Info 24 Online

Ed Sheeran joins Facebook's VIP-only Mentions app

<center><img alt="Ed Sheeran " src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/7/28/1406565054122/ed-sheeran-011.jpg" width="650" /></center><p align="justify">Urban music sensation Ed Sheeran is the first Brit to have received an invite to Facebook's version of the VIP area: Mentions, the celebrities-only Facebook app. The Suffolk-born singer-songwriter now stands alongside the likes of Mariah Carey, Arianna Huffington and Kim Kardashian.<br />
<br />
Mentions, open only to "actors, athletes, musicians and other influencers", allows celebrities to see messages and shares relating to them and reply, as well as post updates and take part in live chats. They also won't be plagued by ads, newsfeed spam or BuzzFeed quizzes imploring them to find out what sort of soup they are. A cynic might wonder if Facebook had spotted Twitter cornering the "chatting directly with celebrities" market and responded by giving them their very own "reply to your fans" app.<br />
<br />
So, are you famous enough for Mentions? Only invited celebrities with pages verified by Facebook in the US can post. (They plan to launch the service in more countries in the "near future".) Public figures can download Mentions and request access, but it's very much a "don't call us, we'll call you" membership, which Facebook says it will limit to "a few thousand" people.<br />
<br />
It may be regretting inviting William Shatner, though, after the actor posted a grumpy review on his Tumblr when the app invited him to follow former Star Trek co-star George Takei. Clearly it had not been briefed about the pair's long-standing feud.<br />
<br />
Shatner also took umbrage with the fact that members must follow other celebrities in order to set up the app. "I think that is a flaw," he said. "I'm already following those who I want to follow – why insist I follow that short list of others?" We're with you, Mr Shatner. That sounds absolutely awful. You have our not-at-all-sarcastic pity for this grave injustice.<br />
<br />
• This article was amended on 29 July 2014. The original stated that any Facebook user could download the Mentions app. This has been corrected. The article was further amended on 1 August 2014 to remove comments that were reported to have come from Ed Sheeran's spokesman but were found to be incorrect.<br />

Ed Sheeran joins Facebook's VIP-only Mentions app

Urban music sensation Ed Sheeran is the first Brit to have received an invite to Facebook's version of the VIP area: Mentions, the celeb...

Orlando Bloom v Justin Bieber: history's most pathetic celebrity scuffle

<center><img alt="Orlando Bloom v Justin Bieber: history's most pathetic celebrity scuffle" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/8/1/1406891909235/Justin-Beiber-v-Orlando-B-009.jpg" width="650" /></center><p align="justify"><br />
<br />
It's the question that has divided the world. Permanently destroyed friendships. Condemned families to generations of icily silent Christmas dinners together. The question, the all-important question, is this: are you Team Orlando Bloom or Team Justin Bieber?<br />
<br />
After gossip site TMZ released a grainy, rubbernecking video of Orlando Bloom and Justin Bieber engaging in some minor-level fisticuffs at a restaurant in Ibiza this week, people have been lining up to proudly state their allegiances. On Team Bloom is James Franco, who came out in support of his fellow actor on the US satire show The Colbert Report this week; and Leonardo DiCaprio, who allegedly cheered Bloom on from his table inside the restaurant. And on Team Bieber is ...<br />
<br />
Well, fine, nobody's on Team Bieber. Why would they be? Bieber, who is rumoured to have got close to Bloom's then-wife Miranda Kerr in 2012, appeared to instigate the restaurant fight by yelling "What's up, bitch?", and then immediately scarpered away to Instagram photos of Kerr wearing a bikini and Bloom crying. It's crystalline obnoxiousness. It's gold-plated villainy.<br />
<br />
To borrow a well-worn Guardian phrase, Justin Bieber is peak brat.<br />
<br />
But you have to pick a side, because the stakes couldn't be higher for either of them. Orlando Bloom is fighting for nothing less than his dignity, and Justin Bieber is fighting for the bragging rights to say that he's marginally tougher than the Helen Flanagan look-alike from The Hobbit.<br />
<br />
Most importantly, they're both fighting to salvage their waning careers. Justin Bieber hasn't released a truly popular song since the one about babies that he recorded back when he looked like a foetus sitting underneath an Afghan Hound, and Orlando Bloom knows that his career will all but dry up as soon as Peter Jackson runs out of ways to wring JRR Tolkien's corpse dry.<br />
<br />
In that respect, their fight has an unmistakably tragic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane quality to it. It's hard to think of a more pathetic celebrity scuffle. Perhaps the only real precedent is the fight that took place between Kid Rock and Motley Crue's Tommy Lee at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards over Pamela Anderson, to whom they were both at one time married. Like Bloom v Bieber, it was a scrappy, embarrassing almost-fight between two preening dunderheads whose best days are behind them. And, like Bloom v Bieber, nobody won. Especially not humanity.<br />

Orlando Bloom v Justin Bieber: history's most pathetic celebrity scuffle

It's the question that has divided the world. Permanently destroyed friendships. Condemned families to generations of icily silent Chr...

I was Victoria Beckham’s ghost

<center><img alt="I was Victoria Beckham’s ghost" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/8/1/1406907901412/Ewan-McGregor-in-The-Ghos-011.jpg" width="650" /></center><p align="justify">Taran-tara! A book is being published this month, and it has already attracted the kind of publicity that would make a JK Rowling novel look unheralded. Admittedly, the author is very prolific, having written more than 80 books, which have sold more than 10 million copies. And yet you’ve never heard of him, which is precisely why he’s getting so much attention.<br />
<br />
That goes against the grain not just of the modern publishing industry, where only writers who already get media coverage get more media coverage, but of this particular author’s entire career. Because this book, you see, is called Confessions of a Ghostwriter, and it was written by a chap called Andrew Crofts, who has built a career on writing books for people more famous than himself.<br />
<br />
You’d think it was the first time a ghostwriter had ever revealed their corporeal form, but it’s not even the first time this decade. Robert Harris mined this fascination in The Ghost, in which the characters were ghosts of Harris himself and Tony Blair. Roman Polanski then made it into a film that, despite being a melange of confused accents (every single actor is speaking in an accent other than their own – and, boy, you don’t forget it), was his most enjoyable movie for years. Jennie Erdal wrote hilariously about her time as a ghostwriter for Naim Attallah, a London publisher who is usually described as “larger than life” which is invariably a euphemism for “a pain in the arse”. Much hay is always made of what the rise of ghostwriters says about the state of publishing and people’s reading habits (short answer: nothing good). More telling, though, is the interest in ghostwriters themselves.<br />
<br />
I find this interest amusing, partly because it’s treated as a more cerebral way of admitting that what you’re actually interested in is fame. So meta, you see. But the main reason I find it amusing is because I have been in the ghostwriting game – and that is, by some measure, the only thing I’ve done in my life that anyone is interested in. When I was 26 I got a call from my agent, the now sadly late Kate Jones asking if I would help a certain celebrity write a fashion guide. As I was then the deputy fashion editor of the Guardian, this didn’t seem too wildly beyond my capabilities. Plus, I needed the money. So I asked who the celebrity was. “Victoria Beckham,” she replied. And we both burst into giggles. By the end of the week I was officially signed up to be what was described as “Victoria’s co-writer”.<br />
<br />
Like most ghostwriters or “co-writers”, I had to sign a confidentiality agreement in my own blood, so I won’t be able to share stories about the Beckhams’ regular animal sacrifices or reveal that David is actually a giant hologram projected out of Simon Fuller’s brain. But I can tell you what it’s like to be a ghostwriter. And what it is is boring. This is no slur on the Beckhams, who were extremely sweet to me and extraordinarily patient with my absolute ignorance of football. After the book was done, they invited me to a dinner with, as Victoria put it, “some of David’s friends”. This turned out to be pretty much every major international football player at the time, not that I had a clue who any of them were. I like to think that Zinedine Zidane was more charmed than insulted when I asked him what he did for work.<br />
<br />
There are many boring things about being a ghostwriter, and only one of them is that you’re writing in someone else’s voice, which is a very weird thing to do. The really boring thing is that you’re living with famous people, and famous people lead very boring lives. They are trapped by their own fame, unable to go anywhere without it being some kind of ordeal. The Beckhams themselves seemed perfectly happy, mainly because they have each other. But famous people are watched now to a degree they never were before, and so can get away with less. It’s hilarious that fame has become the ultimate currency of our age, the thing that is now given as a prize on TV game shows instead of money, because being famous has never been more boring. All those people who compete so desperately on The X Factor should spend just a day with a really famous person and see if what they think they want is what they actually want.<br />
<br />
I’ve since been asked to ghost a few other books but I lack the capacity for self-surrender, so I always say no. But not a week has gone by since without someone asking me about it. That ghostwriters exist proves we live in an era obsessed with fame; that people are interested in ghostwriters proves how ridiculous this obsession is.

I was Victoria Beckham’s ghost

Taran-tara! A book is being published this month, and it has already attracted the kind of publicity that would make a JK Rowling novel look...

Why do we grieve for dead celebrities?

<p align="justify"><img alt="Princess Diana" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2y83K9BFTEgTeoxIjuYrLMqaqk3K1JUSlud8LwDU1Y8IpvWYpjLbuuhFeE9_LwOasPb71bcyWqUAUrXEhFxo8RycL6NHf6l4fGMEd7EHKGR8VIyvHycpUwBEqsv2n_ctsUcMPT-38g0/s1600/diana-princess-of-wales-by-mario-testino-at-kensington-palace-8.jpg" width="620" /><br />
<br />
It wasn't that I cared a whole lot about Princess Diana, or that I was particularly sad when she died. It was that I drove around London that night with my mum, through the crowds of red-eyed strangers in their jackets, and I smelled the flowers. Do you remember? They were piled up in the places she'd stayed like bonfires, higher than people, and the whole city was like a scented candle. The petrol stations had signs up saying they'd sold out of bouquets. And in that smog of roses I understood, suddenly, that each of these people, strangers to the woman, were honestly and deeply affected by her death. But in the same moment I felt sad for them, I felt sort of mortified, too. Were their lives so lacking in emotion that they found it here, on a pavement, on the very edge of their realities?<br />
<br />
You see it today on Twitter, that first rush of celebrity RIPs – a mixture of shock, of competition, people rushing to report it first, and in between it all, the people who feel truly bruised by the loss. Not because they knew them, and not because they played a part in their lives – her song was not the first dance at their wedding, for instance; her face was not tattooed on their shin – but because something about her story reminded them of something about theirs. And she was a person, and so are they.<br />
<br />
Sitting in the car park of a pick-your-own strawberry farm hours after Amy Winehouse's body has been found. Getting a text late at night about Lux Interior, about Philip Seymour Hoffman. Occasionally the bruisy feeling when you hear is due to their talent, due to them being cut off in their prime, but more often it's not. More often it's less tangible. A gulp. Brittany Murphy. Cory Monteith. We all have a celebrity death that hurts us and makes us feel something, even if, as we're feeling it, we're embarrassed for feeling it. As if our twice-removed cousin of pain might be insulting to the family of the deceased, as if we don't have a right. What are the rules to our reactions?<br />
<br />
When L'Wren Scott died, I pored over the Samaritans guidelines on reporting suicide. They concentrate on the avoidance of words and details that will prompt readers to identify too closely with the deceased. You should not, for instance, speculate on their reasons for wanting to die. You should not describe the methods used. But even in the best, most sensitively reported stories, a certain level of identification occurs. The guidelines on reporting the way we feel upon hearing of the death of a person we know only from the party pages are far less clear.<br />
<br />
Am I allowed to feel like this? That's what I keep wanting to ask. Am I allowed to want to talk about it, and read about it, and worry about her friends? And pause weeks later and feel doleful before realising why – a stranger died 3,000 miles away. To feel the imagined grief of their partner, distorted through paparazzi pictures, a reflection of a reflection.<br />
<br />
The worry is that we're self-identifying, and making a stranger's death all about us. Projecting our own little concerns on to the blankness of a screen. The worry is that it reveals our own emptiness, our desperation for a feeling or thrown scrap of one. Or that we are so porous and sad that a stranger's experiences is enough to topple us. Either way, it's embarrassing. It's undignified. And yet it keeps on happening.<br />
<br />
Are we practising? Using celebrities like dolls to play out the way we might feel when we lose the people we actually love? Is our obsession with the deaths of beautiful people, our compulsive consumption of stories about their final days, a way of preparing for real feelings, real loss? All those flowers in Kensington. All those RIPs.

Why do we grieve for dead celebrities?

It wasn't that I cared a whole lot about Princess Diana, or that I was particularly sad when she died. It was that I drove around Lond...

Kim Kardashian Reunites With Paris Hilton

<p align="justify"><img alt="Kim Kardashian Reunites With Paris Hilton" src="http://assets-s3.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/76008-kim-kardashian-reunites-paris-hilton-laughing-picture/1407071730_paris-hilton-kim-kardashian_1.jpg" width="620" /><br />
<br />
It seems Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton are living a feud-free, simple life these days. The reality stars, both 33, reunited in Ibiza, Spain, on Saturday, Aug. 2 at designer Riccardo Tisci's birthday party, and appeared to pick up where they'd left off. <br />
<br />
"Reminiscing about the 1st time we went to Ibiza in 2006! @parishilton it was so good to see you & catch up!! Loves it lol," North West's mommy captioned the Instagram shot. <br />
<br />
Long before she became the world's biggest reality star, Kardashian was Hilton's assistant during her time on the hit reality show The Simple Life, and the childhood pals were inseparable for years. But in 2008, the notoriously opinionated blonde mocked her pal's curvaceous backside in a radio interview, comparing it to "cottage cheese inside a big trash bag." <br />
<br />
Since then they haven't been spotted together, despite Hilton issuing a formal apology. Earlier this month, the heiress played on the same charity kick ball team as Kardashian's younger half sister Kendall Jenner, and they were photographed laughing together. <br />
<br />
Tell Us: Do you think Kim and Paris will be besties again?

Kim Kardashian Reunites With Paris Hilton

It seems Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton are living a feud-free, simple life these days. The reality stars, both 33, reunited in Ibiza, Sp...

Zac Efron, Michelle Rodriguez Amp Up the PDA in Ibiza: Pictures

<p align="justify"><img alt="Zac Efron, Michelle Rodriguez Amp Up the PDA in Ibiza: Pictures" src="http://assets-s3.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/76012-zac-efron-michelle-rodriguez-pda-ibiza-pictures/1407081766_michelle-rodriguez-zac-efron_1.jpg" width="620" /><br />
<br />
Still going strong! After reuniting in Ibiza, Spain, on Thursday, July 31, Zac Efron and his new flame Michelle Rodriguez had no problem turning up the PDA on the beach of the Mediterranean island on Saturday, Aug. 2. <br />
<br />
The pair were spotted playing in the water, walking the beach, and cuddling on a yacht offshore. Both showed off their impressive bodies, Rodriguez, 36, in a tiny black bikini and Efron, 26, going shirtless while riding on a jet ski. <br />
<br />
When it came time to dry off, the Fast & Furious 7 star wore baggy yellow pants, a comfy tank top, and a SpongeBob SquarePants beanie. Efron slipped into a basketball jersey and ripped jeans, holding his new squeeze tight.<br />
<br />
This is the pair's latest far-flung getaway. They were first photographed kissing and riding on horseback in Sardinia, Italy as guests of Gianluca Vacchi in early July, and Efron was spotted leaving Rodriguez's Los Angeles house after a wild night out on July 20.<br />
<br />
"Zac and Michelle have great chemistry," an insider tells Us Weekly of the unexpected twosome. "They have a lot to talk about, a lot in common. They're having fun and it’s deeper than a friends with benefits situation. I don't know what their long-term plans are but they're close and I think they'll make effort to spend more time with each other over the coming months."

Zac Efron, Michelle Rodriguez Amp Up the PDA in Ibiza: Pictures

Still going strong! After reuniting in Ibiza, Spain, on Thursday, July 31, Zac Efron and his new flame Michelle Rodriguez had no problem t...

Lea Michele, New Boyfriend Matthew Paetz Hold Hands During Hike

<p align="justify"><img alt="Lea Michele, New Boyfriend Matthew Paetz Hold Hands During Hike" src="http://assets-s3.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/76015-lea-michele-new-boyfriend-matthew-paetz-hiking-picture/1407094554_lea-michele-boyfriend_1.jpg" width="620" /><br />
<br />
The couple that exercises together, stays together! Lea Michele stepped out with her new boyfriend Matthew Paetz on Saturday, Aug. 2, looking fit and in love. <br />
<br />
PHOTOS: Lea Michele and Cory Monteith's romance<br />
<br />
The pair held hands while hiking in Los Angeles' Runyon Canyon Park; the Glee star wore a white tank top and black leggings and her new beau sported an all-black ensemble. <br />
<br />
PHOTOS: Lea Michele's red carpet style<br />
<br />
Michele, 27, and Paetz met on the set of the recording artist's "On My Way" music video this spring. The model accompanied the former Broadway star to Capri, Italy in mid-July for a romantic getaway. <br />
<br />
PHOTOS: Celebrity workout buddies<br />
<br />
"It's still very new, but they are enjoying each other's company," a source close to the actress tells Us Weekly. "Lea's not stupid, so she's not jumping into anything. So far, it's an honest and happy relationship. Whatever his past may be, their current relationship is based on honesty."

Lea Michele, New Boyfriend Matthew Paetz Hold Hands During Hike

The couple that exercises together, stays together! Lea Michele stepped out with her new boyfriend Matthew Paetz on Saturday, Aug. 2, look...

Gisele Bundchen Celebrates Tom Brady's Birthday With Steamy Makeout Picture

<p align="justify"><img alt="Gisele Bundchen Celebrates Tom Brady's Birthday With Steamy Makeout Picture" src="http://assets-s3.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/76016-gisele-bundchen-tom-brady-birthday-makeout-picture/1407098304_tom-brady-gisele-bundchen-kiss_1.jpg" width="620" /><br />
<br />
Tom Brady is one lucky birthday boy! The New England Patriots quarterback turned 37 on Sunday, Aug. 3, and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen celebrated in a big way. <br />
<br />
PHOTOS: Tom and Gisele's most romantic moments<br />
<br />
"Happy birthday my love! Missing you so much... Te amo!!! Feliz aniversário meu amor! Estou com muita saudade... Te amo!!!" she captioned a sexy picture of the couple making out. <br />
<br />
PHOTOS: Celebs dating athletes<br />
<br />
In the snap, the Brazilian stunner's long wavy locks cascaded down her back as her hubby wrapped her in a tight embrace. <br />
<br />
PHOTOS: Supermodels, then and now<br />
<br />
Bundchen, 34, and Brady married in February 2009, and welcomed their son Benjamin that December. Two years later their daughter Vivian was born.

Gisele Bundchen Celebrates Tom Brady's Birthday With Steamy Makeout Picture

Tom Brady is one lucky birthday boy! The New England Patriots quarterback turned 37 on Sunday, Aug. 3, and his supermodel wife Gisele Bund...

Hayden Panettiere Bares Pregnant Baby Bump in Bikini

<p align="justify"><img alt="Hayden Panettiere Bares Pregnant Baby Bump in Bikini" src="http://assets-s3.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/76019-hayden-panettiere-pregnant-baby-bump-bikini-top-stories/1407107967_hayden-panettiere-chloe-grace-moretz_1.jpg" width="620" /><br />
<br />
The stars were out in a big way this weekend! Pregnant Hayden Panettiere wore a bikini on the beach in Miami with fiance Wladimir Klitschko. Plus, Chloe Grace Moretz and Brooklyn Beckham are officially dating. Check out this weekend's top stories! <br />
<br />
1. Hayden Panettiere Bares Pregnant Baby Bump in Bikini During Getaway With Fiance Wladimir Klitschko: Pictures<br />
<br />
Hello, Hayden! Pregnant Hayden Panettiere bared her growing baby bump with her fiance Wladimir Klitschko by her side during a beach outing in Miami, Fla., on Friday, Aug 1.<br />
<br />
2. Chloe Grace Moretz Is Dating Brooklyn Beckham: "They Were Each Others' Crush"<br />
<br />
Chloe Grace Moretz has Beckham fever! The If I Stay actress is dating Brooklyn Beckham, David and Victoria Beckham's eldest son, a source confirms to Us Weekly.<br />
<br />
3. Kim Kardashian Posts Picture of Kanye West Sleeping in Ibiza, Jokes Her Husband Has "Side Chicks"<br />
<br />
Time for bed! Before hitting the lights, Kim Kardashian posted a picture of her husband Kanye West sleeping in bed via Instagram on Saturday, Aug. 2. The couple—joined by several other Kardashian family members—just returned from a night out partying in Ibiza, Spain.<br />
<br />
4. Anna Paquin Educates Larry King on Bisexuality: "I Don't Think It's a Past Tense Thing"<br />
<br />
You go, Sookie! True Blood's Anna Paquin has been facing questions about her sexuality for years. The mother of twins Charlie and Poppy, both 22 months, has been married to her HBO costar Stephen Moyer since August 2010, and self-identifies as bisexual. <br />
<br />
5. Alanis Morissette Posts Breastfeeding Throwback Picture With Son Ever<br />
<br />
Nursing rocks! Alanis Morissette let it all hang out in honor of World Breastfeeding Week on Saturday, Aug. 2. The rocker, 40, posted a throwback picture with her son Ever, now 3, breastfeeding during his infancy.

Hayden Panettiere Bares Pregnant Baby Bump in Bikini

The stars were out in a big way this weekend! Pregnant Hayden Panettiere wore a bikini on the beach in Miami with fiance Wladimir Klitschk...

LePage calls IRS the 'new Gestapo'

<div style="text-align: justify;">
Gov.  Paul LePage used his weekly radio address to blast President  
Obama's  health care law and described the Internal Revenue Service as  
the "new  Gestapo."</div>
<div class="special-box" style="text-align: justify;">

<img alt="Paul LePage" border="0" class="PopBoxImageSmall" height="489" id="id016725242231527937" src="http://media.onlinesentinel.com/images/300*489/portland-press-herald_3626240.jpg" title="Paul LePage" width="300" /><div style="color: #aaaaaa; float: right; font-size: 9px; margin: 0px 0px 5px 20px;">
click image to enlarge</div>
<div class="small">
Gov. Paul LePage</div>
<div class="small">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The IRS description was a reference to a provision in the 
Affordable  Care Act that requires Americans not insured by their 
employers or  <b>Medicaid</b>
 to buy health insurance or pay an annual penalty when filing  their tax
 returns. The provision, known more broadly as the individual  mandate, 
was the subject of a multi-state lawsuit, but was recently  upheld by 
the U.S. Supreme Court.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
LePage said the court decision has "made America less free."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"We the people have been told there is no choice," he said. "You must buy health insurance or pay the new Gestapo -- the IRS."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Maine  Democratic Party Chairman Ben Grant, responding to LePage's  
remarks,  said, "We've come to expect a bunch of nonsense from Gov.  
LePage, but  this is a step too far. There appears now to be no limit to
  the extreme  language he will use to misinform, degrade and insult  
people. Somebody  needs to explain to him that he's the governor of a  
state, and not a  talk radio host. I demand a full apology on behalf of 
 all those who  suffered at the hands of the real Gestapo."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"There is nothing that  degrades politics more than purported leaders
  who so cavalierly invoke  the worst in human history when they can't  
get their way in legitimate,  modern policy disagreements," Grant said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Gestapo were Nazi Germany's official secret police under  Adolf  
Hitler, who imprisoned and murdered thousands of people without  cause.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The debate over the mandate has become a political flash point since 
  the health law was enacted. Republicans maintain that the requirement 
 is  an unfair tax. Democrats say the mandate was originally a 
Republican   idea born from the conservative Heritage Foundation, which 
introduced   the measure in 1989 as a counterpoint to calls for a 
single-payer  health  care system.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
LePage also addressed another element of the  health-care law that  
was immediately thrust into the public debate:  Medicaid expansion.  
Originally, the Affordable Care Act required states  to increase  
eligibility for low-income residents or pay a penalty. The  court  
decision struck down the penalty; however, the federal government  is  
still offering to pay for the expansion.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The federal government will fund 100 percent of the expansion from 2014 to 2016, gradually declining to 90 percent after that.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
LePage  says he needs more answers before making a decision about the
  Medicaid  expansion, which has been assailed by fellow Republican  
governors. At  least 15 have said they'll forgo the federal funding.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
LePage said  the state doesn't know how the federal matches will be  
paid for and how  the newly eligible recipients would be defined.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"However, Maine  is already a welfare expansion state because of the 
 generous benefits  offered," he said, adding that Maine's welfare costs
  are among the  highest in the nation because the state had expanded  
Medicaid prior to  the Republican electoral sweep of 2010.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The governor also appeared to preempt potential pressure from hospitals to support Medicaid expansion.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hospitals  may end up supporting the expansion because increased  
Medicaid  offerings lower uncompensated, or charity, care levels.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Uncompensated  care is health-care costs that hospitals absorb  
because people can't or  won't pay. A recent report in the Portland  
Press Herald showed that  uncompensated care by Maine hospitals has  
doubled over the last five  years, from $94 million to $194 million.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
LePage said that  increasing Medicaid may make it more difficult to  
pay hospitals the $500  million the state already owes in reimbursement.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The governor  added that Maine will not move forward the ACA's  
insurance exchanges --  the marketplaces where individuals can shop for 
 health plans from  private companies -- until the proposed $800 million
  tab to pay for them  passes Congress.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"With these looming uncertainties circling around this issue, Maine cannot move forward right now with Obamacare," LePage said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The  governor finished his radio address by outlining his ideological
   opposition to the health-care law, which he said "raises taxes, cuts 
  Medicare for the elderly, gets between patients and their doctors, 
costs   trillions of taxpayer dollars, and kills jobs."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Even more  disheartening is that reviving the American dream just  
became nearly  impossible to do," he said. "We are now a nation which  
supports  dependency rather than independence. Instead of encouraging   
self-reliance, we are encouraging people to rely on the government."</div>

LePage calls IRS the 'new Gestapo'

Gov. Paul LePage used his weekly radio address to blast President Obama's health care law and described the Internal Revenue Servic...

Great white sharks send Cape swimmers running

<div class="screenonly article-player">
<div id="divWNVideoCanvas">
<div id="OverLay" style="display: none;">
</div>
<object data="http://wn.whdh.com/global/video/flash/widgets/WNVideoCanvas2.swf?ver=2012-06-30-0450" height="380" id="WNVideoCanvasDEFAULTdivWNVideoCanvas" name="WNVideoCanvasDEFAULTdivWNVideoCanvas" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600"><param value="true" name="allowFullScreen"><param value="transparent" name="wmode"><param value="high" name="quality"><param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"><param value="#FFFFFF" name="bgcolor"><param value="playerWidth=600&playerHeight=380&affiliateNumber=428&playButtonText=&pauseButtonText=&summaryLongButtonText=&summaryShortButtonText=&emailLongButtonText=&emailShortButtonText=&helpLongButtonText=&helpShortButtonText=&closecaptionLongButtonText=&closecaptionShortButtonText=&hasEmail=true&hostDomain=wn.whdh.com&affiliate=WHDH&imgPath=http://whdh.images.worldnow.com/images/static/video/flash/&emailSubmitURL=&addRedirectBase=&clipBaseXMLPath=&helpPage=/Global/story.asp?S=4925699&clipId=7479376&isMute=false&playAtActualSize=0&hasHelp=false&smoothingMode=auto&staticImgPath=http://whdh.images.worldnow.com&openAdPrerollPosition=&openAdPostrollPosition=&openAdLeaderboardPosition=&playerIncludeType=&videoLoadingMessage=&summaryGraphicScaleStyle=stretch&isAutoStart=false&hasFullScreen=true&fullScreenControlType=none&adOwnerAffiliatesXML=&summaryGraphicMessage=&errorMessage=&loadingMessage=&defaultStyle=dark&commercialHeadlinePrefix=Commercial&summaryPaneLabelText=&closecaptionPaneLabelText=&emailPaneLabelText=&closePaneLabelText=&recipientEmailLabelText=&senderEmailLabelText=&senderNameLabelText=&emailMessageLabelText=&sendEmailButtonText=&emailSentConfirmationMessage=&invalidRecipientFieldMessage=&invalidSenderFieldMessage=&disableTransport=false&landingPage=&tabHeight=26&tabFontSize=10&siteDefaultFormat=flv&siteDefaultEmbedCodeFormat=js&playbackFormat=flv-application/octet-stream,video/x-flv,video/flash,video/mp4&playbackMaxBitrate=2000&thirdpartytemplatemrssurl=&regexpmrssid=&useUAF=false&playerType=STANDARD&controlPanelButtonsType=auto&enableExpressReport=True&hasComments=false&usePrerollMaster=&companionAds=&playerAdvertisingType=none&advertisingZone=&controlsType=fixed&volumeControlsType=vertical&skinPackage=satin&skinName=silver&hasEmbed=true&hasVideoShare=true&hasCc=false&hasVideoSummary=false&hasMobdub=false&dynamicStreamingEnabled=&dynamicStreamingBaseUrl=&dynamicStreamingCPCode=&galleryId=&hasEmbeddedGallery=false&videoType=On Demand Clip&contentClassification=About Us&streamHasPreroll=no&streamingUrl=&streamHeadline=&liveStreamGraphicUrl=&mobileStream1=&mobileStream2=&mobileStream3=&pageTitleTag=WHDH-TV - &domId=WNVideoCanvasDEFAULTdivWNVideoCanvas&idKey=DEFAULT&offFaceColor=afaeae&overFaceColor=ffffff&backgroundColors=ffffff,ffffff&backgroundAlphas=100,100&backgroundRatios=0,255&backgroundRotation=270&borderColor=212121&borderWidth=1&borderAlpha=100&sidePadding=0&topPadding=0&controlsHeight=40&controlsBackgroundColors=212121,676767&controlsBackgroundAlphas=100,100&controlsBackgroundRatios=0,255&controlsBackgroundRotation=270&controlsBorderColor=212121&controlsButtonLeftBorderColor=aaaaaa&controlsButtonRightBorderColor=aaaaaa&controlsOverFaceColor=C91419&controlsOffFaceColor=004578&controlsBottomPadding=8&controlsSidePadding=8&volumeSliderOffColor=5a5a5a&volumeSliderOverColor=828282&videoSliderBackgroundColor=828282&videoSliderLoadIndicatorColor=b2b2b2&videoSliderProgressIndicatorColor=212121&videoSliderKnobBackgroundColors=828282,828282&videoSliderKnobBackgroundAlphas=100,100&videoSliderKnobBackgroundRatios=0,255&videoSliderKnobBackgroundRotation=90&videoSliderKnobBorderColor=5a5a5a&videoSliderKnobShadowColor=5a5a5a&videoSliderKnobOffFaceColor=444444&videoSliderKnobOverFaceColor=212121&overlayBackgroundColors=676767&overlayBackgroundAlphas=92&overlayBackgroundRatios=0&overlayBackgroundRotation=90&overlayOffFaceColor=9c9c9c&overlayOverFaceColor=ffffff&emailInputFaceColor=9c9c9c&emailFormFieldColors=212121&emailFormFieldAlphas=80&emailFormFieldRatios=0&emailFormFieldRotation=90&emailErrorMessageFaceColor=ae1a01&emailErrorBorderColor=ae1a01&hasBorder=false&hasTopBorder=true&hasBottomBorder=true&hasLeftBorder=true&hasRightBorder=true&hasBevel=false&shareListItemOffFaceColor=afaeae&shareListListItemOverFaceColor=afaeae&shareListItemHighlightBorderColor=767676&shareListItemShadowBorderColor=3c3c3c&tabBackgroundColors=888888,383838&tabBackgroundAlphas=100,100&tabBackgroundRatios=75,255&tabBackgroundRotation=90&tabBackgroundSelectedColors=595959&tabBackgroundSelectedAlphas=100&tabBackgroundSelectedRatios=0&tabBackgroundSelectedHasBevel=true&tabBackgroundSelectedHasBorder=false&tabBackgroundSelectedBorderAlpha=100&tabBackgroundSelectedBorderWidth=1&tabBackgroundSelectedBorderColor=595959&tabBackgroundSelectedHasDropShadow=true&tabBackgroundOverColors=595959,212121&tabBackgroundOverAlphas=100,100&tabBackgroundOverRatios=0,100&tabOffFaceColor=dcdbdb&tabOverFaceColor=ffffff&tabLeftBorderColor=a7a6a6&tabRightBorderColor=404040&tabHasBevel=true&tabHasDropShadow=true&tabHasBorder=false&tabBorderWidth=1&tabBorderAlpha=100&tabBorderColor=212121&tabShadowColor=333333&tabOverHasBevel=true&tabOverHasBorder=false&tabOverBorderAlpha=100&tabOverBorderWidth=1&hasSummary=false&transportShareButtons=cc&isSafaiOnMac=false&jsSkinIsSet=true&parentObject=[object Object]&widgetClassType=WNVideoCanvas&isLoaded=false&isReady=false&skin=[object Object]" name="flashvars"></object></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
    
    
    if (ui.isiPad)
    {
    
       $('#divWNVideoCanvas').html('<iframe allowTransparency="true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" src="/video/ipadplayer?clipId=7479376" style="border:none;width:600px;height:338px"></iframe>');
    }
    else
    {
        
    
        var addThisWNDynamicWidgetId;
        var linkColor = "004578";
        var linkOverColor = "C91419";
        var defaultBackgroundColor = "ffffff,ffffff";
        var defaultHighlightColor = "eaeaea,eaeaea";
        var borderColor = "aaaaaa";
        var addThisWNDynamicWidgetId;
        if (addThisWNDynamicWidgetId == undefined) addThisWNDynamicWidgetId = '';
        var WNVideoCanvas = new WNVideoWidget("WNVideoCanvas", "divWNVideoCanvas", "");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundColors", defaultBackgroundColor);
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundAlphas", "100,100");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("backgroundRatios", "0,255");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOffFaceColor", linkColor);
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsOverFaceColor", linkOverColor);
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("sidePadding", "0");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("topPadding", "0");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonRightBorderColor", borderColor);
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("controlsButtonLeftBorderColor", borderColor);    
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBorder", "false");    
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("hasBevel", "false");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable('hasEmail','true');
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable('hasHelp','false');
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable('hasSummary','false');
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("clipId", "7479376");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("transportShareButtons", "cc");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("isMute", "false");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("summaryGraphicScaleStyle", "stretch");
        if (/autoStart/.test(window.location.hash))
            WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("isAutoStart", "true");
        else
            WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("isAutoStart", "false");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("landingPage", "");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("useUAF", "false");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetVariable("controlPanelButtonsType", "auto");
        WNVideoCanvas.SetWidth(600);
        WNVideoCanvas.SetHeight(380);
        //WNVideoCanvas.SetPlayerHeight(380);
        WNVideoCanvas.RenderWidget();

}
    
</script>
ORLEANS, Mass. (WHDH) -- Nauset beach was evacuated Saturday afternoon 
when a 12 to 14-foot shark was spotted only 100 feet out.<br />
A great white's dorsal fin cut through the top of the water as it cruised the shoreline.<br />
“All of a sudden, we saw this person in a kayak, and we saw a fin 10 feet from it,” said Lizzy Jenkins.<br />
Everyone else in the water immediately ran onto the beach.<br />
“We started swimming and people on the shore started waiving us in,” said Christina Proulx.<br />
They all watched as a kayaker was seemingly stalked by the shark.<br />
“There were hundreds of people on the beach, and they were all at the 
edge, yelling paddle paddle, paddle!” said Dave Alexander.<br />
“Everyone was screaming, ‘shark,’”said Haley O’Brien.<br />
Then the guy noticed and everyone started screaming shark, and he started paddling coming towards the shore. Everyone was screaming at Walter Szulc, Jr. It was his first time kayaking.<br />
He didn't see the people run from the water. He didn't hear them yelling, either.<br />
He had no idea what was lurking a few feet behind him.<br />
“So I looked behind me and that's when I saw the shark, it was pretty 
much right there, I got a glimpse of it. It was a good size and it had a
 fin sticking out, so I just turned and paddled,” said Szulc.<br />
“Then he started booking it,” said Debbie Sutton, “You could see the 
darkness of it. It was longer than the kayak…it was crazy big.”<br />
Szulc paddled in safely-he never turned around long enough to see it's face.<br />
He didn't need to, it was already too close for comfort.<br />
“I took a quick glance, probably 7-8 feet behind me,” said Szulc.<br />
The beach was immediately closed to swimmers. Despite the warnings, 
when lifeguards left, some still ventured in the water, even with 
shark's preferred meals swimming just a few feet away.<br />
A lot of beachgoers at Nauset beach were nervous about stepping back 
into the water, especially after seeing a 12-to-14-foot great white 
shark only a few hundred yards from where they were swimming.<br />
“I've been coming to this beach my whole life. I never thought I’d see a shark.”<br />
Szulc, the kayaker with the close encounter, said when they first got to the beach, his daughter was afraid to go in the water.<br />
Like many, she’s afraid of sharks.<br />
Szulc says he teased her about it, and assured there's nothing to worry about. After all, what are the odds?<br />
“That's exactly what I was thinking, and I found the odds, and they're not exactly as good as I thought,” said Szulc.<br />
Along the Cape coast, there have been frequent great white shark sightings throughout the past week.<br />
This is the closest any of these sharks have gotten to people so far this summer.<br />
The Harbor Master said the shark swam south toward Chatham and probably away from the coastline.<br />
The Nauset beach was closed for the remainder of the afternoon. It was 
still undecided, but the beach is expected to reopen tomorrow morning.<br />
Police said a great white shark killed a seal about a half mile up from
 where the shark was spotted at Nauset Beach. The ‘no swimming’ sign 
could come down as early as Sunday morning.<br />
Lifeguards will come in around 9:00 in the morning and decide then if the beaches are again safe for swimmers.</div>

Great white sharks send Cape swimmers running

ORLEANS, Mass. (WHDH) -- Nauset beach was evacuated Saturday afternoon when a 12 to 14-foot shark was spotted only 100 feet out. A g...

Fast Food Workers Of Reddit Tell You What Not To Eat

</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On the heels of a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) with a McDonald's employee, an AskReddit conversation thread popped up yesterday that we couldn't tear ourselves away from. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Fast food workers of Reddit,
 what is the one menu option at your employment that you would recommend
 people never eat? (Because of cooking safety, cleanliness, unhealthy, 
etc)," asked user 4ScienceandReason.
 This thread, which generated over 6,000 comments in 24 hours, brought 
some amazingly gross things to light -- some expected and some 
unexpected -- as well as some good-to-know tricks for the fast-food 
customer. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some things you should probably stay away from:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Chicken Nuggets:</strong> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some of the grossest stories on 
this thread talked about the dubious material nuggets are generally made
 of. As noted by 4ScienceandReason, pictures and videos like these have already scared a lot of us off of chicken nuggets forever. Just in case that wasn't enough, this comment by Dfunkatron
 might seal the deal for you, "When I worked at McDonald's, I 
accidentally left a whole bag of about 100 chicken nuggets out on a 
counter for way too long. They melted. Into a pool of liquid. I never 
understood why. But they were completely indiscernible as being the 
nuggets i once knew."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Wendy's Chili:</strong> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While not as traditionally disgusting as some other fast food traditions, we found Cozmo23's description of the chili recipe at Wendy's
 to be pretty stomach-churning -- "The meat comes from hamburger patties
 that sat on the grill too long to serve to customers. They take them 
and put them in a bin and then throw them in the fridge. When the chili 
is made they take it out, boil it, chop it up and dump them in the 
chili."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Vegetarians Beware:</strong> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While a lot of comments admitted to using the same grill/spatula/knife on vegetarian and meat items alike, this comment from user attack_goblin
 made us gasp a little extra: "I used to work at a restaurant where we 
deep-fried the Gardenburger patties in the same oil we deep-fried the 
bacon."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Grilled Chicken:</strong> If there was any common theme in 
this thread, it was this: just probably don't order grilled chicken in 
any fast food establishment ever. One McDonald's employee confessed to slathering grilled chicken breasts with liquid margarine to keep it from sticking. An ex-Subway employee described the defrosting process they used, which involved soaking the chicken in hot water for hours, then squeezing the "chicken water" out at the end of the day.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Five Guys Appears to Be Safe:</strong> For now, no one has refuted user Cameron432's claim
 that they freeze nothing and make most everything fresh. Also, stick to
 the regular-sized fries, "One thing I will say is that ordering a large
 fry is always a bad idea. The difference between a large fry and a 
regular fry is surprisingly small (especially when it's busy)."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One comforting aspect of this discussion was the friendly 
disagreement. The most disgusting facts were usually counter-balanced by
 at least one other employee of each chain remarking that they'd always 
done it differently and that it really does depend on the management of 
each particular location. So if you have traditionally good luck in 
life, you can still order chicken nuggets, we suppose.</div>

Fast Food Workers Of Reddit Tell You What Not To Eat

...

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )