to hold all of Obama's nominations the day after CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a controversial report on the attacks. The newsmagazine has since pulled its report, saying that its eyewitness, a British contractor stationed in Libya, lied to reporter Lara Logan about what he saw on the ground.
When pressed by Crowley about whether the debunking of the piece would impact his stance, Graham told her it wouldn't.
"I never asked for the British contractor. I didn't know he existed," Graham said.
How concerned was he about Iraq in the Bush era? Gosh, politics is depressing these days,
I'm still waiting for him to find the WMD in Iraq. How many did we lose there Senator? I know you DID YOUR JOB and found out WHY we went in and WHY we lost so many young men and so many were MAIMED FOR LIFE...have you DONE YOUR JOB YET? Or are you just another republican racist? figures....
He is afraid of Tea Party, that is why he is not backing down.. He knows that Tea party candidate will sure defeat him in the primary. This is called POLITICAL STUNT, nothing more than that. If he is true patriot, he should put Bush and Cheney into Prison by now.
Good God Republicans have become the biggest babies ever. Whether Obamacare or Benghazi, if they don't get their way they hold a democracy hostage. Keep it up, idiots, and you can kiss any chance of a majority in the foreseeable future goodbye.
Play to the extreme right; that's the game plan. It doesn't matter that nominees are highly qualified; play to the extreme right because a challenge from the extreme is coming for this pretty boy.
The GOP will hound Clinton with this because it's basically the only thing they remotely have on her. It's going to be a long repetitive three years.
That pony's been ridden all the way to the end of the trail. Time to move on.
How do we know which politicians worm for the war profiteers?
LOL These GOTP crackpots are not going to give up their futile efforts to make Benghazi a political noose for Obama and/or Hillary Clinton. Just sad.
Yeah.... They are going to keep beating this dead horse as long as they still fear Hilary Clinton will run for president...this and Obamacare.
If this had happened under Bush the GOP wouldn't care because Bush is white therefore he is alright in their world.
Scott – this whole "holding back" is a fantasy Graham is pushing to justify his grandstanding obstruction. It's all about Graham trying to get enough points with Teabaggers to keep from having a primary challenge.
This isn't so complicated. The Obama administration is spying on everyone. Probably every one of our embassies is coordinating local spy missions. The CIA got caught in Libya and now they're not going to talk about it and admit what they were doing there.
All he is doing is reminding people how much better Obama handled Libya then the Repubs handled Iraq.
I guess what he wants to hear from the survivors is that since the republican party cut funds to all embassies, they couldn't defend themselves. and most of the dead should still be alive if it wasn't for the fund cuts.
South Carolina receives $1.92 of federal tax dollars for every dollar they send. Maybe we cut some spending in the Palmetto state to reduce the deficit.
Where was this outrage against Bush after 9-11, seems that was a much more major failure than Benghazi. What I really see here is that the Tea Party has the Senator by the balls
Just another jack asinine republican.
When will they ever learn.
No backing down because Benghazi is his key to re-election.
Who are they going to subpoena? President Obama? We all know hes simply going to say "I was not there, I only know what was told to me in the reports". The only people who WOULD know what happened have already been subpoenaed or are foreign nationals and therefore can't be subpoenaed.


text:
Hawaii Photo of the Day and Moment of Aloha Video Postings: facebook.com/AlohaFriendsHawaii
Wedding Tips and Love Quotes: facebook.com/KimCrinellaWeddings
Follow on Twitter:
Tips to create a beautiful meaningful wedding without the burden of wedding debt:
Follow on Instagram:
Hawaii Photo of the Day: Instagram.com/_AlohaFriends
Photos With Wedding Clients: Instagram.com/SimpleHawaiiWeddings
Subscribe to the Aloha Friends YouTube channel for Luau craft tutorials, ideas for Hawaii theme celebrations, and relaxing Moment of Aloha videos to enjoy a mental vacation to Hawaii anytime! YouTube Aloha Friends Channel
All content on the website was written by Mike or Kim Crinella. All photographs on the website were taken by Mike or Kim Crinella, were submitted to A Friend in the Islands by a website user, or were Public Domain Fair Use at the time of publication.


text:
Plus Size Dresses
Our RACHEL ALLAN CURVES DRESSES collection offers a large catalog of designs and styles for our curvier clients. We make the shopping process effortless with filters that give you the power to find the curve dress that is made for you. All of our popular designs, such as fit & flare, are available in a wide array of colors and fabrics such as chiffon, crepe, lace and stretch stain. We also have a range of sizes to help you create your desired look. Shopping for plus size doesn't have to be frustrating. We give you many plus size options that are sure to enhance your prospects. Our head designer for the RACHEL ALLAN CURVES collection is the winner of the 2017 Top 10 Prom award for plus size design. We pay careful attention to fit and style to ensure that you are confident in your choice.
Every girl's dream can come true in one of the dresses in the RACHEL ALLAN CURVES DRESSES 2021 collection. We have all the latest trends with our own signature styles. Choose from ensembles featuring tulle overlays, rompers, two-piece minis, fitted mini scooped-neck and sequined curves dresses! We offer floral prints in the season's best colors, embroidery and applique details and metallic shades along with red and black for the ultimate chic plus-sized look. The RACHEL ALLAN CURVES DRESSES 2021 collection features lace details, sequins accents and bead work that create fabulously elegant apparels that accentuate your beautiful curves and ensure a most stunning evening. Our styles are available in beautiful fabrics such as matte satin, jersey, stretch satin, lace, organza, tulle and chiffon. Just because the sizing is different, it doesn't mean that the same styling and designs cannot hold true. Our CURVES designer understands that it is important to offer the same promise of quality, fit, and beauty for which RACHEL ALLAN designs are known. With us, you are guaranteed high fashion designs that are fitted to your specific plus-size need to exceed your particular expectation.


text:
November 5th, 2013
Banned pesticides linked to endometriosis
Women with higher levels of pesticides in their blood are also more likely to have endometriosis, according to a new study published Tuesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Endometriosis is a chronic condition in which tissue normally lining the uterus' interior walls also grows outside the uterus, commonly to the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or pelvis –- causing pelvic pain and infertility.
"It affects women during their reproductive years and it could be that as many as 10% of women during reproductive ages have endometriosis," says Victoria Holt, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington and lead study author.
More than 5 million women have endometriosis, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Women's Health.
"What we know about endometriosis is that it's an estrogen-driven disease. Women who have more estrogen are more likely to have it," Holt says.
Once in the body, some organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are believed to mimic estrogen, possibly contributing to endometriosis.
For the study, researchers measured OCPs in blood serum samples from 248 surgically-confirmed endometriosis cases and 538 women without diagnosed endometriosis.
Overall, 90% of all women had detectable levels of one such pesticide, called beta-HCH, in their blood.
Compared to women in the lowest quartile, women in the upper 50% for beta-HCH levels were 2.5 times more likely to have ovarian endometriosis.
Another organochlorine pesticide – Mirex – increased the risk of endometriosis overall by 50% when comparing women in the highest category of exposure to those with the lowest exposures, the study suggested.
Eight other organochlorine pesticides measured in the study showed no clear correlation with endometriosis.
"Women in this study were likely exposed simply on the basis of their chronically ingesting contaminated food," says Dr. Leo Trasande, associate professor of Environmental Medicine, NYU School of Medicine.
Organochlorine pesticides were widely used in the United States from the 1940s through the 1960s, but the Environmental Protection Agency now restricts their use, along with the United Nations' Stockholm Convention.
However, after all these decades, these pesticides are still present in the environment and can accumulate in the food chain.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, beta-HCH has a half-life of seven years in the body – where it is stored in fat. It can be found in some dairy products, fatty foods and fish. It's also still produced as a by-product of some lice shampoos and lotions. The FDA recommends using a safer alternative first; California banned one product in 2002.
"What piqued our interest is that these chemicals are so highly persistent and take years to degrade in the environment. We detected these chemicals in the blood of women despite their being banned or severely restricted in the United States for the past several decades," says Kristen Upson, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and study author.
"More broadly, this speaks to the reality that often chemicals are introduced into the market without much in the way of safety testing," says Trasande.
"And then many decades later, we find out the unfortunate consequences of this hazardous exposure."
soundoff (310 Responses)
Post a comment
About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.


text:
We saw a whole bunch of nothing written about so-called 'weak' Mac sales this week, but those twisted out of context numbers didn't reflect how the real world works – and Apple's big business bid is only now beginning.
Windows XP and the PC replacement cycle
You'd be surprised how many of the computers out there still run Windows XP. In some cases, this reflects the defund and privatize ethic beloved of some state functionaries, in others those systems are mandatory in order to support some legacy back end system the golf-loving C-suite classes haven't yet been convinced to invest and replace.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here


text:
Coldcut. You may remember that song with Hexstatic called 'Timber', which was fucking ace. Well, the new LP is even better. Tour dates and info announced and replicated here, for you.
Widely seen as one of the most interesting live acts in the world, the duo's new LP Sound Mirrors is their first studio effort in a long time that truly showcases their talents.
Check out new single 'Man in A Garage' out this Monday (9th January) for a taster of the record, which arrives on January 30th. It features, amongst others, a collaboration with one of DiS' men of 2005, Saul Williams and is great. Fact.
Have some dates that involve touring:
19 London Cargo (album launch party)
17 Oxford Zodiac
18 Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion
19 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
22 Manchester Academy 2
23 Birmingham Custard Factory
25 London Shepherds Bush Empire
19 Brighton Corn Exchange
20 Bristol Academy
21 Gateshead Sage
25 Sheffield University of Sheffield
26 Glasgow ABC


text:
LUNENBURG — The owner of a local diner is seeking a restraining order and harassment charges against a Leominster man who has been allegedly using the restaurant's name and reputation to issue discriminatory and anti-Semitic comments on Facebook.
Seth Silver, owner of the Ugly Omelet, said he first met Aaron Arsenault, of 14 Prospect St., Leominster, when the restaurant opened four years ago. He said Arsenault came in to ask if Silver wanted to advertise in his monthly publication, Tri-City Scene.
The magazine is dropped off at businesses and municipal buildings.
Arsenault became a regular at the diner, and over time, suggested that Silver create a Facebook "fan page" for the restaurant where the restaurant can post things about its menu, specials or other unique events going on. Such a page would also allow visitors to leave comments.
But Silver said he told Arsenault that Facebook and computers were "not his thing," and he was not interested in pursuing the page to promote his business.
"He started one up and got it going," Silver said, adding that he never granted permission for a page — although he also did nothing to stop it.
"One day he was bored, I guess, and he decided to put up some racist comments. It went from an Ugly Omelet page to him putting my face and name up there and portraying himself to be me," Silver said.
The posts started getting out of hand, Silver said. He believes the harassment began about three years ago, but the alleged comments were few and far between. But the alleged comments began to get more constant and insulting about six weeks ago, he said.
"He started attacking black people and gays and lesbians. It really was just odds and ends," Silver said.
He would allegedly call people "trolls," Silver said, would call women "fat lesbians" who needed to get rid of pimples on their faces, and would allegedly write that certain people were banned from the restaurant.
Also, Silver said people would post comments about the service at the diner or the quality of food, and Arsenault, portraying himself as a person involved with the restaurant, would allegedly respond with derogatory comments.
One comment posted this week, before the page was shut down, read: "We're celebrating kristallnacht all weekend with burnt Star of David potato pancakes…and we're breaking all the windows."
Kristallnacht is a reference to the "Night of Broken Glass." The name comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues had their windows smashed in a series of coordinated attacks in Germany and Austria on Nov. 9-10, 1938. At least 91 Jews were killed in the attacks and an additional 30,000 were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps. More than 1,000 synagogues were burned and more than 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed or damaged.
Silver is Jewish.
"Nobody knew it was happening to a bunch of people until about six weeks ago," he said, adding that he believes it has happened to other restaurants as well, including the Townsend House in Townsend. He said he didn't know whether Arsenault is connected to those incidents.
"It's frustrating. We've really worked hard to build up a great thing here and a single comment from one person on the freedom of the Internet hasn't completely shattered it, but you can't focus on your customers or the business but rather how you can combat this," he said.
Silver said he reached out to the courthouse and to police, but was told that because everything was Internet-based, there wasn't much they could do and he was encouraged to see an attorney.
Silver planned to get a restraining order against Arsenault Tuesday afternoon so he could not step on the property again.
"This guy has some serious mental needs and needs to get help from people," Silver said. Silver said he asked Arsenault whether he took the page down voluntarily or if Facebook it down himself.
Arsenault responded with a text message, saying "I shut it down and I know I can't trust you now," Silver said.
Another page on Facebook, called "Boycott The Ugly Omelet," was started as well. It began as a negative thing, Silver said, but has actually turned into a page defending him and the restaurant.
"In the long run, the negative publicity turned into a bigger knowledge of people knowing I was here and coming out to the restaurant," he said. "It's really a messed-up situation. He's someone who has a lot of talent and he's just blowing it. There's no change that all becomes better after this. He crossed a line that never should have been crossed."
After being reached by telephone, Arsenault twice hung up on a reporter without commenting. Reached later, Arsenault said he had no idea what the reporter was talking about.
In 2011, Arsenault received a harassment-prevention order from a Clinton District Court judge after his Facebook page included multiple criticisms of state Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, including personal attacks and references to assassination.
Additionally, his page contained repeated comments about Flanagan's weight and numerous questions about her sexual orientation. He said at the time that he did not believe they were personal attacks.
He said at the time it was never his intention to intimidate Flanagan. During his court appearance in Clinton, where he acted as his own attorney, he said his free speech was being stifled and he repeatedly referred to himself as a journalist because of his work with Tri-City Scene.
Flanagan's attorney said after the order was continued for a full year that she wasn't concerned about the remarks he made concerning her weight or sexuality, but rather his "pattern of statements" that referenced assassinations, Gabrielle Giffords, and attempts to reach members of her family.
Arsenault posted pictures on his Facebook page that included a photo of Flanagan's boyfriend's workplace. He also wrote a phony review on the page of a garage where Flanagan's brother-in-law works and attempted to add members of her family to his friend list.
Follow Katina Caraganis on Tout and Twitter @kcaraganis.


text:
Rag & Bone has two firsts today: Images have just been released of Kate Moss starring in the brand's premiere ad campaign, and it's opening the doors to its new London boutique tomorrow. To top it off, as previously reported, the new space will also host the label's first Fashion Week presentation this September.
The ads, shot by Craig McDean, capture Moss candidly in North London. This stripped-down view of the model shows her in a very real moment.
More From ELLE
"We worked with two industry icons; Kate and Craig and asked them to shoot outside of their usual working environments to create these almost raw, unique images," said Marcus Wainwright, managing partner at Rag & Bone in a press release. "It wasn't in a studio; it was just them on a derelict London street—Kate with minimal make-up and Craig with a hand-held camera and natural light."
Shooting the campaign in the U.K. gives a nod to the label's London invasion. "Rag & Bone is essentially a New York brand but our collections have always been influenced by our British roots, so it made total sense for us to open our first European flagship store in our hometown," explained David Neville, managing partner of Rag & Bone, in a press release.
The space is located in Sloan Square and has a custom-forged cast iron staircase, a traditional Chesterfield couch, and the brand's signature exposed brick and brass fixtures. The ground floor carries men's and women's threads, while the lower level is devoted to denim and accessories. Check it out if you're in town for the 2012 Olympic Games.


text:
Over Half the Pets That Died On Airplanes Last Year Flew Delta
More pets died on Delta than any other air carrier last year, according to an Air Travel Consumer Report released by the U. S. Department of Transportation earlier this week.
The report, available online, confirms that 19 of last year's 35 in-flight pet deaths happened on Delta planes. That's up from 16 in 2010. The second most deadly airline for pets was American, with 5 deaths. Delta also led the pack in terms of pet injury, with 5 out of 9 total incidents occurring on Delta flights.
All deaths occurred in the checked baggage cargo hold.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that a Delta spokesman explained the numbers by stating that Delta carries more pets than many other airlines. The number of pets who were injured or died on the airline was less than 0.2 percent of animals carried.
Last December, in an effort to improve its numbers, the Grim Reaper of Airlines stopped accepting snub-nosed dogs or cats (that sounds meaner than it is) as checked items. Delta had previously also banned American, English and French bulldogs from flying, as these breeds are particularly susceptible to respiratory problems.
The silver lining on Delta's dark death storm cloud: they did manage not to lose any pets. Alaska and American Airlines both reported losses of one animal each.
So, fly Delta, and your dog will probably end up where you intend. But it might be dead.


text:
Grantland recently published an article, "Mere Mortals," by Bill Barnwell, which claims that:
Baseball players who accrued at least five qualifying seasons from 1959 through 1988 died at a higher rate than similarly experienced football players from the same time frame. The difference between the two is statistically significant and allows us to reject the null hypothesis; there is a meaningful difference between the mortality rates of baseball players and football players with careers that emulated the [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] NIOSH criteria.
The author then goes on to collect data on football and baseball players who played at least five years between 1959 and 1988, and his results are below :
Baseball Football Qualifying Players 1,494 3,088 Alive 1,256 2,694 Deceased 238 394 Mortality Rate 15.9 percent 12.8 percent
From this table, to his credit, Barnwell calculated confidence intervals for the mortality rate, as well as performing Fisher's Exact Test to test for independence between the rows (dead or alive) and columns (baseball and football). For football players, the 95 percent confidence interval for the mortality rate was (11.6, 13.9), and, for baseball players, the 95 percent confidence interval was (14.1,17.8). The Fisher's Exact Test gives a p-value of about 0.004 and from this he concludes, correctly, that the mortality rate is significantly different between the groups at the 0.01 level.
So, the big question is, as he poses it:
Why is it that baseball players from the '60s, '70s, and '80s are dying more frequently than football players from the same era? Truthfully, as a layman, I can't say with any certainty, and I don't think it's appropriate to speculate. A deeper study into the mortality rates of baseball players that emulated the NIOSH focus on specific causes of death versus the general population might prove valuable.
I'll field this one. Baseball players are dying more often because they are, on average, older than football players. The author never controlled for the age of the players, or any other risk factors, for that matter. In 1959, there were, as far as I can tell, 12 NFL teams each with 40 players. That's 480 players. In 1988, there were 28 teams with 59 players each: a total of 1652. In baseball, in 1959, there were 16 teams with roughly 40 men each, for a total of 640 players. That number in 1988 was 1,040—26 teams with 40 players. So there were almost three and half times more players in the NFL in 1988 than there were in 1959. The number of baseball players only increased about 1.6 times over this same period.
These numbers aren't exact, but the point still stands: The group of football players that has been collected here has a greater proportion of younger people in it than the baseball group. So it's not exactly apples to apples. In fact, it's not even close. You'd expect, just based on the ages of the players in these groups, for baseball players to have higher rates of mortality than the football players. Basically, Grantland demonstrated that the old die more often than the young.
* * *
I wanted to confirm that Grantland's study really had this flaw, so I went and collected data myself and ran a quick analysis to check. My findings? When age is added to a model predicting death, the effect of the sport on mortality rate completely disappears. This means that if two players are the exact same age and one played professional football and the other played professional baseball for at least five years and one of those years was between 1959 and 1988, there is no evidence that the baseball player is more likely to be deceased than the football player, and vice versa.
Data collection
Using R, I scraped Football Almanac to get a list of players' names. I then used this list of players' names to scrape Pro Football Reference to get information about each player's date of birth, age at death (if he has died), the start and end years of his career, height, and weight. (A note about a shortcoming of my data collection for football: If a player had the same name as another player, I collected only one. I believe this is a small issue and will not affect the overall results, but it is worth noting.) In total, the football player data set had 14,396 players.
Using R, I scraped Baseball Almanac to get a list of players' names. I then used this list of players' names to scrape Baseball Reference to get information about each player's date of birth, age at death (if he has died), the start and end years of his career, height, and weight. For baseball players, I was able to collect all players, including those who had the same name as another player. In total, the baseball player data set had 5,587 players.
Time Frame
Both the baseball and football data sets were whittled down to consider only players who played at least five seasons and any of those seasons fell between 1959 and 1988. (These are slightly different standards than in the Barnwell article, but, again, the larger point should remain the same.) This left 2,436 football players and 967 baseball players. The mean age of baseball players in my sample was 64.19 while the mean age of football players was 60.91. (Barnwell tweeted that the difference in ages between his two groups, which were defined slightly differently, was about 24 months.) The mean ages of my two groups is significantly different with a p-value of <0.00000000000001. That's a big deal.
The distribution of the ages of the football and baseball players is displayed below using a density estimator in R. You'll notice that there are many more young players in the football group than in the baseball group. This indicates that mortality rates cannot be compared directly to one another as is done in the Barnwell article.
Think for a minute about the graph below. Without knowing anything about which color represents which sport, which of these two groups should have a higher mortality rate? (Hint: The blue one!)
Fisher's Exact Test
Out of the 2,436 qualifying football players, 259 were deceased, according to Pro Football Reference, for a mortality rate of 10.63 percent. Among baseball players, 137 out of 967 were dead, for a mortality rate of 14.17 percent. Both of these rates are lower than Barnwell's, but are of similar relative magnitudes. Using a Fisher's Exact Test, the null hypothesis of no association is rejected with a p-value of 0.004407, which is essentially identical to Barnwell's p-value of 0.004. So there is a statistically significant difference between these groups. That's a fact.
But ...
Logistic Regression
This type of analysis estimates the probability of a certain event—in this case, death—while taking into account multiple factors that could be related to the event. Running a logistic regression model with death as an outcome and only sport as a dummy variable predictor yields a p-value of 0.00384 for the significance of sport being associated with death. This is largely the same result as the Fisher's Exact Test as neither controls for any other variables besides sport.
When age—technically years since birth, since some people are deceased—is added to the model, the effect of sport disappears entirely. The p-value for age is < 2-16 and the p-value for sport is 0.441, which is not significant.
The conclusions reached in Barnwell's article are at the very least misleading; at worst, they understate the potential dangers of playing football. Is it possible, as Barnwell suggests, that baseball players die at a younger age than football players? I suppose, but I think it's unlikely. In any case the phenomenon is not demonstrated in Barnwell's data.
To reiterate what we've found: A baseball player who enjoyed at least a five-year career (with one of those years falling between 1959 and 1988) is no more likely to be dead right now than a football player of the same age who enjoyed at least a five-year career in the same time span.
While it is true that baseball players from this time period are more likely to be deceased than their football counterparts, I have demonstrated here that it is not because they played baseball; it's because they are older. It turns out that your age is a more significant predictor of being dead than the sport you played.
Greg Matthews is a post-doctoral research fellow in biostatistics at the University of Massachusetts. He blogs at Stats in the Wild, where this post originally was published.


text:
Details About River Hills Country Club
Lake Wylie, North Carolina
River Hills is one of the outstanding private country clubs in the Charlotte area, noted for its natural beauty and casual elegance, pristine facilities, community spirit, and consistently excellent service to its members and guests; where special, friendly, caring people of diverse interests experience and enjoy an exceptional quality of life and leisure.
Located at the heart of River Hills Plantation, we are a private gated, lakeside community on Lake Wylie in South Carolina. Lake Wylie stretches 24 miles with over 325 miles of shoreline. It is a source of pure pleasure for avid boaters, skiers, sailors and fishermen. Originally planned by the Sea Pines Development Company renowned for their resort at Hilton Head, the course and club were designed to offer the best social and sporting conditions in a luxurious, yet relaxed atmosphere.


text:
Sox open second half with win over Yanks
BOSTON (AP) — Jacoby Ellsbury and Johnny Gomes homered, and Felix Doubront outpitched Andy Pettitte on Friday night to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 victory over the depleted New York Yankees in the opener of their three-game series.
Ellsbury homered on Pettitte's second pitch of the game, and Gomes made it 3-0 in the second.
Doubront (7-3) held a Yankees lineup without Derek Jeter and a handful of other regulars hitless until Lyle Overbay doubled to lead off the fifth inning.
In all, the Red Sox left-hander gave up two runs — one earned — and three hits and three walks while striking out five in 6 1-3 innings. It was the 12th consecutive start in which Doubront has allowed three or fewer earned runs.
Koji Uehara pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
Pettitte (7-7) gave up four runs on six hits and a walk, striking out four in 6 1-3 innings.
The Yankees made their first visit to Fenway Park this season for the first game after the break, and Robinson Cano played three days after being hit on the knee by a pitch in the All-Star game. But the lineup barely resembled the team New Yorkers thought would be wearing pinstripes at this point in the season.
Jeter was placed on the disabled list before the game -- he's spent all but one game there this season -- and the Yankees are also missing third baseman Alex Rodriguez, first baseman Mark Teixeira (wrist surgery), outfielder Curtis Granderson (broken pinkie) and catcher Francisco Cervelli (broken hand).
The lineup was further depleted when left fielder Zoilo Almonte came out of the game in the fifth inning with a left ankle sprain; X-rays were negative.
And center fielder Brett Gardner took himself out when, after being called out on a 3-2 pitch to end the top of the fifth, he slammed his helmet on the ground and was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Everitt.
That left the Yankees ill-equipped to come back after Boston took a 3-0 lead on the homers.
New York made it 3-1 when Gardner walked, stole second and scored when he stole third and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia's throw went into left field. Chris Stewart doubled home Overbay in the fifth to cut the deficit to one run.
The Red Sox added a run in the seventh, then Ichiro Suzuki singled over the shortstop's glove and Cano doubled to put runners on second and third with one out in the eighth.
But Craig Breslow got Vernon Wells to fly out weakly to short and Luis Cruz grounded to shortstop; Jose Iglesias' throw pulled first baseman Mike Napoli off the bag, but he made the tag for the third out.
Notes: The Red Sox played "New York, New York" to thank the city for the support in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. ... The Yankees put Jeter on the disabled list before the game with a strained right quadriceps. ... The Yankees signed INF Brent Lillibridge from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ... Pettitte had allowed just 19 hits in 100 at-bats against lefties coming into the game before Ellsbury hit a leadoff homer. It was the third homer against him by a lefty in his last four starts. ... Boston OF Shane Victorino left the game with left hamstring tightness. ... It was the latest the Yankees have played their first game of the season at Fenway, except for the strike-shortened season of 1981. ... The Red Sox placed RHP Andrew Bailey on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to July 13) with a right shoulder strain. To fill his spot on the 25-man roster, right-hander Jose De La Torre was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket.


text: Home Research & Learn Contents Table of Contents DOE Letter to UCLA June 23, 2020 Related pages Case: University of California, Los Angeles: Lecturer Referred to Administration After Reading Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter Containing Racial Slur School: University of California, Los Angeles Subscribe to FIRE News Sign Up You are now subscribed to FIRE Updates. Fill out the form below to receive personalized communications or close this window to continue. Select State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Palau Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Subscribe to list(s): So to Speak Podcast First Amendment News FIRE Quarterly newsletter Monthly Update Select audience group(s): Students College Faculty Teachers College Alumni Parents Save My Preferences Thank you for subscribing


text:
NIZHNIY NOVGOROD: The build-up to Friday's quarter-final clash between France and Uruguay has been dominated by individuals, but it may be the South Americans' almost unbreachable four-man defence which decides the result.
While Uruguay sweat on the fitness of striker Edinson Cavani, it should be remembered that La Celeste's progress in Russia has been built upon their defence as much as their A-list attack.
And while France pin their hopes on Kylian Mbappe, it is unlikely that the teenage superstar has encountered a defence quite like Uruguay's.
The mouth-watering last-eight tie in Nizhny Novgorod is likely to be decided by a battle between Uruguay's stifling backline and the speed of Mbappe, 19.
Led by captain Diego Godin, and including Jose Gimenez, Martin Caceres and Diego Laxalt, along with goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, Uruguay's defence have the joint-best record at the World Cup.
They passed through the group stage without conceding a goal, and the only player to score against Uruguay was Portugal's Pepe in the last 16, and that was ultimately in vain.
Brazil are the only other team to have conceded just the solitary goal so far.
Uruguay have conceded three fewer goals than France. Both teams have scored seven times.
Between them, the experienced defence have over 350 international caps between them. They are supremely well-organised and have already served notice that Mbappe will not have the same kind of freedom he enjoyed against Argentina.
"If you let France have space it will be very difficult," Uruguay's coach Oscar Tabarez said after securing a place in the quarter-finals.
And he has also insisted that he is happy to cede possession to France in a bid to make the last four.
France's conundrum against Uruguay is knowing best how to utilise Mbappe and his fellow attacking danger, Antoine Griezmann.
The French limped through their group stage but burst to life in their exhilarating 4-3 last-16 win over Argentina, inspired by Paris Saint-Germain's $220 million (188-million-euro) Mbappe.
Didier Deschamps, France's coach, has already indicated that he is expecting a different kind of game from "solid" Uruguay from the seven-goal thriller in Kazan.
The match is likely to be unsurprising, if not only for tactics, but also because of those involved.
Whoever — and however — decides the match is likely to have to get one over on a domestic teammate.
Cavani, who may play some part despite his calf injury, plays with Mbappe and PSG.
Godin and Gimenez are colleagues — and close friends — with Griezmann, Rodrigo Bentancur and Blaise Matuidi play for Juventus, while Luiz Suarez and French defender Samuel Umtiti play for Barcelona.


text:
If you aren't sure what panegyric, immiscible, or Manichaean mean (or if they're even really English), fear not! Turns out nobody else does either. These literary head-scratchers are among the 50 most obscure words used by the New York Times this year.
Compiled from NYT online articles run between January 1st and July 14th, the list ranks the words that readers looked up most often per mention via the Times' dictionary function. Panegyric (n. a eulogistic oration or writing) topped the list with 582 look-ups for the single time it was used. [NYTimes Blog]


text:
Lei Chic's guide to the weekend's best events
Weekend Picks - May 1, 2014
Photo: Odeelo Dayondon
Thirsty Thursdays
What: Thursday is THE WORST. Think about it—the week is bearable until Wednesday, but at least then, it's Hump Day. Thursday is the last big hurdle before Friday, aka the weekend and your salvation, but, starting tonight, you can get the party going a day early. Star 101.9 and eleven44 have teamed up to bring you Cheeky! A Champagne Affair, which comes with complimentary tapas and wine, shopping and massages every Thursday night.
When: Thursdays. Happy Hour is 5–7 p.m. with special events and demos from 6–8 p.m. and DJs spinning from 7–9 p.m. Maleko hosts from 9 p.m. to midnight.
Where: eleven44, 1144 Bishop St.
Details: No cover, 21+ only. Tonight's event includes a makeup demo by Motives Cosmetics at 6 p.m.
A Happy Home
What: Abode need brightening? HomeWorld will be hosting award-winning designer Angelo Surmelis (of Rate My Space, 24 Hour Design and TLC fame) in "How To Style Your Home Like A Pro" seminars. From dim dens to kitschy kitchens, learn how to go from glum to glam and take the decor in your digs to a whole new level. Surmelis will be participating in a meet-and-greet and Q&A and promoting his angelo:HOME galleries, which are also chock-full of style ideas and products to make any room in your house sparkle for any type of budget. Home, super sweet home.
When: May 3, 10–11:30 a.m. at Pearlridge location and 2–3:30 p.m. at Honolulu location
Where: HomeWorld Pearlridge is located at 98-107 Kamehameha Highway, Aiea, 488-1065; HomeWorld Honolulu is at 702 Beretania St., 543-5300
Details: Find more info at homeworld.com.
South of the Runway
What: Local fashion icon Ari South will join guest moderator Camaron Miyamoto of UH Manoa's LGBT Student Services for an evening talk, vendor fair and meet-and-greet. Learn about South's early life and what "Free to Be" means to her, and shop from Eden in Love, Nebulous Clothing, UH and Josa Jewelry.
When: Friday, May 2, 5:30–9:30 p.m. Doors open at 5 p.m. for the talk and reopen at 6:30 p.m. for the remainder of the evening.
Where: Campus Center Ballroom, third floor, UH Manoa
Details: There will also be a raffle and free photo booth. Space is limited, so arrive early.
Give a Little
What: Ward Centers' Give and Get weekend kicks off tomorrow. Pick up a passport at the information and service counter and receive exclusive offers from more than 85 shops and restaurants, plus you can enter to win a $100 gift card, spin the prize wheel, and get free Menchie's frozen yogurt when you spend at least $100 during the weekend (save your receipts!).
When: Friday, May 2 through Sunday, May 4
Where: Ward Centers
Details: Passports are $5. For details, visit wardcenters.com.
A Tall Order
What: Our top pick for First Friday? Two words: Cake Tumblers. Let Them Eat Cupcakes has outdone itself with tiramisu tumblers (including house-made marscapone) that we are dying to get our mouths on. DYING.
When: Tomorrow, May 2, starting from noon
Where: Let Them Eat Cupcakes, 35 S. Beretania St.
Details: Pre-orders strongly recommended: 531-2253. Other First Friday flavors include strawberry margarita cupcakes ($3.75) and chili chocolate cupcakes ($3.50).
Scrub It Out
What: You never know what goes into those facial scrubs at Longs. Learn how to make your own masks and scrubs out of herbal and edible materials (you know, in case some gets in your mouth and you don't know the number for Poison Control) in this workshop taught by herbalist Deanna Rose. You'll even get to take home a couple jars of your creations.
When: Sunday, May 4, 3–6 p.m.
Where: Manoa. Register for exact location details.
Details: $40. Registration required here. For more info, call (617) 775-4548 or email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Mom's the Word
What: A Mother's Day trunk show at Super Citizen will feature Mango Luxe and Graziella Capponi Designs so you can pick the perfect gift for the perfect woman.
When: Saturday, May 3, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Where: Super Citizen, Kahala Mall
Details: When you spend $125 or more at the mall between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. this Saturday, you'll receive a $10-off coupon to use at California Pizza Kitchen.
Photo: Chris Burkhardt
Horsing Around
What: If the Kentucky Derby is known for anything (other than horses, duh), it's hats. And who better to comment on the extravagant head coverings than former ice-skating Olympians-turned-style commentators Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir?
When: Saturday, May 3 (View schedule here)
Where: NBC, channel 8, or live online
Details: Check out some of Weir's best outfits from the Sochi Olympics.
Retreat & Revive
What: Start the month off right with facials, massages, Pilates, healthy appetizers and cold pressed juices on this day of wellness from Essential Skin and Body. Say it with me—Goosfraba.
When: Saturday, May 3, 10 a.m–2 p.m.
Where: Kukui Plaza Garden Pergola, 55 S. Kukui St.
Details: $20. Please RSVP to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Idol Worship
What: TIME's list of the most influential people in the world is now up and includes everyone from Beyoncé and Pharrell to Vladimir Putin and Edward Snowden. Unfortunately they overlooked us—again—but there's always next year.
When: Online now, or subscribe to TIME here.
Where: time.com/time100-2014
Details: Even if you don't know who these people are, chances are you'll know some of the authors behind the picks—take a look.
Wardrobe Upgrade
What: Face it—you love shopping. We all do. But what's even better than blowing all your hard-earned money on retail therapy? Blowing no money, and getting all the clothes. Asos is giving away free clothes for an entire year—all you have to do is enter via Facebook.
When: Through May 11, 6 p.m. HST
Where: ASOS on Facebook
Details: $3,600 worth of clothes … it just might be enough.
For the Kids
What: Today's your last chance to enter to win an adorable Bitty Bambu dress and Tidepool Love bracelet for the fashionable keiki in your life. Follow @bittybambu, @tidepoollove and @kristycopperfield on Instagram and comment on the giveaway photo with three tagged friends who would also want to win. The randomly selected winner will be announced first thing Friday.
When: Today only. Winner announced Friday, May 2 on Instagram.
Where: Bitty Bambu's Instagram
Details: A $200 value.
A Real Gem
What: Padma and Pickles joins Hawaii Calligraphy for a trunk show at Owens & Co. All gemstone jewelry is 15 percent off, plus there's a pearl bar to make your own Tahitian pearl jewelry.
When: Through tomorrow, May 2.
Where: Owens & Co., 1152 Nuuanu Ave.
Details: 531-4300.
Crowning Achievement
What: May Day is Lei Day, but we're gonna rock these flowers all month. Learn how to make your own floral crown this weekend to make your head smell amazing.
When: Saturday, May 3, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Where: Global Village, 539 Kailua Road, Kailua
Details: Call 262-8183 to learn more, or check out Global Village on Facebook.
Safe Bet
What: Pick up a scratch card at any Face Shop Hawaii location to find out how much you can save on your purchase—10, 20, 30, 50 or 100 percent, or receive a free gift. It's like Vegas, only without the airfare or debauchery.
When: Saturday, May 3 through Sunday, May 11
Where: The Face Shop Hawaii
Details: Cards must be used that day.
Oaky Dokey
What: She designs hot prints, she runs a boutique, she plays music—Roberta Oaks does it all. Come jam with her tonight while she's got her DJ hat on.
When: Tonight, 7–8 p.m.
Where: Downbeat Lounge, 42 N. Hotel St.
Details: Already Sweaty and The Bougies perform after Oaks until 10 p.m.
Who: Kate Spade, Royal Hawaiian Center
Deal: 25 percent off wallets and select small leather goods
Who: Muumuu Heaven
Deal: Free shipping with code "FREESHIPPING"
Who: HIC – Hawaiian Island Creations (all except Haleiwa location)
Deal: Buy one, get one 50 percent off regularly priced O'Neill items
Who: Juicy Couture
Deal: 40 percent off earrings and rings
Who: Cinnamon Girl, all locations
Deal: 20 percent off when you buy a mother-and-daughter dress set
When: Through Mother's Day, May 11
Who: Global Village, 539 Kailua Road
Deal: 20 percent off select floral dresses and tops
When: Today only
Who: Rebecca Taylor
Deal: Up to 60 percent off select styles
Who: Nina Kuna Designs
Deal: 15 percent off with code "MNKO2014"
Who: Ava Sky
Deal: 25 percent off select spring styles
Who: White House Black Market, Ala Moana Center
Deal: 20 percent off
When: Through Sunday, May 4
Who: FM Boutique
Deal: 40 percent off, including sale items, with code "BOOM"
Who: Malie Organics
Deal: 25 percent off with code "MAY"
When: Today only
Who: Basique Threads
Deal: Free shipping on orders over $50 with code "freeship50"
Who: Jana Lam
Deal: 25 percent off with code "MOMMASNEWBAG"