Shawn Burr dies at 47

Shawn Burr, a former first-round draft pick and fan favorite in Detroit, died on Monday night at the age of 47.

Burr, who had been battling Leukemia going back to 2011, fell down the stairs at his home on Monday evening. He suffered a massive brain trauma and later on Monday he was removed from life support.

Selected seventh overall by the RedWings in 1984, Burr spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Red Wings. On the ice his best season came in 1989-90 when he had 24 goals and 32 assists, both career highs. It was the start of a three-year stretch with at least 50 points.

What really set him apart, though, was his personality and demeanor, something that made him a very popular player in Detroit with both fans and the media, which is always willing to talk with a good quote. Former Wings goalie Chris Osgood shared a story with the Detroit Free-Press that illustrated Burr's personality.

"He was a funny guy, a nonstop talker, always had a trick to play," Osgood said. "My first game as a rookie, he put my name upside down on my jersey. He was the guy in the '90s who kept everybody else relaxed. He did the dirty work for the team on the ice and then kept the guys relaxed in the dressing room."

Burr was eventually traded to Tampa Bay -- perhaps because he talked too much -- and also played for San Jose to finish out his career but he will be remembered as a Wing. Unfortunately he left Detroit just before the championship run came to Motown.

In recent years Burr had served as the Red Wings Alumni Association president. George Malik of Kukla's Korner had a tremendous ode to Burr.

Burr had founded the ShawnBurr Foundation, which is committed to supporting blood cancer research.

Source: cbssports

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Amber Alert: first California issues cellphone

Monday marked the first time in California that officials notified the public of a statewide Amber Alert through their cellphones, a California Highway Patrol official said.

It differed from phone to phone, but sometime between late Monday and early Tuesday many mobile phones across Southern California received an Amber Alert related to two missing children in San Diego.

JamesLee DiMaggio is suspected of killing Christina Anderson, 44, of Lakeside and kidnapping one or both of her children: Hannah Anderson, 16, and Ethan Anderson, 8.

Christina Anderson's body was found Sunday night in the burning rubble of a house in the rural community of Boulevard in eastern San Diego County, authorities said.

The two children were likely abducted about 5 p.m. on Saturday, authorities said.

Amber Alerts sent out overnight described the vehicle DiMaggio is believed to be traveling in: a blue Nissan Versa with California license plate 6WCU986. Authorities believe he may be making his way north to Canada.

Some cellphones received only a text message, others buzzed and beeped. Some people got more than one alert.

It’s all thanks to the Wireless Emergency Alert program, a cellphone version of the Emergency Alert System that gives you the high-pitched test tone on your television.

Cellphone owners receive messages automatically, based on their proximity to the emergency, not based on their phone number.

“If you’re from Texas and that’s where your phone number is based and you’re traveling in California at the time of the Amber Alert, you’ll receive the text message about the Amber Alert in California on your Texas-based phone,” said CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader.

The messages go out over a special wireless carrier channel called Cell Broadcast and aren’t affected by regular cellphone traffic that might disrupt calls and text messages during times of heavy usage, according to the National Center for Missing & ExploitedChildren, which has teamed with the government in the program.

The signal is transmitted simultaneously to all mobile devices within the range of cell towers in the affected area. There are no texting charges. The system does not track phones' whereabouts.

The system is a second-generation Amber Alert and replaces the Wireless Amber Alert program that sent text alerts only to cellphone users who subscribed to the service. The new system began Jan. 1 and requires cellphone customers to opt out to stop receiving alerts.

Hannah Anderson is described as 5-foot-7, 115 pounds with blond hair, blue eyes, a belly button ring, nose stud and pierced ears.

EthanAnderson is described as 4-foot-11, 65 pounds with sandy blond hair.

DiMaggio is described as 5-foot-9, 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the homicide detail at (858) 974-2321 or (858) 565-5200, or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

The Amber Alert program was created in 1996 in honor of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted and murdered near her home in Arlington, Texas.

To opt-out of the emergency alerts, change your phone's message or alert message settings. They're automatically included on phones that receive the alerts.

Source: latimes

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African rock python that killed boys

Two boys found strangled to death by an African rock python in New Brunswick, Canada, on Monday were victims of one of the world's most vicious snakes.

There are 26 species of pythons, and even among that group, rock pythons have an especially nasty reputation, said Kenneth Krysko, senior herpetologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

Africa's largest snake, the 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) African rock python can't be easily tamed like other snakes, such as the more commonly kept Burmese python, Krysko said.

They're so ill-tempered that "they come out of the egg striking," he said in a 2009 interview.

"I personally don't see why people need to have these things as pets—they're not good pets and look at what ends up happening," Krysko said today. "I was shocked to hear about this."

According to the Canadian government, the snake escaped from an exotic pet store located beneath the apartment where the boys were visiting.

Source: nationalgeographic

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Juan Pablo Galavis Reveals What He's Looking for In His True Love

As most of the former Bachelors, Bacherlottes and their chosen ones will tell you, staying together isn’t easy. JuanPablo — who has already been in one failed relationship with the mother of his daughter, Camilla – wants a marriage that’s built to last — so naturally he turned to his friends for advice on how to stay together.

“I just LEARN from a friend that the KEY of a relationship is not SHARING toilet experiences… #interesting,” Juan Pablo tweeted recently.

Well, Juan Pablo, we don’t know if that’s the key to making a relationship work, but it certainly helps to keep a little mystery alive in any romance. Still, some couples are so comfortable with each other that no experience is taboo — so maybe Juan Pablo should keep an open mind — or even an open bathroom door!

Source: hollywoodlife

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Tiger Woods at Bridgestone Invitational

They say par is a good score in a major.

If that's true next week at the PGA Championship, then Tiger Woods has already done his share of preparation.

Woods played safe and smart with a big lead, parring 16 holes in an even-par 70 Sunday to coast to a seven-shot victory at the Bridgestone Invitational for his eighth win at the event — matching the PGA Tour record he already shared for victories in a single tournament.

"As blustery as it was, it was going to be really hard for someone to shoot 62 or 63," Woods said. "If I didn't give any shots away and played my game and shot even par or better, I'd force these guys to go and shoot something super low on a golf course that wasn't going to give it up under these conditions."

As he walked to the scorer's trailer to finalize his score, he scooped up 4-year-old son Charlie, who hugged him tightly as his father strode past the large gallery wildly cheering his landslide victory.

"This is the first win he's ever been at," Woods said. "That's what makes it special for both of us."

Daughter Sam was on hand when Woods, won the U.S. Open in 2008, before his personal life imploded. Now Charlie will have some memories of dad in the winner's circle.

"They always say, 'Daddy, when are you going to win the tournament?' It was a few years there, or a couple years, I hadn't won anything," Woods said, smiling. "'Are you leading or not? That's a stock question. 'Not leading.' 'Well, are you going to start leading?' 'Well, I'm trying."'

After a second-round 61 in which he flirted with 59, Woods ended up at 15-under 265 to easily beat defending champ Keegan Bradley and HenrikStenson.

Bradley, a huge fan of Tiger's when he was a youngster, was asked if he liked to see Woods dominate like he did a decade or so ago.

"When I was younger, I did," Bradley said. "You know, I hate to sit here and go on and on about how good he is, but he is. It's difficult because I really want to get up there and contend with him. But he's just ... this week he's playing really well."

Woods' mastery at Firestone Country Club allowed him to again match Sam Snead's PGA Tour record for wins in an event. Snead won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times. Earlier this year, Woods won at Bay Hill for the eighth time.

As if he weren't already the favourite next week in the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, the lopsided victory reinforced it.

No one ever got within six shots all day of the world's No. 1.

When he had a good shot at a pin, he took it. Otherwise, he took few, if any, risks.

He birdied the 10th hole, then offset that with a three-putt bogey at the 14th hole. But by then most of the field was thinking about catching flights to Rochester instead of catching Woods.

Bradley, who won a year ago when Jim Furyk double-bogeyed the 72nd hole, shot a 67 to get to 8 under along with Stenson, who had a 70 while playing with Woods.

"He kind of punctured this tournament on Friday," Stenson said. "He did what he needed to do today."

Tied for fourth were Cleveland-born Jason Dufner (71), Miguel Angel Jimenez (69) and Zach Johnson (67) at 6 under. Bill Haas and Chris Wood each shot a 71 and were at 5 under, with Martin Kaymer, who matched the day's best round with a 66, at 4 under along with Furyk, Richard Sterne and Luke Donald.

Source: cbc

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Alex Rodriguez fighting for his life

Last monday Major League Baseball suspended 13 players including New YorkYankees star Alex Rodriguez , after invertigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The league suspended Rodriguez for 211 regular-season games through the 2014 season, but the 38-year-old slugger said he planned to appeal. Twelve other players have accepted 50-game suspensions without pay.

A-Rod and the other players are accused of having ties to the now-shuttered Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in south Florida and taking performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez has denied the accusation.

"I'm fighting for my life. I have to defend myself. If I don't defend myself, no one else will," he told reporters after the league announced its decision.

Source: Cnn

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Canada Civic Holiday

The August Civic Holiday is a mess . Most of the provinces celebrate the first Monday of August as a holiday whether mandatory or optional for employers, but the names are all over the map , It's Natal Day in Nova Scotia and Price Edwards Island, British Columbia Day in British Columbia and Heritage Day in Alberta.

In Ontario, municipalities have named the day after individuals, be it John Graves Simcoe in Toronto, Colonel By in Ottawa, Joseph Brant in Burlington or George Hamilton (no, not the tanned Hollywood actor) in Hamilton. And there’s certainly something to be said for personifying the end of a long weekend (thanks, J.G.S., much obliged).

But let’s not be naive. Getting a statutory holiday named after you is not easy, and keeping it is even harder.

Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, but Canada’s official recognition of her birthday falls in late May on a day named after her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. Victoria Day retained that name in Canada after the queen’s death in 1901, even as the rest of the Commonwealth went with Empire Day. Similarly, Beatrix of the Netherlands, who abdicated earlier this year, was born on Jan. 31, but her holiday was held on April 30, the birth date of former queen Juliana.

And when Elizabeth did get her own day – a public holiday in Hong Kong – her name was expunged after Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997. The new name? The Hong Kong Special AdministrativeRegion Establishment Day.

This wouldn’t happen in Japan, which ensures that each new emperor – currently Akihito – is honoured with a national holiday on his actual birthday. And it certainly wouldn’t happen in North Korea, where every beloved and exalted leader is blessed with a personal secular holiday, or two: Jan. 8 for current leader Kim Jong-un, Feb 16 and 17 for father Kim Jong-il, and April 15 and 16 for grandfather Kim Il-sung.

The tradition of naming days after individuals dates from the early centuries of organized religion, when every saint or spirit worthy of his or her feast day could count on a nod. (The word holiday comes from the Old English halig, holy.) Even now, you can’t stroll through the calendar without tripping over St. Patrick, St. George, St. David, and St. Valentine – and that’s without mentioning such powerhouse holidays as Christmas (literally, the mass of Christ), the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed (celebrated in most Muslim nations in the third month of the Islamic calendar) and the birthday of Shakyamuni Buddha (varying dates in May in South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India and Indonesia).

Source: theglobalandmail

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