Beyonce electrifies at Super Bowl halftime show

If naysayers still doubted Beyonce's singing talents ? even after her national anthem performance last week at a press conference ? the singer proved she is an exceptional performer at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Beyonce opened and closed her set Sunday belting out songs, and in between, she danced hard and heavy ? and better than most contemporary pop stars.

She set a serious tone as she emerged onstage in all black, singing lines from her R&B hit "Love on Top." The stage was dark as fire and lights burst from the sides. Then she went into her hit "Crazy in Love," bringing some feminine spirit to the Superdome in New Orleans as she and her background dancers did the singer's signature booty-shaking dance. Beyonce ripped off part of her shirt and skirt. She even blew a kiss. She was ready to rock, and she did so like a pro.

Her confidence ? and voice ? grew as she worked the stage with and without her Destiny's Child band mates during her 13-minute set, which came days after she admitted she sang to a prerecorded track at President Barack Obama's inauguration less than two weeks ago.

Beyonce proved not only that she can sing, but that she can also entertain on a stage as big as the Super Bowl's. The 31-year-old was far better than Madonna, who sang to a backing track last year, and miles ahead of the Black Eyed Peas' disastrous set in 2011.

Beyonce was best when she finished her set with "Halo." She asked the crowd to put their hands toward her as she sang the slow groove on bended knee ? and that's when she the performance hit its high note.

"Thank you for this moment," she told the crowd. "God bless y'all."

Her background singers helped out as Beyonce danced around the stage throughout most of her performance. There was a backing track to help fill in when Beyonce wasn't singing, and there were long stretches when she let it play as she performed elaborate dance moves.

She had a swarm of background dancers and band members spread throughout the stage, along with videotaped images of the singer dancing that may have unintentionally played on the live-or-taped question. And the crowd got bigger when she was joined by her Destiny's Child band mates.

Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams popped up from below the stage to sing "Bootylicious." They were in similar outfits, singing and dancing closely as they harmonized. But Rowland and Williams were barely heard when the group sang "Independent Woman," as their voices faded into the background.

They also joined in for some of "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," where Beyonce's voice grew stronger. That song featured Beyonce's skilled choreography, as did "End of Time" and "Baby Boy," which also showcased Beyonce's all-female band, balancing out the testosterone levels on the football field.

Before the game, Alicia Keys performed a lounge-y, piano-tinged version of the national anthem that her publicist assured was live. The Grammy-winning singer played the piano as she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a long red dress with her eyes shut.

She followed Jennifer Hudson, who sang "America the Beautiful" with the 26-member Sandy Hook Elementary School chorus. It was an emotional performance that had some players on the sideline on the verge of tears. Hudson also sang live, her publicist said.

The students wore green ribbons on their shirts in honor of the 20 first-graders and six adults who were killed in a Dec. 14 shooting rampage at the school in Newtown, Conn.

The students began the song softly before Hudson, whose mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew were shot to death five years ago, jumped in with her gospel-flavored vocals. She stood still in black and white as the students moved to the left and right, singing background.

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Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/beyonce-electrifies-super-bowl-halftime-show-040713482--spt.html

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Man charged in fatal gun range shooting of ex-SEAL/author

GLEN ROSE, Texas (AP) ? A 25-year-old man was charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a central Texas gun range that killed former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle and his friend, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Sunday.

Sgt. Lonny Haschel said in a news release that 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh of Lancaster was arraigned Saturday evening on two counts of capital murder. Officer Kyle Roberts at the Erath County Jail said Routh arrived there Sunday morning and is being held on a combined $3 million bond. Roberts did not have information on whether Routh had a lawyer.

Haschel said Erath County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call about a shooting at the Rough Creek Lodge, west of Glen Rose, at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Police found the bodies of Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at the shooting range about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said he did not know where Kyle and Littlefield were hit because he had not yet received the medical examiner's report.

Kyle and Littlefield had taken Routh to the range, said Travis Cox, the director of a nonprofit Kyle helped found. Littlefield was Kyle's neighbor and "workout buddy," Cox told The Associated Press on Sunday morning.

"What I know is Chris and a gentleman ? great guy, I knew him well, Chad Littlefield ? took a veteran out shooting who was struggling with PTSD to try to assist him, try to help him, try to, you know, give him a helping hand and he turned the gun on both of them, killing them," Cox said.

Police said Routh opened fire on Kyle and Littlefield around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, and then fled in a Ford pickup truck, which Bryant said was Kyle's truck. At about 8 p.m., Routh arrived at his home in Lancaster, about 17 miles southeast of Dallas. Police arrested him after a brief pursuit and took him to the Lancaster Police Department.

The motive for the shooting was unclear. A knock on the door at Routh's last known address went unanswered Sunday. A for-sale sign was in front of the cream-colored wood-framed home.

Kyle, a decorated veteran, wrote the best-selling book, "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History," detailing his 150-plus kills of insurgents from 1999 to 2009. Kyle said in his book that Iraqi insurgents had put a bounty on his head. According to promotional information from book publisher William Morrow, Kyle deployed to Iraq four times.

Kyle's nonprofit, FITCO Cares, provides at-home fitness equipment for emotionally and physically wounded veterans.

"Chris was literally the type of guy if you were a veteran and needed help he'd help you," Cox said. "And from my understanding that's what happened here. I don't know how he came in contact with this gentleman, but I do know that it was not through the foundation."

Cox described Littlefield as a gentle, kind-hearted man who often called or emailed him with ideas for events or fundraisers to help veterans.

"It was just two great guys with Chad and Chris trying to help out a veteran in need and making time out of their day to help him. And to give him a hand. And unfortunately this thing happened," Cox said.

Craft International, Kyle's security training company, had scheduled a $2,950-per-person civilian training event at Rough Creek Lodge called the "Rough Creek Shoot Out!" for March 1-3. The price included lodging, meals and shooting instruction. Kyle was scheduled to teach the first class, called "precision rifle."

Kyle is survived by his wife, Taya, and their two children, Cox said.

___

Associated Press Writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Christopher Sherman in McAllen, Texas, and Andale Gross and Erica Hunzinger in Chicago contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-charged-fatal-shooting-ex-seal-author-150201265.html

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The Best and Worst Super Bowl Ads

A recent novel called Truth in Advertising takes place over a few frantic weeks leading up to a Super Bowl. It?s about an ad agency executive who?s scrambling to finish a spot that will run during the big game. The book captures a specific flavor of self-loathing that runs rampant in the ad industry. And it humanizes the faceless creatives who pump all this stuff out: Our hero deals with a pretentious director, a wishy-washy client, and some difficult on-screen talent, but he also faces crises involving a dying parent and a confusing love life.

So, let us not forget (on this national holiday dedicated to advertising) that these Super Bowl ads, good and bad, are crafted by real human beings. People who have hopes and fears very much like our own?but also have $3.8 million to spend on 30 seconds of airtime.

Budweiser introduces a new, higher-alcohol beer called Black Crown. We are told this is ?our kind of beer.? Who are we? We are ?the loud, the savvy, the famous.? And, judging by the people shown in this spot, we are also the young, the slender, and the fedora?d. We apparently love to hang out in rooms full of flaming candelabras. This is what an ad taxonomist would term ?associated user imagery??the ad is less about the product?s attributes and more about signaling the niche of people that the product is meant for. In this case, that niche is a little bit upscale and a little bit downtown. (The spot was at least a refreshing change for the night?s opening slot, which in years past has often featured Bud Light ads with punchlines that depend on animal flatulence and groin contusions.)

An Audi ad opens with a nervous high school boy getting ready for prom. He?s going stag because he has no date. Even his little sis pities him. Then dad tosses over the keys to a bitchin? Audi. When next we see the kid, he?s driving recklessly, violating parking rules, frenching the prom queen right in front of her boyfriend, and getting punched in the face. So I guess the takeaway is that driving an Audi will transform you from a sweet, humble guy into a total prick? And since teens can?t afford to buy Audis, this metamorphosis is presumably meant to stoke the fires of middle-aged men. Which is kind of gross.

Go Daddy is in the game again, this year with a twist. They?re no longer the domain name service for horn-dogs who get turned on by bikini babes. Now?symbolized by some heavy snogging between a geek and a supermodel (a scene that reportedly required 45 smoochy takes)?they are also the domain name service for people who want their soft-core cheesecake backed by reliable tech infrastructure. I?ve been saying for years that Go Daddy?s lad mag image might unnecessarily limit its appeal by repulsing, for instance, women. For there are indeed women who might wish to register web sites. (And my colleague Alyssa Rosenberg was repulsed by this spot last night.) But to me this ad seems like a tack in in a more promising direction?toward a product-focused pitch instead of a dumb, ?sex sells? approach. And as much as I hate Go Daddy?s entire aesthetic, I need to concede that their over-the-top marketing has been an overall success. Quick: How many other domain registration companies can you name off the top of your head?

Doritos once again crowdsources its Super Bowl presence, allowing contest winners to create its ads. In this one, a man buys a Doritos-eating goat. The man soon discovers he is unable to satisfy the jonesing goat?s out-of-control Doritos habit. When the spicy chips run out, the goat screams (and let?s pause to acknowledge the fabulous vocal work done here). The goat then angrily crushes a wooden sculpture that appears to be the man?s handcrafted outsider art project. Doritos has proven yet again that crowdsourcing can result in ads every bit as funny/puerile as the ads that the best agencies think up. This spot also forced us all to ponder what sort of terrifying egestion might result if a goat actually ate 156 bags of Doritos.

A Best Buy ad starring Amy Poehler does celebrity endorsement right. This is a relatable famous person?one we can almost picture shopping at Best Buy?not an impossibly glamorous megawatt celeb. Poehler seems like the kind of person who might crave new high-tech goodies, but might also need a teensy bit of help navigating the consumer electronics landscape (in short, a perfect Best Buy customer). These scenes take place entirely within a Best Buy, so we never forget which brand this ad is for. And Poehler is charming. Who among us doesn?t love a dongle joke?

Oh James Franco, you can keep your Oz the Great and Powerful. I am all about Franco the Dreadlocked and Tatted. Or, as the movie is actually titled, Spring Breakers. The choice of the more discerning James Franco fan.

A Coca-Cola ad uses scenes pulled from security cameras. We see people kissing, being kind to each other, dancing joyfully. I generally count on Coke to nail my one requirement for a great Super Bowl ad: epic-osity. Coke often goes big?thematically, emotionally, and budgetarily. But in recent years, we?ve seen fewer epic ads in general. Whether this is because the national mood calls for restraint or because production funds have dried up, I?m not sure. Either way, this ad seems like a terrific compromise. It feels stirring, yet its moments are tiny delights. And it is made from cheap found footage. It?s also a perfect fit with Coke?s longstanding brand image: positive, global, and youthful.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=0d04e2e2bbc0c14fbe5287c12236fd31

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Accountants, Financial Advisors and Estate Planning | Morris, Hall ...

I was visiting my dentist the other day, and while I was there, I asked him about some pain I was having in my ankle.? He told me that what I needed to do was ?walk it off,? and I should feel better in a few days.? Now that my ankle is the size of a grapefruit, I?m wondering if his advice was flawed?

Obviously, I made up that story.? Hopefully, very few people, if any, would look for orthopedic advice from their dentist (no matter how smart their dentist may be).

Although such an occurrence would be strange, it is happening all the time in another context.? Many people are going to their accountants and/or financial advisors to get legal advice.? In fact, they might not even realize that is what they are actually doing.

Our attorneys are well versed in all aspects of estate planning, and we provide you with correct and updated information and instructions necessary to carry out your estate plan.? However, some clients, in talking with their accountants and financial advisors, get advice to take actions that jeopardize their estate plans. ?This is similar to going to your dentist to get advice on an ankle injury!

Accountants and financial advisors play an important role in the estates of clients, and most perform their functions well.? But planning an estate is a complex process that requires an in-depth understanding of state and federal tax, property, asset protection and health care laws, as well as how the individual client?s goals and concerns are accommodated by the laws and planning strategies.? Accountants and financial advisors do not have, nor should they be expected to have, the full picture in creating and maintaining an estate plan.? Therefore, their advice on legal matters regarding your estate plan will not be adequate and will likely have a negative affect on your plan.

The two biggest areas in which we are seeing problems are beneficiary designations for life insurance policies and retirement plans.? Generally, the beneficiary on your life insurance should be your trust. ?For a married couple, the beneficiary designation on a retirement account should be spouse primary and trust contingent.? For a single person, the trust should be the beneficiary of both life insurance and your retirement accounts.

Just as you wouldn?t enlist your dentist?s aid for orthopedic matters, please be careful of any legal advice you might receive from your accountant or financial advisor concerning your estate plan.? If any instructions or suggestions we have given are ever unclear to you, please contact us at 888.804.5340.? We are always available to answer your estate planning questions.

Contributed by MHK Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces Estate Planning Attorney James P. Plitz.

Why Choose Morris, Hall & Kinghorn:
You have a number of options when it comes to estate planning, so why pick Morris, Hall & Kinghorn?? First off, estate planning and asset protection are a very complicated endeavor and you should only trust someone who focuses exclusively on those matters.? Also, MHK is a proud member of The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA) which provides us additional support, advanced training, tools and information that is not available to others ? which means that we can better protect your assets and your loved ones.? We are one of only two firms in Arizona that belong to the AAEPA and are the only firm in New Mexico that has been granted membership.? If you have assets and loved ones that you want to protect, you are in good hands with MHK.? Contact us today at 888.804.5340 to schedule an appointment!

This blog should be used for informational purposes only.? It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice.? If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney in your community who can assess the specifics of your situation.

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Source: http://morristrust.com/2013/02/accountants-financial-advisors-and-estate-planning/

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Spam hits five-year low

8 hrs.

Devin Coldewey , NBC News

A new report from Kaspersky Lab indicates that the amount of spam in the world continues to decline, although it's nowhere near disappearing. It's also being replaced with other, more substantial threats.

Spam levels dropped throughout 2012, and by the end of the year it was steadily below 70 percent of all email detected. In the heyday of spam, it consistently made up around 85 percent, according to Kaspersky's numbers.

A number of factors have contributed to this. People and email providers have instituted more effective spam filters, for one thing, and a major security hole that allowed people to spoof an email's sender was closed this year.

The reduced effectiveness of spam emails means spammers have to send more to get any hits. Kaspersky calculates that it cost spammers $150 for every million emails sent ? cheap indeed, but the success rate is so low that legal, normal advertising on Google and Facebook actually end up beinga better deal.

Of course, not every spammer is just aiming for cheap advertising. There are plenty?selling illegal services or products, or looking to hijack your computer with malicious attachments or phishing attempts. Since legal advertisement isn't an option, they're doubling down on spam. For that reason, Kaspersky suggests spam reduction in 2013 will be "negligible at best."

The full, detailed report, with many more details about the origins and types of 2012's spam, can be read here.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBCNews Digital. His personal website is?coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/spam-hits-five-year-low-its-still-two-thirds-all-1C8125282

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Genes provide clues to gender disparity in human hearts

Jan. 24, 2013 ? Healthy men and women show little difference in their hearts, except for small electrocardiographic disparities. But new genetic differences found by Washington University in St. Louis researchers in hearts with disease could ultimately lead to personalized treatment of various heart ailments.

Generally, men are more susceptible to developing atrial fibrillation, an irregular, rapid heartbeat that may lead to stroke, while women are more likely to develop long-QT syndrome, a rhythm disorder that can cause rapid heartbeats and sudden cardiac death.

While prior studies have clearly established differences in the development of heart disease between men and women, very few studies had looked at the molecular mechanisms behind those differences in human hearts.

Igor Efimov, PhD, the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis, and a former doctoral student, Christina Ambrosi, PhD, analyzed 34 human hearts looking for genetic differences that might explain gender differences in heart disease.

The team took advantage of the unique opportunity at the university to obtain failing human hearts at the time of transplantation from Barnes-Jewish Hospital and non-failing hearts unsuitable for transplantation from Mid-America Transplant Services, a St. Louis-based organ procurement service.

The team screened for 89 major genes in electrophysiology, ion channel subunits, calcium handling proteins and transcription factors important in cardiac conduction and in the development of arrhythmia and the left atria and ventricles in human hearts.

"What was striking in this study is that we expected very large gender differences in expression of genes in the ventricles, but we did not find such differences," says Efimov, also a professor of medicine, of radiology and of cell biology and physiology at Washington University School of Medicine. "Unexpectedly, we found huge gender differences in the atria."

The results showed that women with failing hearts have a weaker system of gene expression than men -- males showed overall higher expression levels of nearly all of the 89 genes than women.

Women showed particularly lower atrial expression levels of several important genes encoding for potassium channels, including Kv4.3, KChIP2, Kv1.5 and Kir3.1. In fact, the atria of women with heart disease had less than half of the KChIP2 mRNA than atria in men.

Results of the research were published in PLOS ONE.

Efimov says while there are still many questions that need to be answered to explain these molecular differences, one factor that could be contributing to the difference is estrogen.

"When women have the highest levels of estrogen, they are least vulnerable to arrhythmia -- women are protected by estrogen," he says. "But after menopause, women develop atrial fibrillation at the same rate as men. We don't understand this and need to study this in humans."

Another potential factor is circadian rhythm, Efimov says.

"Humans are much more likely to die suddenly from heart disease early in the morning, between 5-7 a.m.," he says. "In the cardiac system in mice, it has been shown that there is an oscillation of gene expression, so certain genes expressed at 5 a.m. could be different by threefold at 5 p.m."

Efimov says the study on human hearts is unique to Washington University, as much cardiac research elsewhere is done mostly in animal models. In the future, the team would like to expand the research into pediatric hearts, taking advantage of Washington University's leading pediatric heart transplant program to learn more about pediatric physiology.

Funding for this research was provided by the National Institutes of Health (R01-HL114395) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R-01-HL085369).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis. The original article was written by Beth Miller.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Christina M. Ambrosi, Kathryn A. Yamada, Jeanne M. Nerbonne, Igor R. Efimov. Gender Differences in Electrophysiological Gene Expression in Failing and Non-Failing Human Hearts. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e54635 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054635

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/pDQnFtrIs8U/130124150708.htm

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Poll: Hillary Clinton Favorable Across Lines - Business Insider

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is viewed in a highly favorable light across party and ideological lines, according to a new ABC/Washington Post poll released Wednesday.

The poll found that 91 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of Independents and a high of 37 percent of Republicans view Clinton favorably. The poll comes on the day Clinton testified before House and Senate committees on the September terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.?

She is also seen favorably by a majority of all ideological groups, including 49 percent of conservatives. An astounding 79 percent of self-identified moderates also said they viewed her favorably.?

The poll also showed that Clinton is in a much better position for a theoretical 2016 run for president than current Vice President Joe Biden. Clinton is viewed favorably by a 67-26 split. Biden, meanwhile, was viewed favorably by just 48 percent of respondents and unfavorably by 37 percent.

Here's a look at the difference between Clinton and Biden:

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/poll-hillary-clinton-favorability-2016-joe-biden-president-2013-1

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