Ann Coulter took to Twitter to condemn an MSNBC host who said over Memorial Day weekend that he’s “uncomfortable” calling American soldiers who died in battle heroes. And in doing so, the conservative commentator jokingly called the male host — Chris Hayes — a woman. “Chris Hayes ‘Uncomfortable’ Calling Fallen Military ‘Heroes’ – Marines respond by protecting his right to menstruate,” Coulter posted on her Twitter account Sunday night. Hayes — a liberal writer who hosts the weekend show “Up with Chris Hayes” — argued that he’s “uncomfortable about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war.” “I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen — and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism: hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that — but it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic,” he said.

The Department of Homeland Security has been forced to release a list of keywords and phrases it uses to monitor social networking sites and online media for signs of terrorist or other threats against the U.S. The intriguing the list includes obvious choices such as 'attack', 'Al Qaeda', 'terrorism' and 'dirty bomb' alongside dozens of seemingly innocent words like 'pork', 'cloud', 'team' and 'Mexico'. Released under a freedom of information request, the information sheds new light on how government analysts are instructed to patrol the internet searching for domestic and external threats. The words are included in the department's 2011 'Analyst's Desktop Binder' used by workers at their National Operations Center which instructs workers to identify 'media reports that reflect adversely on DHS and response activities'. Department chiefs were forced to release the manual following a House hearing over documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit which revealed how analysts monitor social networks and media organisations for comments that 'reflect adversely' on the government. However they insisted the practice was aimed not at policing the internet for disparaging remarks about the government and signs of general dissent, but to provide awareness of any potential threats. As well as terrorism, analysts are instructed to search for evidence of unfolding natural disasters, public health threats and serious crimes such as mall/school shootings, major drug busts, illegal immigrant busts. The list has been posted online by the Electronic Privacy Information Center - a privacy watchdog group who filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act before suing to obtain the release of the documents. In a letter to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence, the centre described the choice of words as 'broad, vague and ambiguous'.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $830 million funding obesity studies in fiscal year 2011. Between 2008 and 2011, NIH spent over $3.3 billion on obesity research. Spending on obesity research also overshadows many other areas of research funded by NIH, including research on Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and breast cancer, which received $448 million, $437 million and $715 million in 2011, respectively. “Obesity is a very is a very significant cause of current illness in our country and becoming more significant all the time,” said Dr. Francis Collins, NIH director. Because of the rise in obesity, NIH established the Obesity Research Task Force in 2003 and came out with its first Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research in 2004. The plan aims “to serve as a guide to accelerate research that will lessen the personal and public health burdens of obesity” with the help of input of external experts, industry professionals, and health-focused organizations through a public comment period. It also “encompasses all levels of research, from basic biological and behavioral research through community and population research.” “The strategic plan is rather sweeping in its set of goals, going all the way from basic science understanding of what are those signals that actually trigger hunger and satiety,” Collins said. “It focuses quite heavily then on interventions. How do you design trials with creative new ideas about how to prevent or treat obesity, and then once you’ve identified possible strategies, how do you develop an approach to find out if they work in the real world.”

An Indian-born teenager has won a research award for solving a mathematical problem first posed by Sir Isaac Newton more than 300 years ago that has baffled mathematicians ever since. The solution devised by Shouryya Ray, 16, makes it possible to calculate exactly the path of a projectile under gravity and subject to air resistance. Shouryya, who lives in Dresden, eastern Germany, came up with the solutions to this and a second mathematical riddle while working on a school project. He is being hailed as a genius in the German press, but attributes his achievement to “curiosity and schoolboy naivety.” “When it was explained to us that the problems had no solutions, I thought to myself: well, there’s no harm in trying,” he said. The problems he resolved are from the field of dynamics. The first, dealing with the movement of projectiles through the air, was posed by Newton in the 17th century. The second, which relates to the collision of a body with a wall, was posed in the 19th century. Only partial solutions had been discovered up to now, requiring simplified assumptions or calculations by computer. Shouryya’s elegant solutions could contribute to greater precision in fields such as ballistics. Shouryya’s family moved to Germany when he was 12 after his father Subhashis Ray, an engineer, got a job at a technical college. Shouryya spoke no German when he arrived but has mastered the language and is due to take the German equivalent of A-levels this week, two years ahead of his peers. “Ray’s accomplishment is impressive and we are particularly proud of his background as it highlights the achievements of migrants across language and cultural barriers,” said the Youth Research Foundation, which gave him the award. A keen cricketer, Shouryya cites his father as his inspiration and says he instilled a “hunger for mathematics” after teaching him calculus at the age of six.

"God has given you one face and you make yourselves another. You jig and amble, and you lisp, you nickname God's creatures and make your wantonness your ignorance." -- Hamlet, Act III, scene 1 As sentient beings we yearn to be loved unconditionally, and we were raised in a highly competitive society that taught us tools to gain love conditionally -- mostly through doing and accomplishing certain tasks, achieving certain goals, and/or appearing and speaking in particular ways. Ever since we were infants we received positive reinforcement -- smiles and "yes!'s" -- when we behaved or appeared in ways that pleased our caretakers, and we received negative reinforcement -- frowns and "no!'s" -- when we behaved or appeared in "uncivilized" ways that displeased our caretakers. Carl Jung spoke of the personas that we create in order to interact with others. More pejoratively, D.W. Winnicott theorized that we developed "false selves" in order to help survive our childhoods as we acclimated to the demands of our society. I think we can agree that we have facades that we use to interact with most people, and then we have our somewhat unglamorous and often unseemly real or authentic selves that we only show a few close friends and family members. But what if the tools we developed as children that are now part of our personas/facades don't actually help us get our emotional needs met? What if those tools actually inhibit authentic relationships, connections and interactions? Maybe we acquired tools such as fear, suspicion and doubt, which protected us in our youth but now cause us to hack into our lovers' email accounts to see if they are remaining faithful? Maybe we procured the tool of seduction and know how to attract people's attention and provide them with moments of titillation and glee, but remain unsure if they love us? Maybe we discovered the tool of playing the victim, of drawing people into our dramas and forcing them to take care of us? Maybe we cultivated the tool of providing material comforts for others but end up resenting them for being gold-diggers? Maybe we learned how to fill our lives up with busy-ness in order to seem important but are now perceived as frenetic, disorganized and distant by others? Maybe we were taught to smile and look happy on the outside even when we feel alienated, misunderstood and disconnected on the inside? Maybe we learned passive-aggressive language to avoid being vulnerable?

When I was 26 years old, two of my best friends became pregnant within a month of each other. Upon word of their news, I promptly burst into tears -- and was surprised to find that they weren't the happy kind. Instead of feeling excited for my friends, I somehow felt devastated by their pregnancies. The emotions that rose up for me were a complicated mixture of jealousy, abandonment and insecurity. It wasn't just that I hadn't forseen this era of my life beginning yet, but rather the intense reaction I had was more to do with all the things about my own life that my friends' pregnancies illuminated. In the shadow of their seemingly glorious news, my life suddenly looked like a mess. I had a boyfriend I was ambivalent about, a flailing career as a fledgling writer, a habit of drinking too much, and I had just lost my second parent. Suddenly the stark contrast between my life and that of my two friends' was too blinding. In the beginning, I hid my feelings, feigning both busyness and excitement in an effort to conceal my darker emotions and avoid seeing my friends. But it wasn't long before I couldn't bring myself to be in their company at all. I felt like the worst person in the history of the world. What kind of woman hates her best friend for getting pregnant? But I did. I was angry. I felt left behind, betrayed, and abandoned. On top of that I felt like an utter brat for feeling all of the above. No matter how irrational, part of me felt hurt that they hadn't waited for me to be ready to also make this major life transition. Another part of me thought they were making a huge mistake getting pregnant so young. The rest of me mainly felt jealous. As I struggled poorly to contain these feelings, my relationships with both of them began to crumble. I knew I was being hurtful by not being able to get past my own issues. I also knew that my friends were both going through one of the biggest life transitions any of us had made yet. It was obvious that they felt unsure and scared of the journey they were embarking on, and that they probably could have used my support more than ever. Still, I stewed in my messy feelings. I pulled it together enough to make it through the baby showers and I even made it to the hospital on the day one of their babies was born, but if I'm going to be honest here, I have to say that I never quite made it past my hurt and resentment long enough to be a good friend during that time. I wish I could say that once the babies arrived I turned a corner, but I didn't. As my friends moved into this new phase of their lives, I stayed in mine, fairly oblivious to what they were going through as mothers to newborns. For a long time our friendships cooled on the counter like almost-burned pies. Somewhere in that time we all ended up in different cities, the distance easing the pressure to stay close, and it wasn't until almost four years had passed and I found myself married and pregnant myself that things began to turn around. I'll never forget those trying, early months with my daughter, what it was like to be alone in the house with her after my husband had gone to work, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, and filled with remorse for how little support I'd given my friends when they'd been in this same place. Over the phone, miles apart, I couldn't stop apologizing to the friend I'd always been closest to. She was warm and accepting and sent me baby presents and helpful advice on a regular basis, and I couldn't have been more thankful -- or humbled. All of these experiences helped me when I became the target of another friend's resentment. When we were both pregnant with our first children, she miscarried and stopped speaking to me. Her hurt and anger is too familiar for me to feel resentful of her silence. She's since had a baby but still hasn't spoken to me. That stings, but it's also something that I understand on a deeper level than I wish to.

Bleary-eyed customers who stumble into their local Starbucks every morning did so literally Wednesday. That's because hundreds of the coffee chain's stores were closed. The forced decaffeination of America's morning commuters was due to overnight maintenance work at stores across the country that wasn't finished on time for the morning rush, Maggie Jantzen, a spokeswoman for Starbucks, told NBC station WCMH of Columbus, Ohio. Jantzen said she didn't know how many stores were affected, but she said about 10 percent to 20 percent of the stores that were due for the work were unable to open on time. The company said the work was routine maintenance on a standardized water filtration system and that no safety issues were involved. But because of it, stores were closed across the country — as many as 1,500, mainly in the eastern half of the U.S., a quick tabulation of local news reports and hundreds of tweets by msnbc.com indicated. (A spokesman for Starbucks told msnbc.com on Thursday that the number of stores was in the "low to mid hundreds.") Coffee drinkers were left dripless from South Dakota to Florida, New York to Texas. "I like to start my day with Starbucks, so I don't really know what to do," Kelly Furnet told NBC station WJXT as she stood outside a shuttered shop in Jacksonville, Fla. "It's a huge problem because, in my office, people go there multiple times in a day for their coffee fix," Rebecca Stockdale, who works near one of the closed Starbucks in Columbus, told WCMH. "You can't have them coming to work without their caffeine!"

I know, you’re thinking that to romance a man you just need to show up naked, but I think you might be wrong. So often we hear that the man should be the romantic one, and maybe 50 years ago this would have been so but this is 2008, and men like to be spoiled too. Think back to when you first met. The first dates, wining an dining, making an effort to look your best, breakfast in bed, long weekends having frantic sex. Dont you wish it was the same? Well I bet your partner also does. Instead of waiting for him to make the first move (after all we know how slow men are in the romantic take-up department. No offense guys) you take the lead and add a bit of romance into your relationship. Show off your romantic side. 1. Pick up the phone: Give him a ring while he is at the office just to let him know that you are thinking of him. Or if you are confident with phone sex tell him what you are going to do to him once he gets home and in turn what you would like him to do to you. 2. Fill the stocking: Men love sexy lingerie just as much as women if not more. Let him know how much you want him by getting out your best panties, team them with a pair of fishnets, stilettos and seduce him tonight. 3. Feed his heart: You know the old saying the way to a mans heart is through his stomach! Well you better believe it because it works every time. Get out the best dinner set set the table with candles, put on some soft music and prepare his favorite meal. You wont even need to think of dessert because this is where he will become romantic and wisk you of to the bedroom. 4. Flirt: When was the last time you actually flirted with your partner? Go out in public (to dinner, to a party or nightclub) and try it. It will boost both your egos bring back those old feelings of lust for one an other. Think like a single person and see what happens 5. Bedroom boudoir: Set the mood in your bedroom. Clear out all the clutter, change the bed linen (bring in some silk sheets perhaps) and fill the room with scented candles. Stand a bottle of your favorite bubbly in some ice, lay your sexiest lingerie on the bed and keep a box of his favorite chocolates near by. This is also an inexpensive way to give your bedroom a new look. 6. Use toys: If you want to add some spice to your love making then what better way then to introduce some props. We are not talking about 12? dildos (unless you want to that is) it can be something as small as a silk scarf or as daring as vibrators. Your man will need never be asked to make an effort again. 7. Watch a flick: Rent a romantic movie, order a take away, get out a bottle of your favorite wine, take the phone of the hook turn out the lights and snuggle into each other on the sofa in front of the TV. The romantic flick will soon have the two of you in the mood for love. 8. Love letters: Leave him little notes in his pocket, on his pillow, next to his mother any where that he will find them that will give him a nice surprise. 9. Kiss.. him all of his body slowly 10. 3 little words: Tell him that you love him at least once a day. This will keep the love there even if you havent always got time to express it, those 3 little words is all that you need.source

One man was shot to death by Miami police, and another man is fighting for his life after he was attacked and his face allegedly half eaten, by a naked man on the MacArthur Causeway off ramp, police said. The bloodshed began about 2 p.m. when a series of gunshots were heard on the ramp, which is along NE 13th Street, just south of The Miami Herald building. Witnesses said a woman saw the two men fighting and flagged down a police officer who was in the area. The officer, who has not been identified, approached and saw that the naked man was actually chewing the other man’s head, according to witnesses. The officer ordered the naked man to back away, and when he continued the assault, the officer shot him. The attacker continued to eat the man, despite being shot, forcing the officer to continue firing. Witnesses said they heard at least a half dozen shots. Miami police were on the scene, which was just south of The Miami Herald building on Biscayne Boulevard. The naked man who was killed lay face down on the pedestrian walkway just below the newspaper’s two-story parking garage. Police requested The Herald’s video surveillance tapes. The other man was transported to the hospital with critical injuries, according to police. Their identities were not released. The incident, which came as crowds descended upon South Beach for the annual Urban Beach Week hip-hop festival, snarled traffic on the causeway for several hours. In a text message, Javier Ortiz, spokesman for Miami police’s Fraternal Order of Police, said the officer who fired the fatal shots was “a hero.” “Based on the information provided, our Miami police officer is a hero and saved a life,’’ he said. Sergeant Altarr Williams, supervisor of Miami police’s Homicide Unit, said a man doesn’t have to be armed to be dangerous.

The Dabangg girl's name was the most searched keyword on Google India on Sunday. Sonakshi's most wanted status on Google may be attributed to her sensational peek-a-boo black number, which she wore for filmmaker Karan Johar's 40th birthday bash. In fact just recently, Sonakshi's forehead was among the top 10 trends on Twitter. Some of the tweets were rather rude implying that the actor's forehead might just be too large. @GabbbarSingh: DLF and Unitech in a court battle over the real estate on Sonakshi Sinha's forehead. @karinasood: Rajya Sabha adjourned due to a foul smell? Why can't they just hold the session on 'The Upper House', On Sonakshi Sinha's Forehead @indiantweeter: Sonakshi Sinha's forehead declared World heritage site by UNESCO The actor, who donned an Indian look in her debut film Dabangg had said that she is not comfortable wearing a bikini on screen. "It's a complete no-no to bikini because I am not that kind of a person. I have been bought up in a certain way. I have certain restrictions that I follow and I don't see any reason to change it because if the audience has accepted me fully clothed, then why would I resort to it?" said Sonakshi recently. Sonakshi's upcoming film Rowdy Rathore opposite Akshay Kumar will hit the big screen on June 1.

Three small children -- all apparently 3 years old or younger and with no parent in sight -- were found Thursday among a group of homeless people in Portland, Oregon, police said. The youngsters' identities are unknown. Portland police issued a statement saying its officers are working with the state Department of Human Services to learn more about the children, most importantly who they are. The investigation began with a 911 call, placed around 9:25 a.m. (12:25 p.m. ET) Thursday, about a man who'd heard children's voices apparently emanating from a shed behind his house in East Portland. Police officers arrived and found the "vacant residence" where the sounds had come from. There they talked to "a number of homeless people on the premises" and discovered the three "olive-skinned" children. The youngest among them is described by police as a 15-pound infant who is between the age of 8 and 15 months old. She has short black hair, brown eyes and two front, lower teeth showing. The next oldest child found is another girl. Weighing 28 pounds, she has long black hair and brown eyes and is about 2 years old, police estimate. The third child is a boy, approximately 3 years old. He also weighs 28 pounds and has brown eyes, as well as short black hair. Homeless people told police that a woman, believed to be the three's mother, had abandoned the children there the night before. Authorities are pleading for the public's help to identity the children, who are currently in protective custody and being medically evaluated. Anyone who has information about the identity of the children, or the circumstances under which they came to be at the vacant residence in Southeast Portland, is asked to contact the DHS Child Abuse Hotline, 24/7, at 503-731-3100.

Production on Season 3 of the hit show "The Walking Dead" is underway, and today we get our first look at new character Michonne! EW.com posted this pic of actress Danai Gurira as the katana-wielding zombie killer. Michonne was introduced at the very end of the Season 2 finale, where she saved Andrea (Laurie Holden) from being eaten by a zombie. At the time of filming, Danai had not been cast, so another actor stood in wearing a hood. In the graphic novel, Michonne joins Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the other survivors after they set up shop in a prison -- which has been established as the backdrop for Season 3. Presumably in the show, Andrea will lead Michonne to the group, which differs from the comic. Check out the first look at Season 3, which Andrew describes as "darker, harder, faster, deeper."

A man wanted by the FBI and featured on the TV show "America's Most Wanted" has been caught in Toronto. Toronto police say the fugitive squad arrested Kujtim (Timmy) Lika on Thursday morning through a joint investigation between city police and the Canada Border Services Agency. Police say the 47-year-old Lika is wanted for alleged offences related to organized crime and conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Lika is being held in Toronto where he will begin his extradition proceedings. The "America's Most Wanted" website says the FBI identified Lika as an Albanian illegal immigrant from the former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia. Toronto police helped the FBI nab Lika's accomplice — Myfit (Mike) Dika — in 2010 and have been looking for Lika ever since.

Sorry to break this to you, single men, but it is possible to be too nice. And if you’re reading this article, you’ve probably fallen into the trap of following all the rules — you wined and dined her, asked her questions, called the next day — but still didn’t win her heart. What gives? “Women like a nice guy at first,” says Dr. Robert Glover, author of No More Mr. Nice Guy. But niceness can also be seen as weakness — and that’s a major turn-off for most women. So how do you show a date that you’re genuinely interested in her without going overboard? We asked Dr. Glover and single men and women for some pointers that should help even the meekest man make a stronger statement during dates. DO take charge “Dating is like a dance: If you don’t take the lead, she has to,” Dr. Glover says. “Most women don’t want to be in charge.” Asking her out is a big step, but it’s not enough. Dr. Glover suggests having a particular day and plan already picked out in advance: “Asking her to go out sometime leaves too many details to be determined. Instead, ask her to meet you for drinks on Tuesday.” That way, all she has to decide is whether or not she’s free that night. DO disagree with her “Nothing irritates me more than someone who agrees with everything I say, even when I can tell he has another opinion,” says Theresa M. from Washington, D.C. “If I wanted to hear my thoughts on a subject, I would just talk to myself. I want a guy who will challenge me.” By avoiding conflict with your date, you may as well be wearing a big sign that says, I’m a pushover! If you don’t see eye-to-eye with her, say so. DO tease her a little You won’t ever find a woman who doesn’t like a man who’s funny. So go ahead and let your sarcasm streak or dry sense of humor shine — just make sure to do it playfully. Sean, 35, from New York City, attests to the power of this move: “I used some playful teasing on my last date — I told her, ‘Your head isn’t nearly as large as it looks on your profile’ — and we were able to use all that built-in first-date tension to our advantage.” By carrying yourself this way, you’ll look confident — which, by the way, is a turn-on for everyone. DO talk about yourself Don’t ramble on about your own life constantly, but mentioning things here and there is a good way to make sure your date doesn’t feel like she’s interrogating you. Instead, ask her where she was born; then, when she’s done answering you, drop a few relevant details about your life. “Everything was always about me with this one guy I dated. It was so annoying,” says Alina from Chicago. “There’s no way I’m that interesting! I kept waiting for him to tell me something.” DON’T plan elaborate dates “The first two or three dates should be simple, casual coffee-type meetings. You should pay for them, but they should be cheap,” says Dr. Glover. Do the opposite, and you just look like you’re trying too hard, says Marissa from Johnson City, TN. “A guy bought concert tickets for a band I had mentioned in passing,” she explains. “He spent way too much money. It was shocking, and I felt like I owed him something afterward.” Clearly, these are not good feelings to build a relationship on. DON’T compliment your date too much “An ex-boyfriend gave me compliments all the time,” says Rachel from Harrisonburg, VA. “It got to the point that I didn’t believe him anymore, and I figured he said those things to every woman he dated.” Seeming insincere is bad, but it can get even worse: “She’ll like it at first, but persistent flattery will start to spook her in some way,” says Dr. Glover. Forget the usual flood of flattery, then, and show her you care by the occasional compliment from the heart — and by being reliable. READ MORE

Fabien Gilot tient sa vengeance. Le nageur a donné le numéro de téléphone portable de Camille Lacourt, jeudi 24 mai, en direct sur le plateau du Grand Journal de Canal +. "Voici les vraies coordonnées de Camille Lacourt", s'est exclamé Fabien Gilot, sortant de sa veste une pancarte avec le numéro de portable, l'adresse Blackberry Messenger ansi que l'adresse mail de son collègue. Une partie du public l'a imité, brandissant des écriteaux préparés pour l'occasion. Pour joindre Camille Lacourt, il faut donc composer le... 06.79.79.23.23. Mais sachez que la messagerie du nageur le plus sexy de France, est d'ores et déjà pleine. La vengeance de Fabien Gilot a fonctionné. Camille Lacourt a reçu des centaines d'appels et il s'agit bien de son numéro: "J'ai déjà 21 textos et 6 mails", reconnaît Lacourt un peu plus tard dans l'émission. Pourquoi une telle plaisanterie? L'an dernier à Roland-Garros, avec la complicité d'un autre nageur, Camille Lacourt avait fait semblant de donner son numéro à l'antenne. Mais il s'agissait en fait du numéro de Fabien Gilot. Le nageur avait reçu plus de 7 000 messages avant de devoir changer de numéro.

Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 28, is getting a lot of flack for being cheap with his new bride. He married Priscilla Chan, 27, in a surprise ceremony in their backyard last Saturday and Chan wore an off-the-rack dress by Claire Pettibon. No fancy venue or Vera Wang gown for this bride! Experts consulted by the UK paper The Daily Mail are claiming Zuckerberg was too frugal and thoughtless because of the "very simple" ruby ring he gave Chan (the AP reported that he designed it himself). However, an expert consulted by Yahoo! Shine points out that rubies are extremely significant and popular in Asian culture, and can potentially be more expensive than diamonds. Celebrity rings and their knock-offs Thanks to Facebook going public, Zuckerberg is now worth over $20 billion (at least, he was before stock price started to fall), and though he's partial to wearing casual hoodies, he may still have bought his long-term girlfriend a nice ring. Chan was spotted showing off her new bling at lunch with a friend in Palo Alto, California on Wednesday, and while the jewelry designer and price of the ring remain undisclosed, a ruby expert told Yahoo! Shine exclusively that the ring could have cost over $100,000. "It's a small stone, but rubies can be extremely expensive," says Michael Arnstein, CEO of the Natural Sapphire Company. He estimates the size of Chan's ruby to be 2.75 to 3 carats. Rubies of that size cost from $20,000 for a low quality stone, to up to $100,000 for a higher quality one. "The value depends on the quality of the ruby, and it's hard to tell for sure from the photo," Arnstein says. "A Burmese ruby, which this definitely looks like, can cost upwards of $100,000." The two diamonds flanking the ruby look to be around 1 carat combined, and could tack an extra $5,000 on to the price tag. As for Zuckerberg's choice of a ruby, Arnstein is not surprised. "Red has more meaning and emotion in Asia," he says, and Zuckerberg's Chinese-American bride may have requested a ruby ring because it "identifies where she comes from culturally." Rubies are a symbol of wisdom--what better for the new medical school graduate? And, the jewelry expert points out that Zuckerberg and Chan are conservative, and the engagement ring isn't too flashy but rather something she'd feel comfortable wearing every day. Arnstein also says the setting appears to be yellow gold, which is also more traditional in Asian culture. "Zuckerberg loves her and would have bought her anything she wanted, but this is probably what her grandmother had."

Hat tip to Reddit: this one minute ad for Getty Images is indeed, the best use of stock images we've ever seen. According to the description posted to YouTube by ad agency AlmapBBDO, copywriter Sophie Schoenburg and art director Marcus Kotlhar sifted through more than 5000 stock Getty images to end up with 873. The result, "From Love To Bingo In 873 Images," flashes 15 images per second, a pace fast enough to create the sensation of the story of a long marriage unfolding in a minute. Yes it's an ad (GettyImagesx873), but it seems like Schoenburg and Kotlhar had fun being perfectionists about it: [They] worked 6 months researching images, improving the script and building each scene so they would not only be understood, but would also touch viewers. Sometimes, for example, a scene would look perfect on paper, but the images chosen to depict it were not sufficient or did not perfectly match up to offer the right movement and sense. And hence the research had to be restarted. In true Redditor fashion, the YouTube commenters currently hanging around the page are pointing out the video's oddities. The images feature a number tag on their right side, which means it's possible to precisely locate a family wearing goat masks (image 380, at 00:27), an image of naked sadhus bathing in India (image 411, at 0:29), and the Power Rangers (image 392, at 00:28), which as you'll see in a minute, are not really natural parts of the whole love to bingo storyline, but also do not detract from the whole thing being SO GOOD. Let us know if you see any more strange stuff in the comments. WATCH VIDEO

Los Angeles might seem to be the nation's capital for gridlock, but according to Inrix, a provider of traffic data and information, the City Of Angels doesn't have the worst traffic in the United States. Inrix says that the city of Honolulu wins that dubious honor, with drivers wasting 58 hours a year on average on congested roads. The Inrix study shows that drivers in other major cities are still spending a fair number of hours stuck in traffic, too. While Los Angeles ranked a close second to Honolulu, those in San Francisco spent almost 48 additional hours in the car because of traffic. The news wasn't all bad, though. Inrix says overall congestion was down 30 percent in 2011 from the year before, and notes that of the 100 cities it surveyed, 70 of them logged lower rates of congestion year over year. These cities had the worst traffic in 2011, according to Inrix, which lists the average hours wasted per driver after each city: 10) Chicago – 32.8 hours 9) Boston - 35 hours 8) Austin – 30 hours 7) Seattle – 33 hours 6) Washington, D.C. – 45 hours 5) Bridgeport, CT – 42 hours 4) New York – 57 hours 3) San Francisco – 48 hours 2) Los Angeles – 56 hours 1) Honolulu – 58 hours The study also finds that, nationally, the worst morning commute occurs on Tuesday, while the worst evening commute is on Friday. Inrix also says some of the worst traffic corridors in the country include the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, from the 105 to Getty Center; a 16-mile stretch of the Long Island Expressway in New York; and three miles of the Penn Lincoln Parkway in Pittsburgh.

A Muslim Brotherhood official said on Friday the group's candidate in the first free presidential election in Egypt would enter a run-off vote next month with the last prime minister to serve Hosni Mubarak before he was ousted in a popular uprising. The vote marks the final step in a messy and often bloody transition to democracy, overseen by a military council that has pledged to hand over power to a new president by July 1. "It is clear that the run-off will be between (the Brotherhood's) Mohamed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq," the official told Reuters. The group's governing body was meeting to determine campaign strategy for the run-off, scheduled for June 16 and 17, he said. Official results are not due to be announced until next week, but representatives of the candidates are allowed to watch the count enabling them to compile their own tally. The Brotherhood official said that with votes counted from about 12,800 of the roughly 13,100 polling stations, Mursi had 25 percent, Shafiq 23 percent, a rival Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh 20 percent and leftist Hamdeen Sabahy 19 percent. (Reporting by Marwa Awad; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Iran’s Basij Press is claiming that a version of the Gospel of Barnabas, found in 2000, will prove that Islam is the final and righteous religion and the revelation will cause the collapse worldwide of Christianity. Turkey confiscated a leather-bound text, written on animal hide, in an anti-smuggling operation in 2000. Turkish authorities believe the text could be an authentic version of the Gospel of Barnabas, one of Jesus’ apostles and an associate of the apostle Paul. This version of the Barnabas Gospel was written in the 5th or 6th century and it predicted the coming of the Prophet Mohammad and the religion of Islam, the Basij Press claims. The Christian world, it says, denies the existence of such a gospel. However, religious scholars have said another version of the Barnabas Gospel, discovered a century ago, was written less than 500 years ago, which would post-date Mohammad. In Chapter 41 of the Barnabas Gospel, Basij claims, is this statement: “God has hidden himself as Archangel Michael ran them (Adam and Eve) out of heaven, (and) when Adam turned, he noticed that at top of the gateway to heaven, it was written ‘La elah ela Allah, Mohamad rasool Allah,’” meaning Allah is the only God and Mohammad his prophet. The Turkish army has taken possession of the Barnabas Gospel because the “Zionists” and the governments of the West are trying to suppress its contents, Basij Press claims. According to the Barnabas Gospel in Turkey’s hands, Basij Press says, Jesus was never crucified and that not only is He not the son of God, but that He himself predicted the coming of the Prophet Mohammad. The book even predicts the coming of the last Islamic messiah, the report says. “The discovery of the original Barnabas Bible will now undermine the Christian Church and its authority and will revolutionize the religion in the world,” the Basij report says. “The most significant fact, though, is that this Bible has predicted the coming of Prophet Mohammad and in itself has verified the religion of Islam, and this alone will unbalance the powers of the world and create instability in the Christian world.” The Basij report concludes that the discovery is so immense that it will affect the world’s politics and that the world powers are aware of the coming effects of this event. Turkey plans to put the Bible on public display. Though Turkish authorities believe this could be an authentic version of the Gospel of Barnabas, others believe it only goes back to the 16th century and is a fake because it would have been written centuries after Mohammad’s life. “The Iranian regime is committed to stamping out Christianity by any means necessary, whether that means executing Christian converts, burning Bibles or raiding underground churches,” said Erick Stakelbeck, host of the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “Stakelbeck on Terror” show and a close observer of Iranian affairs. “In promoting the so-called Barnabas Bible – which was likely written sometime in the 16th century and is not accepted by any mainstream Christian denomination – the regime is once again attempting to discredit the Christian faith. Record numbers of young Iranians are leaving Islam and embracing Christ, and the mullahs see Christianity as a growing threat to their authority.”

The Holy See was directly involved in the disappearance of 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi in 1983, according to a contentious accusation by the Catholic Church's leading exorcist. The Rev. Gabriele Amorth claimed that the girl's kidnapping was a "crime of a sexual nature." "Parties were organized, with a Vatican gendarme acting as the 'recruiter' of the girls," Amorth told La Stampa, according to a translation by The Telegraph. "The network involved diplomatic personnel from a foreign embassy to the Holy See. I believe Emanuela ended up a victim of this circle." Amorth, who was appointed by Pope John Paul II and has carried out more than 70,000 exorcisms, is no stranger to controversial public statements; according to The Sun, the exorcist has called Harry Potter the "work of the devil," and has claimed "the devil was at work in the Vatican" when discussing the Catholic Church's sex scandals. Clues to the missing girl's whereabouts had pointed in several directions, including toward a Turkish gunman who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II, The Telegraph reports. On May 14, one rumor led Italian police to exhume the grave of Enrico De Pedis, a member of Rome's Magliana mob who was killed in 1990, the Associated Press reports. A one-time girlfriend previously said De Pedis committed the kidnapping, and an anonymous call to a television show in 2005 suggested clues on Orlandi's fate lay in the dead mobster's tomb in Basilica of Sant’Apollinaire. A set of bones not belonging to De Pedis were found, but the identity of the remains has yet to be released. The Vatican insists it has done everything in its power to help solve the mystery of the missing girl.

I don’t mean that as a criticism. Hollywood’s been trying for 90 years to get the tone of the novel right and pretty clearly they’re never going to nail it — even Coppola’s treatment couldn’t produce a film worthy of the source — so why not stop trying and go crazy with the Cheez Whiz? Visual Cheez Whiz is, after all, what a Baz Luhrmann movie is all about. You don’t go to see this because you’re interested in an elegy for the Jazz Age. You see it because you’re 16 and Leo’s in it and Peter Parker’s his sidekick and there’s a romance and the art deco looks slick and, well, there’s just a lot of Cheez Whiz onscreen. And that soundtrack. Exit question: Is America ready for a story about a man with a shadowy past and invented identity who saw his wildest dreams come true, only to have it all come crashing down around him?

Actor Michael McKean was hit by a car while walking along a New York City street on Tuesday, suffering a broken leg, the New York Post reports. Harriet Sternberg, his manager, told the Post McKean was being checked out at St. Luke's Hospital. “He has sustained multiple injures and we are trying to find out the extent of other injuries,” the Post quoted her as saying. McKean, 64, played the lead singer for the band Spinal Tap in the movie "This is Spinal Tap" among numerous other roles. He was to have performed on Broadway in Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” on Tuesday night, the New York Daily News reported. “It’s the first time he will have ever missed a curtain in his entire life,” Sternberg told the Daily News. “He’s never missed stage, screens in film or television. His understudy has never gone on in 40-plus years.”

Kate Gosselin has made it no secret that she wants to return to TV, following the cancellation of her TLC series "Kate Plus 8." However, landing a new gig is proving to be much harder than she thought. “Kate had no idea it would be this difficult to sell another show based around her and her family,” one TV executive tells me. “It’s hard to be on the cover of magazines one week and just a few months later not have people return your calls.” On Monday morning, Kate revealed on the "Today" show that her kids are doing great, but admitted they do miss filming. “They’ve recently been saying, ‘When are we going to go here or there? We miss the crew,'" Kate said. "We’re hoping our TLC contract is over -- so we’re hoping to move forward and do more fun projects. Fans are begging, 'They’ve grown up, they’ve turned eight, what are you doing?’ and so we’re hoping to put that out there for them.” Unfortunately for Kate, fans don't green-light TV shows, network executives do. “Once you have a show canceled, it's almost impossible to sell the same idea to another network,” a TV insider tells me. “TLC is the non-Hollywood network and the perfect home for her. If they no longer want her, I’m not sure which other network will.”

Park officials say a man died Tuesday after falling over the edge of the Grand Canyon's South Rim. Rangers rappelled down and located his body about 600 feet below the rim, according to Shannan Marcak, a Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman. On Tuesday evening, crews were using a rope mechanical advantage system to raise the body, Marcak said. About 12:20 p.m., witnesses reportedly notified canyon officials that a man had fallen over the edge at Pipe Creek Vista, about one mile east of the Desert View Drive and South Entrance Road junction. The National Park Service is investigating the incident. The man's body will be turned over to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's office, Marcak said. No additional information was immediately available. Check back with azcentral.com for updates.

A Hawaii official sent Bennett's office verification of birth for President Obama on Tuesday, according to both Bennett and Hawaii officials. Bennett said the issue is now resolved from his point of view. He has cancelled a planned Wednesday news conference where he was expected to discuss the issue. "I'm happy that we got what we asked for and that's what I was expecting all along," Bennett said Tuesday night. Bennett made national news earlier this month when he asked Hawaii to verify Obama's birthplace to ensure the President is eligible to appear on Arizona's November ballot. His decision reignited the simmering birther movement, though Bennett has said he doesn't associate with the birthers. On Tuesday Joshua A. Wisch, special assistant to the attorney general in Hawaii, said the matter had been resolved. "We have received information from Secretary Bennett that satisfied our requirement and has therefore provided his office with a verification of birth for President Obama," Wisch wrote in an email. Read more:

It's been exactly two years since the series finale of "Lost" and you probably still love it/hate it as much as you did that night. No matter your stance on "Lost's" mystical ending, the fact that a series could polarize fans so instantly means that it did its job -- even if you didn't get all the answers you wanted. The "Lost" series finale will go down as one of the most controversial in TV history, and that's saying a lot. But was it one of the best series finales? With the "Lost" anniversary and "House" and "Desperate Housewives" both recently being laid to rest, HuffPost TV thought it'd be a good time to round up the most iconic, hilarious, touching and perfect series finales of all time -- click through our gallery to see what we deemed the top 14. Then, share your thoughts in the comments.

College grads who majored in actuarial science or astrophysics have a practically nonexistent unemployment rate. Actuary job in hand, before the degree Courtesy: Drake UniversityBette Wiebke Majored in Actuarial Science, Class of `12 Drake University Why become an actuary? My parents kind of planted the idea in my head from an early age, because math was always my favorite subject in school. Plus, they knew it would be a lucrative profession. An actuary is basically supposed to predict the future, estimating future risks and costs. Being able to do that well is so valuable to a company. This weekend, I graduated with my bachelor's in actuarial science. I've already had a job lined up since September, and I would say the same is true for the majority of my classmates, who have also had job offers for a long time. I'll be working at Travelers Insurance in St. Paul, Minn., in their property and casualty business. Overall, 0% unemployment in our field may be a bit of an overstatement. I know a couple students who haven't decided what they're doing yet. But the fact that most of us can get jobs coming straight out of college, definitely says something good about the occupation. No shortage of options in astrophysics Courtesy: Matt BenjaminMatt Benjamin Astrophysics, Class of `05 University of Colorado Boulder I was a business major when I started college, and science was a hobby more than anything else. But after I took two semesters of astronomy, I was hooked. Learning about business at that point almost felt as boring as learning about cardboard. I studied astrophysics and planetary science, and worked in the planetarium as a student employee. I had thought about going to grad school afterward, but when my boss decided to leave, I took this job. I now run the planetarium and its education programs. My job is to take complex science and information and put it in the public vernacular. It goes against the idea that to be part of science you need a Ph.D. That's a gross misconception. I think you can have a 0% unemployment rate in astrophysics, because it's constantly evolving. The universe is huge and there just aren't enough eyes to study it. There's really never going to be a shortage of jobs.

Authorities in Louisiana are searching for a college student who disappeared while bicycling Saturday. Michaela "Mickey" Shunick, a 22-year-old senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana, was last seen at about 1:45 a.m. Saturday, when she left a friend's home on Ryan Street in Lafayette. Shunick was cycling to her home on Governor Miro Drive, a distance of about four miles, when she vanished without a trace, the Lafayette Police Department said. Shunick is an avid cyclist and had regularly made the trip, her mother, Nancy Shunick, told The Huffington Post. "She has a car but she likes to rides her bike," Nancy Shunick said. "She rides her bicycle everywhere, and the route she would have taken Saturday is not a bad area. It is one residential neighborhood after another." Family members reported Mickey Shunick missing Saturday. They told police it was "uncharacteristic" of her to be out of contact with them. Shunick was also a no-show at her younger brother's high school graduation Saturday, an event her family said she was looking forward to attending. "She is just a nice, normal kid. She has hung out with the same group of friends since kindergarten," Nancy Shunick said. "She works teaching horse-riding lessons to little kids and she attends school."

There have been plenty of stories recently about lost pets reunited with their owners thanks to microchips. But in this case, it wasn’t only the dog who was returned. The microchip implanted in a South Carolina dog helped police return the 3-year-old girl who was with him to their family as well, WJBF News reported. While her parents slept, the child apparently followed their newly adopted dog, Angel, outside. A resident in a nearby apartment complex spotted the pair and called the police. But when the girl wasn’t able to tell them where she lived, the authorities used a scanner to check the dog for a microchip. The chip gave the officers information on how to get the owner’s name, address and phone number, and they were able to return the girl and her faithful companion to their home. The girl’s parents wanted to protect their daughter’s identity and didn’t give reporters her name or theirs — but they did want everyone to meet the canine they called a “hero dog.” Even though he’s been a member of the family for only a week, the girl’s mother said Angel kept the child in his sight the whole time. A police officer said Angel didn’t even want to get into a separate police car from the girl for the ride home.

In Chicago, three bakery workers claim they're owed dough--their fair share of $118 million in winnings from the Illinois State Lottery. They say they were part of a betting pool at the Pita Pan Old World Bakery in Chicago Heights that won the windfall in a May 4 drawing. "What happened was this," says attorney Michael LaMonica of Fisher & LaMonica, the law firm representing Jose Franco and Marco Medina, two of the three claimants. "This group had been running a pool since 2011. Normally, they collected money for the pool on Mondays and Thursdays." His clients, he says, contributed to the pool for a May 1 drawing. The group's ticket won $9, and the modest winnings were re-invested in the drawing for May 4. "The collector came around again," says LaMonica. "But because some auditing was going on at the bakery, he switched the day of his collection to a Wednesday. For whatever reason, he didn't ask my clients for any additional money." The ticket that the contributors bought won $118 million on May 4. Now Franco and Medina say their co-workers are refusing to give them their fair share. Why do they feel they deserve part of the windfall? They paid into the ticket that won $9. And, since the $9 went into the purchase of the next ticket, they had an ownership stake in the $118 million winner. The pool, they contend, had a standing agreement to divide its winnings equally. They say that if they'd been asked to contribute their customary share for the purchase of the winning ticket, they would have. Only nobody asked them for their money. A third claimant, J. Santos Bello, is represented by Chicago attorney Steven J. Seidman. A colleague of Seidman's told ABC News that Bello did not want to discuss the suit and had instructed his lawyers not to comment. His complaint, however, tells virtually the same story as the one filed by Franco and Medina.

MTV reality star Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio may have won the last two installments of "The Challenge," but he lost his defamation lawsuit against HBO, Time Warner and "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin, which the New York Superior Court threw out last week. "Johnny Bananas" had hired Lindsay Lohan's former attorney, Stephanie Ovadia, and alleged that Johnny Drama's "Entourage" cartoon, titled "Johnny's Bananas," infringed on his nickname, constituted defamation, and had caused him both emotional distress and financial harm. HuffPost TV talked to a dejected, but resolute "Johnny Bananas" about how he was dealing with the legal setback, and tried to understand why he went forward with the lawsuit in the first place. Sorry to hear about the lawsuit getting thrown out. Yeah, it's kind of a bummer, man. But it's kind of the risk you run ... you're kind of taking a chance when you go into the legal realm. We always knew it was a possibility ... I see it more as a hurdle or roadblock that we're gonna have to figure a way around. So why did you file the lawsuit? What about the Johnny Bananas "Entourage" character felt like a personal attack? It's a situation where I've spent six years of my life creating a brand, and becoming a public figure being known by that name. So then for a show like "Entourage" to come along, who basically appeals to the same viewing audience as my show does, and turn my character into a cartoon monkey, that just didn't sit right with me. The example I use is they have their own characters on that show. What would HBO do if I went on my show and started calling myself Johnny Drama? ... I'm sure HBO would have had a problem with that if it was the other way around. Do you think they would have sued? I have no idea. They probably would have threatened to. Did the "Entourage" character actually cause you any financial harm? Basically what this is about is I make a large part of my living doing appearances, just being at bars and clubs and colleges at different events. The problem that this posed is that there started to be confusion, where people started saying, "Well, who are we booking? Are we booking you, or are we booking the Johnny Drama character? Are people gonna know it's you?" I've been to clubs before, and people have been like, "Where's Kevin Dillon at? We thought he was appearing here." That's basically what the basis of our law suit was: This has the ability to cause me harm financially and create confusion.

According to TMZ, UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones was arrested for DUI during the early hours of May 19, after crashing his Bentley into a pole in Binghamton, NY. Jones wasn't seriously hurt in the accident, but he was taken into custody by officers who arrived at the scene. He made bail a few hours later. "I can confirm that Jon Jones was arrested early this morning on suspicion of DUI," Jones' manager, Malki Kawa, said in a statement. "While the facts of this situation are still being gathered and situated, First Round Management fully supports Jon and we are asking for fans and media to respect the privacy of Jon and his family during this time." The youngest champion in the history of the UFC, Jones has always kept a squeaky clean image, so it's a little shocking to see him get in any kind of trouble. Given the fact this will be Jones' first brush with the law, the chances of him serving jail time are pretty low, and he'll probably get off with a fine and possibly probation. Still, UFC president Dana White will have some work to do, to preserve the image of a young man many consider to be the future of MMA. Jones isn't the first UFC fighter to be arrested for DUI, and it's highly unlikely that his current situation will have any serious effects on his MMA career. At only 24 years old, Jones will get some leeway from the fans, and I'm pretty sure the UFC will stand firmly behind him. Jones is currently scheduled to defend his light-heavyweight title against Dan Henderson at UFC 151, set for Sept. 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. He'll probably still be dealing with the fallout of his legal trouble when the fight takes place, and it'll be interesting to see how he deals with the extra pressure heading into his showdown against the former Strikeforce champion.

The New York Times' Howard Beck, on his way from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City to cover Monday's Game 5 between the Lakers and Thunder, uncovered this rather shady T-shirt design on Sunday. The Thunder aren't exactly giving these rags out at the door, but that didn't stop our initial post on the T-shirts on Monday morning from inspiring a world of outrage on Twitter, and apparent death threats sent the way of Warpaint Clothing, the company that humorlessly put the duds together -- utilizing the former Seattle SuperSonics logo along the way. Rightfully, just one Thunder fan deciding to purchase this and pull it over their head is enough for us to break out the Patented BDL Tsk-Tsk Geiger Counter -- and as a result Warpaint has decided to stop selling the shirts because of death threats sent its way in reaction. To reiterate, Oklahoma City didn't wrest its current team out of Seattle because 37 selected fans and civic leaders won a free-throw shooting contest. It didn't "win" the team by being the quickest to press buttons in some trivia contest at a local chicken wing joint ("PRESS 'B!' It's 'Romancing the Stone!' Hurry!"), and the presiding genius of GM Sam Presti is no reflection on either level of fandom emanating from either Oklahoma City or Seattle. No, the current Oklahoma City Thunder are not the former Seattle SuperSonics mainly because former owner (and current Guy That Bilks You Out of Money Every Day For Your Starbucks Fix, You Silly Twit) Howard Schultz didn't think twice before selling a basketball team needing a new stadium to an ownership group from a city that had already proven it could be a fantastic host for an NBA team, with a new stadium at its disposal. We don't think much of the Thunder owners, but we really don't think much of Howard Schultz, who completely betrayed the community that helped make him billions, all because he didn't know anything about how to run an NBA team, and because he couldn't wait an extra couple of months to find a suitable buyer that obviously wouldn't move the team from Seattle. Current Oklahoma City Thunder fans? The city of Seattle, and former SuperSonic fans, did absolutely nothing to deserve this. In the midst of what could be a championship season, diverting attention from the franchise's ultimate goal to take a needless shot at a city and fan base that is clearly still hurting is the ultimate prick move, and we heartily encourage any mindful Thunder fans to take Twitter pictures and send them our way during Monday's Game 5; so that we can band together to shame however many morons that decide to sport these shirts. Warpaint, through its Twitter feed, didn't exactly acquit itself well in attempting to defend the shirts it decided to print. From KIRO TV:

Martha Payne, 9-year-old food critic and school lunch reformer. (Rex Photos/AP)Jamie Oliver and Michelle Obama may be commanders of a healthy school lunch revolution. But a 9-year-old girl is on the front lines. A Scottish grade school student named Martha Payne has launched her own revolution in school lunch reform. It all started with a simple idea. What if food critics reviewed school lunches? Cafeterias would probably do a lot more to satisfy their customers. First Lady makes big changes to school lunches. That's what Martha discovered two weeks ago, when she started the blog NeverSeconds, a daily review of her flimsy cafeteria lunches. With help from her dad, Dave, the Argyle-based student, photographed her sparse lunch tray daily and offered a Zagat-style rating system based on the following criteria: food-o-meter (or overall taste), mouthfuls (or portions), health, courses and pieces of hair. So far there's been one or two hairs on her lunch tray, but not much else. One of the first lunches she reviewed included a dried-out rectangular piece of pizza, a fried mozzarella stick, some corn droppings and a mini muffin. Another tray featured a slim, grayish burger, two fried cheese sticks, an ice pop and three thin cucumber slices. Overall, Martha gives the soups at her school high marks, particularly the carrot and coriander recipe. "The soup was brilliant," she raved. Then, on May 14, a day of sausages, vegetable soup ("it tasted mainly of carrot") and roasted potatoes ("a bit small") the inevitable happened. Nestled under three cucumber slices was a single strand of hair. Martha doesn't speculate where it came from, but there's a fair chance it wasn't from her own head. Generously, she gave that meal a "food-o-meter" rating of 8, despite the small portion and the unappetizing surprise. [(Martha Payne/NeverSeconds)] (Martha Payne/NeverSeconds) "The good thing about this blog is Dad understands why I am hungry when I get home," writes Martha. Dad did more than sympathize; he got the attention of Food Revolution general, Jamie Oliver, via Twitter. After Oliver tweeted the blog to his followers describing it as "shocking but inspirational," Martha's page views reached nearly half a million. (As of Monday, NeverSeconds is closing in on 700,000 page views and counting.) Jamie Oliver's rules for healthy family meals In less than two weeks since launching the site, her school seems to be instituting healthy reforms, thanks to Martha, Dave, and some pressure from local media. By Thursday of last week, Martha blogged good news: "It's official that we are allowed unlimited salads, fruit and bread! I'm really happy that all of my friends can help themselves to good stuff." USDA defends pink slime in school lunches Now Martha is asking students reading her blog to submit their own school lunch photos and ratings. (Martha Payne/NeverSeconds)(Martha Payne/NeverSeconds) As much impact as policy makers and advocates, like the first lady, have had on improving school lunches, student voices have been largely absent from the debate. They are, after all, the ones eating the food.

Greendale Community College has a new pair of headmasters. Just Shoot Me! alums Moses Port and David Guarascio have been tapped to step in and replace Dan Harmon as the new showrunners of NBC's Community. Harmon has been given a consulting producer title, but that doesn't mean he'll be actively involved on the show. Even though NBC pleased fans by giving Community a 13-episode renewal last week, Harmon hadn't yet struck a deal with producer Sony Pictures TV to return as showrunner next season. That's because Sony had been looking to make a change at the top. Initially, Port and Guarascio (who more recently consulted on Happy Endings) turned the offer down — but Sony came back and sweetened the pot. The duo's credits also include Aliens in America; this season they wrote the Fox pilot El Jefe. According to insiders, Harmon signed just a one-year deal last year, with no option that would force his return this season. With no new deal on the horizon, Harmon prepared a farewell message to run as a vanity production card during Community's season ender, but the idea was later nixed. NBC Boss Says Community May Get New Showrunner Sony is said to be looking at ways to broaden Community and attempt to extend the show's life on NBC — and it's no secret that studio and network execs have clashed with Harmon in the past. Insiders warn that Harmon is so closely identified with Community that squeezing him completely might alienate the show's small but fiercely loyal fan base. Not to mention most of the show's cast: "Dan's the creator of the show, the voice of the show, so I don't know how that would work without him," says star Joel McHale. On Sunday, NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said that he expected "Dan's voice to be a part of this show somehow. I'm just not sure if that means him running it day to day or consulting on it." (Harmon himself has said he's not interested in a consulting role.) The decision to tap outside producers to join the show was also borne out of necessity, as Harmon's key producing partners are all exiting the show. Former exec producers Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan (who signed a deal at 20th Century Fox TV to create new shows) have already been hired to run Fox's Ben and Kate, while coexecutive producer Chris McKenna has set up a deal at Universal TV to develop new shows — and insiders said he wouldn't have taken the showrunner job without Harmon's involvement. The seeds of this week's showdown were planted long before Harmon's public feud with star Chevy Chase, but it likely didn't help. "It's hard to imagine that Dan will be back on the show," one source said earlier this week. "And it's hard to imagine that Dan won't be back on the show."

Little Dude likes to say, "I love you." I don't know if he understands the importance of the words, or if he just likes the reaction he gets, but he uses the phrase easily and often. He loves his friends, his family, his teachers and his favorite toys. Lately, he likes to sidle up to me with a stealthy look and whisper, "I love you," in my ear. I respond with hugs and kisses and an "I love you more" in return. He smiles and says, "Couldn't be possible." I remember the first time he said he loved me, even though the words were mangled and mushy and sounded something like "wuv wu." It didn't matter one bit. "I love you" may be the most powerful sentence I know. But although it is heady and profound to hear (and say) "I love you," it is only a microscopic part of parenting. The words are important, but they aren't enough. In fact, they pale in comparison to the ways we show our children we love them. That old cliché, "Actions speak louder than words" is the core of what we do as parents every day. I learned this gradually. I'm a stepmom and a mom. My boys are sixteen and four. I love them both, but they are different people and they show and receive affection differently. Little Dude is a snuggler, a hugger, a kisser. He wants to be around his dad and me all the time. My stepson is a teenager, and I'm sure the idea of snuggling with his parents horrifies him. He is bright, funny, kind and decent, but he is sixteen after all. I tell them both I love them, but while Little Dude might hear it twenty times a day, I say it less often to my fabulous stepson. Not because I love him less, but because he's not a preschooler. I used to worry that he might not know how much I care about him because I say those three magic words less often, until a friend reminded me that affection isn't limited to things we say. Because this affirmation came from a woman with two kids who works a demanding job outside her home, gets to school plays and tae kwon do lessons and knits her children new sweaters every year with their ages on them, I paid attention. Besides, she's sort of kickass wise. Her insight dovetailed with something an old friend once told me. She said that peace isn't a noun, it's a verb. Meaning, peace isn't a state of being, it's an action -- a choice that requires constant tending. Seems to me, love is an action too.

My first question when my parents separated (I was 11) was, "Can we just not tell anyone?" There was something about the dismantling that felt too public. To split seemed shameful. So I consider it a matter of some pride that in my own breakups, I haven't had the impulse to conceal the end, including the most recent. We'd been together three years, albeit rocky ones. We thought that when it came to what mattered, we wanted similar things: a wedding, babies, eventually a home and careers outside New York, to be near our parents and care for them as they got older. For all of the bad times, there were so many good. We surprised each other. We danced spontaneously in our living room. It's a cliché, but I tell you, each of us could, with a certain glance, leave the other breathless. And then it crumbled. She wasn't sure she wanted this anymore; she needed to figure out who she was without me; she thought there might be something, someone better for her. I told pretty much everyone, immediately. I was no longer that shame-riddled 11-year-old. More importantly, I needed support. I needed to know that I was not inherently unloveable. I needed people to agree that she was a colossal idiot. There's only one person I couldn't tell, someone I know very little and who knows me very little. Mo, the proprietor of my exceptional neighborhood deli, knows how to do a yuppy bodega right: artisanal jam, organic meat, speck and prosciutto and several different brands of brie. A wide selection of organic soap and paraben-free sunscreen. I get dinner from Mo's counter several times a week, and stop in other times for overpriced fruit or a copy of the Economist. It's not surprising, then, that Mo knows things about me. He knows, for instance, what brand of tampons I buy and that I'm slowly killing myself with diet hot chocolate. His eyes are always scanning the surveillance screens fed from cameras around the store, and sometimes when I'm in the back aisles picking out coffee or standing in front of the freezer section wondering if I should go gluten-free for a week, it occurs to me that he may be witness to my all my neuroses. Instead of feeling creeped out by this, I find it oddly comforting. In a world we all enter and leave alone, I've got Mo watching over me. He knew things about Us, too. She liked pickles and jerky and licorice. I bought caffeine and yogurt in quantities that suggested preparation for the apocalypse. He knew that we sometimes -- okay, often -- wore each other's clothes, and what we were like when we'd been ever so slightly over-served at a bar earlier in the evening. He recognized that she had an easier time with people. When we traipsed in after a night out, the two of them flirted -- Mo has a black belt in the art of banter with customers, especially women. "How's it going?" I'd ask, the way you do in civil society. "Better now," he'd say, looking to her. "Oh, you missed me," she'd say. "I'm not missing anything now," he'd answer. Each time, I'd smile and shake my head at their antics, the faux-intimacy putting me a little on edge, and let her play for both of us.

When Phil and I were dating, we took a trip down the Mississippi on the Delta Queen. On board was a small band of elderly men playing Dixieland Jazz. They were all very good, but the clarinet player was in his own world -- completely consumed by the music. "Are you watching the clarinet player?" Phil whispered to me. I whispered back, "I can't take my eyes off of him!" And to this day, that remains a little code for us: Whenever we see someone who is truly in the zone -- in the moment -- we say to each other "He's a real clarinet player." Today, Phil and I will celebrate 32 years of our own duet on the clarinet. And all these years later, I'm happy to say, we're still in the zone. wedding May 21st is our anniversary date, and it's hard to believe that so many years have flown by. It's especially surprising for me since I was very wary of marriage when I was younger. I always thought of it as a confining place for women -- a place where only one person could reach for their dreams, while the other was a kind of support system. But then I met someone who showed me that marriage could be a roomy place for two people -- and, more important, two people's dreams. And here we are, Phil and me, celebrating more than three decades of love, trust and friendship. Of course, every marriage has its waves of ups and downs -- and ours is no different. And it's not made any easier when there are two careers in the family. Then throw in living in the public eye -- that just adds to the challenge. But every couple has their own unique set of challenges, and all of them have to find their own way to keep their marriage strong and the romance alive. I can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you that for Phil and me, the most important thing is making time for each other -- and of course, keeping the laughter coming. Laughter is the cushion of life -- and certainly of a marriage. I'm a big believer in romance and I think it has its best chance of surviving if both people are invested in keeping it alive. Like the tango, it takes two. So in celebration of romance and commitment, here's a look at some of Phil's and my personal photos, as well as a collection of celebrity couples who have defied the odds and stayed in the zone.

Eating a healthy, calorie-controlled diet during pregnancy can help prevent excessive weight gain and cut the risk of obstetric complications, researchers report. In Europe and the United States, up to 40 percent of women gain more than the recommended weight during pregnancy and this excess weight is associated with a number of major health problems, according to background information in the study published online May 17 in the BMJ. In the report, an international team of researchers reviewed the findings of 44 studies that included more than 7,200 women and found that dietary intervention resulted in an average reduction in weight gain during pregnancy of nearly 8.8 pounds, compared with 1.5 pounds for exercise, and 2.2 pounds for exercise and diet combined. Dietary intervention alone also provided the most benefit in preventing serious pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia (a sudden spike in the mother's blood pressure after the 20th week of pregnancy), diabetes and premature birth, according to lead researcher Dr. Shakila Thangaratinam from Queen Mary, University of London, and colleagues. The study authors concluded that dietary and lifestyle interventions in pregnancy improve outcomes for both mother and baby. However, an accompanying editorial suggested that there is not enough evidence to support dietary or any other type of intervention.

The Los Angeles Lakers trudged off the Staples Center floor late Saturday, a single loss now separating them from season's end, another fourth-quarter collapse once again causing their undoing. They didn't show much poise in the locker room, either, with Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum pointing blame at others for allowing the Oklahoma City Thunder to steal their second victory in three games. Bryant missed eight of his 10 shots in the final quarter, but shrugged off his struggles by saying his teammates' lack of aggressiveness "forced" him to take tough shots. He also left no question which teammate deserved the most blame for the 103-100 loss in Game 4. Bryant faulted Gasol for not playing aggressive enough. It was also Gasol's turnover that led to Kevin Durant making the winning 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left. "Pau's got to be more assertive," Bryant said. "He's the guy they're leaving [open]. When he's catching the ball, he's looking to pass. He's got to be aggressive. He's got to shoot the ball or drive the ball to the basket. He will be next game." Pau Gasol had 10 points and five rebounds in the Lakers' loss. (AP)Bryant has periodically targeted Gasol with his public criticism, hoping to motivate him to lift his performance. But with the Lakers now down 3-1 in the series and facing Game 5 on Monday in Oklahoma City, Bryant's patience has been exhausted. Gasol's inconsistency has been a problem for the Lakers throughout the season, and he never seemed to recover after the team tried to trade him in December to the Houston Rockets in a deal with the New Orleans Hornets for Chris Paul. NBA commissioner David Stern blocked the trade, and Gasol has admitted his tenuous status with the franchise has bothered him. Gasol totaled just 10 points and five rebounds in Game 4. Most recently, Bryant criticized both Gasol and Andrew Bynum after a listless performance in a Game 6 loss to the Denver Nuggets in the first round. Gasol responded with 23 points and 17 rebounds in the Lakers' clinching Game 7 victory. After a dominant first half by Andrew Bynum on Saturday, the Thunder began fronting the Lakers' center with Kendrick Perkins. Bryant thought Gasol didn't attack enough when Serge Ibaka left him to help Perkins. "He's looking to swing the ball too much," Bryant said. "He's got to take his shot." That was the case on the game's most critical possession. After a steal by Steve Blake, Gasol tried to pass to Metta World Peace only to have Durant knock the ball away with 33.9 seconds left. Durant followed with the 3-pointer. "Just a bad read on Pau's part," Bryant said. "It's one play, one mistake," Gasol said. "There were a lot of mistakes in that fourth quarter, a lot of mistakes throughout the game. So, obviously, if I could have gone back, maybe I could have shot it and I would have. It's one play, obviously, at a critical time, but I don't feel like we lost the game because of one turnover." Indeed, Bynum faulted the Lakers from going away from what was working. He had 14 points and seven rebounds as L.A. built a 10-point lead at halftime. With the Thunder increasingly fronting him, Bynum took just four shots in the second half, two in the fourth quarter when the Thunder erased a 13-point deficit over the final eight minutes. "I didn't touch the ball, so the game started speeding up, speeding up, speeding up, speeding up," Bynum said. "They beat us in transition at the end.

The film, which Comcast unit Universal has said cost $209 million to produce, generated $23.4 million in ticket sales at theaters in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, according to figures compiled by Hollywood.com. It had been projected by tracking services used by Hollywood studios to have ticket sales of between $35 million and $40 million. The movie, which stars Liam Neeson and the singer Rihanna, finished the weekend second to Walt Disney's superhero blockbuster "The Avengers," which led the box office for the third weekend with $55.1 million in ticket sales. "It is not quite the epic disaster of 'John Carter,' but this will put a dent in Comcast's quarter," said Matthew Harrigan of Wunderlich Securities, who follows Comcast. He did not quantify how much he expected the film to lose. "John Carter," which sold $30.2 million during its opening weekend in March, saddled Disney with a $200 million loss, the company said. That film cost more than $250 million to produce. Based on the "John Carter" performance, Universal will lose $100 million to $200 million, estimates Michael Morris of Davenport & Co., who does not follow Comcast, but follows Disney, News Corp. and Time Warner, which also have studio units. A Universal spokeswoman would not comment. Comcast officials were not immediately available for comment. The studio is estimated to have spent more than $100 million to market the film, standard for large budget films. "Battleship" has sold more than $220 million in overseas tickets, Universal has said. It is forecast to reach $250 million in foreign sales. Movie studios generally receive about half of the revenues from ticket sales in North America and less in foreign markets. The film needed to generate more than $50 million in weekend ticket sales to break even, said analyst Tony Wible, a managing director at Janney Montgomery Scott who compiles a data base on film performances. He does not follow Comcast. Last week, Disney's superhero franchise-builder surprised experts by cutting into the expected weekend ticket sales of "Dark Shadows," starring Johnny Depp, which took in just $29.7 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Will Smith's international publicity tour for "Men In Black III" already produced one moment of viral video goodness when Smith slapped a European reporter who tried to kiss him at a red carpet. But Smith topped that Saturday night on BBC One's "The Graham Norton Show," when he rapped "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme song along with the entire studio audience in a moment rife with TV nostalgia. Smith also spoke fondly of the classic sitcom, and marveled at its lasting impact. "Listen, every country in the world, that is the thing that I am most known for. No matter how big the movies get, it's just 'Fresh Prince' everywhere ... As long as they're shouting 'Will!' it's cool," he joked. "It is so funny that that many people recognize that theme song," Smith continued. "There's something about TV that's different than movies or music. There's something about television that ... it's like, you're in your underwear at the house, you don't get dressed up to go, it's like people come into your house. Television really attaches you to people in a way that is extremely powerful, and it's humbling. Thank you," Smith said to the audience, who had rapped along with him. SOURCE

Yahoo! announced today it has reached an agreement with Alibaba Group on a staged and comprehensive plan to unlock the Yahoo's investment in the Alibaba. The plan, which was announced in a release, includes a transaction this year where Alibaba will purchase up to one-half of Yahoo's current stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. The transaction could generate more than $7 billion in proceeds should Alibaba buy the full amount. Both companies also set up a framework where Yahoo! can monetize the remaining interest in the Chinese company in stages. First at the time of an initial public offering in the future, Alibaba will be required to either repurchase one-half of Yahoo's remaining stake at the IPO price or allow Yahoo! to sell those shares at the IPO. Also, following an Alibaba IPO, Yahoo! has the option to sell the remaining share at any time it chooses. "Today's agreement provides clarity for our shareholders on a substantial component of Yahoo!'s value and reaffirms the significance of our relationship with Alibaba," said Ross Levinsohn, Interim CEO of Yahoo! said in the release. "We look forward to continued collaboration with the Alibaba team on business initiatives as we explore joint opportunities for growth and benefit from Alibaba's future. I want to thank Jack Ma, Joe Tsai and the Alibaba team, as well as Tim Morse, Michael Callahan and our Yahoo! team for their dedication in achieving this successful outcome." "This transaction opens a new chapter in our relationship with Yahoo!," said Jack Ma, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group stated in the media release. "I look forward to working with Ross Levinsohn and the Yahoo! team as Alibaba builds China's leading e-commerce company. Yahoo!'s global audience reach will provide attractive partnership opportunities for Alibaba to explore markets outside of China. The transaction will establish a balanced ownership structure that enables Alibaba to take our business to the next level as a public company in the future." The announcement comes a week after Scott Thompson departed as CEO of Yahoo! and Levinsohn was named interim CEO of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based digital media company. Thompson left the company after inaccuracies were revealed in an official bio. READ MORE