Best Buy re-starts free Apple iPhone 5 offer with trade in of Apple iPhone 4S and Apple iPhone 4

1. bucky posted on 2 hours ago 0

That's an absolutely awful promotion.

2. Ruckus posted on 2 hours ago 0

Sounds like a rip off. You can get a lot of money for an iPhone 4S and some places like RadioShack sell the iPhone 5 $50 cheaper.

3. fanboy1974 posted on 2 hours ago 0

Better to wait and sale the phone yourself when the iPhone 5s is released. Why buy a 9 month old phone now when so many good phones are on the market. You should be able to get $120 for the iPhone 4 and $200 for the iPhone 4s on Craigslist with no problems.

4. HASHTAG posted on 2 hours ago 0

Dang it! My upgrade is on July 1st and was going to head over to Best Buy to get the iPhone 5 for $149, before learning that the offer is only until 6/29. Oh well, I guess I'll buy the refurbished version for the same price.

Best Buy re-starts free Apple iPhone 5 offer with trade in of Apple iPhone 4S and Apple iPhone 4

Source: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Best-Buy-re-starts-free-Apple-iPhone-5-offer-with-trade-in-of-Apple-iPhone-4S-and-Apple-iPhone-4_id44286

sign of the times keystone pipeline purim acc tournament big ten tournament big east tournament 2012 solar storm

Yearslong probe dismantles massive North Texas prostitution ring

PLANO ?? A federal indictment alleges that a Richardson man operated 10 brothels that masqueraded as massage parlors in Collin, Dallas and Tarrant counties as part of a complex prostitution ring that stretched into at least five other states and generated more than $1 million since 2010.?

Currently, 11 people face federal racketeering charges and another nine face state charges related to prostitution, said Malcolm Bales, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.?

Sitting at the top of the seven-count federal indictment is Quyen Thuc ?Tony? Ha, who?s accused of running the operation. The indictment frequently refers to the locations as ?Tony?s Brothels.?

Ha is also accused of paying two detectives $305,000 since March 2011, thinking the money would prompt them to overlook the illegal operation and allow it to continue without interference. The detectives handed the money over to the FBI. Officials do not suspect any abuse of power related to the case.

?Both officers were merely pretending to be corrupt, and every dollar has been seized as evidence,? Bales said.?

The investigation, known as Operation Flaming Dragon, began more than two years ago after Plano residents complained to police of suspicious behavior at certain massage parlors, said Chief Greg Rushin.?

Plano police launched an investigation and quickly learned that Dallas police were also looking into similar reports there. At that point, Rushin alerted state and federal authorities, which aided the departments for more than two years.?

?I?ve been the chief for 12 years, I?ve been in the office for 26 years working for the department and I have not seen anything of this scope involving prostitution,? Rushin said during a news conference Wednesday at the Plano Police Department.

The federal indictments allege that Ha managed his brothels alongside defendants Kim Sey ?Tony? Lau and Li Yan Zhou, who promoted the locations using ads on websites like Backpage.com. Some remain live: they feature galleries of scantily clad Asian women and red and yellow text advertising ?gentle touch? massages for $40 for a half hour and $60 for an hour.?

The feds allege that Ha and his colleagues transported prostitutes from California, Nevada and Georgia to Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Says the indictment, ?the business enterprise pays for the prostitute?s airfare either to or from Texas, and the prostitutes are required to pay for the other leg of the trip.??

According to the document, North Texas was the center of the operation: The women would be flown in and spend three to four weeks rotating brothels here and then return to their homes in other states.?No warrants had been served in any other states related to this multi-agency investigation, said Diego Rodriguez, the FBI special agent in charge of the bureau?s Dallas division.

The second count of the indictment says the criminal organization bought condoms in bulk that were manufactured in Stratford, Conn. and had them shipped across state lines to be used in criminal acts, which breaks federal law.?

Dallas police, working with state and federal authorities, on Monday arrested four women at two of the parlors and one residence in Far North Dallas and Collin County.

Chinli Yeh, 57, was arrested at a nondescript suburban home at 13309 Kit Lane, located just east of Coit near the Dallas/Richardson border. Pang Hsiang Lin, 51, and Yu Tao Chen, 52, were arrested at the J.J. Asian Health Center located at 5528 Alpha Road. Yuanli Zhang, 45, was taken into custody at the Rosemeade Asian Spa, located at 3920 Rosemeade Parkway.?

None of those arrested Monday are named in the federal indictment.?

Rodriguez said warrants were also served in Plano and Hurst. The day?s police work resulted in the closure of 10 of the businesses, he said.?

In Plano, Yafen Wang, 47, and LeQuin Huang, 40, were arrested and charged with prostitution. Yubing Li, 50, Hui Li, 44, Jing Liu, 53, and Jihong Liu, 41, were arrested and charged with massage therapy license violations.?

Unlike the Dallas and Collin County warrants, those served in Tarrant remain sealed Wednesday afternoon.

?We?ve dealt a crippling blow to this operation,? Rodriguez said.?

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents are helping investigate, however Bales said they?ve found no evidence of human trafficking or enslavement. All of the women involved are of Asian descent, he said, and all appear to be in the country legally. He said ICE agents are also investigating the validity of the women?s visas.?

The indictment alleges the prostitution ring began in 2010. While Bales declined to attach a specific amount to its revenue, he did say he expected it to exceed $1 million.?

?It?s a lot of money,? he said. ?A lot of money.??

In March 2011, police documents say Ha called Dallas Det. Paul Park at his desk to set up a meeting. He offered to pay thousands of dollars each month in return for police turning a blind eye to the prostitution ring. Park agreed and began accepting cash ?? and then logging it and getting additional evidence to aid the case, police documents say. Park also convinced Ha to become comfortable bribing Plano Det. Brant Hickman, who he?s also accused of giving money to.

In September of that year, Ha agreed to pay $10,000 a month if Park helped ?identify new brothel locations, direct law enforcement actions against competitors, protect Ha?s existing brothels and remove any charges filed against Ha?s prostitutes.??

The investigation, says the indictment, netted $305,000 solely from bribes. Bales said all of that money has been entered into evidence.?

On Feb. 22, co-conspirator Yu Lin Chang was arrested for hiring an unlicensed massage therapist at the Asian Therapy Spa in the 2900 block of W. 15^th St. in Plano. The indictment alleges that Ha gave Det. Hickman $2,000 to keep the location open and help Chang avoid being convicted.?

Ha and his co-conspirators are accused of renting residences to house the prostitutes in St. Louis, Miss.; Oklahoma City; Dallas and The Colony. The women were brought to Texas from California, Nevada, Georgia and other unnamed locations. Many of the individuals indicted allegedly shuttled the women to and from hotels and airports to where they provided sex acts for money.?

As a result of the investigation, agents seized a 2002 Lexus IS300; a 2002 Honda Accord; a 2004 Toyota Tacoma; a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer; a 2012 Honda Accord; a 2009 BMW; a 2005 Lexus RX330; a 2013 Mercedes GLK; and a 2005 Honda Civic EX. Also seized was a property at 3617 Cromwell Street in Plano and the $305,000 that the detectives were bribed with.?

Eight of the 11 named in the federal indictment have been arrested.?Bales said investigators have "good leads on the whereabouts" of the remaining three.?

Ha, Chang, Lau, Yu Qian, Li Meng Shank and Tin Min Lo are due for a detention hearing on Friday at 1:30 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Amos L. Mazzant in federal court in Sherman. Also indicted are Xia Xu, Prapatson Verhotz, Tin Min Lo, Michael Jones and Jia-Her Hwang.?

The counts include conspiracy to use interstate facility to facilitate unlawful action; use of interstate facility to facilitate unlawful action; and bribery. The first two counts are punishable by no more than five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The third, bribery, comes with a punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.?

Email mgoodman@wfaa.com

Source: http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Yearslong-investigation-dismantles-massive-N-Texas-prostitution-ring-212234061.html

brian wilson storm chasers david blaine gotye divine mercy cabin in the woods the legend of korra

Microsoft just reversed most of its anti-consumer policies for the Xbox One ? what are the pros and cons?

After receiving tons upon tons of criticism for many of its decisions in regard to game authentication, used game limitations and anti-piracy measures for the Xbox One, Microsoft has said ?we listened.? Today, they announced that they are reversing most of the decisions people were complaining about. Giant Bomb broke the story before it was official.

Chief among the policy update are the following, to quote Xbox PR:

• An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games

• You can trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today

These were two of the biggest bullet points, by far, that won Sony tons of trust and praise at E3 just last week. One has to assume that Microsoft was watching just how quickly they had been turned into the big bad wolf of video game manufacturers.

But there are some downsides to this role reversal, unfortunately. Don?t get me wrong ? as this is what the Internet at large was demanding, in force, this is almost certainly the right move for Microsoft to make, especially in terms of public perception. On the other hand, we?re losing some upsides that we were about to gain with the always-online Xbox One.

For starters, we now have to get off our lazy butts to switch out game discs again. Yes, this is the way things are now, and yes, we can still avoid this if we just download all games digitally anyway ? but I was actually kind of looking forward to this disc-less future Microsoft was telling me about. I like owning physical discs, but it would have been nice to not have to get up to put Halo 5 in the disc drive after finishing a race in Forza.

Also being threatened are the Family Gold features that Microsoft announced, which allowed family members (you could have up to 10 members in your family) to share games, even across systems. This was going to be really nice for, say, my dad, who is always borrowing my games but may not want to wait for me to drive to his house in order to hand them to him. As games are no longer tied to accounts, this is going away. It also means downloaded games cannot be resold or shared, which was something that Microsoft was (vaguely) talking about.

It is unknown whether or not this also affects the much more simplistic ability to share a Gold account for online multiplayer gaming ? at least across a single system. Hopefully this is still something that Microsoft is doing.

There is also the possibility, however slight or however ?deserved,? that we will see a lot more big studios and publishers close down over the next few years. We have to face the fact that used game sales do?have a negative affect on a developer?s income, and it was, after all, the publishers who were pushing for all of these restrictions in the first place. Still, one could certainly argue that the death of more multi-million dollar ?blockbuster? types of games, which always need to sell millions just to break even, could lead way to more smaller, creative types of games. One can hope, anyway.

Even considering the downsides, this is probably a huge win for gamers/consumers. Are you more excited about the Xbox One now that this stuff has changed? Do you already have a system pre-ordered? (I do.)

Source: http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2013/06/microsoft-just-reversed-most-of-its-anti-consumer-policies-for-the-xbox-one-what-are-the-pros-and-cons.html/

Zeek Rewards vanessa bryant vanessa bryant Prince Harry naked Prince Harry Vegas Melky Cabrera Mayim Bialik

Asian shares slide as upcoming Fed meeting jangles nerves

By Chikako Mogi

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares slid on Tuesday as investors waited on tenterhooks for news of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's plans for its stimulus program - with the mere suggestion of fine-tuning it enough to unnerve investors.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> fell 0.7 percent, dragged down by a 0.9 percent decline in Australian shares <.axjo> which faced selling in high-yielding stocks.

The pan-Asian index, which plumbed its lowest since September on Thursday, was weighed down by a 1 percent drop each in its materials <.miapjmt00pus> and energy <.miapjen00pus> sectors.

The Fed's bond-buying program, along with very accommodative monetary policies by other central banks to promote growth, such as the Bank of Japan, has underpinned market sentiment broadly, providing investors abundant funds they could put to work in higher-yielding "risk" assets, such as shares.

"The Federal Reserve has really been driving the top-down investment themes globally with quantitative easing and record low U.S. rates," said Peter Esho, investment adviser at Wilson HTM. "It has implications really into all other asset classes."

Market volatility was likely to remain elevated until the outcome of the Fed meeting and Bernanke's news conference on Wednesday.

"The sensitivity of asset prices to headlines and seemingly inconsistent moves among them - U.S. Treasury yields moving higher but the U.S. dollar coming under pressure...shows the degree of nervousness and confusion among investors regarding the most likely path of the Fed's monetary policy," Barclays Capital said in a research note.

South Korean shares <.ks11> were trading nearly flat as foreign selling capped prices in a market lacking a clear direction. Hong Kong shares <.hsi> slipped 0.9 percent.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average <.n225> deepened losses to fall 0.8 percent after temporarily seeing positive territory. It climbed 2.7 percent on Monday. <.t/>

The dollar rose 0.3 percent against the yen at 94.73, off its 10-week low of 93.75 yen hit on Thursday, but well below last month's 4-1/2-year peak of 103.74 yen. The dollar index <.dxy>, measured against a basket of six key currencies, was down 0.13 percent.

Data published on Monday showed unexpected growth in New York state's manufacturing in June, and home-builder sentiment improved to a seven-year high this month, its biggest gain since 2002.

Uncertainty over the Fed's thinking has weighed on the dollar recently, but its fall against the yen has also been linked to speculators and investors cutting back their yen short positions after the Bank of Japan took no action last week to quell a highly volatile domestic bond market.

The sell-off in the Nikkei, sparking yen buying, erased gains made since the central bank's big-bang stimulus unveiled on April 4, which had helped propel the index up to a 5-1/2-year high last month. Growing views that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may not deliver as aggressive a reform as previously hoped for also led to the unwinding of short-yen and long-Nikkei positions.

"The Fed is likely to stress its commitment to stimulus and signal that any tapering will not mean tightening liquidity," said a senior official at a big Japanese investor.

At a meeting of leaders of the Group of Eight developed countries on Monday, the euro zone came under pressure to press on with a banking union and Japan was urged to follow up on massive central bank stimulus with structural reforms and measures to tackle its budget deficit.

The G8 said in a statement world economic prospects remained weak even though downside risks have lessened due partly to policy action taken in the United States, the euro zone and Japan.

U.S. crude futures inched up 0.1 percent at $97.84 a barrel and Brent also was up 0.1 percent to $105.53.

(Additional reporting by Thuy Ong in Sydney; Editing by Eric Meijer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-capped-upcoming-fed-meeting-jangles-nerves-022050484.html

kristen stewart Shirley Bassey adele Oscars 2013 barcelona vs real madrid renee zellweger catherine zeta jones

Ed Hardy: Jon Gosselin Killed My Brand!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/ed-hardy-jon-gosselin-killed-my-brand/

Chris Webber linda perry WrestleMania 29 Lilly Pulitzer Ben And Jerrys Accidental Racist Lyrics Mad Men

Disick goes 'Psycho' in Kanye West promo video

Celebs

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

5 hours ago

kanyewest.com

Scott Disick in "Yeezus" promo video.

If nothing else, the timing is interesting. Just days after Kanye West welcomed a baby girl into the world with girlfriend Kim Kardashian, Scott Disick has now appeared in a promotional video for West's new album "Yeezus" -- in a parody of "American Psycho."

Disick is the father of Kim's sister Kourtney's two children, and he appears frequently on E!'s "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."

In the video, available at KanyeWest.com (note, video contains off-camera violence and un-bleeped curse words), Disick appears as Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale in the 2000 movie of the same name), wielding an ax, wearing a raincoat and bearing down on Kim's friend Jonathan Cheban (who sits on a white sofa surrounded by pages of Billboard magazine). Disick/Bateman speaks in a weirdly choppy (no pun intended) manner while re-enacting/re-interpreting the Huey Lewis and the News scene from the film.

Disick asks, "Hey, do you like Kanye West? The early work was a little too hip-hop for me and my taste, but when 'Dark Twisted Fantasy' came out in 2010, I think he really came into his own both musically and lyrically.?

While wearing Bateman's protective clear raincoat, Disick calls "Yeezus" "the most exciting record so far." ?There?s the song 'I?m a God,'? he adds, regarding the album, which drops Tuesday. ?The title practically speaks for itself, but of course the insecurities of the mainstream music press will never understand its true meaning because it?s about me.?

And goodbye to Cheban after that.

The video has "Psycho" author Bret Easton Ellis' approval, apparently; he tweeted Monday that he wrote it.

But is it a good idea, or tasteless? Poking fun at ... something? All of those things are possible, and Kanye West is never afraid to push the envelope. Still, even spoofing scene from a film in which a killer appears to get his kicks from brutally murdering women while reveling in his wealth and sophistication puts a strange twist on West's wholesome new daddy shine, particularly when you've just hired a member of the baby's mother's family to do the dirty work.

What do you think? In bad taste or just typical Kanye? Let us know below!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/scott-disick-gets-psycho-new-kanye-west-promo-video-6C10361410

Sam Claflin Tony Farmer West Nile virus symptoms snooki Prince Harry Vegas pictures Avril Lavigne Microsoft

Experts to analyse 'unusual' weather

17 June 2013 Last updated at 20:41 ET By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News

About 20 of the UK's leading scientists and meteorologists are due to meet at the Met Office to discuss Britain's "unusual" weather patterns.

They will try to identify the factors that caused the chilly winter of 2010-11 and the long, wet summer of 2012.

They will also try to work out why this spring was the coldest in 50 years - with a UK average of 6C (42.8F) between March and May.

The Met Office hopes the meeting will identify new priorities for research.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

This meeting isn't looking at climate change, it's looking at climate variability in recent seasons?

End Quote Dan Williams Met Office

Over the past three years, British weather records have been under increasing pressure. The big freeze that gripped the UK in December 2010 saw the lowest temperature for the month in 100 years.

Even the buzz of the London Olympics could not disguise the washout that was last summer, the second wettest for the UK since records began.

Puzzled by these events, scientists from across the UK are meeting at the Met Office in Exeter to try to understand the reasons behind this run of what they term, "unusual seasons".

Much has been made of the jet stream and how changes in these strong winds affect our weather.

But the Met Office said that it was but one factor that the researchers would consider.

"The thing to remember with the jet stream is that, much like our weather, it is a symptom of other drivers rather than a cause," said the Met Office's Dan Williams.

The scientists will examine the reduction in Arctic sea ice and how it might be affecting Europe's weather.

The theory is that the loss of ice in the Arctic means there is a smaller temperature difference between the North Pole and the warmer, mid latitudes. This in turn could weaken the jet stream, which starts to move around more. When these winds move just south of the UK, colder air can come in from the north.

And as peaks and troughs form along the stream, they can act like a trap for wet weather.

"Low pressure systems run along there and drop into a trough and it's very hard to get them back out again, they get stuck like an eddy in a river," explained Dan Williams.

"They hit us and come back and we get rain for long periods of time."

Another factor that the scientists will be considering are changes in long term ocean cycles such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, a system of deep currents that transport heat around the world.

Prof Stephen Belcher from the Met Office Hadley Centre, who will chair the meeting, said these cycles could be having an impact.

"The ocean circulation has been stuck in a rather strange pattern for the past 10 years or so, which in fact has given the unusual weather patterns in many parts of the world," he told BBC News.

Researchers will also look at other factors including solar variability and the effect of the El Nino/La Nina weather patterns.

However a discussion of man made climate change is unlikely to feature.

"This meeting isn't looking at climate change, it's looking at climate variability in recent seasons," said Dan Williams.

"The aim is to understand some of the causes behind that variability. A lot of those potential causes cannot easily be attributed to climate change. The more we can understand about these potential causes, the better advice we can give on near-term climate from a month out to about a year ahead."

The researchers say the meeting could redefine the priorities for weather related research into the future.

Follow Matt on Twitter.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22937375#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

VP debate drew brees drew brees sandusky Sam Champion Hulk Hogan sex tape orioles