热头条: 2013年1月2日

2013年1月2日星期三

For 16 years, HGTV has been giving away a brand new, custom-built dream home to a lucky viewer. This year, the network brings its design and building expertise to Kiawah Island, near Charleston, South Carolina, with a home so "green," it earns a Platinum LEED certification. The three-story home is part of the Indigo Village green-living neighborhood, and boasts a streamlined kitchen with bamboo flooring, a master bathroom suite with a nearly two-foot deep soaking tub, an outdoor shower, and a front deck built from sustainable hardwood. For 2013, along with the luxurious zen cottage, HGTV is throwing in $500,000 and a new car. What more could you ask for? Maybe a butler to serve you shrimp and grits in bed?

Watchdogs to IRS: Reject Rove Group’s Tax Application

United States (ProPublica) – Two watchdog groups are calling on the IRS to reject Crossroads GPS’ request to be recognized as a social welfare nonprofit. Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center, nonpartisan outfits that favor tighter campaign finance regulations, wrote a letter to the tax agency today citing ProPublica’s recent reporting on Crossroads’ 2010 IRS application. The application said that the group’s activities seeking to influence elections would be “limited in amount, and will not constitute the organization’s primary purpose.” In today’s letter, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center called those statements by Crossroads GPS “simply not credible, in light of the actual practices of the organization and the tens of millions of dollars Crossroads GPS spent on campaign ads since then.” Conceived by Karl Rove, Crossroads GPS was one of the biggest outside spenders in the 2012 elections, reporting more than $70 million in expenditures to the Federal Election Commission. Recognition as a social welfare nonprofit is important for Crossroads because it allows the group to shield the identity of its donors. Under tax rules, such groups are allowed to spend money on political campaigns but must be primarily engaged in promoting social welfare. Campaign Legal Center Executive Director Gerald Hebert said in a statement accompanying today’s letter, “The application filed with the IRS by Crossroads GPS is laughable in the face of the growing body of evidence against the pretense that Crossroads GPS is a ‘social welfare’ organization.” Crossroads GPS spokesman Jonathan Collegio responded: “This sounds like the 25th identical letter that the partisans and ideologues at the Campaign Legal Center have sent to the IRS, and it doesn’t merit anyone’s attention.” We’ve inquired with the IRS as to whether Crossroads’ has been recognized as a social welfare nonprofit — as of mid-December it had not — and we will update this post if we hear back.

Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens linebacker, set to retire after NFL playoffs

On the first play of Super Bowl XXXV, Kerry Collins stared across the line of scrimmage and into the eyes of Ray Lewis. For all practical purposes, the game was over at that point. Lewis’ certain Hall of Fame career would be defined by the Ravens’ 34-7 rout that night. Lewis was a player who could not only dominate by the power of his physical abilities but by the force of his will. After 17 seasons, that career will end, perhaps as early as this weekend. The middle linebacker announced Wednesday that he will retire when the season is over, with the Ravens opening the playoffs in what could be his last home game against the Colts on Sunday. Lewis is expected to make his return after tearing his triceps Oct. 24. “Everything that starts has an end. It’s just life,” Lewis said Wednesday. “And for me, today I told my team that this will be my last ride. I told them I just felt so much peace at where I am with my decision because of everything I’ve done in this league. I’ve done it, man. I’ve only played the game to make my team be a better team.” Lewis, 37, would at least have to be included in the discussion as the greatest defensive player of all time. He was a 13-time Pro Bowler, a 10-time All-Pro, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and the MVP of that lone Super Bowl he won. The Ravens franchise assumed his personality. The team’s level of play always rose when he was in the lineup. Even this season, the Ravens are only 5-5 without him. “I can’t picture Baltimore without him,” running back Ray Rice said. “Baltimore is Ray Lewis.” The ultimate team player, Lewis will leave that environment to spend more time with his sons, two of whom played high school football together. Ray Lewis III will play next fall for the University of Miami, his father’s alma mater. He promised him if he got a full ride scholarship, “I’d be there for him,” he said. “One of the hardest things in the world is to walk away from my teammates. But now I’m going to step into other chapters of my life,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t split my time anymore. When God calls, he calls. And he’s calling. More importantly, he calls me to be a father. My children have made the ultimate sacrifice for their father for 17 years. And I don’t want to see them do that no more. I’ve done what I wanted to do in this business, and now it’s my turn to give them back something.” The low point of Lewis’ career was his involvement in a double-murder case in Atlanta in early 2000, an incident that followed a Super Bowl victory party for the Ravens. He was indicted but cut a deal, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and testifying against two co-defendants. It was his only off-field incident. He went on to become a Baltimore icon. Ravens coach John Harbaugh still hasn’t confirmed that Lewis will be on the field Sunday but how could he not now? His appearance alone would provide an emotional counter-point to the cause that has fueled the Colts’ improbable season — Chuck Pagano’s battle with leukemia. Pagano, currently Indy’s head coach, was Lewis’ defensive coordinator last season. “I thought, shoot, the guy could play forever and would play forever,” Pagano said Wednesday. “Great person, great man, great player, just an unbelievable human being. . . . what he’s done for that organization, that city and for that matter, so many people.” “From the time I got hurt, everything I’ve done up to this point has been to get back with my team to make another run at the Lombardi (Trophy),” Lewis said. “I’ll make this last run with this team, and I’ll give them everything I’ve got. When it ends, it ends. But I didn’t come back for it to end in the first round.” Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/ray-lewis-retire-playoffs-article-1.1231485#ixzz2GtKOmz24

Lewis, Ferocious Face of Ravens and N.F.L., Will Retire After Season

Next football season, Ray Lewis will be on the sideline, perhaps saving up his pregame speeches — motivational, to be sure, but sometimes indecipherable in their ferocity — for his son’s first season at the University of Miami. The latest news, notes and analysis of the N.F.L. playoffs. Go to The Fifth Down Blog . N.F.L. Live Scoreboard Standings Stats | Injuries Giants Schedule/Results Stats | Roster Depth Chart Jets Schedule/Results Stats | Roster Depth Chart It is almost impossible to imagine the N.F.L. without Lewis, without the eyeblack streaked across his face, without his wild dances as he emerged from the stadium tunnel, without his punishing hits. In truth, Lewis’s play has been ebbing for a few years, his ability to run sideline to sideline slowed by age, his intimidating tackles weakened by the loss of weight he shed to try to regain some speed. Even when he tore his triceps this season and missed the final 10 games of the regular season, it was clear that the Baltimore Ravens more desperately missed a teammate, linebacker Terrell Suggs, who was out part of the season with an Achilles’ tear. But when Lewis announced Wednesday that he would retire after this season — the Ravens play the Indianapolis Colts in a wild-card game Sunday — it felt like the end of an era, one that Lewis dominated as the greatest linebacker of his generation and perhaps the greatest middle linebacker in N.F.L. history. He said it was “time to create a new legacy.” “I talked to my team today,” Lewis said to reporters. “I talked to them about life in general. And everything that starts has an end. For me, today, I told my team that this will be my last ride.” Lewis will play Sunday for the first time since he tore his triceps in mid-October. Because the Ravens are the fourth seed, the game is likely to be his last one in Baltimore, the city where he has spent his entire N.F.L. career. Lewis joined the team in 1996 as a first-round draft pick — though not the first linebacker taken that year — out of Miami, the same year the Ravens started playing in Baltimore after Art Modell moved the franchise from Cleveland. Lewis brought immediate attention and relevance to the Ravens. In 2000, a year after he was indicted on murder charges after a fight broke out at a Super Bowl party — he later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and served no time in prison — Lewis was the league’s defensive player of the year for the first of two times and the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, which the Ravens won. Lewis also crafted a defensive legacy that still defines and shapes the perception of the team. In 2000, Baltimore gave up the fewest points in a 16-game season, allowing it to overcome a five-game stretch in which the offense did not score a touchdown. In 12 of his 17 seasons, the defense finished the season ranked in the top 10. “I thought, shoot, the guy could play forever and would play forever,” said Colts Coach Chuck Pagano, who was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator last year. “Great person, great man, great player, just an unbelievable human being — what he’s done for that organization, that city and, for that matter, so many people. He’s obviously a first-ballot Hall of Famer and will be sorely missed.” If the timing of Lewis’s announcement was a surprise, the substance was not. He has hinted that his career was nearing its end and that he wanted to be home to see his son, Ray III, play in the fall at Miami. “God is calling,” Lewis said. “My children have made the ultimate sacrifice for their father for 17 years. I don’t want to see them do that no more. I’ve done what I wanted to do in this business, and now it’s my turn to give them something back.”