Here"s what exit polls show in North Carolina

GHMC Elections - Exit Polls predict TRS win - TV9

RALEIGH- Republican businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz both drew support of North Carolina voters upset about the country"s direction, while more than half of the Democrats casting ballots Tuesday in the state"s other presidential primary favored a continuation of President Barack Obama"s policies, according to preliminary exit poll results.

Democrats who wanted Obama"s policies continued were strongly behind Hillary Clinton, while those who wanted more liberal policies preferred Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to the early data from exit polling conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.

About 3 in 10 North Carolina Democratic voters were black, and about 8 in 10 of them were supporting Clinton, the initial results showed. Almost 7 in 10 Republican voters were over 45 and tended to back Trump. About 6 in 10 Democrats were over 45 and they favored Clinton.

Here are more details of what exit polls found out about voters in the Tar Heel State:

CLINTON, SANDERS: WHO SUPPORTS THEM?

Clinton was being backed by a majority of women, voters age 45 and over, and those in households making more than $100,000 or under $30,000, preliminary results showed.

Sanders was being supported by white men, independents, a majority of voters under 30, and those who cared most about income inequality.

Those wanting a candidate who would bring change or who "tells it like it is" favored Trump. The billionaire businessman also was strongest among older voters, men, those without a college degree, those who said they are somewhat conservative, and those in households making less than $50,000 a year. Also supportive of Trump: those who say the most important issue facing the country is immigration.

Cruz was strongest among those who are very conservative, those in households making between $50,000 and $99,000 a year and those who want a candidate who shares their values.

Born-again Christians were dividing about evenly between Trump and Cruz.

Nine out of 10 Republicans said they were very worried or somewhat worried about the direction of the U.S. economy in the coming years. Nearly 4 in 10 Republicans said the economy was the most important issue facing the country, ahead of terrorism, government spending or immigration.

Just one out of 20 Republicans said they were satisfied or enthusiastic about how the federal government is working. Those who said they were angry about the government favored Trump.

Democrats very worried about the direction of the economy numbered only about 7 in 10.

Six in 10 Republicans said they believe foreign trade is more likely to cost U.S. jobs. Those voters favored Trump. Voters who said international trade mostly created jobs appeared more likely to support Cruz.

About four in 10 GOP voters said they"d consider voting for a third-party candidate if the presidential choice in November was between Trump and Clinton. They were most likely to favor Cruz.

Six in 10 of those who said they had previously voted in a Democratic primary were supporting Clinton, while two-thirds of new primary voters were supporting Sanders.

Democrats said they would be satisfied if either Sanders or Clinton won their party"s nomination. Two-thirds said Clinton"s positions on the liberal-conservative spectrum were about right, while just over half said the same about Sanders.

Clinton was backed by voters who said they care most about having a candidate who can win in November or who has the right experience, Sanders by those looking for a candidate who is honest.

The survey was conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research as voters left their polling places at 35 randomly selected sites in North Carolina. Preliminary results include interviews with 1,744 Democratic primary voters, including 342 absentee or early voters who were interviewed by phone before election day, and with 1,550 Republican primary voters, including 234 absentee or early voters interviewed by phone. The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

AP News Survey Specialist Emily Swanson contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

Source: http://www.fayobserver.com/news/north_carolina/here-s-what-exit-polls-show-in-north-carolina/article_7400c1d2-debe-53f4-a832-79747e661e01.html

Continue Reading ..

Foxwoods Resort Casino Reports February 2016 Slot Revenue

Scranton St. Patrick"s Day Parade Fight 2016
MASHANTUCKET, Conn.--(Business Wire)--FoxwoodsResort Casino has reported slot revenue of $36.2 million for the month of February 2016. This figure is up 14.7 percent compared to $31.6 million in February of 2015. Handle for the month was $441.3 million, up 15.3 percent from the $382.9 million wagered in the same month in 2015.

Foxwoods contribution to the Connecticut Special Revenue Fund in February 2016 is $9.2 million, bringing the cumulative contribution to the state since Foxwoods opened in 1992 to over $3.8 billion.

Foxwoods brought the heat in February with a dynamic entertainment lineup bolstered by top comedians Paula Poundstone, Jim Norton and Bill Burr as well as the multi-talented William Shatner. The fun continued with mesmerizing performances by international pop star Enrique Iglesias and American singer, song writer and actor Adam Lambert. Not to be outdone, hip-hop sensation Future rocked Foxwoods state-of-the-art Grand Theater for two unforgettable nights. Disneys FANTASIA: Live in Concert brought the family fun with an assist from the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Hard rock fixture-turned-country-star Aaron Lewis and beloved comedy band, The Dan Band rounded out Foxwoods musical guests for the month. February ended on a high note as Lion Fight 28 returned to the property for a night of world class Muay Thai action.

Elsewhere on property, Foxwoods and celebrity chef Robert Irvine introduced the second annual Savor, A celebration of Wine, Food & Spirits with a private press event at VUE 24, Foxwoods recently opened fine dining experience.

To kick off March, Foxwoods unveiled its brand new gourmet pastry shop, Cake by Franck. Helmed by the propertys renowned Executive Pastry Chef Franck Iglesias, Cake by Franck offers classic New England and seasonal desserts with a twist. The unprecedented reveals did not stop there, as Foxwoods announced FoxPerx, the propertys brand new real-time slots bonusing program. Guests can learn more about FoxPerx and sign up for rewards by visiting https://www.foxwoods.com/fox-perx/

This month, the Fox and Grand Theaters have already played host to uproarious comedians Piff the Magic Dragon, Bob Saget and Kathy Griffin as well as iconic pop punk rockers, Fall Out Boy. The dynamic entertainment line-up continues with upcoming appearances from comedians Tracy Morgan and David Cross, country singer Steve Daggett and R&B 90s Remix 3 with Blackstreet, Dru Hill and Jagged Edge.

If youre looking to celebrate St. Patricks Day in style, don your green attire and join the Get Shamrocked pub crawl at 10 of Foxwoods participating bars on March 17. Participants can redeem their commemorative coaster for $17 off a tattoo of their choice at King Ink through the end of the month. For more details, visit https://www.foxwoods.com/st-patricks-2016/

About FoxwoodsResort Casino

Foxwoods Resort Casino is the premier resort destination in the Northeast. As the largest resort casino in North America, Foxwoods offers a vast array of gaming in six casinos; AAA Four-Diamond hotels, restaurants from gourmet to quick service, world-renowned spas, award-winning golf, state-of-the-art theaters, and exclusive retailers. Perfect for both recreation and business, Foxwoods provides modern and versatile convention and meeting space to infuse new life into any meeting or event. Foxwoods Resort Casino is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. For a comprehensive look at Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation visit Foxwoods.com.

About the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation

The Mashantucket Pequots are a native Algonquin people in southeastern Connecticut who endured centuries of conflict and survival on the oldest continuously occupied reservation in the U.S. (est. 1666). As the first native people within the continental United States to survive attempted genocidal massacre by European immigrants (1637), the Mashantucket Pequots have an unprecedented story of restoration, which is exhibited at their world-class Museum and Research Center (www.pequotmuseum.org). For more information, visit www.mashantucket.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160315005302/en/

SHIFT CommunicationsMegan Hand, 617-779-1806foxwoods@shiftcomm.com

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2869569

Continue Reading ..

Seth Rogen"s Upcoming "Sausage Party" Is The Antidote To Every Pixar Movie

"Sausage Party" - Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg discuss the project"s origin
Ever wondered what happens to the food in a supermarket when the lights go out? No, obviously not, nobody has ever thought about that. Nobody, that is, except Seth Rogen, who has now released the first image from his upcoming star-studded animation Sausage Party, which follows the exploits of a hot dog sausage named Barry (Michael Cera) and features the voices of Ed Norton, Salma Hayek, Paul Rudd, James Franco and more.

He falls from a basket and is lost in the supermarket, so enlists the help of his anthropomorphised pals two hotdogs voiced by Jonah Hill and Workaholics star Anders Holm, along with a sexy hotdog bun voiced by Kristen Wiig in a bid to return to his aisle. He"s desperate to be back for the American holiday extravaganza of July 4th (Independence Day), when he"s sure to be bought. Why is this so important to Barry? Doesn"t he know he"s gonna eaten?

Readers, he does not. Barry has been fed a quasi-religious line about life outside the supermarket, and he anticipates some kind of transcendence, believing something close to heaven awaits him beyond the car park. According to his randy hot dog sausage mates, this afterlife is a paradise in which they can pork as many sexy hot dog buns as they can handle.

This is what first image looks like:

It kinda looks like a Pixar movie, right? Right! Speaking on shock jock Howard Stern"s radio show last year, Rogen explained: "We thought it would be funny to do an R-rated [meaning under-17-year-olds must be accompanied to the cinema by a grown-up] Pixar-style movie. It"s f*****g filthy! It"s really, really, really dirty, but it looks like a Pixar movie."

You had us at "f*****g filthy", Seth. He promised Stern bucket-loads of s*x and violence; a truly horrifying thought. Imagine a feature-length film of the dude from the Peperami adverts s******g his way through a supermarket. Or, as Rogen put it: "There"s violence, it gets very sexual... There is a food orgy in the movie one of the most filthy things I"ve ever seen in my life."

Ever the interrogative interviewer, Stern had one question that, in retrospect, should have been on all our minds: will it just be hot dogs and hot dog buns having s*x with each other, or, like, could a cucumber also theoretically have s*x with a hot dog bun in this movie? Rogen"s response was thorough: "We even explore inter-food s*x in the movie. We explore all of that." He then laughed that throaty, dirty laugh that Seth Rogen does, and we knew that Sausage Party will be a watershed moment in cinema.

According to Rogen, the movie has been made for "under $30m", a snip when compared to the likes of Pixar movies Up ($175m) and Brave ($185 million), but it"s still not to be sniffed at. Can we take a moment to appreciate how weird and great it is that some of the biggest movie stars in the world have worked on a passion project as f*****g stupid as this? Apparently Rogen began work on the script while feeling creatively unfulfilled on the set of the 2011 action comedy The Green Hornet, which he cowrote.

Even his pal Sacha Baron Cohen has said Sausage Party is insane: Sausage Party appalled [Baron Cohen] in some ways. We brought him to a screening where we watched the hand-drawn version of the movie and he could not believe it.: That is the single craziest f*****g thing Ive seen in my whole life. He said: Just know youve gotten successful enough to make the craziest thing Ive ever seen in my life."

And that"s from the bloke who had an enormous man sit on his face in Borat. So, as will become clear when a work-on progress is aired at SXSW festival in Texas on March 14, this isn"t going to be Toy Story. Jesus, this film is going to be even more outrageous than the offensively s**t Cars 2 , though admittedly for very different reasons.

Source: http://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/sausage-party

Continue Reading ..

B.J. Raji: Plans to retire

BJ Raji NFL Draft & Combine Training

B.J. Raji plans to retire from football, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports.

Raji"s intention to retire comes as he hit the free agent market following his seventh season in Green Bay. Drafted ninth overall in 2009, Raji was instrumental on the Packers" Super Bowl-winning team in 2010, registering a career-best 39 tackles and 6.5 sacks. Since then, Raji"s performance level steeply declined, as evidenced by just 3.5 total sacks, and he also missed the entire 2014 campaign due to a preseason biceps tear. At 29 years old, it appears Raji is ready to call time on his NFL career, taking his name out of consideration from potential suitors.

More News

Source: http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/bj-raji-plans-to-retire/

Continue Reading ..

Better timing of spring forward could help us all adjust

Ben Celebrates National Nap Day...By Taking One.

Feeling logy this week? Lost a step somewhere along the way? Cant concentrate while doing simple tasks? You can blame the time change.

The nations clocks went forward the customary hour on Sunday, but for those who are having trouble adjusting, theres more bad news: Were likely to get more Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the future, not less.

Thats because Facebook memes about abolishing the practice of losing and gaining an hour aside no organized movement has materialized to oppose DST.

In fact, the trend is in the opposite direction. Every 20 years, we get an extra month, said Michael Downing, a professor at Tufts University who wrote the book on the subject that is titled Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time.

Despite that subtitle, Downing is not against saving daylight. He said, living in New England, he has come to enjoy the social benefits of a longer day: Weve come to feel that late summer sunsets are our right.

According to Downing, roughly every two decades, the U.S. Congress pushes DST earlier in the spring and later in the fall. The last time this happened was during George W. Bushs administration. Since Canadas trade and cultural ties with the U.S. are so strong, Parliament went along with the change.

Downing said DST has become a sort of magical cure-all and whipping boy all in one. It has been blamed and credited with all the ills and blessings of mankind, since it was first established as a way to save fuel during the First World War.

For most people it registers as a kind of profound jet lag, he said of the changes effects on the human body.

Would Downing at least be in favour of setting aside a shared time for everyone to recover from the time change something like a national nap day the day after? No, but he believes the timing of the change should be shifted so that it doesnt happen early Sunday morning. Making the change on Saturday would give people time to recover before returning to work. Which would be the same as national nap day, he said.

Stan Coren is a University of British Columbia professor emeritus and sleep researcher who wrote the book Sleep Thieves. He said national nap day is a decent idea, but human nature being what it is, people would use it as an excuse to party or stay up late again. If, in fact, everybody did take the time off to rest, that would be great.

Coren said studies show there is a six to seven per cent increase in traffic collisions after the change in the spring. Its also been linked to an increase in accidental deaths and even heart attacks, plus costs to the economy. Its highly likely that theres some loss in productivity, Coren said, which goes away in one to five days as people recover.

Despite those numbers, Coren is not opposed to continuing the practice. I think that theres a net societal gain because of the energy savings, he said. Downing is not so sure. We have much more sophisticated (energy) systems, he said, meaning many modern buildings are lit and air-conditioned 24 hours a day. And gas consumption increases, due to the fact drivers are travelling later into the day.

--- --- ---

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

Clocks sprung forward one hour Sunday at 2 a.m.

They will go back one hour Nov. 6 at 2 a.m.

Originally floated as a joke by Benjamin Franklin to save tallow for candles.

Change was originally made early in the morning so railway schedules wouldnt be affected.

The U.S. farming lobby was originally one of the few organizations against DST.

Makes some people sleep stupid, a form of jet lag.

It wonks a whole lot of people. Stan Coren, UBC sleep researcher.

Source: http://www.lfpress.com/2016/03/14/daylight-saving-time-here-to-stay

Continue Reading ..

The Science Behind Baking Your Perfect Pie (Happy Pi Day)

My Favourite Apple Pie Recipe - Happy Pi Day!

There are so many opportunities to screw up pumpkin pie. But done right, it can win friends and influence people. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Meredith Rizzo/NPR

There are so many opportunities to screw up pumpkin pie. But done right, it can win friends and influence people.

Meredith Rizzo/NPR

Editor"s note: Last fall, NPR"s Maanvi Singh embarked on a months-long quest to find her ideal pumpkin pie recipe. As she discovered, there"s a lot of science involved in getting the crust and filling just the way you like it. To celebrate Pi Day, we reprise this story, first published last December.

It was the best of pies, it was the worst of pies. I have baked many, many, many pies.

And when I first began making pumpkin pies this autumn, my results were at best inconsistent and, at worst, disastrous.

"One of the problems is most people make it once, maybe twice a year, right around the holidays, so they"re not very practiced at it," says Dan Souza at America"s Test Kitchen. "And pumpkin pie is a little bit different in that it"s essentially a custard baked into a pie shell." In trying to juggle both components, even experienced bakers may end up with a grainy, overcooked filling or a soggy crust, Souza says. "There"s a lot of places you can slip up."

So Souza and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, a chef and author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science, coached me through the process.

The Ultimate Custard

"Mainly it"s the texture that can go very wrong," Lopez-Alt says. "It can end up grainy, or kind of broken up like scrambled eggs."

Blergh.

See, a classic pumpkin pie filling includes a few eggs, as well as pumpkin puree, some cream, sugar and spice.

"As the custard cooks, there"s a loose network of the egg proteins that intertwine with each other and set to give the filling structure," Lopez-Alt explains. Ideally, you want to cook the custard just enough to form a soft, gel-like texture. "But as the custard keeps cooking, the eggs start to set so tightly that they squeeze moisture out," he says. That"s when you get an icky, lumpy pie.

Both Lopez-Alt and Souza recommend cooking the filling quickly, but gently: The center of the pie should never get any hotter than about 175 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fail. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Meredith Rizzo/NPR

And you"ve got to try to cook the pie as evenly as possible. Some cracking at the center of the pie is inevitable, Lopez-Alt says. It happens because the edges of the pie tend to cook and set faster, and pull at the center, which takes longer to cook.

Souza"s pro tip is to bake the pie at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, until the filling just starts to set, and then lower the oven temperature to about 300 degrees until it cooks through. "By lowering the overall temperature, you get less of a disparity between temperature at the perimeter of the pie, and the temperature at the center," he says. He also recommends heating the filling on the stove for a bit, so it has to spend even less time cooking unevenly inside the oven.

Oh, and padding the custard with lots of fat helps as well. Souza"s recipe calls for three eggs plus two egg yolks. "By ditching some of the egg whites, you"re reducing some of the water content, so the filling takes less time to firm up," he explains. "And the fat in the egg yolks also serves as a buffer to keep the proteins from over cooking."

Lopez-Alt suggests substituting the cream in the filling with cream cheese for a similar reason: It helps the custard cook more evenly for a smooth, creamy end result.

Brilliant.

The Ideal Crust

Over the past few months, I tried nearly everything to avoid ending up with soggy, mushy pie crusts. I pre-baked and crisped up my crusts before pouring in the filling. I tried brushing the bottom of my crust with some egg wash to waterproof it. I pleaded with the culinary gods and complained to my friends and cried to my mother.

All of this, to no avail.

A silky custard and a crispy crust: perfection. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Meredith Rizzo/NPR

A silky custard and a crispy crust: perfection.

Meredith Rizzo/NPR

And then Lopez-Alt suggested something wacky and wonderful: vodka. Not to drink (though a shot or two have served to console me after a culinary disaster). Lopez-Alt suggests substituting some of the water used to pull the pie dough together with a tablespoon or two of vodka. "When you mix flour with water, it produces gluten," he explains. "And gluten is what makes your pie dough tough rather than flaky."

But gluten doesn"t form in the presence of alcohol. "Plus the vodka evaporates a bit more quickly when you bake the crust, so you"re less likely to end up with a soggy crust," Lopez-Alt says.

He also suggests blending flour and butter together in the food processor. "That way you need to add barely any water at the end to bring the dough together," he says. "But the dough is still very soft, and easy to roll out."

Pre-bake the crust until it"s golden brown, and then, Souza says, fill it with a custard that you"ve already heated and thickened up a bit on the stove. "That way," he says, "the filling is less likely to seep and soak through the crust, and ruin that buttery, flaky goodness."

The Richest Flavors

Canned or fresh squash?

The experts agree it doesn"t really matter.

If you are using the fresh stuff, Lopez-Alt recommends roasting it very slowly in the oven at around 275 degrees Fahrenheit. "Pumpkins and squashes have these enzymes that will break down some of their starches and convert them to sugar," he says. "Cooking them slowly can actually accelerate that process." Slow-roasting also allows for more water to evaporate from the squash, concentrating its flavor.

And feel free to experiment with different squashes. Sugar pie pumpkins are classic, but butternut and kabocha squash can often taste sweeter and more "pumpkin-y" than the traditional orange gourds. "Just never use one of those Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins," Lopez-Alt warns. "Those are meant to look pretty, but they taste nasty."

But Souza says people can rarely taste the difference: "I think you may as well save yourself the effort and use a can."

Of course, a judicious sprinkle of spices, some maple syrup and even a bit of sweet potato can deepen and enhance the flavor.

The Taste Tests

My journey to learn the art and science of the ideal pie has been long. Very, very long. I"ve baked a total of 10 pies over the past three months. I wanted to perfect my pie by Thanksgiving but that didn"t happen. Instead, I berated my Thanksgiving guests: "You"re saying it"s good, but what does that even mean? Be more constructive with your criticism!"

The pie on the left was made with cream cheese and squash; the pie on the right was made with canned pumpkin. Meredith Rizzo/NPR hide caption

toggle caption Meredith Rizzo/NPR

The pie on the left was made with cream cheese and squash; the pie on the right was made with canned pumpkin.

Meredith Rizzo/NPR

I faced many setbacks: I badly burned a couple of crusts. And, despite all the coaching, I curdled some custard. Take note, folks: Timers and thermometers are key.

But finally, in mid-December, I brought in two pies that combined all that I had learned to face my toughest critics yet: NPR"s Science Desk.

For one pie, I used freshly roasted squash and cream cheese. I made the other with canned pumpkin. One of the crusts had some shortening, whereas the other was pure butter. And I used a good shot of vodka in both, of course.

Each pie had its fans.

My editor, Maria Godoy*, liked the cream cheese. "It"s like creamy pumpkin... Like, if pumpkin were milk."

NPR Skunk Bear"s Adam Cole disagreed: "Not my cup of tea." He liked the canned pumpkin better. [*Editor"s note: Adam has an admitted preference for bland food.]

Photo editor Ryan Kellman said he was divided, insisting "I need to probably to eat a lot more of this" in order to decide.

And science correspondent Geoff Brumfield was no help at all: "I mean, I"m just here to eat some pie."

I"m still not satisfied. A bit more ginger may have given the pies more kick. The cream cheese filling didn"t taste pumpkin-y enough, and the other one tasted perhaps too pumpkin-y. Maybe I should have baked the crusts a bit longer. Maybe I should have cooked the custard a bit less.

True perfection and success remain just beyond reach. Guess I"ll have to pie, pie again.

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/14/470377841/the-science-behind-baking-your-perfect-pie-happy-pi-day

Continue Reading ..

Jake Tapper Corners Sanders on the Recent Acts of Violence Shown by His Followers

Jake Tapper to Donald Trump: Stop inciting violence "for the nation"

During the Democratic Town Hall Sunday night, CNN moderator Jake Tapper pressed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on the topic of his passionate followers, some of whom have shown their strong political allegiance with displays of aggression. With many comparisons drawn between the candidacies and followers of Sanders and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, the issue of aggressive political passion has become more heated than at any other point in this election.

Please enable Javascript to watch.

Tapper preempted a question by noting that he was looking to play devils advocate on a point regarding the the differences between Sanders supporters and those of Trump. Some of your supporters in Chicago were acting violently as well, and I have to say the guy who rushed the stage yesterday at Donald Trump voted for you, said Tapper. That protestor Tommy DiMassino of Dayton, Ohio was caught on film abrasively rushing the stage towards Trump at an event Saturday before being subdues by Secret Service agents.

Millions of people voted for me. If I have to take responsibility for everybody who voted for me it would be a very difficult life, the Democratic candidate responded to a laugh from the crowd.

I never have and never will condone violence, Sanders continued. [But] people have a right to protest. A Trump event in Chicago was canceled on Friday after violence broke out between supporters and protestors of the real estate mogul and his controversial political rhetoric.

Watch the above exchange via CNN.[image via screengrab]

Source: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jake-tapper-corners-sanders-on-the-recent-acts-of-violence-shown-by-his-followers/

Continue Reading ..