danipretto

Following Rolling Stone's revelation that its University of Virginia rape story likely contains errors, managing editor Will Dana owned up to the magazine's failure on Twitter. Dana made it clear the error was on the reporters and editors involved with publishing the story, not Jackie, the alleged rape victim. (Rolling Stone's official apology claims they were wrong to trust Jackie, suggesting the errors were a result of deception instead of journalistic malpractice.)

1/I can’t explain the discrepancies between Jackie’s account and the counter statements made by Phi Psi.

— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014

2/The fact that there is a story that appears in Rolling Stone in which I don’t have complete confidence is deeply unsettling to me.

— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014

3/We made a judgment – the kind of judgement reporters and editors make every day. And in this case, our judgement was wrong.

— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014

4/ We should have either not made this agreement with Jackie…

— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014

5/…or worked harder to convince her that the truth would have been better served by getting the other side of the story.

— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014

6/ That failure is on us – not on her.

— Will Dana (@wdana) December 5, 2014

The Washington Post has published a lengthy story detailing discrepancies in the Rolling Stone's story on an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia.

It's worth reading in full, but there is one sentence that jumps out especially as an indictment of where the Rolling Stone story went wrong. Gabriel Malor pointed it out on Twitter:

(Gabriel Malor via Twitter)

Publishing a story about a rape victim against her will is dangerous, and arguably unethical, journalism. It goes completely against the DART Center for Journalism and Trauma, a respected advisory group at Columbia University's Journalism School, guidelines for how to report on sexual assault. There is an entire section that directs reporters to "respect a potential interviewee's right to say no."

"Be fair and realistic. Don’t coerce, cajole, trick or offer remuneration," the guidelines instruct.

If Rolling Stone published the story against Jackie's will, that is a terrible mistake on the magazine's part — and a violation of the ethical guidelines reporters should follow when reporting difficult, and sensitive stories about rape. And it's coupled with the fact that Rolling Stone didn't track down the accused rapists. As Erik Wemple wrote at The Washington Post:

Even if the accused aren’t named in the story, Erdely herself acknowledges that "people seem to know who these people are." If they were being cited in the story for mere drunkenness, boorish frat-boy behavior or similar collegiate misdemeanors, then there’d be no harm in failing to secure their input. The charge in this piece, however, is gang rape, and so requires every possible step to reach out and interview them, including e-mails, phone calls, certified letters, FedEx letters, UPS letters and, if all of that fails, a knock on the door. No effort short of all that qualifies as journalism.

A story where the main source tried to back out and the other participants were never interviewed is not a solid story. But Rolling Stone ran it anyway.

blackgirlsparadise:

Clock em.

This is a promo video for the $174 PYRO Fireshooter designed by Adam Wilber and sold by Ellusionist. It's a device worn like a wrist-watch (except on the bottom of the wrist) that can be concealed under a long shirt and gives the illusion that you're shooting fireballs from your hand (or that your sleeve just magically caught fire). It can hold up to four fireballs and works by heating wads of flash paper (aka nitrocellulose), that launch up to 10-feet from the barrels when ignited. Plus it's activated via a wireless controller with a range of up to 30-feet, which I have every intention of stealing and setting your pants on fire the moment you put your hands in your pockets. Remember: real wizards don't take kindly to illusionists and magicians. Keep going for a couple shots of the device and a demo of a guy using it on the back of his arm, go to the product page HERE to see the ridiculous promo video.

The Epic Meal Time thing is a little year-before-last, but oh dear, is this new episode starring Seth Rogen and James Franco ever predictable awesome. “You can’t make Korean BBQ Lasagna without noodles, right?” “Don’t ask me, I’m high as fuck.” Classic. For the record, “Pork Belly” does not mean “Ballsack” in Korean.

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The post DINER | James Franco & Seth Rogen Hijack “Epic Meal Time”, Make Korean BBQ Lasagna appeared first on Scout Magazine.

Following Rolling Stone's revelation that its University of Virginia rape story was likely inaccurate, several reporters expressed their outrage on Twitter — only they made it clear that the anger was directed at shoddy journalism, not Jackie or any other potential rape victims.

Because one reporter didn't do her job adequately rape survivors on campuses across the country will be met with even more skepticism.

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) December 5, 2014

Don't become a fucking reporter if you're not willing to let the facts get in the way of a great story.

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) December 5, 2014

This is why reporting on rape is so hard. Sometimes interviewing the other party would put the victim in danger. Esp in a college setting...

— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) December 5, 2014

None of this changes the fact that the way that unis handle sexual assault complaints ignores the needs of both the victims and the accused.

— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) December 5, 2014

None of this changes the fact that fraternity members are 3X more likely to commit rape than non-frat members.

— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) December 5, 2014

Interesting how rape apologists think that if they can "discredit" one rape story, that means no other rape stories can be true, either.

— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) December 5, 2014

Recommend everyone who expects victims to have perfect memory sit down and construct, word for word, the last dinner conversation they had.

— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) December 5, 2014

My rapist denied it. Does that mean there are "discrepancies" in my story too? #UVA

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) December 5, 2014

Rape apology arguments will now predictably include "UVA" right after "duke lacrosse" so we never have to confront the actual problem

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) December 5, 2014

Old journalism truth: An error in an anecdote will completely obscure the reality of a trend.

— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) December 5, 2014

So, you got invited to a friend's ugly Christmas sweater party. Ask if you can bring a plus one (I'm trying to meet new people). Then order one of these Ugly Christmas Suits from Shinesty and be the talk of the party. And not just because you brought a stranger who's riffling through the presents under the tree, but you should have known better than to invite me. This is why I don't have friends. So, are you going to win the ugly Christmas sweater contest?! No, because this is not a sweater. You were disqualified. Thanks to BBQ, who agrees it's only a matter of time until there's ugly Christmas lingerie.

Elizabeth Lauten, a House Republican staffer who created a tremendous social media backlash after she criticized Malia and Sasha Obama in a Facebook post, resigned from her job Monday morning, according to ABC News.

Lauten, the communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN), wrote a Facebook post criticizing the first daughters' dress and demeanor at the White House turkey pardon. "Dear Sasha and Malia: I get you're both in those awful teen years, but you're a part of the First Family, try showing a little class," Lauten wrote. "Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don't make faces during televised, public events."

The post was soon noticed by Yesha Callahan, a writer for The Root, who tweeted a screencap of it:

In her spare time when @DCGopGirl is not doing work for @RepFincherTN08 she shames teenagers on Facebook pic.twitter.com/jgeuxJqlYW

— Yesha (@YeshaCallahan) November 28, 2014

A social media firestorm ensued, and the coverage of it soon spilled into mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post and cable news. Lauten posted again to apologize, saying she realized her words were "hurtful," but that apparently wasn't enough to save her job.

Lauten's planned resignation is the latest testament to the power of social media activism. The staffer was basically anonymous outside DC just days ago. But after one ill-considered Facebook post, her name, her image, and her employer's name were everywhere.

(via) This is Steirereck, a beautiful 2 Michelin-starred restaurant on the banks of the river Wien in the heart of Vienna’s Stadtpark. A former “milk-pumping” station, the building was radically reimagined by PPAG architects in 2005. Peruse the tasting menu here.

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The post RESTAURANT PORN | “Steirereck” – The Michelin-Starred Oasis In Vienna’s Stadtpark appeared first on Scout Magazine.

Incredibly intelligent, empathetic, and just gorgeous to admire, elephants form close friendship bonds with those around them, and have strong connections with their family members. Their babies are also ridiculously cute, especially when they’re exploring the world around them. This little guy is jumping in the ocean for the first time in his life, and you can see the sheer amount of joy he’s experiencing. Do you remember the first time you played in the sea? Elephants are so much like us, and this beautiful video is a perfect example of the kinship we share with them.

Missing Attachment

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This extraordinary goal by Stephanie Roche has been nominated for FIFA's Puskás Award for the best goal of the year.

As you can see in the video above, it was an amazing feat. Roche intercepts the ball as it crosses from behind her, stopping it first with her right foot, then controlling it with a tap on her left, before spinning around to fire a perfectly on-target shot into the goal — all without the ball ever touching the ground.

To put Roche's nomination in the proper context, the Puskás award's rules place significant weight the "importance of the match." Both of the other finalists — Colombia's James Rodriguez and The Netherlands' Robin Van Persie — were nominated for goals they scored during last summer's World Cup final.

Roche's goal, by contrast, took place during an Irish Women's National League match against a team called Wexmouth Youths, before fewer than 100 spectators. Luckily, the Wexmouth manager had arranged to have the game filmed, so Roche's coach was able to get the footage, edit it, and upload it to Youtube.

And yet Roche's skill was impressive enough that many believe she has a chance to win. John Hartson, a former striker for the Welsh national team, told the BBC that her goal was the best of the three:

"It is an unbelievable goal. Both feet, over her shoulder. It is totally instinctive. The technique and contact required to volley a ball that is coming over your head is amazing. If Wayne Rooney or Ronaldo had done something like that you would be talking about it for years.

If she wins, Roche will be the first woman ever to be receive the Puskás award.

There is a new Toy Story Christmas special on tonight, and it is wonderful. If you like the characters or the world of the film series, you owe it to yourself to check this out. It airs on ABC at 8 pm Eastern and is followed by the classic Charlie Brown Christmas, so you have a full hour of holiday delights on tap.

Though there's a new film on the horizon, Toy Story's shift to becoming a series of animated shorts and TV specials has proved surprisingly effective. The characters are beloved enough that they carry over enormous amounts of goodwill from their previous endeavors, and the shorter formats allow the creative team behind the projects to explore various bits of the world of toys that the three films couldn't get into, either because they were too esoteric or because they were one-joke concepts. (Consider, for instance, Partysaurus Rex, which is all about toys at bathtime. That's not a great idea for a feature, but it makes a great short film.)

Tonight's special, Toy Story That Time Forgot, is only nominally about the holiday season. It opens in the immediate aftermath of presents being unwrapped, before immediately jumping to a playdate between the toys' owner Bonnie and a young boy named Mason. This being a Toy Story project, things immediately go wrong, but in a fashion that calls back to the franchise's frequent explorations of what happens when kids ignore their toys and don't play with them.

Strangely, the brains behind Toy Story seem to believe that most toys would degenerate into some sort of Venn diagram intersection between "Lord of the Flies" and "religious cult" without proper supervision, and Toy Story That Time Forgot offers up just this, with a bunch of so-called Battlesaurs (just what it sounds like), who have formed their own society in Mason's bedroom. Neglected in favor of a video game console, the toys have formed an elaborate society seemingly based on the rules of those '80s cartoons designed to sell toys. (There are a lot of knowing winks to all the He-Man fans out there.)

Thus, the new special embraces another part of a toy's life that the films couldn't explore — the post-present unwrapping glut of playing with all the new toys — while simultaneously allowing for another strength of the post-films Toy Story franchise to take wing. The shorts and specials have turned their focus away from Woody and Buzz, for the most part, and toward the franchise's many, many enjoyable supporting characters.

Here, that focus is on Trixie the Triceratops, voiced by Kristen Schaal, and her work is a reminder that Schaal is one of the best voice actors in the business. Schaal's voice is so distinctive that this might seem impossible, but Trixie is different from Louise, her character on Bob's Burgers, or Mabel, her character on Gravity Falls. Trixie didn't get a lot of screentime in the films themselves, but Schaal's gifts always made for an intriguing hint of what might be possible with the character. Here's the payoff to that.

Okay, and you should also watch this because of a new character called Kittysaurus. I will say no more.

Toy Story That Time Forgot debuts tonight on ABC at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Twitter has been around since 2006 — long enough that the first tweets about anything (or anyone) can be revealing, interesting, or just weird. Who Tweeted It First lets you look up the very first time that any word or phrase was used on Twitter.

So now we know the first tweet about Barack Obama was about a speech he gave in Miami in 2006:

Off to the Miami Book Fair and then to see B. Obama talk

— Alex de Carvalho (@alexdc) November 18, 2006

The first tweet about George W. Bush was really about Jon Stewart:

why does george w bush sound like john stewart pretending to be george w bush?

— Ian McKellar (@ian) June 20, 2006

The first tweet about Taylor Swift now seems like it comes from another universe:

CMT Awards: How cute was Taylor Swift as she accepted her award tonight? What a sweet moment...

— Winnie Jordan (@WinnieJordan) April 17, 2007

Uber was still just an adjective:

Wondering y Tony showed no appreciation for the leg songs rememberance. Just picked up new glasses. They're uber spiffy. Totally glam.

— Kati (@kati) July 8, 2006

And the iPhone didn't exist:

Had a dream last night that Steve Jobs gave me a demo of the iPhone and the ringtones were all hyphy. Hrm.

— Jack (@jack) September 26, 2006

You can find the first tweets about whatever you want at Who Tweeted It First. (Hat tip to the Wall Street Journal's Sarah Marshall.)

Today, John Cantlie is best known for being a hostage of the terrorist group ISIS. But as the photos below show, he is also an extraordinary photojournalist. His images from the Libyan and Syrian civil wars are often beautiful, but also tell a story about the price of war — and the reasons people are willing to pay it.

Cantlie, who is British, was captured in November 2012 while traveling in Syria with American journalist James Foley. That was Cantlie's second abduction — had previously been kidnapped in July 2012, but was rescued a week later by members of the Free Syrian Army. ISIS has released four videos of Cantlie in which he is forced to deliver propaganda messages on-camera. The group has threatened to kill him. Cantlie is believed to be one of ISIS's two remaining Western hostages, along with an American woman whose name is not known. ISIS has murdered all of its other American and British hostages.

There is still hope that Cantlie could somehow make it home alive. But if he does not, these photos are a testament to his bravery in pursuing the stories that he wanted to tell, and his skill in telling them.

Syria

A young man and his brother gesture during an anti-Assad protest in the town of Binnish on April 9, 2012 in Syria. (John Cantlie/Getty Images)

Young men burn posters of Bashar al-Assad during a night demonstration against the regime on April 9, 2012 in Binnish, Syria. (John Cantlie/Getty Images)

Women gesture during an anti-Assad protest in the town of Binnish on April 9, 2012 in Binnish, Syria. (John Cantlie/Getty Images)

Rebels of the Free Syrian Army take time to pray during a five-hour firefight against government tanks.(John Cantlie/Getty Images)

A Syrian rebel mourns the death of a comrade.(John Cantlie/Getty Images)

Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj sleeps next to his gun in the northern city of Aleppo on November 11, 2012. (John Cantlie/AFP/Getty Images)

Libya

A Libyan rebel fighter fires his rocket-propelled grenade toward buildings in District Two of Colonel Gaddafi's

home city of Sirte on October 11, 2011 in Libya. (John Cantlie/Getty Images)

Jubilant girls celebrate the liberation of Libya in Green Square on September 13, 2011 in Tripoli, Libya (John Cantlie/Getty Images)

Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's red-carpeted airport stairs sit abandoned on a highway on October 07, 2011 in Sirte, Libya.

The movie Frozen debuted in November of 2013. But the big, hit earworm it unleashed upon the unsuspecting American populace took over 2014 in a way that has yet to fully dissipate.

We speak, of course, of "Let It Go," and even if there were bigger hit songs in 2014, it's still not hard to think of the year as the year of "Let It Go." (You probably have it stuck in your head right now.)

"I am one with the wind and sky," Idina Menzel sings as Elsa in the song, and that might seem prophetic: for a big part of 2014, this addictive song was pretty much one with the air we breathed.

Here's the original song in case you live under a rock and/or have blocked it from your memory:

"Let it Go" enjoyed absurd popularity. It was a number one single. The Frozen soundtrack sold 2.7 million copies this year, making it second only to Taylor Swift's 1989 for the year, to go along with the $1.27 billion the film made at the worldwide box office. The song even won an Oscar.

But on top of those monumental sales, the cultural omnipresence of the song was better observed elsewhere: on YouTube. "Let it Go" solidly took over as the cover song of choice for the first few months of the year. It may have even been bigger than 2012's "Call Me Maybe" epidemic.

Here are nine versions of "Let it Go" that will remind you why this song got so huge:

1. The best cover:

Alex Boyé's Africanized cover of "Let it Go," featuring the One Voice Children's Choir, was by far one of the most popular versions of the song. The video has an absurd 58 million views on Youtube. But it features singing children and beautiful backing vocals. What's not to love?

2. The toy version:

In one of the host's first Tonight Show episodes, Menzel joined Jimmy Fallon and the Roots to play "Let It Go" on toy instruments. The metal triangles add an extra level of clanging, but the song still shines through, thanks to Menzel's soprano.

3. The children trying to sing version

Four-year-old twins Maddie & Zoe try really, really hard to sing "Let it Go" in this cover. But they're 4, which means the attention tends to wander. One of them actually yawns in the middle of the song, which might be the greatest thing ever.

4. The acoustic version

There were plenty of acoustic versions of "Let It Go," but Cimorelli, a singing group made up of six sisters offered up the best one. In a sea of people uploading themselves singing the song, Cimorelli stays on key and adds its own special flair.

5. The famous musicians parody:

Christina Bianca sings "Let it Go" as several different musicians, starting with Idina Menzel, then working her way through Demi Lovato and Britney Spears and Alanis Morisette. Bianca is a great singer on her own, but her on-point impersonations add so much to this video.

6. The talented teen version:

Connie Talbot, a 13-year-old former competitor on Britain's Got Talent, offered up one of the most beautiful renditions of "Let it Go," sitting at the piano in what appears to be her living room. Her stellar voice is complemented perfectly by her skill on the piano.

7. The med school parody:

Med school students loved this parody version, but it's kind of terrifying for prospective patients. Let's hope these students aren't actually WebMD-ing patient symptoms.

8. The poop parody version:

We wish we were more mature, so we wouldn't laugh so much at this, but, alas, we are not.

9. The Tyra Banks Vine.

Why was the internet created? For this. Six seconds of Tyra Banks singing, then spitting out an ice cube. C'mon. Just let it go, and enjoy!

Come back every day of December for Vox's picks of some of our favorite pop culture of 2014.

MONTREAL - It is hard to imagine a classier hockey player, on and off the ice, than Jean Beliveau.

A supremely skilled centre for 18 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens, the 83-year-old Beliveau was also a gracious spokesman for the team and the sport.

With his death confirmed late Tuesday by a spokesman for the Canadiens, the NHL club lost the man who embodied all the attributes of their dynasty teams of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s — talent, flair, intelligence and success.

He scored 507 goals, won 10 Stanley Cups and was captain for 10 seasons before his retirement in 1971, then moved seamlessly into an executive position with the club.

Words like class and gentleman were attached to Beliveau by virtually everyone who met him.

"Meeting him is not like meeting other stars from the old days," said Beliveau’s former linemate Gilles Tremblay.

"When people see Bobby Hull, they say: 'Hi Bobby.' When they meet Big Jean, it's always: 'Hi, Mr. Beliveau.' He commands respect."

Canadiens fans who revered Beliveau were given a scare in 2000 when he was diagnosed with throat cancer, but after losing 30 pounds during treatment and enduring "the worst period of my life," he recovered and was soon back in his familiar spot — attending nearly every home game with his wife Elise in the seats among the fans. He also survived a stroke in 2012.

Such was his spotless image, Beliveau turned down an offer from prime minister Brian Mulroney in the 1980s to sit in the Senate and refused an offer extended by prime minister Jean Chretien in 1994 to become Canada’s governor general.

Even the crafty handling of his first professional contract in the early 1950s, when he landed a comparatively enormous salary that averaged more than $20,000 as an unproven rookie, didn't tarnish his public appeal.

A resigned general manager Frank Selke Sr., when asked what it took to sign Beliveau, simply said: "All I did was open up the Forum vault and say: 'Help yourself, Jean.'"

The signing had been ordered by the Canadiens owners, who had bought the entire Quebec Senior Hockey League to secure the rights to the quiet, six-foot-three centre for the Quebec Aces.

And the esteem in which he was held, inside and outside hockey, was not the result of a cynically nurtured persona. Those closest to him insist the graciousness was genuine.

STORY CONTINUES AFTER SLIDESHOW

Until shortly before his death, he would spend time before and after every home game signing autographs and talking to anyone who approached. For those he knew, there was always a smile and a handshake.

It seemed that Beliveau got his business savvy from his father, Arthur Beliveau, an electrician, and his values from growing up in the small Quebec community of Victoriaville, where he was an altar boy at the local church.

Beliveau, the eldest of seven children, was born on Aug. 31, 1931, in Trois-Rivieres, Que., but moved to Victoriaville, a dairy centre southwest of Quebec City, when he was three.

He learned to control the puck on a crowded backyard rink and by the time he was a teenager, the Beliveau legend was growing.

When Victoriaville's junior team folded, he moved to Quebec City and began filling rinks around the province. When he moved up to the senior Aces, he was said he be earning $20,000 in salary and endorsements on what officially was an amateur team.

It was Arthur Beliveau who insisted his son not sign away his pro rights and maintain the right to negotiate his salary — a rare move in a time when the six NHL teams virtually owned players from boyhood onward.

That forced the Canadiens to hand Beliveau, nicknamed Le Gros Bill, a $110,000, five-year contract, including a large signing bonus, to lure him from Quebec, a city he loved and that adored him in return.

Beliveau had short stints with the Canadiens two consecutive years before joining the club for good for the 1953-54 season.

He carried tremendous pressure into the NHL, both for his amateur scoring feats and his salary, which was only topped by scoring legend Maurice (Rocket) Richard.

His rookie season was spoiled by injuries. Although he rebounded with 37 goals as a sophomore, he was criticized for soft play and failing to retaliate to opponents' cheap shots.

That all changed in his third season, 1955-56, when Beliveau decided to fight back. He led the team with 143 penalty minutes, led the NHL with 47 goals and 41 assists and took the first of his two Hart Trophies as the league’s most valuable player.

That season also marked the beginning of the Canadiens' record string of five consecutive Stanley Cup titles, on a team that also had Richard, scorers Dickie Moore and Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion and two innovators — rushing defenceman Doug Harvey and wandering goaltender Jacques Plante.

At six foot three and 205 pounds, Beliveau combined strength, a long reach, a soft touch on the puck and remarkable vision on the ice to dominate the league.

In a 2011 interview, Beliveau said he would not have quite the same size advantage in today's NHL.

''I'd only be average,'' he said. ''Way back 40 or 45 years ago, at 6-3 there were not too may of us.

''In Chicago, Eddie Litzenberger, maybe Allan Stanley in Toronto. But now you have players who are 6-7, 6-9, 250 pounds. What amazes me is that, in the past, a tall and heavy guy was usually not a great skater but today they skate pretty well. Very good, as a matter of fact.''

Beliveau's slapshot, with a lazy-looking half wind-up, was deceptively hard.

Don Marshall, a checking forward for the Canadiens in the 1950s and 1960s, said even Beliveau's teammates were in awe of his skill.

"It was such a pleasure to watch him play and handle the puck," said Marshall. "He was so graceful on the ice.

"You knew that when your team needed a goal, he’d be on the ice with Richard or (Bert) Olmstead and you knew it could happen."

Richard retired in 1960 and Harvey was traded the following year. Beliveau took over the captaincy in 1961 on a team rebuilding for another run of Cups under coach Hector (Toe) Blake.

Beliveau won his second Hart Trophy in 1964, when a new Canadiens dynasty arose to take four Cups in a five-year span.

The one that got away was 1967, when Montreal desperately wanted a Cup to celebrate the city’s world’s fair, Expo 67, only to lose in the final to Toronto in what remains the Maple Leafs' last championship.

"We lost to Toronto in 1967 and I was disappointed because I thought we had the better team," Beliveau said years later.

After the 1969-70 season, in which an aging Beliveau had only 19 goals, general manager Sam Pollack talked his captain into playing one more season.

Beliveau scored 25 goals — including his milestone 500th — and added 22 points in 20 playoff games as the Canadiens won another Stanley Cup, allowing their big centre to retire, at 40, a winner.

In his career, Beliveau had 1,219 points in 1,125 games, plus 79 goals and 97 assists in 162 playoff matches. He was named to the NHL’s first all-star team six times, and the second team four times.

''I always enjoyed the playoffs,'' he said. ''I enjoyed playing in it. Everybody, not only the players, but management, the fans, maybe the press, everybody is so much more nervous. So I enjoyed every game.''

Where other stars, including Richard, had nasty post-career experiences with token public relations jobs, Beliveau was made the Habs vice-president of corporate affairs, where he worked on marketing and became a bright and knowledgeable sounding board for a succession of team presidents and general managers.

It may not be coincidence that it was after Beliveau stopped going to the office every day in 1993, when he "retired" to become a part-time public relations "ambassador," that poor decision-making set in and the Canadiens began a slide into mediocrity.

In 2005, Beliveau made headlines when he sold off many of his hockey mementoes. Beliveau said he had mixed emotions about his decision but that the time had come to part with the objects, including his Stanley Cup ring from 1958-59, a replica of the Conn Smythe Trophy he won in 1965, the inaugural year for the playoff MVP award, his Hockey Hall of Fame induction ring and the pucks he used to score his first and last NHL regular-season goals. The auction raised about $1 million.

When the Canadiens opened Centennial Plaza at the Bell Centre as part of the team’s 100th anniversary, their four greatest players were honoured with statues — Richard, Howie Morenz, Guy Lafleur and Beliveau.

Beliveau also ran a charitable foundation and sat on the board of directors of several companies.

He and his wife Elise had one daughter, Helene, and granddaughters Mylene and Magalie.

Finally some good news on the pipeline beat. Phys.org reports that Canadian energy infrastructure company TransCanada recently decided to suspend construction of a major pipeline terminal on the St. Lawrence River in Eastern Canada after Canadian authorities deemed a nearby population of beluga whales “endangered.” The belugas live near Cacouna, Quebec, the planned location of the terminal, and were given the status of “threatened” when the last formal study of their population was done 10 years ago.

Read the rest of TransCanada Stops Pipeline Terminal Construction After Belugas Declared Endangered

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This is a time-lapse video from Greg Coffin of his Rhodesian Ridgeback Sophia growing from two months old to 3-years old in 23 seconds. So why is the video almost two minutes long? I asked myself the same thing. Hit the jump for the video.

This is a short video introducing Pizza Hut UK's new 'Subliminal Menu'. It works by tracking your eye movement as you look at the 20 ingredients, then uses an algorithm to guess which of the 4,896 combinations you want based on how long you looked at each ingredient. The system allegedly has a 98% success rate (possibly due to the power of suggestion). Because I'm an infamous blogger, Pizza Hut reached out to me to demo the system, and it actually guessed what I wanted perfectly. "Which was?" Taco Bell. Keep going for the video.

At this point, it's well-known that years of playing football can cause long-term mental problems. It's also strongly suspected that this is true for players who merely suffer routine blows to the head — and are never even diagnosed with a concussion.

Brain damage might occur even more quickly than many feared

But new research, presented yesterday by Wake Forest scientists at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, suggests that the damage can occur even more quickly than many people feared.

Their analysis of 24 high- school football players found a correlation between the number of hits each player took in a season and changes in the corpus callosum and other areas of the brain known to be affected by concussions.

Now, the researchers didn't link these changes in the brain to actual behavioral changes, and they don't know for sure they were caused by football — they found a correlation, not a causation. Still, it's a disturbing finding given the mounting pile of evidence that football causes brain damage on a scale much larger than we realized.

What the researchers found

A high school game in Virginia. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The researchers worked with something called the Kinematics of Impact Data Set (KIDS). In essence, it involves putting accelerometers in football helmets that measure the frequency and severity of hits, then letting youth players wear the helmets over the course of a season or more.

The researchers used this data for 24 high-school players between the ages of 16 and 18. These players also underwent diffusion MRI scans before and after the season, which allows doctors to see how fluids move through the neurons in their brains' white matter, potentially revealing any abnormalities in the tissue.

the "heavy hitters" showed higher levels of changes in their brains

Using the accelerometer data, the researchers split the players into two groups: 9 of them were so-called "heavy hitters," who took many blows to the head, and 15 were "light hitters," and took fewer. None were diagnosed with a concussion during the season.

All of these players showed changes in their brains' white matter that the researchers called "concerning" — and the heavy hitters showed significantly higher levels of these changes than the light ones. The changes were disproportionately found in the corpus callosum and other areas deep in the white matter (which lies below the grey matter at the outer surface of the brain), which previous research has found to be frequently affected by concussions.

Again, as far as we know, the players didn't demonstrate any symptoms during the season and the researchers didn't establish any link with actual brain problems. They see this as an initial step in researching the effects of football on young brains. But seen in the light of other things we've recently learned about head trauma, these findings are rather concerning.

What we know about football and the brain

Ann McKee, one of the leading neurologists looking into CTE, examines a brain at Boston University's brain bank. (Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Over the past decade or so, several prominent former NFL players have committed suicide after suffering from years of emotional and memory problems. When doctors examined their brains afterward, they found evidence of a long-term disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

For nearly a century, doctors knew the disease could occur in boxers who were repeatedly punched in the head (they called it "punch drunk"), but awareness that football players were also susceptible came slowly. In 2002, Mike Webster — a former Pittsburgh Steelers player who suffered from depression and dementia before dying from a heart attack at age 50 — was diagnosed, becoming the first former NFL player confirmed to have it.

Although the symptoms may appear during a patient’s lifetime, a definitive diagnosis can only be made after death, when doctors have the chance to examine the brain and look for telltale signs of the disease. In postmortem exams, heavy depositions of a protein called tau in the brain are one sign of CTE.

Left: a normal brain (slice at top, microscope slide at bottom). Right: a brain with high amounts of tau. Boston University

At least 50 retired NFL players have been diagnosed with CTE so far, but hundreds more are probably living with it undiagnosed. Scientists have found it can cause a range of problems — headaches, difficulty concentrating, erectile dysfunction, depression, increased anger and aggression, reduced impulse control, and eventually, severe dementia — which often don't appear until years after a player has retired.

Most players diagnosed with CTE played for many years and suffered multiple concussions, but that's not always the case: in 2010, a 21 ­year-­old University of Pennsylvania football player named Owen Thomas killed himself and was found to have early stages of CTE, making him the youngest case diagnosed so far.

in 2010, a 21 year-old college football player killed himself and was found to have cte

The most recent, most disturbing finding about CTE is the mounting evidence that mild, routine hits — which present no immediate symptoms and are generally categorized as sub-­concussions, rather than concussions — might also lead to CTE. Last spring, new research came out showing that, like these high school players, college football players have detectable changes in their brains after spending just a few years on the field, and heavier hitters have more pronounced changes.

What's more, research suggests that efforts (at both the pro and college level) to more rigorously screen for concussions and keep concussed players out of the game are still far from perfect. One study found that more than 80 percent of concussions at the college level still go unreported.

Scientists still don’t really understand how repetitive brain trauma causes CTE. Some hypothesize that milder hits contribute to it by disrupting the blood-­brain barrier (the lining that prevents molecules in your bloodstream from entering your brain), potentially causing undetectable long-­term damage.

This could be a big problem because a lot of football players experience these sorts of hits over and over throughout a game as a matter of routine. Getting rid of vicious hits and severe concussions is one thing, but eliminating these routine hits might just not be possible. If CTE is as common as some scientists believe, the NFL could have an epidemic on its hands.

Watch: Can the NFL survive its concussion crisis?

Leftover turkey, sweet potatoes, spinach and Gruyere cheese – trust me, you'll want to save some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving because this breakfast frittata is SOO good!


Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! I am reviving this from the archives for those of you who have leftover turkey!!

When I had the idea of using leftover turkey and sweet potato in a fritatta, I had no idea just how good this would turn out! In fact, I would make turkey again, just to make this frittata. Frittatas are so versatile, you could of course use leftover chicken breast instead, or swap the Gruyere for another cheese, the spinach for kale, etc. This is naturally gluten-free, and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner with a salad on the side. Hope you enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Click Here To See The Full Recipe...

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Italian street artist Blu (previously) just wrapped up work on this giant mural that wraps around two sides of a building in Rome. The pieces utilizes nearly 50 windows to create the mouths and eyes of some 27 bizarre faces all vying for attention. You can see some more views of the piece on his blog and explore it in detail on Google Street View. See it up close here.

In New York magazine's November 2014 interview with Chris Rock, writer Frank Rich asked the comedian about issues ranging from the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, to Bill Cosby's rape allegations. But perhaps the most insightful part of Rock's interview came when he dismantled the idea of "black progress":

When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it's all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people were crazy. Now they're not as crazy. To say that black people have made progress would be to say they deserve what happened to them before…

So, to say Obama is progress is saying that he's the first black person that is qualified to be president. That's not black progress. That's white progress. There's been black people qualified to be president for hundreds of years. If you saw Tina Turner and Ike having a lovely breakfast over there, would you say their relationship's improved? Some people would. But a smart person would go, "Oh, he stopped punching her in the face." It's not up to her. Ike and Tina Turner’s relationship has nothing to do with Tina Turner. Nothing. It just doesn't. The question is, you know, my kids are smart, educated, beautiful, polite children. There have been smart, educated, beautiful, polite black children for hundreds of years. The advantage that my children have is that my children are encountering the nicest white people that America has ever produced. Let's hope America keeps producing nicer white people.

Rock is essentially flipping the formula. It's not that black people as a whole have somehow changed and can now serve in the highest political office in the country. It's that enough white people — the majority of Americans — have shed their racist beliefs to vote in a black president.

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Watch: the racism of the US criminal justice system, in 10 charts

A video of two sisters using their belts and fists to fend off sexual harassers on a moving bus in Rohtak, India, has gone viral, sparking a renewed public debate about sexual harassment and women's rights in India:

The young women were 22-year-old Arti Kumar and her 19-year-old sister Pooja, who told BBC Hindi that "the men started to abuse me and touch me. I told them 'if you touch me again, you'll get beaten up.' They called a friend on the phone and told him to 'come over because we have to beat up some girls.'"

When none of the other passengers came to their aid, Pooja said, she and her sister were forced to take matters into their own hands. "No one came forward in the bus to help us. So we took out our belts in self-defence [and hit the men]. If only the other passengers had helped us, we would not have needed to retaliate in this way."

The incident was filmed by another passenger, a pregnant woman who told the Times of India that she had also been harassed by the men involved, and that she helped the two sisters file a criminal complaint after they were thrown off of the bus while it was still moving.

When the video was posted online, it quickly went viral, inspiring the twitter hashtag #RohtakBravehearts. ("Braveheart" is the English translation of Nirbhaya, the name the media gave to the Delhi woman who was gang-raped on a moving bus in 2012 and later died of her injuries, prompting a nationwide protest movement against sexual violence in India.)

Law & govt of india.. Plz dont let us down. Give the molesters what they deserve quickly & the #RohtakBravehearts justice. #girlrising

— Freida Pinto (@BecauseImFreida) December 1, 2014

2 yrs ago it was Nirbhaya in a bus Today the #RohtakBravehearts. Nothing's changed except girls hitting back harder pic.twitter.com/9Tv6c94sQg

— Akash Banerjee (@akashbanerjee) November 30, 2014

What happened in Rohtak is a story many women relate to. We've all been there. #RohtakBravehearts show us why we musn't be silent. @ibnlive

— Neha Poonia (@NehaPoonia) December 1, 2014

Many commenters were particularly outraged at the bystanders' failure to intervene on the young women's behalf:

Disgraceful for boys & men(BIG 0s) 2 be mere spectators while the #RohtakSisters (REAL HEROS) fought of their attackers #RohtakBravehearts

— Anil kumar (@simbamara) December 1, 2014

Am angry at the molestors that disgusting pigs who molested the girls bt angrier tat the entire bus is silently watchn on #Rohtakbravehearts

— Sharanya (@Sharanyashettyy) November 30, 2014

The young women will receive a cash award from the Haryana state government. Their three attackers have reportedly been arrested, and the driver and conductor of the bus on which the attack occurred have been suspended.

There is saying in the entertainment industry, meant only in half-jest: "The Simpsons did it first." No matter what the gag or idea, the 25-year-old cartoon almost invariably got there first.

It turns out that this applies to international geopolitical events as well. Today, the Russian ruble tumbled in value against the dollar, due in large part to plummeting oil prices, as well as Western economic sanctions. But The Simpsons did it first: as the Guardian's Alex Hern points out, the cartoon portrayed this very event this in an episode way back in 1999:

The clip is from the opening scene, in which members of the Olympic committee debate where to hold the next games. After this, they decide to consider the Simpsons' hometown of Springfield, and exactly 22 minutes of hilarity ensue. (This isn't the only such historical echo: a 1998 Simpsons clip was passed around last year, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, as eerily anticipating events.)

The lesson here, beyond simply appreciating the apparent foresight of an American cartoon program, is that this 15-year-old clip shows the extent to which things have not fundamentally changed in Russia. Of course it was not actually "predicting" today's Russian economic downturn, but rather riffing off the earlier downturn, of which there have been several. The fact that the clip could have been today is a remind of the degree to which the country's post-Soviet economy is still unstable, still prone to major shifts due to changes in the price of oil and natural gas that are its dominant exports. And that economic volatility is still a tremendous force in shaping Russian politics.

It's a reminder that, while Putin has indeed brought sweeping changes to Russia since taking power in 2000, a year after this episode aired, he has not solved the fundamental economic problem at the heart of Russia's struggle to adapt to a world after the Soviet Union.

Was there ever any doubt?

Yes, Alfonso Ribeiro (a.k.a. Carlton from "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air") took home the crown on "Dancing With The Stars" last night.

Overcoming reported groin and back injuries, Ribeiro and his dancing partner, Witney Carson, received three perfect scores to win the Mirrorball Trophy.

Of course, they also did The Carlton one last time:





Ribeiro likely received some help (but probably didn't need it) when his former co-star and lifelong pal Will Smith asked his Facebook followers to vote for him.

The shite weather has us dreaming of dense warm bread leading to crispy-then-chewy breaded veal parmesan slathered in tomato sauce gone gooey with mozzarella cheese. We recently wolfed this gnarly beast at Cioffi’s new “Cucina”, located next to the delicatessen in Burnaby. A fantastic fill-up for only $7.99. Take a closer below…

Cioffi’s Cucina | 4150 Hastings Street | 604-291-9373 | Burnaby, BC

MORE AWESOME THINGS WE ATE

The post AWESOME THING WE ATE #930 | Breaded Veal Parmesan w/ Mozza & Tomato At Cioffi’s appeared first on Scout Magazine.

[tedbrogan]

Courtney shared this story from Super Opinionated.

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No, a cuddle party is not a cover-up for an orgy. That's what Marcia Baczynski, co-founder of Cuddle Party, wants to make clear.

Rather, the playful party, which has recently taken off in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, is an event where participants cuddle for a couple of hours in their pajamas. Other activities include head rubs, massages, spooning, or even just talking.

The clothing-on and non-sexual events have received tons of positive feedback from customers and cuddlers, Baczynski told The Huffington Post B.C. in an interview, but there are still many people who think the idea is bizarre.

Baczynski believes they shouldn't knock it until they've tried it. She thinks the skepticism comes from people having bad experiences with boundaries, touch, negotiations, and consent in the past.

Story continues below slideshow:



Touch is important and having a safe space for it is just as crucial, said Baczynski, who is based in New York. That's exactly what Cuddle Parties strive to be: a safe place for physical, but non-sexual, human interaction.

"I really love that moment when you realize it’s safe to relax," she said. "You feel like you’re breathing, and somebody else is breathing. And it’s this moment of being a human with another human. I love that moment."

Started in New York City in 2004, Cuddle Party currently has over 70 different facilitators in eight different countries. The idea came from co-founder Reid Mihalko when he hosted massage therapy get-togethers. Friends wanted to join the party but were intimidated since many attendees were massage therapists. So instead of focusing on massages, Baczynski and Mihalko switched it up and made the gatherings about cuddling instead.

B.C. cuddle parties can be found in Vancouver, Richmond, and Victoria. Prices vary at each location, but Vancouver parties cost $30 per person at the door and Richmond parties cost $20.

What kind of people go to cuddle parties? Apparently, affectionate people, single people, and people who are looking to work on their physical boundaries.

The event begins with a 45 to 60 minute welcome circle that includes introductions, games, and laying down the ground rules. For example, participants must ask permission and receive a verbal "yes" before touching anyone; people can say "no" and are encouraged to change their minds if feeling uncomfortable or unsure. After the welcome circle comes the freestyle cuddling portion, which ends off with a short closing circle.

After the party is over, Baczynski said that most people seem much more relaxed. She compared them to looking like they just left a really good massage since they have “this glazed, blissed-out look.”

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