Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a household name long before he even hit the big screen. The pro-wrestler-turned-action film star has had quite the career. The 43-year-old isn't even close to finished, either. Scoring bigger and badder roles every year, up for superhero flicks, action blockbusters and everything in between, it seems like Johnson's career is just beginning to blossom, though the actor already has a resume far beyond even the most seasoned of stars
Johnson's stardom never came easy though. And still to this day The Rock is working harder than most by keeping up with his heavyweight physique as well as signing on to time-consuming roles and an abundance of charity work. The actor, producer, and professional wrestler always has a smile on his face, and how he does it, we can only chalk it up to he must be some sort of superhuman. Now as we gear up for the release of his action-disaster flick, San Andreas, we've found a few more surprising elements that make us love him even more. Here are 12 incredible things you probably never knew about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Read more...
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KIEV, Ukraine — Faked. Forged. Doctored. Photoshopped.
That's what new analysis of publicly available satellite images, published Sunday by a team of independent digital sleuths, reveal Russia's Ministry of Defense did with satellite imagery presented in its official report on the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. They say it was Russia's attempt to blame Ukraine for the crime
The ill-fated Boeing 777 was shot out of the sky over eastern Ukraine while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board the passenger airliner were killed. Debris from the plane and passengers' bodies crashed and burned in a rural area near the town of Torez, deep inside territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists. Read more...
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U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden spoke about his son Beau Biden in a speech at Yale University's commencement less than one month before Beau died of brain cancer at the age of 46.
Joe spoke of his son with pride, noting that Beau had gone to Syracuse University's law school out of loyalty to his deceased mother, and later served as Delaware's attorney general. The vice-president joked that his son had ended up being more popular than he was in their home state.
"Big headline after the 2012 election: 'Biden: most popular man in Delaware — Beau,' he said. "And as your parents will understand, my dad’s definition of success is when you look at your son and daughter, and realize they turned out better than you — and they did." Read more...
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Secretary of State John Kerry was helicoptered to a Swiss hospital Sunday after a bike crash outside of Geneva, where he had been holding nuclear talks with Iran's foreign minister.
Kerry suffered a likely leg injury, but did not lose consciousness, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. The top American diplomat was in stable condition, Kirby said.
Kerry suffered the accident near Scionzier, France, about 40 kilometers southeast of the Swiss border. Paramedics and a physician were on the scene with his motorcade at the time.
Kerry, an avid biker and windsurfer, was biking with his security detail during a brief break in the talks. Other senior U.S. officials, including Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, are in Lausanne for the talks as well. The talks are aimed at shoring up a tentative framework agreement struck in early April. Read more...
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Step away from the edge, Instagram fanatics.
A picturesque clifftop on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia has become so popular a photo destination on Instagram, local authorities have had no choice but to rope it off.
See also: Instagram user offers discount prices to fight artist selling $90,000 screenshots of her photos
Known as Wedding Cake Rock in the Royal National Park, the pristine white sandstone set against an ocean backdrop has proven irresistible to hordes of people in search of those double tap "likes," pushing people to take risky photos on the cliff's potentially unstable edge. Read more...
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Slow-cooked casseroles are one of the most convenient oven meals. They’re simply delicious, and if there are any leftovers, you can store them in the refrigerator and just reheat them later.
If you’re tired of eating the usual casseroles, you should try this delicious vegetable casserole recipe. Pine nuts, zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes make the perfect ingredients for this meatless casserole:
Ingredients:
- 1 eggplant, sliced into chunks
- 2 pounds zucchini, sliced into chunks
- 1 red pepper, sliced into strips
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 4 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ cup pesto sauce
Pesto:
- 2 cups fresh basil or spinach
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2/3 cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup pine nuts
Directions:
- Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
- Heat coconut oil in a medium saucepan. Add eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, and onions. Sauté over medium heat in small batches, so there is enough coconut oil remaining for all the vegetables.
- Heat the oven to 350 °Fahrenheit. Place the sautéed vegetables in a baking dish, leaving the oil used for the vegetables in the saucepan.
- Add the tomatoes to the oil in the saucepan, press the garlic cloves into the pan, and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour tomato mixture and pesto over the vegetables. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or longer for a more crispy texture.
(From Healthy Recipes for Your Nutritional Type)
Make sure you place your casserole in the middle of the oven to ensure that it bakes evenly.1 To achieve a crispy texture, do not cover while baking.
This healthy and delicious casserole tastes even better when made with basil pesto sauce. If you have basil in your garden, you can easily make fresh pesto sauce. You can make fresh pesto sauce in large batches and then freeze it to extend its shelf life. Frozen pesto sauce can be used for up to three months.2
Eggplants provide the meaty texture for this meatless casserole. It is important to pick firm and glossy eggplants with bright green stems. When you push the flesh with your thumb, it should bounce back. If it doesn’t, it’s a clear sign that it may be overripe. Store your eggplants in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator to keep them fresh longer.
For zucchinis, I recommend keeping their skin intact when cooking as it contains most of their antioxidants and fiber.
Look for fresh tomatoes that are bright red and do not have any cracks, wrinkles, bruises, or soft spots.3 It is also better if you avoid using metal pans and storage containers to prevent dangerous aluminum being absorbed by the tomatoes and your body.
This vegetable casserole is a perfect addition to your wholesome diet as it contains the following healthy ingredients:
Zucchini
Zucchini is often classified as a vegetable even though it is actually a fruit. It is low in calories, but is abundant in fiber. It helps slow down aging and prevents disease through the help of its many flavonoid antioxidants such as zeaxanthin, carotenes, and lutein.
Zucchini is a great source of B-complex vitamins such as folate, B6, B1, B2, B3, and choline, which help maintain blood sugar regulation. It also offers minerals such as iron, manganese, and phosphorus.
Eggplant
Eggplant may be one of the most underrated vegetable in the US, as the average American only consumes less than one pound of it per year, but it is actually beneficial to include in your diet. Eggplant is rich in various vitamins and minerals such as fiber, folate, potassium, manganese, copper, thiamin, niacin, and vitamins C, K, and B6.
It also contains nasunin, an anthocyanin phytonutrient that fights free radicals and prevents brain damage by protecting the lipids (fats) in your brain. Nasunin provides iron-chelating mechanism, which is beneficial if you are suffering from iron overload.
Tomato
Tomatoes are known to be beneficial for your health as they contain vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, folate, magnesium, vitamin B6, phosphorus, and copper. They are also an abundant source of manganese and vitamins A, C, and K.
Take note that canned tomatoes can be a health hazard. Many cans linings are contaminated with bisphenol A (BPA), which can transfer to the tomatoes (or any food). BPA negatively affects the brain, behavior, and prostate glands in infants, children, and even in fetuses.
Tomatoes contain zeaxanthin, a phytonutrient that protects the eye and helps prevent age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Tomatoes also provide the antioxidant lycopene that protects the skin from ultraviolet damage. Lycopene also helps lessen oxidative stress and lower the risk of osteoporosis.
Pine Nuts
Pine nuts are rich in monounsaturated fat, protein, iron, and magnesium. They also provide vitamins E and K as well as manganese, which are efficient in maintaining a healthy heart. Another component of pine nuts is pinolenic acid, which supports healthy cholesterol levels.
Pine nuts have a wide range of antioxidants that help combat free radicals and protect your cells from reactive oxygen species (ROS). Pine nuts are also rich in lutein that reduces your risk of AMD (just like tomatoes) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Did you think last week's big death on Orphan Black was tough? Well, poor Hot Paul may not be the only one we say goodbye to this season
In Saturday's new episode, two lives hung in the balance: one who made it out alive and another who was in more danger than ever by the end of the hour
Surprisingly, neither of the endangered were Sarah or Helena, who both successfully escaped the Castors post-explosion and spent the episode en route back to Clone Headquarters (aka Felix's apartment)
Let’s catch up with everyone in duos. (Well, except Rachel — she’s forever alone.) Read more...
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AUSTIN, Texas - Skipping school would no longer be a criminal offense under a bill that has cleared both chambers of the Texas Legislature.
Instead, accumulating unexcused absences would mean civil punishments with fines starting at $100, under a proposal the Senate and House passed Saturday. The measure now heads to Governor Greg Abbott who has to sign or veto the bill.
Representative James White, a former teacher, said the Texas Education Agency will come up with better ways and minimum standards to "assist our school districts in enhancing school attendance." Read more...
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Our hapless hero's comedy tour of hell comes to its conclusion in Louie's Season 5 finale — and it ain't pretty.
He arrives in culturally bankrupt Oklahoma City (at least that's how it's portrayed) to find that the locals are made up of the lowest common denominator. Not only are they racist, but they also don't appreciate good (read: his) comedy.
Throughout the weeklong gig in OKC, Louie is consistently upstaged by fellow comedian Kenny, his temporary roommate and someone he considers "a hack." Crass and crude, Kenny's preferred choice of humor consists solely of insults and jokes about bodily functions — a reflection of his real-life persona. The two men are opposites to say the least Read more...
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Imagine an oak tree in a field of wheat, silhouetted against a cloudless blue sky on a dreamy sunny afternoon. The chances are that most people reading this sentence can easily picture a bucolic scene in their mind's eye. This ability to read a description of a scene and then imagine it has always been uniquely human. But this precious skill may no longer be ours alone.
Anyone thinking that these kinds of imaginings are far beyond the ability of today's computing machines will be surprised by the work of Hiroharu Kato and Tatsuya Harada at the University of Tokyo in Japan.
These guys unveiled a machine that can translate a description of an object into an image. In other words, their computer can conjure an image of an external object not otherwise present. That's a pretty good definition of imagination — in this case of the computational variety. Read more...
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Vice President Joe Biden's son has died of brain cancer, according to a statement released by the White House Saturday evening.
Beau Biden, who served as Delaware's attorney general, lived a life "defined by service to others," Biden said in the statement
"The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau’s spirit will live on in all of us," according to the statement.
Beau Biden, 46, was an Iraq War veteran and was awarded the Bronze Star
"Beau embodied my father's saying that a parent knows success when his child turns out better than he did. In the words of the Biden family: Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known." Read more...
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There are many commentators who argue that there is a bubble in Silicon Valley today. They may or may not be right, but there is certainly a bubble in places named after the preeminent global tech ecosystem. Silicon Border. Silicon Hills. Silicon Steppe. Silicon Prairie. Silicon Roundabout. Silicon Gulf. Silicon Avenue. Silicon Canal. Silicon Alley. Silicon Beach. Silicon Forest. Philadelphia… Read More