President Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress Tuesday when he gives his annual State of the Union address.
Obama previewed some of the themes of his SOTU address while on a three-state tour earlier this month.
See live updates on Obama’s address below:
To highlight the Live ScoreCaster, we will take our in-game technology, Live ScoreCaster, to the next level to review the game-changing plays from the NFL and what the game would have looked like if the plays had turned out differently.
Click the header for each game to view the Game Breakdown for each matchup.
Seattle is returning to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks completed the biggest comeback in conference championship history beating Green Bay 28-22 in overtime. Seattle overcame a 16-point deficit to become the first defending champion since New England to make the Super Bowl in 10 years.
A Super Bowl appearance was improbable for the Seahawks late in the fourth. Green Bay led 19-7 with three minutes to play and the Packers were 99 percent likely to win. Seattle scored 15 points in 44 seconds, aided by a successful onside kick and two-point conversion. The Seahawks then won the game with a 35-yard touchdown on the first series in extra time.
The Packers could have won if…
Aaron Rodgers could be heading to his second Super Bowl if Mike McCarthy were more aggressive early in the game. Twice the Packers kicked field goals on fourth-and-one from the Seahawks one-yard line in the first quarter. Leading 6-0 Green Bay was 54 percent likely to win.
Had the Packers went for it on fourth down and scored touchdowns on both occasions instead of kicking field goals, Green Bay’s expected win probability increases from 54 percent to 75 percent leading 14-0.
Of course the biggest non-scoring play that impacted Green Bay’s win probability was the successful onside kick executed by Seattle with two minutes to play. With the Seahawks trailing 19-14, the onside kick improved the team’s odds of rallying from 11 percent to 24 percent.
Had Brandon Bostick held onto the onside kick, Green Bay becomes 99 percent likely to win.
Additional Game Notes
The Seahawks became just the second team in the Super Bowl era to win a postseason game with four interceptions. Russell Wilson’s fourth pick made Green Bay 99 percent likely to win with five minutes remaining.
For more GameChanging notes from this game click here.
New England dominated Indianapolis in the AFC Championship game. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are heading to their sixth Super Bowl after a 45-7 victory, the second most lopsided AFC Championship game ever.
The Patriots scored touchdowns on the team’s first four second-half possessions. New England spent more time being projected as 99 percent likely to win than Indianapolis did keeping it competitive (at least a 25 percent chance of winning).
The Colts could have won if…
There is no one play or series that could have changed this game. New England controlled every phase of the championship match. The Patriots converted 12 of 18 third downs, forced three turnovers and nearly doubled up the Colts in total yards.
New England’s third down efficiency repeatedly extended drives. On the Patriots’ final series of the first half the AFC Champions had successful third and fourth down attempts that extend the team’s lead to 17-7 at the end of the second quarter.
Had the Colts forced the Patriots into a three-and-out, in a one possession game in the first half, Indianapolis’ expected win probability becomes 25 percent. Instead, at the half Indy was 16 percent likely to win.
Additional Game Notes
New England owns Andrew Luck. The Patriots have the won all four games by at least three touchdowns. In the AFC title game Indianapolis was never greater than 40 percent likely to win.
For more GameChanging notes from this game click here.
GameChangers, a look at plays that impacted the outcomes of games around the NFL. If you have a suggestion for a GameChanger please direct all ideas via Twitter to @johnewing.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Police say a woman took a cab to and from a convenience store robbery and left her 1-year-old daughter in the vehicle during the crime.
Delaware State Police say the robbery happened about 3:25 a.m. Tuesday at a Wawa in Wilmington. Troopers say a woman indicated she had a handgun and demanded money from a clerk.
Police say the clerk gave the woman money, and the suspect fled in a yellow minivan cab. Officers found the taxi and the driver, who did not know what had happened in the Wawa. The driver told police where he had dropped the woman off.
Troopers arrested 29-year-old Amanda Paoletti. Police say her 1-year-old daughter had been in the cab during the robbery.
Paoletti was charged with robbery and endangering the welfare of a child.
This week marks the anniversary of one of the most hotly contested U.S. Supreme Court decisions affecting women’s reproductive freedom. And it’s not Roe vs. Wade.
Five years ago a bitterly divided 5-4 majority gave us Citizens United — overturning century-old precedent by declaring unconstitutional the government’s restriction of independent political spending by corporations and unions. Since 2010, super PACs have stormed the scene pouring billions of dollars, much of it undisclosed “dark” money, into our elections. Buying political influence is now easier, shadier and more costly to our democratic values than ever.
What does campaign finance reform have to do with abortion rights? Plenty. The drive to dismantle both is led by an overlapping cast of characters who understand all too well that tearing down our systems of democracy is the ticket to winning their regressive social agenda.
First, the players. The legal engineer behind Citizens United is James Bopp, a lawyer whose resume is notable for its commitment to ultra-conservative causes — including as lead lawyer for the National Right to Life Committee, his go-to client in cases seeking to gut campaign reform. (He also represents Susan B. Anthony List, Concerned Women for America and the Traditional Values Coalition, among others.)
Bopp’s initiation to campaign finance began with a battle against the Federal Election Commission regarding rules regulating the distribution of pro-life voter guides in the 1980 election. He since has placed campaign finance squarely within the pro-life platform. So opposed to reform is the National Right to Life Committee, its members have withdrawn support from stalwart abortion opponents who support campaign reform — including, notoriously, John McCain in his 2000 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Today, Right to Life and its cohorts stand to be big winners in the post-Citizens United wild west of campaign laws. It goes like this: When the major contributor to anti-choice super PAC, Women Speak Out, happens also to be its parent organization, Susan B. Anthony List — which, as a non-profit, need not disclose its donors — voters don’t know who is bankrolling attacks on pro-choice candidates.
Bopp’s legal technique reflects a sophisticated long view of the battle. Since Citizens United, he has filed dozens of cases challenging campaign finance laws, positioning them to land in strategic sequence. He acknowledges a parallel path to overturning Roe, stating a pragmatic truth: “When you have a willing court, then you pursue what they’re willing to do.”
No doubt, the Roberts Court has proven itself more than willing to unravel and undermine democracy. In addition to the damage it has wrought on campaign finance, the same 5-4 majority eviscerated the Voting Rights Act in 2013. As for abortion? We’ll likely soon see. The latest generation of restrictions — from requiring providers to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital, to bans on later-term procedures — not only render the ability to access abortion nearly impossible today, they lay the groundwork for a potentially willing Supreme Court tomorrow. This deliberate approach to chip away at longstanding rights has led to some of the “keenest successes of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.”
Bopp’s decades-long crusade to dismantle campaign reform demonstrates how keenly he and his fellow conservatives understand the importance of the systems of democracy — and that how we elect our representatives undoubtedly affects who gets elected.
In the face of campaign finance and voting rights under fire, it is time to take a page from the National Right to Life Committee’s playbook. Progressives must join forces, across respective issues, and get behind a bold and meaningful democracy reform agenda. If we don’t address our broken systems, we’ll never be able to solve our problems, from women’s health to economic inequality to climate change. And those problems will only multiply each time our electoral systems are further cut back, chipped away and compromised.
When it comes to opponents of reproductive choice, make no mistake: our elections, the bedrock of American democracy, are in their line of fire. So on these back-to-back anniversaries — Citizens United Wednesday, Roe Thursday — the pro-choice community must speak up and out about both rulings and the ideals we hold dear: our right to choose and our democratic values. We can’t win one without the other. And we are dangerously close to losing both.
Award season has begun and I can’t wait to see what the stars are going to wear on the green carpet!
What?
Sara, don’t you mean the RED carpet?
No, I’m not color blind; I know a green carpet when I see it. After all, who can forget Meryl Streep’s gold lame Lanvin gown, Cameron Diaz’s bespoke beaded Stella McCartney gown or Cate Blanchet’s Chopard diamond wreath earrings from green carpets past?
These glamorous ladies are part of a growing contingent of Hollywood stars who are taking part in a fascinating challenge — the Green Carpet Challenge.
Its origins read like a modern day fairy tale any a-list actress would be thrilled to be cast as the lead character in. Let’s say her name is Livia and she could be the stunning, powerhouse wife of one of the best actors of this generation. Let’s call him Colin. Now that the two main characters in our modern day fairy tale are in place let’s give our lead a challenge: what to wear to accompany her multi-nominated spouse during the awards season. But there’s no designer showroom for her. Instead, Livia challenges herself to wear a gown that is both sustainable and ethically made.
By now I’m sure you’ve realized that this storyline strikes as too over-the-top and unbelievable to be anything but reality.
It is.
Of course, I’m referring to Livia Firth who in 2007 alongside her husband, the actor Colin, and brother, Nicola Giuggioli, co-founded Eco-Age, a brand consultancy enabling “businesses to achieve growth by adding value through sustainability.”
As Livia told Harrod’s magazine, she and her journalist friend, Lucy Siegle, made her first “green carpet” gown in 2010 out of discarded fabrics and “things from the garbage bin.” That year, Livia’s answer to that now-ubiquitous red-carpet journalistic question, “Who are you wearing?” was an original one to say the least.
Since then many celebrities have joined Eco-Age’s global communication platform, dubbed, the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC Brandmark) and clamor to wear “green,” red carpet gowns and tuxedos created by repurposed fabrics and ethical production.
Luxury designers have since adopted the challenge as their own and the GCC Brandmark has since become one of the validations of highest acclaim for sustainability in the international fashion and retail industry. And it’s not limited to just the red carpet.
Gucci is famously the first to have created a handbag collection with the GCC Brandmark made from zero-deforestation, Amazonian leather. Notably, this collection sold out before it even hit stores. Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and Victoria Beckham are other celebrated designers among the growing, sustainable GCC ranks.
Chopard is the first luxury jeweler of its caliber to have been awarded the GCC Brandmark for its collection of Fairmined gold jewelry and watches. These pieces have been worn on the red carpet to dazzling effect by everyone from Cate Blanchet, Marrion Cottilard and, of course, Colin and Livia Firth — Colin helped design the brand’s first watch made from Fairmined gold and his lovely wife attended the Golden Globes last week wearing an amazing pair of Chopard Green Carpet High Jewelry earrings. Chopard even made the 2014 Cannes Film Festival’s grand prize, the Palm d’Or, out of Fairmined gold.
It’s been 4 years since that first “green,” red carpet dress of Livia’s was scrutinized and then highly praised by some of the industries toughest critics and influencers. And now, as in every awards season, there are to be dozens of glamorous red carpets that are walked on all over the globe, equaling countless gowns, jewels and tuxes paraded and admired.
Let’s see how many of them come in shades of green.
Note: the author is in no way affiliated with Eco-Age, The Green Carpet Challenge, Mrs. Livia Firth or any other parties mentioned in this post, but is simply a great admirer of their wonderful collective works.
It’s only an hour from now they are going to wheel you away. It’s only an hour from now I am going to place your life in stranger’s hands. It’s only an hour from now that time will stop; yet this hour is going to fly by. Please know this is the start of your new life. I pray these doctors can take this tumor away. I pray this is the start of our new life, cancer-free. I pray you can begin your life living your dreams. I pray my dreams come true for you.
I dream of a day where your hair will be long or short.
I dream of a day those fresh scars will be old and faded.
I dream of a day your biggest boo boo is from falling off your bike.
I dream of a day I hear your voice shouting my name, and even shouting with your brothers.
I dream of a day I complain you outgrew those brand new shoes.
I dream of a day you complain I am making you practice your violin.
I dream of a day you tell me you want to be goalie.
I dream of a day I wonder why hockey is so expensive.
I dream of a day you tower over me.
I dream of a day I sit in the principal’s office to hear about some shenanigan of yours.
I dream of a day I hear your name on the honor roll.
I dream of a day I go broke paying for your college.
I dream of a day you tell me you are traveling the world.
I dream of a day you tell me you’re in love.
I dream of a day I hold my grandchild.
I dream of a day you dream for your child.
For I dream today is the day your cancer leaves you, and my dream is real.
As I give you my last kiss for the day, I dream it won’t be my last. I’ll hold you tight in my arms, and sing your sweet lullaby as you fall asleep. I will wait in great pain for the doctor to come talk to me. I will wait for our dreams to begin. Please know, my dear Vito, you are my soul, know you can conquer this all. You were born for great things and to touch many lives. I know your life is destined to soar. Know that you are loved from those close to you and those from afar. Oh, I will wait as the seconds pass, for you to be back in my arms. I love you, my Victor, know that you are loved and by love we live.
Victor Skaro is undergoing his second neurosurgery today, January 20, 2014 in hopes to remove more of his brain tumor and help him win his battle against Medulloblastoma.
Follow Valiant Vito’s Journey.
Brown University has removed the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity from campus for at least four years for hosting an unregistered party where attendees said they’d been slipped date-rape drugs.
The sanction imposed Monday comes down hard on the fraternity, but fails to charge any individuals with drug offenses. The fraternity denies any of its members supplied gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a common date-rape drug, during an October party. A Brown spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that the Ivy League school hasn’t singled out anyone, but would not comment further.
Brown said Monday that Phi Psi would lose university recognition for at least four years, and its housing would be taken immediately. A university hearing in December determined the fraternity was guilty of hosting an unregistered party, illegal possession or use of drugs, and illegal provision, sale, or possession with intent to sell/provide drugs. The fraternity created an environment “that facilitated sexual misconduct,” the school said in a statement.
“One student reported an incident of non-consensual sexual contact that did not happen within the fraternity’s facility nor did it involve a member of the fraternity, but its occurrence was a result of the student’s incapacitation,” the school said.
Phi Kappa Psi is the same fraternity reeling from a now-discredited account of a gang rape at the fraternity’s house at the University of Virginia, published by Rolling Stone in November. The Phi Psi chapter at Brown was sanctioned just days after the UVA chapter was reinstated following a police investigation. A member of the fraternity at UVA was elected to lead the Inter-Fraternity Council on the Charlottesville campus.
The fraternity’s Brown chapter said in a letter to the student newspaper after the party last fall that it was “confident that in no way did any member of Phi Kappa Psi engage in or perpetrate such atrocious and criminal behavior.”
The chapter reiterated that claim Tuesday in a statement to The Huffington Post and questioned a laboratory test that showed party guests had ingested GHB.
“Very serious questions arising from emerging scientific evidence remain about whether or not either of the women ingested GHB, and for these reasons Phi Kappa Psi continues to believe that no member served a spiked drink to either of the young women,” the statement said. “The University has acknowledged the implications of these developments, and the issue remains unresolved and continues to be subject to a thorough review by the University. We are committed to a just investigation and the implementation of policies that work to make our community a safer place for all.”
The school said it would only consider modifying the punishment after “a thorough and final review of the physical evidence.”
Phi Psi was known for frequent parties, and promoted its alcohol-fueled gatherings in materials aimed at prospective fraternity members.
“Sexual assault is a problem nationwide, not just in fraternities,” Shawn Collinsworth, national executive director for Phi Psi, told The Huffington Post. “[But ] we work hard every day at educating our members on this issue.”
This week we look at the rumoured new HTC One M9 (or whatever it’ll be called, HTC’s newest flagship) which we’ll get our first look at on March 1. These first spy shots seem to indicate it’ll be similar to last year’s M8, but is that good enough to make it one of the best Android phones of 2015? In other news, we take another look at the Amazon Fire Phone, six… Read More
Plex has is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 today. The personal media hub software originally came to Sony’s consoles back in mid-December of 2014, with a U.S. launch promised for a later date. While the release date is different, the software is the same – offering a horizontal browsing experience designed to surface content from your library that you should find… Read More
Following earlier reports that Google was finalizing a $1 billion investment in Elon Musk’s zany new space internet project, SpaceX has confirmed a new round of funding worth—you guessed it—$1 billion. The new investors include not only Google but also Fidelity, Founders Fund and others. The new investors now own slightly less than 10 percent of SpaceX’s new venture.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
