The Huffington Post
Super Bowl Commercials: Controversial Ads Over The Years (VIDEOS)
Among the dozens of new commercials that premier during the Super Bowl every year, there are always a few that rub people the wrong way. Some of these polarizing ads generate controversy being crude, political or just painfully unfunny.
There's already a Super Bowl commercial sparking controversy in 2012. The Valentine's Day ad is for Telefora.com features model Adriana Lima. Double entendres abound as the seductive Brazilian model explains to male viewers that if they give then they shall receive... gifts, presumably. Before the 2012 Super Bowl even gets underway, Telefora.com is already facing accusations of sexism over its racy Super Bowl ad.
Remember those Groupon commercials from last year's Super Bowl, one of which featured images of Tibet and narration by actor Timothy Hutton about how "the people of Tibet are in trouble, their very culture in jeopardy." Then, Hutton proclaims that "they still whip up an amazing fish curry." Groupon immediately received an extremely negative backlash for its first TV ad, which was considered by some as the biggest flop of the night.
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Watch The Top 9 YouTube Videos Of The Week
If you're looking to see the most popular YouTube videos of the week, look no further.
Once again, we're bringing you the week's most-watched videos, hot off the charts via YouTube Trends, a feature launched by YouTube that aggregates the site's video stats and draws upon "the wisdom of top curators across the web" to offer visitors a look at real-time trends among the YouTube community.
So what did the web go wild over this week? Master Chief and Leonidas duking it out in a rap battle, New Yorkers looking shocked to see flying people, Kristen Bell melting down over her first encounter with a sloth -- and much, much more.
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Martin Springer Charged With Committing Lewd Acts On 23 Children: Arrest Of Second Teacher Rocks L.A. School
LOS ANGELES -- A bizarre case at an inner-city elementary school where a teacher was charged with taking bondage-style photographs of children has expanded with the arrest of a second teacher suspected of fondling two girls in his classroom.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker said Martin B. Springer, 49, was arrested Friday. The announcement sent further shock waves through the campus already reeling from the arrest of teacher Mark Berndt who's charged with committing lewd acts on 23 children.
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Rachel Maddow Mocks Mitt Romney's 'Very Poor' Backtracking (VIDEO)
Rachel Maddow opened her Friday show by roundly lampooning Mitt Romney's attempt to back away from his statement that he is "not concerned about the very poor."
The GOP presidential frontrunner stepped into a landmine earlier in the week when he said those words to CNN's Soledad O'Brien, arguing that poor people have a "safety net" and that he wants to focus on the middle class.
On Thursday and Friday, Romney told a pair of interviewers that he had misspoken and mangled the point he was trying to make. O'Brien herself seemed skeptical about this line of defense, and Maddow was downright incredulous.
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Cook County Morgue Allegedly Lost Woman's Body For Over A Year, Family Files Suit (VIDEO)
The family of a Chicago woman whose body was found after laying unidentified in a pile of other bodies at the Cook County morgue for over a year, has filed a lawsuit.
Carmelita Johnson, an Englewood resident, went missing in January 2010 and was found three months later in the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office -- but nobody knew it was her, so it remained there, unidentified for some 14 additional months, the family claims.
Leslie Jackson, Johnson's daughter, said Friday during a press conference that the medical examiner's office denied her family closure it desperately needed, NBC Chicago reports.
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Super Bowl 2012: Organic Beers For The Big Game (PHOTOS)
From Kimi Harris and Mother Nature Network:
The real question is not why drink organic beer, but why not? If you care about the environment and the devastating effects of pesticides and other results of conventional farming, then why shouldn't your beer be made in as eco-friendly manner as possible? Since beer isn't exactly in the "health food" category, we don't always think about buying it organic, but there are a lot of good reasons to consider the practice.
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Naperville Teacher Dies, North Central Student Injured In Stabbing At Local Bar
Police had a suspect in custody early Saturday in connection with an overnight stabbing at a Naperville bar that left one man dead and another in serious condition.
Shaun Wild, a North Central College alumnus and first-year teacher at Spring Brook Elementary School in District 204, died after a stabbing in the early morning hours Saturday at Frankie's Blue Room. Police confirm Wild died as a result of the injuries he received.
Willie Hayes, a Lemont native and current student at North Central College, was also injured in the incident and is in serious condition at Edward Hospital, a nurse on duty confirmed.
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Puppy Bowl VIII Referee Explains Rules Of The Game (VIDEO)
Dan Schachner, the official Puppy Bowl referee, sat down to explain the rules of the 8th annual Animal Planet Puppy Bowl. According to him, "the rules are a little looser than your regular NFL game."
Schachner's role as ref involves calling penalties, one of his favorites being "fouling of the field" or "premature watering of the lawn."
Beyond puppies, Puppy Bowl VII is also expected to feature 20 kittens, five pigs, one bird and "a few hamsters."
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Super Bowl 2012: TV World Longs For Ratings Power Of NFL
NEW YORK -- The biggest of stars is off to a slow start this season.
"American Idol," that reliable ratings juggernaut, had a drop in viewership of more than 15 percent for its first two episodes back, underscoring how rough it is to attract and keep a devoted following when there are so many entertainment options.
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Celebrity Super Bowl Commercials; Best Spots Over The Years (VIDEO)
Every year, millions of people tune in to watch the most anticipated football game of the season: the Super Bowl.
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Imka Pope, Woman Who Gave Birth In Jail, Wins $975K
SEATTLE -- A woman has won $975,000 in a federal jury trial, 14 years after giving birth in a jail cell in Washington state.
A jury agreed Friday on nine of 10 counts in Imka Pope's civil rights case against King County. Pope says jail nurses and corrections officers violated her civil rights in 1997 by dismissing her claims that she was pregnant.
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'The Rosie Show' Lays Off Staff, Moves To Smaller Studio (VIDEO)
As its ratings remain disappointingly low, the Oprah Winfrey Network's "The Rosie Show" has laid off some 30 employees and contract workers as it attempts to "evolve" and attract a larger audience.
Crain's Chicago Business reports that new Chicagoan and comedienne Rosie O'Donnell has, as of Jan. 16, shifted her taping into a new, more intimate and colorful set before an audience of about 70, compared to the several hundred capacity of the former studio of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" at Harpo Studios, where the show was previously taped.
Further, the show has eliminated its game show segment and begun taping more one-on-one conversations between O'Donnell and her guests, according to Crain's.
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Late Night Stand-Up Rewind: The Week In Late Night Comedy (VIDEOS)
Every week, late night TV shows feature sets by some of the best stand-up comics in the country.
To ensure that you don't miss another performance by one of your favorite comedians -- or a chance to learn about someone new -- we'll be gathering all the clips of the week right here for HuffPost Comedy's "Late Night Stand-Up Rewind."
This week we feature Jake Johanssen celebrating 30 years of comedy, Jon Fisch in his network debut, Canadian comedian Mark Forward on Ferguson and a very dapper Tim & Eric on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
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Woodland Caribou In Idaho And Washington Struggle To Survive
COOLIN, Idaho -- Woodland caribou, rarely-seen creatures that with their antlers stand as tall as a man, are struggling to survive in the United States, precariously occupying one remote area of the Northwest as a final toehold in the Lower 48.
The federal government has proposed designating about 600 square miles in Idaho and Washington – roughly half the size of Rhode Island – as critical habitat in an effort to save this last U.S. herd of fewer than 50 animals.
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Ohio Exotic Pets Ban Would Prohibit Purchase Of Some Animals
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Proposed legislation in Ohio would ban the purchase of lions, bears and other exotic animals, but current owners of the dangerous wildlife would be allowed to keep them as pets if they meet strict new requirements.
State Sen. Troy Balderson sent a letter Friday afternoon to state lawmakers, asking them to sign on to the proposal. He plans to introduce the bill Tuesday, and hearings are planned next week.
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Rosie O'Donnell Dishes On Inspirational Documentary 'I Am' (VIDEO)
"I Am" tells acclaimed Director Tom Shadyac's story: a multimillionaire Hollywood movie director who thought he had it all until a life-threatening accident made him realize he might have it all ... wrong. Watch as Tom asks some of today's significant thinkers: What's wrong with the world, and what can we do about it? Forget what you know and wake up to the miracle of who we really are.
For more programming to nourish your mind, body and spirit tune in to OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network's "Super Soul Sunday," airing Sundays at 11 a.m. ET/PT: please visit www.oprah.com/supersoulsunday.
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Quick, Healthy Recipes: 52 Meals In 12 Minutes Or Less
Being hungry sucks (it’s a scientific fact). So why spend hours cooking a gourmet feast when a nutritious and delicious meal could be only 12 minutes away? Skip the grumbling tummy and cranky guests and serve up any one of these 52 satisfying meals.
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Brazil Murders Spike During Police Strike
SAO PAULO — The murder rate in Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia has soared during a state police strike that has entered its fourth day.
The state's Public Safety Department says on its website that 51 people have been murdered in and near the capital city of Salvador since the strike began on Wednesday. The government news service Agencia Brasil says that's a 117 percent increase over the same period last year.
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Superbowl 2012: When The Players Were In College
Think you know who is going to win the Superbowl? Who is a better QB, Tom Brady or Eli Manning? What better way to compare your guesses than watching short films of what these players were like in college. You will really be able to calculate handicaps accurately then.
Check out our slide show of what the stars of New York and New England teams were like in college. Then tell us, who do you think will win on Sunday. Weigh in below!
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Nevada Caucus 2012: Live Updates From The Silver State
Four presidential candidates are looking to score a win in Nevada's 2012 Republican caucus on Saturday.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is favored to win the contest; however, polling has been scarce in the Silver State leading up to the competition.
Romney finished first in Florida's primary election by a wide double-digit margin last Tuesday. The outcome came as a blow to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has signaled he has no intention of dropping out of the race and plans to take his campaign to the convention.
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