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Despite Similar Careers, Roger Federer Is Well Ahead Of Serena Williams In Career Earnings

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Since the start of the 1999 tennis season, Serena Williams has won $56.6 million in her career on the WTA tour. Roger Federer has won $79.8 million, or 41.2% more, playing on the ATP Tour despite a similar career.

Serena Williams played in her first Grand Slam in 1998 and has won 17 in her career. Roger Federer played in his first Grand Slam in 1999 and has won 17.

Of course a big difference is that for much Williams career there was not equal pay at the Grand Slam events. That ended in 2007. Since then, things have evened out with Williams earning $38.8 million since the start of the 2008 season and Federer taking him $41.2 million.

Career Earnings

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Here's What Happens When You Have A Competitive Gamer Running Your Push Notifications

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Sometimes the people who develop video games are as competitive as the people actually playing them. 

And it seems like a developer behind the game "Simon Circles" got a little feisty this week. 

"Simon Circles" is a game that "challenges your dexterity and speed," according to its app store description. You tap on circles in the order shown. 

When you download "Simon Circles" from the App Store — much like with other apps — it gives you the option to receive push notifications. This can range from new content you can download, to reminders, and even deals on in-app purchases. 

The developer behind "Simon Circles," though, took the power of sending push notifications to a whole new level. 

Reddit user Time_Wasted_Me shared a screenshot of a push notification he got from the game. 

Simone_Circles

It reads, "Bro seriously? You cheating?" And then about 15 minutes later, it says, "We would like to apologize for our developer Chad, who has been sending push notifications to players that beat his high score."

Nice one, Chad. 

You can download "Simon Circles" for Android and iOS

SEE ALSO: 10 incredible "Super Mario Bros." cheats you've been missing out on for decades

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This WikiLeaks-Inspired Group Exposes The Extravagant Excess Of Swazi Royals

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SwaziLeaks

In the small southern African nation of Swaziland, a group of activists inspired by WikiLeaks is exposing the excesses of Swaziland's opulent royal family, AFP reports

Many members of the royal family are active on Twitter, Instagram, and other social networks — and they're not shy about flaunting their wealth. 

While 60% of the country lives on less than $1 a day, the royal family enjoys frequent extravagant holidays, underwater birthday parties in Dubai, opulent renovations, and gold-leaf everything. 

Members of SwaziLeaks told AFP they were driven by the desire for accountability, and to shatter the respect that many have for their royals.

Taking inspiration from the WikiLeaks cable leak— which exposed a quarter million U.S. diplomatic cables — SwaziLeaks said "[the cables] showed some of the alliances the ruling elite had with Gaddafi and other dictators, which allowed some Swazis to see inside the ivory tower that is the monarchy."

SwaziLeaks said, "Royalty and their friends live off us, the people, like parasites will spread and be supported by evidence and not rumor. In this we hope that people will start demanding what is due to them."

The group, which started their Twitter account in 2013, is followed by many Swazi journalists, politicians, and even some royals.

The SwaziLeaks team says they have contacts with members of staff in the Royal household, and it also appears they closely moniter the family on social media. 

Scroll down to check out some SwaziLeaks' work: 

SEE ALSO: This Footage Of A Gunman's Mall Siege In Australia Shows Cops' Amazing Restraint

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Gung-ho rebels impose tough rule of newly-taken Ukraine city

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Villagers look at pro-Russian fighters as the post a paper on the wall of a supermarket in downtown Novoazovsk on August 29, 2014

Novoazovsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - Camouflaged rebel Alexander hung a sign on the wall of a busy supermarket Friday laying down the harsh new laws now governing the town of Novoazovsk after fighting drove out Ukrainian forces.

"Robbers, thieves and violent criminals must be judged before a military tribunal!" the decree read.

"Brothers and sisters, if you know of any act of pillaging, thievery or violence call 0102."

Some 12 kilometres from the Russian border, this once quiet seaside town is now firmly under separatist control after fighters flooded across from Russia this week opening up a new front in Ukraine's five-month insurgency.

While rebel leaders insist their volunteer forces conducted the offensive, Kiev and the West say the combattants who took Novoazovsk on Wednesday were Russian army troops.

"The liberation army of Novorossiya (New Russia) welcomes you," read another poster Alexander, who said he was a volunteer from Russia, was hanging up.  

The name is a loaded Tsarist-era term for Moscow's former imperial holdings in east Ukraine that the rebels -- and President Vladimir Putin -- now use to refer to themselves.

"We came here to stay long. Do not believe the rumours that we are leaving. Our goal is to advance," the sign reads.

 

- 'The Russians are here' -

 

Outside in the streets, rebels patrol the town in a khaki pick-up truck with their red and blue flag flying off the back.

The symbol is also freshly painted on tanks positioned at the entrance to the town, their cannons pointing west towards government-held towns further down the coast.

The rebels appear seasoned fighters. Some of them have white bands tied around their arms but no other distinguishing insignia on their uniforms to identify them.

An orthodox cross hanging around his neck, athletic rebel commander Svat said he was a former Ukrainian special forces soldier from the insurgent stronghold of Lugansk. 

"Russian support would be welcome but for now we have enough fire power," he told AFP.

Gyurza -- whose nickname means viper -- said he was a Ukrainian who fought in the French foreign legion and explained in French that the town was taken "without fighting because the Ukrainian troops just scrammed".

The rebels now appear to be eyeing up the strategic port city of Mariupol just over 30 kilometres (20 miles) along the Azov Sea.

Fighter Svat blocked AFP from checking the rebel positions on the road heading to the city, saying rebels controlled it "almost to the end". 

He refused to say if the insurgents were planning to attack Mariupol, where some residents were packing up and leaving Friday, insisting "our goal is Lviv", a Ukrainian city far to the west close to the Polish border.

For now though life is full of fear for some of the residents of freshly captured Novoazovsk.

"Everything we had that was good left with the Ukrainian troops," says Nataliya.

She had no doubt that Russian forces were occupying the town and spoke in Ukrainian so that they wouldn't understand.

"I do not know what will happen to me," she said. "It is the Russians that are here."

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Here's What Scientists Discovered When They Conducted A Rigorous Study Of Pizza Cheese

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pizza cheese

Nobody can ever seem to agree on which pizza is the best, so a team of scientists decided to call in an unbiased pizza-evaluation algorithm to determine how to compose a winning pie.

While a fair assessment of pizza quality — a pressing concern in certain food circles — would require considering everything from crust char to sauce flavor, the scientists kicked off what will hopefully be an ongoing project by zeroing in one highly important aspect of any pie: the cheese. (This was actually a collaboration with Fonterra, a multinational dairy cooperative with a clear interest in the study's results.)

How can a pizzaiolo select a cheese that will brown and blister perfectly? Is mozzarella really best? Teasing out the science of pizza cheese is no small matter.

"Pizza browning and blistering seems like a totally trivial question," study coauthor Bryony James, PhD, a materials engineer at the University of Auckland, admits in a video about the study. "You stuff your pizza in the oven, and it's clearly going to brown and blister."

But there's a lot of complexity underlying what seems like a relatively simple process. The cheese itself is a complex material, and the way it ends up looking and tasting is, in part, a reaction to every other ingredient in the pizza and the way each of them transforms under high heat.

The fact that two pizzas rarely come out looking the same may be celebrated by pizza purists, but it presents a difficult problem for pizza manufacturers, who may want to provide a consistent experience or offer custom options for picky eaters. "Consumers like pizza to look a certain way," says James, who goes on to describe what is probably her ideal pie. "It should have discrete patches of that toasty cheese color," she says, "and a uniform golden brown background."

The Experiment

In order to do a thorough investigation of the properties required to best achieve such results, the scientists included a wide range of cheeses — not just mozzarella, which is clearly the gold standard, but also cheddar, Colby, Edam, Emmental, Gruyere, and provolone.

They sprinkled each cheese on top of a pizza base in exacting amounts, and decided against using sauce so they wouldn't have to worry about an additional variable. Then each pie was baked for the same amount of time.

Some researchers may have opted to call in a panel of tasters to evaluate each pie. But humans can be fickle — not to mention expensive. So the team opted to do a machine-vision analysis of the pies instead, relying on a machine that took careful pictures and then made sense of them, using specially developed algorithms that could quantify the color and uniformity of each pizza.

The team also assessed each cheese for meltability and elasticity as well as oil and water activity.

What They Found

Turns out mozzarella is king of the pizza cheeses for a reason: "its unique stretchability," the authors, led by Xixiu Ma, conclude. It also produces high levels of bubble-making steam and low levels of free-flowing oil, which is why those bubbles brown up so nicely. But for those willing to mix it up a bit, the study revealed some interesting things.

Adding oily cheeses like Gruyere or provolone will make the pizza less burnt-looking, while sprinkling on some Colby cheese will facilitate a more uniform appearance.

Here are the photos of each cheese pizza, as well as the machine-vision analysis of its uniformity and color — mozzarella clearly produces the most varied, exciting-looking pie:

pizza chart

The image below shows how the different cheeses browned very differently (and that's not mold — the browned areas are outlined in green):

pizza chart 2

At the end of all this — which served as an example of the capabilities of machine-vision, not just an analysis of cheese — the authors offered this conclusion: "Different cheeses can be employed on 'gourmet' style pizzas in combination with Mozzarella."

You heard the scientists, pizzaiolos of the world: Go wild.

But for best results, don't forget to include a generous sprinkling of mozzarella.

The paper, "Quantification of Pizza Baking Properties of Different Cheeses, and Their Correlation with Cheese Functionality," was published in the August 2014 issue of The Journal of Food Science.

SEE ALSO: A Chemist Has Uncovered A Secret To Brewing Delicious Coffee At Home

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Look At IBM's Wild Cult-Like Songbook From 1937 (IBM)

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Songs of the IBM

Imagine IBM as a cult in which employees sing songs of praise to the company's founder, TJ Watson, and other executives, and proclaim their love and loyalty to the company, much like hymns of prayer offered in church.

It's not a dystopian-society movie using IBM as a backdrop. Such scenes apparently actually happened, and happened routinely, during the company's first 37 years, according to a corporate songbook called "Songs of The IBM," published in 1937 and just unearthed by Ars Technica's Lee Hutchinson.

The intro of the book explains:

"For thirty-seven years, the gatherings and conventions of our IBM workers have expressed in happy songs the fine spirit of loyal cooperation and good fellowship which has promoted the signal success of our great IBM Corporation in its truly International Service for the betterment of business and benefit to mankind."

Some of the songs include ...

"Ever Onward: The IBM Rally song" with lyrics like:

Thomas Watson is our inspiration, Head and soul of our splendid I.B.M. We are pledged to him in every nation, Our President and most beloved man.

Odes to various executives, like "TO CLEMENT EHRET, MANAGER, MARKET RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, I. B. M."

In the glorious I. B. M. we are blest with mighty men, They are doing things for us and we all know Clement Ehret's one of them, and we make it known again, By his Research he will make our business grow.

Or, how about this one? "Selling I.B.M." written for the tune "Singing in the Rain"

Selling IBM, we're selling I. B. M., What a glorious feeling, the world is our friend, We're Watson's great crew, we're loyal and true; We're proud of our job and we never feel blue. We sell our whole line, we're there every time, To chase away gloom with our products so fine, We're always in trim, we work with a vim, We're selling, just selling, I. B. M.

1937 was a few years after the Great Depression began (in 1929) and a few years before World War II would begin. Franklyn Roosevelt was president and Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union.

A person would get a job and work there his or her whole life. That is just as hard to picture today as a room full of adults singing joyful odes to the head of the research department.

Here's the full song book:

SEE ALSO: No Internet. No Microsoft Windows. No iPods. This Is What Tech Was Like In 1984

SEE ALSO: No Google. No Netflix. No iPhone. This Is What Tech Was Like In 1994

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Web Marketer Facing Prison Claims eBay Turned A Blind Eye To A $35 Million Alleged Fraud (EBAY)

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brian dunning large colorA former affiliate marketer for eBay who will start a 15-month federal prison sentence on Sept. 2 for a scam in which up to $35 million was paid out for false online sales leads has written a scathing, detailed account of why he believes eBay ignored the fraud committed against it.

 

It even includes alleged emails from eBay executives that, in the marketer's telling, demonstrate eBay skirted its own rules regarding online marketing fraud even while it was urging the FBI to bring prosecutions. "In my personal assessment, people I worked with at eBay were fully aware of it, offered material assistance to those practicing it, and actively worked to thwart [it,]" the convicted fraudster claims.

Business Insider has contacted eBay to ask for comment. We'll update this story when the company responds. The company has previously said that "eBay has zero tolerance for criminal activity on its platforms; and, we are pleased that justice has been served in this matter."

The blog post comes from a man — Brian Dunning — who is about to enter prison following legal action brought against him by eBay. Dunning has an ax to grind against the online auction company. And he admits fully that he is guilty and has reimbursed eBay for the missing money.

So readers ought to bear that in mind before taking every detail as gospel.

The backstory is complicated, and you can read it all here and here. Briefly, affiliate marketers are people who drive traffic to eBay and take a cut when the traffic results in a sale. eBay secretly cooperated with the FBI since June 2007 to root out affiliate marketers whose success was a bit too good to be true. eBay alleged to the FBI that two affiliate marketers, Shawn Hogan and Brian Dunning, rigged eBay's system so that it falsely credited them for sales they did not generate. They did it by seeding unknowing users with hundreds of thousands of bits of tracking code, or "cookies." If any of those people bought something on eBay, the cookies signaled that they should get a cut of the sale — even though the cookies had done nothing to promote eBay.

Both Hogan and Dunning pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Hogan received a five-month prison sentence; Dunning — the author of the rant against eBay— got 15 months.

 Today, just three days before he reports to prison, Dunning wrote on his blog:

I was a partner in one of those companies, and fully admit my actions, and was convicted and sentenced to federal prison for it.

He admits receiving between $200,000 and $400,000 in payments from eBay that were the result of cookie-stuffing fraud. Basically, he argues, everyone did it:

... The fact is that at the time of my involvement, cookie stuffing was widely practiced among eBay affiliates. In my personal assessment, people I worked with at eBay were fully aware of it, offered material assistance to those practicing it, and actively worked to thwart the efforts of Commission Junction (the third party company that managed eBay's affiliate program) and outside contractors whose job it was to detect it.

In 2010, after the scam was busted by the FBI, Dunning decided to poke around to see if cookie-stuffing could still be found within the eBay marketing ecosystem:

... On a whim, I went to eBay's blog for affiliates, now the eBay Partner Network. At the time, they were featuring a particular affiliate as an example of great work. Here is what I found when I visited that affiliate's web site ...

Dunning created this video, allegedly showing dozens of cookies being dropped from one of eBay's own blogs:

More from his rant:

... This was among the most outrageous cookie stuffing examples I'd ever seen; and remember, this was three years after they reported my company to the FBI -- and eBay was showcasing it. Clearly, eBay had taken no serious steps to eradicate cookie stuffing, or else they were almost unbelievably incompetent at recognizing it.

Shawn HoganDunning then alleges that he worked with an executive inside eBay to hide his fraudulent activity:

 

Our first experience came when we inquired with Commission Junction about a particular type of JavaScript redirect, that seemed to us to be a clever idea. They had no problem with it because it was triggered by a proactive mouse action by the user, and so we employed it on a page. The same day I received a cell phone call from our program manager at eBay, whom I will call "K". "K" always discussed these matters with me over her cell phone, never in writing; so I have no record to show you here. Her advice was that our JavaScript redirect was close; it was getting warm, but we had to do it "just a little bit smarter". She didn't elaborate at the time, but I later learned what she meant was that we should store the IP address of anyone who received a cookie via this method in a database so we wouldn't stuff the same IP twice, and thus compliance checkers would not be able to replicate the redirect.

Federal court papers seen by Business Insider indicate that Dunning has says he believed he was in contact with an eBay employee who knew what he was doing. eBay, however, has not yet given Business Insider its side of the story, and it is worth presuming that the company has a different interpretation of events.

Dunning then goes on to discuss the role of an eBay consultant, Ben Edelman. Edelman keeps a well-known web site (among eBay affiliate marketers, at least) that charts what he alleges is fraudulent activity that costs online marketers money they don't need to pay to generate sales. Dunning says that Edelman's anti-fraud reports were passed on to the affiliate marketers who were allegedly committing the fraud:

... Well, Ben, you were right. Not only was eBay not acting upon your reports, they were actually passing them along to the very affiliates you were identifying, and advising us to do whatever was necessary to avoid your detection in the future.

Perhaps the juiciest part of Dunning's account, however, is this email exchange he alleges he had with an eBay executive:

ebay

Dunning claims his executive on the inside knew all along what was happening:

ebay

Dunning then claims that his company, "Kessler's Flying Circus," received an apology. Here is the email Dunning says he received:

ebay

Most controversially of all, Dunning then claims the executive was moved to eBay's London office, and that she received a payment from one of the affiliate marketers for her help:

ebay

The obvious flaw in Dunning's allegation here is that the evidence was not, as he states, introduced into the court record against him.

Dunning says he paid no kickback:

Neither I nor anyone from my company ever gave, received, or discussed gifts or kickbacks of any kind. eBay had consistently given us more than enough reason to believe they condoned our methods.

In fact, Dunning says, eBay could have saved everyone a lot of time and trouble had its employees simply asked him to stop what he was doing:

... It is a fact that my entire case could have been avoided if eBay had simply picked up the phone, called me, and said they're no longer going to allow the pass-through "cookie stuffing" model. A number of times they called me to request other changes to our program: change the wording on the ad, focus on a different set of MySpace profiles, put the ad on the front of the WhoLinked widget instead of inside the slide-out "What's This?" drawer, and we always complied. If they had called to tell us to stop cookie stuffing, I would have protested since it was so lucrative for everyone, but I would have complied.

Dunning begins his sentence on September 2. Hogan was scheduled to begin his five-month sentence in July and is presumably in prison right now.

SEE ALSO: eBay's Top Affiliate Marketer Was Just Sentenced To Federal Prison

SEE ALSO: How eBay Worked With The FBI To Put Its Top Affiliate Marketers In Prison

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53 Of The Biggest Tennis Players In Finance

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Alex O'Brien

The competitive nature of playing a sport has helped a lot of folks succeed on Wall Street.

And tennis is one of the most popular sports in finance today. 

Wall Street is littered with top tennis players.  Many of them were top ranked junior players. Some were All-Americans in college. A few played professionally and were ranked globally. Hedge fund titans Bill Ackman (Pershing Square), Philippe Laffont (Coatue), Ricky Sandler (Eminence) and Barry Sternlicht (Starwood Capital) are also all active in this community.

People have been able to do business around their forehands and backhands. That's because many of the tennis players on Wall Street know each other very well and feel comfortable doing business together.

What's more, a bunch of the younger players met their employers on the court, and certain firms just love tennis players in general. We noticed in our list that Wexford Capital, ISI and Taconic Capital had a bunch of players. 

In short, the tennis court is great place for networking in general.

One big player joked that Bill Ackman seems to fill his 7:30 a.m. Saturday court with aspiring junior hedge fund analysts who happen to be stellar players.  Ackman actually met former Pershing Square analyst Mariusz Adamski playing tennis. Wexford Capital's Jason Pinsky is a frequent doubles partner for Ackman.

Since the U.S. Open is happening right now, we thought it would be a perfect time to introduce you to some of the biggest players on Wall Street.

Please note, this list is not a ranking. These names are not in any particular order. If you feel like we're missing someone, shoot an email to jlaroche@businessinsider.com. Please include why they should be on the list and include a photo. Thanks! 

Former pro tennis player Richey Reneberg now works at Taconic Capital Advisors.

Finance Job: Taconic Capital Advisors

Education: Southern Methodist University (c/o 1987)

Tennis Highlights: During college, Renenberg was a three-time All-American (1985, 1986 and 1987).  He was the No. 1 college player in the U.S. in 1987.  He played on the professional tour for 13 years.  He was a ten-time member of the prestigious U.S. David Cup team.  He played in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.  He earned three career singles titles and 19 career doubles titles, including the 1992 U.S. Open and the 1995 Australian Open. He has wins over Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe and Michael Chang. In 1991, he had an ATP ranking of No. 20 in the world for singles.

Source: ATP World Tour



Alex O'Brien, who was ranked No. 1 in the world for doubles, is the president of Bank of Commerce in Texas.

Finance Job: He's the president of Bank of Commerce in Texas.

Education: Stanford University 

Tennis Highlights: He was ranked No. 1 in the world for doubles and No. 30 for singles. During undergrad, he was a four-time All-American. He also represented the U.S. during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. 



John Ross, the chairman of Fidus Partners, played professionally and was ranked in the top 100 in the world.

Finance Job: Chairman of Fidus Partners 

Education: Southern Methodist University 

Tennis Highlights: He played on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour and was ranked as high as No. 92 in the world in 1988. Ross was a three-time All-American while at SMU.  He was also a member of the USTA Junior Davis Cup team from 1984 to 1985. 



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What's New On Netflix Streaming In September

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school of rock cello

Hello folks, and welcome to another edition of the latest and greatest from the world of Netflix streaming. Every month, a bunch of new movies and television shows are added, and we've got the full listing of what's in store.

Among our favorites: "Cool Runnings," a fictionalized but still enjoyable account of the Jamaican bobsled team with John Candy as their coach. There are some other notable comedies like "School of Rock," a hilarious film starring Jack Black as a substitute teacher passing on his musical knowledge to kids, and the wonderful film "Good Morning, Vietnam" which stars an absolutely hilarious Robin Williams as the famous Saigon-based Air Force DJ Adrian Cronauer.

Here's the full list:

Available on Sep. 1:

  • A Simple Plan (1998)
  • Californication: Seasons 1-7
  • Chasing UFOs: Season 1
  • Cool Runnings (1993)
  • Crocodile Dundee (1986)
  • Detention (2011)
  • Doomsday Preppers: Seasons 1-3
  • Flubber (1997)
  • Girl Rising (2013)
  • Girlfight (2000)
  • Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
  • Guess Who (2005)
  • Hinterland: Season 1
  • Hoodwinked (2005)
  • Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie (2013)
  • Lords of Dogtown (2005)
  • Mirage Men (2012)
  • School of Rock (2003)
  • Small Apartments (2012)
  • Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
  • The Believers (1987)
  • The Blue Lagoon (1980)
  • The Unbelievers (2013)
  • Unsealed: Alien Files: Season 1
  • Zero Hour: Seasons 1-3

Available on Sep. 2:

  • The League: Season 5

Available on Sep. 5:

  • All is Lost (2013)
  • Trailer Park Boys: Season 8

Available on Sep. 6:

  • Kid Cannabis (2014)
  • Le Week-End (2014)
  • Refuge (2012)
  • Your Sister’s Sister (2011)

Available on Sep. 7:

  • The Blacklist: Season 1 (2013)

Available on Sep. 9:

  • Who Is Dayani Cristal? (2013)

Available on Sep. 10:

  • Crash & Bernstein: Season 2
  • Deadly Code (2013)

Available on Sep. 11:

  • A Single Man (2009)
  • Dennis Miller: America 180 (2014)
  • Filth (2014)
  • The Moment (2013)

Available on Sep. 12:

  • Grace Unplugged (2013)

Available on Sep. 13:

  • Justin and the Knights of Valor (2013)

Available on Sep. 14:

  • About a Boy: Season 1
  • Arrow: Season 2

Available on Sep. 16:

  • Beginners (2011)
  • Bones: Season 9
  • New Girl: Season 3
  • One Day (2011)
  • Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Available on Sep. 17:

  • 3 Days to Kill (2014)
  • The Fosters: Season 2

Available on Sep. 22:

  • Revolution: Season 2

Available on Sep. 26:

  • How I Met Your Mother: Season 9

Available on Sep. 25:

  • The Double (2013)

Available on Sep. 26:

  • Parks and Recreation: Season 6

Available on Sep. 27:

  • Bad Grandpa (2013)

Available on Sep. 28:

  • Comic Book Men: Season 3
  • The Walking Dead: Season 4

Available on Sep. 29:

  • Lullaby (2014)

Available on Sep. 30:

  • Killing Them Softly (2012)

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One Of The Best Songs In ‘Frozen’ Almost Didn’t Make It Into The Movie

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do you want to build a snowman

If you’ve seen Disney’s animated movie “Frozen” — and even if you haven’t — you know two songs from the film: Oscar-winning“Let It Go” and the song any child who has seen the film knows by heart, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” 

According to a new special airing on ABC Tuesday, September 2 called “The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic,” everyone’s favorite snowman song nearly didn’t make it into the film’s final cut. 

“Frozen” producer Peter Del Vecho reveals there was a screening of the film in February 2013 and “although the individual parts were strong and working, it just didn’t add up.”  

Del Vecho says the “Do You Want To Build a Snowman?” segment was taken out at one point and was in and out of the film a few times.

frozen snowmando you want to build a snowman frozen

Songwriter Robert Lopez recalls emails coming down the Disney chain of command asking why the song was missing from the film. 

“It was not put back in the film until the witching hour before we released it,” says Kristen Bell, who voices Anna in the animated picture. 

“Thankfully, at the very last moment, someone made the call of putting it back in,” she added. “I think it’s one of the best songs in the movie.” 

"Frozen" went on to make more than $1.2 billion at theaters after it opened in theaters November 2013. The making of “Frozen” special will air on ABC Tuesday at 8 p.m. 

Watch the segment below and listen to the song below:

SEE ALSO: Photos of wrestler Dave Bautista's 5-hour "Guardians of the Galaxy" makeup process

AND: Photos of Lee Pace transforming into the "Guardians of the Galaxy" villain

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A Massive Search Is Underway For A Schizophrenic Man Who Allegedly Stole A Police Cruiser And A Shotgun

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Joshua Boyd

Police officers from multiple jurisdictions around Kansas City, Missouri are taking part in a manhunt for 30-year-old Joshua W. Boyd, a mentally disturbed man who authorities say stole a police cruiser and is armed with a shotgun, KCTV reports.

Boyd was approached by two officers on Wednesday after they received a report of a disturbance at a local gas station, but the encounter soon went south. WDAF-TV has more:

According to court documents officers made contact with Boyd once they arrived at the scene. They said he told them he was schizophrenic, off his medication and was afraid people were after him. One of the officers called an ambulance for Boyd, but upon arrival, police said Boyd claimed the ambulance wasn’t real, then jumped into the driver side of one of the patrol cars, a Ford Taurus, No. 542. One of the officers attempted to stop him by holding the car in park and removing the keys from the ignition, but Boyd was able to get the vehicle into drive.

One officer was dragged in the car for a short way before he jumped out, according to KCTV. Soon after, a high-speed pursuit began but officers lost him as speeds reached over 100 miles per hour, according to WDAF-TV.

KMBC-TV reported the police cruiser was later dumped along I-35, minus Boyd and the police-issued shotgun. Inside the car, they found a wallet with a jail wristband for Joshua W. Boyd, WDAF-TV reported.

"We've had zero leads, zero calls, I mean, we haven't even had a person wrongly identified or anything," Sgt. Jake Angle of the Missouri Highway Patrol told the station. "It's just, the trail's really gone cold."

Police have put out a description of Boyd, a white man, who was last seen in a blue shirt and khaki shorts. He's around 5'10" and weighing about 170 lbs., according to KCTV.

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Porn king still fighting, on Hustler's 40th birthday

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Porn mogul Larry Flynt talks about the 40th anniversary of Hustler magazine at his office in Beverly Hills on August 26, 2014

Los Angeles (AFP) - Porn veteran Larry Flynt is celebrating the 40th birthday of his X-rated magazine Hustler -- and from his gold-plated wheelchair he is as combative as ever in fighting for free speech. 

"I'm the largest content provider in the world for adult material, (operating in) 60-70 countries and still growing," he told AFP in his vast rococo-decorated and deep-pile green carpeted Beverly Hills office.

Dressed in a beige suit with gold and diamond rings, Flynt surveys photos ranged on his enormous, Napoleon-style desk including his wife and himself with Bill Clinton, as well as caricatures and a collection of his magazines. 

The front cover of the anniversary edition has a blonde on all fours dressed only in garters and a string of pearls. Inside there is no such modesty, with hardcore porn in full-color close-up.

"They did a poll recently -- 80 percent of the women who enjoy adult film care about the dialogue and the quality of production. Men they don't care, they take it raw," he smiled.

The 71-year-old has been in his gold-plated wheelchair since an attack which left him paralyzed below the waist in 1978.

While celebrating his magazine's four decades in print, he admits it is struggling, with circulation down from a peak of around three million during its heyday to "a couple of hundred thousand today", according to a Hustler spokesman.

"Publishing is not good .. for anybody in America because Internet is replacing print. We'll continue the magazine as long as it is profitable. Then we'll go online," Flynt said.

Hustler's website doesn't make much money either, competing with a tsunami of hardcore porn online which is often free, and made by amateurs.

 

 - 'Having our best year' - 

 

His business' future lies above all in TV porn channels and on-demand videos, but also in Hustler-themed sex accessory and clothing stores and casinos, which he is opening everywhere.

"We're having our best year this year," he said. The sale of Hustler's Beverly Hills headquarters building for $89 million has doubtless helped the bottom line.

But his proudest moments have been his legal victories in the fight for freedom of expression, he said.

Over the years he has faced repeated lawsuits for pornography, for desecration of the US flag, refusing to reveal sources, defamation and, most famously, for "emotional distress."

In 1983 Flynt was sued by the Reverend Jerry Falwell over a parody of the pastor which appeared in Hustler. After initially being found in the wrong, Flynt took the case all the way to the Supreme Court in 1988.

The case was portrayed in the 1996 movie "The People vs. Larry Flynt" by director Milos Forman and starring Woody Harrelson, which was nominated for two Oscars.

"We won a lot of important legal battles for The First Amendment ... like the case we had before the Supreme Court where parody was made protected speech," he said.

"They couldn't run us out of business, even though they tried very hard," he said, adding that today's comedy news programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report could not exist without the parody ruling. 

"Many people are confused about what free speech is all about. It is not freedom for the thought you love. It is freedom for the thoughts you hate the most," he added.

Flynt is pro gay rights and against the death penalty -- he even campaigned, in vain, against the execution of the serial killer who put him in a wheelchair.

While he is politically committed, it is "probably not for the same reason as most people.

"I couldn't care less who's in office. It's who they appoint to the Supreme Court, because those people are appointed for life. And they really make the decisions that affect your everyday life."

He notably cites the 2010 Citizens United ruling, which did away with restrictions on campaign contributions for institutions, and also "decided that corporations are people."

The ruling was "the most ludicrous decision I've ever heard of," said Flynt.

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Palmer leads at Deutsche Bank golf championship

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Ryan Palmer takes his shot on the third hole during the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts on August 29, 2014

Norton (United States) (AFP) - Ryan Palmer rolled in nine birdies en route to a 63 to grab a one-shot lead after the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The 37-year-old American is aiming for his fourth career US PGA Tour win. He finished runner-up earlier this year at the Honda Classic and the Humana Challenge.

"It's been great the past couple of months," Palmer said. "My short putting has been phenomenal.

"I'm making a lot more putts inside six feet. When you get the putts going from 15 (feet) and in, especially for birdie, it makes for good days."

Palmer's American compatriot Keegan Bradley is in sole possession of second after firing a bogey-free 65 at the TPC Boston.

Australia's Jason Day, runner-up four years ago, has a share of third at five-under.

Day is tied with Americans Webb Simpson and Chesson Hadley. Simpson, who had one bogey and six birdies for a 66, won this event in 2011.

Palmer's eight-under 63 is his lowest score at the Boston course. He missed the cut in his last two appearances in the event. 

He started on the back nine and made bogey on the 10th. He erased that mistake with a 13-foot birdie putt on the 11th.

He capped his round with a birdie putt from 18 feet out on the ninth, his last.

"I've had that good feeling (with my putter) since the Open Championship," said Palmer, who needed just 21 putts in his first round. "I took a small tip from (Shawn) Stefani, who was talking about his putting changes. I took a little something from that."

Ian Poulter, who shared ninth here last year, posted a four-under 67. He was joined in sixth place by Sweden's Carl Pettersson, Bill Haas, Scotland's Russell Knox and Jordan Spieth.

Defending champion Henrik Stenson opened with a one-under 70 and is tied for 26th, along with Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.

The world number one got off to a quick start making birdie on three of his first four holes but then cooled off with four pars and a bogey to finish the front nine.

McIlroy mixed two birdies and three bogeys over his final six holes.

The top 70 players on the FedEx Cup points list after the Deutsche Bank tournament will advance to the BMW Championship in Denver.

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A Kickstarter That Failed On Its First Try Just Became The Most-Funded Campaign Of All Time

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coolest cooler kickstarter

"The Coolest Cooler," which offered a 21st century facelift to a picnic staple, has dethroned the Pebble smartwatch as the most funded Kickstarter campaign of all time.

We previously reported Kicktraq's forecast that Ryan Grepper's project would raise $21.6 million by the Coolest Cooler's Aug. 29 deadline.

However, with the financial support of 48,971 backers, Coolest Cooler has raised a whopping $10,362,461 — making it 20,721% funded. And the campaign doesn't end until Friday.

Grepper's Kickstarter campaign to build a better cooler destroyed its $50,000 goal early on. In the first four days of its campaign, the Coolest Cooler garnered $3.2 million from fans of the concept. 

The Coolest Cooler features everything you could possibly need for a picnic. It comes in several different colors and has a ton of features not typically associated with coolers.

The Coolest Cooler has waterproof Bluetooth speakers:

coolest cooler

A rechargeable, battery-powered blender: 

Coolest Cooler

Built-in storage for plates, knives, spoons, and forks:

coolest cooler A USB charger:

coolest cooler

Wide wheels for rolling the cooler around easily:

coolest cooler

...And more.

Backers who pledged at least $165 will get one of the Coolest Coolers. The cooler has an estimated delivery time of February 2015.

Interestingly, this isn't Grepper's first time trying to crowdfund the Coolest Cooler. Last winter, Grepper tried to get it funded, but the product fell short of its goal, according to The Oregonian. After making some changes to its design and relaunching in the summer — prime picnic time — Grepper has enjoyed much more success. 

SEE ALSO: The 10 Highest-Funded Kickstarter Projects Of All Time

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Panasonic, Tata join hands in water treatment: report

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Panasonic will develop a water purification system together with India's Tata Group, report says

Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's Panasonic will develop a water purification system together with India's Tata Group, tapping into a fast-growing market in Asia, a media report said Saturday.

The electronics giant has developed a prototype of a device that will detoxify harmful substances in groundwater, making it potentially safe to drink, the Japanese economic daily Nikkei said.

The system, which is compact enough be carried in a small truck, has been designed to serve small rural communities in India where water-supply infrastructure is underdeveloped, the report said.  

The prototype produces three tonnes of drinking water per day -- enough to supply 20 households of average size.

Panasonic, which regards water purification technology as a pillar of its new operations, and Tata will work to lower the cost to less than 100 yen ($0.95) per tonne of water, Nikkei said.

Tata, strong in the automotive and steelmaking sectors, will offer its expertise and business networks in re-examining design and procuring materials locally, the report added.

The two partners are aiming to commercialise the system by March 2019, Nikkei said.

The value of water related businesses in Asia and Oceania is projected to reach $90 billion in 2020, tripling in a decade and topping Europe as the largest regional market, the daily said citing a private think-tank.

Nearly 80 percent of the demand will be related to water supply and sewage treatment as rapid population growth and industrialisation in India, China and other emerging economies are causing severe shortages of drinking water in the region, the report said.

Japanese water treatment firm Metawater has been entrusted with the task of updating facilities for Cambodia's Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, Nikkei said.

In China, Japanese shipbuilder Hitachi Zosen is developing low-cost sewage treatment systems for municipalities, using a technology that breaks down nitrogen with microbes, the daily added.

While European and US companies like Veolia Environment, Suez Environment and General Electric are leaders in the business of building and managing water plants, Japanese players are working to strengthen their presence in Asia by capitalising on unique competitive technologies in water purification, Nikkei said.

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Top seed Serena into US Open last 16

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Serena Williams celebrates her 6-3, 6-3 win over Varvara Lepchenko during their 2014 US Open women's singles match on August 30, 2014 in New York

New York (AFP) - Five-time champion Serena Williams reached the US Open last 16 on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fellow American Varvara Lepchenko.

Williams, who has failed to add to her stash of 17 Grand Slam titles at the year's first three majors, survived blustery winds and the difficulties posed by Lepchenko's left-handed game to advance in one hour and 35 minutes.

She'll face Estonia's Kaia Kanepi for a place in the quarter-finals.

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THE BEACONS FAQ: It's Time To Set The Story Straight About Beacons And Apple's iBeacon System

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estimote beacon

Beacons are a new type of device that could change the way people shop in stores and revolutionize how retailers collect consumer data and interact with shoppers. Retailers can use beacons to trigger location-based features on customers' smartphone apps, including targeted coupons, store maps, and hands-free payments. 

There has been a lot of confusion about how beacons actually work, so as part of new research on beacons from BI Intelligence, we've put together an in-depth "Beacons Explainer,"with frequently asked questions on beacons. The explainer is paired with our exclusive market forecast, which shows the trajectory for beacon adoption. Beacons are becoming the most rapidly adopted in-store technology since mobile card readers. 

Access The New BI Intelligence Beacons Explainer And Market Forecast Reports By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today > >  

Our Beacons FAQ includes answers to some of the following questions:

1. What is a beacon? 

A beacon is a small wireless device that constantly broadcasts radio signals to nearby smartphones and tablets. Think of it as a lighthouse emitting light in regular intervals. Mobile apps can listen for that signal and, when they receive it, trigger a location-based action.

2. Why is Bluetooth low energy (BLE) important?

BLE is the signal emitted by beacons, and it's important for two reasons. First, it transmits radio waves, which can penetrate physical barriers like walls, unlike Wi-Fi or cell signals, which are often disrupted. Second, BLE consumes only a fraction of the battery power that classic Bluetooth does. 

3. Do beacons work with iPhones and Android phones?

Yes, but they work differently. Only iOS 7 devices constantly scan for BLE and wake up relevant apps — even if they are closed — when they come within range of a beacon. iPhones and iPads can do this thanks to Apple's iBeacon protocol (more on that below). Android devices, on the other hand, do not have a beacon system of this type at the operating-system level. Android apps must therefore scan for BLE, meaning that for Android users to interact with beacons, they have to have the app running on their phone, at least in the background. Beacon scanning at the app level means there is more of a battery drain for Android users. 

4. What is an iBeacon? Is it just an Apple beacon?

Sort of. iBeacon is not an off-the-shelf beacon that retailers can buy and install in their stores (at least not yet). Apple has filed documents with the Federal Communications Commission, which suggest that the company wants to manufacture iBeacon hardware. Currently, iBeacon is a system built into the latest version of Apple's iOS 7 mobile operating system that lets iPhones and iPads constantly scan for nearby Bluetooth devices. When iBeacon identifies a beacon, it can wake up relevant apps on someone's phone, even when an app is closed and not running in the background. Additionally, iPads and iPhones can act as beacons; they can emit beacon signals to wake up apps on other iOS devices. 

5. What does Apple’s iBeacon technology do?

iBeacon lets iPhones and iPads constantly scan for nearby Bluetooth devices. When it identifies a Bluetooth device, like a beacon, it can wake up an app on someone's phone — even if the app is not running. Developers can make their apps responsive to iBeacon by using Apple's Core Location APIs (application programming interfaces) in iOS.

6. Do beacons beam data to phones?

Beacons do send small bits of data, typically a unique identifier. This allows mobile apps to differentiate between beacons and perform an action when necessary (that is, a location-triggered notification). Think of it as the combination of a hyperaccurate GPS coordinate or an IP address. The identifier consists of three components: a UUID, which is specific to a beacon vendor; a "major," which is specific to a region, like a store location; and a "minor," which is specific to a subregion, like a department within a store.

7. If, as a retailer, I purchase beacons from a vendor, how do I know they'll work with my app?

Developers have to include the unique identifier of a beacon in the code so their app will be able to recognize it. If an app doesn't know the identifier for a beacon, then it can't be on the lookout for its BLE signal. Most beacon vendors provide developer support to help users configure their apps. 

Other Questions We Answer In The Beacons Explainer:

For full access to all BI Intelligence's reports, daily briefs and downloadable charts on the e-commerce and payments industries, sign up for a free trial.

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230 injured as police clash with protesters in Islamabad

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Pakistani riot policemen take position during clashes with opposition supporters near the prime minister's residence in Islamabad on August 30, 2014

Islamabad (AFP) - At least 230 people were wounded in clashes between police and protesters in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, hospital officials said Sunday, as a fortnight-long political impasse took a violent turn.

The violence, which began late Saturday and continued early Sunday, broke out after around 25,000 people marched from parliament to the prime minister's house, where some attempted to remove barricades around it with cranes, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

The protesters, led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and Canadian cleric Tahir ul Qadri, had been camped outside parliament house since August 15 demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif quit amid allegations of vote rigging.

The crisis took on a new dimension earlier in the week after the government asked the powerful army to mediate, raising fears the military would use the situation to enact a "soft coup" and increase its dominance over civilian authorities.

"There are 1,600 to 2,000 trained terrorists. They have 200 women who are trained in the use of firearms and they have come with the intention of occupying state buildings," defence minister Khawaja Asif told AFP as the fighting broke out late Saturday.

"These are buildings that are symbols of the state," he said. "Their attempts are being resisted. And we will resist these with full force."

AFP's correspondent at the scene said protesters were carrying batons and sling-shots.

The injured were rushed to Islamabad's two main hospitals, and the number of casualties is expected to rise as clashes continue.

 

- Protests spread -

 

Wasim Khawaja, spokesman for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Islamabad, told AFP that 164 injured people have been taken to his hospital, while the Poly Clinic hospital said it had received 70 wounded so far.

"Condition of two of them was critical. There were more than 20 policemen among the injured," Khawaja said, with a second doctor confirming that figure. 

Khawaja also said most of the victims had been injured by rubber bullets, and that that 17 of them were women. Khurram Ghuman, a spokesman at Islamabad's Poly Clinic hospital, told AFP: "There are 20 women among them and most have been affected by tear gas, but they all are in stable condition."

Demonstrations have also erupted in parts of the eastern city of Lahore and the port city of Karachi.

Protesters with batons have burned tyres and blocked roads in Lahore, an AFP reporter said. Police used batons and fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators there.

The protests remained peaceful in Karachi, however.

Khan and Qadri both claim that the 2013 elections which saw Prime Sharif sweep to power were massively rigged.

Local and and foreign observers said the polls were credible, and analysts believe the protests have been coordinated by the powerful army as a means of re-asserting its dominance over civilian authorities.

Paramilitary troops and soldiers standing guard to protect the PM's house as well as other sensitive installations have not yet been called into action, despite the violence Sunday.

 

- Women and children - 

 

Women and children have been prominent among both protest groups, and the rising number of casualties is set to further polarise the already embittered political atmosphere.

But government officials defended the use of force. "The demonstrators attacked first. They wanted to occupy the prime minister's house and stage a sit-in there," said Asif Kirmani, an aide of Sharif.

Qadri, however, said the government began the violence.

"The march is heading to its destination, we were peaceful but government began the bloodshed," he said.

Khan told Express News during the violence that he was inside a shipping container in front of the prime minister's house. 

"We will continue our struggle against the government, till our last breath," Khan said, calling for demonstrations across Pakistan. 

Qadri was in a bullet-proof car close to the scene, according television images. 

The government earlier struck a defiant note, issuing a statement saying that Sharif would not be stepping down.

"There is no question of resignation or proceeding on leave by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, nor any member from the government side has made such suggestion," the statement said.

Sharif had earlier dismissed the two-week old impasse as a "tiny storm" that would end soon.

Khan alleges the 2013 general election that swept Sharif to power in a landslide was rigged as part of a conspiracy involving the former chief justice and thousands of election commission workers.

Qadri has demanded wholesale changes to Pakistan's political system, and called for an interim "unity government" while they are implemented.

The leaders have drawn thousands to the streets of Islamabad, but their call has not mobilised mass support in a country of 180 million people.

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Some Guy Tried Robbing A Family Dollar But Left After An Employee Said He Had To Wait Like Everyone Else

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family dollar

A man claiming to have a gun allegedly tried to rob a Subway restaurant and a Family Dollar in West Valley City, Utah on Saturday but was thwarted by employees who weren't very helpful in responding to his demands, FOX-13 reports.

Police say the unnamed (and still at-large) suspect walked into a Subway claiming he had a gun and demanded cash but left after an employee told him they didn't have any. Ten minutes later, he allegedly tried out a Family Dollar, only to get an even better response.

From the station:

Taylor said the employee at the store told the man to wait while the employee helped other customers who were in line. The employee continued to help customers, police said, and the suspect became impatient and fled without getting any money.

The apparently brilliant criminal mastermind never did actually show off a gun but warned employees, "don't make me pull it out," according to police.

Ok buddy, just wait over there and we'll be right with you.

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Ted Cruz Calls Obama A 'Kitty Cat' Next To The Russian Bear

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Ted Cruz

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is widely seen as a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2016, gave a fiery speech on Saturday where he slammed President Barack Obama's positions on a whole host of issues.

At one point, the audience at the conservative group Americans For Prosperity's Defending The American Dream Summit in Dallas chanted "Run Ted! Run!" as Cruz blasted Obama for "lawless" immigration policies, accused the president of making the country a "kitty cat" in the face of a threat posed by Vladimir Putin's Russian "bear," and called for America to bomb the jihadist group ISIS "back to the stone age." 

Cruz began his speech with a series of jokes mocking the Obama administration.

"Back in Washington there's a diet that is now very, very popular," said Cruz. "It's called the Obama Diet. Works very, very well. You simply let Putin eat your lunch every day."

After warming up the crowd of conservative faithful, Cruz outlined "four key issues" he said would be "front and center" in November's mid-term elections. 

Firstly, Cruz cited immigration and said Obama "made a decision to make this election in 2014 a national referendum on amnesty."

Cruz said representing Texas means border security is an issue he and his constituents "live with each and every day." As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Cruz said he often finds himself "listening" to a "lecture" from two Democrats from northern states — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois).

"Now, I understand that Manhattan is very concerned with their security with the Bronx, but it's a little bit different on 2,000 miles of the Rio Grande," quipped Cruz.

Cruz went on to describe the recent influx of unaccompanied minors streaming across the border as the result of Obama's "lawless" immigration policies, specifically the DREAM act, which he said gave people "incentive" to come to the country illegally.

"The president is right about one thing that's happening on the border right now," Cruz said. "It is a humanitarian crisis, but it is a crisis of his own creation. It is the direct consequence of President Obama's lawlessness."

Cruz went on to mock Obama for a recent trip to Texas where he did not visit the border.

"A few months ago, President Obama came to the state of Texas. He had time to come to a couple of Democratic Party fundraisers to swill some chardonnay with fat cats in the Democratic Party," said Cruz. "He didn't have a minute to head down to the border and see the crisis that he has caused."

Referencing criticism the president has faced for spending time golfing, Cruz made him an "invitation" to visit Texas' border with Mexico.

"We tried to help him out. We actually tweeted to the president a MapQuest of driving from here to the border. That didn't work, so I've got a different plan. Tonight I am officially extending an invitation to President Barack Obama to come join me at the border in Texas," Cruz said. "I've figured out the only way there is a chance in heaven he might come. I'm inviting him to come to a golf course."

Cruz even said he identified a "wonderful resort called Lajitas with a golf course right on the border."

The White House did not respond to an email from Business Insider asking whether they would consider Cruz's offer. However, Cruz said he is "expecting to get a call back from the president any day now accepting this invitation."

After discussing immigration, Cruz moved on to "the second critical thing this election is about — stopping Obamacare." He lauded Republican efforts to repeal the president's signature healthcare law, which he described as contributing to Obama's unpopularity.

"I'm convinced we're going to win in 2014 and 2016 is going to be even better," Cruz said, predicting Obamacare would proper the GOP to victories in the next two elections. 

His next comment provoked the cheers of "Run Ted! Run!" from the crowd. 

"In the year 2017, a Republican president in the Rose Garden is going to sign a bill repealing every word of Obamacare!"

Cruz then moved on to his third top issue, foreign policy, or as he put it, "restoring America's leadership in the world." He began by mocking Obama for comments he made in a press briefing on Thursday that he does not have a strategy yet for confronting jihadists affiliated with the group Islamic State (or ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. 

"I'm sure everyone was shocked to hear this," said Cruz.

Cruz contrasted Obama's approach with what he said was President Ronald Regan's "simple" Cold War strategy of "we win, they lose."

"It's almost as if President Obama read that and got it backwards," Cruz said. 

Cruz's strategy for dealing with Islamic State is also simple. 

"You're dealing with monsters who are crucifying Christians and beheading American journalists, when you're dealing with monsters who are training upwards of 100 Americans right now to come back here and visit the same terror on Americans here," said Cruz. "Number one, we need to not let into this country any American who is fighting with ISIS. And, number two, ISIS says they want to go back and reject modernity. Well, I think we should help them. We ought to bomb them back to the stone age!"

He described the situation with ISIS as part of a larger problem where "all across this world America has receded from leadership."

"Look at Russia right now," Cruz said. "Sadly, the state of the world is the Russian bear is encountering the Obama kitty cat." 

Cruz said the country must do more to "stand with Israel" and confront the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

"You know what? The United States of America has never been a kitty cat. The reason Putin feels no fear to march into his neighbors, the reason why our allies up and down Europe are terrified of what's next is because this president, as he puts it, is leading from behind," Cruz said.

According to Cruz, the U.S. should confront Putin for his push into Ukraine by "putting anti ballistic missile batteries in Poland and the Czech Republic" and approving measures to increase our national gas exports as an attack on the Russian economy.  

Finally, Cruz identified the fourth issue he said would be a key element of the upcoming election — "defending our constitutional rights." As with immigration, Cruz said it would be imperative for conservatives to vote out Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid if they are concerned about this issue. 

"And President Obama you're next!" said Cruz. 

Watch Cruz's full speech below.

   

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