Atos, one of the largest information technology companies in the world decided to abolish e-mails, because it says 90% of them are a waste of time.
Atos employs almost 80,000 people in 42 countries.
The company believes that too many of its employees waste hours dealing with irrelevant e-mails, so wants them phased out within 18 months.
Atos, one of the largest information technology companies in the world decided to abolish e-mails, because it says 90 percent of them are a waste of time
Instead, Atos wants people to spend more time talking to each other – either on the phone or in person – and to use tightly controlled “real time” messaging interfaces.
Atos CEO, Thierry Breton, who is a former French finance minister, said the “zero e-mail” policy could be in place within 18 months.
“It is not right that some of our fellow employees spend hours in the evening dealing with their e-mails,” said the 56-year-old CEO.
Claiming that only 20 out of every 200 emails received by his staff every day turn out to be important, Thierry Breton said: “The e-mail is no longer the appropriate tool. It is time to think differently.
“The deluge of information will be one of the most important problems a company will have to face.”
Thierry Breton said the main problem was people switching to a “useless” email while they were carrying out a far more important task.
Allowing e-mails to stack up also means that staff has huge e-mail workloads to pile through when they get home.
Thierry Breton pointed to a recent study by the business watchdog ORSE, which reads: “Reading useless messages is terrible for concentration, as it takes 64 seconds to get back on the ball after doing so. Poorly controlled, the e-mail can become a devastating tool.”
Atos CEO suggested that a real time messaging interface as available on sites like Facebook would be far preferable to email, with staff also encouraged to talk to each other in person.
“Companies must prepare for the new wave of usage and behaviour,” Thierry Breton said, adding that he always preferred proper conversations.
“If people want to talk to me, they can come and visit me, call or send me a text message,” he said.
George Michael, who is in AKH hospital in Vienna suffering from severe pneumonia, has been joined by his 75-year-old father Kyriacos Panayiotou – known as Jack Panos – as well as older sisters Melanie, 49 and Yioda, 53.
George Michael’s former boyfriend, art dealer Kenny Goss, 53, is also due to join the group.
His current boyfriend, hair stylist Fadi Fawaz has been with the star throughout his ordeal.
George Michael, who is in AKH hospital in Vienna suffering from severe pneumonia, has been joined by his family
Kenny Goss, who split from Michael in 2009, will jet to Vienna from the US, where he has galleries in both Dallas and New York.
A friend said: “Kenny of course is very concerned. Kenny has been very supportive throughout this.
“He is planning to come. He’s been in touch every single day. They are very close still. Kenny and George will always be the best of friends.”
The AKH is Europe’s largest hospital with 1,600 doctors, including world experts in pneumonia treatment. Experts say that pneumonia is especially difficult to treat because it is hard to diagnose, meaning that immediate specialist care is often vital in severe cases such as George Michael’s.
Specialists at AKH decided to bring in the futuristic Triadyne Proventa bed – which helps breathing pneumonia patients in a critical condition – which is believed to have saved the George Michael’s life.
According to his friends, George Michael, 48, was fortunate to be taken ill in Vienna, where he was able to be admitted to a hospital which is renowned for its “pioneering, amazing” work with regards to the potentially fatal illness.
Australian-born Fadi Fawaz, 38, appeared tired and drawn as he left the hospital where George Mchael is battling severe pneumonia during the weekend.
Fadi Fawaz anxiously fiddled with his mobile telephone after visiting Vienna’s AKH Hospital where he has kept a vigil by George Michael’s bedside for a week.
Fadi Fawaz was accompanied by two women, believed to by George Michael’s sisters, one of whom held her head in her hands in the hospital lobby as she waited for the car to collect them.
George Michael’s fans from across Europe have also visited the hospital in the Austrian capital to wish him well.
George Michael was rushed to hospital last week after he fell ill just hours before he was due on stage in the city.
As a result, on Friday, the rest of his Symphonica tour, which was due to go on until Christmas, was called off.
There were also claims George Michael had been in a coma and that he is also suffering from heart problems, though, have been dismissed by aides.
On Friday, a statement was issued revealing George Michael’s condition is ‘severe community acquired pneumonia.’
Prof. Dr. Christoph Zielinski, Chairman, Department of Medicine General Hospital – Medical University Vienna, Austria and Prof. Dr. Thomas Staudinger, Specialist in Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine said then: “George Michael has severe community acquired pneumonia and is being treated as an inpatient.
“His condition has stabilized and he is responding to treatment. From the current point of view, the time until recovery cannot be estimated, but he will not be able to perform the rest of the tour. Besides medical treatment, complete rest and peace and quiet are mandatory.”
Karin Fehringer, spokeswoman for the AKH hospital yesterday declined to comment on George Michael’s condition, but said: “We are Europe’s largest hospital and we have advanced specialist care for pneumonia treatment.”
Gary Speed, the Welsh soccer team manager, was not depressed and had not argued with his wife before being found hanged at his home, says Hayden Evans, his agent and a close friend.
Gary Speed’s agent and best man Hayden Evans said of his friend was “happily married” and that his widow Louise is bewildered by his suspected suicide.
Hayden Evans said: “They were happily married and anyone who knows them will tell you that. This is why it is a mystery.
“We genuinely at the moment have no clue whatsoever what has caused it and I have been with the family all day.
“Everybody is asking the same question and no one has an answer. We are all in shock.”
When asked about the circumstances behind Gary Speed’s death and whether he had argued with Louise before killing himself, Hayden Evans added: “Louise is saying that’s not the case. She just doesn’t understand it.”
Gary Speed, the Welsh soccer team manager, was not depressed and had not argued with his wife before being found hanged at his home, says Hayden Evans, his agent and a close friend
When asked if Gary Speed had suffered bouts of depression, Hayden Evans told The Sun “none whatsoever”.
Hayden Evans said: “The one thing the family and me as one of his closest friends would totally refute is that. There was no indication of any problems and never has been.”
Gary Speed, 42, appeared happy as he left the BBC studios in Salford on Saturday afternoon after filming Football Focus. Louise Speed found him hanged in the garage of their £1.5 million ($2.3 million) mansion near Chester just after 7:00 a.m. on Sunday.
On Monday, as tributes to Gary Speed continued to pour in from across the sporting world, police were preparing for the delicate task of speaking to his wife, Louise, 40, and their two teenage sons.
As they struggled to come to terms with his death, Hayden Evans spoke of how they had been “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of sympathy over the past 24 hours.
“Gary’s family would sincerely like to thank all the people who have sent messages of condolence and tributes in what is a very difficult time,” said Hayden Evans.
“They have been overwhelmed by the support – it really has helped. You can imagine how Louise is feeling.”
A pile of tributes including flowers, footballs and soccer shirts was growing at the gates at the end of Gary Speed’s drive last night as a steady stream of fans came to pay their respects.
Yesterday officials at the Welsh Football Association promised to support the family and offer them a “shoulder to cry on” in the coming weeks.
Chief executive Jonathan Ford said: “I’ve no understanding of why it happened, I don’t know the answer and I don’t think we ever will.
“At the moment our thoughts aren’t with that – they are with Gary’s family.
“He was a family man, he loved his wife and children.
“We will do whatever we can to help Louise and the boys.”
Both Gary Speed’s sons are promising sportsmen, 14-year-old Ed is a talented footballer and his 13-year-old brother Tommy a keen boxer.
Cheshire Police confirmed that Gary Speed’s death was being treated as “non-suspicious”.
An inquest will be opened and adjourned today in Warrington.
There is no secret that the fashion world uses a bit of photo-trickery to ensure models look their best.
Any fashion magazine is full of pictures of Amazonian celebrities with endless legs, flawless skin, and not a wrinkle in sight.
However, health organizations have warned that such digital enhancement promotes unrealistic expectations of body image, especially among young girls.
Two computer scientists have said that consumers should be told how much altering has been done on a particular image – and believe they have found a way of quantifying it to offer a universal “health warning” on magazine images.
Professor Hany Farid, the man behind the project, wrote : “Impossibly thin, tall, and wrinkle-and blemish-free models are routinely splashed into billboards, advertisements, and magazine covers.”
Prof. Hany Farid and Eric Kee, from Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, listed the troubling side-effects of altered images as a primary motivation of the project to provide consumers with more information on “photoshopped” images.
“The ubiquity of these unrealistic and highly idealized images has been linked to eating disorders and body-image dissatisfaction in men, women, and children,” the two computer scientists said.
Using a computer programme to highlight the differences between a natural and retouched picture, they have now come up with a simple system under which a picture scores a “1” when there is little retouching and “5” when there are significant changes.
The rating system accounts for two types of adjustments made in photos: geometric adjustments that slim the arms, legs, and torso; and photometric alterations that augment skin tone and removes wrinkles, blemishes, and cellulite.
Prof. Hany Farid and Eric Kee, from Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, listed the troubling side-effects of altered images as a primary motivation of the project to provide consumers with more information on “photoshopped” images
The researchers sought to break down an image’s retouching by producing statistics which detail changes made to each photograph.
“We start with the before-and-after digital images, from which we automatically estimate the geometric and photometric changes, effectively reverse-engineering the manipulations that a photo retoucher has made,” Prof. Hany Farid said.
The specialists analyzed 468 sets of unedited and retouched photographs. They then used a simplified mathematical description of augmentations made to a model’s features, such as their shape or their skin tone.
Each altered photograph was scored between one and five, with five representing a heavy retouching. Volunteers were each asked to score from 1 to 5 how similar each pair of pictures was.
Prof. Hany Farid and his student, Eric Kee, found a close correlation between their computerized assessment and the human opinion, suggesting the technique could be used to come up with a rating that could be published alongside the image.
“Now what we have is a mathematical measure of photo retouching,” Professor Hany Farid, along with doctoral student Eric Kee, wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We can predict what the average observer would say.
“We propose that the interests of advertisers, publishers and consumers may be protected by providing a perceptually meaningful rating of the amount by which a person’s appearance has been digitally altered.
“When published alongside a photo, such a rating can inform consumers of how much a photo has strayed from reality, and can also inform photo editors of exaggerated and perhaps unintended alterations to … appearance.”
Prof. Hany Farid said that it is understandable why magazines go to such great lengths to edit a photo to perfection.
“Publishers have legitimate reasons to alter photographs to create fantasy and sell products, but they’ve gone a little too far. You can’t ignore the body of literature showing negative consequences to being inundated with these images.”
Prof. Hany Farid and Eric Kee aren’t the only ones who have seen the negative effects of over-editing.
In June, the American Medical Association called for industry standards in photo altering, saying: “We must stop exposing impressionable children and teenagers to advertisements portraying models with body types only attainable with the help of photo editing software.”
Emma West, a 34-year-old British woman from New Addington, London, has been charged with racial harassment after video showing her allegedly abusing passengers aboard a tram while balancing a toddler on her knee appeared on the internet.
Emma West appeared before magistrates today charged with racially aggravated harassment following an appeal by the British Transport Police.
The woman was remanded in custody on Monday night, after complaints were made in relation to the footage uploaded to YouTube.
Emma West appeared before magistrates today charged with racially aggravated harassment following an appeal by the British Transport Police
Emma West’s arrest followed an appeal by the British Transport officers who asked the media to publicize the video to help identify her.
A British Transport Police spokesman said: “This is in relation to an incident onboard a Croydon Tramlink.”
The video, posted on YouTube, shows a woman apparently hurling abuse at other passengers on the South London tram and making xenophobic insults.
The footage appears to have been discreetly captured by a passenger as the tram travelled from Croydon to Wimbledon.
Throughout the two minutes of footage the woman’s little boy sits nervously as his mother begins her rant.
At one point the woman declares other passengers should go back to their own country, saying they’re not British because they are black.
Onlookers appear to be uncertain whether the woman is drunk while she is making the comments.
The woman in the footage says: “None of you are ****ing English. Get back to your own country. Sort your own countries, don’t come and do mine.
“It’s nothing now. Britain is nothing now. Britain is **** all. My Britain is **** all.”
At one point the woman claims passengers in the carriage are “****ing burnt people.”
The film was posted on Youtube, on Sunday, by LadyK89 and already has more than 10,000 viewers.
The British Transport Police said: “The video posted on YouTube and Twitter has been brought to our attention and our officers have launched an investigation.
“At present it is not entirely clear which tram stops the offence took place between and when it occurred.
“As a result we need anyone who witnessed this incident, or with any information that could assist our investigation – including the identity of the woman – to contact us.
“We will not tolerate racism in any form on the rail network and will do everything in our power to locate the person responsible.”
A spokeswoman for Transport for London (TfL), said: “All of our customers have the right to use our services without fear of being abused.
“TfL will not tolerate disgusting and offensive behaviour and we will work with the police to fully investigate this incident.
“London Tramlink has a dedicated team of police officers who patrol the network and we would like to assure all our customers that we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that they can travel safely.
“We would appeal to whoever posted the video to contact us in confidence.”
The transcript of Emma West’s racist rant:
“What has this country come to? A load of black people and a load of ****ing Polish. A load of ****ing, yeah… you’re all ****ing… do you know what I mean?
“You ain’t English. No, you ain’t English either. You ain’t English. None of you’s ****ing English. Get back to your own ****ing… do you know what sort out your own countries, don’t come and do mine.
“It’s nothing now. Britain is nothing now. Britain is **** all. My Britain is **** all.
“Yeah its fine. I have got a little kid here. Have respect? I have a little boy here. **** you. I dare you, I ****ing dare you.
“Don’t watch my language. Go back to where you come from, go back to ****ing Nicaragua or where ever you come from. Just ****ing go back.
“I work, I work, I work, this is my British country until we let you lot come over.
“So, what. It is my British country, you ain’t British. Are you British? You ain’t ****ing British. **** off.
“You ain’t British, you’re black. Where do you come from?
“No, someone’s got to talk up for these lot. Look the whole ****ing tram, look at them. Who is black and who is white.
Iranian protesters in the capital, Tehran, have broken into the UK embassy compound during an anti-British demonstration, reports say.
The protesters are said to be militant students. They are said to have removed the British flag, burnt it and replaced it with the Iranian flag.
Protesters who carried photographs of Iran’s assassinated nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari and IRGC Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, set fire on Britain’s flag.
The protesters were also shown live on Iranian state TV throwing stones at embassy windows and breaking them.
Hundreds of Iranian university students started a rally in front of the British embassy in Tehran Tuesday afternoon to shout protest against London’s hostile policies against Iran.
The rally comes as Iran is commemorating the first martyrdom anniversary of its nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari who was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad agency supported by the British MI6.
The move comes after Iran resolved to reduce ties following the Britain’s decision to impose further sanctions on it.
AP reported that students clashed with anti-riot police and chanted “the embassy of Britain should be taken over” and “death to England”.
“Down with Britain”, “Down with America”, “Down with Israel” and “Students are Awake and Hate Britain” are among the slogans chanted by the protestors.
One protester was reported to be waving a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth II.
On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted by a large majority to downgrade diplomatic relations with the UK after the British Treasury imposed sanctions on Iranian banks the previous week, accusing them of facilitating the country’s nuclear programme. The Iranian legislators approved the bill with 179 yes votes, 4 oppositions and 11 abstentions. The 4 oppositions demanded a full cut of ties with London.
Iranian protesters in the capital, Tehran, have broken into the UK embassy compound during an anti-British demonstration
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
The Guardian Council – a powerful vetting body tasked with studying parliament approvals to make sure they are not against Islamic rules and the Constitution – announced its approval over the parliament ratification yesterday.
As the parliament approval calls for downgrading ambassadorial ties with Britain to the level of charge d’affaires, Tehran is now preparing to expel the British Ambassador to Iran Dominick Chilcott.
Chilcott took his post as the new Tehran ambassador in October and after several months of tension between the two capitals. The British embassy was meanwhile led by the charge d’affaires, Jane Marriott.
The parliament approval came a week after the US and Britain targeted Iranian financial sectors with new punitive measures, including sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank and petrochemical industry.
The sanction against CBI and Iran’s petrochemical industry was adopted in a unilateral move by the US, Canada and Britain outside the UN Security Council as other council members, specially Russia and China, had earlier warned against any fresh punitive measure, including sanctions, against Iran.
The British government has also embarked on delisting the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from its list of terrorist groups.
Svetlana Peters, the only daughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin has died in Wisconsin, aged 85.
Stalin’s daughter, who famously denounced communism and moved to the United States in the late 1960s, died from colon cancer.
Svetlana Peters’ defection in 1967 – partly motivated by the poor treatment of her late husband, Brijesh Singh, by Soviet authorities – caused an international furor.
Within months, Svetlana Peters published her memoirs about life in Russia, entitled “Twenty Letters to a Friend”, that became a best-seller.
Svetlana Peters, the only daughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin has died in Wisconsin, aged 85
Svetlana Peters, who was known internationally by her previous name, Svetlana Alliluyeva, said her identity involved more than just switching from one side to the other in the Cold War.
Upon her arrival in New York City in 1967 at 41, she said: “I have come here to seek the self-expression that has been denied me for so long in Russia.”
Stalin’s daughter said she had come to doubt the communism she was taught growing up and believed there weren’t capitalists or communists, just good and bad human beings.
In “Twenty Letters to a Friend”, Svetlana Peters recalled her father, who died in 1953 after ruling the nation for 29 years, as a distant and paranoid man.
Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin denounced Svetlana Peters as a “morally unstable” and “sick person”.
“I switched camps from the Marxists to the capitalists,” Svetlana Peters recalled in a 2007 interview. But she said her identity was far more complex than that and never completely understood.
“People say, <<Stalin’s daughter, Stalin’s daughter>>, meaning I’m supposed to walk around with a rifle and shoot the Americans.
“Or they say, <<No, she came here. She is an American citizen>>. That means I’m with a bomb against the others.
“No, I’m neither one. I’m somewhere in between. That <<somewhere in between>> they can’t understand.”
Svetlana Peters’ defection came at a high personal cost. She left two children behind in Russia – Josef and Yekaterina – from previous marriages.
Both her children were upset by her departure, and she was never close to either again.
Svetlana Peters was Stalin’s only daughter. She had two legitimate brothers, Vasili and Jacob.
When Svetlana, also known as Lana in US, was six years old, her mother, Stalin’s second wife, Nadezhda, shot herself after a row over his philandering. Thereafter, Lana was raised by a beloved nanny.
At 17, Stalin’s daughter fell in love for the first time, with a film-maker and writer 22 years her senior named Aleksei Kapler.
But Stalin did not approve of Aleksei Kapler, whom he dismissed as a “Bohemian artist” and a Jew, and banished him to Siberia for ten years.
Incensed that her boyfriend had influenced her to apply for a university fine arts course, Stalin also insisted she study history and become “an educated Marxist”.
Svetlana Peters graduated from Moscow University in 1949, worked as a teacher and translator and travelled in Moscow’s literary circles before leaving the Soviet Union.
Stalin’s daughter was married four times – the last time to William Wesley Peters, an apprentice to the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright. She took the name Lana Peters.
They had a daughter, Olga, before divorcing in 1973.
Svetlana Peters wrote three more books, including “Only One Year”, an autobiography published in 1969. The book made more than $3 million.
Stalin’s legacy appeared to haunt her throughout her life.
Stalin’s daughter denounced his policies, which included sending millions into labor camps.
“Over me my father’s shadow hovers, no matter what I do or say,” Svetlana Peters lamented in a 1983 interview with the Chicago Tribune.
After living in Britain for two years, Svetlana Peters returned to the Soviet Union with Olga in 1984, saying she wanted to be reunited with her children.
Svetlana Peters’ Soviet citizenship was restored, and she denounced her time in the U.S. and Britain, saying she never really had freedom.
But more than a year later, Svetlana Peters asked for and was given permission to leave after feuding with relatives. She returned to the U.S. and vowed never to go back to Russia.
By her later life, Svetlana Peters was fully immersed in American culture, admitted that she enjoyed American food, particularly hamburgers, and American films, and preferred to speak her adopted language.
Svetlana Peters later lived in Cornwall, England for a brief period in the mid 1990s.
A documentary, “Svetlana About Svetlana”, aired at the Madison Film Festival, Wisconsin in 2010. But Svetlana Peters, who did not attend the airing, later expressed regret at taking part, claiming the film-maker Lana Parshina had tricked her.
“This girl (Parshina) told me she was a college film student and she had to present something different,” she said.
“She was young, and I always like to help young people, so I let her in. But she only came to see me twice and she didn’t say she was making a film about my father.
“She just said it was going to be about the way I live now. I wish I didn’t do it. I won’t even make any money out of it. She will make all the money.”
Svetlana Peters went into seclusion in the last decades of her life in Richland Centre, Wisconsin, and relied on a cane after she developing scoliosis – a condition which twists the spine.
Stalin’s daughter survivors include her daughter Olga, who now goes by Chrese Evans and lives in Portland, Oregon, where she manages a clothes shop.
Her second daughter, who was born in 1950, goes by Katya, and is a scientist who studies an active volcano in eastern Siberia.
A son, Josef, died in 2008 at age 63 in Moscow, according to media reports in Russia.
Stalin’s other children:
Yakov Dzhugashvili, born in 1907, was Stalin’s eldest child and was raised by his aunt in Tbilisi, Georgia. During WWII, Yakov fought in Russia’s Red Army and was captured by the Nazis in 1941. He died in a concentration camp in 1943, aged 35. It has been suggested that he ran into an electric fence to kill himself.
Konstantin Kuzakov, born in 1911, was Stalin’s illegitimate second child, whose mother was Stalin’s landlady while he was in exile. In 1932, the Soviet secret police forced him to sign a statement promising he would not reveal Stalin was his father.
He was later a colonel in WWII. After he was accused of being a spy, he was dismissed from the Communist party. He died in 1996.
Vasili Dzhugashvili, born in 1921, was the son of Stalin and his second wife. After her death, Stalin rarely visited Vasili and Lana, and they were raised by nannies.
Vasili served in the Red Air Force, but was dismissed after allowing planes to fly in bad weather. He was imprisoned for giving away secret information to foreign diplomats. He died in 1962, aged 40, from alcoholism.
Jason Good, a married man from Laurel, Virginia, was caught out by his wife after he used his cell phone to record his mother-in-law taking her clothes off.
Jason Good was charged with a misdemeanor after his wife contacted police to say she had been looking at her husband’s phone when she found a “video of an adult female using the restroom”, an officer said.
The wife was horrified to discover the footage taken at their home was of her 57-year-old mother.
The woman phoned the police department in Henrico County on Sunday morning after finding the tape.
Jason Good, a married man from Laurel, Virginia, was caught out by his wife after he used his cell phone to record his mother-in-law taking her clothes off
When officers arrived to take a statement from Jason Good’s wife she directed them to “a hole located in the wall between the garage and the bathroom”.
Jason Good, 40, was then interviewed and arrested by officers.
If found guilty, the man could face up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $2,500.
The woman who was filmed does not live with the couple and it is unclear if the incident took place over Thanksgiving, according to thesmokinggun.com.
Lt. Eric Owens, Henrico County Police spokesman, said in a statement that the crime of filming someone undressing was considered a class 1 misdemeanor and was punishable by up to one year in jail.
Eric Owens added Jason Good’s wife discovered the video while looking through her husband’s cell phone. The woman recognized her mother in the video and called police.
Three wealthy bankers from Connecticut, who came forward to claim a $254 million record Powerball jackpot are facing claims that they were not in fact the real winners.
An anonymous man – one of the bankers clients – is said to have actually purchased the ticket but came to Tim Davidson, Brandon Lacoff and Greg Skidmore to avoid the “hassle” of his name becoming public.
They then allegedly set up a trust “as a front” so that Tim Davidson, Brandon Lacoff and Greg Skidmore could be the public face of the win.
In a further twist, it was also claimed that rather than donate a large proportion of the money to charity, the winner has requested that the majority just be invested for his personal gain.
The explosive claims blow apart the fairytale story that Tim Davidson bought the ticket at a gas station in Greenwich Connecticut for $1.
It would also explain the bankers’ sheepish performance at a press conference to collect their “jackpot”, during which they refused to discuss their relationship with each other.
It had been suggested that Tim Davidson bought his ticket on November 1 and the following day they realized their numbers had come up, beating odds of 195,249,054 to one.
The jackpot was the largest ever won in Connecticut and the 12th biggest in Powerball history.
The jackpot was the largest ever won in Connecticut and the 12th biggest in Powerball history
It means the three bankers will take the after-tax lump sum of nearly $104 million in cash between them.
Now, according to a family friend who has known Brandon Lacoff since he was a boy, the truth behind what happened is very different.
Tom Gladstone said that a client at investment company Belpointe LLC, which was founded by Brandon Lacoff and provides investment advice, much of it to wealthy individuals, was the real winner.
He, Tim Davidson and Greg Skidmore then set up the Putnam Avenue Family Trust which will allow the man to keep out of the spotlight.
Tom Gladstone, a real estate agent who rents Brandon Lacoff the Belpointe office space, said: “The person who really won it is anonymous.
“They set up the trust so that Brandon and his two partners could claim they won it and that the real winner wouldn’t get hassled.
“They have said they are going to give it to charity but they are going to manage the money. They are going to make a donation but they keeping a large proportion of the money and they are going to manage it.
“The winner is a client of theirs and their clients are a mixture of larger and smaller investors. By Wall Street standards they are not big players.
“They set up the trust as a front to ensure their client anonymity. It clearly took them some time to work it out as they won on November 1, realized the next day and have only now come forward.
“I saw Brandon last Friday and he didn’t say a word to me. They are smart, rich Greenwich men.”
Tom Gladstone added that he had known Brandon Lacoff’s father Marty, an anti-trust lawyer, for 30 years and that the family were “hard working people”.
He said: “Brandon is a good kid, I don’t know how else to describe him. Obviously the client is putting their faith in him to look after this very substantial amount.”
According to the story which has been told so far, Tim Davidson bought the $1 quick pick ticket for the November 2 drawing at the Shippan Point BP gas station in Stamford. It was the only ticket he bought.
During the press conference Tim Davidson and his two colleagues sat stoically at a conference table sipping bottled water as Jason Kurland, the group’s attorney, answered questions but declined to address basic issues about the win.
Jason Kurland said: “Obviously, everybody is extremely excited. These numbers are huge. This is going to benefit many people.
“From the first conversation I had with them, it was very philanthropic. Charities was definitely, probably No. 1 on their priority list.”
As they were leaving the news conference, Greg Skidmore stopped at the microphone to identify himself and his partners and said: “And it feels good,” before leaving the room.
The winning numbers were 12-14-34-39-46, Powerball 36.
Lottery officials had used billboards across the state to urge the ticket holder to come forward as the weeks went by without a winner.
Jason Kurland said the group called him the day after the draw.
He said: “They thought they were the winners, and then, that night, I think, one of the local TV stations had the numbers, and the Powerball number was wrong on the TV screen, so that put them into a little bit of a tizzy.
“But the news, to their credit, corrected it a few hours later, and they were confident they had it.”
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Belpointe manages $82 million which makes it a boutique investment firm by the standards of many New York finance houses.
Brandon Lacoff was an accountant for Ernst & Young before founding an investment company known Belray capital, which became Belpointe LLC.
He “owns a number of properties and businesses throughout the region”, according to the Belpointe website.
Greg Skidmore, the company’s president and chief investment officer, formerly worked as an investment banker for a subsidiary of AXA Financial Services and Citigroup.
He is a former member of the U.S. sailing team who was once an Olympic hopeful, according to the company’s website.
Greg Skidmore is also the grandson of Louis Skidmore, the notable American architect and founder of the firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, which created the Sears Tower in Chicago amongst other buildings.
Tim Davidson started his career at a French bank where he worked in foreign exchange before moving on to advise companies, hedge funds and “ultra high worth” individuals.
Hungry Hobos, a long-lost Disney cartoon that features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a character who was the prototype for Mickey Mouse), has been discovered in a British film archive.
Hungry Hobos, was made in 1928 but has been missing since before World War II.
The black-and-white cartoon features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and was drawn shortly before the character was abandoned and turned into Mickey Mouse that same year.
Incredibly, the five-minute silent cartoon has turned up in a vault at the Huntley Film Archives in Herefordshire, where it has sat for decades.
Amanda Huntley, who runs the company, said a colleague stumbled upon it on a shelf and out of curiosity searched its name on Google and discovered it was a “lost” classic.
Amanda Huntley said: “There are a lot of lost films out there. This was made in 1928 and has been in our collection for decades.
“We specialize in social history films and not animation. But my colleague took the film from the shelf and Googled it – I don’t really know why.
“We quickly realized it was one of the great lost films. We posted the news on specialist web forums and everybody was very excited.”
Hungry Hobos, a long-lost Disney cartoon that features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a character who was the prototype for Mickey Mouse), has been discovered in a British film archive
Hungry Hobos follows a starving Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his friend Peg Leg Pete on a train. They rob a chicken of her egg by squeezing the animal and cook it by using the train’s wheels.
Oswald’s facial features and behaviour are clearly those of Mickey Mouse – the legendary character that has endured ever since.
The whereabouts of the film has for decades baffled animation experts, who believed it would never be seen again.
It is now expected to fetch at least £25,000 ($39,000) when it goes under the hammer at Bonhams’ Entertainment Memorabilia auction in Los Angeles next month.
Hungry Hobos was released for general screening on May 14, 1928, just one day before Mickey Mouse’s feature debut, Plane Crazy, had its first preview screening.
The film marked a significant turning point for Walt Disney as it was the last time he had to work alongside another studio.
Walt Disney made 26 films with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as the central character for Universal Pictures before taking the character to his own studio and turning it into a rodent.
Amanda Huntley said: “It is significant because it is Disney but also because the character was the prototype of Mickey Mouse.
“Disney developed many characters and they changed over time and Oswald has the characteristics of Mickey Mouse – he looks similar even though he’s a rabbit.
“Disney made a series with this character and then turned him into a mouse.
“Mickey Mouse has lasted over 80 years and many generations have grown up to love him.
“How we ended up with the film I don’t know. It was probably collected by my father who started the company and it has been sitting on our shelves for decades.
“We have decided to sell it because it is not really what we specialize in and we can use the money to preserve other films we have.”
Stephanie Connell, from Bonhams, said: “Hungry Hobos is an incredible find, a lost masterpiece and a cartoon with a unique and vital place in animation history.”
Hungry Hobos comprises of a 16mm double perforated celluloid acetate positive print.
Lupita Gonzalez, a one-year-old girl from Florida, was found alive after being kidnapped and abandoned by Carlos Rivera, a man who was angry at being interrupted while having sex with her mother.
Lupita Gonzalez was found after a intensive search involving helicopters and bloodhound tracking dogs.
Dozens of police with a Child Abduction Response Team combed a farmland and wooden areas while boats were deployed to several lakes in the area.
Lupita Gonzalez, a one-year-old girl from Florida, was found alive after being kidnapped and abandoned by Carlos Rivera, a man who was angry at being interrupted while having sex with her mother
The little girl was discovered under a bush more than two miles from where she he had allegedly been snatched by Carlos Rivera, 23.
Police said Lupita Gonzalez was alone for 12 hours before being discovered.
Police said Lupita Gonzalez was unharmed by the ordeal but was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Lupita Gonzalez’s mother, Leah Wiley, 30, had failed to report her missing as she worried the girl’s father would find out about her having sex with another man.
Carlos Rivera told police he had grabbed the little girl because he was upset that he was interrupted while having sex with her mother.
Carlos Rivera told investigators he had paid Leah Wiley for sex but it ended when she was called away to another room at a party held in rural Seville, Florida.
The man said he snatched the toddler and left the party, but later worried about his actions and abandoned the girl in woodland.
Carlos Rivera called 911 to report the girl missing, but did not give police any firm details.
Leah Wiley told authorities she suspected Carlos Rivera had taken the girl but did not report her missing because she didn’t want the child’s father to find out she had sex with another man.
After being arrested, Carlos Rivera initially told authorities he remembered a little girl was at the party held in Seville but didn’t know what happened to her.
Later during questioning Carlos River gave police a vague description of the area where he abandoned her.
Volusia County Sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson said Carlos Rivera told investigators that he had paid Leah Wiley to have sex with her.
“He said that he got mad because the sex was interrupted when Wiley was called to another room, so he decided to take her daughter and leave the house,” Gary Davidson said.
“With no food, water or other provisions, Rivera took off with Wiley’s daughter.”
Carlos Rivera was charged with child abuse and kidnapping.
The man is also being held on charges out of Putnam County for failure to appear on charges of grand theft auto, driving under the influence with property damage and driving without a valid driver’s license, according to court records.
Carlos Rivera is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bail.
Leah Wiley was charged with one count of an act that could result in the physical/mental injury of a child.
The Florida Department of Children and Families has taken custody of the child and Leah Wiley’s two other children, Gary Davidson said.
Lindsey Vonn, the ski Olympic gold medalist and her husband have decided to divorce after four years of marriage.
Lindsey Vonn, 27, confirmed on Sunday night that she and Thomas Vonn have started divorce proceedings. Her husband also serves as her chief adviser.
“This is an extremely difficult time in my personal life and I hope the media and my fans can respect my need for privacy on this matter,” Lindsey Vonn said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Lindsey Vonn elected to skip the season-opening World Cup slalom race Sunday to rest a sore back she recently tweaked in training. She plans to return to the slopes Tuesday for a downhill training run in Lake Louise, Alberta, the site of the next competition.
Lindsey Vonn, the ski Olympic gold medalist and her husband have decided to divorce after four years of marriage
Thomas Vonn, 35, said in an email to The AP that he filed for divorce last Monday.
Lindsey and Thomas married on September 29, 2007.
Lindsey Vonn became one of the faces of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, winning a gold medal in the downhill and a bronze in the super-G – all on a badly bruised shin.
Her shining moment in Vancouver was years in the making, beginning when her father, Alan Kildow, introduced her to skiing. Her father even moved the family to Colorado to foster that passion for the slopes.
But Lindsey Vonn had a falling out with her father a few years ago. By all accounts, the feud began before the 2006 Turin Olympics, when she was known as Lindsey Kildow.
Part of the escalating tension had to do with her relationship with Thomas Vonn, a former U.S. Olympic skier who is nearly nine years older.
Lindsey Vonn’s father, a Minneapolis-based attorney, spoke with AP before the 2010 Olympics and said that while he did not want to get into details. He said: “She’s my daughter, I love her, and in that sense it’s great.”
For her part, though, Lindsey Vonn has been critical of her father’s pressured attitude towards her success.
“He always supported me when I did well, which was 90 per cent of the time, but when I didn’t, he didn’t handle it very well,” Lindsey Vonn told Denver Post in 2010.
“It was so hot and cold. It was so much criticism and so much negativity, and it was really hard to balance my emotions.”
Alan Kildow was reportedly not invited to his daughter’s wedding.
Over the years, Thomas Vonn became a rock in her life as he helped coordinate interviews, provided tips on the course and made sure logistics were taken care of, freeing Lindsey Vonn to focus on skiing.
Lindsey Vonn has blossomed into one of the top racers in U.S. team history, winning three overall World Cup titles. She also has 42 World Cup wins, tying her with Sweden’s Anja Paerson for fourth place on the all-time list.
With her victory in the giant slalom last month in Soelden, Austria, Lindsey Vonn became just the fifth female skier to win a race in all five Alpine disciplines. She’s also the second American skier to complete the discipline sweep, joining Bode Miller.
Lindsey Vonn could add to her win total this week at Lake Louise, on a hill where she’s typically skied very well. She has 14 podium finishes at the venue, including eight wins.
She has appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine’s swimsuit edition – infamously photographed in skiing tuck position in a bikini for its cover – and came 59th on Maxim’s Hot 100 list.
Lindsey Vonn said in a statement that she will “continue to be coached by the U.S. Ski Team and look forward to competing the rest of the season”.
Juan Jose Padilla, a Spanish matador blinded in one eye after being gored during a bullfight announced today he will return to the ring as he made his first public appearance since the horrific incident.
Juan Jose Padilla, 38, was speaking at a press conference just six days after undergoing a crucial operation to repair nerve damage in the left side of his face, which was left paralyzed in the attack.
Bearing scars next to his jaw and left eye where Juan Jose Padilla was pierced by the bull’s horn, he said it was his dream to don the famous uniform once again and insisted he did not want pity.
“I do not want the fans to feel sorry for (me),” Juan Jose Padilla told media at Virgen del Rocio hospital in southern Seville before returning home.
“I will fight again dressed as a bullfighter because this is my dream to meet the fans,” Juan Jose Padilla added before referring to the motto “Strength Padilla”, which has flooded social networks in recent weeks.
Juan Jose Padilla, a Spanish matador blinded in one eye after being gored during a bullfight announced today he will return to the ring as he made his first public appearance since the horrific incident
The crowds at the Zaragoza’s Fiestas Del Pilar bullfight at the Misericordia ring were left stunned when the bull’s horn pierced his jaw and emerged through his left eye socket in October.
With blood gushing from his head, Juan Jose Padilla was helped out of the ring screaming: “I can’t see, I can’t see.”
Juan Jose Padilla then underwent a life-saving five-hour operation to repair severe damage to his eye, bone, muscle and skin.
Juan Jose Padilla said he was feeling better than three weeks ago and was “very excited” about his recovery following his treatment under the direction of maxillofacial surgeon Alberto Garcia Perla.
The operation Juan Jose Padilla underwent last Tuesday aims to rebuild the facial nerve severed in the goring which left him with difficulties swallowing and talking.
Juan Jose Padilla will face a long rehabilitation process that will begin in a couple of weeks at a recovery centre.
It is hoped the operation will recover around 80% mobility in his face.
Juan Jose Padilla said: “I want to thank the Hospital Virgen del Rocio and the entire medical team for giving me the opportunity to return to normal life and giving me the hope of returning to the arena.”
Accompanied by his wife, Lidia, his parents and his attorney, Taurine Sanlúcar Diego Robles, Juan Jose Padilla was given a standing ovation before moving to his home in Sanlucar de Barrameda in Cadiz.
It is not the first time Juan Jose Padilla, a popular matador who has won many fans for his courage and willingness to face the toughest bulls, has been gored.
In 2001 Juan Jose Padilla suffered serious injuries to his neck during a fight in Pamplona.
The bull, called Marques and from the Ana Romero ranch, quickly took its revenge after Juan Jose Padilla slipped and fell in the sand after the placing of the banderillas (barbed sticks).
Doctors had initially thought the goring, of which footage exists on Youtube and was shown on Spanish TV channel Canal+ Toros, would be fatal.
But the bullring’s doctor Antonio Val-Carreres later told El Pais newspaper that Juan Jose Padilla was in serious condition and was staying at Zaragoza’s Miguel Servet hospital.
Katherine Goldberg, a teacher from Ealing, west London, who groped a Virgin Atlantic steward and demanded sex while drunk on the plane, has avoided a jail sentence today.
Katherine Goldberg, 25, drank around a pint of whisky on board before apparently grabbing the cabin crew member’s crotch.
In mitigation, Isleworth Crown Court was told that South African-born Katherine Goldberg was convinced that the man was her boyfriend as a result of her “alcohol-induced illusion”.
Katherine Goldberg, who groped a Virgin Atlantic steward and demanded sex while drunk on the plane, has avoided a jail sentence today
Katherine Goldberg, who pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to sexual assault and being drunk on an aircraft, was on board a night flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow on August 24 at the time of the episode.
But a judge today said he did not want to impose a “lifetime punishment” on the teacher, who had been working at her mother Debbie’s Montessori nursery, St Michael’s, Barnes, South-West London.
The teacher has been suspended since the sex assault and her lawyers claimed she was liable to be struck off if she was jailed or placed on the sex offenders’ register.
The court heard Katherine Goldberg had downed “at least 50 centilitres of whisky” when the incident took place.
Prosecutor James O’Connell said at first the techer’s behaviour on the flight was described by witnesses as “very irritating” because she disturbed them while they were trying to rest.
Katherine Goldberg was eventually moved to the plane’s galley where one member of the cabin crew “took an interest in her care” and tried to calm her down.
James O’Connell went on: “However, it was at this point that the defendant’s antics changed and became rather sexual.
“She sat on his lap and grabbed hold of his genitalia through his trousers.”
Katherine Goldberg also spoke to the man suggestively and kept “making offers to him”, the court heard.
The woman was heard to tell the air steward: “Let me and you go somewhere. You can touch me anywhere you want, I don’t mind.”
James O’Connell said Katherine Goldberg was also heard to say the names of two men.
The prosecutor added: “In her complete alcoholic funk she was confusing him with her current boyfriend, Clayton, and Owen, a previous boyfriend.
“She was somehow imagining this was her boyfriend with whom she was interacting.”
Katherine Goldberg eventually went to sleep for around an hour but then woke up and continued to be loud and disruptive, the court was told.
Eventually the woman slept again, and remained asleep until the plane landed at Heathrow and she was met by police.
James O’Connell said she was “very co-operative” with the officers who questioned her, and admitted she had no recollection of events on board the plane but was very apologetic.
The total amount that Katherine Goldberg had drunk was not mentioned in court but it was believed she consumed her own alcohol that she had taken on board, rather than that supplied by cabin crew.
The air steward Katherine Goldberg sexually assaulted, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was said to have been unaffected by the incident.
The court was told that Katherine Goldberg has since admitted to having an alcohol problem and now attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings five times a week.
She also went on a one-month residential course after realizing she had hit “rock bottom”.
Katherine Goldberg was fined £1,500 ($2,300), ordered to carry out an 11-month community order and 80 hours of unpaid work, and to pay £250 ($380) costs.
Christophe Champenois, a 33-year-old man from Meaux, near Paris, has been charged with murder after allegedly killing his 3-year-old son, Bastien, by locking him in a washing machine and turning it on.
Christophe Champenois allegedly stripped Bastien naked and shut him in the washing machine to punish him for a prank at nursery school – throwing a classmate’s drawing down a toilet.
The man is then said to have run the cold cycle wash for a few minutes at their house, in the village of Germigny-l’Eveque.
Bastien, whom neighbours described as blond and angelic, died of head injuries on Friday night, French police said.
Bastien’s mother, Charlene Champenois, 25, recovered him from the machine, according to Le Parisien newspaper.
Charlene Champenois then ran to her neighbour, known only as Alice, and told her that Bastien had “fallen down the stairs”.
Alice told Le Parisien: “I picked him up and his limbs were as loose as those of a rag doll.
“I felt his heart beat for the last time and then he died.”
Bastien Champenois, whom neighbours described as blond and angelic, died of head injuries on Friday night
Bastien’s five-year-old sister, Maud, told Alice’s husband that it was not the first time the boy’s father had put him in the washing machine as punishment.
Neighbours told Le Parisienne that Bastien had been repeatedly abused – by being locked up for hours in a cupboard and also by being left on a window sill for hours wrapped in a blanket.
“Bastien was an unwanted child,” claimed Evelyne, his grandmother.
“On the day he was born, his father was out drinking and when I told him he had a son, he said that he didn’t want him.”
A judge in Meaux placed unemployed Christophe Champenois under investigation for murdering his child and charged his wife, a mother of seven, with failing to prevent a crime and failing to assist a person in danger.
Both parents were placed in custody and their surviving children taken into care.
Two renters answering to an ad on Craigslist made a chilling discover when they found the owner of a house in Bellevue, Washington, dead inside and his 4-year-old boy crying.
The two men found the little boy near his father body on Saturday. He was hungry and confused, saying that he hadn’t been able to wake up his father for the past two days.
Medical examiners later confirmed that the father, 35, who had blood coming from his nose, had been dead for at least 24 to 48 hours.
Two renters answering to an ad on Craigslist made a chilling discover when they found the owner of a house in Bellevue, Washington, dead inside and his 4-year-old boy crying
The men took the boy to a neighbours house, and then the neighbour and the two prospective renters went back into the Bellevue house and called the police.
“Hopefully [the boy] didn’t see too much and doesn’t realize what happened,” said Lieutenant Marcia Harnden.
“It’s never an easy thing to see a dead body- especially when it’s maybe been there for a day or two.”
If the father died two days ago, that would place his time of death around dinner time on Thanksgiving, though police have not offered any clues as to any other individuals who may have seen the father and son on the holiday.
Neither the little boy, nor the dead father, have been identified, though it has been confirmed that the boy’s mother does not live in the same house.
The men, whose names have also not been released, were looking to rent the home on the 15800 block of South East Fifth Place.
The mother was out of town when police arrived at the house around 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, so the boy is now in the care of his grandparents.
The father’s body is now with the medical examiner who will determine the cause of death, though they do not suspect foul play.
In his book, “God, If You’re Not Up There, I’m F***ed”, Darrell Hammond, one of Saturday Night Live’s most popular cast members, has revealed vicious abuse that led to years of drug and alcohol problems.
As well as verbal abuse, Darrell Hammond says he was regularly stabbed, beaten and subjected to electric shocks as a young boy.
Darrell Hammond talks of the brutality he suffered at the hands of his mother, Margaret.
“I am three or four years old, and my mother is holding me close to her with one arm. In her free hand she holds a serrated steak knife.
“Slowly, she sticks it into the center of my tongue, making an incision about one-quarter inch to one-half inch long. It is quiet except for the sound of the hibiscus bush thump-thumping against the kitchen window. I do not struggle or cry. Somehow I know that to do so will make it worse. The kitchen floor is red with my blood.
“I am getting into the car to go somewhere with my mother. <<Wait>>, she says, holding the door open. <<Put your hand there>>. When I do, she slams the door.”
As well as verbal abuse, Darrell Hammond says he was regularly stabbed, beaten and subjected to electric shocks as a young boy
Those moments led to deep psychological scarring that later led Darrell Hammond to self-harm as a young adult – and, ultimately, a dependence on alcohol and cocaine.
And Darrell Hammond maintains that, as his popularity grew while starring on SNL, his self-harm and substance abuse increased to keep out painful memories and cope with his fame.
Darrell Hammond writes in his book: “I kept a pint of Remy in my desk at work. The drinking calmed my nerves and quieted the disturbing images that sprang into my head… If drinking didn’t work, I cut myself.”
At one point, after a performance in the NBC building where the show is recorded, Darrell Hammond was taken away in a straitjacket.
Darrell Hammond spent time in psychiatric institutions and psych wards, where he was prescribed “as many as seven medications at one time”.
He also said he was urged to reach out to his mother as a part of his therapy. He writes that when he finally did call, his mother said: “Don’t ever call us again.”
Darrell Hammond did not see his mother again until just before her death. His father died soon after.
Despite his problems, Darrell Hammond was the longest-running performer on the show until his retirement in 2009, and he told the New York Post last month that he had a deep respect for many of his former co-stars, who include Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Kristen Wiig.
Darrell Hammond said: “I don’t have anything bad to say about anyone there. They all went above and beyond the call for me.”
And he suggested that the culture of the show, and the view of its producer Lorne Michaels, was that personal issues may be overlooked if they didn’t directly affect the performances.
Darrell Hammond told CNN: “SNL is a place where if Lorne judges that you can hit the ball over the wall that night, then you’re going to step up to the plate. So I didn’t want to let Lorne down, who I’m close to.”
An eight-year-old boy, third grade student from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, has been removed from his home after he grew to 218 pounds, weighing nearly as much as four of his age children.
The boy was put in foster care by social workers from the Department of Children and Family Services because his mother isn’t doing enough to control his weight, the state agency says.
The “severely obese” boy requires so much medical attention, the state agency is considering getting a personal trainer to visit his foster home so he can lose weight.
The child, whose name was not made public, is otherwise a normal elementary school student who participates in school activities and makes the honor roll, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The average weight for an eight-year-old boy is 57 pounds – about one quarter of what the Ohio boy weighs.
Ohio social workers said the child’s mother is neglecting her son because she’s not doing enough to bring his weight down.
“This child’s problem was so severe that we had to take custody,” Mary Louise Madigan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Family Services, told the Plain Dealer.
But the mother, who was also not identified, said she has worked hard to get her son to shed pounds. She just hasn’t been able to get him to keep it off.
“Of course I love him. Of course I want him to lose weight. It’s a lifestyle change, and they are trying to make it seem like I am not embracing that. It is very hard, but I am trying,” the mother told the Plain Dealer.
The case has set off debates about the point at which childhood weight problems become child abuse, especially when nearly 20% of children aged 6 to 11 are obese.
Dr. David Ludwig, a Harvard University pediatric obesity expert, says severe obesity in children can cause diabetes, cholesterol problems, sleep apnea and other conditions that could dramatically shorten the child's lifespan
Dr. David Ludwig, a Harvard University pediatric obesity expert, says severe obesity in children can cause diabetes, cholesterol problems, sleep apnea and other conditions that could dramatically shorten the child’s lifespan.
Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania ethicist, said obesity isn’t like other things that have been labeled child abuse.
“A third of kids are fat. We aren’t going to move them all to foster care. We can’t afford it, and I’m not sure there are enough foster parents to do it,” Arthur Caplan told the Plain Dealer.
A woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy in a restroom at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland just moments after getting off her flight.
Jonathan Dean, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport spokesman says an officer helped the woman deliver the child yesterday afternoon.
The woman was on the floor of a restroom in Concourse D.
A woman gave birth to a healthy baby boy in a restroom at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland just moments after getting off her flight
Jonathan Dean said that Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the airport’s fire and rescue department responded to a call of a woman in labour around 2:20 p.m.
The mother and baby were taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center.
Bernie Fine, the Syracuse University basketball coach accused of sex abuse has been fired after damning new evidence suggested his wife watched him molest a boy who was staying at their house.
Laurie Fine, the wife of Syracuse University coach, allegedly told one of her husband’s three accusers in a recorded phone call that she suspected he had done the same to other boys – but that she never did anything to stop it.
Laurie Fine is also said to have revealed that she slept with one of the victims, once he turned 18 – as it emerged that the tapes had been in the hands of police and ESPN for nearly ten years and no action was taken.
Bernie Fine, the Syracuse University basketball coach accused of sex abuse has been fired after damning new evidence suggested his wife watched him molest a boy who was staying at their house
One of the alleged victims Bobby Davis, now 39, says he secretly taped the conversation in 2002 in an effort to collect proof that the longtime college basketball coach Bernie Fine, now 65, had abused him, starting when he was 12 years old.
“I know everything that went on, you know,” Laurie Fine says on tapes played by ESPN’s Outside the Line program.
“I know everything that went on with him. Bernie has issues, maybe that he’s not aware of, but he has issues. And you trusted somebody you shouldn’t have trusted.”
Bernie Fine has denied the allegations as “patently false”. However, Syracuse University today fired Bernie Fine after putting him on administrative leave earlier this month.
“At the direction of Chancellor Cantor, Bernie Fine’s employment with Syracuse University has been terminated, effective immediately,” said Kevin Quinn, the school’s senior vice president for public affairs.
Authorities have said if any crimes were committed, they are likely beyond the statute of limitation and no prosecutions can be made.
The phone conversation was verified by a voice-recognition analyst hired by ESPN.
Laurie Fine is also said to have revealed that she slept with Bobby Davis, once he turned 18 - as it emerged that the tapes had been in the hands of police and ESPN for nearly ten years and no action was taken
Laurie Fine talks about the alleged abuse against Bobby Davis in a matter-of-fact tone and suggests she has known about it for many years.
“But you never had any [sex act] with him?” Laurie Fine asks Bobby Davis, who is an adult at the time of the phone call.
“No,” Bobby Davis says.
“I think he wanted to, but…”
Laurie Fine says: “Oh, of course he would! Why wouldn’t he?”
Bobby Davis lived with the Fines in the basement of their house on and off throughout his childhood. He says Bernie Fine began abusing him in 1984 when he was just 12 years old and in seventh grade.
Bobby Davis says Laurie Fine always knew something was going on and even caught her husband touching him when she peered through the blinds one night as she pretended to take out the trash.
It wasn’t until that incident, when Bobby Davis was in high school but still a minor, that Laurie Fine approached him and told him to stand up for himself. However, she never called police.
In the conversation, Laurie Fine seems to accept that her husband has predilections for boys and that there is nothing she can do about it.
“You know what, <<Go to a place where there are gay boys. Find yourself a gay boy>>,” Laurie Fine says.
“<<Get your rocks off, and have it be over with>>. He needs that male companionship that I can’t give him.”
Bobby Davis says Laurie Fine always knew something was going on and even caught her husband touching him when she peered through the blinds one night as she pretended to take out the trash
Laurie Fine explains that her husband is no longer interested in her sexually, instead preferring boys. And she isn’t interested in him, either, she says.
This could explain why she also became sexually involved with Bobby Davis. In the tape Laurie Fine confirms that she had sex with the former Syracuse University ball boy when he was 18 and a high school senior.
But she claims she couldn’t help Bobby Davis when he was younger.
“Because I care about you, and I didn’t want to see you being treated that way,” she says.
“And, it’s hard. If it was another girl… it would be easy to step in because you know what you’re up against. If it’s another guy, you can’t compete with that. It’s just wrong, and you were a kid. You’re a man now, but you were a kid then.”
If the allegations Bobby Davis are making prove true, Laurie Fine did nothing to stop the abuse while it occurred.
But she wasn’t the only one who didn’t step in to help Bobby Davis. He reported the incident to Syracuse police in 2002 and turned over the tapes when the detective said he needed proof.
But police apparently never investigated any farther.
In 2003, Bobby Davis turned the tapes over to ESPN, but the sports network never did anything then because reporters couldn’t find “anyone else to corroborate the story”.
Bobby Davis and his step-brother Mike Lang have both accused Bernie Fine of abusing them when they were ball boys for the Syracuse University men’s basketball team.
A third man, Zach Tomaselli, now 24, says Bernie Fine molested him in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hotel room in 2002.
However, Zach Tomaselli is currently facing sex abuse charges of his own in Maine and his own father has told news media that he is lying.
But federal agents found Zach Tomaselli’s statements compelling enough to raid Bernie Fine’s home in upstate New York on Friday, carrying away his trash as well as filing cabinets.
Zach Tomaselli said the scandal at Penn State involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky – accused of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period – prompted him to come forward.
“It was the Sandusky stuff that really made me think about it,” Zach Tomaselli said.
“A lot of people were slamming ESPN and Bobby for saying anything. I wanted to come out.”
Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim said he supported the decision to fire his longtime assistant and expressed regret for his initial statements that might have been “insensitive to victims of abuse”.
“The allegations that have come forth today are disturbing and deeply troubling. I am personally very shocked because I have never witnessed any of the activities that have been alleged,” Jim Boeheim said.
“I believe the university took the appropriate step,” he added, saying the matter must be ‘fully investigated” and anyone with information should be “supported to come forward” to tell the truth.
“I deeply regret any statements I made that might have inhibited that from occurring or been insensitive to victims of abuse,” Jim Boeheim said.
The death of Welsh national manager Gary Speed left the football world baffled and devastated yesterday.
Gary Speed, 42, was found hanged by his wife, according to the Times, just after 7:00 a.m. GMT in the garage of their $2.3 million mansion. They have together two teenage sons.
Just few hours earlier, Gary Speed had appeared happy and optimistic on BBC1’s Football Focus programme.
The Welsh manager talked enthusiastically about his team’s improving fortunes and his hopes for success in World Cup qualifying matches next year.
Presenter Dan Walker, who spent four hours on and off camera with Gary Speed, said: “He was as bubbly as I’ve known him. He was talking about his kids, how they were really coming on, and talking about playing golf next week.
“Even small things like how he’d just got into Twitter. It’s awful to think someone who was so gifted and so well liked with the rest of his life to look forward to have been cruelly removed. He was in such a good mood about the show and said he’d love to come back before Christmas.”
Gary Speed, 42, was found hanged by his wife, Louise, 40, just after 7.00 a.m. GMT in the garage of their $2.3 million mansion
The suspected suicideof Gary Speed at the family home in Huntington, on the outskirts of Chester, was reported to police just after 7:00 a.m. Police said there were “no suspicious circumstances”.
Officers were waiting last night to interview Gary Speed’s widow, Louise, 40, who was a constant figure of support throughout his career.
A friend described Gary Speed as a “completely devoted dad” to sons Ed, 14, and Tommy, 13. Both are promising sportsmen. Ed is a footballer and Tommy a keen boxer.
Robbie Savage, who played alongside Gary Speed for Wales, said his former teammate had been ribbing him on Saturday about his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.
“I just can’t believe it,” said Robbie Savage.
“He was my mate and he’s gone. I’ve got very close to Gary in the last few years – the guy is a trooper, he’s left two gorgeous kids behind and a beautiful wife. He had everything.
“I spoke to him yesterday and we were laughing and joking – he was saying make sure you don’t get a (mark of) two off Craig (Revel Horwood, the Strictly judge) tonight. That’s what Gary’s like – he always thinks about other people.
“As my captain when I was a young boy in the squad, he’d come to me and I could go to him with my problems.”
Gary Speed’s former Newcastle United teammate Shay Given, who attended a charity fundraising fashion event with him in May, was seen in floods of tears on television as a minute’s silence was held at Swansea City’s match against Given’s team Aston Villa.
Thousands of fans sang Welsh hymns and joined in the chant “there’s only one Gary Speed”.
At Anfield, Liverpool’s Welsh star Craig Bellamy asked not to play against Manchester City after hearing the news.
Gary Speed, who was awarded an MBE in the 2010 Birthday Honours, retired from playing only last year after winning 85 caps for his country.
He represented Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle and Bolton Wanderers during his long career.
Both Gary Speed’s parents were from Chester but he was born in the Welsh border town of Mancot and was always proud to represent his country. His father Roger played football for Wrexham before returning to his trade as a joiner.
Gary Speed made his league debut for Leeds United in May 1989 and was a member of the team which went on to win the league title in 1992.
Despite having limited experience as a manager, Gary Speed’s impact on the Welsh national team had been dramatic.
He had a keen interest in sports psychology and after taking over from John Toshack a year ago was able to get the best out of young players such as Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey and Tottenham’s Gareth Bale.
A video posted on YouTube shows a woman at Planet Fitness demonstrated her way to break up the monotony of running in place on a gym treadmill – she dances.
The woman, capture on a cell phone video by a pair of admirers, twisted, spun and grooved on the workout equipment, dancing to her own beat.
The unidentified woman doesn’t seem to be showing off. She doesn’t notice to two men video recording her.
The woman, capture on a cell phone video by a pair of admirers, twisted, spun and grooved on the workout equipment, dancing to her own beat
She gets down on her treadmill with her headphones on, apparently just focused on her moves and her workout.
“Dude, she breaking it down,” one of the men behind the camera says.
“That’s the next Beyoncé right there,” the other adds.
The duo is at once admiring and poking fun at the treadmill dance diva.
She’s clearly been practicing. Her moves look effortless as she dances freestyle through on the treadmill.
As remarkable as her moves are, this woman isn’t the first person to use the moving belt of a treadmill for some impressive dance routines.
The four members of Chicago rock band OK Go blasted to stardom with a breakout music video of them performing an elaborate, synchronized dance on several treadmills.
That video has had 50 million views on YouTube since it was uploaded in 2006 and won the band a Grammy for “Best Music Video”.
Mark Headstrong, a clerk at a convenience store in Wilmington, North Carolina, had never fired a gun before, but, when a robber pointed a pistol at him, he acted fast and shot his assailant twice.
Surveillance video captures the moment Mark Headstrong pulled out his weapon and fired, dropping 30-year-old Joseph Ryan Anderson to the floor with bullet wounds to his leg and his finger.
But Mark Headstrong’s boss, store owner Musa Agil said his employee should have shot the robber dead: “He should have killed him and this guy was soft on him.”
“He was trying to give him a second chance. Thugs like those should not ever be given a chance, because if that man shot Mark, he’s not going to look at him and give him a chance. That’s why Mark made a terrible mistake by letting him go,” Musa Agil told WWAY news in Wilmington.
Surveillance video captures the moment Mark Headstrong pulled out his weapon and fired, dropping 30-year-old Joseph Ryan Anderson to the floor with bullet wounds to his leg and his finger
This wasn’t the first robbery for either thug or clerk. Joseph Ryan Anderson was convicted of armed robbery in 2002. He has served more than 12 and half years in prison for various crimes.
Mark Headstrong has been robbed twice in the year he’s worked at the Wrightsville Country Store. In the first robbery, he resisted and was bashed in the head. The second time, he gave up the cash drawer without protest.
The in-store cameras show Joseph Ryan Anderson walk into the store wearing a mask and black hood pulled over his head. He draws a gun and points it at Mark Headstrong.
The clerk draws his own handgun. Mark Headstrong, a soft-spoken man, told the Star News of Wilmington that he instructed Joseph Ryan Anderson to drop the gun. But the convicted felon didn’t. Instead, he steps closer to the counter, so Mark Headstrong fired a warning shot into the floor.
The bullet ricocheted and struck Joseph Ryan Anderson in the leg. But the robber still didn’t drop the gun. So, Mark Headstrong, wearing shorts and flip-flops, shoots again, hitting the assailant in the finger.
The robber finally lets go of his silver handgun and falls to the floor.
“I’m sorry, you shot me, man. Please. I’m not going to go nowhere, please,” Joseph Ryan Anderson says as he lay on the floor.
Then the robber starts to plead: “Please, man. Please. Let me go, man.”
An ambulance took Joseph Ryan Anderson to the hospital, where he was treated for the wounds. As soon as he was well enough, police arrested him and charged him with attempted armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon.
“You’ll be hailed as a hero,” Musa Agil told his employee during a news conference.
“But you’d be a superhero if you’d dropped him dead.”
Indeed, Mark Headstrong told ABC News his story has inspired waves of new customers at the store, many of whom want to shake his hand and congratulate him for standing up to an armed thug. Some even give him autographs.
But Mark Headstrong isn’t so sure about his new-found fame. He said he is concerned about Joseph Ryan Anderson’s recover and is unsure he wants to stay at the convenience store.
Ocean Spray has decided to recall thousands of pounds of Craisins – sweetened dried cranberries – after some lots were possibly contaminated with small, hair-like metal fragments.
The giant company announced the voluntary recall yesterday, immediately after one of its bestselling periods, Thanksgiving, when huge volumes of cranberries are eaten.
Ocean Spray initiated the recall on Wednesday, spokesman John Isaf told MNSBC.
It wasn’t not clear when the company became aware of the problem.
Ocean Spray has decided to recall thousands of pounds of Craisins - sweetened dried cranberries - after some lots were possibly contaminated with small, hair-like metal fragments
The recall affects some Original flavour Craisins in 5-ounce, 10-ounce and 48-ounce packages, as well as bulk-sweetened dried cranberries in 10-pound packages.
The very small hair-like metal fragments are unlikely to cause consumer injury, the spokesman said.
Ocean Spray officials said they’ve received no reports of consumers hurt by the fragments.
The fragments were caused by a malfunction on a piece of equipment on the production line at one of the firm’s cranberry-making facilities.
The problem has been identified and corrected, John Isaf said.
Isaf would not say how many packages were recalled, saying only that it was “very small”.
Less than one-quarter of 1% of dried cranberries produced annually are affected by the recall, he said.
But given that Ocean Spray produces an estimated 60 million pounds annually, the return could involve about 150,000 pounds of dried cranberries.
The recalled product lots (only dates followed by the letter M are affected) are: 5-oz. Craisins UPC: 00293-000 Best By Dates/Letter: Oct 27 2012 M
10-oz. Craisins UPC: 29456-000 and 29464-000 Best By Dates/Letter: Oct 27 2012 M, Oct 28 2012 M, Oct 29 2012 M
48-oz. Craisins UPC: 00678-318 Best By Dates/Letter: Oct 27 2012 M, Oct 28 2012 M, Nov 3 2012 M, Nov 4 2012 M, Nov 5 2012 M, Nov 6 2012 M, Nov 7 2012 M, Nov 10 2012 M, Nov 11 2012 M.
10-lb. bulk ingredient & food service UPC: 03477-000 Best By Dates/Letter: 30 Oct 2013 M, 31 Oct 2013 M, 1 Nov 2013 M, 5 Nov 2013 M.
Ocean Spray advises shoppers to dispose of the product, keeping the UPC label and Best By dates, and contacting the Ocean Spray consumer hotline at 1-800-662-3263.
Ray Harris, a businessman from Marion, Indiana, and his two teenage daughters died in a plane crash yesterday afternoon after the parachute failed to slow the craft down.
Ray Harris, 47, and his daughters, Ramie and Shey, perished, along with a man believed to be the co-pilot, after the single-engined Cirrus-SR2 plummeted into a farm field near the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake.
It shattered into several pieces, killing all on board instantly, while on its way from Marion, Indiana to Wheaton, Illinois, where Shey Harris, the eldest daughter, attended college.
Ray Harris, a businessman from Marion, Indiana, and his two teenage daughters died in a plane crash yesterday afternoon after the parachute failed to slow the craft down
Wayne Sebold, Mayor of Marion, confirmed the identities of the victims as Ray Harris, a Chrysler dealership owner and former city water board president, and his daughters.
Ronnie Carmin, treasurer of the Marion Pilots Club, which owned the plane, also said the businessman was scheduled to fly the plane yesterday.
Ronnie Carmin said he was told that Ray Harris had fueled up the plane and taken off from Marion Municipal Airport around 10:00 a.m. Saturday.
The cause of the crash, around 10:30 a.m., was not immediately known.
But witnesses said the four-seat model’s parachute, which designed to lower the aircraft to safety after loss of control or engine failure, did not slow the craft down when it was deployed.
It became caught around a tree and may have led to the plane breaking up, they suggested.
The first people to the scene described the crash as “horrific”.
One witness described a white stream coming from the plane as it fell and a large cloud of dust after it crashed to the ground.
“There was nothing anyone could do,” Darren Smith, one of the first people on the scene, told the Daily Herald.
Darren Smith heard an aircraft in trouble around 10:30 a.m. It broke through the clouds above his head and crashed in the soybean field.
“I saw it a split second before it hit the ground,” he said.
“It was a horrific crash, pretty much nose first into the ground. The impact was tremendous.”
His son, Cal Smith, was in another field when he heard the impact.
“It kind of sounded like a gas pipe exploded,” Cal Smith told the Herald.
When he ran to the crash site, he saw bodies lying on the field along with a plastic container with popcorn and papers from the airplane.
“We tried to help, but there was no help that could be given,” Darren Smith said.
Farmer Marvin Marquardt, who owns the property, said the pilot may have been deploying the parachute as the plane plummeted.
The orange parachute was found wrapped around an oak tree and may have contributed to the breakup of the aircraft, Marquardt suggested.
Another witness to the crash, from The Lord and Savior Lutheran Church and School across the street, said the plane had “disintegrated”.
The Federal Aviation Administration is on the scene investigating whether rules of flight were followed, if the pilot was licensed and if the plane was properly maintained and registered, officials said.
The plane crashed near Route 14 and North Ridgefield Road.
It was flying by “visual flight rules”, which means looking out the window, so the pilot was not talking with air traffic control, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.
The Marion Pilots Club Inc. in Marion, Indiana, is the registered owner of the plane, according to the Federal Aviation Administration registry.
