Second-time mom Kourtney Kardashian is back in a bikini after gaining 45-pounds while pregnant with her daughter, Penelope.

Kardashian put on a tiny purple bikini, showing off a flat stomach and toned thighs, for an Us Weekly exclusive on her weight loss.

The new mom, who gave birth to her second baby in July, dropped 44 pounds in just six months and rocked a gold bikini for the cover of Us Weekly.

"This time, the focus is really on being a mom and being present, knowing my priorities," Kardashian told the magazine.

She used celebrity fitness guru Tracy Anderson's 90-minute dance-focused exercises and cut her portions to get back down to 105 pounds.

”It took me twice as long as last time but I feel healthy and really much better about it,” Kardashian wrote on her Celebuzz blog.

Kourtney gave her sister, Kim, some of the credit for her getting back in such great shape after the baby.

"If she wasn't scheduling the workouts, I probably wouldn't have been as motivated," she told E! News of Kim helping her keep to a strict exercise regimen.

With Kim set to give birth in July, Kourtney will likely be able to teach her a thing or two about motherhood -- something Kim has dissed in the past.

"Mom life is so torturous," Kim told Kourtney in a recent episode of E!'s "Kourtney and Kim Take Miami." Adding, "I have a whole new perspective on how boring and miserable your lives are." She went on to say that she would "literally die" if she were to have kids right now, but later apologized and blamed the outburst on her own fertility fears.

At the time, she didn't know she was pregnant with Kanye's baby.

When "Silver Linings Playbook" star Jennifer Lawrence was accepting Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role at the 2013 SAG Awards on Sunday night, she remembered her first role: a television commercial for "My Super Sweet 16."

"I want to thank MTV," Lawrence said. "I'll explain that. I earned my SAG card when I was 14. I did an MTV promo for 'My Super Sweet 16.' And I remember getting it in the mail and it being the best day of my entire life, because it officially made me a professional actor, which put me in the category with all of you."

Lawrence was nominated in the category alongside Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Naomi Watts and Helen Mirren; she's the favorite to win Best Actress at the 85th annual Academy Awards on Feb. 24.

Watch Lawrence's lost MTV promos above. Check out her full SAG Awards acceptance speech by clicking here.

For a full SAG Awards report, check out HuffPost Entertainment's SAG coverage.

Illinois is the fourth state to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver's license with a new law signed by the governor.

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn signed the legislation Sunday surrounded by hundreds of supporters who say the measure will make Illinois' roads safer and expand opportunities for undocumented immigrants.

Quinn says people need a way to get to work, drive to the doctor and drive their children to school. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the new law should serve as a model for the nation.

New Mexico and Washington both issue licenses to undocumented immigrants, while Utah issues permits.

Illinois officials say the dissemination of the temporary licenses is expected to begin in October.

The legislation was billed as a public safety measure and had bipartisan support.

Tuesday's late night talk shows saw a lot of chatter about Beyonce's alleged lip-syncing of the National Anthem during President Obama's second inauguration. Both Jennifer Lopez and LeAnn Rimes weighed in on the discussion, and both of them sided with Beyonce, citing various reasons why lip-syncing is sometimes the right thing to do.

"There are times when people will ask you to do it and they will not let you do it unless you do it because they want control of what happens," Rimes said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Lopez cited a different reason pre-recorded audio is sometimes used during her appearance on "The Daily Show." "In certain venues they do pre-record things because you’re gonna have that terrible slapback."

Both women said that lip-syncing is simply something that all singers have to do at one point or another. But did Beyonce? While the singer has yet to comment on the controversy, she did post a photo to Instagram showing her with the sheet music to "The Star-Spangled Banner" in what looked like a recording studio. Perhaps she's not trying to hide anything about what happened.

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More people shoot themselves in the foot, get fired, or destroy promising careers by opening their big fat mouths than any other way. And that goes for communication of any kind: face-to-face, phone, email, text, you name it.

Executives and business leaders are especially adept at documenting stuff they shouldn't even be thinking, let alone doing. Don't ask me why, but it always seems to turn up in civil depositions, criminal investigations, and congressional hearings.

Here are recent examples:

In 2011, HP vice president Scott McClellan reportedly shared previously unreleased details of the company's cloud computing strategy on his public LinkedIn profile, tipping off competitors to confidential information that should have remained under wraps. McClellan, who had spent his entire 25-year career at HP, now works for Red Hat.

In the largest insider trading scandal in history, former McKinsey managing director Raj Gupta, AMD CEO Hector Ruiz, and IBM senior vice president Bob Moffat revealed confidential insider information to billionaire hedge-fund manager Raj Rajaratnam of Galleon. It didn't end well for any of them.

Granted, there's a broad spectrum of things you should never say at work, from pushing the limits of sexual harassment to risking an indictment for securities fraud. And these days, almost anything you say will offend someone by crossing some amorphous boundary of political correctness.

Nevertheless, if you like what you do for a living and don't want to end up pounding the pavement looking for a new line of work, here are nine things you should never, ever say at work. If you do, you're just asking for trouble.

"I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but ..." What follows is never good--and almost never legal. If you shouldn't be saying something, then don't.

"Do you really think we violate their intellectual property?" Unless it's in a documented attorney-client privileged communication, don't even think about saying anything like that.

Katy Perry brought more than just "Fireworks" to inauguration weekend.

The 28-year-old singer donned a patriotic ensemble as she performed at the Kids' Inauguration Ball on Saturday in Washington, D.C. The racy, curve-hugging one-piece she sported may seem an odd choice for entertaining a few thousand children and their parents, but at least she didn't sport her whipped cream-spewing bra, right?


Perry appeared alongside Usher and the cast of "Glee" at the fete, which was hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's wife Jill in honor of military families.

The only surprising thing about Perry's appearance at the star-studded weekend in the nation's capital is that she wasn't wearing a more partisan outfit. During the campaign last fall, Perry stumped for the President's re-election wearing Obama-themed looks. She wore a form-fitting white mini dress made to look like a voting ballot checked for the Obama-Biden ticket at a Las Vegas rally, and a rubber frock emblazoned with the campaign slogan "Forward" in Milwaukee.

The death toll from the terrorist siege at a natural gas plant in the Sahara climbed past 80 on Sunday as Algerian forces searching the refinery for explosives found dozens more bodies, many so badly disfigured it was unclear whether they were hostages or militants, a security official said.

Algerian special forces stormed the plant on Saturday to end the four-day siege, moving in to thwart what government officials said was a plot by the Islamic extremists to blow up the complex and kill all their captives with mines sown throughout the site.

In a statement, the Masked Brigade, the group that claimed to have masterminded the takeover, warned of more such attacks against any country backing France's military intervention in neighboring Mali, where the French are trying to stop an advance by Islamic extremists.

"We stress to our Muslim brothers the necessity to stay away from all the Western companies and complexes for their own safety, and especially the French ones," the statement said.

Algeria said after Saturday's assault by government forces that at least 32 extremists and 23 hostages were killed. On Sunday, Algerian bomb squads sent in to blow up or defuse the explosives found 25 more bodies, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

"These bodies are difficult to identify. They could be the bodies of foreign hostages or Algerians or terrorists," the official said.

In addition, a wounded Romanian who had been evacuated died, raising the overall death toll to at least 81.

"Now, of course, people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched a vicious and cowardly attack," British Prime Minister David Cameron said. Three Britons were killed and another three were feared dead.

The dead hostages were also known to include at least one American as well as Filipino and French workers. Nearly two dozen foreigners by some estimates were unaccounted for.

Actor Mark Salling has been sued by an ex-girlfriend who claims that the "Glee" star committed sexual battery by forcing her to have sex without a condom.

In her lawsuit, Roxanne Gorzela claims she began dating the 30-year-old in September 2010, according to TMZ, and in March 2011 she consented to have sex with him, but only with a condom. Salling reportedly ignored her demand and proceeded to "insert his penis into [her] vagina without a condom." Gorzela claims she protested and the actor stopped, but then re-engaged for a second time without a condom.

Gorzela proceeded to call and text Salling to ask if he had been tested for STDs, according to E! News. He failed to return her messages, so she went to his house to confront him.Actor Mark Salling has been sued by an ex-girlfriend who claims that the "Glee" star committed sexual battery by forcing her to have sex without a condom.

In her lawsuit, Roxanne Gorzela claims she began dating the 30-year-old in September 2010, according to TMZ, and in March 2011 she consented to have sex with him, but only with a condom. Salling reportedly ignored her demand and proceeded to "insert his penis into [her] vagina without a condom." Gorzela claims she protested and the actor stopped, but then re-engaged for a second time without a condom.

Gorzela proceeded to call and text Salling to ask if he had been tested for STDs, according to E! News. He failed to return her messages, so she went to his house to confront him. When she demanded he prove he had no STDs, he reportedly grabbed her and pushed her to the ground, causing her to hit her head. She filed a police report on March 25, the day of the alleged attack.

The young woman filed the sexual battery lawsuit against Salling on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles court, according to E! News. In addition to sexual battery, the "Glee" star is accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. The suit calls the actor's behavior "willful, malicious and despicable," adding that it caused Gorzela "severe and substantial mental and emotional distress, humiliation, fear, apprehension, anxiety and anguish."

The actor's publicist has denied the allegations against her client. "There is no truth to this. It's the textbook case of a disgruntled girl looking to cash in on a TV star's success," she told TMZ in a statement. "We turn the rest over to Mark's attorneys and have no further comment."

The young woman filed the sexual battery lawsuit against Salling on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles court, according to E! News. In addition to sexual battery, the "Glee" star is accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. The suit calls the actor's behavior "willful, malicious and despicable," adding that it caused Gorzela "severe and substantial mental and emotional distress, humiliation, fear, apprehension, anxiety and anguish."

The actor's publicist has denied the allegations against her client. "There is no truth to this. It's the textbook case of a disgruntled girl looking to cash in on a TV star's success," she told TMZ in a statement. "We turn the rest over to Mark's attorneys and have no further comment."

 Humane society members wearing protective masks removed nearly 300 animals including pigeons, chickens and rabbits from an Ohio man's reeking house this week.

Most of the animals are expected to survive including some that were sick, Sheila Marquis, an officer with the Humane Society of Dayton, Ohio, told Reuters on Saturday.

Workers on Thursday took away 60 pigeons, chickens and roosters from the house in Huber Heights, a suburb of Dayton. They returned the following day for 223 animals including 100 pigeons and 30 rabbits.

The sheer number of pigeons, which can carry airborne diseases, created a health hazard inside the house, Marquis said.

Authorities were tipped off by complaints about a stench coming from the property.

The animals' owner, who has not been identified, was very cooperative and knowledgeable about the birds, which included homing pigeons, Marquis said.

She said she thinks he just got overwhelmed taking care of so many animals.

"He told us he took some animals from other people and other pigeon organizations. That's how the cycle happens. He kept getting more birds and building more cages," Marquis said.

The man will be allowed to keep two dogs and some cats living in the house.

There was no word on whether he will be charged with animal neglect or abuse, a misdemeanor for the first offense in Ohio. Huber Heights has a ban on farm animals but does not limit the number of pets residents can own.

Alain de Botton's latest book How To Think More About Sex has an eye-catching title, and is an intelligent discussion of society's greatest obsession. "We don’t think too much about sex," he says. "We’re merely thinking about it in the wrong way."

We interviewed the British writer and public intellectual via email about how none of us are 'normal', why sex will always be difficult, and what the ultimate point of sex is for us all.

Why did you choose to write about sex?
I wrote it because it's rare for anyone to get through this life without feeling – generally with a degree of secret agony, perhaps at the end of a relationship, or as we lie in bed frustrated next to our partner, unable to go to sleep – that we are somehow a bit odd about sex.

It is an area in which most of us have a painful impression, in our heart of hearts, that we are quite unusual. Despite being one of the most private of activities, sex is nonetheless surrounded by ideas about how normal people are meant to feel about and deal with the matter.

In truth, however, few of us are remotely normal sexually. We are almost all haunted by guilt and neuroses, by phobias and disruptive desires, by indifference and disgust. None of us approaches sex as we are meant to, with the cheerful, sporting, non-obsessive, constant, well-adjusted outlook that we torture ourselves by believing that other people are endowed with. We are universally deviant – but only in relation to some highly distorted ideals of normality. So it's time to accept the strangeness of sex with good humour and courage - and start to talk about it with honesty and compassion.

This is what my book is about: an invitation to think more about a subject we mistakenly think we know all about already.


What are the advantages and disadvantages about society's obsession with sex?
The problem lies in the feeling that we live at a time where we're very advanced about sex. We look back at the 19th century, or pre 1960s and think, 'Now they had a problem. Whereas we...' Well, it's not so simple. Whatever discomfort we do feel around sex is aggravated by the idea that we belong to a liberated age – and ought by now, as a result, to be finding sex a straightforward and untroubling matter.

Despite our best efforts to clean it of its peculiarities, sex will never be either simple in the ways we might like it to be. It can die out; it refuses to sit neatly on top of love, as it should. Tame it though we may try, sex has a recurring tendency to wreak havoc across our lives. Sex remains in absurd, and perhaps irreconcilable, conflict with some of our highest commitments and values. Perhaps ultimately we should accept that sex is inherently rather weird instead of blaming ourselves for not responding in more normal ways to its confusing impulses.

This is not to say that we cannot take steps to grow wiser about sex. We should simply realise that we will never entirely surmount the difficulties it throws our way.

What are the biggest issues we face as a society about sex?
It is very rare to have a lot of sex. Very few people do. There are good and bad reasons for this. Here are some of the worse one: we may not be having too much sex because our partner is angry with us - or we with them. The common conception of anger posits red faces, raised voices and slammed doors, but only too often, it takes on a different form, for when it doesn’t understand or acknowledge itself, anger just curdles into numbness, into a blank 'I'm not in the mood...'

There are two reasons we tend to forget we are angry with our partner, and hence become anaesthetized, melancholic and unable to have sex with him.

Firstly, because the specific incidents that anger us happen so quickly and so invisibly, in such fast-moving and chaotic settings (at breakfast time, before the school run, or during a conversation on mobile phones in a windy plaza at lunchtime) that we can’t recognise the offence well enough to mount any sort of coherent protest against it. The arrow is fired, it wounds us, but we lack the resources or context to see how and where, exactly, it has pierced our armour.

And second, we frequently don’t articulate our anger even when we do understand it, because the things that offend us can seem so trivial, finicky or odd that they would sound ridiculous if spoken aloud. Even rehearsing them to ourselves can be embarrassing.

We may, for example, be deeply wounded when our partner fails to notice our new haircut or doesn’t use a breadboard while cutting a bit of baguette, thus scattering crumbs everywhere, or goes straight upstairs to watch television without stopping to ask about our day. These hardly seem matters worth lodging formal complaints over. To announce, ‘I am angry with you because you’re cutting the baguette in the wrong way’, is to risk sounding at once immature and insane. But we may need to spell our complaints in order to get in the vulnerable, trusting honest mood that makes sex possible.

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.

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