losangeles.cbslocal.com

NEWPORT BEACH (CBS) — A wealthy banker set off public outrage after he allegedly followed up a $133 meal by leaving his waitress a one percent tip and a personal tip – “Get a real job”. But the restaurant where it supposedly happened said it is all a hoax.

According to Huffington Post, CNN and several other news sites, a person claiming to be an employee of the “wealthy” banker took a photo of the receipt and posted it on a blog, “Future Ex-Banker”. The blogger paired the photo with their own caption:

“Mention the ’99 percent’ in my boss’ presence and feel his wrath. So proudly does he wear his 1 percent badge of honor that he tips exactly 1 percent every time he feels the server doesn’t sufficiently bow down to his Holiness. Oh, and he always makes sure to include a ‘tip’ of his own.”

The blogger surmised that the post would probably mean losing his or her job. Not surprisingly, soon after the blog started getting a lot of public attention it was taken down.

The post set off a hailstorm of online comments that touched on the 1% vs. 99% class warfare embodied by the Occupy movement.

The Huffington Post posted a correction to their story, indicating that the restaurant called the blog’s photo “altered and exaggerated”.

The restaurant told CBS2/KCAL9 that they have been receiving hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from people outraged over the reported story. They have confirmed that the receipt was changed and that the original receipt lists the meal as just over $30, with a 20 percent tip and no message aimed at the waitress.

dailymail.co.uk

Eating oranges and grapefruit could cut your risk of stroke, claim researchers.
Both the whole fruit and breakfast juices appear to protect against having a ‘brain attack’, probably due to their high content of a certain type of antioxidant.
A new study looked at citrus fruit for the first time, rather than a range of fruit and vegetables which have been linked to stroke protection.

The study involved thousands of women taking part in the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study in the US, but experts believe the benefits may also apply to men.
Every year in the UK, approximately 120,000 people have a stroke and 20-30 per cent die within a month, while 300,000 people are living with disabilities as a result.
A research team based at Norwich Medical School in the University of East Anglia investigated the strength of protection from flavonoids, a class of antioxidant compounds present in fruits, vegetables, dark chocolate and red wine.

The study used 14 years of follow-up data provided by 69,622 women who reported their food intake, including details on fruit and vegetable consumption every four years.
The research team examined the relationship of the six main subclasses of flavonoids – flavanones, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, flavonoid polymers, flavonols and flavones – with risk of ischemic, hemorrhagic and total stroke.
The researchers did not find a beneficial association between total flavonoid consumption and stroke risk, as the biological activity of the sub-classes differ.

But women who ate high amounts of flavanones in citrus had a 19 per cent lower risk of blood clot-related (ischemic) stroke than women who consumed the least amounts.
The highest level of flavanones was around 45mg a day compared with 20mg a day. A glass of commercial orange juice can provide 20-50mg depending on processing and storage conditions.
In the study, reported in the medical journal Stroke (must credit) flavanones came primarily from oranges and orange juice (82 per cent) and grapefruit and grapefruit juice (14 per cent).
However, researchers recommended that consumers wanting to increase their citrus fruit intake should eat more whole fruit rather than juice, due to the high sugar content of commercial fruit juices.
Lead researcher Aedin Cassidy, proessor of nutrition, said ‘Studies have shown higher fruit, vegetable and specifically vitamin C intake is associated with reduced stroke risk.
‘Flavonoids are thought to provide some of that protection through several mechanisms, including improved blood vessel function and an anti-inflammatory effect.”
A previous study found that citrus fruit and juice intake, but not intake of other fruits, protected against risk of ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage.
Another study found no association between yellow and orange fruits and stroke risk, but did link increased consumption of white fruits like apples and pears with lower stroke risk.
An additional study found that Swedish women who ate the highest levels of antioxidants – about 50 percent from fruits and vegetables – had fewer strokes than those with lower antioxidant levels.
More studies are needed to confirm the association between flavanone consumption and stroke risk, and to gain a better understanding about why the association occurs, said Prof Cassidy.
Dr Sharlin Ahmed, Research Liaison Officer at The Stroke Association said ‘We all know that eating plenty of fresh fruit and veg is good for our health. This study suggests that eating citrus fruits in particular, such as oranges and grapefruits, which are high in vitamin C could help to lower your stroke risk.
‘However, this should not deter people from eating other types of fruit and vegetables as they all have health benefits and remain an important part of a staple diet.
‘More research is needed in this area to help us understand the possible reasons why citrus fruits could help to keep your stroke risk down.
‘Everyone can reduce their risk of stroke by eating a healthy balanced diet that is low in saturated fat and salt, exercising regularly and ensuring that your blood pressure is checked and kept under control.’

yahoo.com

(Reuters) – The average U.S. price of gasoline jumped 18 cents a gallon in the past two weeks due to rising costs of crude oil and related concerns about tensions in the Middle East, although supplies of fuel remained plentiful in most of the country, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey.
The national average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $3.69 on February 24, according to the nationwide survey of gasoline stations in the continental United States.
The sting to drivers’ pocketbooks follows a rise of almost 12 cents per gallon seen in the previous survey, which covered the two weeks that ended February 10.
“Fears about a possible hit to oil supplies from the Middle East are causing turmoil and confusion,” survey editor Trilby Lundberg said in an interview.
Concerns center largely around Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility that Iran could block shipping in the Strait of Hormuz if the nation’s nuclear facilities were attacked by Israel, she said.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose $11.10 per barrel in the past two weeks to $109.77 on Friday, she said,
fueled by those concerns as well as a weakening of some national currencies that spurred some investors toward crude oil.
“If these (Mideast) fears become more fervent, on either a real or a perceived basis, then crude oil prices could jump again,” and prod gasoline prices higher, she said.
In any case, Lundberg said U.S. gasoline prices will likely rise at least a few cents per gallon in coming weeks because earlier increases in the cost of crude had not yet fully reached the pump.
At $4.24 a gallon, San Diego had the highest average price for regular unleaded gasoline on February 24, while the lowest price was $3.07 a gallon in Denver.
(Reporting By Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Diane Craft)

chron.com

The final gunshot was the loudest.

It was crisp, startling, unmistakable, and it marked the end of a brutal Sunday afternoon rampage that left a 12-year-old girl dead after her father allegedly shot her, her older sister and her mother before he killed himself on the front lawn of the family’s condominium in southwest Houston.

Soon after, emergency responders arrived at the scene and carried the bodies of the two critically wounded survivors down the stairs of from the family’s second-floor condominium in the 6100 block of Reims.

They walked past the body of the girls’ 47-year-old father, who lay under a white sheet as a crowd of neighbors and bystanders, many with children, watched investigators search for answers behind yellow police tape.

A 14-year-old girl, who was shot in the neck, and her 43-year-old mother, who was shot in the back, were taken to Ben Taub General Hospital in critical condition, Houston Police Department Spokesman John Cannon said. The 14-year-old girl was undergoing surgery for her “grave” injury Sunday and the woman was paralyzed, Cannon said.

The body of the 12-year-old girl, who was shot multiple times, remained in the condo unit as investigators examined evidence, he said.

It was not clear what set off the shooting or why it occurred, with witnesses noticing no commotion before the man fired shots indoors.

“It’s safe to say that our challenge tonight is talking with the mother as much as she can talk, and apparently she’s been able to talk, so that’s what’s going to help us try to tie some things together,” Cannon said.

Police would not identify the father or his victims. Officials were unable to reach family members of anyone involved in the incident, Cannon said.

The sound of the final gunshot pierced through the hum of refrigerators inside Adam Dalami’s convenience store, Dalami Food Mart, about 1:30 p.m. He rushed out the door and across the street to find one of his regular customers lying motionless on the ground after he had apparently shot himself in the head.

“I was very shocked because I knew this guy for many years,” he said.

Too late for CPR

Jaculynn Jackson, a medical assistant at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, was on her way home when she saw the 47-year-old man collapse on the grass in front of his second-floor condo.

She got out of her car and scrambled toward him in an attempt to perform CPR, but it was too late. The man, who fell on top of a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun, was dead.

“It’s just troublesome,” Jackson said.

Dalami said the man came to his store often and has discussed marital problems. He said the man had spoken of a divorce, but the couple still lived together.

Cannon said the man was the registered owner of the condominium unit. It appeared the children and the woman lived there as well, but it was not clear if the couple was married, he said.

Woman called 911

Police responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call from the woman, who told an operator that she, her daughters, and possibly her husband, had been shot, Cannon said.

Investigators searched police records for possible “red flags” related to past calls about domestic disputes or other incidents at the address, Cannon said.

“So far that’s turning up nothing,” he said. “It’s not like we’ve got a lot to go on right now as far as the why it happened.”

CNN.COM

Seoul (CNN) — North Korea said it’s ready to fight a war with the United States and South Korea, as the two allies kicked off their annual joint military drills Monday, according to state-run media.
“Hundreds of thousands of troops are poised for a war carrying nuclear war equipment,” North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported, saying Pyongyang considers the drills to be practice for a preemptive strike on the North.
The international community has been negotiating with North Korea over its nuclear program for years.
The most recent talks between North Korea and the United States ended Friday with little visible progress. They were the first high-level talks since the death of North Korea’s longtime leader, Kim Jong Il, in December and the subsequent transition of power to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.
Kim’s death threw into flux U.S. plans for renewed diplomacy with North Korea, including formal talks on ending Pyongyang’s nuclear program and possible resumption of U.S. food assistance.
The North Korea government was expected to suspend its uranium enrichment in exchange for food assistance as part of a deal that was to be announced around the time of Kim’s death.
The annual Key Resolve military drills that began Monday involve 2,100 U.S. troops with their South Korean counterparts. Washington insists the exercises are defensive in nature and unrelated to any geopolitical events.
The current military drills are scheduled through March 9, with a second set of overlapping exercises beginning March 1 and running through the end of April.
South Korea and the United States regularly hold military drills, and just as often North Korea denounces them as a provocation.
KCNA reported Saturday that Kim Jong Un, the new North Korean leader, visited military units in the southwest of the country, including one that fired upon a South Korean island in November 2010, killing two civilians and two marines. North Korea said its forces were responding to a South Korean military drill in the area.
While visitng the troops, Kim Jong Un “ordered them to make a powerful retaliatory strike at the enemy, should the enemy intrude even 0.001 mm into the waters of the country where its sovereignty is exercised,” KCNA reported.

CNN.COM

(CNN) — The website WikiLeaks has begun releasing what it says are 5 million e-mails from the private intelligence company Stratfor, starting with a company “glossary” that features unflattering descriptions of U.S. government agencies.
In a statement released early Monday in Europe (Sunday evening ET), the website promises a raft of juicy disclosures about Stratfor, a Texas-based firm that promotes itself to corporate and government clients as a source of intelligence on international affairs. The company has been targeted by hackers who have released private data about subscribers in recent months, prompting the company to offer its clients a year of paid identity-protection coverage.
There was no immediate comment on the disclosures from Stratfor, and the authenticity of the documents could not be independently confirmed Sunday night.
WikiLeaks, a website that facilitates the leaking of confidential information, says the documents will be released through a network of more than 25 news outlets and activist groups in the coming weeks. The first document out was titled “The Stratfor Glossary of Useful, Baffling and Strange Intelligence Terms,” featuring brief and sometimes humorous definitions and blunt assessments of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement.
Others focused on speculation about the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and who was behind a suspected campaign of sabotage against Iran’s nuclear program.
WikiLeaks has previously published hundreds of thousands of U.S. military and State Department documents, including field reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan and embassy cables that feature the candid assessments of U.S. diplomats. A U.S. soldier, Pfc. Bradley Manning, faces a court-martial on charges that he leaked the documents to the website.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, meanwhile, is in Britain battling an extradition request from prosecutors in Sweden who want to question him about unrelated accusations of sexual assault. Assange has not been charged with a crime and denies wrongdoing.

www.washingtonpost.com

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, February 26, 10:53 PM

In a humble speech amid tense times, Asghar Farhadi accepted Iran’s first Oscar for best foreign film as a chance to celebrate a culture “hidden under the heavy dust of politics.”

It was a stirring reminder, instantly hailed at the Los Angeles ceremony and around the globe, of the human side behind rising geopolitical animosity.

The acclaimed domestic drama “A Separation” is the first Iranian film to win the award. The only other Iranian movie ever nominated was 1997’s “Children of Heaven,” which was defeated by Italy’s “Life Is Beautiful.”

Farhadi, who wrote and directed “A Separation,” alluded to the tensions over his home country in his acceptance speech.

“At the time when talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics,” he said.

With his daughter, Sarina Farhadi, who co-stars in the film, looking on from the audience, Farhadi added: “I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, the people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment.”

Tensions between the West and Iran have risen in recent months over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran denies Western claims that it seeks to develop atomic weapons, and says its disputed nuclear program is designed to produce energy and medical isotopes.

Iran’s state TV didn’t strike such a harmonious tone. It described the country’s foreign film Oscar win as a victory over Israel. The Israeli film “Footnote,” about a rivalry between father-son Talmudic scholars, was also nominated in the foreign film category.

The Monday state TV broadcast in Iran said the award won by “The Separation” succeeded in “leaving behind” a film from the “Zionist regime,” a reference to the country’s arch-foe Israel.

Iranian cinema has for years been among the most exciting in the world, notably including the films of Abbas Kiarostami and Majid Majidi.

Farhadi’s film was so roundly supported by the academy that it was also nominated for a best screenplay Oscar — a rarity for a foreign film. It also won best foreign film at the Golden Globes.

Though “A Separation,” made under Iranian sensors, isn’t overly political, it deeply explores the complex social and religious codes of contemporary Iranian society. The film begins with the divorce dispute between a husband (Peyman Moadi) and wife (Leila Hatami), a situation that becomes far thornier when an argument leads to criminal charges.

Farhadi said he thought the Oscar nomination for “A Separation” pleased some in the Iranian government and not others: “The Iranian government is not unanimous at all,” he said.

This year’s Oscars took on a broadly international flavor, particularly given that the best picture winner, “The Artist,” is in most ways a French film, made by a French director (Michael Hazanavicius, who won best director) and starring a French actor (Jean Dujardin, who won best actor).

The Mexican actor Demian Bichir was also nominated for best actor for his performance in the immigrant drama “A Better Life,” and the Spanish film “Chico and Rita” was nominated for best animated film.

In all, 63 films were submitted for this year’s foreign language film category, a nomination process that has often been criticized for leaving out critical favorites. In recent years, an executive committee was added to the multi-step process, which can add movies to those selected by the judging body.

Few founded major fault with this year’s selections, though there were quibbles over the absence of the Turkish film “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” the Finnish submission “Le Havre” and Pedro Almodovar’s “The Skin I Live In,” which Spain opted not to submit.

The other nominees, aside from “Footnote,” were Michael R. Roskam’s crime drama “Bullhead” from Belgium; Philippe Falardeau’s immigrant substitute teacher tale “Monsieur Lazhar” from Canada; and Agnieszka Holland’s World War II drama “In Darkness” from Poland.

Backstage on Sunday, Farhadi said he hoped “A Separation” helps moviegoers see the people of Iran in a different light:

“If people around the world try to find the image of one another through the prism of culture, I believe that image would be a more a more real and a more clear image.”

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

abclocal.go.com

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A controversial new program that lets teenagers order condoms online at no charge has launched in California.

The Condom Access Project allows youth between the ages of 12 and 19 to order a package of 10 condoms, lube and health brochures online at TeenSource.org, a website run by the nonprofit California Family Health Council. The package will be mailed to them in a nondescript yellow envelope.

Supporters, including state health officials, say the program will help young people who can’t afford to buy condoms, or who are too embarrassed to get them at clinics.

But critics say this may not go over well with parents, many of whom see it as approval of teen sex.

The program is being paid for with federal funds.

Teens will be limited to one package of condoms per month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

vitals.msnbc.msn.com

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a consumer safety update Thursday about a brand of electric toothbrushes that’s been found to chip teeth, cut gums and generally wreak havoc with your face.
Injuries reported from use of the battery-powered Spinbrush toothbrush, sold by both Arm & Hammer and Crest (before 2009), include chipped or broken teeth, cuts to the mouth and gums, injuries to the face and eyes and choking hazards thanks to broken pieces.
According to a consumer safety officer at the FDA, reports indicate that parts of the toothbrush have broken off during use, causing them to be “released into the mouth with great speed, causing broken teeth and presenting a choking hazard.”

The Spinbrush, manufactured by Church & Dwight Co., Inc., comes in both adult and children’s models under the following names: Spinbrush ProClean; Spinbrush ProClean Recharge; Spinbrush Pro Whitening; Spinbrush SONIC; Spinbrush SONIC Recharge; Spinbrush Swirl; Spinbrush Classic Clean, and Spinbrush for Kids.
All have the potential for injury, according to the FDA.
The adult Spinbrush model has a brush head that is removable and can be replaced. However, the brush head has popped off in some cases, exposing metal pieces that have poked users in the cheek and eye areas, causing injuries. The child’s model, Spinbrush for Kids (which includes Spiderman and Thomas & Friends designs), does not come with a removable head, however, it, too, has caused problems, including cut lips, burns from the batteries, and bristles which have fallen off and lodged in a child’s tonsils.
“We are particularly concerned about the problems with these toothbrushes as they appear to be geared towards children,” said Dr. Susan Runner, branch chief for Dental Devices in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The hazards that have been reported are potentially very serious, and parents should be aware of helping young children with tooth brushing both for safety reasons and for assuring adequacy of brushing.”
Last year, the FDA issued a warning to Church & Dwight Co Inc. based on an inspection which found numerous consumer complaints about the product that had not been reported to the agency. The manufacturer responded to the FDA warning by improving its labeling to caution consumers about changing the brush head after three months; adding bristles that changed color to help reminder consumers to swap out the brush head and issuing a safety notice in TV and print ads which warns that if the brush head is not replaced after three months’ use or becomes damaged or loose that it “could lead to brush head breakage, generation of small parts and possible choking hazard.”
In the safety alert issued today, the FDA advises parents, caregivers and consumers to inspect the Spinbrush before use for loose or damaged brush bristles and to make sure the brush head is connected tightly to the brush handle. If the brush head or bristles are loose (or damaged), the FDA says the Spinbrush should not be used and the issue should be reported to the manufacturer at 1-800-352-3384 or 1-800-561-0752.

In addition, the FDA advises Spinbrush users to never bite down on the brush head while brushing and to follow all instructions and recommended replacement guidelines for the product.
The FDA also recommends that anyone suffering an injury or problem with the Spinbrush contact the FDA’s Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program by calling 1-800-332-1088 or using going to the website.

chicagotribune.com

Parisa Hafezi
Reuters
2:04 a.m. CST, February 20, 2012

TEHRAN (Reuters) – A team of U.N. inspectors arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks on Iran’s disputed nuclear program, a day after the Islamic Republic ordered a halt to its oil sales to British and French companies in apparent retaliation for tightening EU sanctions.

The European Union enraged Tehran last month when it decided to impose a boycott on its oil from July 1. Iran, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, responded by threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, the main Gulf oil shipping lane.

On Sunday, its oil ministry went a step further, announcing Iran has now stopped selling oil to French and British companies, a move which will however have little or no impact on supplies reaching France or Britain.

“Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped … we will sell our oil to new customers,” spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying on the ministry website.

Iran, which denies Western allegations that it is seeking to make nuclear weapons, has ramped up its rhetoric in recent weeks while also expressing willingness to resume negotiations on its nuclear program.

The five-member team from the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold two days of talks in Iran, but Western diplomats have played down any hopes of a major breakthrough.

“I’m still pessimistic that Iran will demonstrate the substantive cooperation necessary,” one envoy said in Vienna.

Yet the outcome of this week’s discussions is important and will be watched closely because it could either intensify the standoff or offer scope to reduce tensions.

The European Commission says the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports as it has enough stock to meet its needs for around 120 days.

Industry sources said European oil buyers were already making big cuts in purchases from Iran months in advance of EU sanctions.

French and Anglo/Dutch oil majors Total and Shell have been big buyers of Iranian crude but Total had already stopped buying from Iran and traders said last week that Shell had scaled back sharply.

Shell, which has declined comment on its trade with Iran, was one of the biggest consumers of Iranian crude globally, taking about 100,000 barrels daily into Europe and about the same amount to its Japanese subsidiary, Showa Shell.

Latest EU data, for the third quarter of 2011, shows that oil sales into Britain fell to zero and France imported 75,000 bpd, accounting for just 6 percent of its crude oil imports. Debt-ridden Greece is most exposed to Iranian crude disruption among European countries.

MILITARY STRIKE?

Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful but its refusal to curb uranium enrichment, which can have both military and civilian purposes, has raised concerns.

Western powers have not ruled out using force against Iran, and there has been an intense public discussion in Israel about whether it should attack Iran to stop it making a nuclear bomb.

The top U.S. military officer said on Sunday that a military strike would be premature as it was not clear that Tehran would use its nuclear capabilities to build an atomic bomb.

“I believe it is unclear (that Iran would assemble a bomb) and on that basis, I think it would be premature to exclusively decide that the time for a military option was upon us,” said General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He said he believed the Iranian government was a “rational actor.”

The West has expressed some optimism over the prospect of new talks with Tehran, particularly after it sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton last week promising to bring “new initiatives” to the table.

“In these negotiations, we are looking for a way out of Iran’s current nuclear issue so that both sides win,” Iranian TV quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying on Sunday.

Oil is a major part of Iran’s export revenues and an important lifeline for its increasingly isolated economy. It has little refining capacity and has to import about 40 percent of its gasoline needs for domestic consumption.

Tighter sanctions, combined with high inflation, have squeezed the ability of working-class Iranians to feed themselves and their families, and this uncertainty forms the backdrop to a parliamentary vote on March 2.

“Everything’s become so expensive in the past few weeks,” said Marjan Hamidi, an Iranian shopper in Tehran, “But my husband’s income stays the same. How am I going to live like this?”