Daily 30: Mon 09.08.2014

Beyond The Headlines! 10mo
September 8, 2014

2 September 8, 2014 Vice News

Today: police and protesters clash on anniversary of Chile's military coup, North Korea announces trial for detained American citizen, mobile lab speeds up ebola testing in Sierra Leone, and Egypt's president urges calm over massive power outages.
Speaks On The Legendary Battle! 10mo
Jay Z Instigated Battle

3 Jay Z Instigated Battle Vlad TV

He shares the full story of how the battle with Freeway was heavily instigated by Jay Z. According to Cassidy, Jay was "talking crazy" about how he couldn't beat anyone from his camp. This only fueled Cassidy's desire to prove his lyrical skills, and he wound up issuing a challenge to battle anyone that Jay Z put in front of him.
Sports News 10mo
ATL Hawks Owner Racist Email

17 ATL Hawks Owner Racist Email Sports Illustrated‎

Months after advocating for the removal of former Clippers owner Donald Sterling due to racist comments that were caught on tape, Hawks owner Bruce Levenson has decided to sell his controlling interest in the team because of a 2012 email in which he expressed racial stereotypes about his fan base. The NBA announced Sunday that Levenson agreed to sell his stake in the team before a league investigation of the email could be completed. "The views he expressed are entirely unacceptable and are in stark contrast to the core principles of the National Basketball Association," commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "He shared with me how truly remorseful he is for using those hurtful words and how apologetic he is to the entire NBA family – fans, players, team employees, business partners and fellow team owners – for having diverted attention away from our game." Levenson, who made his fortune as a co-founder of United Communications Group, had served as Atlanta's representative at NBA Board of Governors meetings since 2004. Hawks COO Steve Koonin will oversee team operations during the sale process. The email in question -- which Levenson called "inappropriate and offensive" and which he self-reported to the NBA, according to Silver -- was sent in August 2012. Stemming from his desire for the Hawks to build up a "more diverse fan base that includes more suburban whites," Levenson acknowledged that he leaned on stereotypes to describe groups of fans. "I trivialized our fans by making clichéd assumptions about their interests (i.e. hip hop vs. country, white vs. black cheerleaders, etc.) and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another (i.e. that white fans might be afraid of our black fans). By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans," Levenson wrote in a statement. "If you’re angry about what I wrote, you should be. I’m angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense." Levenson added that he was "truly embarrassed by my words" and he issued an apology to Hawks employees and fans. The email -- which addressed the in-game experience at Philips arena, among other topics -- has been released by the Hawks. Excerpts of the sensitive material are below. 4. Regarding game ops, i need to start with some background. for the first couple of years we owned the team, i didn't much focus on game ops. then one day a light bulb went off. when digging into why our season ticket base is so small, i was told it is because we can't get 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tixs and they are the primary demo for season tickets around the league. when i pushed further, folks generally shrugged their shoulders. then i start looking around our arena during games and notice the following: -- it's 70 pct black -- the cheerleaders are black -- the music is hip hop -- at the bars it's 90 pct black -- there are few fathers and sons at the games -- we are doing after game concerts to attract more fans and the concerts are either hip hop or gospel. Then i start looking around at other arenas. It is completely different. Even DC with its affluent black community never has more than 15 pct black audience. Before we bought the hawks and for those couple years immediately after in an effort to make the arena look full (at the nba's urging) thousands and thousands of tickets were being giving away, predominantly in the black community, adding to the overwhelming black audience. My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant season ticket base. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arean back then. i never felt uncomfortable, but i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites i would read comments about how dangerous it is around philips yet in our 9 years, i don't know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games. I have been open with our executive team about these concerns. I have told them I want some white cheerleaders and while i don't care what the color of the artist is, i want the music to be music familiar to a 40 year old white guy if that's our season tixs demo. i have also balked when every fan picked out of crowd to shoot shots in some time out contest is black. I have even bitched that the kiss cam is too black. Gradually things have changed. My unscientific guess is that our crowd is 40 pct black now, still four to five times all other teams. And my further guess is that 40 pct still feels like 70 pet to some whites at our games. Our bars are still overwhelmingly black. This is obviously a sensitive topic, but sadly i think it is far and way the number one reason our season ticket base is so low. And many of our black fans don't have the spendable income which explains why our f&b; and merchandise sales are so low. At all white thrasher games sales were nearly triple what they are at hawks games (the extra intermission explains some of that but not all). Regardless of what time a game starts, we have the latest arriving crowd in the league. It often looks and sounds empty when the team takes the floor. ... Our player intro is flat. We manufacture a lot of noise but because of the late arriving crowd and the fact that a lot of blacks dont seem to go as crazy cheering (another one of my theories) as whites, it is not great. Even when we have just returned from winnng four straight on the road, i am one of the few people in the arena standing and cheering when our team takes the floor. Bob has kicked around ideas like having the starters coming down aisles rather than off the bench during intros. Sounds cool but may highlight all the empty seats at the start of games. Back in April, Levenson publicly stated that he would support an attempt by Silver and the NBA to oust Sterling, telling Atlanta radio station 92.9 FM that the league needed to have a "zero-tolerance policy against racism and discrimination in any form." The Hawks have struggled from an attendance perspective despite making the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons. Atlanta ranked No. 28 in home attendance last season -- beating only the Sixers and Bucks, the two worst teams in the league. The Hawks have not ranked among the NBA's top 15 teams in home attendance at any point in the last 10 years. Forbes ranked the Hawks No. 27 in its latest franchise valuations, pegging the franchise's value at $425 million. In 2011, Levenson attempted to sell the Hawks to California businessman Alex Meruelo, but the deal ultimately fell through.
1y
Super Freak Live

18 Super Freak Live Rick James

Rick James & the Stone City Band took the stage in Essen, Germany to open the 10th Rockpalast-Festival. This 1982 performance was the first time James played in Europe, bringing his brand of American Punk Funk to a whole new audience.
1y
Video In A Plain Brown Wrapper

20 Video In A Plain Brown Wrapper Redd Foxx

Redd Foxx Video in a Plain Brown Wrapper: Here's the infamous REDD FOXX-star of "Sanford and Son" and renowned stand-up comedian-live in his concert act, strutting the stage and sharing his own outrageous brand of ribald comedy.
10mo
Electrolux To Buy GE For $3.3 Billion

25 Electrolux To Buy GE For $3.3 Billion Huffington Post

Electrolux said in August it was in talks to buy the unit to tap into a market where it has lacked scale and that is growing faster than Europe. Reuters reported earlier this month a deal was near completion. "GE's premium, high-quality appliances complement our own iconic brands and will enhance our presence in North America," Electrolux Chief Executive Keith McLoughlin said in a statement. "The acquisition, which is our largest ever, strengthens our commitment to the appliance business and also provides Electrolux with the scale and opportunity to accelerate our investments in innovation and global growth." Electrolux, which sells under brands such as Frigidaire, AEG and Zanussi as well as its own name, is already the world's second-largest home appliance maker after Whirlpool, but has its strongest market position in Europe. In 2013, western Europe accounted for 28 percent of group sales while North America represented 32 percent. Organic growth in North America was 7 percent while in Europe it was 0.4 percent. The purchase of GE's Appliance's business - including cookers, refrigerators, air conditioners and water heaters - will more than double Electrolux's sales in the U.S. market from the 31.9 billion crowns ($4.5 billion) it had in 2013. Last year, GE's Appliance business had sales of $5.7 billion, 90 percent of which were in North America, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $390 million in 2013. Electrolux said the deal would be financed by a bridge facility and that it would undertake a rights issue corresponding to approximately 25 percent of the consideration following completion of the acquisition. The transaction is expected to generate annual cost savings of around $300 million and to be earnings accretive from the first year.
10mo
iWatch Partner With Health Care

26 iWatch Partner With Health Care New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is trying to have another iPod experience. The company was not the first to create a digital music player when it introduced the iPod 13 years ago. But the device, with its click wheel and slick integration with the iTunes software that ran on a computer, took digital music into the mainstream. Nor will Apple be the first to introduce a so-called smartwatch when it unveils its much-anticipated wristband device on Tuesday, along with two iPhones. But if the company gets it right, it could be the first to make average people want to buy one of these devices. Wearable computers — attached to a wrist, a belt, a lapel or even a head — have so far been the property of serious gadget enthusiasts and calorie-counting fitness buffs. While a lot of attention has been paid to Google Glass, for example, the computer-in-eyewear is as well-known for the privacy controversy it has caused as for its technical trailblazing. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Timothy D. Cook, the chief executive of Apple.Apple Plans Smartwatch and Larger iPhonesSEPT. 4, 2014 Apple’s iCloud lets users sync media across various devices.Bits Blog: Apple Says It Will Add New iCloud Security Measures After Celebrity HackSEPT. 4, 2014 An Apple store in Beijing. Apple is facing new claims of violations of labor rights and workplace safety at a supplier in China.Groups Accuse Apple Supplier in China of Labor ViolationsSEPT. 4, 2014 Smartwatches have not fared much better. Samsung, Apple’s biggest rival, introduced the first of its six smartwatches last year with a commercial that recounted watches that have appeared in science fiction entertainment, from “The Jetsons” to “Star Trek.” A long list of other tech companies like Motorola and LG have also introduced smartwatches, but none of them have been anywhere near as popular as the movies and television shows featured in the Samsung ad. Has that left an opening for Apple with the product that the media has labeled the iWatch? Perhaps, analysts say, if the company can court partners in other industries like health care — health monitoring is believed to be a major feature — as cleverly as it courted the music industry. Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., spent years negotiating with the music industry to get music sold legally on iTunes, which happened two years after the iPod went on sale. “I believe they’ve been doing that with the health market,” said Tim Bajarin, an analyst for the firm Creative Strategies. Not everyone thinks everyday consumers will embrace smartwatches just because Apple is making one. Jan Dawson, an independent technology analyst for Jackdaw Research, conducted surveys with thousands of consumers and found that interest in some of the features in smartwatches, like fitness tracking and mobile payments, was low. “Smartwatches, as they currently stand, are trying to meet needs which most people simply don’t have,” Mr. Dawson said. Little is publicly known about what exactly the Apple watch will do other than track some fitness statistics, make wireless payments and handle some mobile computing tasks like maps. “I’m hoping it’s something more akin to at least one of the high-end fashion watches, something you wouldn’t be ashamed to go to the Oscars with,” said Carl Howe, an analyst for the research firm the Yankee Group. The people who created the watch have been described by Apple employees as an “all-star team.” Apple’s top designers and engineers who worked on its iPhone, iPad and Macs are all part of it, several Apple employees said. And important Apple executives have been closely supervising the product, employees say. Among them are Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice president of operations, and Jonathan Ive, Apple’s head of design. Other key players include Kevin Lynch, formerly chief technology officer of Adobe, who has been supervising the watch’s software; Jay Blahnik, a fitness consultant who worked on Nike’s FuelBand device; and Michael O’Reilly, a former chief medical officer of the Masimo Corporation, a company based in Irvine, Calif., that makes devices for monitoring patients. Apple designs both the hardware and software of its products, which gives it deeper control than its rivals over things like chip design, battery life and smarter sensors for monitoring the wearer, said Daniel Matte, an analyst for the research firm Canalys. But making the product is just the first step. Apple needs the support of partners, like app developers, health care companies and medical technology companies, that will help create the functions that give people a reason to want to wear a computer around their wrist all the time in the first place, said Mark A. McAndrew, a partner with the law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister, which works with health and science clients. Lining up deals with music labels and persuading them to agree to a charge of 99 cents a song on iTunes was one of the reasons the iPod became popular, say analysts. While the device itself was easy to use, it became a gateway to a music catalog that at the time none of Apple’s competitors could offer. But patient privacy, which is closely guarded by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, could be a tricky issue for Apple, Mr. McAndrew said. Apple will have to carefully police any health-related apps to ensure that sensitive patient information is not accessible in any way to hackers, he said. “That’s where the privacy issue comes into play, because health care providers are scared to death of data breaches and privacy issues,” he said. “They’ve got to figure out a way to get them comfortable.” Apple has taken some steps to keep health data private. Last week, it updated its guidelines for app developers, which state that apps working with HealthKit, Apple’s new set of tools for tracking fitness and health statistics, were not allowed to store data on iCloud, among other rules. Mr. Bajarin of Creative Strategies believes Apple has been quietly working with many partners in the health industry to prepare for its health-monitoring watch. This year, when Apple introduced its new health-tracking tool kit, the company said it had been working closely with the Mayo Clinic and Epic Systems, a health care software company. Improving health monitoring could be something of a personal mission for Apple. In the Walter Isaacson biography of Steven P. Jobs, an anecdote about the late Apple chief recounted his hatred for the design of some of the health-monitoring devices being used on him in the hospital where he was being treated for cancer, like masks and the oxygen monitor on his finger. “Steve in his last years had an amazingly difficult relationship with the health care industry,” Mr. Bajarin said. “This is probably one of Steve’s last big things that he personally drove.”
Powerful! 11mo
Finding Fela

27 Finding Fela Jigsaw Produtions

Alex Gibney's Finding Fela (2014) is a sweeping portrait of the artist as guerilla warrior. Set to the insistent groove of Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti's revolutionary Afrobeat sound, the remarkable story of one man's courageous stand against a corrupt and dictatorial government gives testament to the transformative power of music as a force of social and political unification.
1y
Dumb and Dumber To

28 Dumb and Dumber To Universal Pictures

20 years after the dimwits set out on their first adventure, they head out in search of one of their long lost children in the hope of gaining a new kidney.
Must Watch! 10mo
Cowspiracy

29 Cowspiracy A.U.M. Films

COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following an intrepid filmmaker as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today, and investigates why the world's leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. This documentary will be as eye-opening as "Blackfish" and as inspiring as "An Inconvenient Truth."
11mo
Addicted

30 Addicted Lionsgate

Based on the best-selling novel by Zane, ADDICTED is a sexy and provocative thriller about desire and the dangers of indiscretion. Successful businesswoman Zoe Reynard appears to have attained it all - the dream husband she loves, two wonderful children and a flourishing career. As perfect as everything appears from the outside, Zoe is still drawn to temptations she cannot escape or resist. As she pursues a secretive life, Zoe finds herself risking it all when she heads down a perilous path she may not survive.