Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Ringo Star tweets that producer George Martin will be missed


George Martin - In My Life (1998) [VHS]

Updated: Mar 8, 2016 - 11:37 PM

LONDON

LONDON (AP) George Martin, the producer who guided the Beatles to astounding heights, has died, his manager says. He was 90.

Adam Sharp of CA Management says Martin"s family "would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages of support."

Confirmation of Martin"s death came after British Prime Minister David Cameron hailed Martin "a giant of music" and Ringo Starr tweets thaed "George will be missed."

Starr also tweeted a picture of the Beatles and Martin and said: "Thank you for all your love and kindness George peace and love."

Source: http://www.kiro7.com/news/ringo-star-tweets-that-producer-george-martin-will-be-missed/152014949

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"Matrix" co-director Lilly Wachowski comes out as a trans woman like her sister, Lana Wachowski


Cień -dokument z 1995 o ministrze Mieczysławie Wachowskim.

She said she was trailed by tabloids, including Londons Daily Mail, eager to tell the story of how a well-known director had transitioned to another gender. It didnt matter, she said, that outing trans people before they are ready to re-introduce themselves to the world can lead to suicide. And, for awhile, the glossy magazines in the supermarket aisle held off.

The editors of these publications didnt print a story that was only salacious in substance and could possibly have a potentially fatal effect, Lilly Wachowski, who co-directed The Matrix trilogy under the name Andy Wachowski, wrote in a lengthy statement to the Windy City Times, a Chicago LGBTQ publication. And being the optimist that I am, I was happy to chalk it up to progress.

But when a man claiming to be a Daily Mail reporter showed up on her doorstep earlier this month, Wachowski, 48, decided to make public what was known already to her friends and family: Like her sisterLana Wachowski who co-directed The Matrix under the name Larry Wachowski she is a transgender woman.

So yeah, Im transgender, she wrote. And yeah, Ive transitioned.Im out to my friends and family. Most people at work know too. Everyone is cool with it. Yes, thanks to my fabulous sister theyve done it before, but also because theyre fantastic people. Without the love and support of my wife and friends and family I would not be where I am today.

The news was stunning. The siblingvisionariesbehind The Matrix one of the highest-grossing film franchises in history as well as Bound and Cloud Atlas had done their very popular work while struggling with their identities. And now that they have both gone public, they joinCaitlyn Jenner among the ranks of the most famous transgender women in the world.

To transition imparts a sense of immediacy, a before and after from one terminus to another, Wachowski wrote. But the reality, my reality is that Ive been transitioning and will continue to transition all of my life, through the infinite that exists between male and female as it does in the infinite between the binary of zero and one. We need to elevate the dialogue beyond the simplicity of binary. Binary is a false idol.

The scolding Wachowski offered the Daily Mail also shined a light on the papers alleged insensitivity toward people in transition. Wachowski cited the case of school teacher Lucy Meadows, a trans woman who killed herself in 2013 months after she was scorned in an editorial by Richard Littlejohn in the paper, which then faced protests and calls for Littlejohns firing.

Miss Meadows may well be comfortable with his/her decision to seek a s*x-change and return to work as if nothing has happened, Richard Littlejohn wrote in the paper which has reportedly removed the editorial, now reposted here. The school might be extremely proud of its commitment to equality and diversity.But has anyone stopped for a moment to think of the devastating effect all this is having on those who really matter? Children as young as seven arent equipped to compute this kind of information. Littlejohn added: Hes not only trapped in the wrong body, hes in the wrong job.

In her statement, Wachowski returned to the story, saying she feared the headline Wachowski Brothers Now Sisters and slammed the Daily Mail.

The reason I knew about [Meadows]wasnt because she was transgender it was because three months after the Daily Mail article came out, Lucy committed suicide, Wachowski wrote. She added: And now here they were, at my front door, almost as if to say Theres another one! Lets drag em out in the open so we can all have a look!" (The Daily Mail did not immediately return requests for comment.)

The LGBT advocacy organization GLAAD said that reporters covering transgender people must be more responsible.

GLAAD is thrilled that Lilly Wachowski is able to be her true and authentic self today, however, she should not have been forced to disclose her transgender identity before she was ready to do so, Nick Adams, GLAADs Director of Programs for Transgender Media, said in a statement. Journalists must learn that it is unacceptable to out a transgender person, in the same way it is unacceptable to out a person who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

GLAAD also produced a tip sheet for journalists covering the Wachowski story.

DO describe people who transition as transgender, and use transgender as an adjective, the tip sheet read. Lilly Wachowski is a transgender woman. DONT use transgender as a noun. For example: Lilly Wachowski is a transgender. DONT use transgendered. Transgender never needs an extraneous -ed at the end. DONT use transsexual or transvestite."

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNE6Vjlyu4qnkyWScVuZH0GZ3YjGWQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779060034316&ei=mUTgVoPNEIbbpwf8hK7gDA&url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/09/matrix-co-director-lilly-wachowski-comes-out-as-a-trans-woman-like-her-sister-lana-wachowski/

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Donald Trump Wins Michigan Primary


Bernie Sanders leads in Michigan Democratic primary - Primary Election Results 2016

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DETROIT, Mich. Donald Trump has won Michigans Republicanprimary by a comfortable margin on Tuesday, his first victory in a Midwestern race.

Michigans 59 delegates make it Tuesdays largest race on the Republican side. (RELATED: Bernie Surprises Hillary By Winning Michigan Primary)

With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Trump won 36.6 percent of the votes and 25 delegates. Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich are in a tight battle for second place, both winning 17 delegates. Cruz has won 24.9 percent of the vote to Kasichs 24.3 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio underperformed, only winning 9.3 percent of the votes and no delegates.

Trump made waves at Thursdays Fox News debate in Detroit when he clarified that his hands and his junk are not small.(RELATED: Donald Trump Clarifies The Size Of His Junk On National TV [VIDEO])

Michigan voters have supported Democratic candidates in the last six presidential elections, but Trumps message of protecting American manufacturing jobs is appealing to white blue-collar voters in the Rust Belt and will be critical to winning states like Michigan and Ohio in the general election.

Follow Derek Draplin on Twitter.

Source: http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/08/donald-trump-wins-michigan-primary/

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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Permanent Spot in Champions League a Change Not Worth Making


CHELSEA vs PSG (Séan Garnier) , Amazing SKILLS vs supporters, Champions league
Photo Gareth Bale of Real Madrid taking a penalty kick against Manchester United during an August 2014 match in the International Champions Cup that drew more than 100,000 fans in Ann Arbor, Mich. Credit Jeff Kowalsky/European Pressphoto Agency

LONDON The American promoter Charlie Stillitano could hardly have chosen a worse time to push for change in European soccer.

Stillitano, the chairman of Relevant Sports, runs summer tournaments called the International Champions Cup. It features elite soccer teams from Europe playing one another during their off-seasons in three different countries: the United States, Australia and China. Its novelty factor has drawn sold-out crowds and drummed up television and sponsorship money for, in effect, watching half-fit star players getting into shape for the coming season.

Europes best are coming, is the slogan on its website. Relevant Sports claims to have revolutionized the international soccer landscape by transforming the standard European club preseason tour into something remarkable: a competitive, world-class tournament.

Those words are like something from an old-school boxing promoter: The tournament features the heavyweights of the game, but it fails to mention that the teams are nowhere close to their peak when it comes to performance.

Last week, Stillitano met in London with executives of five English clubs: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United. On satellite radio, Stillitano later talked about how those teams are the elite of the Champions League and, in his view, deserve permanent roles in the tournament and far more money.

Lets call it the money pot created by soccer and the fandom around the world, Stillitano said on a show on Sirius XM. Who has had more of an integral role, Manchester United or Leicester?

He acknowledged that Leicester Citys rise out of nowhere to lead the English Premier League this season is a wonderful, wonderful story. But, the promoter said, you have to look at it from Manchester Uniteds or Chelseas perspective.

Those teams are having a bad season (or several, in Manchesters case). They might not qualify for a place in the next Champions League and that, according to Stillitano, should not be allowed to happen. Essentially, he would want a tournament without relegation for the biggest clubs.

I guess they dont have a birthright to be in it every year, he said, but its the age-old argument U.S. sports franchises versus what they have in Europe. There are wonderful, wonderful, wonderful elements to relegation and promotion, and there are good arguments for a closed system.

Is Stillitano really Silvio Berlusconi in disguise?

Nearly 30 years ago, when Berlusconis team, A.C. Milan, was ruling Europe, the Italian politician and club owner attempted to lead a breakaway of Europes richer clubs and close the door to any upstart from gate-crashing what is now the Champions League.

The word champion has become a misnomer. Nowadays, four clubs from England, Spain, Germany and sometimes Italy qualify some, seemingly perennially for the UEFA Champions League. The fact that A.C. Milan struggles now in Italy, or that both Manchester teams and Chelsea are suffering below-par seasons in England, is no reason to exclude them from the financial spoils of top European competition, according to the Berlusconi/Stillitano theory.

Over the weekend, Leicesters Italian coach, Claudio Ranieri, described that as anti-competitive, a proposal by the elite, for the elite.

You are afraid, Ranieri said. You are not strong. You should ask why is little Leicester doing better than us? Instead, you want to change the system because this year you are weak.

Beyond that, Stillitanos International Champions Cup is in danger this year of being pushed aside on two fronts. Starting in June, the Copa Amrica Centenario, a special edition of the South American continental championship, will be played in 10 American cities to mark the events 100th anniversary.

The top South American players who normally would take part in the off-season tours by the big European clubs will instead be playing in the United States for their national teams.

In addition, the majority of the best European players will also be in action in June and July, when their national teams play in an expanded Euro 2016 tournament in France.

Barcelona is the champion of champions in world soccer at the moment, but it wont be traveling to Australia, China or the United States to play in the world-class I.C.C. this summer.

How could Barcelona take part? Its top three stars Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Surez will be playing for their countries at the expanded Copa Amrica, while much of the rest of the team will be trying to defend Spains title at the Euro.

Barcelona will have a presence in the United States this summer. It will hold summer camps for children in nine cities as it increases its awareness abroad, the clubs president, Josep Bartomeu, told me on the same day in another London hotel just a few hundred yards from where Stillitano met with the club officials.

Bartomeu said then that his club, like all the rest, cannot ignore the rising popularity of soccer in the United States. But equally important, the club the reigning Spanish, European and Club World Cup champion appreciates that athletes do have a breaking point.

The off-season is when Messi, Neymar and their teammates can finally rest and recuperate and spend time with their families after a grueling nine-month season or even undergo the surgeries needed to repair the damage taken from chasing so many trophies.

The schedules are too crowded already without further revolutionizing the international soccer landscape.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/09/sports/soccer/champions-league-permanent-spot.html

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Detroit Red Wings will miss Lions" Calvin Johnson


ESPN First Take - Lions" Calvin Johnson Retires From NFL

Detroit Red Wings Danny DeKeyser, left, and Justin Abdelkader.(Photo: Helene St. James DFP)

COLUMBUS, Ohio --As fellow professional athletes and Michiganders, the Detroit Red Wings are disappointed -- and appreciative.

News that Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson hadretiredspread around the Wings"locker room just as they hit the ice this morning at Nationwide Arena.

"It"s a little disappointing," defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. "He"s one of the best receivers that the game has seen in awhile and that the Lions have had in awhile, so it"s tough to see him go.

"He was just always a solid red-zone option. He was always getting double-teamed in the end zone. Guys just couldn"t stop him. He was a beast."

More Calvin Johnson retirement news:

DeKeyser, who was born in Detroit, said he has attended "a few" Lions games, so "I"ve seen him in person. He was always one of the best players on the field and always fun to watch."

Wings coach Jeff Blashill, born in Detroit and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, said, "I"ve been a Lions fan my whole life.

"Calvin is one of the greats. A pleasure to watch, for sure. Everybody knows their own time line and when their time is done, and he"s doing it on his own time line. But what a great sports figure in the city of Detroit. He will be remembered for a long time."

As a coach, Blashill sees firsthand what it takes for superstar athletes to maintain their level of play, especially as they get older. Heviews it daily in Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

"I think, from the outside looking in, too many times, people talk about how talented they are," Blashill said. "Well, talent, most of the time, comes from hard work and comes from your daily approach. Calvin, I"m sure, without having seen it but from what I"ve heard, I"m sure he is similar to (Jaromir) Jagr and Pavel and Hank, all the great ones.

"You don"t become great by chance or happenstance. You become great by your daily choices, and I"m sure Calvin made those choices on a daily basis."

Justin Abdelkader, from Muskegon, raved about "some of the unbelievable catches" Johnson made during his career."He"s made a couple of them where he"s made, kind of between like three guys, jumping over them. It"s disappointing to see him retire, because he"s so fun to watch."

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1p5AsSK

Source: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/03/08/calvin-johnson-detroit-red-wings/81481924/

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Tearful Peyton Manning speech inspired team before Super Bowl win


Top 50 Sound FX | #33: Peyton Manning"s Tearful Goodbye Speech to Indianapolis | NFL

Peyton Manning fought back tears while speaking to his team before the Denver Broncos went out and beat the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50

ANOTHER TITLE. Peyton Manning bared his emotions to his team before winning his second Super Bowl title. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP

SANTA CLARA, USA - A tearful address by Peyton Manning on the eve of the Super Bowl laid the foundation for Denver"s upset victory over the Carolina Panthers, the veteran quarterback"s Broncos team-mates revealed Monday, February 8 (Manila time).

Just hours before kick-off of Sunday"s National Football League season showpiece, it emerged that Manning had choked back tears as he addressed the Broncos with veteran defensive star DeMarcus Ware on Saturday.

Manning, 39, spoke to the team about their rollercoaster route to the Super Bowl, which saw him battle through injury and loss of form before finally securing a second Super Bowl triumph.

Denver cornerback Bradley Roby said the speech had left the Broncos even more determined to deliver on Sunday as Manning"s career as one of the greatest quarterbacks in history draws to a close.

"That"s our leader, he"s been through a lot this season," Roby said.

"The media has killed him, for sure. I"ve had to defend him, lie after a game and he"s done nothing but persevere. He talked about that yesterday. He talked about how much he prayed and just believed."

Broncos guard Evan Mathis said Manning and Ware"s address had drawn an already tight-knit unit even closer.

"I got a great vibe from it, a lot of emotion," Mathis said.

"All along this has been a team that has played for each other and had each other"s back, regardless of the circumstances," said Mathis, paying tribute to Manning"s leadership during the heat of battle on Sunday.

"He has always been the same guy - poised, confident, a tremendous leader. The epitome of playing for each other. Peyton always has your back."

Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall revealed that Manning"s words had special resonance as the quarterback had helped develop his career.

"You know Peyton - he cracked a few jokes in there. He thanked everybody. He thanked the support staff, the coaches, the player. It was a speech where got emotional and he was recapping the year. Peyton is a h**l of a guy.

"I got emotional," Marshall said. "A lot of people don"t know but Peyton is the reason I"m here. He was one of the ones that noticed me. He would ask the coaches "Who is this guy? We have to get him up." So he noticed me.

"I told Peyton before the game, I said, "Man I want to win this for you." I"ve been feeling that way all year."

Head coach Gary Kubiak meanwhile revealed he had spoken to Manning to congratulate him for the way he had bounced back from a form slump in November.

"I could sit here all night and tell you about the meetings he and I went through over the course of the last 10 weeks when he was injured and working his way back," Kubiak said.

"I just told him how proud of him I was." Rappler.com

Source: http://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/other-sports/121719-tearful-manning-speech-super-bowl-50

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Erin Andrews awarded $55m in lawsuit over n**e video case


Jurors award Erin Andrews $55M in suit over nude video

A jury awarded Erin Andrews $55m on Monday in her lawsuit against a stalker who bought a hotel room next to her and secretly recorded a video of her that showed her in the n**e, finding that the hotel companies and the stalker shared in the blame.

After a full day of deliberations, the panel said the stalker was responsible for 51% of the blame and the two hotel companies would share the rest, which comes out to nearly $27m.

Andrews, a Fox Sports reporter and co-host of the TV show Dancing with the Stars, wept as jurors announced the verdict. She hugged her attorneys and family, who have supported her inside the courtroom throughout the emotional trial.

Jurors heard directly from Andrews, who testified that she was humiliated, shamed and suffers from depression as a result of the video, which has been viewed by millions of people online. Andrews parents described for jurors the terror they and their daughter felt after learning of the video but not knowing who took it, where it was shot and if someone was still watching their daughter.

Related: Broadcaster Erin Andrews in tears as she testifies in n**e videos lawsuit

An FBI investigation would later reveal that Michael David Barrett shot videos in hotels in Nashville and Columbus, Ohio, and posted them online. The trial focused on the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt and video.

On Friday, circuit court judge Hamilton Gayden found Barrett at fault. It was only up to jurors to decide if the hotel owner, West End Hotel Partners, and former operator, Windsor Capital Group, should share in the blame. The hotel is a franchise and Marriott is not part of the trial.

Attorneys for the companies argued that while what happened to Andrews was distressing, the convicted stalker should be solely to blame because he was a determined criminal. The attorneys also suggested that Andrews rise in her career shows she did not suffer severe and permanent distress.

Andrews said Barretts arrest and imprisonment did not make the ordeal end. She broke down on the stand repeatedly, saying she continues to suffer because people are still watching the videos and taunting her about them.

This happens every day of my life, Andrews said tearfully. Either I get a tweet or somebody makes a comment in the paper or somebody sends me a still video to my Twitter or someone screams it at me in the stands and Im right back to this. I feel so embarrassed and I am so ashamed.

Barrett pleaded guilty to stalking Andrews, altering hotel room peepholes and taking n**e videos of her. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Andrews has maintained that someone at the hotel gave out her room number to Barrett and honored his request to be placed near her. She said no one ever told her that he asked to be in an adjoining or connecting room. Had she known that, she said she would have called police.

Barrett was a Chicago-area insurance company executive who frequently traveled around the country when he took the video of Andrews at the Nashville hotel in September 2008. He shot nearly five minutes of video of her while she was n**e inside her room.

Sports broadcaster Erin Andrews breaks down during n**e video lawsuit.

Barrett didnt show up for the trial. In his videotaped deposition, he said that he alone was to blame. He said he correctly guessed that she would be at the hotel it was the closest one to the Vanderbilt football game Andrews was covering by calling and pretending to be in a group with Andrews and asking for confirmation of the reservations. He said he used an in-house employee phone to learn her room number, and made a request to be in the room next to Andrews.

Sports broadcaster Erin Andrews breaks down during n**e videos lawsuit

During closing arguments, one of Andrews lawyers said Barrett tried to take all of the blame because he holds a grudge against her over his conviction and doesnt want her to win any money.

Barrett said he posted the recordings online after celebrity gossip website TMZ refused to buy them. The only reason he picked Andrews, he said, was because she was popular and he saw that she was trending on Yahoo.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/07/erin-andrews-awarded-55m-in-lawsuit-over-n**e-video-case

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