Young U.S. Women"s Soccer team looks to maintain dominance

WNT vs. Puerto Rico: Highlights - Feb. 15, 2016

By Associated Press Posted Aug. 3, 2016 @ 1:09 pm

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil A new era opens for the U.S. women"s soccer team at the Olympic Games as a generation of younger players seeks to continue the global domination established at last year"s World Cup. Bidding to add Olympic gold to World Cup success, the U.S. will have 11 Olympic newcomers on its roster when it opens against New Zealand on Wednesday (6 p.m.) at the Mineirao Stadium. It will be the team"s first major competition since the retirement of players such as Abby Wambach and Lauren Holiday following last year"s triumph in Canada. "Of course we had some gigantic losses, some players that have been around the game for quite some time, and they are irreplaceable, really," veteran goalkeeper Hope Solo said. "But we have something different and I don"t think anybody has seen the U.S. team as we are right now. Nobody knows what to expect, with our younger players, with our new talent, with our formation. So I think it"s going to be exciting." Seeking a fourth straight Olympic gold, the Americans are also without Christine Rampone because of injury, while Sydney Leroux and Amy Rodriguez are pregnant. Two other key players, captain Carli Lloyd and midfielder Megan Rapinoe are coming to Brazil recovering from health problems. Rapinoe is not expected to play in the early games. "There"s been a little bit of a change in the roster, but it"s good," Lloyd said. "I think we have about 11 players who are competing in their first Olympics, which is a huge turnaround, but I also think that those players bring experience, they"ve been around this team, they"ve earned quite a few a caps with the team and are doing very well. So I think that, mixed in with us old folks, we will be all right." Among the Olympic newcomers are a few players who also made it to the World Cup last year, including Meghan Klingenberg, Ali Krieger, Morgan Brian and Whitney Engen. The youngest player in the current roster is 18-year-old Mallory Pugh. The U.S. is trying to become the first team to win the Olympics after succeeding at the World Cup. Lloyd, the team"s captain in Rio, said the U.S. remains favored to win the title despite the revamped team. "I think the toughest [opponents] are going to be ourselves," said Lloyd, who scored a hat trick in the World Cup final against Japan. "No other team should intimidate our team. Of course, there are going to be tough contenders, but honestly, not a single team intimidates me." The U.S. is trying to win its fifth gold medal since women"s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996. It won its third World Cup title in Canada, the first since 1999. "I think we are always feeling the pressure of coming back with gold. It"s just in our DNA," Lloyd said. "Even if we hadn"t won the World Cup we"d still be under tremendous pressure to win. It comes with being the No. 1 team in the world and going for a fourth consecutive gold medal. We are super excited to get started. I know this team has a lot of talent and depth and we have the opportunity to really create history." After playing New Zealand, the U.S. faces powerhouse France and then Colombia in Group G of the 12-team Olympic tournament. Second-ranked Germany, fifth-ranked Australia, sixth-ranked Sweden and host Brazil loom as potential quarterfinal opponents. "We as a team acknowledge the pressure," Solo said. "We know that the target is on our backs. We are ranked No. 1 for quite some time, we won last year"s World Cup, we won the last Olympics. It doesn"t make it easy. We don"t come into any tournament with an extreme amount of confidence or arrogance. We know that the job is going to be extremely difficult to repeat winning a gold medal."

Source: http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/20160803/young-us-womens-soccer-team-looks-to-maintain-dominance

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NYT Now|US Presidential Race, Bitcoin, Moon Express: Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

Documentary: The Bitcoin Gospel (VPRO Backlight)

(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Good evening. Heres the latest.

Photo Credit Evan Vucci/Associated Press

1. Donald Trumps campaign has been buoyed by a torrent of small donations over the past month that nearly evened the financial playing field with Mrs. Clinton. His war chest now boasts $74 million in cash.

Still, the Republicans disarray was on display as Mike Pence, the vice-presidential nominee, endorsed Speaker Paul Ryans re-election bid a day after Mr. Trump declined to.

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Video Unfiltered Voices From Donald Trump"s Crowds

New York Times reporters have covered Donald J. Trump"s rallies for more than a year. His supporters at these events often express their views in angry and provocative ways. Here are some examples.

By ERICA BERENSTEIN, NICK CORASANITI and ASHLEY PARKER on Publish Date August 3, 2016. . Watch in Times Video

2. Mr. Trumps rallies often stir strong emotions, but one aspect sets them apart from other political gatherings: the frequency with which his supporters use coarse and violent language.

The video sampling above captures a range of the vulgarities and racial and ethnic slurs that have sometimes characterized Trump events.

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Photo Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

3. The hacks that infiltrated computer systems on the Democratic side have made election cybersecurity a new focus for the Department of Homeland Security.

Intelligence agencies have told the White House they have a high degree of confidence that Russia was behind the breaches.

Above, Hillary Clinton campaigned in Colorado.

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Video Exporting Terror

In this rare jailhouse interview, a former ISIS member from Germany tells his story and provides new insight into the militant groups plot to attack Western countries.

By ANDREW GLAZER, RUKMINI CALLIMACHI and BEN LAFFIN on Publish Date August 3, 2016. Photo by Gordon Welters for The New York Times. Watch in Times Video

4. From a prison in Germany, a former ISIS member gave our reporter a detailed account of his rapid disillusionment with the group in Syria and his escape from its clutches. (Watch the video, above.)

His experience, including being urged by masked men to return to Germany to spearhead attacks there, adds insight into how a unit of the Islamic State, called the Emni, exports terror abroad.

For Americans, he said, the unit prefers to recruit over the internet: They say we can radicalize them easily, and if they have no prior record, they can buy guns.

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Photo Credit Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse Getty Images

5. India overhauled its tangled tax code, a major victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi that economists say should significantly boost the countrys growth rate.

This is hugely consequential for the ease of doing business, an analyst said, and for demonstrating to the outside world that India is dragging its economy into the 21st century.

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Photo Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times

6. A study of two insular farming communities in the U.S. the Amish of Indiana and the Hutterites of North Dakota strongly suggests exposure to microbes from farm animals can lower asthma and allergy rates.

The results were so compelling that a discussion is already underway on developing a microbial spray that could prompt many more children to develop immune systems that can sidestep asthma.

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Photo Credit Emily Berl for The New York Times

7. Barbra Streisand, 74, may be reclusive, but shes not idle. The megastar is about to issue a star-studded new album (Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway), embarking on a nine-city concert tour (The Music the Memries the Magic!) and writing a memoir.

Her perfectionist tendencies were in evidence on matters great and small during an interview at her Malibu estate.

She said she was dismayed when she heard a fellow singer in conversation with an interviewer, and They both called me Barbra Strize-and, not Stry-sand.

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Photo Credit Moon Express

8. A Florida start-up called Moon Express won F.A.A. permission to try to land a spacecraft on the moon.

Doing so would earn it $20 million Google Lunar X Prize, as the first such private effort. But the Moon Express chairman said the stakes were much higher.

Everything we fight over whether its land or its fresh water, whether it is energy is in abundance in space, he said.

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Photo Credit Philippe Lopez/Agence France-Presse Getty Images

9. The value of the digital currency Bitcoin plunged after one of the worlds largest Bitcoin exchanges said it had been hacked.

An official with the exchange, Bitfinex in Hong Kong, said that 119,756 Bitcoins worth tens of millions of dollars had been stolen.

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Photo Credit Simon Romero/The New York Times

10. Brazil is welcoming a flood of athletes and spectators to the Rio Games amid a mosquito-borne epidemic of the Zika virus.

This is the best mosquito repellent in the country. But its not the best money can buy because its not on the shelves. A military lab makes it for the exclusive use of the Brazilian Army.

There is no plan for external commercialization, a military statement said.

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Photo Credit Evan Agostini/Invision, via Associated Press

11. Finally, Happy 90th birthday, Tony Bennett.

Thousands of Starbucks outlets played his albums, stars like Willie Nelson and Oprah Winfrey saluted him, and Lady Gaga ceremonially lights the Empire State Building in his honor at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.

It feels great to be 90! he wrote on Twitter. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Im just getting started.

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Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.

And dont miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a.m. Sundays.

Want to look back? Heres last nights briefing.

What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.

Continue reading the main story

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/nytnow/us-presidential-race-bitcoin-moon-express-your-wednesday-evening-briefing.html

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A Pair of Tickets to Matisyahu

Matisyahu - One Day (YouTube Version)
XPHOENIX NEW TIMES / LUCKYMAN "A PAIR OF TICKETS TO MATISYAHU" SWEEPSTAKESOFFICIAL RULES

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10.WINNERS LIST: For an Official Winners List (available after 8/8/16) or a copy of these Official Rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: A PAIR OF TICKETS TO MATISYAHU Sweepstakes - WINNERS - or - OFFICIAL RULES (please specify), c/o Marketing Department, Phoenix New Times, 1201 E Jefferson St, Phoenix, AZ 85034. All requests must be received by 8/8/16. Official Rules also available at www.phoenixnewtimes.com.

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Source: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/promotions/free-stuff/a-pair-of-tickets-to-matisyahu-8495621

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Prep notebook: Clovis West"s Sarah Snyder named to 4th polo All-American team

Jaden Smith"s Girlfriend Sarah Snyder"s SEXY BIKINI | Lehren Hollywood

Former Clovis West High girls water polo standout Sarah Snyder was named an All-American for the fourth time by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association.

Snyder made the first team for the second straight year, highlighting 10 local players seven girls and three boys recognized by the NISCA, which picked six All-American teams and an honorable mention list per gender.

The UC Santa Barbara-bound Snyder had 112 goals, 57 steals and 21 assists for a Golden Eagles team that finished as the Central Section Division I runner-up. She helped Clovis West reach the D-I final in each of her four seasons, winning two titles, while scoring 335 career goals.

Snyder, a former U.S. Womens Cadet team member, was a fourth-team NISCA All-American as a freshman and sophomore.

Adie Collard and Cassidy Crouch of D-I champion Clovis made the second team, Clovis Norths Savannah Fitzgerald was on the third team, Clovis Wests Maddie Loggins made the fourth team, and Sangers Savannah Mangrum and Clovis Norths Georgina Phillips were fifth-team selections.

Crouch was The Bees Player of the Year after leading the Cougars to the D-I title, while Fitzgerald was a fourth-team All-American pick last season.

Buchanans Thomas Vandiver was the highest recognized section boy, making the third team.

Jack Felsted of boys D-I champion Golden West was named sixth team and Zach Koch from D-I runner-up Clovis was an honorable mention.

Felsted was The Bees Player of the Year after helping the Trailblazers capture the D-I title.

Coaching honors Three section coaches were among the 34 honorees during the California Coaches Associations 59th annual awards night in Fresno.

Clovis Wests Barbara Bethel-Dorr (girls track and field), Famersvilles Michael Jordan (boys soccer) and Kingsburgs Mike Manley (girls swimming) were all named state coaches of the year for 2015-16.

Source: http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/high-school/article88309957.html

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Could bitcoin change the game in Africa?

How Bitcoin Works Under the Hood

In the wildest of claims, bitcoin the virtual paperless and stateless currency transacted on the borderless internet was going to tear apart traditional money transfer companies and help alleviate poverty.

Accessing the multibillion-dollar remittance flows to Africa certainly has substantial appeal, perhaps helping to attract some large seed investments in African bitcoin startups.

Firms have also sought to draw users to bitcoin by undercutting the high costs of international money transfers. Some of its backers even claim it could leapfrog traditional financial infrastructure on a continent where two-thirds of people are unbanked.

Parts of Africa have already come a long way in developing mobile money payment systems that give the unbanked millions a chance to move into the formal economy. Advocates of bitcoin on the continent say it would take this a step further, though it requires an internet connection which more than three-quarters of Africans still do not have.

A small group of users mainly in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria trade speculatively in bitcoin via online forex sites, as they would any other asset.

Africa hosts several established bitcoin exchange services, such as ICE3X and BitX in South Africa and BitPesa in several countries in east and west Africa, where users can trade between bitcoin and traditional currencies. Peer-to-peer trading sites such as LocalBitcoins.com are also popular in early June, nearly KES10m was traded via the site in Kenya in one week.

You dont really need a third party in Kenya you can send money via M-Pesa direct to my phone in exchange for the bitcoins you buy. There has been an amazing increase in volumes traded, said Michael Kimani, head of the African Digital Currency Association.

One of the biggest opportunities for bitcoin could be online payments, but Ive also seen people funding online wallets, using it for online sports betting.

Spending bitcoin in the region is more difficult. South Africas largest online marketplace, Bidorbuy, recently introduced bitcoin payments on its site; a handful of other online retailers, mostly in South Africa, already accept the digital currency. In most cases, a bitcoin exchange company handles the back-end of the transaction, while merchants quote prices in local currency.

Despite slow progress so far, Nii Quaynor, often described as the father of the internet in Africa, told the Guardian that digital currency and transaction frameworks for the internet are the next step for the continent. In March, the company he chairs, Ghana Dot Com (GDC), launched what it claims is Africas first bitcoin mining facility.

Quaynor is hopeful too about the potential for blockchain technology the distributed transaction ledger seen as the cornerstone of bitcoin innovation and says non-financial applications around land registries and voting could be transformative. Banks in Africa are also looking into potential uses of blockchain.

Bitcoin still exists in a very niche space. There was early excitement about virtual currency especially as an affordable way for Africans in the diaspora to send money home but this has subsided as a result of price volatility, nervousness around anonymity and security, and difficulties understanding the product. As there are increases in bitcoin adoption, governments and central banks are considering regulating the sector, which some users think will legitimise bitcoin and others fear might make it more difficult to transact.

For now though, Africas bitcoin fans are set to keep on trading.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNG6pEOt83PScD9FaapwEYEtzMeyXw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=SGyiV_CcBtTx3AHs_4SYBg&url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/03/could-bitcoin-change-the-game-in-africa

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Paul Ryan, Debbie Wasserman Schultz primaries to test voters" mood

Donald Trump not endorsing Paul Ryan

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz are about to test voters" anti-establishment mood, firsthand.

In an election year that"s seen both parties" supporters seethe against Washington, 15 states from Florida to Arizona still have House primaries. That includes challenges against Ryan, R-Wis., and Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who abruptly resigned last week as chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Both seem likely to prevail, but surprises can happen in low-turnout summer primaries.

Here"s a look at noteworthy contests, a prelude to a November election in which Democrats will make a long-shot bid to capture House control:

Elections this year

Before this week, 31 states had held 2016 House primaries. Three incumbents lost, but none of their races supported the argument that voters want to throw the incumbents out of the House, anyway.

Rep. Renee Ellmers fell to fellow North Carolina GOP Rep. George Holding, and Virginia Republican Rep. Randy Forbes also lost, victims of court-ordered, redrawn district lines. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., was defeated in April after an indictment on federal corruption charges. He was later convicted and quit Congress.

This week

Four states held House primaries Tuesday.

In the most striking, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., a tea partyer and persistent annoyance to GOP leaders, lost his attempt for a fourth term.

Huelskamp"s contest against Roger Marshall, an obstetrician, was unusual because GOP primary challengers usually accuse incumbents of being insufficiently conservative. Marshall argued that Huelskamp"s rebelliousness got him kicked off the House Agriculture Committee, which is vital for western Kansas.

Their contest became a proxy battle between GOP conservatives and pragmatists. The anti-tax Club for Growth spent $400,000 to help Huelskamp and members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus campaigned for him. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ending Spending Action Fund, which wants to curb federal expenditures, spent big dollars against him.

Ryan"s race

Political novice Paul Nehlen wants to end Ryan"s House career after nine terms, and he"s getting help from Donald Trump. An unlikely defeat in the Aug. 9 primary would probably spell political doom for the GOP"s 2012 vice presidential candidate and potential future presidential contender.

A tattooed, motorcycle-riding businessman, Nehlen labeled the speaker "Lyin" Ryan" on Twitter. He"s attacked Ryan for favoring a Pacific trade deal and accuses him of being lax on immigration and beholden to the establishment.

Nehlen got a boost from Trump when the GOP presidential candidate said in a Tuesday interview with The Washington Post that he is "not quite there yet" in endorsing Ryan. That could be payback for Ryan saying in May that he was "just not ready" to back Trump. Ryan subsequently endorsed Trump but has criticized him frequently, and their relationship is cool.

Trump praised Nehlen this week for defending his criticism of the Muslim parents of an American soldier slain in Iraq.

Ryan campaign spokesman Zack Roday expressed confidence in a primary victory and said, "Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump"s endorsement."

Ryan has raised 12 times the $489,000 Nehlen has reported collecting. Not taking chances, Ryan is airing his third TV ad, with people waving flags and praying as Ryan tells the camera, "I am committed to securing our borders."

Wasserman Schultz"s travails

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders complained that Wasserman Schultz"s DNC, which historically has remained neutral in presidential primary season, backed his victorious Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton. Wasserman Schultz abandoned her party post as last week"s Democratic convention began after leaked emails revealed party staffers doing just what Sanders suspected.

That"s turned Wasserman Schultz"s focus to her Aug. 30 primary, where she"s opposed by upstart law professor Tim Canova. He"s backed by Sanders and has mimicked Sanders" populist style by raising huge sums from small individual contributions. That"s let Canova stay surprisingly competitive financially, raising $2.3 million compared to Wasserman Schultz"s $3.1 million.

Yet the Miami-area district favored Clinton over Sanders by 2-1 in March"s presidential primary. And Wasserman Schultz, seeking a seventh House term, gets high marks for paying attention back home.

Florida frenzy

About half of Florida"s 27 districts feature competitive primaries, including seven where incumbents are stepping down or running for the Senate:

Republican Rep. Jeff Miller is leaving a Panhandle seat so conservative that one leading competitor, State Sen. Greg Evers, raffled off an AR-15 rifle among people who "liked" his Facebook page. Another, State Rep. Matt Gaetz, backed a local sheriff who called the Black Lives Matter group "a terrorist organization."

Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown, indicted on federal fraud charges, faces strong competition in north Florida.

GOP Rep. Dan Webster, who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. John Boehner for the House speakership in 2015, is seeking a different open seat after his district became too Democratic.

The rest

Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President d**k Cheney, is a favorite GOP contender for Wyoming"s open, lone House seat Aug. 16.

An Aug. 30 fight among Republicans for the northern Arizona seat of Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who"s challenging GOP Sen. John McCain.

A Sept. 13 challenge to Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., perhaps the most endangered House incumbent, whom the Federal Election Commission said accepted illegal 2010 campaign contributions from his parents.

Associated Press

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-primary-elections-paul-ryan-debbie-wasserman-schultz-20160803-story.html

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Katrina Pierson: Illegal Immigrants Are Moving Into Black Communities And Draining Resources

Katrina Pierson DESTROYS Wolf Blitzer On The Trump / Khan Drama

Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson appeared on CNN Monday morning and explained what the impact the campaign believes illegal immigrants are having on the black community. Pierson said illegals are "draining resources" in "black schools."

"We"ve seen black household family"s income even drop after affirmative action, even when you include population and inflation," Pierson said. "Mr. Trump has made education a top priority by getting rid of the monopoly that have trapped generations of black Americans in failed public schools."

"He wants families to make those education decisions because the great eliminator of poverty is an opportunity to have a good education," she said.

"Secondly, illegal immigration," Pierson said. "Something else that"s gone unchecked. These illegal immigrants are moving into black communities. They"re overcrowding black schools. Draining resources in black medical facilities and even in black churches. This is a problem. If you want federal involvement, it"s got to come to getting rid of the policies that have made it the way things are today."

The guest she was debating, Clinton supporter Bakari Sellers, called Pierson"s comments "borderline asinine."

"I can"t let Katrina"s statements, which were, like, borderline asinine, go unchecked," Sellers said. "This is not the issue that we"re having in this country. You can"t string together a series of ills and just flawed policy prescriptions and think that all of a sudden, voila, we"re going to have some fixes. That"s not the case at all. I don"t believe Trump has the capability to bring people together. He"s not a healer in chief."

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/07/11/katrina_pierson_illegal_immigrants_are_moving_into_black_communities_and_draining_resources.html

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