Followers

Powered by Blogger.
  • Home
  • Girls' Bathroom Stall Note Offers Hope And Comfort To Other Women


    It's not unusual to walk into a bathroom stall and see a mix of short notes, graffiti and stories. But it is unusual for someone to take the time to craft a thoughtful response. That's just what one Reddit user saw when she entered the girls' bathroom at her university.

    "In a girls' bathroom stall at my university, girls have written about some of their most horrifying life experiences," wrote Reddit user chellylauren on January 14th. This week, someone replied."

    She posted a photograph of the bathroom stall note on imgur. Read it and prepare to be inspired. (Scroll down for the full text of the note, formatted.)

    To the girl who was raped: You are so strong. I cannot fathom the pain you must have gone through. The fact that you have the bravery to write it (even on a bathroom wall) gives me hope.
    To the girl with eating disorders: I promise you, although I don't know you, you are beautiful, you deserve your health. You deserve freedom from that hell.

    To the girl with the alcoholic father: I am so sorry for the agony it must cause. again, such courage is remarkable you must be such a strong person to see such pain.

    To the girl whose father died: Missing them never goes away. The ache of their absence never goes away. ut the love they had, the memories you share surely must last. I am sure, out of the bottom of my heart, the people who have left you in this world are exceptionally proud of the person you are.

    Everytime(sic) I see these walls, these confessions, I feel so blessed to know I have the priviledge(sic) of seeing them. Your moments, these secrets, are all precious even though they are sad. To all of you (including those I did not mention, and those who have not yet written)
    -You are worthy.
    -You are strong.
    -You are brave.
    -You are loved.
    -Somebody cares.

    Bra Size Linked To Breast Cancer Risk Might Be Tied To Breast Size, Study Says PHOTO


    The same gene that can determine a woman’s breast size could also be linked to her odds of developing breast cancer, with larger cup-sizes more likely to develop tumors, according to the results of a new study California-based personal genomics and biotechnology company 23andMe.

    The firm reported that they were able to identify “seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with breast size, including three SNPs also correlated with breast cancer,” according to CBS News reports. The study, which has been published in the journal BMC Medical Genetics, marks the first time that a genetic correlation between breast size and the risk of developing breast cancer has been made.

    In the study, the researchers contacted more than 16,000 women of European ancestry. Each study participant identified their bra size on a 10-point scale, ranging from smaller than AAA to larger than DDD, and also answered questions regarding their age, genetic ancestry, pregnancy history, breast surgery history, and breast feeding status, CBS News and Tamara Cohen of the Daily Mail reported.

    The women were then grouped into 10 categories based on their cup sizes, and the researchers identified genome regions associated with differences in breast development, the UK National Health Service (NHS) explained.

    The 23andMe scientists then compared those genome regions with those known to be associated with increased breast cancer risk, before conducting a secondary analysis of 29 DNA variations also linked to breast cancer and finding out whether or not those variations were also associated with breast size among the study group, the NHS added.

    They found that two out of seven unique genome variations “significantly associated” with breast size were also associated with breast cancer, and a third variation, discovered in the secondary analysis, had a “possible association” but one that was not statistically significant.

    “There are surprising connections between some of the genes involved in determining breast size and the genes involved in breast cancer,” lead author Nick Eriksson told The Huffington Post. However, he also emphasized that the link is somewhat “uncertain” and that “based on current knowledge, it’s not a strong risk factor” in terms of breast cancer development.

    “While the precise relationships between breast size, density, obesity and breast cancer remain difficult to untangle, understanding the biology… may aid in the development of novel screening tools,” Eriksson added in a separate interview with the Daily Mail’s Cohen.


    Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online

    Constance Jablonski Sued By Former Modeling Agency For $3.3 Million


    The world of modeling has a pretty catty reputation, but do modeling agencies also have the same stigma? If you'd ask Constance Jablonski's opinion, we're guessing she'd say yes -- now that she's being sued by Marilyn Model Management, at least.

    The Victoria's Secret Angel has just been slapped with a $3.3 million lawsuit by Marilyn, her former agency, New York Daily News reports. The company is claiming that Constance, who serves as the face of Calvin Klein and Christian Dior, violated a three-year contract with Marilyn when she left to seek representation with DNA Model Management. (Ms. Jablonski was legally bound to stay with Marilyn until September 2014, according to NYDN.)

    The case asserts that Constance was “a virtually unknown model” before signing with Marilyn in 2008 -- ouch. Two years later, the French stunner was landing major contracts like Estée Lauder and strutting down the catwalk for her first Victoria's Secret show. Marilyn claims that losing out on that annual runway gig and Constance's lucrative beauty contract has hurt the agency.

    "DNA’s wrongful conduct is for the purpose of destablizing Marilyn’s business, and causing irreparable damage to its image [and] reputation,” the model's former agency claims.

    To add more intrigue, Marilyn alleges that the 21-year-old was lured to DNA "under false pretenses." We're not sure what that means, but, lucky for us, Constance addressed the drama via her Twitter account today:

    “With a New Year comes new beginnings. After my bookers, many of those I began with at Marilyn and my dearest Marilyn Gaultier left the agency this past year, I decided to move on to DNA. I’m very excited with the move and I hope you are too!! Wishing all my friends from Marilyn all the best with their new beginnings. Thank you to all of you followers and fans, for always supporting me!!”
    Hm, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. But, from the sounds of it, it seems like this is more of an issue between the two agencies than Marilyn and Constance. Can't everyone just play nice?

    Amanda Palmer, Dresden Dolls Singer: 'No Single Answer' For What Works In Independent Media


    The creators of "South Park," Andrew Sullivan and comedian Louis C.K. defied conventions by going solo with their own media companies. But what does it take to ensure indie media success? Amanda Palmer, singer for The Dresden Dolls, spoke to HuffPost Live host Mike Sacks on Tuesday about going from end to end of the indie spectrum.

    Palmer went from busking on the sidewalk for years, to raising over a million dollars on Kickstarter for her solo album, which became a top ten hit last year. Looking forward, she argues that there's no single answer for what will work for independent artist and journalists.

    "I think there's going to be as many different systems as there are outlets and artists, and I think trying to make a blanket rule about what will work for journalists, or what will work for musicians, or what will work for authors, is kind of the wrong conversation," Palmer told HuffPost Live.

    Instead, Palmer focuses on using technology to present a unique approach to fans, saying "the cool thing about the Internet now is that you can totally personalize and customize your little system."

    "Donnie Darko" producer Hunt Lowry also joined the conversation, saying that "there's always a few lucky breaks" in the world of independent film production, adding that producers need to be on as many platforms as possible, including the Internet, television, cable, and home video.

    "You may be small and independent, but you still want it to be seen by as many people as possible," Lowry said.

    Sundance & Independent Film Festival Sets Focus On Low-Budget Indie Movies


    It's that time of year again when a tiny ski-resort town becomes the place to be for anyone in show business – stars and directors, distribution executives, musicians, unknown filmmakers hoping that people might want to hear the stories they tell.

    Opening Thursday, the Sundance Film Festival takes over Park City for a week and a half every January. Anything resembling a theater is booked with screenings. Directors and their casts trudge snowy streets to introduce films and do interviews. Bars and restaurants are stuffed with people talking deals, or just talking about something crazy or unexpected they just saw on screen.

    "It's almost like Burning Man. Once a year, this tiny little town that then transforms itself into kind of a crazy film city for 10 days out of the year," said writer-director Lynn Shelton, a Sundance regular ("Humpday," "Your Sister's Sister") who returns this year with "Touchy Feely," starring Rosemarie DeWitt as a massage therapist suddenly struck by an aversion to touching others. "It's crammed with people all there for one reason. Whatever relationship they have to the industry, they're all there for the love of films."

    The top U.S. showcase for independent cinema, Sundance has grown along with the do-it-yourself film world and has played a huge role in creating opportunities for low-budget filmmakers to get their work made and seen.

    Robert Redford added the festival in 1985 as an offshoot of his Sundance Institute that offers professional support to indie filmmakers.

    That first year, the festival showed a couple of dozen films. This year, Sundance is playing 119 feature films from 32 countries, culled from about 4,000 that were submitted.

    "It's gotten pretty overwhelming," Redford said. "I never dreamed when we started – we didn't even know that we would last – and then when it lasted and grew, it became huge. I never anticipated that it would get to this size."

    Now the name Sundance is almost a synonym for the possibilities of independent film. The festival helped launch the careers of filmmakers such as Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino and has premiered such Academy Award winners and nominees as "Little Miss Sunshine," "Precious," "Winter's Bone" and last year's top Sundance prize winner, "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

    This year's lineup includes Ashton Kutcher as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in director Joshua Michael Stern's film biography "jOBS"; Amanda Seyfried as porn star Linda Lovelace in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's "Lovelace"; Shia LaBeouf and Evan Rachel Wood in Fredrik Bond's romance "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman"; Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen in Naomi Foner's teen tale "Very Good Girls"; Daniel Radcliffe as Allen Ginsberg in John Krokidas' beat-poet story "Kill Your Darlings"; and Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Richard Linklater's "Before Midnight," a follow-up to "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset."


    There's also a reunion for two "Little Miss Sunshine" stars: Steve Carell and Toni Collette co-star in Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's Sundance premiere "The Way, Way Back."

    Redford has insisted on giving documentaries equal time with dramatic features, and this year's festival has a wild range of nonfiction topics, including Barbara Kopple's "Running from Crazy," a study of Mariel Hemingway and her family's history of mental illness and suicide, including that of grandfather Ernest Hemingway; Alison Ellwood's "History of the Eagles Part 1," a portrait of the pop super-group; Alex Gibney's "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks"; Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl's "Sound City," a look at a venerable recording studio; Freida Mock's "Anita," a portrait of Anita Hill, who accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment; and R.J. Cutler and Greg Finton's "The World According to Dick Cheney," an examination of the former vice president.

    "The company is such good company. The programmers at Sundance, their taste is impeccable," said Lucy Walker, who premiered her 2010 documentaries "Countdown to Zero" and "Waste Land" and returns this year with "The Crash Reel," chronicling the recovery of snowboarder Kevin Pearce from a traumatic brain injury. "I feel like right now, the documentary field at Sundance, it's just such a remarkable collection of top-quality films."

    Actress and filmmaker Lake Bell, who directed a short film that premiered at Sundance in 2011 and co-starred in last year's festival feature "Black Rock," said coming to Park City in January reminds her of going back to college.

    What A Naked Body Really Looks Like Nadav Kander


    In an age when airbrushing the naked body has become a photography standard, the works of Nadav Kander are absolutely refreshing. The Israel-born, UK-based artist captures a wildly diverse survey of form and flesh, exquisitely displayed in a new exhibit titled "Bodies, 6 Women, 1 Man" at London's Flowers Gallery.

    Kander's exhibit harkens back to Renaissance masterpieces, featuring classically styled female and male nudes baring and contorting their bodies. Covered in white marble dust, the models appear like pristine sculptures or a figure from an ethereal period painting.

    Yet as photographs, the works are innately modern, a characteristic not lost in the subjects' tendency to actively hide their faces from the camera. Unlike the pensive gaze that can be seen in works by Raphael or Bellini, the eyes of Kander's alabaster nudes almost always avert the lens, hiding behind outstretched arms or backwards facing bodies. Present yet private, archaic yet contemporary, familiar yet newly distinct; the efficacious project puts forth a new definition of the nude that alerts us to paradox after paradox.

    “I don’t want to make art that’s simple, ‘correct for the times,’ or merely to fit a gap in the market," Kander explained in a recent interview with TIME magazine. "I make things that nourish me.”

    The unabashed artist will be showing his work until February 9 at Flowers Gallery in London. Scroll down for a preview of his work and let us know what you think of his "Bodies" in the comments section.

    Tate Stevens Signs $5 Million Deal with Simon Cowell Record Label

    ‘The X Factor’ Season two champion Tate Stevens has signed a record deal worth $5 million with Syco Music/RCA Records Nashville.

    A news release Tuesday reported that the 37-year-old country crooner from Belton, Missouri has relocated in Nashville and is already writing and recording for an untitled album that will be released in the fall on Simon Cowell‘s record label.

    Tate hit Twitter late yesterday with the news, “This is really a dream come true, signed with Syco Music, RCA Nashville.  I am blessed because of you! #tatenation”

    The newest ‘X Factor’ winner began as the lead singer with Outlaw Junkies in 2005.  He moved on in 2008 to form the Tate Stevens Band, a six-man ensemble that has toured extensively in the Midwest.

    He auditioned in early 2012 in Kansas City and was selected to go to boot camp where he had to sing for survival.  The entertainer ended up competing as part of the top 24 in the “Over 25s” category and was mentored by L.A. Reid.  He was chosen to be part of his mentor’s top four and went on to win the top prize.

    Stevens married his high school sweetheart in 1997, and they have a son Hayden and a daughter Rylie

    Megan Fox Slams Lindsay Lohan, Believes in Leprechauns

    Oh my goodness, Megan Fox, what have you done? I can tell you part of what you’ve done … and you’re going to have to just go ahead and surmise the rest for yourself, because wow. Girl.

    No, what you did was unexpectedly get pregnant, drop off the radar and didn’t exploit your pregnancy for all it was worth (like you just know some people have done and—ahem—are going to do), disappeared after your little son was born and then, when you finally did emerge, it was like this new person took your place. It was like everything formerly Megan Fox had dropped away, and there was this demure, intelligent, in touch person in Megan Fox’s place, who luckily looked the same as Megan Fox. I almost had a brain crush on Megan Fox for a minute, especially when she said that she wasn’t going to be posing in bikinis anymore—for the sake of her son, of course.

    This new spread and interview with Esquire, though? Holy hell. It’s … well, here. This is what it is. Here’s Megan talking about Lindsay Lohan:

        “She [Marilyn] was sort of like Lindsay [Lohan]. She was an actress who wasn’t reliable, who almost wasn’t insurable … She had all the potential in the world, and it was squandered. I’m not interested in following in those footsteps.”

    On what it’s like to be famous:

        “I don’t think people understand. They all think we should shut the f**kk up and stop complaining because you live in a big house or you drive a Bentley. What people don’t realize is that fame, whatever your worst experience in high school, when you were being bullied by those ten kids in high school, fame is that, but on a global scale, where you’re being bullied by millions of people constantly.”

    On posing half-naked all the time, and then making the decision to not (after this shoot, of course):

        “I felt powerless in that image. I didn’t feel powerful. It ate every other part of my personality, not for me but for how people saw me, because there was nothing else to see or know. That devalued me. Because I wasn’t anything. I was an image. I was a picture. I was a pose.”

    On her belief the prior-mentioned leprechauns and other things:

        “I like believing. I believe in all of these Irish myths, like leprechauns. Not the pot of gold, not the Lucky Charms leprechauns. But maybe was there something in the traditional sense? I believe that this stuff came from somewhere other than people’s imaginations … Loch Ness monster? There’s something to it. … I [also] believe in aliens.”

    On the bible:

        “I’ve read the Book of Revelation a million times,” Megan Fox says. “It does not make sense, obviously. It needs to be decoded. What is the dragon? What is the prostitute? What are these things? What is this imagery? What was John seeing? And I was just thinking, What is the Antichrist?”

    And, ahem, on speaking tongues in church:

        “I have seen magical, crazy things happen. I’ve seen people be healed. Even now, in the church I go to, during Praise and Worship I could feel that I was maybe getting ready to speak in tongues, and I’d have to shut it off because I don’t know what that church would do if I started screaming out in tongues in the back.”

    London helicopter crash Two die in Vauxhall crane accident

    Two people were killed and 12 were injured when a helicopter crashed into a crane in central London.

    Police said the helicopter hit the crane on top of The Tower, One St George Wharf at about 08:00 GMT.

    About 80 firefighters were at the scene near Wandsworth Road in South Lambeth. Pilot Pete Barnes was killed in the crash, while the other person killed was on the ground.

    The pilot had asked to be diverted to a nearby heliport because of bad weather.

    Jon Horne, chief executive of Redhill Aerodrome Ventures, where the helicopter began its flight at 07:35, said it was owned by the Rotormotion private charter firm.

    Metropolitan Police Commander Neil Basu told BBC News it was "miraculous" the crash was not much worse.

    Burning wreckage lay in the road but the fire was brought under control within 25 minutes, the fire brigade said.

    Five people were taken to hospital. One had a broken leg and the others had minor injuries. Seven people were treated at the scene.

    Pauline Cranmer, from London Ambulance Service, said: "There were a number of injuries that would potentially be consistent with being hit by debris."

    The Civil Aviation Authority said pilots had previously been notified of the crane involved in the crash.

    White House now requires ‘We the People’ petitions to have 100,000 signatures for official response


    President Barack Obama’s deputies have quadrupled the number of signatures that petitioners on the administration’s “We the People” website must collect to get an official response from the White House, following a series of popular, provocative and disrespectful signature drives by his critics.

    Some of the petitions sought approval for states to secede after Obama’s re-election, while others called on the White House to disavow executive orders that restrict gun rights, or to deport CNN’s British-born, progressive host Piers Morgan.

    “Starting today, as we move into a second term, petitions must receive 100,000 signatures in 30 days in order to receive an official response from the Obama Administration,” said an early evening Jan. 15 statement from Macon Phillips, the White House’s digital strategy director.


    Usage of the petition site has spiked since the election, partly because more than 600,000 people have signed various secession petitions. (RELATED: Secession petitions deluge White House website) “In the first 10 months of 2012, it took an average of 18 days for a new petition to cross the 25,000-signature threshold,” said Macon’s statement. “In the last two months of the year, that average time was cut in half to just 9 days, and most petitions that crossed the threshold collected 25,000 signatures within five days of their creation.”

    Pregnant Amber Rose Shows Off Huge Baby Bump

    Just last week, Amber Rose shared a photo of her sizable baby bump (in fact, tweeting bare-belly pictures seems to be a trend for pregnant celebrities lately).

    And now comes another glimpse of the mama-to-be, who looks as if she's due any moment. Rose, 29, stepped out to a salon in West Hollywood, Calif., Monday, looking ready to pop in a black Lycra ensemble and pink leather jacket.

    The model and fiance Wiz Khalifa, 25, recently made headlines for their candid remarks about how Khalifa's penchant for pot will affect their parenting.

    "Of course, I'm not going to be smoking right there over the baby, because smoke in general and being high is not good for a kid. None of that," Khalifa told E! News. "But definitely he's going to know what it is—and he'll know the difference between being a child and not being able to use it and being an adult and knowing how to use it."

    Stacie Halas, California Teacher Fired For Porn Star Past, Loses Appeal

    A middle-school science teacher fired after students learned she had appeared in pornographic movies had hoped not just to get her job back, but to set a precedent for people looking to escape an embarrassing personal history.

    A three-judge commission put a decisive stop to both, saying firmly and unanimously that Stacie Halas should not be in the classroom.

    "We were hoping we could show you could overcome your past," Halas lawyer Richard Schwab said Tuesday. "I think she's representative of a lot of people who may have a past that may not involve anything illegal or anything that hurts anybody."

    Judge Julie Cabos-Owen said such a past matters in an age when technology makes porn easy to access and hard to bury.

    "Although her pornography career has concluded, the ongoing availability of her pornographic materials on the Internet will continue to impede her from being an effective teacher and respected colleague," Cabos-Owen said in the 46-page decision issued Friday by the Commission on Professional Competence.

    Halas, 32, was continually deceitful about her nine-month career in porn before she went to work at the school, the judges said.

    Schwab said Halas "was being honest and forthright, but was embarrassed and humiliated by her past experience in the adult industry."

    Halas was fired in April from her job as a science teacher at Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard after online videos of her in porn were discovered by students and teachers.

    Student claims that the teacher was moonlighting as a porn star were initially dismissed after school officials said they couldn't find any images of her on the Internet – but they were using the school's computers, which don't allow access to porn.

    Teachers then showed administrators downloads of Halas' sex videos from their smartphones.

    In hearings, former assistant principal Wayne Saddler testified that at the start of a sex video, Halas talked about being a teacher and he felt her effectiveness in the classroom had been compromised.

    Porn star teacher 'Tiffany Six' loses appeal to get job back

    A former porn star teacher who went by the name of "Tiffany Six" lost her appeal to get her job back, according to a Jan. 16 My Fox 8 report. When students discovered Stacie Halas, a middle school biology teacher, had a porn star past, she was removed from her classroom at Haydock Intermediate School in Oxnard.

    Even so, the former porn star turned teacher appealed to get her job back despite her adult film past. However, the three judge panel denied petition made by Stacie Halas and her lawyer. Her lawyer Richard Schwab said,

        "We were hoping we could show you could overcome your past. I think she’s representative of a lot of people who may have a past that may not involve anything illegal or anything that hurts anybody."
    It does seem that people deserve a chance to overcome their past, but one of the problems is that Stacie Halas was not up front about her porn star past as "Tiffany Six" when she applied for her teaching position. It is possible that former porn stars will not be able to effectively teach in middle schools.

        "Although her pornography career has concluded, the ongoing availability of her pornographic materials on the Internet will continue to impede her from being an effective teacher and respected colleague."

    It certainly does pose a problem when students can access explicit films featuring their teachers. What do you think? Should this porn star teacher formerly known as "Tiffany Six" be allowed to remain in the classroom? What about other former adult film stars? Is the avenue of teacher completely closed for them?

    Florida property rights showdown lands at the Supreme Court

    A land battle that has been raging for nearly two decades landed Tuesday at the Supreme Court, which will decide whether the government went too far in regulating a development in Florida.

    Coy Koontz in the 1970s bought a parcel of land, the majority of which later was classified a wetland. When he sought a permit to develop a portion of it in the 1990s, the Florida agency in charge of the area said Koontz would need to take steps to remediate the damage he would cause.

    Koontz offered to give the agency 11 of the 15 acres, in exchange for a permit to develop the remaining land. In addition, the state government said he would need to undertake other improvements. Options ranged from numerous changes to the original plot to paying for enhancement of 50 government-owned acres miles away from the Koontz plot.

    Though Koontz continued to offer the 11 acres, he refused to go along with the government's other requirements and decided to sue.

    On Tuesday, the justices at the Supreme Court considered whether the land dispute amounts to a "taking" -- whether by denying Koontz the opportunity to further develop his land unless he spent thousands to meet government demands, it deprived him of its potential value.

    His attorneys called the offer a "government shakedown,” but the government’s lawyers say Koontz simply walked away and refused to negotiate. Koontz has since died, and his son -- Coy Koontz Jr. -- has continued the case.

    Though Koontz Jr. and his legal team felt confident following the arguments Tuesday, they had to acknowledge the tough questions from Justice Antonin Scalia. Arguably one of the court's most conservative justices, he seemed unconvinced that the government's actions violated the Fifth Amendment.

    "I can't see where there's a taking here," Scalia said, adding, "Nothing's been taken."

    But his colleague, Justice Anthony Kennedy, seemed to think the Koontz case is the classic example of an unlawful, unconstitutional taking, asking why the government can "force you, as a condition to using your property to its highest and best use, to pay them money?"

    Koontz Jr. says he never considered dropping the fight.

    "It is important for anyone to understand that the government can at times be a creeping blob, absorbing your rights, and hopefully this will at least put a halt to that," Koontz Jr. said as he stood on the plaza in front of the Supreme Court.

    How 19-year-old activist Zack Kopplin is making life hell for Louisiana’s creationists

    For Zack Kopplin, it all started back in 2008 with the passing of the Louisiana Science Education Act. The bill made it considerably easier for teachers to introduce creationist textbooks into the classroom. Outraged, he wrote a research paper about it for a high school English class. Nearly five years later, the 19-year-old Kopplin has become one of the fiercest — and most feared — advocates for education reform in Louisiana. We recently spoke to him to learn more about how he's making a difference.

    Kopplin, who is studying history at Rice University, had good reason to be upset after the passing of the LSEA — an insidious piece of legislation that allows teachers to bring in their own supplemental materials when discussing politically controversial topics like evolution or climate change. Soon after the act was passed, some of his teachers began to not just supplement existing texts, but to rid the classroom of established science books altogether. It was during the process to adopt a new life science textbook in 2010 that creationists barraged Louisiana's State Board of Education with complaints about the evidence-based science texts. Suddenly, it appeared that they were going to be successful in throwing out science textbooks.
    A pivotal moment

    How 19-year-old activist Zack Kopplin is making life hell for Louisiana's creationists "This was a pivotal moment for me," Kopplin told io9. "I had always been a shy kid and had never spoken out before — I found myself speaking at a meeting of an advisory committee to the State Board of Education and urging them to adopt good science textbooks — and we won." The LSEA still stood, but at least the science books could stay.

    No one was more surprised of his becoming a science advocate than Kopplin himself. In fact, after writing his English paper in 2008 — when he was just 14-years-old — he assumed that someone else would publicly take on the law. But no one did.

    "I didn't expect it to be me," he said. "By my senior year though, I realized that no one was going to take on the law, so for my high school senior project I decided to get a repeal bill."

    Indeed, it was the ensuing coverage of the science textbook adoption issue that launched Kopplin as an activist. It also gave him the confidence to start the campaign to repeal the LSEA.

    Encouraged by Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University — and a staunch critic of intelligent design and the Discovery Institute — Kopplin decided to write a letter that could be signed by Nobel laureate scientists in support of the repeal. To that end, he contacted Sir Harry Kroto, a British chemist who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Curl and Richard Smalley. Kroto helped him to draft the letter — one that has now been signed by 78 Nobel laureates.

    In addition, Kopplin has introduced two bills to repeal the LSEA, both of which have been sponsored by State Senator Karen Carter Peterson. He plans on producing a third bill later this spring. And along with the Nobel laureates, he has the support of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), New Orleans City Council, and many others.

    But as the early results of his efforts have shown, it's not going to be an easy battle.

    "We've had gains over the last few years," he says, "But our first attempt to repeal the LSEA was defeated 5-1 in committee, and in our second attempt we lost 2-1." Kopplin is hoping to get out of committee this year.

    He also has his eyes set on vouchers. After an Alternet story came out about a school in the Louisiana voucher program teaching that the Loch Ness Monster was real and disproved evolution, Kopplin looked deeper into the program and found that this wasn't just one school, but at least 19 other schools, too.

    School vouchers, he argues, unconstitutionally fund the teaching of creationism because many of the schools in these programs are private fundamentalist religious schools who are teaching creationism.

    Selena Gomez Golden Globes Newly Single Singer Looks Sexy At After-Party

    The newly single singer continued to show Justin Bieber what he's missing -- not that she wants him back -- with another super-sexy dress.


    Dressed in a gold Atelier Versace dress, the 20-year-old hit up both the Weinstein Company party and the InStyle/Warner Bros. soiree following the 2013 Golden Globes on Sunday night.

    Gomez is enjoying the single life, and showed up to the party with pal and "Spring Breakers" co-star Vanessa Hudgens, who wowed in a sequined Jenny Packham dress with a plunging neckline.

    selena gomez golden globes

    Kim Kardashian's Pregnancy Starting To Show

    Since announcing that she and beau Kanye West are expecting a child, Kim Kardashian has been hiding her curves more than usual. Just last week, she was spotted at the airport in a flowy ensemble that looked way more comfortable than the tight-fitting leather pieces that are de rigueur for the reality star.

    But when Kim headed to brunch with her sister Kourtney's boyfriend, Scott Disick, in Calabasas, Calif., Sunday, she sported a formfitting white dress that revealed the beginnings of a baby bump.

    The expectant couple recently celebrated the big news with a "babymoon" in Paris.

    Sarah Hyland Golden Globes 2013 'Modern Family' Actress Flaunts Cleavage

    We often forget that "Modern Family" actress Sarah Hyland only plays a teen on TV.

    The 22-year-old actress looked stunning in a cleavage-baring dress on the red carpet at the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. Hyland looked nothing but glam, calm and in control when she chatted with Ryan Secreast, but she spent the morning dealing with a bit of drama.

    "Don't you love it when you wake up with hives all over your face? #morningoftheglobes," Hyland tweeted earlier today.

    The actress is nominated along with the rest of her TV family for Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy -- the same award they picked up at last year's show.

    Jodie Foster Speech Retirement Speculation At Golden Globes

    Jodie Foster gave an impassioned, rambling speech at the Golden Globes Sunday night after her receiving her Cecil B. Demille award for lifetime achievement. Whether it was a coming-out speech or she was hinting at retirement from Hollywood was hard to tell, but Twitter lit up with speculation that she had just announced the end of her career.

    The actress fueled retirement rumors when she bemoaned the lack of privacy in Hollywood today.

    "Privacy — maybe someday in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was," Foster said. "I have given everything out there, from the time I was three years old. That is reality enough."

    "I am not Honey Boo Boo Child," she added.

    Minutes later, Foster's Wikipedia page was updated to reflect her recent retirement, but when the LA Times' Amy Kaufman asked the actress about it, she laughed it off.

    Catarina Migliorini Nekkid With a Teddy Bear And Nothing Like a Virgin in the Brazilian Bunny

    Wow, it seems like just yesterday (or 2012) that Brazilian virgin Catarina Migliorini was selling her ne'er touched lady plum to the highest bidder who apparently paid $750K+ to go where no man has gone before.

    It all seems kind of nonsensical, that is until you see Catarina and her teddy bear in Playboy Brazil, where the supposedly no longer pure young hottie does all sorts of preening, prancing, and downright romancing her stuffed buddy in a series of sights we can only describe as unforgettable. Just epic, downright epic. Enjoy.

    Brooklyn Resident Wins Miss America Crown

    A 23-year-old blonde from Brooklyn, N.Y., won the Miss America crown Saturday night after deftly dealing with a question about armed guards in schools and raising the issue of child sexual abuse in her contestant platform.

    En route to her victory in the Las Vegas pageant, Mallory Hagan also tap danced to James Brown's "Get Up Off of That Thing," strutted down the runway in an asymmetrical white gown, and donned a revealing black string bikini.

    She defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

    Hagan wins a $50,000 college scholarship and a year as an instant celebrity and role model to many girls. Her platform, the issue she will promote during her reign, is fighting child sexual abuse.

    She told The Associated Press in an interview after her win that it was her mother who encouraged her to tackle the issue. She said that sexual abuse had "rippled through" her family, touching her mother, aunt, grandmother and cousins. Her mother had trouble at first convincing others of the trauma she had faced.

    "That kind of sent her into a whirlwind of anxiety and depression. So as a teen I lost my mom kind of for a couple years," she said. "She was dealing with her own issues, and that's something that now as an adult I understand, but then I certainly did not."

    During an interview backstage, Hagan's mother Mandy Moore wiped tears away as she spoke.

    "It's very overwhelming," she said. "It's all hitting me so fast."

    Hagan said she will work to make child abuse education mandatory in all 50 states.

    "It's something I can hopefully change for the next generation," she said.

    Hagan left her native Alabama for New York at 18 with less than $1,000 in her pocket. She began competing in pageants when she was 13 and tried for Miss New York in 2010 and 2011 before winning last year.

    She studied communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has been living in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.

    Hagan, who aspires to be a global cosmetic company executive, ends a long dry spell for New York in the competition. The previous winner from that state was actress Vanessa Williams, who became the first black winner when she took the crown in 1984. Hagan is the first Brooklyn-dweller to claim the title.

    She was good enough during preliminary contests for the 92nd annual Miss America pageant to be chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the main show. Her bid lasted through swimsuit, evening wear, and talent competitions that saw cuts after each round.

    In the final moments of the show, "Good Morning America" weatherman Sam Champion asked her if schools should hire armed guards in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting.

    "I don't think the proper was to fight violence is with violence," she replied. "I think the proper way is to educate people on guns and the ways we can use them properly. We can lock them up, we can have gun safety classes, we can have a longer waiting period."

    Hagan defeated titleholders from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Several of her competitors had grabbed headlines this year because of their backstories.

    Delilah Talks Brit Awards 2013 'They Are The Most Important British Music Awards'

    British singer-songwriter Delilah is hotly tipped to make waves at this year's Brit Awards, after the release of her debut album and a support slot with Prince in Australia in 2012.

    Ahead of the 2013 nominations announcement on Thursday, we asked for her Brits predictions and found out what's in store for the rising star this year...

    Who do you hope will be nominated for a Brit Award?

    Emeli Sande will be up for Best Female and maybe Florence Welch as well. Best Album maybe Lianne La Havas, for Best Single I think Calvin Harris will be in there somewhere and One Direction as well.

    What do you think of your own chances? What would it mean to you?

    I haven't really thought about it. I would like to be nominated so we'll see. I'm not nervous, I'll be disappointed but there is always next year.

    How important are the Brits these days? Does being nominated make a real difference?

    I think they are the most important British music awards. They are much more commercial and have the power to really elevate an artist. The Mercurys are more critically acclaimed... but I think the Brits really highlight your accomplishments to the public.

     Delilah Talks Brit Awards 2013
    What's your favourite Brits performance?

    I loved Adele's performance of 'Someone Like You'. I really liked Rihanna's performance with all the paint. Every year there are amazing artists.

    Do you think we'll see anything controversial this year?

    I'm not sure, I think there will always be a great production. I'd like to see an artist do a stripped back performance this year as well as all the lights.

    How would you describe your music to those that haven't heard it?

    I would say its dark, melodic, soulful pop.

    Have you got a favourite music video of all time? And what video would you like to remake?

    'Bad' by Michael Jackson would be funny with my friends, if we did a comedic version.

    Do you ever crack up when you are doing your emotional and serious videos?

    You always have some laughing. I've done some quite risque videos, which have been edited really well so they are never too provocative. But I rolled around for 12 hours with a very good looking man. I met him the day before and I had to pretend he was my lover, it required a lot of acting even though he was gorgeous. It was a lot of fun. I'm proud of a lot of my videos. We kept in touch for a bit, we're good friends he's an amazing dancer, he does Stomp.

    You supported Prince on his tour - what advice, if any, has he given you about the music industry?

    He didn't give me any advice. We just hang out and became good friends. There was no "this is how you do it" he was just a fan. He was really normal, obviously he has his eccentricities but he was really hospitable and kind.

    What do you hope to achieve in 2013?

    My new album is released this year, lots of singles and some more great videos. I want to do some really challenging videos and a top five or three, or even number one, would be amazing. Just keep pushing to be bigger and better I think.

    The music is definitely still very me, it's dark which is my real signature but I've grown a lot in the last four years and most of my old songs were written between 14 and 17 so since then a lot has changed in my life.

    Delilah has teamed up with Mastercard to offer one fan the chance to remake of one of her videos. Fans will get to shoot it, sing it and be their favourite artist for the day, as well as meeting their idols at The BRIT Awards on the 20th of February. Competition details can be found here.

    NUS' Kelley Temple On The Struggle To Educate Misogynistic Students

    "If men can't grope women in clubs, they're more likely to progress onto rape," Kelley Temple, the women's officer for students was once told - and that's just a snapshot of the battle she's facing against misogyny on campuses.

    "Universities simply don't take sexism seriously enough," she tells The Huffington Post UK. "The problem is no-one really understands. Sometimes there is an attempt to tackle the symptom of the problem. Very rarely is there an attempt to tackle it from the root.

    "Part of it comes from not really understanding the situation." Temple says this is the reason the NUS has commissioned Sussex University to conduct research into misogyny on campus and "lad cultures", which will be published in March. "We need to understand what the problems look like and decide how to tackle them," she continues.

    "Women's officers spend a lot of time in their positions essentially battling the symptoms of lad culture and continuously having to tackle the issue of lad's mags objectifying women or sexist adverts in student unions. They spend so much time trying to tackle them but the same problems keep coming up.

    "It's very difficult to make people understand the harm that this culture is creating."

    One in seven female students have experienced a serious physical or sexual assault during their time at university, according to the NUS' Hidden Marks report, which was published in 2012. Kelley says there are problems embedded in a misogynistic culture which are simply laughed off as "banter", meaning sexual assault on women is not treated seriously enough.

    "In the past, sexism was in a very overt way, quite acceptable and normalised. Because of the success of a lot of feminists, it's become a lot acceptable to become openly sexist. But it hasn't disappeared, it hasn't gone away, it just manifests itself so it becomes a lot more covert and it exists under different guises and forms.

    "One of those forms is "banter". What that is, when you try and apply humour you can say 'Oh but it's just ironic, I don't really mean this'."

    Kelley uses the infamous quote from self-proclaimed "lad magazine" Uni Lad, which joked:

    John Wilkinson Dead Rhythm Guitarist For Elvis Presley Dies At 67

    Rhythm guitar player John Wilkinson, who performed with Elvis Presley more than a thousand times, has died at his home in southwest Missouri. He was 67.

    Wilkinson passed away Friday at his home in Springfield after a fight with cancer, according to a family spokesman and the Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home. Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley offered their "deepest sympathy" to his family, saying in a statement that "John and the beautiful music he made with Elvis will live forever in our hearts."

    Wilkinson first met Elvis Presley when he was 10 years old after sneaking into his dressing room before a show at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield. He amused Presley when he told him, "You can't play guitar worth a damn."

    Family friend and spokesman Gary Ellison said a Springfield history museum recalled the pair's meeting in an exhibit that ran until about three weeks ago.

    "John loved to tell that story," Ellison, a fellow musician, said Friday.

    After the chance meeting, Wilkinson developed a name for himself as a singer and guitarist, performing with such groups as The New Christy Minstrels.

    He was 23 when Presley saw him perform on a television show in Los Angeles in 1968, and asked him to join the TCB Band – not knowing he was the youngster who insulted his playing a decade earlier, Ellison recalled.

    Wilkinson went on to play 1,200 shows as Presley's rhythm guitar player until the legendary singer's death in 1977.

    "John considered Elvis more as a friend than as a boss," Ellison said.

    Even after suffering a stroke in 1989 that left him unable to play the guitar, Wilkinson continued singing with fellow musicians, including the old TCB Band (the acronym stood for Taking Care of Business), and also made a living in retail and airline services management.

    "He was honestly one of the best acoustic guitar players I'd ever heard," Ellison recalled, adding that Wilkinson kept in touch with many of the performers from the folk music era in the late 1960s and early `70s.

    A statement from the family, released through Ellison, said Wilkinson also was proud of the fact that he never turned down a request for an autograph.

    "It didn't matter if he was meeting adoring fans, joking with Chuck Berry about keeping his B-string in tune, or if he was talking to a neighbor about her dog, people were people to him," the statement said.

    Sofia Vergara’s Emmy Wardrobe Malfunction Reveals Just How Amazing Her Butt Really Is

    She may have been one of the hottest stars on the red carpet in her stunning Zuhair Murad aquamarine gown at the Emmys 2012, but no one would have guessed that Sofia Vergara experienced a disastrous wardrobe malfunction just before stepping onto the red carpet.

    The 40-year-old sexy Modern Family actress suffered a terrible fashion faux pas just 20 minutes before hitting the bash where her hit TV show triumphed, sharing snaps of her mishap on Twitter of a broken back zip.

    Renowned for her famous hour-glass figure and killer curves, Sofia's derriere proved too voluptuous for its own good as the high end designer dress failed to contain it.

    The actress tweeted a snap of the hilarious wardrobe malfunction with the caption: ''Yes!!!! This happend 20 min before we won!!!! Jajajajja. I luv my life!!!!''

    Sofia, in high spirits, later thanked her wardrobe team for helping her through the traumatising slip up before she headed onto the stage to pick up the gong for Outstanding Comedy for her show Modern Family, for the third consecutive year.

    She wrote: ''20 min Modern Family won!! Dress malfuncion !!! Thank you emergency team!!''

    But even if Sofia had collected her award with the Tom Kitten style rip in her dress, she would have still been the sexiest red carpet goer at the bash in the feminine number that did wonders for her figure.

    Sofia Vergara's famous curves proved too much for her designer gown last night - after her dress split open, right over her derriere.

    The Modern Family star suffered a wardrobe malfunction just 20 minutes before her hit TV show won a prestigious gong at the Emmy Awards.

    The 40-year-old actress shared pictures of her fashion mishap on her Twitter page, showing the busted back zip of her Zuhair Murad teal cut-out gown.

    Sofia Vergara Talks Golden Globes Wardrobe Malfunction Possibility

    Between her many nominations and choices of glamorous dresses, awards season is an exciting time time for "Modern Family" actress Sofia Vergara.

    But Vergara, who has now scored three Golden Globe and three Emmy nods for her portrayal of Colombian-born bombshell Gloria on "Modern Family," doesn't have the best track record when it comes to keeping her curve-hugging gowns intact.

    Two days before the 2013 Golden Globes, Vergara spoke with HuffPost TV via phone to discuss what she would do to prevent another slip.

    "I always try, but some things happen that you cannot control," she said. "You know, it's a lot of a drama. You get in and out of cars and run because you're late backstage, and you have to try to go to the bathroom with those dresses. It's hard! They get a lot of wear and tear. It's a big possibility that things happen."

    Just moments before "Modern Family" nabbed the award for Best Comedy at the 2012 Emmys, Vergara's teal Zuhair Murad split down the rear.

    Kardashian Khroma Beauty Line Draws $10 Million Lawsuit

    Uh-oh! This can't be good for Kim Kardashian's mental health as the mommy-to-be is busy house-hunting and shopping for shoes with beau Kanye West.

    After facing trademark infringement allegations last year for their Khroma Beauty line, the Kardashian sisters have been hit with hefty lawsuit. Celebrity makeup artist Lee Tillett is seeking $10 million in damages from the fashionable trio and Boldface Licensing + Branding, the company that owns Khroma Beauty's license, for allegedly swiping the name of her cosmetics line and adding an "h."

    The Orlando Sentinel reports that Tillett, who launched Kroma Makeup in 2004, filed the suit this Wednesday in a Los Angeles federal court. She had previously filed a cease and desist letter back in June to Boldface Licensing + Branding, taking action one step further than Chroma Makeup.

    "I developed the Kroma line myself, built my business through my own hard work, and took the legal steps necessary to protect it," Tillett said in a press statement. "And yet I have now been forced into legal battle with the Kardashians simply because they have decided to take something that doesn't belong to them."

    While Boldface had told The Huffington Post last October that they too had gone through the necessary legal steps to secure their name, Tillett is preparing to protect her brand's name and money at all costs.

    What do you think of the latest development in the Khroma Beauty legal battle? Do you think the Kardashians should pay up? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

    Meanwhile, check out some celebrities who've had more successful ventures into the beauty world!

    Lindsay Lohan On New York Times Article I Did Not Drink And Drive

    If you've read the recent New York Times Magazine profile of Lindsay Lohan, you may have wondered how the actress feels about the piece. Well, wonder no more, because, according to sources, she's fine with it.

    Despite what many would say is a brutally honest portrait of Lohan's troubled career, sources tell TMZ that the "Mean Girls" actress acknowledges that the details in the story are true. Those close to Lohan say she admits to having been late to the set of "The Canyons," nervous to get undressed and argumentative with producers. The one thing sources say she adamantly rejects, however, is the portion in which she reportedly drinks and drives.

    Lohan says most of what the story describes is standard practice in Hollywood, but she insists the drinking-and-driving portion is malarkey. Lohan claims she did not drink on set and then drive a car afterward, one of the article's several instances of Lohan wreaking havoc while shooting the movie. TMZ reports that friends of Lohan said the actress feels she is more responsible than that.

    Lohan reportedly is not mad about the story, which chronicles the filming of the salacious Bret Easton Ellis-penned movie as it revolves around Lohan's notorious troubles. She says she's already been approached by "Canyons" director Paul Schrader to star in another of his movies.

    2013 Critics' Choice Awards Skin Is In!

    The ladies at Thursday's Critics' Choice Awards definitely took a page from Taylor Swift's book, hitting the red carpet in gowns with plunging necklines and exposed cleavage.

    "Silver Linings Playbook" star Jennifer Lawrence looked her best in a black gown with strategic cutout. "Zero Dark Thirty's" Jessica Chastain looked radiant in red, while Jaime King turned heads in black.

    Even Sally Field dared to go with a plunging neckline, proving sixty-something are still sexy!

    The red carpet was also the public debut of one couple we never expected to see together: MMA fighter-turned-actress Gina Carano and "Man of Steel" Henry Cavill.

    Click on the "Launch Gallery" above to see even more stars, including Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey and Eva Longoria!

    Beyoncé Can’t Even Comprehend Her Power Photo

    Beyoncé graced the latest edition of GQ. You can read the two page profile here and learn about all the crazy stuff she believes in. Like the empowerment of women. Just kidding. Anyway, she goes into detail about the existence of a digital archive of her entire life. Whatever she wants, be it an interview, a performance or what she had for dinner on Tuesday, she can pull up with the click of a button. It’s actually pretty amazing.

    The high point of the article comes at the end with a quote from Beyoncé about the power she wields. ”I now know that, yes, I am powerful,” she says. “I’m more powerful than my mind can even digest and understand.”

    After she said that, the clouds parted, transcendent music played and a ray of light enveloped her as she sprouted angel wings and ascended into heaven. Actually, it was just Jay-Z shining a flashlight above her while her assistant played the harp and attached costume angel wings to her. This interview is over!

    Hannity foresees states leaving union if federal government continues ‘radicalized, abusive’ pattern

    On his Friday radio show, conservative talker and Fox News host Sean Hannity warned that the United States may fall apart if tax rates remain high.

    “The states are now fighting and battling against their own federal government,” Hannity said. ”Same thing with individuals. If you live in a state like New York, New Jersey, California [or] one of these high-tax states [where] 60-plus cents of every dollar goes to taxes, you’ll say, ‘What the hell am I doing this for?’”

    “A lot of people have told me that,” Hannity continued. “A lot of people are moving. … I noticed that Bobby Jindal moved to remove his state income tax. He’s not stupid. You know what’s going to happen in Louisiana? The same thing that is happening in Texas and Florida — their populations are soaring. They’re doing a lot better. State governments are fine. They’re surviving. They don’t have the property taxes they do in New York, which is obscene. In New York, you just pay and pay and pay and pay.”

    States with lower taxes may soon decide they want to stop shouldering the burden of states with higher taxes, Hannity warned.

    “People that are fed up with a power hungry, radicalized, abusive federal government intruding into every aspect of our lives,” Hannity continued. “People are going to say they’re fed up, and states are going to want more liberty and more freedom. They’re not going to want to tax their citizens to death anymore. If this pattern continues and gets worse and worse and worse, I can see at some point the states saying, ‘Forget it. I don’t want to be a part of this union anymore.’”

    Hannity rejected the idea that secession is necessarily a “radical concept,” arguing that the Declaration of Independence is itself a “radical document.”

    “There is a tipping point in all of these debates,” he said. “Now, politically speaking, that means people are going to be thrown out of office, I hope. But if not, there are going to be people in more conservative states that have had enough. I can see a state like Utah saying, ‘Enough is enough,’ [and] a state like Texas saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ I absolutely can.”

    “A lot of people [are] getting sick” of President Barack Obama’s executive orders on matters like immigration policy, Hannity added.

    Evan Rachel Wood Pregnant: Actress Expecting Baby With Jamie Bell

    Evan Rachel Wood is pregnant! Us Weekly reports that the "True Blood" actress, 25, is expecting her first child with British actor Jamie Bell, 26. Bell most notably appeared as the titular character in the 2000 film "Billy Elliot."

    "Evan Rachel Wood and husband Jamie Bell confirmed they are expecting their first child later this year. The couple is thrilled," a rep for the actress told the publication.

    Wood and Bell married on Oct. 30, 2011 in an intimate ceremony with friends and family in California. Shortly thereafter, Wood denied rumors that she was pregnant, going so far as to tweet in November: "Sorry to disappoint! But no baby on the way here."

    On Friday, Wood recognized the irony of that statement on the social network, writing: "Remember when i said, 'No baby on the way here' Well I didn't know there actually was!"

    The soon-to-be parents met in 2005 while shooting a music video for Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends." Wood was previously engaged to singer Marilyn Manson, whom she dated from 2006 to 2010.

    Kate Middleton: Official Portrait By Paul Emsley Of The Duchess Of Cambridge Revealed

    The Duchess of Cambridge's first official portrait was has been unveiled - and was described by Kate as "amazing".

    Award-winning artist Paul Emsley created the large head and shoulders painting of the duchess set against his trademark dark background.

    Kate's painting was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery and, following her suggestion, depicts her natural, not official, persona.

    The official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge, by Paul Emsley

    The Duchess, who wore a burgundy dress by Whistles, was joined by her husband the Duke for a private viewing of the painting this morning before it goes on display to the public this afternoon.

    The royal couple spent around 10 minutes looking at the portrait privately then met Emsley and his wife Susanne and daughter Marie.

    Kate has been suffering from a rare form of pregnancy sickness but looked well and smiled as she chatted to the artist.

    She told him: "It's just amazing, I thought it was brilliant."

    William also had high praise for the painting, saying: "It's beautiful, it's absolutely beautiful."

    The Cambridges later attended a private breakfast reception at the London gallery to mark the unveiling.

    Among the guests were Kate's parents Carole and Michael Middleton and her brother and sister Pippa and James.

    Taylor Swift's Studio Tweet Singer Hits Lab After Harry Styles Break Up

    In a tweet heard around the worlds of teens, pop music fans and gossip mongers, Taylor Swift announced that she was indeed back in the studio. Swift, who put out her massively successful album "Red" in October, doesn't really have any business recording new material. Except for the fact that she's once again newly single.

    The 23-year-old is known for lacing her lyrics with digs at her ex-boyfriends, most of whom are quite famous. To date, the singer reportedly counts John Mayer (who's 35), Jake Gyllenhaal (32), Joe Jonas, Cory Monteith, Toby Hemingway, Zac Efron, Eddie Redmayne, Conner Kennedy, Taylor Lautner and a veritable coterie of other actors and musicians among her former lovers. She's dated so many famous blokes that the boys in The Wanted have suggested she might want to just take a break.

    It follows, then, that Swift is just letting everyone know she's in the studio writing about her breakup with One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles. Don't worry about Styles, though: He's headed off on a buddy trip with newly outed weed aficionado Justin Bieber. World, carry on.

    The Easiest, Cheapest Way to Stay Healthy

    An easy action that takes just 20 seconds can cut your risk for catching a cold, flu or other contagious diseases by up to 51 percent, recent studies show. And if everyone made it a regular habit, one million deaths a year would be prevented, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which calls this habit the single most important way to avoid spreading infection.

    Frequent hand washing with soap and water can save you money—and misery—by helping you avoid medical bills, missed workdays, or having to stay home with a sick child. And you’ll also protect your friends and family: A CDC survey found that 40 million Americans a year fall prey to illnesses spread by hands, which can harbor up to 500,000 bacteria per square centimeter.

    The 11 Germiest Places in Your Home
    Clean Hands Save Lives

    Not only does lathering up protect you from respiratory illnesses like colds, but it also helps ward off more serious conditions, including hepatitis A, meningitis, and potentially life-threatening superbug infections, such as MRSA. Overall, 80 percent of all infectious diseases are spread by touch.

    Here are just a few research findings that illustrate the protective power of clean hands:

        Kids who washed their hands four times a day had 25 percent fewer school absences due to contagious diseases and 57 percent fewer sick days due to GI bugs.
        When 40,000 Navy recruits were instructed to wash their hands five times a day, their rate of respiratory infections fell by 45 percent, according to a study published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
        A 2011 study found that when students disinfected their hands three times a day with ethanol gel sanitizer, there was a 66 percent drop in pupils who missed four or more days due to illness and a 20 percent rise in students with zero absences, compared to data from the previous year.
        Hand washing reduces risk for colds and other respiratory illnesses by 21 percent, according to the CDC.
        Washing with soap and water lowers risk for diarrhea and severe or fatal intestinal infections by up to 59 percent, a systematic review published in Lancet reported.

    Chelsea Handler Playboy Photos Leaked

    Chelsea Handler is an American stand-up comedian, humorist, television host, actress, and best-selling author. She recently given sexy scene to playboy magazine. The pictures of Chelsea handler for playboy are spread over the Internet. 34-year-old Chelsea Handler playboy photos for Playboy’s Magazine December cover.

    The big reveal tonight on The Jay Leno Show, joking with the host that Handler pop was going to love it “because he thinks I’m very sexual.”, “We need the guy that airbrushed me to come back,” she cracked. Chelsea Handler nVde photos in Playboy Magazine Here.

    Chelsea Handler Playboy Photos
    But Chelsea Handler needs her brush and makeup man to get her ready for such bold and indeed beautiful photographs. This was evident when Jay Leno asked her to give some similar poses as she gave for the Playboy- of course with her cloths on- she developed cold feet.

    I can understand it needs hundreds of thousands of dollars to get someone as beautiful as Chelsea Handler to undress and pose nude before camera to be viewed by everyone.

    But I must admit she was as frank as she could be on Jay Leno show.

    Chelsea Handler has posed for Playboy’s December issue.

    Chelsea Handler is the television host of her own late night talk show “Chelsea Lately”, which airs on the E! network weeknights at 11:30pm.

    “Chelsea Lately” was first broadcast in July of 2007 and quickly became a hit with Chelsea Handler’s trademark blend of sarcasm and commentary on everything from politics to celebrity culture, averaging over half a million viewers.

    In October of 2008, it was announced that the program was renewed by E! and will run until 2009.

    The show’s format opens with a roundtable of 3 guests, followed by one-on-one interviews with actors and comedians, in addition to off-the-wall, humorous sketches. Recent guests have included Lance Bass, Jenny McCarthy, and Tom Bergeron, among others.

    Where you might not shop in 2013

    Christmas season was a disappointment. GDP growth is slowing. Taxes are going up. What’s the retail industry to do? There’s really only one choice: close more stores.

    Through the first nine months of 2012, closings were up 25% over the same period from the prior year (fourth quarter numbers aren’t available just yet). And Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail banker and consultant Davidowitz & Associates, expects roughly the same pace of closings in 2013.

    “The consumer is 70% of GDP. If growth is decelerating, how are you going to have (retail) growth? You’re not, you’re going to go on closing stores,” he says.

    For the healthy and unhealthy alike, store closings are part of the landscape. And probably will be at least a little while longer. Start with those retailers that are sliding away altogether.  Fashion Bug, the discount women’s apparel chain whose parent, Charming Shoppes, was recently bought by Ascena Retail Group, announced it will shut down all 600 stores. Ascena will concentrate on igniting sales and profits at Charming Shoppe’s other chains, Lane Bryant and Catherines.

    Meantime, closings continue at a fast clip for Blockbuster, the movie rental company whose business model has become o
    utdated in recent years. Parent Dish Network, which bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy in 2011, says it will drop another 500 stores, about a third of what remains. Analysts figure that unless Dish Network’s plan to sell mobile phones out of Blockbuster stores pans out, the remaining 1,000 locations may not last much longer either.

    And what’s left to say about Sears, the epic retail failure of hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert, which has lost money for years following a merger with Kmart? After spending a fortune buying back stock, only to see its value keep declining, Lampert, who just inserted himself as Sears’ CEO, is now monetizing by selling off some of his best real estate and shuttering stores. Sears Holdings announced 172 closures in 2012. Lambert publicly insists he’s committed to improving operations – the company has slashed inventory and spent money to equip sales people with iPads to help them provide quicker service to customers. But some analysts believe that slicing up the company and selling off assets is inevitable. Davidowitz figures it’s just a matter of time before Sears goes away as an operating company, with its stronger brands like Craftsman and Kenmore getting gobbled up by competitors.

    “I would call it an orderly liquidation,” he says.

    Even those retailers doing okay are dealing with excess capacity, at least in the U.S.  Abercrombie & Fitch, the profitable seller of casual apparel, is slated to close 180 stores through 2015. Most are unprofitable domestic mall-centered locations. The same is largely true of Gap, which is sitting on plenty of cash but announced another 100 store closings this year as part of a long-term U.S. downsizing that will claim approximately 700 stores between 2007 and 2013. Both Gap and Abercrombie are investing more heavily overseas as they pare down domestically.

    “Gap is making money and getting its product mix better,” says Davidowitz. “But it will still close about 100 stores a year.”  You could say the same for much of the industry.

    4 women found dead inside Oklahoma apartment, while 4-year-old left unharmed

      Police in Tulsa say four women have been found dead inside an apartment. A 4-year-old boy found in the same apartment was unharmed.

    Police spokeswoman Officer Jill Roberson says police received a 911 call shortly after 12:30 p.m. Monday about the victims. Roberson says officers found the women dead at the apartment on the city's south side. It was not immediately clear what relationship the boy has with the victims.

    Roberson says investigators are on the scene to identify the victims and determine how they died. The cause of death was not immediately released.

    Vidya Balan Showing Breast Through Transparent Top

    Vidya balan hot mallu actress in bollywood wearing a black transparent top n white bra inside which is clearly visible trough her top n showing her breast sizes.


    Vidya Balan Breast would soon be losing the assets she has been known for. This Bolly-babe is having a lot of problems due to the boob job which she had done few years ago. After Vidya Balan Boobs this surgery this gorgeous gal surely gained plus sized breasts but the actress is now thinking of reducing it back to normal. Sources reveal that due to heavy sized breasts she is having a lot of pain on her shoulders. This is the reason why doctors have advised Vidya Balan Assets to go through a surgery and reduce her bust size. The actress may have won best debutant award.: Vidya Balan Assets Wonder Car, but in her long career of four years it’s only 2006 release Dor that her acting talent were been appreciated by both the critics and masses.

    Total Pageviews