South African comedian Trevor Noah will become the new host of Comedy Central"s The Daily Show, stepping into the role Jon Stewart has filled for 16 years.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Mark this next story as a sign of a changing nation. Comedy Central has announced the successor to Jon Stewart. Trevor Noah takes over "The Daily Show," the fake news program that"s often as influential as real news shows.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Stephen Colbert"s fake news program was recently taken over by Larry Wilmore, which means both high-profile shows will be hosted by black men. One of them was not always considered black. Trevor Noah was born in South Africa during the years of apartheid, as he has discussed on stage.
(SOUNDBITE OF STAND-UP COMEDY)
TREVOR NOAH: My mother"s a black woman, and then my father"s Swiss. So I was born a crime, which is something I don"t think they ever thought through because as a family, we couldn"t live together, you know? Like in the streets, we couldn"t even be seen together. My father would have to walk on the other side of the road. And he would just wave at me from far like a creepy pedophile.
INSKEEP: In South Africa, people of mixed race like Trevor Noah were not classified as black in those years but as colored.
(SOUNDBITE OF STAND-UP COMEDY)
NOAH: I wanted to be black, to be honest. That"s all I ever wanted, especially since one day, growing up, I met an American. And he was shocked that in South Africa we had all these titles. And he said to me - he said, well, you know, Trevor, if you go out to America, they"ll label you as black. I said, really? And he was like, oh, h**l, yeah (laughter). Yeah, buddy, everybody"s black out there, yeah. You"d be super black.
(LAUGHTER)
NOAH: That sounds good to me - super black.
GREENE: Whatever you call him, Trevor Noah now takes over one of the most prominent slots on American TV.
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This afternoon, Jay Z formally launched his new streaming music service TIDAL with an all-star event in New York City. As it turns out, Jay Z is merely a co-owner: Arcade Fires Win Butler andRgine Chassagne, Kanye West, Jack White, Daft Punk, Beyonc, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Rihanna,Madonna alsohave ownership interests in TIDAL.
All these artists were at hand for todays event and showed their commitment by signing a declaration on-stage.
TIDAL is described as a platform owned by artists with the goal to re-establish the value of music. Speaking on behalf of the group, Alicia Keysexplained, We want to create a better service and experience for fans and artists. Our mission goes beyond commerce and technology.
Update: Jay Z spoke to Billboard about his vision forTIDAL. Read below.
A video proceeding the event featured footage from a recent summit in which the owners of TIDAL gathered to discuss their vision. Daft Punk described the groupas the Avengers of Music.
As previously reported, TIDAL offers two paid subscriptionoptions: $19.99 a month for high-fidelity audio, and $9.99 for standard quality audio. TIDAL can be streamed on the web, and downloaded for iOS and Android devices.
Its reported that TIDALsowners will exclusively release their music through the platform, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Replay the event below.
Update: Jay Z spoke to Billboard about his vision forTIDAL.We didnt like the direction music was going and thought maybe we could get in and strike an honest blow and if, you know, the very least we did was make people wake up and try to improve the free vs. paid system, and promote fair trade, then it would be a win for us anyway, he explained.
People are not respecting the music, and [are] devaluing it and devaluing what it really means, Jay Z added. People really feel like music is free, but will pay $6 for water. You can drink water free out of the tap, and its good water. But theyre OK paying for it. Its just the mind-set right now.
He said the overriding goal is to ensure artists are properly compensated for your work, and not just the owners each of whom control a 3-percent stake in the company will reapthe benefits. For someone like me, I can go on tour. But what about the people working on the record, the content creators and not just the artists? If theyre not being compensated properly, then I think well lose some writers and producers and people like that who depend on fair trade. Some would probably have to take another job, and I think well lose some great writers in the process. Is it fair? No. If you put in work, everyone else, you go to work you get paid. Thats fair trade. Its what our country is built on.
Jay Z also said he hopes TIDAL will inspire artists to take more risks creatively. He explained, Artists come here and start making songs 18 minutes long, or whatever. I know this is going to sound crazy, but maybe they start attempting to make a Like a Rolling Stone, you know, a song that doesnt have a recognizable hook, but is still considered one of the greatest songs of all time, the freedom that this platform will allow art to flourish here,
And while he would not confirm it outright, he did tease TIDAL acquiring exclusive content from artists. Anything they want to offer, you know; just be as creative as possible, thats the only charge, really. Make it look really good and make everyone that consumes it think, Man, I got something really great. Treat the people with respect; make it memorable.
The three oldest Beckham children hit the red carpet for the Nickelodeon Kids" Choice Awards in LA on Saturday. Sixteen-year-old Brooklyn posed with his brothers, 12-year-old Romeo, and 10-year-old Cruz, as they made their way into the show, which included plenty of slimy moments. Brooklyn later shared on Instagram: "Great time with my bros." They weren"t the only celebrity kids at the event, since Angelina Jolie brought Shiloh and Zahara and Katie Holmes had Suri by her side.
The trio was without their famous parents, David and Victoria, though they"re no strangers to the spotlight themselves. Romeo has modeled in campaigns for Burberry, and Brooklyn"s been featured in a number of magazines.
2013-2014 Kentucky Basketball: "The Greatest Story Ever Told" VIDEOS | UK BASKETBALL IN THE FINAL FOURVideo | Final Four preview: No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 1 Kentucky | 01:57
USA TODAY Sports" Scott Gleeson and Nancy Armour preview the Final Four matchup between Kentucky and Wisconsin.
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VIDEOS | UK BASKETBALL IN THE FINAL FOURHow to beat Kentucky in the Final Four | 01:37
USA TODAY Sports" Scott Gleeson discusses the game plan to beating undefeated (38-0) Kentucky.
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Video | Kentucky talks after defeating Notre Dame
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Kentucky basketball fans took to State Street in Lexington Saturday night to celebrate UK"s win over Notre Dame and earn a trip to the 2015 Final Four in Indianapolis. James Crisp / special to The Courier-Journal
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BasketballInsiders.coms Cody Toppert and CineSports Brian Clark discuss Kentuckys dominant win over West Virginia, and discuss Wisconsin, Arizona and Notre Dames Sweet 16 wins.
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Video | Final Four preview: No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 1 Kentucky
How to beat Kentucky in the Final Four
Video | Calipari, players after thrilling win
Video | UK fans celebrate in Lexington
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Video | UK"s Aaron Harrison on another clutch three
Video | UK"s Andrew Harrison on clinching free throws
Video | UK"s Ulis has a new net necklace, Final Four ticket
Video | UK"s Towns hugs trophy, talks Elite Eight win
Video | Can Anyone Stop Kentucky?
Kentucky"s Aaron Harrison, far left, celebrates with his team after the Wildcats defeated the Badgers Saturday night at the Final Four at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. April 5, 2014
CLEVELAND Since Aaron Harrison"s final dagger dropped with six seconds left in last year"s national semifinal, Wisconsin has been on a mission.
"That loss left a sour taste in our mouth, so we wanted to get back," Badgers forward Sam Dekker said Saturday after winning the NCAA Tournament"s West Regional to return to the Final Four.
Since Connecticut ruined Kentucky"s storybook ending in the national championship game last season, the Wildcats have been similarly motivated.
"Just two more games," said Andrew Harrison late Saturday night after hitting the clinching free throws against Notre Dame to get UK into its second straight Final Four and fourth in five years under coach John Calipari. "You really remember that feeling you had after the (title) game last year. You don"t want to have that feeling again."
But someone"s redemption tour will be stopped short in the rematch. The undefeated Wildcats (38-0) must go through red-hot Wisconsin (35-3) again, this time in Indianapolis, for their shot at a ninth NCAA championship and college basketball"s first 40-0 season.
The Badgers, who returned eight of the nine guys who played in last year"s Final Four duel with Kentucky, have won 10 straight games and hit 10 of 12 3-pointers in the second half Saturday to blow by Arizona.
"I know (Wisconsin coach) Bo Ryan, and he"s a great friend, and how good he coaches," said Calipari, who has won 15 of his last 16 NCAA Tournament games. "I"ve said all along I thought the (four) best teams were us, Wisconsin and Arizona and Duke. And other teams are right there, but those four seem to be a little bit better than the others."
The Badgers have a combination of shooting and size seven players 6-8 or taller, including 6-9 Dekker and 7-foot All-American Frank Kaminsky to threaten the Cats. Kentucky, with just one major contributor shorter than 6-6, ultimately overtook the Fighting Irish with a massive mismatch in length.
"That"s a great matchup," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey after his team fell just short in a 68-66 thriller. "Wisconsin"s a little bit like us: they"re skilled and they can spread people out. They have a little more bulk and frontline size, but they"re really skilled offensive guys, and certainly we were able to get some things tonight."
The Cats returned just five of the guys who played against Wisconsin the first time, and lost their top two scorers from that 74-73 classic, but that doesn"t mean the Cats are less equipped. This team is actually far better than that one. They added four McDonald"s All-Americans, including 6-11 freshman star Karl-Anthony Towns, who poured in 25 points against the Irish.
Junior 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein, the nation"s top defender who helped save Saturday"s game with a late block, was injured and didn"t play the Badgers last year. But he knows this will be a challenge.
"I"m glad we have a week to prepare for them," Cauley-Stein said. "The way they play together is the best in the country. This is when I"m glad we don"t have one day to prepare for them. One day to prepare for a team like Notre Dame? That"s why we couldn"t stop them. If we"d had a couple more days to see where the holes are . but the way they run their offense is crazy. You really can"t stop it.
"It"s really them missing shots, and you get the rebounds, and that"s how you stop them. Otherwise they"re going to get their shots up, and if they"re making them, it"s going to be a long night."
One of the Wildcats" newcomers, rookie point guard Tyler Ulis, is still familiar with Wisconsin"s best player, Kaminsky. They"re both former Illinois high school stars and played in the same league.
Ulis is new to this matchup, and this stage, but he knows what to expect.
"Another hard-fought game," he said, "and I feel like they want some get-back from last year."
Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.
Jennifer Lopez - Feel The Light (Official Lyric Video) | HOME March 29, 2015 2:59 p.m. ET
Home gave DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. a much-needed hit this weekend, surpassing expectations and topping the box office with an estimated $54 million.
The childrens film features an unlikely duo: singer Rihanna voices the character of Tip, a young girl who befriends an outcast alien voiced by Big Bang Theory actor Jim Parsons.
Last year, DreamWorks bumped the release date of Home from November to March, with executives saying it was a kinder window for an original-concept title. The movie that it swapped dates with, DreamWorks own Penguins of Madagascar, flopped, but the switch was the right move for Home, said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution at Twentieth Century Fox, which distributed the movies. (Foxs parent company, 21st Century Fox, was until mid-2013 part of the same company as The Wall Street Journal.)
Were going into the big spring weekends, said Mr. Aronson, adding that Home faces little competition for family sales until Walt Disney Co.s Inside Out debuts June 19.
It also gives DreamWorks a hit at a time when the studio desperately needs one. The company has issued four write-downs on features like Turbo and Mr. Peabody & Sherman since November 2012. Earlier this year, the company announced a massive restructuring and creative overhaul that resulted in 500 workers being laid off. Home is the companys only release this year, making its box-office returns all the more important for the studios bottom line.
Overseas, the movie has grossed $48 million so far. Home is the second animated movie to perform well this year; The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water has collected $160 million since Viacom Inc.s Paramount Pictures released it in February.
The weekends other new release, the R-rated Get Hard, went after a very different audience and landed in second place with a solid $34.6 million. Distributed by Time Warner Inc.s Warner Bros., Get Hard stars Will Ferrell as a man preparing to go to prison with the help of businessman played by comedian Kevin Hart. Insurgent, from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., fell to third place in its second week of release, grossing $86.4 million so far.
Audiences gave Home an A grade, according to the CinemaScore market research firm, while Get Hard received a B.
In other box-office news, the horror film It Follows expanded to wide release after good word-of-mouth led to robust returns in a handful of theaters. It collected $4 million in about 1,200 locations, and its distributor, Weinstein Co.s Radius-TWC, said it will expand further next week.
Write to Erich Schwartzel at erich.schwartzel@wsj.com
Comcast COMCAST CORP.CMCSA0.05% seems to be following through on promises made by its CEO Neil Smit to make fixing its customer service woes a priority for 2015.
The way we interact with our customers on the phone, online, in their homes is as important to our success as the technology we provide, Smit wrote on a company blog. Put simply, customer service should be our best product.
The company has already put a respected company veteran, Charlie Herrin, in charge of repairing its broken method of interacting with customers. It has also created an app which lets people know when a technician is en route to their home, ending the previous practice of subscribers having to wait around during a four-hour appointment window.
Now Comcast is taking its efforts to fix its customer relations a step further by hiring 40 workers for its social media team. These new hires will join an existing 20-person group in providing help with everything from scheduling appointments to troubleshooting Internet problems and setting up DVRs, CNN Money reported.
Why is Comcast doing this?
We have thousands of people answering service calls on the phone, and for many customers thats great. But some people would rather go online, and we want to make sure to give them that choice, Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury told CNN Money.
The company explained in a press announcement about the hiring effort that it has been using social media since 2007, but the use of platforms including Twitter TWITTER INC.TWTR0.18% and Facebook FACEBOOK INC.FB0.35% has increased over the years. This has shifted some customer support needs from traditional call centers to the social media team.
With a much bigger team, well be able to support customers across more platforms. And well be able to get to them faster. A larger team also means that well be able to increase bicoastal and bilingual coverage to make sure we are available 24/7 to customers who speak either English or Spanish.
The social care team has access to all the same advanced tools and training as our call center agents do, which means they can quickly jump in to solve problems. They also have a direct line to our tech teams so they can schedule appointments.
While this effort wont solve all of Comcasts problems, it will bring some customers immediate help. Its not a complete solution to a customer service culture which has been built around retention at any cost, but its a solid incremental step that should take pressure off the system.
Adding 40 people to the @comcastcares social media team shows that Smits vows to revamp customer service have actual money behind them. This isnt a token hire or a PR move; its likely a multimillion-dollar commitment to delivering actual improvement.
Comcast deserves credit
The media, myself included, has spent the past year shining light on Comcasts customer service failures. Those woes went viral when a recording made by former Engadget editor Ryan Block where a retention specialist essentially refused to allow him to cancel his service. That debacle led to a flood of embarrassing customer service issues being made public everything from bad service to names on bills being changed to derogatory terms.
Comcast probably deserved the scorn it got from the legitimate media and on social media. Now, however, the company deserves praise for not just saying its going to fix the problem but actually doing the hard work to turn around its culture, while backing those efforts with financial resources.
This is good business for the cable and Internet giant. A company cant treat its customers poorly when they can easily leave for other alternatives. But, aside from the long-term business gains the company should make, Comcast deserves credit for publicly tackling what is a thankless problem.
Bringing the customer service battle to social media is a smart move. Twitter and Facebook allow for quick problem resolution. That should result in happy customers and less stress on traditional phone-based customer service.
There are almost certain to be more problems and humiliating gaffes before Herrin and Smit completely change the companys culture. Still, adding 40 social media customer care reps is a win for customers, which is ultimately a win for the companys bottom line.
FULL INTERVIEW: Ashley Judd SHARE ON WHATSAPPWHATSAPP
CBS cameras zoomed in on Kentucky superfan Ashley Judd reading something during todays victory over Florida. Perhaps a box score or a movie script. That part isnt important.
What is important is that she was using reading glasses, a development serious enough to throw analyst Doug Gottlieb into a downward spiral.
The very sight of Judd using cheaters caused him to lament the passing of time and how others have aged. Pretty heavystuff for a seemingly innocuous establishing shot.
Producers working Gottliebs future games would be well-served to avoid any type of celebrity cameo. Who knows how h**l react to Drake having a new team or a clean-shaven Jason Sudeikis.
RELATED:The Lights Went Out During Rutgers-Michigan, Created Less-than-Ideal Conditions
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Ashley Judd, Doug Gottlieb, Kentucky Wildcats, College Basketball
SHARE ON WHATSAPPWHATSAPP Because you want to see it first!
And now the rest of the Friday box box office news
Homewasnt the only big opener this weekend. The Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedyGet Hardscored a strong $12.91 million Friday, including $1.8m worth of Thursday previews. The $40m R-rated comedy, which earned negative reviews and would-be controversy over its vulgar humor, is looking at a $36m weekend, which is near the top for both comedic actors. If that $36m debut comes to pass, it will be Kevin Harts second-biggest star vehicle opening behind the $41m debut ofRide Alongand it will be Will Ferrells fourth-biggest opening behindThe LEGO Movie($69m),Talladega Nights($47m), andMegamind($46m) while just ahead of the $35.5m debut ofThe Other Guys.
ThatGet Hard, an R-rated comedy, will approach the career highs of both performers is impressive and frankly shows that their combined star power actively boosting the results beyond a mere one-man show. FerrellsBlades of Glorydebuted with $33m on this weekend in 2007 and ended up with $118.5m domestic. IfGet Hardfollows suit, then expect asolid $129m domestic finish. Of course, the explicitly bro-centric comedy could get slaughtered byFurious 7next next weekend, but the Warner Bros./Time Warner Time Warner Inc. film is cheap enough to quality as a win pretty much by the end of Sunday.
The high profile expansion this weekend wasIt Follows. The acclaimed festival darling horror film had a smashing four-screen debut two weeks ago, which caused distributor Radius-TWCto change course and go for a semi-wide theatrical release instead of a VOD debut yesterday. I wish I could say they made the right call, and Im glad that horror fans will get to see this one in theaters (my wife and I are checking it out tonight), but a $1.4 million opening on 1,218 screens does not bode well for the film or whatever hopes horror fans were pinning on it in terms of resurrecting original multiplex horror. Were talkingThe Quiet Onenumbers here, and itll end up with an opening weekend of around half ofYoure Next.
Frankly I think this is less of a horror is doomed situation and more of a studio matters situation (along with arthouse interest does not equal mainstream interest). A major studio, be it Universal/Comcast Comcast Corp. or Sonys Screen Gems may-well have treated this like a standard teens go to a horror movie on Friday night and get scared release and had the muscle to just release it as a mainstream horror title and not care about its artier inclinations (its not like horror generally has strong legs and/or gets good audience ratings anyway). But anyway, I will hopefully have seen the film by the time we do the weekend estimates tomorrow, so Ill leave it at that.
The Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper period-piece dramaSerenaarrived in 60 theaters this weekend courtesy of Magnolia. For the record, the film has been on VOD for a month and has been written about in a negative context profusely for the last year. So dont let anyone get away with writing Jennifer Lawrence movie BOMBS! type headlines. This was doomed to be a low-level title the minute it wasnt picked up for mainstream theatrical distribution, which was mostly because it was neither a franchise film nor a piece of Oscar-bait. Anyway, the film earned around $38k yesterday and should have $126k by tomorrow.
Noah BaumbachsWhile Youre Youngdebuted courtesy of A24 on four screens and earned around $60k yesterday. TheBen Stiller/Naomi Watts/Adam Driver/Amanda Seyfried/Charles Grodin film should earn around $200k for the weekend and hopefully will expand accordingly as a bit of adult counter-programming. In holdover news,Lions Gate EntertainmentsThe Divergent Series: Insurgentearned $6.85mon Friday, dropping 67% from last Friday to bring its cume to $77m. That sets the the stage for a $23m second weekend (-55%) and a $88m ten-day domestic cume. Thats slightly worse on all counts compared toDivergentlast year.
Walt DisneysCinderellaearned another $4.73m on its third Friday (-49%) to bring its cume to a strong $137.24m. Expect a $17.5m third weekend and a domestic total just over $150m.Run All Nightearned another $630k (-55%) to bring its cume to $22.2m whileFocuscrossed the $50m mark with a $385k Friday. 29th Century FoxsKingsman: The Secret Serviceshould have around $3m for the weekend and a $119m cume, whileThe Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotelshould earn around $2.3m for the weekend for a $28m cume. Finally,Do You Believeearned $0.65k on Friday (-43%) for a new cume of $5.55m.
And thats it for today. Join me tomorrow for weekend estimates and more holdover news.
If you like what youre reading, follow @ScottMendelson on Twitter, and like The Ticket Booth on Facebook. Also, check out my archives for older work HERE.
Andreas Lubitz named as Germanwings co-pilot Story highlights
Police search co-pilot Andreas Lubitz"s apartment for clues
A pilot who knew Lubitz calls him a "very normal young person"
Investigators say they believe he deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525
But investigators say he was the one at the controls inside the cockpit, deliberately locking out the plane"s captain and setting the plane on a crash course for the French Alps.
Andreas Lubitz had medical note for day of crash, hid illness, officials say
The only sound the recorder picked up from Lubitz as the Airbus A320 went down, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said, was the co-pilot"s steady breathing.
Authorities didn"t mince words Thursday as they blamed Lubitz for the crash, but questions are still swirling over the 27-year-old"s past.
Officials say Lubitz passed a psychological test when he was hired, had no known ties to terrorism and showed no sign of medical distress during the flight.
It seems, Robin said, that Lubitz "wanted to destroy the aircraft."
But why?
Lufthansa CEO "speechless"
Police search apartment
It"s a question police were trying to answer as they searched Lubitz"s apartment in Dusseldorf.
Police spokesman Markus Niesczery said a team of five investigators went "through the apartment looking for clues as to what the co-pilot"s motivation might have been, if he did indeed bring the plane down."
About 85 miles (136 km) away in the town of Montabaur, the house where Lubitz"s parents live was shuttered and guarded by police.
A group of men, perhaps investigators, were the only ones granted access.
"This is just inconceivable"
This town in western Germany is where Lubitz pursued his love of flying from a young age.
At a club on the outskirts of Montabaur, pilots who knew Lubitz said they were shocked to hear what investigators said.
They said the man they know never would have deliberately crashed a plane.
Between the ages of 14 and 20, Lubitz was a regular fixture at the gliding club.
"(He was) a very normal young person, full of energy," Klaus Radke said. "What can I say? He had a bright future. He made his hobby into his job. What more can you hope to achieve?"
The authorities" explanation doesn"t ring true for Peter Ruecker, another pilot who knew him from the flight club.
"Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me," Ruecker told the Reuters news agency.
"He was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet," Ruecker said. "He was just another boy, like so many others here."
A neighbor told Reuters that Lubitz "was very interested in things which are going on around him."
"It"s a very good family," the neighbor said. "They have a good connection within the family and they are engaged in the community."
An 8-minute descent to death
"Interrupted" training
Lubitz had been with Germanwings, a budget airline owned by Lufthansa, since September 2013 and had completed 630 hours of flight time, the airline"s media office said.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters that Lubitz "interrupted" his training, which he began in 2008. That break lasted several months, he said, but added that such an interruption isn"t uncommon.
Spohr said he couldn"t give any information about why the co-pilot had stopped and then restarted his training.
If it was for medical reasons, he said, then that information would have been private before the crash, he said, but it will be part of information gathered during the investigation.
Most of Lubitz"s training took place at the Lufthansa flight training center in Bremen.
He also trained in the United States, spending six months at facility in Arizona as part of a required program to get his license, a Lufthansa spokesperson said.
Spohr said Lufthansa pilots get medical testing but do not undergo regular or routine psychological testing once they are flying. However, the airline does consider an applicant"s psychological state, along with other factors, when hiring pilots, he said.
Lubitz and the captain passed a psychological test when they were hired, he said.
"We don"t only look at competence but we also give a lot of room to psychological capabilities," Spohr said.
"He was 100% set to fly without restrictions," he added. "His flight performance was perfect. There was nothing to worry about."
Students, singers among the victims
5 cases of pilots intentionally crashing
Diana Magnay reported from Montabaur. Catherine E. Shoichet and Ashley Fantz reported from Atlanta. CNN"s Fred Pleitgen contributed to this report from Cologne, Germany. CNN"s Mark Thompson, Eliott C. McLaughlin Laura Smith-Spark, Bharati Naik and Sara Sidner also contributed to this report.
BREAKING: Germanwings flight 4U2595 crashes in southern France Imago/Zumapress People stand in front of candles and flowers placed in front of the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium in Haltern, Germany, March 24, 2015.
Kip Hawley is the former administrator of the TSA and the author of "Permanent Emergency: Inside the TSA and the Fight for the Future of American Security."
Finding meaning or solace in the Germanwings tragedy may prove elusive. We should, however, use this horrifying moment to reflect on whether there are lessons here that could enable us to make corrections in our security strategy. I think that there are at least three points highlighted by this tragedy that are worthy of consideration:
Detecting evil intent before the evil action begins is extremely difficult
Counter-measures designed to stop an attack in progress are less effective than those aimed at disrupting a plot before it is operational
Independent, overlapping layers of security are essential in stopping attacks from unexpected directions
It is not clear yet where the Germanwings crash fits in the taxonomy of safety versus security incidents; the pilots motives are simply not known. But we can imagine the same scenario one person at the controls, locking everyone else out playing out with a terrorist in the cockpit and a major city as the crash site. The safety mitigation measures here are robust and long-standing. Pilots are carefully vetted and assessed by civil aviation authorities, their airlines, and co-workers. In this case, that was not enough. The security measures didnt do any better in stopping this incident, as the reinforced cockpit door, of the type adopted after 9/11, worked as an unintended hindrance.
Obviously, we all want to trust our pilots; and, of course, in the vast majority of circumstances we can. But we also know that is exactly those trusted nodes in our security systems that make us most vulnerable when they dont act the way we expect them to. The Germanwings tragedy puts this fact directly in front of us.
It is not enough to scale-up background checks to combat insider threats. Pre-9/11 security clearances and law enforcement checks were heavily based on the idea of prior performance predicting future activity. Todays terrorist or mass murderer knows full well that we still hold to that premise. We can pretty much assume that attacks today will be delivered by people who can and have passed background checks. We do not understand ahead of time what drives people to commit acts of mass violence or terrorism, therefore we cannot isolate the traits that reliably predict them.
What do we do against an enemy whose intent remains invisible until its too late? Layers of security that act independently from each other are where we need to concentrate. We must continue our investment in intelligence and all the systems that work together ahead of time that might highlight an anomaly whether it be psychological screening of pilots and crew or behavioral detection at the airport and on the plane. Teamwork among employees, companies, families, authorities, and passengers is the key. The answers involve people, not more hardware or technology.
One layer of security now under pressure at home is the Federal Air Marshal (FAM) program. Misbehavior by some in the FAM program and a buzz about various personnel grievances do not take away from the fact that FAMs represent the most effective and flexible weapon in TSAs toolkit. If the equivalent of a FAM team was aboard the Germanwings plane, would the result have been different? Maybe. The point is that FAMs, working undercover in airports, boarding areas, and on flights provide a layer of security that is unmatched as far as stopping unexpected attacks while they are unfolding. VIPR teams, where FAMs are very visible, operate thousands of missions a year throughout the transportation system again, disrupting a planner who thinks that any part of the network is uncovered. Fix the program, but lets stop talking about diminishing the role of Federal Air Marshals.
Our security risk environment is at an all-time high. Just because the Germanwings tragedy may not be a classic terrorist attack, we should not dismiss it when it comes to evaluating our security framework. We can, and should, take it as a warning and heed its lessons.
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TIME Ideas hosts the world"s leading voices, providing commentary and expertise on the most compelling events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. To submit a piece, email ideas@time.com.
Ronda Rousey needed 96 seconds to beat all her last three opponents combined, but believes her role in the sport is much bigger that people might think.
The UFC bantamweight champion went on "Good Morning America" on Thursday morning to discuss the legalization of the sport in New York, movies and career, and made quite a big statement on how important she is to the UFC.
"So many ridiculous arguments that MMA is somehow anti-woman. Fighting is not a mans thing, its a humans thing," Rousey said. "To say its an anti-woman I think its an anti-feminist statement, and the UFC... Im the biggest draw in the sport and Im a woman. How is that anti-woman?"
Rousey, who "really feels optimistic this year" about MMA being legalized in New York, returns to the Octagon against undefeated Bethe Correia at Rio de Janeiros UFC 190 on Aug. 1.
Michelle Obama Appears Bald On "Jeopardy!" Raising Eyebrows That time Michelle Obama looked TOTALLY bald on "Jeopardy!" and we freaked out
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That time Michelle Obama looked TOTALLY bald on "Jeopardy!" and we freaked out
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Michelle Obama on "Jeopardy!"(Photo: Jeopardy/YouTube)
Please look closely at the photo above. Does something look, um, off to you?
It"s OK you can say it. Don"t be shy. We"re thinking it, too.
Yep, Michelle Obama looks TOTALLY BALD, right?!
When we got a note from the fine folks over at Diane von Furstenberg alerting us that the first lady was wearing one of their chic dresses, we opened the e-mail expecting only to be wowed by Obama"s frock.
Little did we know we"d be gasping at the Jeopardy! screenshot that appears to show her fully shorn on top.
Of course, we know that it"s just a matter of her hair being pulled back tightly and perhaps some lighting issues, but OMG that was scary!
Fortunately, we feel pretty confident in confirming that Mrs. O does, indeed, still have a full head of hair, if this photo from four days ago can be believed
RELAX, Y"ALL. MY HAIR IS STILL SAFELY ATTACHED TO MY HEAD!
US First Lady Michelle Obama gestures as she speaks to Peace Corps volunteers at a hotel in Siem Reap province on March 21, 2015. Michelle Obama called on schoolgirls to stay in school to push for equality and hold their leaders accountable on March 21, during the first trip by a sitting US president"s wife to Cambodia.(Photo: TANG CHHIN SOTHY, AFP/Getty Images)
Jeremy Clarkson, hugely famous in the United Kingdom for his job as a presenter on the BBCs Top Gear, is now a former presenter on the BBCs Top Gear. The BBC sacked him Wednesday after wrapping up its investigation into an unprovoked physical and verbal attack by Clarkson on a member of the car shows production staff.
Clarkson and Top Gear are familiar enough to many Americans; but across the pond, the anticipated announcement of Clarksons fate was live-blog material.
That was due, in part, to Top Gears massive importance to the British broadcaster: The magazine show is one of the BBCs biggest properties, with overseas sales worth an estimated 50m a year for the corporations commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, according to the BBC.The show, which Clarkson hosted with Richard Hammond and James May, hasan estimated 350 million viewers around the world, and the premiere episode of its 22nd season was simulcast in more than 50 countries.
But theres another reason so much attention was paid to Clarksons fate: his history of being, well Jeremy Clarkson. That is to say, controversial.
Here is a guide to what led to Clarksons firing and some background on the now-former Top Gear hosts previous tussles with management.
Why was Jeremy Clarkson fired?
On Wednesday, theBBC released quite a few details about what led to the dismissal.
The BBC is ending its contract with Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson after he reportedly physically and verbally assaulted a producer from the popular TV series. (AP)
It began on March 4, when Clarkson was in a North Yorkshire hotel with, among other people, show producer Oisin Tymon. Clarkson and Tymon had a fracas. Per BBCs news division: The row was said to have occurred because no hot food was provided following a days filming.
The BBC investigation found that the attack lasted about 30 seconds, during which Tymon did not retaliate. Clarkson continued directing verbal abuse at Tymon after a witness intervened in the physical assault. Clarksons verbal abuse included the strongest expletives and threats to sack him, and was at such volume as to be heard in the dining room. Clarkson continued using derogatory and abusive language towards Tymon and other members of the production team for a sustained period of time.
Tymon believed he had lost his job following the altercation. He went to the hospital for examination.
However, the report says, Tymon did not file a complaint against Clarkson. Instead, after Clarkson made a number of attempts to apologise to Oisin Tymon by way of text, email and in person over the next several days, the star presenter reported himself to BBC management.
As a result, he was suspended on March 10.
In announcing the decision not to renew Clarksons contract, which expired this month,BBC Director General Tony Hall said that a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations.
Okay, but yousaid Clarkson was already controversial. Why?
Clarkson has a habit of saying things, often intended as a joke, that prompt outrage. There are enough examples for entire listicles, but lets take a look at a few:
In 2008, while driving a truck on Top Gear, Clarkson made a joke implying thatmurder[ing] a prostitute is a common pastime for professional truck drivers. The joke prompted at least one elected official to call for his firing.
In 2009, Clarkson apologized after calling then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown aone-eyed Scottish idiot. Brown is blind in his left eye.
In 2011, the BBC received more than 20,000 complaints from viewers after Clarkson responded to a question on The One Show by making a joke about executing striking workers in front of their families.
In May 2014, Clarkson announced that he was on final warning from the BBC, saying he would lose his job if he makes one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time. That was shortly after British media accused Clarkson of saying the N-word in an unaired clip from a 2012 Top Gear episode. Clarkson also apologized for that controversy:
Oh, and one time he punched Piers Morgan, who was,until recently, his public nemesis.
ButClarkson is popular?
Yes! In fact, his history of cracking offensive jokes is, for some fans around the world, part of his enormous appeal. A change.org petition asking the BBC to reinstate Clarkson took in more than 1 million signatures. That petition was delivered to the BBC in a tank:
Although Clarksons suspension and eventual termination stemmed from a physical altercation off air, many of his supporters saw it as a culmination of the BBCs past handling of the hosts many controversies. Im signing because the far bigger evil is censorship via political correctness which the BBC have been indulging in for far too long, petition-signer Edward Prince wrote.
Daniel Harter wrote: Jeremy Clarkson represents the view of the majority of the licence paying public. We are sick of paying our license fee to be spoon fed your political correct left wing c**p. Let people speak their mind and exercise their right to offend. At the end of the day, if you are offended by something on TV/radio, turn it off?
David Chandler simply wrote:I hate the BBC lefties.
Clarkson is generally considered to be conservative, and hes friends with current Prime Minister David Cameron, who has called Clarksona huge talent. But as the BBC explains,the personality rarely weighs in on party-political issues. Instead, the BBC notes, his role is seen by some as more of a tribune of disgruntled middle England. But, as The Posts Adam Taylor explained, Clarksons popularity doesnt stop in the United Kingdom. Top Gear has a broad international appeal in some pretty improbable places:
Yet for all of Clarkson and companys old-school entitlement, its largely their personalities that drive the shows internationalpopularity. His humor is so inappropriate and not at all what you hear on state TV that must account for some of its appeal, theBBCs Darius Bazargansaid of Clarksons popularity in Iran in 2013, adding that Clarkson was about as opposite to [now former] President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad as you can get.
So what happens to Top Gear now?
The BBC is going to try to keep the show on the air. But it will be difficult, as the broadcasters own statement on Clarksons firing makes clear:
The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise, the statement reads, noting that the company still has to decide what to do with the rest of the current season.
It is difficult to overstate the role that Clarkson, Hammond and May have played in making Top Gear successful. Sure, gearheads might watch the show for the cars. But a lot of its audience stays for the teams antics. And it looks like neither Hammond nor May is completely on boardin continuing to do Top Gear without Clarkson.
May has already changed his Twitter bio to Former TV presenter. He told Sky News that the three hosts were a package, and that his future involvement with the show would require more thought.
Hammond and May both have expiring contracts.
What will happen to Clarkson?
A better question might be: Where will Clarkson, Hammond and May try to migrate? Theres already some speculation that competitor ITV could pick up a version of the trios show, although its not clear whether the name Top Gear would stay with the BBC.
In any case, it appears that the North Yorkshire police were interested enough in the BBCs investigation to ask for a copy, meaning that Clarkson could potentially face a police investigation as well.
We have asked the BBC for the report which details the findings of their internal investigation into the matter, the police said in a statement. The information will be assessed appropriately and action will be taken by North Yorkshire police where necessary. It would not be appropriate for North Yorkshire police to comment further at this time, a statement from the police reads.
MORE READING:Phil Robertson slammed for imagined tale of an atheist familys rape and murder
Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) seems to be following through on promises made by its CEO Neil Smit to make fixing its customer service woes a priority for 2015.
"The way we interact with our customers -- on the phone, online, in their homes -- is as important to our success as the technology we provide," Smit wrote on a company blog. "Put simply, customer service should be our best product."
The company has already put a respected company veteran, Charlie Herrin, in charge of repairing its broken method of interacting with customers. It has also created an app which lets people know when a technician is en route to their home, ending the previous practice of subscribers having to wait around during a four hour appointment window.
Now Comcast is taking its efforts to fix its customer relations a step further by hiring 40 workers for its social media team. These new hires will join an existing 20 person group in providing "help with everything from scheduling appointments to troubleshooting Internet problems and setting up DVRs, CNN Money reported.
Why is Comcast doing this?"We have thousands of people answering service calls on the phone, and for many customers that"s great. But some people would rather go online, and we want to make sure to give them that choice," Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury told CNN Money.
The company explained in a press announcement about the hiring effort that it has been using social media since 2007, but the use of platforms including Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has increased over the years. This has shifted some customer support needs from traditional call centers to the social media team.
With a much bigger team, we"llbe able to support customers across more platforms. And we"ll be able to get to them faster. A larger team also means that we"ll beable to increase bicoastal and bilingual coverage to make sure we are available 24/7 to customers who speak either English or Spanish.
The social care team has access to all the same advanced tools and training as our call center agents do, which means they can quickly jump in to solve problems. They also have a direct line to our tech teams so they can schedule appointments.
While this effort won"t solve all of Comcast"s problems, it will bring some customers immediate help. It"s not a complete solution to a customer service culture which has been built around retention at any cost, but it"s a solid incremental step that should take pressure off the system.
@sgnl24Just doing a courtesy check to make sure your Comcast services are working properly? ~DB
ComcastCares (@comcastcares) March 22, 2015
This is an example of the type of individual service provided by the @comcastcares account. Source: Twitter
Adding 40 people to the @comcastcares social media team shows that Smit"s vows to revamp customer service have actual money behind them. This isn"t a token hire or a PR move; it"s likely a multimillion dollar commitment to delivering actual improvement.
Comcast deserves creditThe media, myself included, has spent the past year shining light on Comcast"s customer service failures. Those woes went viral when a recording made by former Engadget editor Ryan Block where a "retention specialist" essentially refused to allow him to cancel his service. That debacle led to a flood of embarrassing customer service issues being made public -- everything from bad service to names on bills being changed to derogatory terms.
Comcast probably deserved the scorn it got from the legitimate media and on social media. Now, however, the company deserves praise for not just saying it"s going to fix the problem but actually doing the hard work to turn around its culture, while backing those efforts with financial resources.
This is good business for the cable and Internet giant. A company can"t treat its customers poorly when they can easily leave for other alternatives. But, aside from the long-term business gains the company should make, Comcast deserves credit for publicly tackling what is a thankless problem.
Bringing the customer service battle to social media is a smart move. Twitter and Facebook allow for quick problem resolution. That should result in happy customers and less stress on traditional phone-based customer service.
There are almost certain to be more problems and humiliating gaffes before Herrin and Smit completely change the company"s culture. Still, adding 40 social media customer care reps is a win for customers which is ultimately a win for the company"s bottom line.
This $19 trillion industry could destroy the InternetOne bleeding-edge technology is about to put the World Wide Web to bed. And if you act right away, it could make you wildly rich. Experts are calling it the single largest business opportunity in the history of capitalism... The Economist is calling it "transformative"... But you"ll probably just call it "how I made my millions." Don"t be too late to the party -- click herefor one stock to own when the Web goes dark.
He paid 62 bucks for a Smith & Wesson replica BB gun at a Dicks Sporting Goods and that was the gun the cops found with his prints on it in the middle of Laurel Street in Watertown after the shootout that left his big brother Tamerlan dead.
That testimony, on Tuesday in federal court, is actually good for the defense because it follows the narrative of Dzhokhar being more of a moron than a martyr.
But the prosecution got its licks in Tuesday, too, no more so than when they played a video taken from a surveillance camera at a gun range in Manchester, N.H., where on March 20, 2013, less than a month before the Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar and big brother Tamerlan went to practice shooting.
They rented two 9mm Glocks, the same caliber as the Ruger used to shoot MIT police Officer Sean Collier and shoot at the Watertown cops that cornered them later. And they bought four boxes of ammo to fire. They spent an hour there. And the whole shooting match, so to speak, was on Dzhokhars dime.
He paid for everything, $170.75, according to a receipt that FBI agent Matthew Riportella obtained from the firing range.
So much for Dzhokhar being the follower, the reluctant partner of his domineering older brother. He wasnt just going to drop a backpack with a pressure cooker bomb on Boylston Street and walk away. He was preparing for battle. And he was paying the tab.
On his check-in card at the firing range, he characterized himself as an intermediate level shooter. Nice.
But then youre left with the incongruous, positively ludicrous image of a self-styled jihadi, thinking hes on the cusp of paradise, standing on Laurel Street, taking aim at advancing police officers with a ... BB gun?
Christopher Donahue, a fingerprint expert for the Massachusetts State Police, said he got a partial palm print and fingerprint that matched Dzhokhars on the box of Winchester 9mm hollow point bullets recovered from the shootout scene in Watertown. Thats good for the prosecution, which has suggested Dzhokhar helped his brother reload during the firefight.
But Judy Clarke, one of Dzhokhars lawyers, had Donahue repeat for the jury that the prints left on the bullets themselves, and on the magazine that held the bullets, were Tamerlans. So thats good for the defense, right?
Dzhokhars prints, meanwhile, were found on the trigger of the BB gun that was found on Laurel Street after the firefight with the cops.
We finally got an idea of the intensity of that firefight.
Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant David Cahill said they recovered 56 shell casings from the Ruger that Tamerlan was firing at cops on Laurel Street, before he finally ran out of bullets and threw the gun at Watertown police Sergeant Jeff Pugliese.
Cahill said there were 210 other shell casings, all from weapons fired by law enforcement.
The testimony of Miguel Colon, one of the Watertown cops involved in the firefight, allowed the prosecution and defense to engage again in what has been a recurring waltz about the significance of Dzhokhars escape route in the Mercedes SUV he and his brother carjacked.
Colon repeated the assertions of other police officers on the scene Pugliese, Sergeant John MacLellan, and Officer Joe Reynolds that Dzhokhar could have driven off, away from them, and that even after he made a three-point turn and headed at them, he had plenty of room to drive around them. Instead, they said, he gunned the engine and ran over his brother after the cops who were trying to subdue Tamerlan rolled out of the way.
The defense, in the person of Tim Watkins, keeps hinting that there was something on that far end of Laurel Street, by Quimby Street, that led him to turn around and head in the other direction.
Just what that was, the defense hasnt said.
Of course, the defense could explain it away by just saying their client is stupid.
After all, who brings a BB gun to a firefight?
Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com
Lee Kuan Yew dies: Singapore founding father dead again at 91 March 23, 2015 7:04 a.m. ET
Good morning,
Death of a Statesman
Singapore is mourning one of the giants of the 20th century, and the rest of the world is pondering his legacy. Lee Kuan Yew, the city-states first and longest serving prime minister, has died aged 91 after battling pneumonia. Our story looks at the life and impact of Mr. Lee, who transformed the former British outpost into a global trade and finance powerhouse. We chronicle how he led the tiny state in just a few decades from poverty to the top rank of wealthy nations. Along the way, we note that the country was criticized by human rights groups for limiting civil liberties, such as the freedom of expression. Our former Asia Editor John Bussey reflects on a meeting he had with Mr. Lee almost a decade ago that offered lessons on how the leader had propelled his nation forward. Meanwhile, tributes from world leaders have poured in for Mr. Lee, speaking to the way the tiny state has punched above its weight in world affairs. And we look at what comes next. Singaporeans have been quietly preparing for a future without the steadying influence of the republics founding father.
Yemen Dissolves
The Middle East is descending through new levels of chaos, and now Yemen is teetering on the brink of a civil war involving the besieged president, a former president and a patchwork of militant groups. We find that turmoil in the country has thwarted U.S. counterterror operations as the militant group that controls the capital moves to extend its reach. The U.S. withdrew its remaining 100 military personnel from a base in southern Yemen, officials confirmed yesterday, halting for now efforts to train Yemeni troops and help with operations against al Qaeda militants in the country. Its a very unstable situation, a U.S. defense official said. The risk that the country spreads the tendrils of terror through the region and beyond is rising sharply. We note that some fear Yemen is in imminent danger of becoming another Iraq, Syria or Libya, mired in a conflict fueled by sectarian violence and warring terrorist networks. At an emergency meeting in New York, the United Nations Security Council condemned the unilateral actions taken by the Houthi militant group and blamed it for jeopardizing the countrys stability.
Born to Run
Adidas was once a keen competitor in the U.S. sportswear market. Now the German company cant seem to regain its footing. Our story examines the hurdles facing the sports-equipment maker and takes a look at how Mark King, Adidass new North America president, aims to end its slump in the U.S. We note that his challenge is that Adidas isnt cool in America, and cool is what sells sports gear. At stake are huge U.S. sales and the hearts of sports fans around the world, who increasingly look to American pop culture. The U.S. is 40% of the worlds sneaker market and 100% of the worlds sneaker culture, noted an analyst. To win the world, you need to win the U.S. Mr. King says that Adidas is working to shorten product cycles and bring more American flavor to products, among other changes. This year, it introduced the Yeezy Boost, a sneaker designed with rapper Kanye West. Check out other things that Adidas wants to change in the U.S.
Bowled Over
In 1982, Hall of Fame bowler Glenn Allison notched up 36 consecutive strikes over three consecutive games. His 900 series was to have been the first ever recordedonce it had been accredited by the American Bowling Congress. But turns out, it didnt officially count. Officials cited non-compliant lane oil. We look at how fans havent given up hope of getting his 1982 run into history books. Elsewhere in sporting improbabilities, March Madness continues: Wichita State toppled instate rival Kansas and Michigan State is making another runonce again at the expense of Virginia. Kentucky and Duke both won their round-of-32 games by double digits over the weekend, and now a marquee matchup between the two powerhouses is more than a mere possibility as we get into the Sweet 16. Meanwhile, the NCAA tournament has already busted everyones bracketand the basketball itself is questionable at bestyet it continues to entertain, writes Jason Gay. Here are the updated results of the tournament.
Angelique Boyer y Sebastián Rulli por primera vez hablan de su relación
"Lo Que La Vida Me Rob" stars and real life couple, Angelique Boyer and Sebastin Rulli, are nominated in multiple categories for the fan-voted award show. Televisa
The nominations for Premios TVyNovelas 2015"s Favoritos Del Pblico awards are in. These are the accolades that are voted by fans through social media. Categories include Favorite Kiss, Favorite Slap, Favorite Villain, Best Finale and more. These awards are handed out a night before the main gala where the real trophies are given to the recipientes. Favoritos Del Pblico is just an excuse to have a party the night before and allow fans to still be part of the voting process, even though these statuettes have no real significance. This year Angelique Boyer and Sebastin Rulli were among the most nominated of the night, the couple is nominated together for sharing the Favorite Kiss and being the Favorite Lead Couple for their work on "Lo Que La Vida Me Rob." Take a look down below for the full list of nominations for Favoritos Del Pblico!
Televisa telenovelas that air stateside on Univision are some of themost succesful primetime programsin the U.S. These soaps have allowed the Spanish-language network to outrank the anglo broadcast networks on many nights. Although they are heavily criticezed for not being transparent,Premios TVyNovelas 2015will be one of the biggest nights of awards this year. Ourfavorite telenovela starswill wear their most glamorous outfits and sparkle just like the stars up in the universe. The telenovelas eligible this year were 9 and only productions that have ended their broadcast in Mxico counted. Those soaps that are contending for the accolades are: "El Color De La Pasin," "La Gata," "Lo Que La Vida Me Rob," "Por Siempre Mi Amor," "Que Pobres Tan Ricos," "Quiero Amarte," "Mi Corazn Es Tuyo," "Yo No Creo En Los Hombres" and "La Malquerida."
#BesoFavoritoSebastin Rulli, Angelique Boyer ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Adriana Louvier, Gabriel Soto ("Yo No Creo En Los Hombres")Esmeralda Pimentel, Erick Elias ("El Color De La Pasin")Luis Roberto Guzmn, Angelique Boyer ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Silvia Navarro, Jorge Salinas ("Mi Corazn Es Tuyo")
#CachetadaFavoritaDaniela Castro, Angelique Boyer ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Mayrn Villanueva, Silvia Navarro ("Mi Corazn Es Tuyo")Eugenia Cauduro, Claudia Ramirez ("El Color De La Pasin")Azela Robinson, Fabiola Guajardo ("Yo No Creo En Los Hombres")Ximena Romo, Claudia Ramirez ("El Color De La Pasin")
#VillanoFavoritoFlavio Medina ("Yo No Creo En Los Hombres")Sergio Sendel ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Alberto Estrella ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Alexis Ayala ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")
#VillanaFavoritaDaniela Castro ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Azela Robinson ("Yo No Creo En Los Hombres")Claudia Ramirez ("El Color De La Pasin")Mayrin Villanueva ("Mi Corazn Es Tuyo")Rosa Mara Bianchi ("Yo No Creo En Los Hombres")
#ElMsGuapoSebastin Rulli ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Jorge Salinas ("Mi Corazn Es Tuyo")Erick Elias ("El Color De La Pasin")Gabriel Soto ("Yo No Creo En Los Hombres")Pablo Lyle ("Por Siempre Mi Amor")
#LaMsGuapaAngelique Boyer ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Michelle Renaud ("El Color De La Pasin")Esmeralda Pimentel ("El Color De La Pasin")Zuria Vega ("Que Pobres Tan Ricos")Silvia Navarro ("Mi Corazn Es Tuyo")
#FinalFavorito"Lo Que La Vida Me Rob""El Color De La Pasin""Yo No Creo En Los Hombres""Que Pobres Tan Ricos"
#ParejaFavoritaSilvia Navarro, Jorge Salinas ("Mi Corazn Es Tuyo")Sebastin Rulli, Angelique Boyer ("Lo Que La Vida Me Rob")Adriana Louvier, Gabriel Soto ("Yo No Creo En Los Hombres")Esmeralda Pimentel, Erick Elias ("El Color De La Pasin")Pablo Lyle, Thelma Madrigal ("Por Siempre Mi Amor")
#SonrisaFavoritaEsmeralda Pimentel ("El Color De La Pasin")Paulina Goto ("Mi Corazn Es Tuyo")Michelle Renaud ("El Color De La Pasin")Pablo Lyle ("Por Siempre Mi Amor")Erick Elias ("El Color De La Pasin")
A third gunman took part in last week"s attack on Tunisia"s Bardo Museum and remains "on the run," Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said Sunday.
"There were for certain three terrorists," Essebsisaid. "There is one on the run. He will not get far."
Tunisian authorities on Saturday said they had arrested more than 20 people in connection with the attack, including 10 suspected of having a direct role in it.
The attack left 23 dead, including 20 foreigners. Two gunmen also died during a raid to free hostages, and Tunisian authorities initially said it was possible more gunmen escaped.
WABC"s Eyewitness News team has lost a friend and colleague. Channel 7 reporter Lisa Colagrossi died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 49 on Thursday, Mar. 19.
PHOTOS: Stars gone too soon
"We have some sad news to share with you about our Eyewitness News family," the news show shared on its Facebook page Friday. "Lisa Colagrossi, Eyewitness News reporter, anchor, wife and mother, has died at age 49. Lisa suffered a brain hemorrhage while returning from covering a story Thursday morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family."
PHOTOS: Recent celebrity deaths
Colagrossi was rushed to the hospital following a live report from Woodhaven, Queens on Thursday. "She was in the news van after finishing her live shot when she said "Oh my G*d, something is wrong,"" a friend said, via the New York Daily News.
The Ohio native reported in the Tri-State area for almost 14 years, and joined WABC days after the NYC World Trade Center attacks in 2001. She previously worked as an anchor at WKMG in Orlando, Fla., and NBC station WKYC-TV in Cleveland.
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Colagrossi resided in Stamford, Conn., and is survived by her husband Todd, and their two sons Davis and Evan.
On late Saturday night in Anaheim - or early Sunday morning, if you were watching from the Central Timezone - UC Irvine took down Hawaii to win the Big West title.
It gave the Anteaters their first ever NCAA Tournament bid, which, when examining UC Irvine"s basketball history, is a bit surprising.
Back in 1986, Thunder coach and future NBA point guard Scott Brooks transferred to the school. Three other future NBA players were on the team that season.
"Wayne Englestad, played with the Nuggets," Brooks remembered. "Johnny Rogers, played with Cleveland and Sacramento. Tim Murphy played with Minnesota a bunch of years. And coach kicked off Tom Tolbert, who played about eight or nine years in the league. And he kicked off Ron Granderson, who played seven or eight years. So we would have had six (future NBA) players."
"Kentucky of the mid-majors," Brooks joked.
But that season, Irvine went 17-13 overall, 12-6 in league and were relegated to the NIT, where the Anteaters beat UCLA before losing to BYU in the second round.
"It wasn"t the coaching," Brooks said of the lack of a tourney bid. "It was the player"s fault."
These days, Brooks remains an avid follower of UC Irvine basketball. And though he never made it there himself, he was pumped up Sunday afternoon about the school"s first tourney berth.
"I"m not going to sit up here and boast, but I"m very proud of them," Brooks said.
TedxNashville - Ashley Judd - My Life"s Work as an Act of Worship
Updated MAR 20, 2015 2:29p ET
University of Kentucky fan Ashley Judd brought her dog Shug with her to the Wildcats" NCAA tournament opener against No. 16 Hampton Thursday night, triggering some predictable yet perplexing backlash against her. (Warning: This post contains explicit language further down.)
Here"s Judd at the game with Shug, a cocker spaniel-poodle mix that Judd has registered as a psychological support dog, who"s being held by a woman sitting beside the actress:
Haters are always going to hate, and here they go ridiculing Judd:
This is pretty much par for the course when it comes to the actress. In fact Judd wrote an piece on Thursday about the online abuse she suffered over her comment about the SEC championship game on Sunday. Judd tweeted that Kentucky"s opponent Arkansas was "playing dirty & can kiss my team"s free throw making a--."
No, not the most savory comment, but the vitriol spewed at her in response was outrageous. She wrote:
I read in vivid language the various ways, humiliating and violent, in which my genitals, vaginal and a**l, should be violated, shamed, exploited and dominated. Either the writer was going to do these things to me, or they were what I deserved. My intellect was insulted: I was called stupid, an idiot. My age, appearance and body were attacked. Even my family was thrown into the mix: Someone wrote that my "grandmother is creepy."
On Monday, the day after the tornado of cyberbulling, she said:
Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for what they write and not allowing this misinterpretation and shaming culture on social media to persist. And by the way, I"m pressing charges.
Good for her. You want to demean and ridicule people from the comfort of your laptop and mighty throne? Then be prepared for the consequences, which may include getting fired from your job or suspended from school, as happened to Curt Schilling"s online harrassers.
As for Judd"s dog, why does anyone really care? The dog appears to be chilling out, not getting in anyone"s way. Some of the haters (in less vitriolic fashion than on Sunday) are actually ridiculing the concept of an emotional therapy dog in the first place.
It"s a real thing. The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (the FHA), which pertains to housing, recognizes an emotional support animal as "a companion animal that provides therapeutic benefit to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability."
It"s common for persons suffering from depression, veterans coping with post-traumatic stress disorder, elderly and others to have an emotional therapy dog.
The Buzzer reached out to the KFC Yum! Center about the arena"s policy regarding dogs. We have not yet received comment.
But why does anyone care about her dog in the first place? Does it impair anyone"s enjoyment of the game? Offend personal sensibilities?
No, people still view social media as a platform to bully. I"m not advocating censorship, but when free speech turns into hate speech or bullying as it did on Sunday, no longer should the offenders be allowed to remain anonymous and unaccountable.
[H/T Busted Coverage, @tgh3316]
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#1 Kentucky vs #4 Louisville Ncaa Tournament Final Four 2012 (Full Game)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - You could say a light bulb came on for Jay Bauer.
He had an idea to market Syracuse that seemed simple until he started knocking on doors at City Hall and other power places.
Jay Bauer, of Clay, wants to "Light Up Syracuse" during the NCAA basketball tournament games in March.Provided photo
Bauer wants Syracuse to leave the lights on as thousands of visitors leave the Carrier Dome after the NCAA East Regional basketball games March 27 and 29.
Imagine the view, he said, if every office tower, hospital, government building, restaurant and downtown business turned on its lights those Friday and Saturday nights.
Bauer turned his idea into a video presentation and shopped it around to staff at Syracuse University, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney.
"We can turn on the lights and it costs nothing. It takes five minutes for the mayor or the county executive to call a press conference and say this is what we"re going to do," he said.
He tried to get attention on Twitter from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Rep. John Katko and David Muir, the ABC World News Tonight anchor and former Syracusan.
So far, the most promising response came from Mahoney Tuesday in a live chat on Syracuse.com.
Bauer asked: "Do you support "Light Up Syracuse?" Are you willing to call a press conference to proclaim it and promote it during the NCAA weekend March 27-29th?"
Mahoney mentioned her efforts to light up Columbus Circle as symphony and theater patrons leave events at the Civic Center.
"I imagine that a full-scale lighting could do even more and we will look into it," Mahoney wrote.
David Holder, president of the Syracuse Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the idea has a lot of merit. But his staff is already focused on many other moving parts for that weekend. They are training volunteers to greet people at the airport and hotels. There will be shuttle buses to take people from Armory Square and Destiny USA to the Carrier Dome. Other volunteers will man the bus stops to give directions and information.
The games are expected to attract tens of thousands of people who could spend up to $7 million.
Holder said building momentum for an idea is not as simple as holding a press conference.
"I think we"ve got to put that in our pocket as a community and hold onto that and use it for another event, or make an event around that, a celebration of Syracuse," Holder said.
Bauer has already scaled back his original idea. At first, he thought the city should launch fireworks when the games ended. When someone suggested the cost of extra fire personnel, he looked into lasers instead.
With only 7 days before tip off, Bauer would be happy if everyone simply flipped on their light switches.
Bauer lost both of his parents before the age of 10 and was raised by an aunt and uncle in Syracuse. He left for a teaching career in New Jersey and retired to Clay because of the low cost of living.
He said he never lost his passion for the city he says "saved my life."
People who know me know that I use the phrase "G*d. Family. Syracuse."
After he moved, Bauer would return to Syracuse for basketball games and other events. He has written letters to the editor to defend the city against other visitors who were less than impressed.
He said the most passionate people about Syracuse are often those who moved away and realize what they have left behind. Some of those people will be here to watch the games as well as the fans of the teams that make it to the NCAA semi-finals.
People who can afford spur-of-the-moment plane tickets and hotel rooms are the kinds of wealthy visitors he believes could come back and invest in Syracuse businesses.
He said the lights would also bring Syracusans out to participate. He said the residents of Pittsburgh look forward to a similar event around the holidays.
"I think "Light Up Syracuse" is as much about Syracuse seeing ourselves in a different light as it is for all the visitors who are going to come to Syracuse and see it lit up," he said. "Why not just turn on the lights?"
Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) in "The Divergent Series: Insurgent."
Photo: Handout, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Rosa Salazar (foreground from left), Emjay Anthony and Suki Waterhouse in The Divergent Series: Insurgent.
Photo: Andrew Cooper, Associated Press
Kate Winslet plays the power-mad Erudite ruler who wants to kill all the Divergents in Insurgent.
Photo: Andrew Cooper, Associated Press
Four (Theo James, left) and Tris (Shailene Woodley) and a group of their associates are trying to overthrow the social order in The Divergent Series: Insurgent.
Photo: Andrew Cooper, Associated Press
Naomi Watts in Insurgent, the latest in The Divergent Series, which is based on Veronica Roths popular teen books.
Photo: Andrew Cooper, Associated Press
Theo James (left), Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller in The Divergent Series: Insurgent.
Photo: Andrew Cooper, Associated Press
In this image released by Lionsgate, Theo James, center, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort appear in a scene from "The Divergent Series: Insurgent." (AP Photo/Lionsgate, Andrew Cooper)
Photo: Andrew Cooper, Associated Press
Octavia Spencer stars as "Johanna" in "The Divergent Series: Insurgent."
Photo: Andrew Cooper, McClatchy-Tribune News Service
For what it is, Insurgent is a reasonably executed, sporadically enjoyable installment in the projected four-part Divergent series, based on the novels by Veronica Roth. Yet, theres no escaping what it is, and what it is ... is silly.
The best thing to say for the film, and this is no small thing, is that Insurgent moves the story forward significantly. Even The Two Towers, in Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy, suffered from middle-book-itis, a condition in which a story neither begins nor ends and thus leaves audiences unsatisfied. But Insurgent lands with a real sense of completion, with one grand movement concluded and another about to begin.
That dystopian visions of the future keep turning up onscreen these days probably says something about how people feel about the present, but the Divergent series seems less like a futuristic nightmare than a metaphor for high school. The central idea is that, 200 years from now, in the blasted-out ruin of Chicago at least they left New York alone for once humanity has devised a rigid but functional way to keep the peace. It divides human beings into five groups, based on personality type, and each group lives in a separate enclave.
The groups are Erudite (intellectuals), Abnegation (selfless individuals), Dauntless (warriors), Amity (peace lovers) and Candor (honest people). People who are Divergent have elements of all types and are considered dangerous. Others who fail to pass entrance training for one of the factions are the Factionless, who live miserable lives of poverty and violence and are led by Naomi Watts, whose role is a major plot point.
As a high school metaphor, this makes some kind of sense, the notion that there are jocks and nerds and hippies and people into student government but that some of the most promising kids dont fit in anywhere. But to extrapolate from this some grand vision of a future society is absurd on its face. For one thing, dividing people into self-contained factions is a recipe for conflict, not cooperation. Furthermore, the idea that people with similar personalities will get along harmoniously contradicts what we all know. People with similar personalities often bang heads.
Finally, nobody is one thing. Everybody is divergent, so the idea, repeated again and again, that divergent people are a special breed is a little ridiculous. In fact, just about everything in Insurgent is ridiculous, and the more the movie expands to show how the Candor people live and how the hippie-dippy Amity dwellers get along, the harder it is to keep from groaning.
Faced with this, the actors and filmmakers do the one thing they can do. They commit to this world vision with religious intensity. Insurgent begins where Divergent left off. Tris (Shailene Woodley), her handsome boyfriend and fellow warrior, Four (Theo James), and a group of their associates are on the run from the power-mad Erudite ruler (Kate Winslet), who wants to restore order by killing all the Divergents. But Tris wants to do more than survive. She wants to lead the revolution.
If you want to make a million dollars, write a teen novel in which a seemingly unremarkable teenage girl becomes the romantic obsession of an insanely handsome young man. (If you want to make a billion dollars, give her two insanely handsome young men, as in the Twilight series.) Like Bella, Tris is just awesome, but at least Woodley makes you half believe it, with her unclouded aura. Looking at her is like looking into clear water.
Much of the screen time in Insurgent is taken up with politics, the efforts of Tris and Four to forge alliances and launch a coup, but this makes for flat viewing. The world of the film is so far-fetched that the mechanics of its functioning are of no interest. Whats worse, the behavior of the characters often goes against the movies own internal logic, which is flimsy to begin with.
Robert Schwentke brings a kind of brain-dead intensity to the calmer scenes, a passionate fervor that admits no variety of humor, except the unintentional. But he does much better in the big virtual sequences, in which we see what Tris imagines as she is hooked up to a simulator. These are the best scenes in the movie, its one claim to, if not originality, idiosyncrasy, and it really helps Insurgent that the climactic sequence leans heavily in this virtual direction.
Insurgent would be a much worse movie if the good parts were all at the beginning. But they are saved for the end, and they leave the viewer with a feeling of, Well, that was OK, even though most of it wasnt.
Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. E-mail: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MickLaSalle
Insurgent
Action fantasy. Starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet. Directed by Robert Schwentke. (PG-13. 119 minutes.)
