Menendez says he reimbursed donor for 2 jaunts

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2013 file photo, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Menendez's office says he traveled on a plane owned by a Florida physician who is a friend and political donor, but denied that the senator had engaged with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2013 file photo, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Menendez's office says he traveled on a plane owned by a Florida physician who is a friend and political donor, but denied that the senator had engaged with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Sen. Robert Menendez's office says he reimbursed a prominent Florida political donor $58,500 for the full cost of two of three trips Menendez took on the donor's plane to the Dominican Republic in 2010.

There was no public disclosure.

"The senator paid for the two trips out of his personal account and no reporting requirements apply," said Menendez spokeswoman Tricia Enright.

Details of Menendez's trips emerged as his office said unsubstantiated allegations that the senator engaged in sex with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic are false.

The FBI searched the West Palm Beach, Fla., office of the donor ? eye doctor Salomon Melgen ? on Tuesday night and early Wednesday, but it was unclear if the raid was related to Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat.

A third trip by Menendez aboard Melgen's plane ? a campaign fundraising journey to the donor's residence in the Dominican Republic ? took place in May 2010. That trip was reported to the Federal Election Commission, said Enright. That trip, for fundraising from the community of Americans in the area, went to the Dominican Republic and to Puerto Rico, said Menendez's office.

Menendez categorized the other two trips as personal. The first was from Aug. 6-9, 2010, a round trip from South Florida to the Dominican Republic. The second personal trip was from Sept. 3-6, 2010, from New Jersey to the Dominican Republic and back.

Menendez could have invoked what is known as a "friendship exemption" regarding the two personal trips, which would have required the senator to report the travel to the Senate Ethics Committee as a gift. Instead, Menendez chose to reimburse the full cost of the two trips.

The Daily Caller, a conservative website, reported shortly before the November election that Menendez traveled on Melgen's private plane to the Dominican Republic to engage in sex with prostitutes.

Menendez's office said the accusations of engaging with prostitutes "are manufactured by a politically motivated right-wing blog and are false."

At FBI headquarters in Washington, spokesman Jason Pack said the bureau "cannot comment on the existence or status of an investigation." Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler also declined to comment.

On Tuesday, Menendez became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, succeeding Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Records filed in Palm Beach County show an Internal Revenue Service lien against Melgen of more than $11.1 million for unpaid taxes from 2006-09. Prior liens for taxes from 1998 to 2002 were subsequently withdrawn, records show.

Earlier Wednesday, Menendez's office said Melgen has been a friend and political supporter of the senator for many years and said the three trips Menendez took have been "paid for and reported appropriately." Menendez's office later changed the statement's wording to specify that the trips had been "paid for or reported appropriately" to correct the impression that all three trips had been publicly reported.

The Daily Caller began publishing stories about Menendez and Melgen on Nov. 1, when it reported that two women from the Dominican Republic said Menendez paid them for sex earlier in 2012. Prostitution is legal in the Caribbean nation.

Melgen is involved in numerous businesses, all sharing the same address in West Palm Beach, according to records filed with the Department of State in Florida.

Late Tuesday and early Wednesday, FBI agents were seen inside the West Palm Beach building, walking its halls and standing beside shelves full of files.

Melgen is listed as having an ownership interest in DRM Med Assist, which Federal Aviation Administration records show is the owner of a CL-600 Challenger plane. Flight records for the aircraft were not immediately available.

Melgen, a registered Democrat, has made $193,350 in political contributions since 1998, including $14,200 to Menendez, according to Federal Election Commission records. Menendez was chairman of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, which raises money for Democratic Senate candidates, from 2009-11.

Menendez, a lawyer, is a former mayor of Union City, N.J., and also served in the New Jersey state General Assembly and the New Jersey state Senate. He is divorced and has two children.

Melgen, 58, is a native of the Dominican Republic, where he earned his medical degree from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henr?quez Ure?a in 1978. He has lived in the U.S. since at least 1980, holding an internship, residency and fellowship at hospitals in Connecticut, Missouri and Massachusetts, according to records filed with the Florida Department of Health.

Melgen has been licensed to practice in Florida since 1986 and purchased the West Palm Beach plot of land where he built his main office in 1991. Over the years, Melgen has become regarded as a top ophthalmologist, speaking at conferences and even operating on then-Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1997. The governor later appointed Melgen to a state panel on HMOs.

Calls to Melgen's offices Wednesday were forwarded to an answering service where receptionists told callers to try back Thursday. Calls to Melgen's home in North Palm Beach, which is appraised at $2.1 million, went unanswered.

On the website for his medical practice, Melgen writes: "I am always asked what sets me apart from most other doctors, and I would have to say that I do not consider myself to be a 'cookbook' physician. My patients are my number one priority, and when I am looking to treat a diagnosis I try to look at all the data at hand and extrapolate the best treatment instead of solely adhering to what the current 'standard' of treatment may be."

___

Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky in West Palm Beach, Fla., Curt Anderson in Miami and Jack Gillum and Larry Margasak in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-31-Menendez/id-dce8ec224bbc44c9aec88411e419d6fa

rubio colts colts big ten tournament 2012 dennis quaid bruce weber fired notorious big

Green thumb? Wash. state looks for pot consultant

Khurshid Khoja, left, an attorney with San Francisco based Greenbridge Corporate Counsel, asks a question as he sits with marijuana cultivation expert Ed Rosenthal, right, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., as they attend an information session put on by Washington's Liquor Control Board for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Khurshid Khoja, left, an attorney with San Francisco based Greenbridge Corporate Counsel, asks a question as he sits with marijuana cultivation expert Ed Rosenthal, right, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., as they attend an information session put on by Washington's Liquor Control Board for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Bill Thomas, of Clarkston, Wash., wears a large hemp necklace Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., as he attends an information session put on by Washington's Liquor Control Board for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Washington state Liquor Control Board, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., at an information session for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Washington state Liquor Control Board, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., at an information session for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. Listening at left is David Lampach, president and Co-Founder of Steep Hill Lab, a medical marijuana testing facility in California. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Washington state Liquor Control Board, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Tacoma, Wash., at an information session for people interested in bidding for consultant contracts with the state to advise on the implementation of legal marijuana use, which was passed into law by voters in 2012. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) ? Wanted: A green thumb with extensive knowledge of the black, or at least gray, market.

As Washington state tries to figure out how to regulate its newly legal marijuana, officials are hiring an adviser on all things weed: how it's best grown, dried, tested, labeled, packaged and cooked into brownies.

Sporting a mix of flannel, ponytails and suits, dozens of those angling for the job turned out Wednesday for a forum in Tacoma, several of them from out of state. The Liquor Control Board, the agency charged with developing rules for the marijuana industry, reserved a convention center hall for a state bidding expert to take questions about the position and the hiring process.

"Since it's not unlikely with this audience, would a felony conviction preclude you from this contract?" asked Rose Habib, an analytical chemist from a marijuana testing lab in Missoula, Mont.

The answer: It depends. A pot-related conviction is probably fine, but a "heinous felony," not so much, responded John Farley, a procurement coordinator with the Liquor Control Board.

Washington and Colorado this fall became the first states to pass laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and setting up systems of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores where adults over 21 can walk in and buy up to an ounce of heavily taxed cannabis.

Both states are working to develop rules for the emerging pot industry. Up in the air is everything from how many growers and stores there should be, to how the marijuana should be tested to ensure people don't get sick.

Sales are due to begin in Washington state in December.

Washington's Liquor Control Board has a long and "very good" history with licensing and regulation, spokesman Mikhail Carpenter said.

"But there are some technical aspects with marijuana we could use a consultant to help us with," Carpenter said.

The board has advertised for consulting services in four categories. The first is "product and industry knowledge" and requires "at least three years of consulting experience relating to the knowledge of the cannabis industry, including but not limited to product growth, harvesting, packaging, product infusion and product safety."

Other categories cover quality testing, including how to test for levels of THC, the compound that gets marijuana users high; statistical analysis of how much marijuana the state's licensed growers should produce; and the development of regulations, a category that requires a "strong understanding of state, local or federal government processes," with a law degree preferred.

Farley said the state hopes to award a single contract covering all four categories, but if no bidder or team of bidders has expertise in all fields? regulatory law, statistical analysis and pot growing ? multiple contracts could be awarded. Or bidders who are strong in one category could team up with those who are strong in another. Bids are due Feb. 15, with the contract awarded in March.

Habib, the chemist, said she's part of a team of marijuana and regulatory experts from Montana who are bidding for the contract. They're fed up with federal raids on medical dispensaries there.

"We want to move here and make it work. We want to be somewhere this is moving forward and being embraced socially," she said.

Khurshid Khoja, a corporate lawyer from San Francisco, wore a suit and sat beside a balding, ponytailed man in a gray sweatshirt ? Ed Rosenthal, a co-founder of High Times magazine and a recognized expert on marijuana cultivation. They're on a team bidding for the contract.

"I've seen the effect of regulation of marijuana all my life," Khoja said. "I'd like to see a more rational, scientific approach to it."

Several people asked whether winning the contract, or even subcontracting with the winning bidder, would preclude them from getting state licenses to grow, process or sell cannabis. Farley said yes: It would pose a conflict of interest to have the consultant helping develop the regulations being subject to those rules. But once the contract has expired, they could apply for state marijuana licenses, he said.

After the questions ended, the bidders mingled, exchanging business cards and talking about how they might team up. One Seattle-area marijuana grower, a college student who declined to give his name after noting that a dispensary he worked with had been raided by federal authorities in 2011, approached Rosenthal.

"It would be my dream to smoke a bowl with you after this," he said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-01-30-Pot%20Consultant/id-bcad33698a9c455e92d5adf50fcb8e6c

san francisco chronicle kourtney kardashian pregnant kourtney kardashian pregnant billy cundiff super bowl tickets superbowl birmingham news

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 adds live Twitch streaming for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360

Shooter fans who've wanted to show their skills (or endure peer judgment) in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 through a live broadcast have usually had to go the YouTube route. That's fine for many, but some gamers will want to serve their own kind above all -- so it's with some relief that Treyarch is adding built-in streaming to the more game-focused Twitch video service. The new option will send both live audio and video from Black Ops 2 as long as there's an active Twitch account, as well as share word of exploits through Facebook or Twitter. Anyone committed enough to have a Call of Duty Elite subscription can also get a peek at a player's stats. Neither Treyarch nor Twitch has said exactly how soon they'll flick the livestreaming switch, although Wii U owners are once again left high and dry when Twitch support is limited to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 3 owners.

Show full PR text

Call of Duty(R): Black Ops II Enables Live Twitch Broadcasting

Activision and Treyarch's Innovative In-Game Live Streaming Feature Coming to Twitch,
Delivering the Ability to Share the Thrill of Call of Duty(R) Competition with the Masses

San Francisco, CA - January 30, 2013 - Twitch, the world's leading video platform and community for gamers, today announced a partnership with Activision Publishing, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (Nasdaq: ATVI), and the award-winning developer Treyarch, to bring Call of Duty(R): Black Ops II live streaming broadcasts to Twitch viewers worldwide, allowing every gamer to become a broadcaster and share their excitement for the spirit of Call of Duty competition with fans around the world. Using innovative new in-game streaming feature from Activision and Treyarch, Call of Duty: Black Ops II players on Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system, and Windows PC will be able to broadcast their multiplayer games, player's webcam, as well as audio commentary feeds in real-time directly to Twitch.

"Making Call of Duty: Black Ops II not only fun to play, but also fun to watch was a key goal from the beginning of development," said Mark Lamia, studio head of Treyarch. "We pushed ourselves to build these features right into the game in order to make live streaming as accessible and as social as possible for everyone. One of the things that makes this so special is that there's no need for additional hardware or equipment, we want our fans to be able to share their experiences with the world."

"Live streaming Call of Duty in-game via a simple one-click option is a first of its kind feature that will blow the doors wide open to the online community," said Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch. "There's nothing else like Call of Duty. With the weight of Call of Duty: Black Ops II bringing live broadcasting to the masses, in-game streaming has been taken to another level."

With the inclusion of instant broadcasting to the Twitch platform, it ensures an engaging and highly social experience for gamers who want to live broadcast and share their game sessions to the industry's largest audience of live gaming video.

Twitch features in Call of Duty: Black Ops II will include:
o. Use your existing Twitch account or create a new one for free and immediately begin streaming gameplay
o. Share your Twitch live stream link to Twitter and Facebook, easily connecting with your social network
o. One-click broadcasting on Xbox(R) 360, PlayStation(R) 3, and Windows PC

In addition to Twitch, Call of Duty: Black Ops II player live streams will be viewable on Twitch via web browsers, mobile and tablets through Call of Duty Elite. Additionally, Call of Duty Elite users can see the player card of the user that is streaming. With only a couple of clicks, players will see added information, including class loadouts, recent match data, as well as career stats across supported Call of Duty(R) games on Call of Duty Elite.

Filed under: Gaming, Internet

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/30/call-of-duty-black-ops-2-adds-live-twitch-streaming/

the Pirate Bay Hotel Transylvania eagles nfl schedule 2012 Fox News Suicide Google Ryder Cup Standings

Coke's new obesity ad raises eyebrows in scientific ... - Health.am

? Food & Nutrition ? ? Obesity ? Jan 30, 2013

As a growing epidemic, obesity has attracted the attention of scientists, researchers, government officials and Coca-Cola.

Yes, Coca-Cola. The company?s new ad campaign, ?Coming Together,? released on Jan. 14, addresses the problem of obesity, creating widespread dissent in the scientific community.

?Coke, like other companies, is in the crosshairs,? said Jeff Cronin, director of communications at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

?Sugary drinks are alike in that they have no nutritional value, but promote things like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity,? he said.

"Coming Together? directly confronts questions of Coca-Cola?s role in the obesity epidemic and cites ways the company has improved the health content of its beverages.

?Across our portfolio of more than 650 beverages, we now offer over 180 low- and no-calorie choices,? the ad says, ?Over the last 15 years, this helped reduce the average calories per serving across our industry?s products in the U.S. by 22 percent.?

The ad also cites smaller, portion-controlled, sizes and calorie-content labels on its products as ways the company has responded to obesity.

?No matter how much water, juice or seltzer is in their portfolio,? Cronin said, ?the core of their business is selling full-calorie Coke.?

However, even low-calorie sodas could contribute to weight gain and illness, said Brenda Murray, bariatric dietician at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

?Soda acts the same way as if you ate a lot of white bread or rice,? she said. ?It?s processed right into fat in the body, and all you?re getting is empty calories, no nutrition.?

Murray emphasized the importance of quality over quantity when consuming food and beverages. A healthy diet could include bigger portions of a higher quality food, rather than smaller portions of a lower quality food or beverage.

?They?re saying a calorie is just a calorie. But it?s not the amount of calories you take in, it?s the kind of calories, too,? Murray said.

In response to the statements made in Coca-Cola?s ad, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a video, ?Coming Together: Translated.? The video includes excerpts from Coca-Cola?s original ad, with ?translations? exposing the ad?s underlying messages.

?We thought the ad was laughable on its face,? Cronin said. ?What we wanted to do was to translate what Coke was saying into plain English.?

The ?translations? are written as if spoken by Coca-Cola executives, and respond directly to statements in the original ad. For example, the original ad tells consumers, ?If you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you?ll gain weight,? which the Center for Science in the Public Interest translates into, ?If you gain weight, remember it?s your fault and not ours.?

Cronin compared Coca-Cola?s influence on the American public to that of the tobacco industry in the past two decades. He specifically cited statements made by Coca-Cola President Katie Bayne in 2012 that claim no evidence connects sugary drinks to obesity.

?Katie Bayne?s comments are like a tobacco executive swearing under oath that nicotine is not addictive,? Cronin said. ?It?s like Coke is in denial.?

Professor Tim Calkins at Northwestern University?s Kellogg School of Management also compared Coca-Cola?s behavior to that of tobacco companies, but in a different sense.

?The executives at Coke have to be very concerned about the focus of soda on the risk of obesity,? Calkins said. ?Like the tobacco industry and other industries that have been scrutinized, they could be stigmatized as a bad product.?

Especially in light of stricter regulations on soda imposed by some government officials, soda companies feel obligated to engage in the discussion about obesity, Calkins said.

?Coke doesn?t want to be identified as the main problem,? Calkins said. ?It?s tempting to sit back and be quiet and think that it will all work out, but that?s not the best approach.

Mary Pearlman, another professor at Kellogg, agreed with Calkins that Coca-Cola needs to address the issue rather than ignoring it.

?If you?re going to toot your horn about how you?ve increased the number of options available with fewer calories, you?re opening the door for either questions or comments about the product in general,? Pearlman said.

Coca-Cola did not respond to requests for comment.

Calkins said this is not the last time the soda industry will respond to obesity.

?I think we?re going to see more of this. As obesity comes to the fore, more and more companies will take action,? Calkins said.

More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese, and in 2008 alone, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

###

by Emily Wasserman
Chicago, Northwestern University

Provided by ArmMed Media

?Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]?

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]

Source: http://www.health.am/ab/more/cokes-new-obesity-ad-raises/

outback chaka khan taylor swift safe and sound delilah nevis 2012 sports illustrated swimsuit same day flower delivery

Stanford Uses Million-Core Supercomputer To Model Supersonic Jet Noise

You get some pretty interesting problems, when you increase the number of cores in your computer.

A couple of years ago, we replaced a 4-core IBM P5 with a 32-core HP DL 580. We tested it for a couple of months with just a user, or two, at a time. Then, we took a day and tested with the entire company (roughly 250 users). Thank goodness we did before we put it into production because, for some people, it was actually slower than the P5. It looked like it was going to be a disaster.

Fortunately, I had seen thi

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/WFYQFg2MNG4/story01.htm

best superbowl commercials madonna half time m.i.a super bowl coin toss madonna super bowl halftime kelly clarkson super bowl giants super bowl 2012

Girls saves mom suffering diabetic attack

A fast thinking 9-year-old Illinois girl was able to help guide her mother to safety after the woman suffered a diabetic attack while driving at speeds of up to 70 mph.

Jennifer Sheridan, 42, was driving her daughter Aleksandra to McDonald's in Frankfort, Ill., after the two had attended a high school basketball game on the evening of Jan. 18. Sheridan, who has type 2 diabetes, had a diabetic attack when her blood sugar suddenly dropped. She told ABCNews.com that she was not aware of what was happening.

"I was still conscious, and talking, my daughter said. I don't remember any of that," Sheridan said. "We went through, she says, a red light, and then I know I kept saying, 'We have to stop.' That was in my mind, but it wasn't clicking."

Sheridan said that they passed her house and the McDonald's. Aleksandra was screaming and crying during the wayward drive, which she says must have lasted 15 to 20 minutes, but kept talking to her mother.

"She says she kept telling me different things, that I was going too fast, or too slow," Sheridan said.

While the car was still moving, Sheridan's husband called. She said that Aleksandra was on phone screaming that they were going off the road.

Her car eventually veered to the right, through a small ditch and a group of trees. At that point Aleksandra turned the car off, preventing the still moving car from hitting a tree.

Luckily, both mother and daughter were unharmed. Once the car was off, Aleksandra slowly fed her mother a chocolate bar that was in the car's cup holder.

"Once we were stopped and she could focus, she fed me," Sheridan said. "She said, 'I kept just giving little pieces so you wouldn't choke.'"

Police and the fire department were called to the scene by a passerby who saw the incident. The story also caught local media attention from WBBM-TV and Fox News.

Sheridan says the next thing she actually remembers was being in the ambulance. Police who arrived on the scene congratulated Aleksandra, and even gave her a yellow duck toy, which they call the "Golden Duck Award for Heroes."

This is not the first time Aleksandra has come to her mom's aid when she had a diabetic attack. Two years ago, while they were in their home, the girl called 911 when she found her mother on the kitchen floor.

Sheridan said that she is now using an insulin pump, which is designed to eliminate lows in blood sugar in diabetics. She said that she will soon be on the list for a new pancreas. With a daughter and a 16-year-old son with cerebral palsy, she says she needs to be in top form. For now, she's happy that both she and Aleksandra are unscathed.

"Every day, I wake up and think, 'Yes!'" she said.

Also Read

Source: http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/girl-9-saves-mom-diabetic-attack-while-driving-155739348--abc-news-topstories.html

chipper jones chipper jones dancing with the stars cast mickael pietrus heart transplant the international preppers

NASA's RASSOR robot shape-shifts to haul lunar soil, help make fuel and water

NASA believes our return to the Moon could be sustained by extracting water from the lunar soil to produce air and even fuel. But how to get large amounts of that soil without bringing heavy, failure-prone machinery? The agency's RASSOR (pronounced "razor") excavator robot might do the trick. Rather than wield big scoops, it has a pair of arm-mounted drums that can change the robot's profile and dig with far more efficiency than RASSOR's 100-pound weight would usually allow, using one drum as a grip. The robot's sheer flexibility is also key to its working for the estimated five years of NASA's plans: if the crawler ever overturns or gets caught, it can flip over and keep the main treads out of the ground while clearing out soil-related jams. There's enough refinement needed that a RASSOR 2 follow-up should be in testing around early 2014, but the sequel will be close enough to the ideal design that long-term Moon missions could have the little hauler as a passenger.

Filed under: Robots

Comments

Via: Gizmag

Source: NASA

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/uHh320YddrY/

mega millions Cyber Monday Deals 2012 Sasha McHale Boy Meets World elizabeth taylor cam newton danielle fishel

What?s next for Anthony Pettis? Waiting patiently for the lightweight title shot

With his performance against Donald Cerrone on Saturday night, Anthony Pettis made a believer out of many fight fans. One of those who now thinks Pettis belongs in the title shot conversation is UFC president Dana White.

Pettis =AMAZING!!!! Ok I'm sold

? Dana White (@danawhite) January 27, 2013

While the next bout for UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson is set with Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez in April, Pettis has set himself up as the obvious next man up.

"I think the Melendez fight is pretty set, but (Pettis is) next. I can't say enough things about the kid tonight. That was incredible," White said in the postfight press conference.

The last time Pettis had a title shot, he had a wrench thrown into the plans. Pettis won the WEC lightweight belt in the promotion's final fight. A title shot was promised to whoever had the belt when the WEC merged with the UFC.

But two weeks after Pettis won the belt, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard faced off for the belt. They fought to a draw and Edgar kept the belt, but Maynard was given an immediate rematch.

Instead of waiting for the title shot then, Pettis fought Clay Guida. He lost a decision, and the title shot was gone. This time, he's not going to let the title shot slip through his hands.

"If it's a guaranteed title shot, then I'm waiting. That was my goal this year, and I'm definitely going to wait and get better," Pettis said.

The way title shots have been going in the UFC, there's no way to know if Pettis is making the right call. However, what Pettis is doing is setting himself up as the go-to guy if the UFC needs him. Melendez has had to postpone fights because of injuries in the past, and you never know what could happen as fighters prepare for their bouts.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/next-anthony-pettis-waiting-patiently-lightweight-title-shot-172409772--mma.html

internet blackout jessica capshaw seattle times seattle times walker recall censor pipa and sopa

Rick Ross Shooting: Who Tried to Off the Rapper?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/rick-ross-shooting-who-tried-to-off-the-rapper/

Kim Dotcom Is Stranded in the Middle of Nowhere and Live-Tweeting About It (Update: Escape)

Kim Dotcom is a character. Giving the finger to the government that took his site down by setting up a new one. Throwing a press conference complete with a fake FBI raid, pyrotechnics, and dancers. Demolishing cheap lawn furniture. Now, thanks to helicopter problems, he's stranded in the middle of nowhere. Ever the showman, he's making something of an event of it. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/mP_7fXYF59c/kim-dotcom-is-stranded-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-and-live+tweeting-about-it