Sen. Menendez says he looks forward to vindication

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Sen. Robert Menendez, who has maintained all along that he never paid prostitutes for sex, said he is looking forward to whatever evidence emerges from courts in the Dominican Republic to vindicate him.

A Dominican lawyer on Monday released an affidavit from a 23-year-old woman saying she fabricated a story about Menendez paying her for sex.

"I've always said that these are false, they're smears," Menendez, D-N.J., told reporters at the Capitol, referring to published reports that he paid prostitutes for sex in the Dominican Republic. "And, so, I look forward to seeing whatever the Dominican courts have that prove what I've said all along."

Vincio Castillo Seman, a Dominican lawyer, told reporters at a news conference Monday in the Dominican Republic that a woman identified as Nexis de los Santos now claims both that she "never went to bed with" Menendez and never actually met him.

Castillo, the son of a Dominican presidential adviser and the brother of a member of the country's Congress, has been entwined in the scandal himself, accused of hosting outings on his yacht in which Menendez used the services of prostitutes.

Like Menendez, he has strongly denied the allegations. Castillo said he would seek a criminal probe into the source of the reports. On Monday, Castillo distributed copies of the woman's sworn statement to reporters. The woman did not attend.

Castillo said de los Santos claims she and a friend were approached by another Dominican lawyer, Melanio Figueroa. The two women recited the accusations on a video that was recorded without their consent, he said.

In an interview with The Miami Herald, Figueroa denied orchestrating the accusations against Menendez. "It was a case that I handled for these women and faithfully represented them for what they said," he said.

Just before Menendez's successful re-election in November, The Daily Caller, a conservative website, published a story that included a video interview with two women who claimed to be prostitutes. The women ? whose faces were blurred in the video ? said Menendez paid them $100 for sex after agreeing to a fee of $500.

On its website early Tuesday, The Daily Caller said neither of the women in the video identified herself as Nexis de los Santos. The website also said both women consented to the presence of a video webcam.

In the video released last year, the two women also claimed they had sex with Castillo and Dr. Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor of Dominican descent who is a prominent Democratic campaign contributor and a major supporter of Menendez. De los Santos claims those allegations are also fabricated.

Melgen said in a statement that he is pleased Dominican authorities are investigating the prostitution claims, which he says are false.

Menendez's ties to Melgen have come under close scrutiny after an FBI raid last month at the doctor's West Palm Beach, Fla., offices. Menendez has acknowledged flying on Melgen's private jet to the Dominican Republic twice and was compelled to reimburse $58,000 for the two flights that he had previously failed to report.

A watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has said it had received emails starting in April 2012 alleging that Menendez used the services of prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. The emails came from someone identified as "Peter Williams," though that may be a pseudonym.

___

Associated Press writers Ezequiel Abiu Lopez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sen-menendez-says-looks-forward-vindication-121717237--politics.html

Holly Rowe

Livestrong Made A New Logo - Business Insider

In an attempt to further separate itself from its infamous founder Lance Armstrong, Livestrong unveiled a subtle new logo that will hopefully rally consumers away from the doping scandal.

The old logo looked like this:

But it often came with the subtitle, "The Lance Armstrong Foundation."

But last week, EVP of operations Andy Miller revealed the new logo that emphasizes that Livestrong is a cancer fighting foundation rather than an extension of the disgraced cyclist.

Miller noted, "The change is subtle, but it is substantive. The positioning of the bars suggests forward and dynamic movement."

Armstrong officially cut all ties with his cancer-fighting organization in November to try to diminish the blow to the charity from his drugs scandal.

Livestrong itself has also tried to separate its association with Armstrong to avoid fallout, issuing a statement in January (following the famous Oprah interview) that it was "disappointed" in Armstrong but still "grateful" for his charitable?work.

Do you think that the new logo helps create a new image for the brand, or is it too subtle?

Now Watch: McKayla Maroney Teaches Us Her Famous 'Not Impressed' Impression

?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/livestrong-made-a-new-logo-2013-3

university of kansas

Rodney McGruder Buzzer Beater Lifts Kansas State Past Baylor, 64-61 (VIDEO)

WACO, Texas -- Rodney McGruder was surprised that Kansas State was even getting the chance at another shot in regulation.

It was quick, and it worked.

McGruder made a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 64-61 victory Saturday night that kept the 13th-ranked Wildcats in a tie for the Big 12 lead.

They unexpectedly got the ball back with a second remaining following Baylor's failed desperation inbound pass.

"I was thinking of something different. But that goes for being fortunate," McGruder said of a game that seemed headed for overtime. "It worked out in our favor. That's all I can say."

Kansas State (24-5, 13-3 Big 12) had already missed one potential tiebreaking shot when Shane Southwell missed badly on a shot that went out of bounds with 1 second left.

Instead of settling for overtime, the Bears (17-12, 8-8) brought seldom-used Jacob Neubert off the bench to try a length-of-the-court inbound pass.

But Neubert's baseball-style pass went out of bounds without being touched. So the Wildcats got the ball under their own basket without any time running off the clock.

The Wildcats called timeout and set up the play. Angel Rodriguez inbounded the ball to McGruder, who worked around defenders to get open on the right wing a couple of feet beyond the 3-point line. He swished the shot.

"We didn't do a very good job on the possession before that. We really didn't get a good look," Wildcats coach Bruce Weber. "(Southwell) was probably our last option on that one and I probably should have called timeout. ... We didn't have a quick hitter on shot clocks and we just call in `quick.' The kids said, `Let's run it.' We've run it once this year. Rodney read it perfectly. Great pass by Angel."

McGruder finished with 18 points for the Wildcats, who won their fifth straight game and ninth in 10 to maintain a share of the Big 12 lead with sixth-ranked Kansas with two regular season games left. The Jayhawks got their 13th league victory earlier Saturday, 91-65 over West Virginia.

Pierre Jackson had 18 points and seven assists for Baylor, which has lost seven of its past 10 games.

"I don't remember losing on a buzzer-beater ? ever. So I don't know how to react to it," Jackson said.

Cory Jefferson had 14 points while Isaiah Austin, the Bears' 7-foot-1 freshman standout, had 11 points and 12 rebounds for his 10th double-double this season.

"It was a great game and a terrible ending for the Baylor Bears," coach Scott Drew said. "With one second, it's hard not to try to win the game. Jacob has done a great job of making that pass. Isaiah has come down with it, Cory has come down with it, Quincy Acy has come down with it. So it would be tough not to try it from underneath out of bounds. ... The plan was for (Isaiah) to catch it and lay it in, and we storm the court."

The celebration instead belonged to the Wildcats, who mobbed McGruder at midcourt.

The Bears have a quick turnaround, with a game Monday night at Texas. They close the regular season at home next Saturday against Kansas.

Baylor had its first lead in the second half when Jefferson got a bounce pass from Brady Heslip and made a layup while being fouled by Southwell with 3:58 left. After the media timeout that immediately followed, Jefferson made the free throw to put the Bears up 56-54.

Southwell then had a shot blocked by Austin, but the ball went out of bounds, and Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer to put the Wildcats back ahead. Jackson missed a layup that was grabbed by Jordan Henriquez, who had a dunk at the other end with 2:48 left for a 59-56 lead.

Rodriguez had a bad pass that Jackson came up with, before driving, being fouled and making the second free throw. Jackson had another chance after a miss by Rodriguez, driving all the way and being fouled McGruder. Those two free throws tied the game at 59 with 1:23 left.

McGruder made a jumper with 1:03 left, but Jackson was fouled again by McGruder on a drive and again made both free throws with 35 seconds left.

Kansas State brought the ball up the court and made a few passes before Weber called timeout with 7.7 seconds left. But Southwell missed.

The Wildcats have regular-season games left at home against TCU and at Oklahoma State. They are 9-0 against teams from Texas, including a 20-point win at home over Baylor two weeks earlier.

Down 34-33 at the half, Kansas State opened the second half with a quick 7-0 spurt. Southwell had a jumper and McGruder made a floater before a three-point play when he made a dunk while being fouled and added the free throw. The Wildcats then led until Jefferson's three-point play.

Baylor wore its special neon yellow uniforms unveiled earlier this week by Adidas, including camouflage-patterned shorts in the same bright color. The Bears were one of six teams to get special uniforms for anticipated tournament appearances.

On top of that Saturday, Baylor gave out 10,000 T-shirts to the fans in the highlighter color, brightening up the Ferrell Center.

Until the gloomy finish.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/03/rodney-mcgruder-buzzer-beater-kansas-state-baylor_n_2799976.html

reggie wayne