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Clint Bench was born with with a congenital deformity that prevented his arms from fully forming. That didn't stop him from going to college, getting married, having children or from riding roller coasters at Six Flags Over Texas. He's done pretty much all of them: Batman, the Texas Giant, the Flashback, you name it. His limbs had never been an issue. Not much is, actually: He can do pullups, fire a gun and go mountain biking, for Christ's sake. Then, last May, he got on the Aquaman Splashdown ride, a Six Flags standby in which a boat plummets down a two-story decline before sending up a wall of water that soaks riders and the onlookers on the bridge below. It used to be called something generic before it was renamed for a second-tier DC Comics character. There's nothing particularly dangerous about Aquaman compared with the amusement park's other attractions, certainly nothing Bench couldn't handle, but nevertheless, a Six Flag employee asked Bench to get off the ride. "She told him that he could not ride Aquaman because he does not have hands," according to a lawsuit filed Bench filed yesterday. "This caused Mr. Bench considerable embarrassment, as his children had never seen anybody discriminate against him due to his lack of natural hands." When he complained to management, he was told that Six Flags policy dictates that riders "must have at least one fully formed arm all the way down to the fingers." But that wasn't exactly true, at least not until four months later, when Six Flags published an updated riders' guide explicitly stating that riders "must have one full arm" to ride Aquaman. The old policy said only that a rider has to be able to grasp, which Bench can do just fine. Bench claims discrimination under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Six Flags doesn't, after all, kick people off rides who, "for extra thrill or in a silly display of bravado," keep their hands in the air. Bench is asking for unspecified damages for suffering and mental anguish. And he still wants to ride Aquaman, goddammit. ||||| One Texas man is accusing Six Flags of barring him from a ride because he doesn't have hands. Clint Bench who was born without hands due to a congenital deformity, has led an active lifestyle, not letting his lack of hands stop him from mountain biking, getting a college education and doing one of his favorite activities: thrill-seeking at amusement parks, according to the Dallas News. That is until one May 2012 trip to a Six Flags in Arlington, Texas, where an employee refused to allow him to ride an attraction called the Aquaman Splashdown he’d been on several times before. Bench was apparently in violation of a new policy that said he "must have at least one fully formed arm all the way down to the fingers," The Dallas Observer reports. "This caused Mr. Bench considerable embarrassment, as his children had never seen anybody discriminate against him due to his lack of natural hands,” according to Bench’s lawsuit, which rather than money, seeks only to ensure “that this doesn’t happen again,” he told CBS Dallas. Six Flags declined to comment to CBS Dallas because the lawsuit is ongoing. The move seems somewhat of an about-face for Six Flags, which has historically been accommodating to those with disabilities. Disabled guests of the park were often allowed to cut lines and then given the opportunity to make reservations until 2007, when the park determined people were faking injuries to take advantage of the policy, Theme Park Insider notes. Sadly, this isn’t the only Six Flags lawsuit concerning those without four full limbs. In 2008, Six Flags made a confidential settlement with Kaitlyn Lassiter, a then 13-year-old guest whose feet were severed while riding the Superman Tower of Power, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. Also on HuffPost: Disabled Man Clint Bench Sues Six Flags Disabled Man Clint Bench Sues Six Flags 1 of 4 Disabled Man Clint Bench Sues Six Flags Share this slide: McCathern, PLLC

– A Texas amusement park enthusiast who was born without hands is suing Six Flags for refusing to let him onto a ride. Clint Bench alleges that last May a Six Flags Over Texas employee wouldn't let him on the Aquaman Splashdown (a variation on the classic log flume). When he complained, management told him Six Flags policy required riders to "have at least one fully formed arm all the way down to the fingers" to ride, according to the Dallas Observer. Bench was chagrined, given that he'd ridden the ride before. According to the Observer, Six Flags didn't have any such published policy at the time; it showed up in an updated riders' guide four months later. The old policy only required a rider to be able to grasp, which Bench is capable of—he can even do pull-ups, shoot a gun, and ride a mountain bike. He's asking for unspecified damages, saying he was discriminated against under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

In the realm of fantasy video games, one epic monster stalks players both online and in the real world — the stereotype that men make better players than women. A new study led by a researcher at the University of California, Davis, slays that troll. Cuihua “Cindy” Shen, an assistant professor of communication, and colleagues tracked thousands of players in two multiplayer online role-playing games and compared how quickly men and women moved from one level to the next. Accounting for differences in playing time, character choice and membership in a players’ guild, they found that women advanced at least as fast as men. “Once you take into account all these confounding factors, the gender differences disappear,” Shen said. “There is no gender difference.” Shen has been analyzing massively multiplayer online game data since 2007, studying the connections between playing and a wide range of real-world behaviors. Many gamers women, but stereotypes persist GamerGate, the cyber harassment of female gamers and game designers that erupted in 2014, in part led her to look into sexual stereotypes, she said. “Even though more and more women have become gamers, and more are involved in designing games, gaming communities as a whole are still very hostile toward women,” Shen said. “The prevalent stereotype is that women are not as good of players as men.” To test that stereotype, Shen and colleagues at Michigan State University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, analyzed data from more than 9,000 EverQuest II players and 2,000 players of a Chinese game, Chevaliers’ Romance III. To identify players’ gender, the researchers used the information that players reported when they registered, not the sex of the avatars they chose. The study, reported in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, is the first to look at how male and female players’ progress over time in multiplayer games online. Previous research has compared men’s and women’s performances in short, simple games like a car race in lab settings, but Shen said those studies did not account for differences in playing experience or gender preferences for type of games. The research is also the first to use data from two games and two national cultures. Shen said the findings hold real-world implications. “Why should we care about this? First of all, games have become a very important realm of our culture. Second, it has become an important entry point for people into STEM-related careers. For young girls, it has become a place for them to become familiar with the tech world.” Females make up about 20 percent of players on multiplayer online games, she said. They are represented in even fewer numbers in the technical workforce. “We think the stereotype that women are worse players at games could contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy,” that discourages their entry into science, technology, engineering and math fields, Shen said. By debunking the gaming gender gap, she said, “We might be able to break the stereotype and the self-fulfilling prophecy cycle.” ||||| Although women now make up almost half of all video game players, the gaming community remains, in some ways, hostile toward women. For example, the GamerGate controversy, which began in 2014 and involved a harassment campaign against prominent female gamers, journalists and designers, reflected a longstanding undercurrent of misogyny and sexism in the community. In some cases, those who challenged the sexism found themselves threatened with rape or death. There’s also the long-held stereotype that men are simply better gamers than women. Women gamers are often perceived as incompetent players who aren’t genuinely interested in the games but rather sign up to get attention. If a female gamer does play well, she’s often derided as a hacker – someone who cheats to gain an advantage – because “there is no way a girl can be that good.” In a recent study, we set out to examine whether men really make better gamers than women and, if so, what drove the gender performance gap. Specifically, we wanted to compare how quickly men and women leveled up in Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games, which are online worlds where thousands of players develop characters, make friends, join groups, complete quests and slay dragons together. If men are actually better gamers than women, they should advance to higher levels within the same amount of play time. But if they don’t progress any faster, this finding would help refute one of the most pervasive stereotypes that continues to exist in the gaming community. Getting to the next level Our research used anonymous server data from over 10,000 men and women in two MMOs, “EverQuest II” in the United States and “Chevaliers’ Romance III” in China. We knew each player’s actual gender through their account registration information. When players finish quests and kill monsters in MMOs, they earn experience points. When experience points reach a threshold, the player ascends to the next “level,” which unlocks new abilities, skills and access to new content. As in most video games, levels indicate a player’s progress. Naturally, players spending a lot of time in the game are likely to reach high levels. That is why the speed of leveling up, rather than the level itself, measures performance in our study. Before getting to our findings, we want to point out a couple of things we took into consideration. First, players who had reached the top level in the games were excluded in our analyses. Because top-level players couldn’t advance any further, their rate of leveling up was essentially zero. We removed these players to avoid confounding our analyses, but this also meant that we were not able to measure gender differences between the most advanced players. Second, our analysis recognized that the rate of leveling up slows down as players progress. For example, it would take a lot more time and effort for a level 60 player to level up than a level 30 player. Therefore, our analysis compared apples to apples by evaluating players’ performance only against others who were at the same level. Contrary to the stereotype, we found that player gender itself does not cause performance differences. Instead, the perception of women as poor gamers is fueled by other factors. For example, we found that women spent less time playing overall than men and chose more assistive character classes, such as Priests, who fare better healing group members than fighting on their own. When we took such factors into account by statistically controlling them in the analyses, the gender performance gap disappeared; women advanced at least as fast as men did in both games. We also realized that different players are interested in different aspects of MMOs, and a few of those differences may correlate with gender. There’s some empirical evidence that men tend to focus more on achievement in video games – leveling up rapidly, gaining in-game status and competing against others – while women are drawn to social interactions, whether it’s helping other players or forming long-term relationships. This suggests that men should advance faster than women. However, we found the opposite: Women advanced at least as fast as men did. So taking into account different play motivations (which we were unable to do in this study’s analysis) likely only strengthens our conclusions. Beyond video games The stereotype that women are inferior gamers is not only false, but could also make women more easily discouraged and less likely to play in the first place. Of course, this gender performance stereotype exists in a number of other contexts. In the software development community GitHub, for example, women are perceived as worse coders than men. Our research has notable implications for this important social issue. Studies have shown that video games can be an important gateway to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. If stereotypes about girls and women are preventing them from playing, then it could potentially contribute to preexisting gender inequality and stereotyping in these fields. One approach to dealing with this issue is to promote stereotype-free gaming experiences for women and girls through female-supportive gaming communities, such as the PMS Clan, one of the oldest and most renowned female-oriented gaming communities in the world. Scholars such as Gabriela Richard at Pennsylvania State University have found that members of these communities are more confident and perceive themselves as better gamers. Game designers can also help. They have the ability to construct the games to make them less hostile and more welcoming to female players. For example, Riot Games established the Tribunal, a system that allows the player community to review reported bad behaviors from fellow players, and then vote on whether to punish the offender. Banned players also get a “reform card” with the details of the offense, as well as judgments from the Tribunal. So far, the Tribunal has significantly reduced online harassment. While programs like Tribunal are a starting point in the larger battle to end gender stereotypes, our findings will hopefully allow female gamers to realize that, when it comes to inherent skill, they’re on a level playing field. ||||| ADVERTISEMENT If Gamergate taught us one thing, it's that lurking behind gaming culture is a contingent of sexist players eager to find any excuse to harass women in the gaming industry. Unfortunately, sexist male gamers still claim that women cannot game as hard as they can, a fact that prompted one team of scientists to conduct perhaps the most thorough Gamergate smackdown in history by analyzing multiplayer online role-playing games. The study took such confounding factors as playing time, character choice, and guild membership into consideration, and examined how quickly male and female players leveled up. Nonetheless, "Once you take into account all these confounding factors, the gender differences disappear," said coauthor Cuihua Shen of the University of California Davis, in a press statement. "There is no gender difference." Women now constitute nearly half of the gamer population in the United States, and more women are involved in designing video games than ever before. Sure, they play differently than male gamers — prior studies have shown that women prefer casual rather than highly competitive genres such as first person shooters — but there's no reason to believe, as Gamergate sexists do, that they're ruining gaming. And yet, "gaming communities as a whole are still very hostile toward women," Shen says. "The prevalent stereotype is that women are not as good… as men." Scientists would love to disprove the ridiculous notion that men can sit on a couch and contort their fingers while screaming at a television screen better than women. But showing that women are just as good at gaming as men has proven difficult. Besides for one 2009 study, few researchers have managed to leverage meaningful data to answer this question — and, until now, nobody could figure out how to test whether women perform as well as men in real video games played outside of a laboratory. So Shen and her team asked two popular massively multiplayer online games — "EverQuest II" in North America and "Chevaliers' Romance III" in China — to send over their data. First of all, they confirmed prior findings that men and women don't have the same goals in playing video games. Studies have shown that men enjoy competitive games while women prefer cooperative ones; that women are reluctant to self-identify as "gamers," while men appear to embrace the title; women are more likely to choose supportive character classes, such as Priests and Healers while men gravitate toward the Barbarians. But the ultimate measure of a gamer isn't what class or guild he or she identifies with — it's his or her level in the game. After analyzing data from more than 9,000 "EverQuest II" players and 2,000 "Chevaliers' Romance III" players, the researchers found that players who registered as female reach lower levels, on average, than their male counterparts — but also played less often. When all factors, including guild membership and the amount of time playing the game were taken into account, women performed quite well. From the study: "Taken together, these models show that women … advanced in the game at least as fast as men, and — in some cases — exceeded them…Perceived gender-based performance disparities seem to result from factors that are confounded with gender (i.e., amount of play), not player gender itself. The stereotype of female players as inferior is not only false, but it is also a potential cause for unequal participation in digital gaming." Perhaps, then, it's time for us to stop telling little girls that they're terrible at video games. First of all, the science suggests it's not true. But more importantly, women who feel alienated from video game culture stand to lose out in the long term, because video games and their tech-savvy, nerdiness have become, "an important entry point for people into STEM-related careers," Shen says. Indeed, studies have shown that gamers are more likely to enter and succeed in science and technology-related fields than people who do not play video games. However trivial it may seem, getting more women into video games — and debunking the stereotype that they're inherently bad at "EverQuest" — could help fix the troubling minority of women in science and technology careers. "We think the stereotype that women are worse players at games could contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy, that discourages their entry into science, technology, engineering and math fields," Shen says. "We might be able to break the stereotype and the self-fulfilling prophecy cycle." This article originally appeared at Vocativ.com: Study: Female gamers are just as good as gamer bros

– The hostility toward women gamers that was laid bare in 2014 during the GamerGate controversy extends to the stereotype that female gamers are inferior to their male counterparts. So researchers at the University of California, Davis, decided to track thousands of players in two multiplayer online role-playing games and compare just how quickly the players advanced to higher levels. And as Cuihua “Cindy” Shen, an assistant professor of communication, reports in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, when controlling for factors such as time devoted to playing, character choice, and membership in a player's guild, "The gender differences disappear." In fact, she goes on to write for the Conversation, "Women advanced at least as fast as men did." Shen says the findings confirm certain differences in style of play, such as that men tend to focus on competing and gaining in-game status while women tend to play more socially and help others. But in terms of the bottom line: advancing to a higher level, the difference was nil among the 11,000 gamers they analyzed playing Everquest II and Chevalier's Romance III. Aside from one study in 2009, Vocativ reports that this is the first to figure out how to go about testing gender differences in gaming performance outside of a lab. Why does it matter? Nearly half the gaming population is now female, yet they are represented at even lower numbers in STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. "The stereotype that women are worse players at games could contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy," Shen says. (Guys who are hostile to girl gamers tend to be poor performers.)

Transcript for Melania Trump weighs in on the #MeToo movement We move to ABC's interview with the first lady, chief national affairs correspondent Tom llamas traveled with Melania trump on her first solo trip to Africa and she addressed several sensitive topics including the me too movement. Tom is here. Good morning. We sat do you know with the first lady in Kenya but we were with her every step of the way during her tour through four African countries seeing firsthand how this first lady is trying to make her mark. On the road from Cairo to Giza we see them and guarding every stretch of highway. We're in an armored van traveling in the first lady's motorcade. Mrs. Trump's first solo trip abroad means ovary step will be guarded. In Egypt, the first lady touring some of history's greatest landmarks. At times appearing to make these monuments part of her own personal runway. In many ways like the great sphinx she visited Melania trump also remains a mystery but now for the first time opening up about her life and her time in the white house during our exclusive sit-down interview and revealing some of the obstacles she's faced. What's the most surprising thing about being first lady for you? It's sad to see that organizations and foundations I want to partner with choose not to because of the administration and I feel they are choosing the politics over helping others. Can you give me any examples? I would not talk about it. They know who they are. I don't want to put them out in front of the world but they know who they are. Reporter: In our interview we also asked the first lady about some of the major events that have shaped and rocked her husband's white house. And the country, including the me too movement. Think of your son, think of your husband. I've had many false accusations. Reporter: Just last week her husband sharing that as the FBI investigated judge Brett Kavanaugh over an accusation of high school sexual assault. What is your take about the me too movement, though? Do you believe in them? Do you support the me too movement? I support the women and they need to be heard. We need to support them and also men, not just women. Do you think men in the news that have been accused of sexual assault have been treated unfairly. We need to have hard evidence that, you know, that if you are accused of something, show the evidence. Some women might hear that and say how can you say that. You need to stand with women. I do stand with women but we need to show the evidence. You cannot just say to somebody, I was, you know, sexually assaulted and or you did that to me or -- because sometimes the media goes too far and the way they portray some stories, it's not correct. It's not right. We spoke much more about the me too movement along with other current issues. No question was off the table and tomorrow right here on "Gma" why she personally wanted to take on cyberbullying. It's likely not what you think. Her revelation shocked us. Can't wait for that. "Being Melania: The first lady" airs Friday at 10:00 P.M. Right here on ABC. This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate. ||||| ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid Email cannot be used. Try another or register with your social account Melania Trump is set to bare all in a rare interview covering topics from her husband's alleged infidelity to her past fashion faux pas. The First Lady of the USA will face questions on what it is like to be married to Donald Trump and how she has coped through allegations of infidelity. She will also face down the criticism over a slogan 'I don't care' jacket she wore on a trip to visit migrant children at the Texas-Mexico border. ABC's chief national affairs correspondent and "World News Tonight" anchor Tom Llamas sat down with Mrs Trump during her African tour as she promoted her "Be Best" initiative in Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt. Melania Trump in Kenya - In pictures 28 show all Melania Trump in Kenya - In pictures 1/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump holds a child during her visit to The Nest Children's Home near Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 2/28 First lady Melania Trump holds a baby as she visits the Nest Orphanage in Limuru, Kenya AP 3/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump lifts a child during her visit to The Nest Children's Home near Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 4/28 Children rehearse ahead of U.S. first lady Melania Trump arrival to watch a play at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 5/28 First lady Melania Trump is handed a baby as she visits the Nest Orphanage in Limuru, Kenya AP 6/28 First Lady of Kenya Margaret Kenyatta (R) and US First Lady Melania Trump stand alongside prior to their meeting at the State House in Nairob AFP/Getty Images 7/28 US First Lady Melania Trump (L) and the First Lady of Kenya Margaret Kenyatta greet children as they arrive to attend a performance at the Kenyan National Theater in Nairobi AFP/Getty Images 8/28 First lady Melania Trump visits the Nest Orphanage in Limuru, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Melania Trump has fed baby elephants as she visits a national park in Kenya to highlight conservation efforts. The U.S. first lady also went on a quick safari. Mrs. Trump is on her first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady AP 9/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 10/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 11/28 US First Lady Melania Trump feeds a baby elephant at The David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi on October 5, 2018, as she pays a one day visit to the country during her solo tour of Africa promoting her children's welfare programme. AFP/Getty Images 12/28 AFP/Getty Images 13/28 US First Lady Melania Trump (L) holds a baby as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 14/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 15/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest childrens home orphanage, which primarily cares for children who's parents have been incarcerated, in Nairob AFP/Getty Images 16/28 US First Lady Melania Trump uses a smartphone as she travels in a vehicle while on a safari at The Nairobi National Park in Nairob AFP/Getty Images 17/28 United States First Lady Melania Trump (C, top) drops a bottle of milk as she feeds a baby elephant at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya EPA 18/28 A Secret Service agent (L) steps forward to protect US first lady Melania Trump as she steps backwards after being nudged by a baby elephant she petted, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya AFP/Getty Images 19/28 A Secret Service agent, left, holds U.S. first lady Melania Trump to protect her as she steps backwards after being nudged by a baby elephant she petted, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya AP 20/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump, accompanied by CEO Angela Sheldrick, looks at the ear of a baby elephant, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 21/28 AFP/Getty Images 22/28 AFP/Getty Images 23/28 US First Lady Melania Trump travels in a vehicle while on a safari at The Nairobi National Park in Nairobi AFP/Getty Images 24/28 US first lady Melania Trump laughs after she was nudged by a baby elephant she petted, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya AFP/Getty Images 25/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump pats a baby elephant, accompanied by CEO Angela Sheldrick (C), and Kenya's first lady Margaret Kenyatta (R), at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 26/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump shoes are seen as she stands next to Angela Sheldrick, Executive Director of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust during her visit to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 27/28 Elephant keepers prepare to receive U.S. first lady Melania Trump during her visit to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 28/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump feeds a baby elephant milk with a bottle, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 1/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump holds a child during her visit to The Nest Children's Home near Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 2/28 First lady Melania Trump holds a baby as she visits the Nest Orphanage in Limuru, Kenya AP 3/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump lifts a child during her visit to The Nest Children's Home near Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 4/28 Children rehearse ahead of U.S. first lady Melania Trump arrival to watch a play at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 5/28 First lady Melania Trump is handed a baby as she visits the Nest Orphanage in Limuru, Kenya AP 6/28 First Lady of Kenya Margaret Kenyatta (R) and US First Lady Melania Trump stand alongside prior to their meeting at the State House in Nairob AFP/Getty Images 7/28 US First Lady Melania Trump (L) and the First Lady of Kenya Margaret Kenyatta greet children as they arrive to attend a performance at the Kenyan National Theater in Nairobi AFP/Getty Images 8/28 First lady Melania Trump visits the Nest Orphanage in Limuru, Kenya, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Melania Trump has fed baby elephants as she visits a national park in Kenya to highlight conservation efforts. The U.S. first lady also went on a quick safari. Mrs. Trump is on her first-ever visit to Africa and her first extended solo international trip as first lady AP 9/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 10/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 11/28 US First Lady Melania Trump feeds a baby elephant at The David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi on October 5, 2018, as she pays a one day visit to the country during her solo tour of Africa promoting her children's welfare programme. AFP/Getty Images 12/28 AFP/Getty Images 13/28 US First Lady Melania Trump (L) holds a baby as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 14/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest Childrens Home Orphanage in Nairobi, on October 5, 2018, which primarily cares for children whose parents have been incarcerated. AFP/Getty Images 15/28 US First Lady Melania Trump walks and sings with children as she visits the Nest childrens home orphanage, which primarily cares for children who's parents have been incarcerated, in Nairob AFP/Getty Images 16/28 US First Lady Melania Trump uses a smartphone as she travels in a vehicle while on a safari at The Nairobi National Park in Nairob AFP/Getty Images 17/28 United States First Lady Melania Trump (C, top) drops a bottle of milk as she feeds a baby elephant at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya EPA 18/28 A Secret Service agent (L) steps forward to protect US first lady Melania Trump as she steps backwards after being nudged by a baby elephant she petted, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya AFP/Getty Images 19/28 A Secret Service agent, left, holds U.S. first lady Melania Trump to protect her as she steps backwards after being nudged by a baby elephant she petted, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya AP 20/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump, accompanied by CEO Angela Sheldrick, looks at the ear of a baby elephant, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 21/28 AFP/Getty Images 22/28 AFP/Getty Images 23/28 US First Lady Melania Trump travels in a vehicle while on a safari at The Nairobi National Park in Nairobi AFP/Getty Images 24/28 US first lady Melania Trump laughs after she was nudged by a baby elephant she petted, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya AFP/Getty Images 25/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump pats a baby elephant, accompanied by CEO Angela Sheldrick (C), and Kenya's first lady Margaret Kenyatta (R), at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 26/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump shoes are seen as she stands next to Angela Sheldrick, Executive Director of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust during her visit to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 27/28 Elephant keepers prepare to receive U.S. first lady Melania Trump during her visit to the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters 28/28 U.S. first lady Melania Trump feeds a baby elephant milk with a bottle, at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Hype around the interview is building as the channel prepares to air the frank conversation on Friday only hinting at how Mrs Trump is to open up to viewers. What few words she did say came when the reporter probed: "Let's talk about the Jacket," referring to a parka Mrs Trump wore on an official visit to a child immigration centre, emblazoned with the words "I really don't care. Do U?" First Lady promises to get personal in interview In ABC's preview of the "Being Melania" programme, the first lady isn't shown to answer any questions, but there are hints as the interviewer asked the following: Finish this sentence for me: 'Melania Trump is...' Can women in the #MeToo movement call you a supporter? You're not the first first lady to have to deal with her husband's alleged infidelities. Has this put a strain on your marriage? Let's talk about the jacket ... Why did you wear it? What's the biggest misconception about you? She nodded in response and repeated "The jacket..." ​But the preview does not reveal her full answer or whether she bats away the question as she has before. The sit-down follows an off-the-cuff interview during a visit to ancient sites in Egypt where she said: "I think (Judge Kavanaugh) is highly qualified for the Supreme Court. "I'm glad Dr Ford was heard. FBI investigation was done, is completed, and Senate voted. When asked "Did you believe Christine Ford?" she said: "I will move on that." "I don't always agree with what he tweets," she went on to tell reporters on her disagreements with the President. "I give him my honest opinion. Sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't, but I have my own opinions and my own voice. "I'm not elected, so, he's the president, but I give him my opinion." She responded to questions about wearing an "iconically colonial pith hat" on the trip. "I want to to talk about my trip, and not what I wear. What we're doing with US aid and our initiatives... I wish people would focus on what I do, not what I wear." The tour came shortly after her husband made "disparaging remarks" about African nations, so her appearance was seen by some as a way of re-building bridges. She visited hospitals, schools, rural tribes-people to shine a light on children's development and conservation efforts. Her selection of outfits during the trip was acutely analysed by the press, with some saying it had "Colonialist" connotations, and others claiming it showed her more "Trump-like" side. Kate Bennett, a CNN White House correspondent who covers the first lady, said Melania’s “menswear-inspired” Egypt outfit sent a clear message that “women are equal.”

– The first lady offers her thoughts on the #MeToo movement in a new interview with ABC News' Tom Llamas set to air in its entirety Friday night. "I support the women and they need to be heard. We need to support them, and also men, not just women," Melania Trump said in a preview of the sit-down shown on Good Morning America Wednesday. Asked if she thinks some accused men have been treated unfairly, Trump, who was in Kenya while on her tour of Africa when the interview was filmed, responded, "We need to have really hard evidence that, you know, that if you accuse [someone] of something, show the evidence." Asked to clarify, she continued, "I do stand with women but we need to show the evidence. You cannot just say to somebody, I was, you know, sexually assaulted or you did that to me—because sometimes the media goes too far and the way they portray some stories, it's not correct. It's not right." Per the Evening Standard, the full interview also delves into such touchy subjects as allegations that President Trump has not been faithful to her ... and that controversial jacket she once wore.

Major Garrett, the network's chief White House correspondent, and Norah O'Donnell, the co-anchor of CBS This Morning, are two likely candidates. | AP Photo Now that Bob Schieffer has announced his retirement, CBS News is hard at work determining who will become the next host of "Face the Nation." Network President David Rhodes is a long way from settling on a successor. He declined to comment on the matter during an interview with the On Media blog on Wednesday night, and sources close to the network said no final decision has been made. But there is a shortlist, those sources said: Internally, Rhodes and his fellow executives are looking at Major Garrett, the network's chief White House correspondent, and Norah O'Donnell, the co-anchor of "CBS This Morning" and substitute host for Schieffer on "Face." One source also said that John Dickerson, the network's political director, is on the list of potential replacements. But CBS brass are considering outside talent as well: Jake Tapper, the CNN host who previously substituted for George Stephanopoulos on ABC's Sunday show "This Week," is a top consideration. ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl is also under consideration. However, both men are believed to be under contract with their respective employers. A key factor in CBS' decision-making process is the 2016 presidential campaign season, which is prime time for Sunday public affairs programs. While Schieffer intended to retire soon, a source close to him said that the host felt increased pressure to make the decision because CBS wanted to be well-positioned for 2016. Schieffer, while widely respected, is not as wired-in as other Sunday show hosts to the machinations of the campaign process. Of course, CBS isn't the only Sunday morning public affairs program looking for new talent. CNN "State of the Union" host Candy Crowley left the program months ago. Since her departure, CNN has filled in with a rotating cast of hosts and has yet to announce a formal replacement. Follow @politico Read more about: Major Garrett, Jake Tapper, Face The Nation, Bob Schieffer, Norah O'Donnell, Jonathan Karl, John Dickerson ||||| Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas April 8, 2015 58 years ago when I was a student, it was the end of my sophomore year here at TCU, I got my first paid job in journalism. A full time job. I was hired by a little radio station here in Fort Worth. And because that is where it all started for me, I wanted this to be the place, and I wanted you all to be the first to know: This summer I am going to retire. It's been a great adventure. You know, I'm one of the luckiest people in the world. Because as a little boy, as a young reporter, I always wanted to be a journalist. And I got to do that! And not many people get to do that. I couldn't have asked for a better life or something that was more fun and more fulfilling. That little job at KXOL - which by the way paid $1 an hour. They had the strangest overtime system I've ever heard of. I've never heard of anything since like it. The first hour of overtime was 90 cents. The second hour was 80 cents. The third hour. We always used to say that if you worked 11 hours, you had to pay them a dime! But this is true! I'm sitting here. This is true. But that job led to other jobs. When I went into the Air Force, there years I was there, I was always the editor of military publications. I came back to Fort Worth after the Air Force and because Phil Record, the police reporter at the Star-Telegram knew me because we had covered so many wrecks together on the police beat. He was promoted to night city editor and there was an opening the police reporter. So he promised me -- he recommended me for the job and I became the police reporter at the Star-Telegram. That of course led to a job at channel 5 television and that of course led to my eventual hiring at CBS in New York. I've never believed much in the self-made man theory. I think we all need a little help. And I had a lot of help along the way. I am especially indebted to the Star-Telegram. Because when I got there, Phil Record taught me to be a reporter, editor Jack Butler then sent me to Vietnam, which was the turning point in my career. The publisher Amon Carter Jr.'s wife found me a wife. It was one-stop shopping for me at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Georgianna Carter is here tonight. And once I got to CBS, I had this series of wonderful bosses. Bill Small, who was the Washington bureau chief, who hired me when I walked in off the street literally without an appointment. I later found out that I walked in on someone else's appointment and for the beginning, I was the other guy. I was the only guy that was ever hired by CBS, well they knew by then. But it turned out that the bureau chief knew James A. Byron, who was the news director at channel 5. He called him and gave him a recommendation. Then I had this job at CBS. Then I had this wonderful boss, Richard S. Salant, who was the epitome of the values that CBS News has always stood for. Then down the years, Les Moonves, who was the CEO of CBS, who put me in the anchor chair after Dan Rather left. He was my great good friend and we worked together during that very difficult time at CBS News. Then Jeff Fager, the executive producer of "60 Minutes." Then, one of the most remarkable people I know, my current boss David Rhodes. He's right over here. David, stand up, I want people to see you. Truth is, I'm twice as old as David Rhodes. And people have said why are you deciding to retire -- that kind of might be a hint that somebody's telling me! But he is very precocious. His brother told me that when he was in the second grade, he was the only second grader who carried a briefcase around. It's true. But he's done a remarkable job at CBS News. One of the reasons that I have decided this is the time for me retire is that I am so proud of where CBS News is now. Like any large organization, we've had our ups and down. We're on a high right now. And with shows like CBS This Morning, with a real of emphasis on hard news. A lot more emphasis on foreign reporting than others are doing, with people like Holly Williams. Face The Nation I think is better than it has ever been. And what I want to say is this was total team effort. My equal partner in all of this - someone I have worked with for 25 years - she was there when we decided to go to an hour, and when we finally moved to number 1. She was right there with me and we've been together all the way. There is nobody on the professional side of my life that I feel more indebted to, or that I owe more to, than my great friend Mary Hager. Mary was about the age of these other kids when she started with me. We were covering Capitol Hill together and we had some great times. it was the time of the Contract for America and all that was going on. Mary and I worked 50 straight days without a day off. We were off a couple days then worked another 39 straight days without a day off. And I'll tell you something else: You couldn't have made me not show up. There were always so many exciting things going on. And Mary was always there. It was a great experience for both of us. And now, to be working with her when Face The Nation is in the place that it is, is a wonderful thing for me. I have received many forms of recognition over the years, but no honor that I have received over the years is more important to me, or means more to me, is having my name first on the journalism school here and then last year on the College of Communications. Thank you. I think some of my professors would probably have a heart seizure if they realized my name was on those schools now after some of the grades I turned in. Kindly old Dr. [IN AUD] gave me a C in Spanish that final semester, which I needed to get out of here. But he believed in mercy over justice. I got that C and I took my diploma and left before they took it away from me. I am so proud also of where the journalism school and the college have come in the last 11 years. When they asked me about putting my name on the journalism school, I said I would be greatly honored to do that, but I only want to do it if you want to take it to another level. I said we must strive to be the best in the country. We might not get there. But we're certainly not going to get there unless we aim high, unless we try to do it. And they said they would. It took us about three years to do it, but we raised the money. We're not the best school yet but we have a chance to, because we now have a facility that is good as any communications college in the country. We still have a ways to go, but I think with the right attitude and the right vision, I think we can get there. I believe we can do it. It's going to take a lot of people working together to get that done. But I think it is doable. And finally, I just want to say one thing. Of all the people that have been with me all along, there is the one who counts the most, the one who has done the most. In fact, every once in a while she's the one who comes up with these commentaries that I write on Sunday. She is truly a great muse. She is that young woman that Georgianna Carter found for me 48 years come Wednesday, we will have been married. My dear wife Pat. Turn around! She is just simply the best. I want to thank all of you all for coming. To those of you students who are thinking of going especially into journalism or any of these communications jobs, all I can tell you is that I can't think of anything I could have done that I could have gotten more satisfaction from and more downright fun. And when you come right to it, that is why you should choose what you want to do. Don't worry about the success. Pick something you like to do, and if you're good at it, the success part takes care of itself. For me, it was a great life. I've often said that if my life ended tomorrow, I would have gotten my money's worth. I never imagined I would have the kind of experiences I had in journalism and I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world. To all of you at the Journalism College and at the College of Communication - I'd just say to you, let's still try to be the very best we can. Always aim high. Because if you don't aim high, there's no way you're going to move very far. Thank you for what you've done and thank you all for coming tonight. I love you all. Thank you all! ||||| Bob Schieffer, the anchor of CBS News' "Face the Nation," announced Wednesday that he will retire this summer after more than 50 years of working in journalism. Bob Schieffer announces retirement Schieffer, who is 78, has been with CBS News for 46 years. 2015 marked his 24th year anchoring "Face the Nation," which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. "Because that was where it all started for me, I wanted this to be the place, and I wanted you all to be the first to know that this summer I'm going to retire," he said at the annual Schieffer Symposium at Texas Christian University, his alma mater. "It's been a great adventure," Schieffer said. "You know, I'm one of the luckiest people in the world because as a little boy, as a young reporter, I always wanted to be a journalist, and I got to do that. And not many people get to do that, and I couldn't have asked for a better life or something that was more fun and more fulfilling." President Obama talks ISIS, immigration, and midterm elections He has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon as well as most of those who sought the office. Schieffer most recently interviewed President Obama last November, his third interview with the president on "Face the Nation." Schieffer also moderated three debates for the Presidential Commission on Debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012. "He's been an inspiration and a mentor to so many colleagues-- and frankly, to me. You could see at TCU tonight how that inspiration extends to a wider community of reporters and editors and academics," said CBS News President David Rhodes. Prior to joining CBS in 1969, Schieffer was a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he was the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam. Bob Schieffer: Why I love moderating “Face the Nation” Schieffer has won virtually every award in broadcast journalism, including eight Emmys, the overseas Press Club Award, the Paul White Award presented by the TV News Directors Association, the Edward R. Murrow Award given by Murrow's alma mater Washington State University. In 2008, Schieffer was named a living legend by the Library of Congress. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame along with CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, actor Ron Howard, sportscaster Al Michaels and writer/producer Dick Wolf. Schieffer also received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence from the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Writing from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the Network Radio and Television category for a CBS Radio News commentary about "the ghost of Congress future." "Face the Nation" was the highest rated Sunday talk show in 2014 for the third consecutive year and the broadcast won an Emmy for its show covering the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination in 2013. In his announcement Wednesday, Schieffer thanked several people who helped advance his career: Phil Record, an editor at the Star-Telegram; the paper's editor, Jack Butler; and CBS colleagues Bill Small, Richard Salant, Sean McManus, Jeff Fager, Moonves and Rhodes. He called "Face the Nation" Executive Producer Mary Hager his "equal partner" in his career and the person to whom he feels the most indebted. "I've never believed much in the self-made man theory; I think we all need a little help and I had a lot of help along the way," he said. Schieffer said that one of the factors behind his decision to retire now is his pride in CBS News' current footing. Bob Schieffer explains what keeps him going "We, like any large organization, we have had our ups and downs; we're on a high right now," he said, praising the commitment to hard news and foreign reporting across the network. "Face the Nation, I think, is better than it has ever been." In 2005, TCU named its journalism school in his honor and in 2013 named the college in which the journalism school is located the Bob Schieffer College of Communication. In his speech, he said it was the honor that has meant the most to him. Schieffer is one of the few reporters in Washington to have covered all four of the major beats: the Pentagon, the White House, Congress and the State Department. He became the network's chief Washington correspondent in 1982 and was named the anchor and moderator of "Face the Nation", CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast, in 1991. Schieffer anchored the Saturday edition of the "CBS Evening News" for 23 years. In March 2005, with the departure of Dan Rather, Schieffer served as interim anchor of "The CBS Evening News," until August 2006 - a period that saw a substantial increase in ratings. Schieffer has written four books: The New York Times bestsellers "This Just in" and "Bob Schieffer's America" as well as "Face The Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-winning News Broadcast" and "The Acting President." He was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Fort Worth where he graduated from North Side High School and Texas Christian University. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force.

– Most people don't keep the same spouse or home for nearly half a century, much less the same job, but veteran newsman Bob Schieffer has stuck it out with CBS News for 46 years. That's a run that will end this year, he announced at alma mater Texas Christian University yesterday. "And because that is where it all started for me, I wanted this to be the place, and I wanted you all to be the first to know: This summer I am going to retire." Acknowledging the network's "ups and downs," Schieffer said one of the factors driving his decision "is that I am so proud of where CBS News is now." The 78-year-old has held the moderator job at Face the Nation since 1991; Politico has a short list of who might replace him.

The songwriter of "Electric Slide" reached out to EDM.com to dispel any rumors. Unfortunately, we received word from Bunny Wailer and his team that this was a false internet rumor. In a statement made directly to EDM.com, Neville Livingston stated: At no time have I ever lent credence to a rumor that the song was inspired by anything other than Eddie Grant’s Electric Avenue. To state otherwise is a falsehood and offends my legacy, the legacy of the singer Marcia Griffiths, and tarnishes the reputation of a song beloved by millions of fans the world over. Despite the rumors being false, The original article can be found below: We are shook. The legendary song we all know and love, "The Electric Slide", also known as "The Electric Boogie", has revealed its true meaning from the songwriter himself Neville Livingston. The 71-year-old has been rumored to have confirmed the song is about a vibrator. Wait, what?! Yes, a ladies favorite toy. We had no idea! Sources say Livingston aka Bunny Wailer, was inspired to write the song after a girlfriend told him she didn't need him she had her vibrator called the "Electric Slide". Damn. Although this is unconfirmed yet, take a look at the lyrics for yourself and decide. We will never be the same. We have reached out for an official statement, but this is still life-changing. It's electric! You can't see it (it's electric!) You gotta feel it (it's electric!) Ooh, it's shakin' (it's electric!) Jiggle-a-mesa-cara She's a pumpin' like a matic She's a movin' like electric She sure got the boogie You gotta know it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) Now you can't hold it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) But you know it there, Here, there and everywhere I've got to move, I'm going on a party ride I've got to groove, groove, groove, And from this music I just can't hide Are you comin' with me? Come let me take you on a party ride And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you I'll teach you the electric slide Some say it's mystic (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) You can't resist it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) You can't do without it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) Jiggle-a-mesa-cara she's a pumpin' like a matic She's movin' like electric She sure got the boogie Don't want to lose it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) But you can't choose it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) But you know it's there, Here, there and everywhere I've got to move, Come let me take you on a party ride And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you I'll teach you the electric slide You can't see it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) You gotta feel it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) Ooh, it's shakin' (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) Jiggle-a-mesa-cara she's a pumpin' like a matic She's movin' like electric She sure got the boogie You gotta know it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) Now you can't hold it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) But you know it's there, Here, there and everywhere Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh! Quotes originally appeared on aazios. ||||| Lots of songs are about sex and orgasms, but “Electric Boogie (The Electric Slide)” is not one of them. No, despite rumors that made their way this week across social media and into some news outlets ― including HuffPost ― that song you danced to at your niece’s bat mitzvah and your cousin Sara’s wedding is not about a vibrator. The outlet Aazios, an online source of LGBTQ news and entertainment, got the ball rolling on Tuesday when it reported an unnamed source “close to” the songwriter Neville Livingston, aka Bunny Wailer, had confirmed the song was about a vibrator. The publication said the source reached out to Wailer in Kingston, Jamaica, where he lives, to find the real meaning. “I’m surprised it took people this long to figure out,” Aazios reported the source said. But that interpretation is apparently not true. Livingston adamantly denied the rumor in a statement to EDM: “At no time have I ever lent credence to a rumor that the song was inspired by anything other than Eddie Grant’s Electric Avenue,” he said. “To state otherwise is a falsehood and offends my legacy, the legacy of the singer Marcia Griffiths, and tarnishes the reputation of a song beloved by millions of fans the world over.” Despite the truth being out there, people were rattled (yet excited) by the idea that the song could possibly have been about a sex toy: How old were y’all when y’all found out the electric slide was about a vibrator? I was right now years old. Literally. — TR (@TrevRichHD) June 28, 2018 Going over Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle lyrics because I missed the memo that the Electric Slide is about a vibrator and everything is a lie. pic.twitter.com/RW6f7W8QSC — lauren warren (@iamlaurenp) June 27, 2018 What’s this I hear about “the electric slide” being about a damn vibrator pic.twitter.com/YzswHnv1OY — Mik. (@imnotmikkishep) June 28, 2018 The writer of "The Electric Slide" song has confirmed it's about a vibrator, now it makes sense why women love dancing it to it at weddings while the men stand there not knowing what to do. — Dan Regan (@Social_Mime) June 27, 2018 Caribbean people leaving the party now that we know The Electric Slide is about a vibrator pic.twitter.com/Ww82IPyPjb — problematic aries ♈️ (@vintagexpast) June 28, 2018 Today I learned that Electric Boogie AKA The Electric Slide is about a vibrator and I’ve never laughed harder in my entire life about anything. My faith in humanity is temporarily restored. — Bebo (@BoldBebo) June 28, 2018 The internet ruins everything 😭 Did you know “The Electric Slide” is about a vibrator? Yup. The internet broke down the lyrics and our childhoods have been ruined: https://t.co/Se8A0vmPY1 pic.twitter.com/OafbdyblUc — MadameNoire (@MadameNoire) June 28, 2018 ||||| 71 year old songwriter Neville Livingston aka Bunny Wailer is putting a rumor to rest by clarifying that the Electric Slide, also known as the Electric Boogie is indeed about a vibrator. Rumors of the songs meaning began circulating on social media a few weeks ago and everyone has been desperate for answers. According to a source close to Livingston, word of the question about the origins of the song reached him in Kingston, Jamaica where he currently resides and he put the rumors to rest. "I'm surprised it took people this long to figure out" the source tells us he said. Apparently Livingston wrote the song after a girlfriend told him she didn't need him because she had a toy she nicknamed the "electric slide" Lets examine the lyrics: It's electric! You can't see it (it's electric!) You gotta feel it (it's electric!) Ooh, it's shakin' (it's electric!) Jiggle-a-mesa-cara She's a pumpin' like a matic She's a movin' like electric She sure got the boogie You gotta know it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) Now you can't hold it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) But you know it there, Here, there and everywhere I've got to move, I'm going on a party ride I've got to groove, groove, groove, And from this music I just can't hide Are you comin' with me? Come let me take you on a party ride And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you I'll teach you the electric slide Some say it's mystic (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) You can't resist it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) You can't do without it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) Jiggle-a-mesa-cara she's a pumpin' like a matic She's movin' like electric She sure got the boogie Don't want to lose it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) But you can't choose it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) But you know it's there, Here, there and everywhere I've got to move, Come let me take you on a party ride And I'll teach you, teach you, teach you I'll teach you the electric slide You can't see it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) You gotta feel it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) Ooh, it's shakin' (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie) Jiggle-a-mesa-cara she's a pumpin' like a matic She's movin' like electric She sure got the boogie You gotta know it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) Now you can't hold it (It's electric Boogie woogie, woogie!) But you know it's there, Here, there and everywhere Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) Ola ola eh, ola eh (don dela don deloh!) If he's not talking about a vibrator I don't know what he's talking about. Are we still going to play this at every cookout, wedding, graduation and prom. Yes.

– Ah, the internet. This week, it gave birth to a rumor about the legendary song "The Electric Slide" that became so widespread the songwriter had to come forward to officially debunk it. No, says Bunny Wailer, the song isn't about a woman's vibrator. "At no time have I ever lent credence to a rumor that the song was inspired by anything other than [Eddy] Grant's Electric Avenue," Wailer, aka Neville Livingston, tells EDM. "To state otherwise is a falsehood and offends my legacy, the legacy of the singer Marcia Griffiths, and tarnishes the reputation of a song beloved by millions of fans the world over." Well. As HuffPost (which cops to being among the sites to report the rumor as truth) explains, it's not crystal clear where it all started, but the rumor officially kicked into gear when the LGBTQ website Aazios ran a story with a definitive-sounding headline of "Writer Confirms 'The Electric Slide' Is About a Vibrator." The story, which includes the lyrics, has a quote from an anonymous source who says Wailer confirmed the rumor. That story set off a social media frenzy, which the real Wailer is now trying to shut down. Myth-busting site Snopes digs into the whole mess and concludes the rumor is indeed "False."

An 18-week-old baby from Ireland has given new meaning to the phrase “born a fighter.” Megan Hui of County Kildare, Ireland, was originally deemed dead by doctors at Rotunda hospital in Dublin after five scans concluded 31-year-old mom Michelle Hui had lost her baby. The mother hadn't known she was actually pregnant with twins. However, she was instructed to take two abortion pills to clear her uterus after the miscarriage of what she (and doctors) thought was one child. A pregnancy test later, doctors found Megan. LordSpoda/YouTube To everyone’s surprise, Megan — born on February 25 — weighed just under 6 pounds and became a little sister to Mya, 4, and Noah, 2, after miraculously surviving the twin miscarriage and the abortion. “I couldn’t believe it,” Hui told the Mirror. “Neither could the doctors. But as happy as I was, I was angry they had missed her on the scans.” Hui was asked to take a pregnancy test, which would reveal whether any harmful clots remained in the womb after taking the abortion pill. It was only after the pregnancy test came back positive that the mother of two was sent to the hospital for a D&C (dilation and curettage) — a surgical procedure to remove the contents of the uterus. Upon beginning the surgical procedure to remove the dangerous blood clots, doctors found Megan’s heartbeat on a scan — 10 days after her miscarriage. “You are not going to believe it, we’ve got a heartbeat,” Hui recalled. “It was the best feeling ever.” “They said that with all the blood and clots it must have created shadows so they couldn’t see her. Although the mother of now three was thrilled to have her newborn survive, she was concerned about the doctors’ oversight — the possible effect her medical abortion could have had on her newborn. She was given two abortion pills to prompt her womb to expel the dead fetus to prevent any infection. Patients will take mifepristone — the abortion pill — and then receive misoprostol to take home the next day, according to Planned Parenthood of Illinois. A complete abortion will occur within four to 24 hours of using misoprostol in the privacy of their home for most patients. Typically, medical abortion done this way has a success rate of more than 97 percent. Some of the abortion drugs prescribed to Hui do carry an increased risk of birth defects to any surviving baby. The most common severe birth defects include heart defects, neural tube defects, and Down syndrome. Despite the medical procedures, Megan is thriving at 18 weeks. “Now Megan is fine, she’s healthy and she is just a big healthy pudding of a baby,” Hui said, the Daily Mail reported. The doctors said it was a blessing. They have never heard of anything like it. Someone had been looking over us.” Megan’s story is so extraordinary that it has been written up in medical journals. Medical professionals, like Katherine Hales, a spokesman from the Association of Radical Midwives, which campaigns for improved maternity care in the NHS, acknowledges this is an “extraordinary case.” “But I have never heard of this happening. I can’t think of a medical reason for it to happen – it is just luck,” Hales said. ||||| Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Expectant mum Michelle Hui was devastated when she had a miscarriage six weeks into her pregnancy. Five scans confirmed her loss, then she had the trauma of taking an abortion pill to make sure nothing was left behind to cause infection. But days later Michelle, 31, was being prepared for a final treatment to clear her uterus when incredibly a ­preparatory scan revealed a tiny heartbeat. Amazed doctors discovered that she had been pregnant with twins – and one had miraculously survived both the miscarriage and the abortion. Already a mum of two, Michelle went on to give birth to a beautiful baby girl, Megan, now 18 weeks old. She and her salesman husband Ross, 33, could not be more proud. (Image: SWNS) “The miscarriage and abortion were absolutely horrific,” she said. “The 10 days between the miscarriage and going back to the hospital were just a blur. “To find out I had to go in for another procedure, I was devastated. “But then I saw this little heartbeat, but I thought it couldn’t be right. After all we had been through, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. “The doctor went out and came back in with a more senior doctor and he did the scan again and he said, ‘you are not going to believe it, we’ve got a heartbeat’. It was the best feeling ever. “Now Megan is fine, she’s healthy and she is just a big healthy pudding of a baby. The doctors said it was a blessing. They have never heard of anything like it. Someone had been looking over us.” Michelle, who works for a bank, was six weeks and two days into her ­pregnancy when she suffered the miscarriage while walking to the train station last July. “Everything was fine initially,” she said. “I had booked in my scan and had an appointment the next day. “I was on my way to work and I just started gushing blood. I rang my husband and told him I was losing the baby. He couldn’t come and get me because he had the other two kids so I had to walk home.” (Image: SWNS) She then went to the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin where she claims two different doctors carried out a total of five scans before concluding she had lost her baby. She was given two abortion pills and after an overnight stay at the hospital was allowed home. She said: “After I lost the baby I went out with friends and had a bottle and a half of wine. I was devastated – and drank myself silly. I never ever drink that much. I’m not a drinker.” While doctors said there was no chance she was still pregnant, she was told to take a pregnancy test which would reveal whether any harmful clots had remained. The test was positive, so she went back to hospital for a D&C (dilation and ­curettage) – a surgical procedure to remove the contents of the uterus. But it was at that point the doctors spotted a heartbeat on a scan. “I couldn’t believe it,” said Michelle. “Neither could the doctors. But as happy as I was, I was angry they had missed her on the scans. “They said that with all the blood and clots it must have created shadows so they couldn’t see her. “They said I was blessed. “I’ve been written about in medical journals, and the doctor said that in all his 25 years he has never come across or heard of anything like this.” Megan was born on February 25, weighing just under six pounds, a little sister to Mya, four, and Noah, two. (Image: SWNS) “She’s our little miracle,” added Michelle, of County Kildare, Ireland. “We were always a strong family, but it has just made us stronger. I wouldn’t have been able to get through it all if it had not been for my husband and my two children. “It was an incredibly difficult time, but now we have a precious and healthy little girl.” The Association of Radical Midwives said it had never heard of such a case. Spokeswoman Katherine Hales, a midwife of 20 years, said: “It certainly is an amazing story. “I have very, very occasionally heard of rare cases of a miscarriage of one baby, and then seeing another on the scan. “But I have never heard of this happening after (abortion pill) ­mifepristone. I can’t think of a medical reason for it to happen – it is just luck. The twins should be the same size. You would presume that the second one was the same size and they would see it on the scan. “I suppose because they couldn’t detect the second – perhaps there was a disparity in the gestation between the two – but hormonally that really should not happen, and even if it does you are talking hours difference, not days. “It really is an extraordinary case and I would be interested to see if in fact there is even another case out there like this.” A spokeswoman for Rotunda Hospital declined to comment.

– Megan Hui is a healthy 18-week-old girl, much to the astonishment of everyone involved. As the Daily Mirror reports, mom Michelle suffered a miscarriage six weeks into her pregnancy in Ireland's County Kildare. Doctors, however, did not know at the time that she was pregnant with twins. They gave her two abortion pills to clear out her uterus and ward off infection, and she returned to the hospital 10 days after the miscarriage to have a surgical procedure to complete the procedure. As it began, Hui recalls hearing this: “You are not going to believe it, we’ve got a heartbeat." Twin Megan had finally made herself known. Medical Daily notes that abortions conducted in this way have a success rate of about 97%, which is why Megan's case has been written up in medical journals. "I have never heard of this happening," says one professional in the field. "I can't think of a medical reason for it to happen—it's just luck." (Click to read about a US toddler whose first steps on a walker have gone viral.)

Egyptian protesters chant slogans and wave national flags in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt's Islamist... (Associated Press) Tens of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in cities around the country Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi's Islamist supporters vowing to defend him. Waving Egyptian flags, crowds packed Tahrir, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, and chants of "erhal!", or "leave!" rang out. On the other side of Cairo, thousands of Islamists gathered in a show of support for Morsi outside the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque near the Ittihadiya presidential palace, which the opposition planned to march on in the evening. Some Morsi backers wore homemade body armor and construction helmets and carried shields and clubs _ precautions, they said, against possible violence. There is a sense among opponents and supporters of Morsi that Sunday is a make-or-break day, hiking worries that the two camps will come to blows, even as each side insists it won't start violence. Already at least seven people, including an American, have been killed in clashes the past week, mainly in Nile Delta cities and the coastal city of Alexandria. The demonstrations are the culmination of polarization and instability that have been building since Morsi's June 30, 2012 inauguration as Egypt's first freely elected leader. The past year has seen multiple political crises, bouts of bloody clashes and a steadily worsening economy, with power outages, fuel shortages, rising prices and persistent lawlessness and crime. In one camp are the president and his Islamist allies, including the Muslim Brotherhood and more hard-line groups. They say street demonstrations cannot be allowed to remove a leader who won a legitimate election, and they accuse Mubarak loyalists of being behind the campaign in a bid to return to power. They have argued that for the past year remnants of the old regime have been sabotaging Morsi's attempts to deal with the nation's woes and bring reforms. Hard-liners among them have also given the confrontation a sharply religious tone, denouncing Morsi's opponents as "enemies of God" and infidels. On the other side is an array of secular and liberal Egyptians, moderate Muslims, Christians _ and what the opposition says is a broad sector of the general public that has turned against the Islamists. They say the Islamists have negated their election mandate by trying to monopolize power, infusing government with their supporters, forcing through a constitution they largely wrote and giving religious extremists a free hand, all while failing to manage the country. The opposition believes that with sheer numbers in the street, it can pressure Morsi to step down _ perhaps with the added weight of the powerful military if it signals the president should go. "Today is the Brotherhood's last day in power," predicted Suliman Mohammed, a manager of a seafood company who was protesting at Tahrir, where crowds neared 100,000 by early afternoon. "I came here today because Morsi did not accomplish any of the (2011) revolution's goals. I don't need anything for myself, but the needs of the poor were not met." Another Tahrir protester, 21-year-old Mohammed Abdel-Salam, said he came out because he wanted early presidential elections. "If he is so sure of his popularity why doesn't he want to organize early elections? If he wins it, we will tell the opposition to shut up." Underlining the potential for deadly violence, a flurry of police reports on Sunday spoke of the seizure of firearms, explosives and even artillery shells in various locations of the country, including Alexandria and the outskirts of Cairo. Sunday afternoon, two offices belonging to the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, were attacked and ransacked Sunday by protesters in the city of Bani Suef, south of Cairo. In an interview published Sunday in The Guardian, Morsi _ who has three years left in his term _ said he had no plans to meet the protesters' demand for an early presidential election. "If we changed someone in office who (was elected) according to constitutional legitimacy _ well, there will (be) people or opponents opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later, they will ask him to step down," Morsi told the British daily. "There is no room for any talk against this constitutional legitimacy," he said. Traffic in Cairo's normally clogged streets was light at midday as many residents chose to stay home for fear of violence or a wave of crime similar to the one that swept Egypt during the 18-day, anti-Mubarak uprising. Banks were closing early and most government departments were either closed for the day or were thinly staffed. Most schools and colleges are already closed for the summer holidays. The opposition protests emerge from a petition campaign by a youth activist group known as Tamarod, Arabic for "Rebel." For several months, the group has been collecting signatures on a call for Morsi to step down. On Saturday the group announced it had more than 22 million signatures _ proof, it claims, that a broad sector of the public no longer wants Morsi in office. It was not possible to verify the claim. If true, it would be nearly twice the around 13 million people who voted for Morsi in last year's presidential run-off election, which he won with around 52 percent of the vote. Tamarod organizers said they discarded about 100,000 signed forms because they were duplicates. Morsi's supporters have questioned the authenticity and validity of the signatures, but have produced no evidence of fraud. Adding to his troubles, eight lawmakers from the country's interim legislature announced their resignation Saturday to protest Morsi's policies. The 270-seat chamber was elected early last year by less than 10 percent of Egypt's eligible voters, and is dominated by Islamists. A legal adviser to Morsi also announced his resignation late Saturday in protest of what he said was Morsi's insult of judges in his latest speech on Wednesday. A week ago, with the public sense of worry growing over the upcoming confrontation, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi last week gave the president and his opponents a week to reach a compromise. He warned that the military would intervene to prevent the nation from entering a "dark tunnel." Army troops backed by armored vehicles were deployed Sunday in some of Cairo's suburbs, with soldiers, some in combat gear, stood at traffic lights and major intersections. Army helicopters flew over Cairo on several occasions on Sunday, adding to the day's sense of foreboding. Morsi had called for national reconciliation talks in a Wednesday speech but offered no specifics. Opposition leaders dismissed the call as cosmetics. Asked by The Guardian whether he was confident that the army would not intervene if the country becomes ungovernable, Morsi replied, "Very." The Egyptian leader, however, said he did not know in advance of el-Sissi's comments last week. ____ Associated Press reporter Tony G. Gabriel contributed to this report. ||||| Millions of Egyptians filled streets across Egypt on Sunday calling for the departure of Mohamed Morsi on Sunday, hours after the president told the Guardian he would not resign. A year to the day after Morsi's inauguration as Egypt's first democratically elected president, up to 500,000 protesters swelled Cairo's Tahrir Square calling for Morsi's removal. They then headed to Itahadiya, the presidential palace in the north-east of the city in the evening. Security sources said that at least seven people were killed and more than 600 wounded in clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents. Five of the dead were shot in towns south of Cairo, one each in Beni Suef and Fayoum and three in Assiut. Two more were killed by gunfire during an attack on the national headquarters of Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood in a suburb of the capital, medical sources said. Hundreds of people throwing petrol bombs and rocks attacked the building, which caught fire as guards and Brotherhood members inside the building exchanged gunfire with attackers. State news agency MENA reported that 11 were treated in hospital for birdshot wounds, and across the country, the health ministry said, 613 people were injured as a result of factional fighting in the streets. In Alexandria, Egypt's second city, 100,000 rallied in the centre, with similar rallies reported in dozens of other Egyptian cities. The headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi's Islamist group, came under attack as night fell. A spokesman for Morsi said that the president knew he had made mistakes and was working to fix them. Omar Amer added that Morsi was serious in his repeated calls for national dialogue. "(Morsi) announced to all of Egypt's people that he made mistakes and that he is in the process of fixing these mistakes," Amer told a late-night news conference. He said Morsi had "extended his hand" for dialogue and wanted to listen to everyone, repeating the president's previous calls for national dialogue, which the opposition has rebuffed as not serious. "I want to confirm one truth, if there is a total lack of response to this initiative, no listening to it, no interest in it from any side, what do you think the presidency can do?" the president's spokesman said. "The presidency is now waiting for a reaction, no matter how small, so it can build on it." The scale of the protests – which took place on the first day of the Egyptian working week – surpassed predictions made by presidential aides, who had expected only 150,000 people to take part nationwide. A military source told Reuters that as many as 14 million people in the country of 84 million took part in the demonstrations. There was no independent way of verifying that estimate, though the armed forces used helicopters to monitor the crowds. "The scenes of protests are unprecedented in size and scope, and seemingly surpass those during the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak," said Michael Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation and a longtime Egypt analyst. The scale of protests were even more remarkable, Hanna said, because they were "a bottom-up, grassroots effort and not directed by political opposition leaders. In a sense, they have latched on to this expanding current. While the organisers were diligent and creative, while lacking organisation and funding, this breadth of mass mobilisation could not have transpired unless the protest movement was tapping into deep and growing frustration and disenchantment with the current course of the country and its leadership." Some senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood spent the day travelling, fearing for their safety. Morsi himself moved from Itahadiya to the Quba palace, a state building in a safer part of Cairo. "Egyptians are doing it again," said Ahmed Said, a leader of the largest opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front (NSF). "They insist on regaining their hijacked revolution. We have revolted to reclaim our dignity, and reclaim our dignity we will." But Morsi was defiant in the face of such dissent. "If we changed someone in office who [was elected] according to constitutional legitimacy – well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down," Morsi told the Guardian in an exclusive interview.While Morsi was elected in free elections, his opponents believe he has failed to uphold the democratic values on which a well-rounded democracy depends. In particular, he has been criticised for using a presidential decree to force through an Islamist-slanted constitution, viewed by many as the act of a dictator. Among many other complaints, Morsi has been accused of presiding over the oppression of activists and journalists, and a marked drop in living standards. Once a consensus candidate for Islamist and secular voters, critics say he has alienated secular politicians and failed to achieve the unity he was elected to build. Morsi blames the opposition for failing to meet him halfway. "Morsi got elected in a democratic way," said one government critic, businessman Hassan Shanab. "But since he took over, everything's been polarised. All of a sudden, we see ourselves part of an Islamic regime like Iran. Morsi's answerable to the Brotherhood, but they are not answerable to us." As Shanab spoke, a crowd of protesters nearby started pelting a giant poster of Morsi with stones. The president still has a vocal support base, 20,000 of whom have been camped in east Cairo since Friday in a show of support for his regime and for its democratic legitimacy. Many of them saw the protests elsewhere as counter-revolutionary and some claimed they had been started by forces loyal to former dictator Hosni Mubarak. "I'm here to defend my vote, and to defend a revolution I was part of," said Shaima Abdel-Hamid, a teacher and Morsi supporter. "We chose a president and now they want to get rid of him when he's dealing with 30 years of corruption. And they want to get rid of him after only a year." "Seculars will not rule Egypt again," chanted one crowd of Morsi backers, who come not just from the Muslim Brotherhood, but from other Islamist groups such as Gamaa Islamiya, a Salafi movement. A senior Brotherhood politician, Essam El-Erian, denounced the protests as a "coup attempt". In a statement on the group's website, he challenged the opposition to test public opinion in parliamentary elections instead of "simply massing people in violent demonstrations, thuggery or shedding the precious blood of Egyptians". Yet many in Tahrir Square emphasised their religiosity, while rejecting what they perceived as the Brotherhood's attempts to run the Egyptian state along religious lines and to arbitrate on the correct interpretation of Islam. "I voted for him," said Haga Zeinab, a niqab-wearing protester in Tahrir. "But it turns out he only thinks his own people can be Muslims." Anti-regime protesters created a carnival atmosphere in the square, with many setting off fireworks. At Itahadiya, they bobbed to patriotic songs played from a soundsystem resting on a first-floor balcony. But at the Islamist rally, the mood was tetchy, particularly after several Brotherhood offices were attacked this week, and one former Brotherhood MP was killed. Many donned cycle helmets and builders' hard hats, and held shields and sticks in case of attack, waiting in defensive mode behind six lines of security checks. Some carried homemade shields emblazoned with the slogan: "Legitimacy is a red line" – a reference to Morsi's democratic mandate. But with senior Muslim clerics warning of the prospect of civil war this week, many of the Islamists promised to act if the presidential palace came under attack from anti-Morsi protesters, and the police or the army fail to defend it. The police have historically been no friend of the Brotherhood; across Egypt there were isolated accounts of policemen expressing support for anti-Morsi protesters. "Now we're seeing the revolution being threatened," said Mohamed Sherif Abdeen, an IT teacher and member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was carrying a stick and wearing a hard hat – for self-defence, he said. "We won't do anything if the army and police do their job. But, if not, and they don't protect the presidential palace, we will protect it with our chests." At Itahadiya, medics were taking precautions, anticipating night-time attacks from Islamist forces or state officials. Tahrir Doctors, who tend to the injured at most Cairo protests, set up three field hospitals, staffed by about 30 medics. "If we get any injured from any side, we will treat them equally," said Dr Amr Shebaita, the group's head. Egypt has been rife with speculation about what will happen next. Two of Egypt's best-known opposition leaders – leftist Hamdeen Sabbahy and liberal Mohamed Baradei – were photographed marching arm in arm towards Itahadiya on Sunday. Should Morsi fall, both are considered potential key players in any transition scenario. Among Morsi's opponents, the most popular and startling choice of successor – at least in the interim – may be the head of the armed forces, General Abdel Fattah Sisi. There is widespread support for an army coup, particularly after Sisi hinted at the possibility of military intervention last week. "Come on Sisi," chanted protesters outside the presidential palace on Sunday. "My president is not Morsi." Demonstrators camped outside Cairo's defence ministry – in yet another protest – shouted: "The people and the army are one hand." Others feel uncomfortable with such sentiment. The Tamarrod campaign, a new protest movement that spearheaded Sunday's protests, issued a statement rejecting support for Ahmed Shafiq, the former air force chief defeated at the ballot box by Morsi last year. But such arguments may be unnecessary. Allies of the president believe protests will dissipate if he can hang on until the start of Ramadan in ten10nine days' time. Additional reporting by Mowaffaq Safadi ||||| Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president... (Associated Press) Egyptian protesters chant slogans and wave national flags in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt's Islamist... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi gather for noon prayers in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013. Organizers of a mass protest against... (Associated Press) Egyptian protesters chant slogans and hold anti-Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi poster during a rally in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013.... (Associated Press) Supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi rally in Nasser City, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured out onto the... (Associated Press) Supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi stand in formation with sticks as they prepare to protect the presidential palace with protective equipment in Nasser City, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday,... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest near the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured... (Associated Press) An opponent of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi holds an umbrella as he protests outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Organizers of a mass protest against Morsi... (Associated Press) An opponent of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi holds a shoe against a poster with Arabic that reads, "Huge year strike," during a protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday,... (Associated Press) Egyptian protesters chant slogans against Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, during a rally in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi rest under shade outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of Egyptians demanding the ouster of Egypt's Islamist... (Associated Press) An Egyptian anti-President Mohammed Morsi protester raises a red card with Arabic words saying, "Leave" during a rally in Minya, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of opponents and supporters of... (Associated Press) An Egyptian protester watches an Apache army helicopter is it flies over Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013. Organizers of a mass protest against Egyptian... (Associated Press) An Egyptian protester wearing a headband reading "leave," chants slogans against Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi during a rally in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of... (Associated Press) Opponents of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi hold a large Egyptian national flag during a protest outside the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of Egyptians demanding... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace, at left, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of Egyptians demanding the ouster of Morsi are... (Associated Press) Supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans and dance with sticks during a rally in Nasser City, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of opponents and supporters of... (Associated Press) A supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi dances with a stick during a rally in Nasser City, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist... (Associated Press) Supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi hold sticks and shields as they rally in Nasser City, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi march towards the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president poured... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president... (Associated Press) An Egyptian protester waves a national flag as Egyptians gather in Tahrir Square during a demonstration against President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist president... (Associated Press) An Egyptian protester chants slogans during anti-Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi rally in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013. Organizers of a... (Associated Press) An Egyptian girl holds a poster with Arabic that reads, "Heave, Huge year strike," as she chants slogans during a protest against Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi outside the presidential palace,... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi hold posters with Arabic that reads, "Leave, the people want the fall of the regime," during a protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo,... (Associated Press) Egyptian protesters pray the noon prayer under a national flag during a rally in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of Egyptians demanding the... (Associated Press) An opponent of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi chants slogans as he holds pot covers with Arabic that reads, "leave," during a protest outside the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday,... (Associated Press) An Egyptian anti-President Mohammed Morsi protester sits on a palm tree as he holds a noose and a national flag in Tahrir Square, the focal point of Egyptian uprising, in Cairo Sunday, June 30, 2013.... (Associated Press) A woman holds an Egyptian national flag during a protest calling for the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of... (Associated Press) Men in protective gear march from a rally to support Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, seen on poster, as a contingent prepares to protect the presidential palace in Nasser City, Cairo, Sunday, June... (Associated Press) Thousands of people gather to support Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in Nasser City, Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt's Islamist president began massing... (Associated Press) Women attend a rally to support Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in Nasser City, Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt's Islamist president began massing in city... (Associated Press) Supporters of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi stand in formation with sticks as they prepare to protect the presidential palace in Nasser City, Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Thousands... (Associated Press) Opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi look at a military helicopter flying over the presidential palace, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of... (Associated Press) Egyptians wave the national flags from their balconies as they watch opponents of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 30, 2013.... (Associated Press) Egyptian protester chants slogans against Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi during a rally in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist... (Associated Press) Egyptian protesters pray during a demonstration against Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of opponents of Egypt's Islamist... (Associated Press)

– Officials say three anti-government protesters have been killed in the southern Egyptian city of Assiut, after suspected Islamists riding a motorbike fired on protesters outside a local government building. One was killed and seven injured, prompting protesters to march on the local office of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, where at least two more were shot by gunmen inside the building, the AP reports. Another protester was killed outside Freedom and Justice party headquarters in Beni Suef. The country is gripped with anti-government protests today, with hundreds of thousands massing in Cairo's Tahrir Square and other cities around the country to call for the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, the AP reports. "Today is the Brotherhood's last day in power," says one protestor at Tahrir. "I came here today because Morsi did not accomplish any of the [2011] revolution's goals ... the needs of the poor were not met." But Morsi, who has three years left in office, remains defiant in the face of growing opposition and calls for an early election. "If we changed someone in office who [was elected] according to constitutional legitimacy—well, there will be people opposing the new president too, and a week or a month later they will ask him to step down," he told the Guardian.

Suicide or Murder? Cops Investigate Mysterious Death of North Carolina Woman Sarah Catherine Long was found dead on July 23, lying in her bed with a single gunshot wound above her left ear. In her hand was a .357 Taurus revolver.Police in Davidson, North Carolina, initially classified the death as a suicide. But soon, they began to notice inconsistencies surrounding her death. Among the most troubling: the gun was found in her left hand, and Long was right-handed. The medical examiner couldn't definitively determine whether Long died of the gunshot wound, and he found no blood on the hand Long would have fired with.Nearly four months later, authorities are still investigating whether there was foul play in the death of the 41-year-old woman."This is an ongoing death investigation and it is considered 'suspicious,' " Cristina Shaul, a spokeswoman for the town of Davidson, tells PEOPLE.Although Long was married at the time of her death, she was having an affair with a married man. Just days after Long's body was found, her lover, William Becker, came forward and produced documents showing that she had left her $1 million fortune to him.According to a search warrant obtained by PEOPLE, neighbors saw Becker at Long's home on July 19, the last time she was seen alive. One neighbor reported hearing a loud bang.The warrant, written by Davidson police Sgt. Stephen Ingram, says Becker told authorities that Long had been diagnosed with cervical cancer and became depressed. Authorities, however, interviewed Long's doctor, who said she only had abnormal cells on her cervix – a diagnosis she had dealt with before and could cure with a minor outpatient procedure.Police also interviewed Long's estranged husband, Christopher Reeves, who said he talked with her on the day of her death and she seemed "fine."In separate documents obtained by The Charlotte Observer , police say Becker's wife told them that he had given her a smoothie that tasted funny."She asked if it contained medicine," Ingram wrote. She said Becker took the drink from her and flushed it down the toilet. According to the documents, Becker later told his wife that he had added a sleep aid to the drink to help her rest.On Nov. 3, police seized Long's computer, router and Yahoo Mail account in hopes of recreating the last days of her life.Investigators are awaiting forensic results that will tell them if Long was drugged and whether gunpowder residue was found on her hands. A police spokeswoman told CBS's 48 Hours that authorities have identified a person of interest, but they could not divulge any additional details. ||||| WCNC Sarah Catherine Long, 41, was found dead inside of her Davidson, N.C. townhouse on July 23 in what was initially ruled a suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot. A secret lover, a $1 million fortune, and a potentially planted handgun have led to authorities reexamining the death of a married North Carolina woman whose cause was initially ruled suicide. Authorities in Davidson have launched a suspicious death investigation into Sarah Catherine Long's July demise after a number of oddities arose including a handgun found in the right-handed woman's left hand, the Charlotte Observer reported. Only days after her body was found, authorities say a married man, who claimed to have been having a seven-month affair with the 41-year-old, produced documents showing that she left him everything in her will — a fortune totaling nearly $1 million. That man, William Becker, was incidentally also the first to tip police off to her death after calling authorities under the claim that he hadn't seen her in days, according to a search warrant obtained by the Observer. When authorities responded to his call by checking on her at her townhouse on July 23 she was found on her bed with a bullet through her left temple, according to the warrant. But investigators now believe someone was with her when she died. After speaking with Becker, police say he told them that Long had been depressed and had been recently diagnosed with cervical cancer — a claim Long's doctor later argued as untrue. "Mr. Becker began crying as he said that he should have taken her to the hospital. I noticed that there were no tears as Mr. Becker cried," the search warrant read. WCNC Just days after Long's body was found, a man who claimed to have been her secret boyfriend for the last seven months told authorities that she left him everything in her will — a $1 million fortune. When police interviewed Becker's wife, more red flags apparently popped up. The woman allegedly told police that her husband may have tried to poison her with a smoothie on May 8, WCNC reported. After complaining that the drink tasted funny, and apparently asking more questions than his liking, she said her husband flushed the beverage down the toilet. No arrests have been made in the case but search warrants filed last month by police show detectives are actively investigating who, if anyone, was in her home on the night she died. On Oct. 13, a search warrant for Long's AT&T wireless router, four laptops, a thumb drive, memory card and two Barnes & Noble Nooks were requested by a Davidson detective, the Observer reported. As cited in the request, authorities hope the router may have picked up a cellphone or any other electronic device belonging to someone who was inside of Long's residence on the night she died. If that's the case, that information could be extracted and matched to its owner. ngolgowski@nydailynews.com ||||| A woman is being accused by her friends of collecting more than $18,000 for terminal cancer that she never had. (12/4/2014) A woman is being accused by her friends of collecting more than $18,000 for terminal cancer that she never had. (12/4/2014) Woman accused of collecting more than $18,000 for cancer she didn't have Woman accused of collecting more than $18,000 for cancer she didn't have A pest control experts says they move inside during the cold weather... Watch out for brown recluse spiders during the winter Watch out for brown recluse spiders during the winter After a day of duck hunting, Raymond Verhoeven and Bradley Taylor posed for photos with the day's kill and St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby May can't stomach it. Man picks up rock and finds something 'from above' Man picks up rock and finds something 'from above' The mugshot of a Cary teen arrested on drug charges is going viral nearly a month after her arrest. The mugshot of a Cary teen arrested on drug charges is going viral nearly a month after her arrest. 31 people are in trouble with the law after a three day prostitution sting in Richmond. Police told NBC12 they targeted specific areas where residents and business owners complained about the illegal activity. By Laura Geller - bio | email RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) – 31 people are in trouble with the law after a three day prostitution sting in Richmond. Police told NBC12 they targeted specific areas where residents One person in custody following "suspicious" fires overnight in Carolina Beach. One person in custody following "suspicious" fires overnight in Carolina Beach. Investigators were conducting the operation in the parking lot of the Bi-Lo store on the 700 block of Highway 27 when, around 4 p.m., they saw two vehicles meet up for a drug transaction. Investigators were conducting the operation in the parking lot of the Bi-Lo store on the 700 block of Highway 27 when, around 4 p.m., they saw two vehicles meet up for a drug transaction. The price of one of the oldest houses in Raleigh has been dropped $50,000 after the home was moved from its original location on Wake Forest Road. The price of one of the oldest houses in Raleigh has been dropped $50,000 after the home was moved from its original location on Wake Forest Road. The home was moved Feb. 3 to a nearby location on Hillmer Drive. (Photo by Jeff Reeves/WNCN) The home was moved Feb. 3 to a nearby location on Hillmer Drive. (Photo by Jeff Reeves/WNCN) New search warrants are revealing more details about the days leading up to the mysterious death of Sarah Catherine Long. Long was found with a single gunshot wound to the left side of her head at her Davidson home in July. At first, her death was considered a suicide, but several factors led police to reclassify the case as a homicide. According to search warrants, a neighbor told police the last time she saw Long was on Friday, July 18. She said Long was walking with a man, later identified as William Drew Becker. The warrants say Becker showed police documents that the 41-year-old victim left him everything in her will. It totaled about $1.5 million dollars. Becker claimed they were lovers and she was sick with cervical cancer. Another neighbor told officers that she saw Long on July 19 wearing a long dress and standing outside her home with a man. That same day, another neighbor who lives next door, told police she heard a heavy slam coming from Long's bedroom. That's the day police believe Long died. Her body was found four days later after police received a call from a concerned citizen, later identified as Becker. A week after Long's death, on Tuesday, July 29, the Mecklenburg County medical examiner told police he could not detect any blood on Long's left hand, the hand she was suspected of using to take her own life. In the warrants, both police and the examiner agreed that the gun was found in an odd position. After talking with family, police also learned Sarah Long was right-handed. On August 6, Long's OBGYN told detectives that Long did not have cervical cancer. Davidson Police say they are examining electronic evidence collected at Long's home, as well as reviewing Long's financial information. The search warrant states that investigators believe Long's financial records could determine who long was with the evening she died. At this time no arrests have been made in this case. A spokesperson for Davidson Police says they are looking into a person of interest, but are not releasing their name. Copyright 2014 WBTV. All rights reserved. ||||| DAVIDSON In hopes of identifying her killer, police have seized the Yahoo! Internet accounts of a woman found dead in her townhouse in July. Davidson police Detective Vernon Siders Jr. seized Sarah Catherine Long’s accounts by court order late last week, including text messages and saved, opened, unopened and deleted emails, according to a search warrant. Siders also seized information on financial transactions done through Long’s Yahoo! accounts, the search warrant said. The warrant doesn’t disclose what he found. A Superior Court judge issued the warrant on Thursday, and Siders seized the emails, text messages and other information through Yahoo! Inc.’s compliance team in Sunnyvale, Calif., according to the warrant. Siders didn’t return a voicemail message left by the Observer on Tuesday. Long was found dead in her bedroom on July 23 with a gun in her hand, according to previous search warrants. She died of a single gunshot wound to the left side of her head, Dr. Michael Sullivan, Mecklenburg County’s chief medical examiner at the time, wrote in an autopsy report obtained by the Observer. Police said Long’s death initially appeared to be from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a previous search warrant returned. But based on witness statements, police said, they believe someone else was inside Long’s house on Old Meeting Way the night she died, according to other search warrants. Police are now treating the death as a homicide. Responding officers found Long in her upstairs bedroom, clutching a .357 Taurus revolver in her left hand. Police said Long was right-handed, according to the warrants. Siders said in the previous warrants that he was approached by William Becker, who told the detective he was a friend of Long and that she was depressed and had recently been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Long’s doctor told police three weeks after Long was found dead that she did not have cervical cancer, according to the warrants. One search warrant said Becker told a detective about his relationship with Long. They’d met in December and began dating in April. Both were married, and the relationship was a secret, Becker told investigators, according to the warrant. The warrant indicates that Long’s will left Becker all of her assets – nearly $1 million. Attempts by the Observer to reach Becker in recent months have been unsuccessful.

– A gun found in the left hand of a right-handed suicide victim. A secret married lover. And a $1 million inheritance. These are all clues in the mysterious July death of Sarah Catherine Long, 41, who police in Davidson, NC, at first believed killed herself, People reports. But now, they say she was murdered. Long's married lover, William Becker, tipped off police, claiming not to have seen her in four days, the New York Daily News reports. She was found dead in her condo on July 23 with a gun in her left hand and a gunshot wound above her left ear. But Long was right-handed and that hand wasn't bloody. Days after her death, Becker came forward claiming Long left him a $1 million fortune in her will. He also said she was depressed because she had cervical cancer, which her doctor refutes, WBTV reports. Meanwhile, Becker's wife told police he gave her a smoothie in May that tasted of medicine, which she says he dumped in the toilet when confronted; she thinks he was trying to poison her. Investigators are awaiting results that will determine if Long was drugged. Neighbors saw Long enter her house with a man at about 10:20pm on July 19, the night police think she died. Police are now analyzing Long's texts, four laptops, wireless router, Yahoo account, and financials, the Charlotte Observer reports. They're hoping that the router might have linked to the cellphone of the man she was with the night of her death. (In North Carolina, a sinister mystery surrounds the hanging death of a teen whose family says he didn't kill himself.)

These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellDem lawmaker resurfaces 2013 Trump tweet criticizing Obama for Syrian airstrikes Schumer says Trump strikes 'appropriate,' warns against greater involvement in Syria Trump authorizes military strikes in Syria MORE (R-Ky.) pushed back Wednesday on President Trump's latest comments about the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., saying there "are no good neo-Nazis." “We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred. There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms," the Senate GOP leader said. He added that "we all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head.” ADVERTISEMENT McConnell's comments come after the president blamed both the "alt-left" as well as white supremacists and neo-Nazis for the violence in Charlottesville over the weekend, adding that there were "very fine people" on both sides. “I have condemned neo-Nazis. I have condemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. ... Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest taking down of a statue, Robert E. Lee," Trump said. Several GOP lawmakers slammed Trump over his comments, which came after he had been under criticism for failing to immediately condemn racist protesters, including neo-Nazi groups and the KKK, by name, a step he took at a Monday press conference. A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed on Saturday in Charlottesville after being hit by a car allegedly driven by a man with far-right views who plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters. Her death came amid rallies aimed to "Unite the Right." White nationalist groups are now planning a rally in Lexington, Ky., over the removal of two Confederate statues, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. McConnell added on Wednesday that the groups "are not welcome" in Kentucky or in America. “The white supremacist, KKK, and neo-Nazi groups who brought hatred and violence to Charlottesville are now planning a rally in Lexington. Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America," he said. ||||| Story highlights Mitch McConnell also is taking a cautious approach to the President The Senate majority leader will need to work with Trump soon to avoid a fiscal crisis (CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has publicly avoided criticizing President Donald Trump's remarks on Charlottesville, is privately upset with the President's handling of the episode, according to a source close to the Kentucky Republican. Despite the immediate uproar that Trump caused by his stunning comments Tuesday where he defended some of the protestors during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, McConnell remained silent and out of public view. But McConnell, who has a long history of working on civil rights issues, is deeply concerned that Trump is reopening long-festering racial tensions, something that could fan the flames ahead of demonstrations expected in Lexington, Kentucky, the source told CNN. The morning after Trump's comments, McConnell released a statement Wednesday ahead of a rally in Lexington similar to the one that turned violent in Charlottesville over the weekend. "The white supremacist, KKK, and neo-nazi groups who brought hatred and violence to Charlottesville are now planning a rally in Lexington. Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America," McConnell said in his statement. ||||| Mitch McConnell: 'We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence' Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in Bowling Green, Ky. (Photo: Austin Anthony, AP) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups that are reportedly planning a rally in Kentucky are not welcome there and "should not be welcome anywhere in America." "The white supremacist, KKK, and neo-Nazi groups who brought hatred and violence to Charlottesville are now planning a rally in Lexington," the Republican senator from Kentucky said in a statement. "Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America." McConnell did not mention President Trump by name, but he said there "are no good neo-Nazis" and that everyone has "a responsibility to stand against hate and violence." Trump drew strong criticism from senators and House members in his own party Tuesday when he doubled down on his controversial statements that "both sides" were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday that resulted in a woman's death. The woman, Heather Heyer, was protesting a rally by white supremacists and members of the KKK and neo-Nazi groups when she was killed by a man who plowed his car into people protesting the hate groups. Trump said Tuesday that there were "very fine people on both sides." McConnell, who has been the target of scathing criticism from the president in the wake of the Senate's recent failure to repeal Obamacare, said "we can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred." "There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms," McConnell said. "We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head." McConnell also spoke out Saturday against the "hate and bigotry" in Charlottesville. White supremacist leaders have said they are considering coming to Lexington, Ky. to protest the proposed removal of two Confederate statues from a public park there. Fact check: President Trump's press conference, in context Analysis: Combative Trump returns to form with defense of alt-right Reaction: Lawmakers slam Trump's latest defense of Charlottesville response Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2x4hAYI

– "There are no good neo-Nazis," Sen. Mitch McConnell said Wednesday. “We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred," the Hill quotes the Senate majority leader as saying. "Those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms." McConnell went on to say that all Americans "have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head" and made it clear that the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and KKK members behind the violence in Charlottesville are not welcome in his state of Kentucky or America. The groups behind the Unite the Right rally last weekend in Virginia had been planning an event in Lexington. USA Today notes McConnell failed to mention President Trump by name in his apparent condemnation of the president's comments on Charlottesville. It's possible McConnell—whose wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, was standing next to Trump during the president's Tuesday press conference—was attempting to avoid antagonizing Trump supporters, according to the Los Angeles Times. But a source close to McConnell tells CNN the senator—while privately upset about Trump's comments—didn't want to directly criticize the president because it might look like payback for Trump blasting him last week on the failure of health care. McConnell also still needs to work with Trump next month on a deal to fund the government.

Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| Warning: Contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 6. "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die." Except for one very lucky actor who's done both, just in separate roles. Dean-Charles Chapman is currently known on Game of Thrones for playing King Tommen Baratheon, first of his name and however it goes, who took the throne in Season 4 after his brother Joffrey's death. But Chapman has only played Tommen since 2014, because the character was recast from the much younger actor, Callum Wharry. SEE ALSO: Maisie Williams had the perfect response to this Daily Mail headline But oddly, Chapman was in the show before then, by the name of a tiny lordling named Martyn Lannister. Hello Giggles first caught the similarities, noticing that the the king who's "only half-Lannister" looks exactly like his pure-blooded Lannister cousin (and also, IMDb says so). For reference, that's Tommen on the left and Martyn on the right: Image: HBO It's an easy thing to miss because poor Martyn Lannister only appeared for two episodes in the third season before getting the axe. For those who remember way back when Robb Stark had an army and was alive, Martyn and Willem Lannister were taken as hostages by Robb's army. But in a fit of vengeance, they were murdered by a northern lord named Rickard Karstark. Robb, channeling his inner Ned, was furious over the murdered children and beheaded Karstark himself. Karstark's son is still bitter toward Starks in Season 6, and now works for Ramsay Bolton. While this likely has no effect on the greater story, it does feed directly into the never-discussed "Tommen is a faceless man" theory. That is probably nonsense, but that's never stopped Game of Thrones theories before. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. ||||| Guys, we may not be able to predict what happens in future episodes of Game of Thrones, but we should all be aware of what’s happened in past episodes, right? Then, how did we miss the fact that Dean-Charles Chapman (aka King Tommen Baratheon) played ANOTHER character in the Thrones-verse?! HBO Chapman actually played another member of Tommen’s extended family, Martyn Lannister, waaaay back in Season 3. He appeared in Episode 3, “Walk of Punishment” and Episode 5, “Kissed by Fire.” Here’s Tommen, I mean, Martyn in happier times chatting with Robb’s wife, Talisa. HBO That’s right, King Tommen is also Martyn Lannister. For a refresher, Martyn (along with his brother Willem) was a squire in the Lannister army who was taken prisoner by Edmure Tully at the Battle of Stone Mill (events that took place off-camera). Also, sadly, Martyn and his brother were killed off by Lord Rickard Karstark in revenge for Jaime Lannister killing his own son. Annyyyyywayyy, the important thing to take away from all of this, is that Martyn was a son of Kevan Lannister, aka Tywin’s younger brother. Here’s a SUPER basic family tree to give you an idea of what that means. HelloGiggles / HBO / iStock So, basically, Tommen is also his own cousin. Well, okay, not really, not in the world of Game of Thrones. But, this does mean Chapman not only played multiple characters in Game of Thrones, but actual family members! And if you need further “proof,” here’s Chapman’s IMDb listing for Thrones. IMDb It kinda makes sense, though. Given the Lannister family’s penchant for incest, having several people in that lineage look the same (like exactly the same) would not be a surprise. And clearly it wasn’t a big enough surprise to audiences since NO ONE NOTICED. (Almost.)

– The internet loves obsessing over Game of Thrones, so Hello Giggles wants to know why more people aren't talking about the fact that "Tommen is also his own cousin." Dean-Charles Chapman currently plays King Tommen Baratheon on the show, a role he took over from a younger actor in 2014. But he also played Tommen's cousin, Martyn Lannister, in a few episodes of the show back in the third season, Mashable explains. Hello Giggles thinks the recasting makes complete sense. “Given the Lannister family’s penchant for incest, having several people in that lineage look the same (like exactly the same) would not be a surprise.” Poor Martyn was killed off after being taken hostage by Robb Stark, and Bustle thinks Chapman better hope for a third role as Tommen is "probably doomed just like his look-alike cousin."

A serial killer of rabbits has struck fear into the hearts of the people of a picturesque French village on the north Brittany coast. More than 100 animals have fallen victim to the mystery killer since he or she began their murderous spree in and around the village of Minihy-Tréguier, a pretty spot popular with tourists and home to a handful of British expats. "The village is gripped by fear," Jean-Yves Fenvarc'h, the mayor of the village of 1,300 people, told the Telegraph. The killer sneaks into people's gardens, removes the rabbits from their hutches, kills them with a sharp object or by simply crushing them with his foot, and then leaves their dead bodies where they died. The rabbits he kills are often kept by elderly people who house them in their gardens, sometimes alongside chickens or geese. “He (the killer) never touches the chickens or the geese,” said Mr Fenvarc'h. The mayor said the attacks, which now number 15 in total, began in March, then eased off before starting again in August, and then, after another lull, resumed earlier this month. What makes the situation particularly scary, he said, was the fact that the killer sometimes returns to the scene of a crime to kill again. ||||| Detectives are hunting a serial killer who is believed to be responsible for beating to death about a hundred pet rabbits in a small town in Brittany. Officers believe that the culprit, whom they describe as cold-blooded, is human rather than a fox or another wild animal and have issued an appeal for witnesses. The killer strikes when owners leave home, raising fears that properties are being watched. Local residents believe that the killer must know the area to be able to identify people with rabbit hutches that are not visible from the road. Police in the Côtes-d’Armor region denounced a “series of acts of cruelty against domestic rabbits” in and around the town of Minihy-Tréguier. “The cages are opened then the animals are killed…

– A French town is being terrorized by a serial killer—but humans aren't the target. The Telegraph reports that someone in the village of Minihy-Treguier has so far slaughtered more than 100 rabbits, slipping into residents' yards, yanking rabbits out of their hutches, and either stomping them to death by foot or murdering them with a sharp tool of some kind. "The cages are opened, then the animals are killed in cold blood and left at the scene," a police statement notes, per the Sunday Times. The town's mayor says there've been 15 attacks in all, starting in March, with some homes getting hit more than once. "He returned to one home four times, killing 20 rabbits there in all," the mayor notes. One woman who lost six adult rabbits—as well as some of their babies, which died after the mothers were killed—tells local media she once surprised a man she though was the rabbit murderer, wearing a black hat and a long raincoat, one morning, "but he had the time to make his escape." Oddly left alone in these murderous rampages: chickens and geese that often cohabitate with the bunnies. (Authorities don't think foxes or other animals are killing the rabbits, as was the case with a slew of mysterious cat deaths in the UK.)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Investigators say the bomb that went off in Chelsea contained residue of an explosive compound that is easy to find. CBS2’s Alice Gainer reported Tannerite, which is the brand name, is unregulated and that anyone can buy it. The compound is sold as a mix of two chemicals and it creates high explosives when combined. An instructional video on Tannerite Sports’ website explains how the exploding target works. “Pour the contents of the catalyst packet into the mixing container,” the instructor said in the video. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives defines binary explosives as pre-packaged products consisting of two separate components – typically an oxidizer like ammonium nitrate and a fuel like aluminum or another metal. The ATF doesn’t regulate the compound because separately, the chemicals don’t meet the definition of explosive. In response to the Chelsea explosion, Tannerite Sports said it is working to determine if their product was definitely used in Saturday’s explosion. “As far as our knowledge and independent testing results show, our product can only be set off by a successful high-power rifle shot directly to the target; and in addition that once done it vaporizes as it is an endothermic product,” the company said in a statement. Manny Gomez, a former FBI agent and security expert, said the company is being on the “defensive.” “They’re being defensive. The bottom line is not if that was used, the bottom line is that product, as well as other products, are easily accessible and could detonate a pressure cooker,” Gomez explained. He continued, “Just like you set off a round in a rifle simply by pushing a little snap, every round has its own little detonator, it’s a similar thing with a pressure cooker. The only thing is that they used old-fashioned flip phones as a method of detonation.” Gomez compared the product to gasoline put in cars, noting people use it responsibly, but if used inappropriately, that could light a building up. “It’s just something we have to be aware of that these terrorists are very clever at finding out what components can come together and make an improvised exploding device,” Gomez said. Though they don’t regulate it, ATF has put out advisories about binary explosives before. They ask people to report any unusual activity with these materials. For example, if someone is attempting to buy a large quantity while knowing very little about the product. The suspect in the bombings, Ahmad Khan Rahami, will be charged with five counts of attempted murder. ||||| The bomb that exploded Saturday in New York City used an explosive called Tannerite, according to news reports. Until now, Tannerite has mostly been known to target shooters. Now it’s being implicated in a terrorist attack. Here are answers to some questions about an explosive you might not have heard of and its role in this unfolding story. What is Tannerite? Tannerite is the brand name of a binary explosive often used as a rifle target. Binary explosives are two-part mixtures of components that aren’t explosive on their own. The original patent for Tannerite describes a mixture of ammonium nitrate, ammonium perchlorate and powdered aluminum and a few minor ingredients. Steve Yerger, an investigator for the company, says the current proprietary formulation uses just the ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminum. Generic mixtures of ammonium nitrate and powdered aluminum, sometimes called ammonal, are sometimes also called Tannerite, like calling all facial tissues Kleenexes. Why are people using this stuff? Tannerite is popular for target practice because it produces a loud bang and a puff of smoke when hit with a fast-moving bullet. That makes it more obvious—and more exciting—when you hit the target than, say, shooting a piece of paper. The reason they use Tannerite specifically is because it’s easy to get and relatively safe. Because the two components aren’t themselves explosive, the Federal government doesn’t regulate Tannerite like it does black powder or TNT. You can buy it online or in stores, and the individual components are available on their own. Okay. Is it dangerous? It can be. Although Tannerite was designed to produce a relatively small explosion for safety, people have been seriously hurt and even killed using it. In most cases that happened when it was detonated inside a container, which fragmented and sent shrapnel flying at the victims. Binary explosives do have an inherent degree of safety, in that they aren’t explosive until the two parts are mixed. And how does it work? A chemical explosive has two fundamental components: a fuel and an oxidizer. The fuel releases energy when it reacts. The oxidizer provides the oxygen atoms the fuel needs in order to react. In your fireplace, wood is the fuel and the air around us is the oxidizer. In the patented recipe for Tannerite, the fuel is aluminum powder with some titanium. The oxidizer is a mixture of ammonium nitrate and ammonium perchlorate, the key part being the “ate” on the ends of those words. That means they contain oxygen, in this case bound to nitrogen and chlorine atoms respectively. Ammonal, the generic version is usually just the aluminum powder and ammonium nitrate. When mixed together, the components need a certain amount of energy to set off the explosive reaction. In the case of Tannerite, that comes from the kinetic energy of a fast-moving bullet. Oxygen atoms leave nitrate and perchlorate and bind to aluminum atoms to form aluminum oxide. That’s the stuff that gives untreated aluminum its rough, ashy look. Like all explosive reactions, it works because the products are more stable than the starting components. Going from less stable compounds to more stable compounds releases energy in the form of heat and light. In the case of Tannerite or ammonal, the reaction also produces a gas, whose expansion in a sealed container adds to the explosive power of a bomb. Ammonium nitrate sounds kind of familiar. Where have I heard that name before? Ammonium nitrate had figured in high-profile explosions before. It was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and was the cause of an accidental explosion in 2013 in West, Texas that killed 15 people. Explosives use nitrogen-containing compounds like ammonium nitrate because they produce nitrogen gas. TNT, trinitrotoluene, is a famous example. Nitrogen gas, which makes up almost 80% of our atmosphere, is two nitrogen atoms joined by a triple bond. That triple bond is incredibly strong, meaning it takes a huge amount of energy to break. Conversely, the bond releases a huge amount of energy when it forms. In Tannerite or TNT, the formation of nitrogen gas is one source of their explosive energy. So Tannerite was the explosive in the New York City bombs? Maybe. First, to be clear, the name Tannerite is appearing in news stories attributed to unnamed law enforcement sources. Tannerite residue was reportedly found on the two bombs discovered in New York over the weekend. Other bombs linked to the suspect, Ahmad Rahami, who is now in custody, may have used different explosives. These reports may be wrong in part or whole. The company that makes Tannerite is skeptical. Steve Yerger, the company investigator, says he has not been able to confirm with the FBI or other law enforcement agencies that Tannerite was in fact found in the New York bombs. What’s more, he says he doesn’t know how it could have been used. In the company’s tests, says Yerger, Tannerite can only be detonated by the impact of a high-velocity bullet. A burning fuse, an electrical current, a hammer blow; none of those will work, according to him. There have been no reports that a gunshot was used to trigger the bomb that exploded in New York on Saturday. What Yerger says is entirely plausible. He hasn’t shared the results of the tests he is talking about, but explosives can be and are made so that they only explode in certain ways. “That’s in keeping with a lot of explosive materials,” says Dave Welch, a senior explosives expert at Ramora UK, which does bomb disposal. Welch could not confirm Yerger’s assertions about Tannerite specifically. There are other ways to detonate an aluminum oxide and ammonium nitrate bomb though. The bombs in this test of ammonal done by scientists at the Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs were set off with standard detonators and boosters used to produce a shock with enough energy to explode the mixture. We'll need more information from law enforcement agencies before we know what happened in Chelsea. Correction: This post has been updated with information from the Tannerite company about the product's formula. ||||| Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE A visual timeline of the bombing attacks and attempted bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey over the weekend of Sept. 17th and 18th. USA TODAY NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 18: FBI agents review the crime scene of remnants of bomb debris on 23rd St. in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on September 18, 2016 in New York City. An explosion that injured 29 people that went off in a construction dumpster is being labeled an "intentional act". A second device, a pressure cooker, was found four blocks away that an early investigation found was likely also a bomb. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) (Photo: Stephanie Keith, Getty Images) The bomb that exploded in Manhattan on Saturday contained residue of Tannerite, a legal product used primarily for target practice. Tannerite explodes when struck by a bullet from a high-powered rifle so ranges put it on targets as a way to prove a target has been struck. The brand-name product is defined as a "binary explosive" by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firerams and Exposives (ATF). This means it's sold in two inert pieces, said Jimmie Oxley, a chemistry professor at the University of Rhode Island. It is not an explosive until the two parts are mixed, Oxley said. Even when two separate parts – ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder – are mixed, the compound won't explode until it's hit by the bullet, she said. Tannerite cannot be set off by a smoldering fuse, an electronic fuse, an electrical current, an open flame, impact with a hammer or even a low-velocity handgun, according to Steve Yerger, a corporate investigator for Tannerite. It's a very stable product, he said. A federal law enforcement official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation confirmed that investigators found Tannerite residue the bomb that exploded in Chelsea, injuring 29 people on Saturday night. Tannarite makes it easy for shooters at a range to easily determine whether their shot hit its intended target, Yerger said. Tannerite is sold in many sporting goods stores. It's also available on the Tannerite website. "We feel horrible that Tannerite has been associated with the bombing," Yerger said, On its Facebook page Monday afternoon, the company said that it was aware of the bombing in New York and the explosive devices found in New Jersey. "The entire staff of Tannerite stands together in the abhorrence and unintended use of all products that are misused for violence and hate," the Facebook post said. The ATF does not regulate the sale and distribution of the two chemicals used in Tannerite and similar products, even when sold together in binary "kits," the ATF said. Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Ahmad Rahami: What we know about the suspected bomber | 0:41 Everything we know about the suspected bomber Ahmad Rahami. USA TODAY 1 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY WATCH: Interview with Linden bar owner Harinder Bains | 0:44 Linden bar owner Harinder Bains, who found the bombing suspect asleep in his doorway. USA TODAY 2 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Photographer describes the capture of Ahmad Khan Rahami | 0:47 A photographer recounts the moment he witnessed the arrest of NYC bombing suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami, after a shootout in New Jersey. 3 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Timeline of attacks in New York and New Jersey | 1:08 A visual timeline of the bombing attacks and attempted bombing attacks in New York and New Jersey over the weekend of Sept. 17th and 18th. USA TODAY 4 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Video shows suspect being loaded into ambulance | 1:09 Witness video captured the moment Ahmad Khad Rahami was loaded into an ambulance in Linden, New Jersey following a gun battle with police. Authorities say the Afghan immigrant is the main suspect behind explosions in New York and New Jersey. (Sept. 19) AP 5 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Commuters unfazed despite NYC bombing | 0:54 New York City commuters Monday morning said they weren’t afraid or overly concerned to travel despite the Chelsea weekend bombing and other bombs found in New Jersey. 6 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Mayor de Blasio: No evidence of terror cell | 1:41 Investigators probing bomb blasts in New York and New Jersey say they've found no evidence so far that the suspect in the attacks was part of a broader terrorist cell. (Sept. 19) AP 7 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Mayor de Blasio: NYC bombing was an act of terror | 1:09 New York City Mayor de Blasio, along with other NYC officials, provided more details around the bombing that injured 29 people. Even though officials arrested a suspect, the mayor promised a stronger, visible NYPD presence throughout the week. 8 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY FBI speaks about capture of terror suspect | 1:22 Newark, NJ, FBI Special Agent in Charge Tim Gallagher speaks about the investigation that lead to the arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami in Linden, NJ. THOMAS P. COSTELLO 9 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Obama tells Americans, 'Don't succumb to fear' | 0:41 Following the explosions in New York City and New Jersey and the stabbing attack in Minnesota, President Obama reminded Americans to stay strong. 10 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Suspected N.Y., N.J. bomber taken into custody | 0:36 Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect wanted in connection to the New Jersey and New York City bombings, is now in custody. USA TODAY 11 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY N.J. residents recall N.Y. suspect as 'friendly' | 1:07 Police are seeking 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan, in connection to Saturday's bombing in New York. His last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where the FBI executed a search warrant Monday. (Sept. 19) AP 12 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY NYPD identify 'wanted' man in Manhattan bombing | 0:55 NYPD says a 28-year-old man is wanted for in connection to the New Jersey and New York City bombings. 13 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Raw: Video of Elizabeth, New Jersey Explosion | 1:03 A suspicious device found in a trash can near a New Jersey train station exploded early Monday as a bomb squad was attempting to disarm it with a robot, officials said. (Sept. 19) AP 14 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Man helps injured after New York bombing | 1:14 Cell phone video shows a man helping several women who were injured in Saturday night's bombing in New York. (Sept. 18) AP 15 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Raw: Surveillance shows moment of NYC explosion | 1:53 Surveillance video provided to the Associated Press by Orangetheory Fitness Chelsea, showed people running and debris flying moments after an explosion was set off. (Sept. 18) AP 16 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Mayor calls New York City explosion a bombing | 1:00 New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio says an explosion that rocked a Manhattan neighborhood Saturday night was caused by a bomb. But de Blasio said Sunday that authorities don't yet know who made it, who set it off or the motivation behind it. (Sept. 18) AP 17 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY 5 things to know about NYC explosion | 0:56 A powerful blast from an explosive device injured at least 29 people in New York City's popular Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night. USA TODAY NETWORK 18 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Raw surveillance of NYC blast | 0:37 Surveillance cameras captured the NYC Chelsea explosion. USA TODAY 19 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Clinton, Trump react to New York blast | 1:08 A deliberate explosion rocked one of the most fashionable neighborhoods of New York on Saturday night, injuring 29 people, one seriously, a week after America's financial capital marked the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Video provided by AFP Newslook 20 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Trump appears to pre-empt NYC cops on blast | 0:32 Donald Trump appeared to pre-empt New York City officials when he declared Saturday evening that a "bomb went off" in New York City before officials had released details. (Sept. 18) AP 21 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY RAW: Witness assists injured at scene of Chelsea explosion | 1:18 RAW: Witness assists the injured at scene of a powerful explosion from a explosive device the injured at least 29 people in New York's popular Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday. Video courtesy of Ramón Lopez. Ramón Lopez / NorthJersey.com 22 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY New York blast 'intentional' but no known terror link: NY Mayor | 0:58 New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio says a blast in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, which left 29 people injured, was 'intentional' but that there was no evidence of a terror connection. Video provided by AFP Newslook 23 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Raw: NY Governor Arrives At Scene of Explosion | 1:09 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo arrived at the scene of an explosion that rocked a crowded Manhattan neighborhood and injured 29 people the night before. (Sept. 18) AP 24 of 25 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE EXPLOSION IN CHELSEA NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK CITY Raw: More than two dozen hurt in New York explosion | 1:09 Police and firefighters are at the scene of a possible explosion in New York City, and authorities say at least 25 people suffered minor injuries. (Sept. 17) AP 25 of 25 Last VideoNext Video Ahmad Rahami: What we know about the suspected bomber WATCH: Interview with Linden bar owner Harinder Bains Photographer describes the capture of Ahmad Khan Rahami Timeline of attacks in New York and New Jersey Video shows suspect being loaded into ambulance Commuters unfazed despite NYC bombing Mayor de Blasio: No evidence of terror cell Mayor de Blasio: NYC bombing was an act of terror FBI speaks about capture of terror suspect Obama tells Americans, 'Don't succumb to fear' Suspected N.Y., N.J. bomber taken into custody N.J. residents recall N.Y. suspect as 'friendly' NYPD identify 'wanted' man in Manhattan bombing Raw: Video of Elizabeth, New Jersey Explosion Man helps injured after New York bombing Raw: Surveillance shows moment of NYC explosion Mayor calls New York City explosion a bombing 5 things to know about NYC explosion Raw surveillance of NYC blast Clinton, Trump react to New York blast Trump appears to pre-empt NYC cops on blast RAW: Witness assists injured at scene of Chelsea explosion New York blast 'intentional' but no known terror link: NY Mayor Raw: NY Governor Arrives At Scene of Explosion Raw: More than two dozen hurt in New York explosion Mixing binary components together constitutes manufacturing explosives, according to the ATF: "Persons manufacturing explosives for their own personal, non-business use only (such as personal target practice) are not required to have a federal explosives license or permit," the ATF said on its website. "However, when the binary components are combined, the resulting mixture is an explosive material," the ATF warned. The ATF issued an advisory last year, warning that these products are "high explosives and should be treated with caution and in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions." According to Tannerite, the company's corporate investigator is working to determine whether the product was used in the bombing. "At this time we are unable to validate the allegations due to it being an ongoing investigation," according to the company's Facebook page. Though federal regulations are lacking, one state is attempting to regulate the sale of Tannerite: After a failed attempt last year, Indiana state senator Jim Merritt will again introduce a bill in January 2017 that would prohibit the sale of Tannerite to customers younger than 18 and also require retailers to place the products behind the counter or in a locked display case. Though Merritt said he's all for target practice, this is a "common-sense approach," he said, noting several instances of Indiana residents hurt by flying shrapnel in Tannerite-related explosions. Contributing: Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2cywmgj

– A legal product that can be purchased online or at a sporting goods store was used in the bomb that went off in Manhattan Saturday, USA Today reports. Tannerite is a product typically used for target practice; it is placed on targets and explodes when struck by a bullet from a high-powered rifle. It's sold in two inert parts (ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder), neither of which is regulated by the ATF. Once those two parts are mixed together, it only explodes if a bullet hits it and is considered very stable, a corporate investigator for Tannerite says. Tannerite residue was found inside the bomb that exploded in Chelsea, a federal law enforcement official tells USA Today. A post on the company's Facebook page Monday reads, "The entire staff of Tannerite stands together in the abhorrence and unintended use of all products that are misused for violence and hate." It goes on to note that its investigator is working to verify that Tannerite was indeed used in the bomb. A former FBI agent tells CBS News Tannerite appears to be "on the defensive." "It’s just something we have to be aware of that these terrorists are very clever at finding out what components can come together and make an improvised exploding device," he says. Forbes has more on the science behind Tannerite.

Study reveals rate of extinction for species in the 20th century has been up to 100 times higher than would have been normal without human impact The modern world is experiencing a “sixth great extinction” of animal species even when the lowest estimates of extinction rates are considered, scientists have warned. The rate of extinction for species in the 20th century was up to 100 times higher than it would have been without man’s impact, they said. Many conservationists have been warning for years that a mass extinction event akin to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs is occurring as humans degrade and destroy habitats. But the authors of a study published on Friday said that even when they analysed the most conservative extinction rates, the rate at which vertebrates were being lost forever was far higher than in the last five mass extinctions. The Earth stands on the brink of its sixth mass extinction and the fault is ours Read more “We were very surprised to see how bad it is,” said Dr Gerardo Ceballos of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. “This is very depressing because we used the most conservative rates, and even then they are much higher than the normal extinction rate, really indicating we are having a massive loss of the species.” Previous studies have warned that the impact of humans taking land for buildings, farming and timber has been to make species extinct at speeds unprecedented in Earth’s 4.5bn-year history. Ceballos said that his study, co-authored by Paul R Ehrlich who famously warned of the impact of humanity’s “population bomb”, employed better knowledge of natural or so-called background extinction rates. He said it was conservative because it looked only at species that had been declared extinct, which due to stringent rules can sometimes take many years after a species has actually gone extinct. Under a “natural” rate of extinction, the study said that two species go extinct per 10,000 species per 100 years, rather than the one species that previous work has assumed. Modern rates of extinction were eight to 100 times higher , the authors found. For example, 477 vertebrates have gone extinct since 1900, rather than the nine that would be expected at natural rates. “It’s really signalling we’ve entered a sixth extinction and it’s driven by man,” said Ceballos. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Noah’s Ark and the General Deluge - a colour lithograph published in New York by Muller and Company, c 1870 by an unknown artist. Photograph: Corbis However, Prof Henrique Miguel Pereira, the chair of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network, said that the new paper did not add anything revolutionarily new. “They argue that recent extinction rates are up to 100 times higher than in the past. I think it improves our documentation of the process but it does not yet confirm a sixth mass extinction. I tend to think we have a major biodiversity crisis, but it would take either a fast acceleration of current extinction rates or a couple of centuries at current extinction rates, for the current process to become a sixth mass extinction.” The team behind the new analysis said “rapid, greatly intensified efforts” would be needed to stop or slow the extinctions currently underway. Ceballos pointed to the Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, which was published on Thursday and lamented the loss of the world’s biodiversity, and interventions by Barack Obama, as signs of hope. “These important figures are starting to really grasp the problem,” he said. On why people should be worried about the rate of extinctions, he said: “People say that’s really sad, but why does it affect me? There are many reasons we should care. We are the species that are causing the loss of all these other species.” But the most important reason, he said, was that by losing species humanity was losing what enabled us to have a “good standard of living”. The paper, Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction, was published in the journal Science Advances. ||||| Earth has entered its sixth mass extinction with animals now dying out at 100 times the normal rate, scientists have warned. Humans have created a toxic mix of habitat loss, pollution and climate change, which has already led to the loss of at least 77 species of mammals, 140 types of bird since and 34 amphibians since 1500. They include creatures like the dodo, Steller’s Sea Cow, the Falkland Islands wolf, the quagga, the Formosan clouded leopard, the Atlas bear, the Caspian tiger and the Cape lion. Scientists at Stanford University in the US claim it is the biggest loss of species since the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction which wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. “Without any significant doubt that we are now entering the sixth great mass extinction event," said Professor Paul Ehrlich, at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. “Species are disappearing up to about 100 times faster than the normal rate between mass extinctions, known as the background rate. “Our calculations very likely underestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. There are examples of species all over the world that are essentially the walking dead.” Humans were responsible for wiping out the dodo Using fossil records and extinction counts from a range of sources, the researchers calculated the normal ‘background rate’ of extinctions and compared it with a conservative estimate of current extinctions. Natural population changes in the wild usually lead to two species of mammals dying out every 10,000 years. But the current rate is 114 times that level. And humans have been responsible for animal decline going much further back. In the islands of tropical Oceania, up to 1800 bird species are estimated to have gone extinct in the last 2,000 years. It is likely that early humans were also responsible for wiping out the huge megafauna which used to live in Australia including a huge giant wombat a marsupial lion and a flesh-eating kangaroo. Currently one in four mammals is at risk of going extinct and 41 per cent of amphibians. Many now only survive in captivity. A giant wombat which used to live in Australia "If it is allowed to continue, life would take many millions of years to recover, and our species itself would likely disappear early on," said lead author Gerardo Ceballos of the Universidad Autónoma de México. Professor Ehrlich said that government must start working together to conserve threatened species. Despite the gloomy outlook, there is a meaningful way forward, according to Ehrlich and his colleagues. "Avoiding a true sixth mass extinction will require rapid, greatly intensified efforts to conserve already threatened species, and to alleviate pressures on their populations - notably habitat loss, over-exploitation for economic gain and climate change," the study's authors write. Many types of wolves have become extinct including British and Falkland Island varieties Earth has experienced five recognised mass extinctions. The Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction of 443 million years ago saw 83 per cent of sea life wiped out. In the Late Devonian mass extinction which followed 90 million years later three quarters of life on Earth became extinct . The Permian mass extinction of 248 million years ago was nicknamed The Great Dying as 96 per cent of species died out. Then 48 million years later half of Earth’s species were wiped out by climate change and asteroid impacts. The final one marked the end of the dinosaurs. Dr Mike Barrett, WWF-UK’s Director of Science and Policy said, ‘These findings echo those of WWF’s Living Planet Report which highlighted a 52 per cent decline in vertebrate populations over the last 40 years. "If this trend is not reversed it is easy to see how more extinctions could take place and it is further evidence that we clearly need to do more to protect wildlife and their habitats." The research was published in the journal Science Advances. 10 most endangered species South China tiger Native to the southern Chinese provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi the tiger had a population of 4,000 in the 1950s but it is no thought longer to exist in zoos. Sumatran elephant As more of Sumatran forest becomes converted for agricultural uses, the elephant has faced a critical loss of habitat. A 2007 study estimated there were less than 2,800 remaining in the wild. Amur leopard The world's rarest cat is believed to be making a comeback with at least 57 confirmed animals now confirmed Russia. Just 30 animals existed in 2007. But the animal is still vulnerable to hunters. Atlantic goliath grouper Despite the US issuing a moratorium on hunting the big fish in 1990, the animal remains critically endangered. Gulf porpoise The Gulf porpoise is now one of the rarest mammals in the world, with a global population estimated at under 100 in 2014. The last remaining porpoises live in North America's Gulf of California and experts expect it to become extinct by 2018. Northern bald ibis The bird’s natural habitat of North Africa, European and the Middle East has been plagued with war and civil unrest and now only one population exists in Morocco, with just a few hundred remaining. Attempts are currently underway in Austria, Spain and Italy to breed the animals for reintroduction into the wild. Hawksbill turtle The 20,000 strong female population is under severe threat by hunters seeking their brown and gold shells. Black rhinoceros The black rhino has suffered the most drastic decline in total numbers of all rhino species and was officially declared extinct in the wild in 2011. However a major conservation effort has seen numbers swell to 5,000 and now the animals are kept under armed guard. Pygmy three-toed sloth Found on Panama's uninhabited Escudo de Veraguas island, a 2012 study found fewer than 80 sloths were still living because of habitat loss by loggers. Chinese pangolin Used extensively as a food, and for Chinese medicines, the pangolin has declined by 94 per cent since the 1960s. Exact numbers have been difficult to estimate because the creature is solitary and nocturnal. ||||| Abstract The oft-repeated claim that Earth’s biota is entering a sixth “mass extinction” depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the “background” rates prevailing between the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. We assess, using extremely conservative assumptions, whether human activities are causing a mass extinction. First, we use a recent estimate of a background rate of 2 mammal extinctions per 10,000 species per 100 years (that is, 2 E/MSY), which is twice as high as widely used previous estimates. We then compare this rate with the current rate of mammal and vertebrate extinctions. The latter is conservatively low because listing a species as extinct requires meeting stringent criteria. Even under our assumptions, which would tend to minimize evidence of an incipient mass extinction, the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 100 times higher than the background rate. Under the 2 E/MSY background rate, the number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way. Averting a dramatic decay of biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but that window of opportunity is rapidly closing. Keywords Sixth mass extinction vertebrate extinctions rates of extinction background extinction modern vertebrate losses INTRODUCTION The loss of biodiversity is one of the most critical current environmental problems, threatening valuable ecosystem services and human well-being (1–7). A growing body of evidence indicates that current species extinction rates are higher than the pre-human background rate (8–15), with hundreds of anthropogenic vertebrate extinctions documented in prehistoric and historic times (16–23). For example, in the islands of tropical Oceania, up to 1800 bird species (most described in the last few decades from subfossil remains) are estimated to have gone extinct in the ~2000 years since human colonization (24). Written records of extinctions of large mammals, birds, and reptiles date back to the 1600s and include species such as the dodo (Raphus cucullatus, extinguished in the 17th century), Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas, extinguished in the 18th century), and the Rodrigues giant tortoise (Cylindraspis peltastes, extinguished in the 19th century). More species extinction records date from the 19th century and include numerous species of mammals and birds. Records of extinction for reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fishes, and other organisms have mainly been documented since the beginning of the 20th century (14, 17). Moreover, even in species that are not currently threatened, the extirpation of populations is frequent and widespread, with losses that far outstrip species-level extinctions (18, 25). Population-level extinction directly threatens ecosystem services and is the prelude to species-level extinction (18). Here, we analyze the modern rates of vertebrate species extinction and compare them with a recently computed background rate for mammals (7). We specifically addressed the following questions: (i) Are modern rates of mammal and vertebrate extinctions higher than the highest empirically derived background rates? (ii) How have modern extinction rates in mammals and vertebrates changed through time? (iii) How many years would it have taken for species that went extinct in modern times to have been lost if the background rate had prevailed? These are important issues because the uncertainties about estimates of species loss have led skeptics to question the magnitude of anthropogenic extinctions (26) and because understanding the magnitude of the extinction crisis is relevant for conservation, maintenance of ecosystem services, and public policy. Until recently, most studies of modern extinction rates have been based on indirect estimates derived, for example, on the rates of deforestation and on species-area relationships (11, 14). Problems related to estimating extinction since 1500 AD (that is, modern extinctions) have been widely discussed, and the literature reflects broad agreement among environmental scientists that biases lead to underestimating the number of species that have gone extinct in the past few centuries—the period during which Homo sapiens truly became a major force on the biosphere (1–4, 6–8, 14, 15). However, direct evaluation is complicated by uncertainties in estimating the incidence of extinction in historical time and by methodological difficulties in comparing contemporary extinctions with past ones. Less discussed are assumptions underlying the estimation of background extinction rates. The lower these estimates, the more dramatic current extinction rates will appear by comparison. In nearly all comparisons of modern versus background extinction rates, the background rate has been assumed to be somewhere between 0.1 and 1 species extinction per 10,000 species per 100 years (equal to 0.1 to 1 species extinction per million species per year, a widely used metric known as E/MSY). Those estimates reflect the state of knowledge available from the fossil record in the 1990s (7, 9–13). In a recent analysis, which charted the stratigraphic ranges of thousands of mammal species, extinction rates were measured over intervals ranging from single years to millions of years, and the mean extinction rate and variance were computed for each span of time (7). In this way, the background extinction rate estimated for mammals was estimated at 1.8 E/MSY, here rounded upward conservatively to 2 E/MSY (that is, 2 extinctions per 100 years per 10,000 species). This is double the highest previous rough estimate. Those previously estimated background rates were primarily derived from marine invertebrate fossils, which are likely to have greater species longevity than vertebrates (10, 15). Data deficiencies make it impossible to conduct empirical analyses (as was done for mammals) for non-mammal terrestrial vertebrates; therefore, we assume the background rates of other vertebrates to be similar to those of mammals. This supposition leads to a more conservative assessment of differences between current and past extinction rates for the vertebrates as a whole, compared with using the very low background extinction rate derived from marine invertebrates. The analysis we present here avoids using assumptions such as loss of species predicted from species-area relationships, which can suggest very high extinction rates, and which have raised the possibility that scientists are “alarmists” seeking to exaggerate the impact of humans on the biosphere (26). Here, we ascertain whether even the lowest estimates of the difference between background and contemporary extinction rates still justify the conclusion that people are precipitating a global spasm of biodiversity loss. RESULTS Modern and background rates of vertebrate extinctions Modern rates of vertebrate extinction were much higher than a background extinction rate of 2 E/MSY. Among the vertebrate taxa evaluated by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 338 extinctions have been documented since 1500 [“extinct” (EX), Table 1]. An additional 279 species have become either “extinct in the wild” (EW) or listed as “possibly extinct” (PE), totaling 617 vertebrate species summed over the three categories. Most extinctions have occurred in the last 114 years (that is, since 1900; Table 1). Our estimated “highly conservative” (that is, using data for EX species only) and “conservative” (that is, by including EX, EW, and PE) modern extinction rates for vertebrates varied from 8 to 100 times higher than the background rate (Table 2). This means, for example, that under the 2 E/MSY background rate, 9 vertebrate extinctions would have been expected since 1900; however, under the conservative rate, 468 more vertebrates have gone extinct than would have if the background rate had persisted across all vertebrates under that period. Specifically, these 468 species include 69 mammal species, 80 bird species, 24 reptiles, 146 amphibians, and 158 fish. Table 1 Numbers of species used in the Table 2 calculations of “highly conservative” and “conservative” modern extinction rates based on the IUCN Red List ( 17 ). For the highly conservative rates, only species verified as “extinct” (EX) were included; for the conservative extinction rates, species in the categories “extinct in the wild” (EW) and “possibly extinct” (PE) were also included. View this table: Table 2 Elevation of “highly conservative” and “conservative” modern vertebrate extinction rates above background rate of 2 E/MSY (see table S2 for calculations). For each assessment category, two periods are shown: extinction rates computed from 1500 to the present, and from 1900 to the present. View this table: Variation in modern extinction rates through time Modern extinction rates have increased sharply over the past 200 years (corresponding to the rise of industrial society) and are considerably higher than background rates (Fig. 1). Rates of modern extinctions vary among vertebrate groups (Fig. 1). For example, amphibians, comprising of ~7300 species, show an accelerating rate of extinction: only 34 extinctions have been documented with a high level of certainty since 1500, yet >100 species have likely disappeared since 1980 (17, 23). This may not only reflect real trends but also a shortage of data for groups for which most species are not yet evaluated, such as reptiles and fish (21, 22). Fig. 1 Cumulative vertebrate species recorded as extinct or extinct in the wild by the IUCN (2012). Graphs show the percentage of the number of species evaluated among mammals (5513; 100% of those described), birds (10,425; 100%), reptiles (4414; 44%), amphibians (6414; 88%), fishes (12,457; 38%), and all vertebrates combined (39,223; 59%). Dashed black curve represents the number of extinctions expected under a constant standard background rate of 2 E/MSY. (A) Highly conservative estimate. (B) Conservative estimate. Modern extinctions if background rate had prevailed Our results indicate that modern vertebrate extinctions that occurred since 1500 and 1900 AD would have taken several millennia to occur if the background rate had prevailed. The total number of vertebrate species that went extinct in the last century would have taken about 800 to 10,000 years to disappear under the background rate of 2 E/MSY (Fig. 2). The particularly high losses in the last several decades accentuate the increasing severity of the modern extinction crisis. Fig. 2 Number of years that would have been required for the observed vertebrate species extinctions in the last 114 years to occur under a background rate of 2 E/MSY. Red markers, highly conservative scenario; blue markers, conservative scenario. Note that for all vertebrates, the observed extinctions would have taken between 800 to 10,000 years to disappear, assuming 2 E/MSY. Different classes of vertebrates all show qualitatively similar trends. DISCUSSION Arguably the most serious aspect of the environmental crisis is the loss of biodiversity—the other living things with which we share Earth. This affects human well-being by interfering with crucial ecosystem services such as crop pollination and water purification and by destroying humanity’s beautiful, fascinating, and culturally important living companions (4, 5, 15, 27–30). Our analysis shows that current extinction rates vastly exceed natural average background rates, even when (i) the background rate is considered to be double previous estimates and when (ii) data on modern vertebrate extinctions are treated in the most conservative plausible way. We emphasize that our calculations very likely underestimate the severity of the extinction crisis because our aim was to place a realistic “lower bound” on humanity’s impact on biodiversity. Therefore, although biologists cannot say precisely how many species there are, or exactly how many have gone extinct in any time interval, we can confidently conclude that modern extinction rates are exceptionally high, that they are increasing, and that they suggest a mass extinction under way—the sixth of its kind in Earth’s 4.5 billion years of history. A final important point is that we focus exclusively on species, ignoring the extirpation of populations—the units relevant to ecological functioning and the delivery of ecosystem services (4, 5, 29). Population extinction cannot be reliably assessed from the fossil record, precluding any analysis along the lines of that presented here. Also, although it is clear that there are high rates of population extinction (18), existing data are much less reliable and far harder to obtain than those for species, which will remain true for the foreseeable future. Likewise, we have not considered animals other than vertebrates because of data deficiencies. The evidence is incontrovertible that recent extinction rates are unprecedented in human history and highly unusual in Earth’s history. Our analysis emphasizes that our global society has started to destroy species of other organisms at an accelerating rate, initiating a mass extinction episode unparalleled for 65 million years. If the currently elevated extinction pace is allowed to continue, humans will soon (in as little as three human lifetimes) be deprived of many biodiversity benefits. On human time scales, this loss would be effectively permanent because in the aftermath of past mass extinctions, the living world took hundreds of thousands to millions of years to rediversify. Avoiding a true sixth mass extinction will require rapid, greatly intensified efforts to conserve already threatened species and to alleviate pressures on their populations—notably habitat loss, overexploitation for economic gain, and climate change (31–33). All of these are related to human population size and growth, which increases consumption (especially among the rich), and economic inequity (6). However, the window of opportunity is rapidly closing. MATERIALS AND METHODS To estimate modern extinction rates, we compiled data on the total number of described species and the number of extinct and possibly extinct vertebrate species from the 2014 IUCN Red List (17). In the IUCN’s list, extinct species can be viewed as the minimum number of actual extinctions during recent human history (that is, since 1500) because it lists species known to be extinct (EX), extinct in the wild (EW), and possibly extinct (PE, a subcategory within “critically endangered” reserved for species thought to be extinct, but not confirmed) (17) (table S1). We used the IUCN data to calculate modern extinction rates in two ways: (i) we estimate a “highly conservative modern extinction rate” by using the data exclusively on species listed as EX, and (ii) we calculate a “conservative extinction rate” by including also both EW and PE species (table S2). Including these latter two categories recognizes that there is only a slim chance that most of the species in those categories can reestablish viable populations in their native habitats. In terms of biological impact and the provision of ecosystem services, we consider EW and PE species to be functionally equivalent to EX species: even if some individuals still exist, their abundances are not sufficient to have a substantial influence on ecological function and processes. The IUCN’s list is considered the authoritative, albeit likely conservative, assessment of the conservation status of plant and animal species. About 1.8 million species have been described since 1758 (when the current nomenclature system was developed), of which 1.3 million are animals (3, 17). Of these animal species, about 39,223 (of the currently counted 66,178) vertebrate species have been formally assessed and reported in the 2014 IUCN Red List (17). In the IUCN sample, mammals, birds, and amphibians have had between 88 and 100% of their known species evaluated, whereas only 44% of reptiles and 38% of fish species have been assessed (Table 1). We focus our comparisons on vertebrates because they are the group for which the most reliable data exist, both fossil and modern. To produce conservative comparisons with modern extinctions, we assumed a background extinction rate of 2 E/MSY as the highest likely baseline average background extinction rate (7); that is, we should expect 2 extinctions per 10,000 vertebrate species per 100 years. That background extinction rate was empirically determined using the exceptionally good fossil records of mammals, combining extinction counts from paleontological databases and published literature on the fossil, subfossil, and historical records (7). Using the resulting high background extinction rate provides a stringent test for assessing whether current modern extinction rates indicate that a mass extinction event is under way. Previous estimates of background extinction rates for other taxa are invariably lower than the mammal-derived estimate of 2 E/MSY used here. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS Supplementary material for this article is available at http://advances.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1/5/e1400253/DC1 Table S1. Definitions of IUCN categories (17) used to assess modern extinction rates. Table S2. Estimation of modern extinction rates since 1500 and 1900. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited. Acknowledgments: We would like to thank B. Young for helping us with the data on “possibly extinct species” published by IUCN. J. Soberon, C. Mendenhall, and J. Pacheco gave valuable suggestions on the manuscript. Funding: This work has been supported by the Programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación e innovación tecnológica from UNAM. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. ||||| Even conservative calculations show the world is in the midst of a sixth mass extinction that's being caused by our species — and is likely to lead to humanity's demise if unchecked, scientists reported Friday. The scientists' analysis, published in the open-access journal Science Advances, follows up on more than a decade's worth of warnings about a rapid loss of global biodiversity. Many experts say the loss has risen to the scale seen during five previous global extinction events — the most recent of which occurred 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs died off. The claims provide the theme of Elizabeth Kolbert's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "The Sixth Extinction." But such claims have drawn skeptical responses as well. The skeptics say it's difficult to judge the "background rate" of extinctions, as well as the current rate of species extinction. Play Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Is Earth headed for another mass extinction? 4:40 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog Related: Extinction Could Get Worse by 2200, Scientists Say The team behind the new study, led by Gerardo Ceballos of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, tried to address such concerns by doubling the commonly cited background rate — going from one species extinction per million species per year to two extinctions. And for the current rate, they turned to a list maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature — which they characterized as a conservative accounting. Based on those figures, the extinction rate since 1900 has been eight to 100 times higher than the expected background rate, the researchers said. "The particularly high losses in the last several decades accentuate the increasing severity of the modern extinction crisis," they reported. "There are examples of species all over the world that are essentially the walking dead," one of the study's co-authors, Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, said in a news release. The researchers noted that amphibians, which account for 7,300 of the species documented by the IUCN, have been particularly hard-hit. "Only 34 extinctions have been documented with a high level of certainty since 1500, yet [more than] 100 species have likely disappeared since 1980," they said. Many of the causes for biodiversity loss have been traced to industrialization, deforestation and other, less obvious human factors. For example, in the case of the amphibians, the wave of extinctions have been traced to the rapid spread of a fatal fungus through global shipping. Flash Interactive: See When Species Rose and Fell Ceballos warned that the human species itself could eventually fall victim to the sixth extinction. "If it is allowed to continue, life would take millions of years to recover, and our species itself would disappear early on," he said. Although the report paints a depressing picture, Ceballos and his colleagues hold out a slender ray of hope. "Avoiding a true sixth mass extinction will require rapid, greatly intensified efforts to conserve already threatened species, and to alleviate pressures on their populations — notably habitat loss, overexploitation for economic gain and climate change," they write. "All of these are related to human population size and growth, which increases consumption (especially among the rich), and economic inequity. However, the window of opportunity is rapidly closing." Update for 10 p.m. ET June 19: In the past, Danish environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg has stirred up controversy by arguing that extinction rates won't be as dire as they've been made out to be. In an email to NBC News, Lomborg said the newly published paper appeared to be "well in line with current assumptions ... namely that humanity is definitely causing more extinctions, likely hundreds of times more than the natural background rate." Lomborg said the authors' claim that current extinction rate could be as much as 114 times the background rate "definitely sounds plausible," but he took issue with their assessment of the implications for the future. "These extinction rates are not likely to persist for many centuries, if even one century, as richer countries can afford to and do reforest, while they also can afford to embark on ever more serious conservation," Lomborg wrote. He said that if you run the numbers, the paper suggests 1,508 vertebrate species could go extinct over the course of the next century. (Assuming that there are 66,178 vertebrate species, the formula is 2*114*66178/10000=1508.). "This is definitely a problem, but it is not the eradication of the natural world," Lomborg wrote. "It equates to 2.3 percent of all vertebrates over the next 100 years — after which it is likely the problem will decline rapidly because most countries will be rich and care much for the natural world." Related: Pope Francis Urges Revolution to Save Earth A tally by the International Union for Conservation of Nature shows trends in the extinction of various groups of animal species. Stanford In addition to Ceballos and Ehrlich, the authors of "Accelerated Modern Human-Induced Species Losses: Entering the Sixth Mass Extinction" include Anthony Barnosky, Andres Garcia, Robert Pringle and Todd Palmer.

– Feeling upbeat? Enough of that: Planet Earth is undergoing a sixth mass extinction that will likely annihilate the human race unless we can curb the trend, scientists say. According to a new paper, the current rate of species extinction outpaces the natural rate far more than anyone knew, NBC News reports. The analysis "employed better knowledge" of Earth's natural extinction rate, the Guardian reports, upping the number from one extinction per million species annually to two extinctions. It then compared that to a current extinction rate that study authors consider conservative. Presto, they got a rate since 1900 that's eight to 100 times worse than the natural one. "We were very surprised to see how bad it is," says study leader Gerardo Ceballos. "This is very depressing." "If it is allowed to continue, life would take millions of years to recover, and our species itself would disappear early on," says Ceballos. But nations can reverse the crisis—which has been linked to deforestation, industrialization, and other human factors—by conserving threatened species and lowering pressures on their populations, the paper says. So far critics seem to buy the paper's basic math but doubt that species extinction will continue at this high rate for centuries. "It is likely the problem will decline rapidly because most countries will be rich and care much for the natural world," writes one environmentalist. Earth has seen five other mass extinctions, including one 443 million years ago that killed off 83% of sea life, and the most recent, which wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, the Telegraph notes.

Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| Page Content Inheritance Tax Inheritance tax is imposed as a percentage of the value of a decedent's estate transferred to beneficiaries by will, heirs by intestacy and transferees by operation of law. The tax rate varies depending on the relationship of the heir to the decedent. The rates for Pennsylvania inheritance tax are as follows: 0 percent on transfers to a surviving spouse or to a parent from a child aged 21 or younger; 4.5 percent on transfers to direct descendants and lineal heirs; 12 percent on transfers to siblings; and 15 percent on transfers to other heirs, except charitable organizations, exempt institutions and government entities exempt from tax. Property owned jointly between spouses is exempt from inheritance tax. Effective for estates of decedents dying after June 30, 2012, certain farm land and other agricultural property are exempt from Pennsylvania inheritance tax, provided the property is transferred to eligible recipients. For more information about the exemptions and related requirements, please review Inheritance Tax Informational Notice 2012-01. Inheritance tax payments are due upon the death of the decedent and become delinquent nine months after the individual's death. If inheritance tax is paid within three months of the decedent's death, a 5 percent discount is allowed. For further information and answers to commonly asked questions, please review the brochure, Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax and Safe Deposit Boxes. For detailed and historic Pennsylvania inheritance tax information, please review the Tax Compendium.

– Roland Bosee Jr., 68, and Nino Esposito, 78, have been inseparable since they first met in 1970. "You meet someone and it just clicks," Esposito told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last month. So with the SCOTUS decision over the summer to legalize gay marriage, the men looked forward to finally tying the knot. But one issue is holding them back: Esposito is technically Bosee's father, because he adopted him in 2012. "We thought never in our lifetime—or in 20 lifetimes—...same-sex marriage [would] happen," Bosee said, adding to CNN that the adoption "gave us the most legitimate thing available to us" at the time. Even though they petitioned to have the adoption annulled, Allegheny County Judge Lawrence O'Toole —known for being progressive on LGBT issues—rejected that plea, noting that adoptions are typically only dissolved when fraud is involved and that nixing theirs "would place in jeopardy and imperil adoption decrees generally." Adoptions of this sort are often sought to cement legal status for financial and other reasons, as well as to strengthen emotional ties. The men said it was both: Esposito told the Post-Gazette "we felt we lacked a family of our own," but they also discovered that any money they inherited from each other would be subject to a much greater inheritance tax if they weren't considered relatives. One person on the couple's side: Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who tells the Post-Gazette, "I wasn't aware that LGBT couples were turning to this method. I can't even imagine having to get an adoption petition approved … to visit a loved one in the hospital." Casey has written a letter of support to AG Loretta Lynch, asking her office to "consider issuing guidance" in cases like this; her office is reviewing it, a rep tells CNN. (The gay marriage decision held up a heterosexual couple's divorce.)

Trump vexes allies as he calls for Russia to rejoin G-7 The statement comes as Trump was already feuding with Macron and Trudeau ahead of the world leader meeting in Canada. President Donald Trump on Friday called for Russia to be reinstated into the group of the world’s largest economies, drawing the ire of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers and further inflaming tensions at the G-7 meeting in Canada. “Now, I love our country. I have been Russia's worst nightmare,” Trump said. “But with that being said, Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?” Story Continued Below Trump made the remarks on the White House South Lawn as he left for the G-7 summit in Quebec, which he will depart from early in order to travel to Singapore, where he is scheduled to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week. His suggestion that the G-7 welcome Russia back into the fold is likely to heighten tensions in Quebec, where the president is expected to meet with allies irate over his decision to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and the European Union. In recent days, Trump has engaged in a war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The G-7, short for Group of Seven, was the G-8 until 2014, when the group’s members expelled Russia over its invasion and annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The G-7’s current membership comprises the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain. “I would recommend — and it's up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting, it should be a part of it. You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run,” Trump told reporters. “And in the G-7, which used to be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.” The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. Trump's suggestion that Russia be brought back into the exclusive club of industrialized nations earned at least one endorsement Friday — that of Italy's new, right-wing prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, who wrote on Twitter that he agreed with the U.S. president. But the British government raised alarms about the proposal, which also brought bipartisan scorn from U.S. lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). “President Trump is turning our foreign policy into an international joke, doing lasting damage to our country, without any rhyme or reason. We need the president to be able to distinguish between our allies and adversaries, and to treat each accordingly. On issue after issue, he’s failed to do that," Schumer said in a statement. “The president’s support for inviting Russia back into the G-7, just after they meddled in the election to support his campaign, will leave millions of Americans with serious questions and suspicions.” "This is weak. Putin is not our friend and he is not the president's buddy," Sasse said in his own statement. "He is a thug using Soviet-style aggression to wage a shadow war against America, and our leaders should act like it." Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent Trump critic who tangled with the president earlier this week, was blunt in a tweet: "No, Russia should not be added to the G-7." Flake's Arizona colleague, GOP Sen. John McCain, was similarly critical of the president's suggestion in a statement emailed to reporters Friday afternoon. “Vladimir Putin chose to make Russia unworthy of membership in the G-8 by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. Nothing he has done since then has changed that most obvious fact," McCain said. “The President has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies.” Trump’s support for Russia’s reentry into the group of leading economies adds to the lengthy list of warm gestures he has offered for the Kremlin and its leader, President Vladimir Putin. Critics of the president have long complained that his foreign policy is too soft on Russia, which the U.S. intelligence community has said sought to interfere in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf, especially relative to the president’s get-tough approach to foreign policy elsewhere around the globe. But while Trump’s rhetoric toward Russia, and Putin in particular, has been noticeably warmer than that of his predecessor, the president and his administration have pointed often to significant steps taken against the Kremlin, including new sanctions, the expulsion of dozens of diplomats and the forced closure of Russia’s two West Coast consulates, in Seattle and San Francisco. "If Hillary got in, I think Putin is probably going, ‘Man, I wish Hillary won,’ because you see what I do," Trump said on Friday about his harsher actions against Russia. Russia had been scheduled to host the G-8 summit in 2014 and had been planning to hold the leaders’ gathering in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which was also the site of the Winter Olympics that year. But after Russian troops invaded Crimea, officials quickly rescheduled for Brussels, the de facto capital of the European Union, which participates in both the G-7 and the G-20. Russia remains a part of the larger group. Trump has run afoul of some of America's closest allies in the run-up to the Quebec gathering. He has devoted significant focus in recent weeks to resetting U.S. trade relationships around the globe, complaining especially loudly about what he says is unfair treatment by top trade partners like Canada and the EU. The president's decision to impose tariffs on both earned him a stern rebuke from Trudeau and the leaders of multiple major EU nations. Trump was originally scheduled to meet Friday for two bilateral meetings, one with Trudeau and another with Macron, although the White House said Friday morning that Trump was running late and that the Macron meeting would have to be rescheduled for later in the day. Trudeau's greeting of Trump ahead of their meeting appeared somewhat stiff but was marked mostly by handshakes and pleasantries. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump and Macron met informally and "exchanged pleasantries and briefly discussed trade." She added that Macron and Trump would hold another meeting later Friday. Macron and Trump both promised this week to confront Trump over his recent decision to impose tariffs on U.S. allies, using blunt language to describe their positions. “Maybe the American president doesn’t care about being isolated today, but we don’t mind being six, if needs be,” Macron said. Following their joint meeting at the summit, Macron said he and Trump had a “very direct discussion.“ But both of the leaders‘ description of their chat were devoid of the escalating rhetoric they had exchanged in the days and hours leading up the summit. “I also want to congratulate you, because I‘m reading what‘s going on in France,“ Trump told Macron in front of a gathering of reporters. “You've got great courage. You‘re doing the right thing.“ Trump hit back on Twitter late Thursday. "Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers," he tweeted. "The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow." He added, "Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things...but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!" When asked by reporters Friday morning about the spat, Trump presented it as a temporary trade dispute and that "in the end we'll all get along." "Look, all of these countries have been taking advantage of the United States on trade," Trump said. "We have massive trade deficits with almost every country. We will straighten that out. And I'll tell you what, it's what I do. It won't even be hard, and in the end we'll all get along. ... When it all straightens out, we'll all be in love again." The president later made light of the distance between himself and Trudeau on trade, joking during a bilateral meeting that the prime minister “has agreed to cut all tariffs and all trade barriers between Canada and the United States.“ Trump then reassured reporters the two were “actually working“ on the matter and had “made a lot of progress today.“ Trump managed to draw a laugh from Trudeau and Merkel prior to a working session on Friday afternoon. The president caught sight of New York Times photographer Doug Mills, turned to Trudeau and quipped: "He's the number one photographer in the world. Unfortunately, he works for The New York Times." The remarks, overheard by a pool reporter, prompted laughter from Trudeau and Merkel. Reporters were subsequently escorted out. Despite numerous other differences, Western leaders have remained united in the need to maintain economic sanctions and other pressure on Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine — not just in Crimea but also in the eastern Donbas region, where it has supported an armed insurgency. An international investigative team recently announced that a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet, Flight MH-17, that was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014 was destroyed by a Russian missile supplied by a specific military unit in southern Russia. Putin has continued to deny any Russian role in that episode, which killed all 298 people on board. Putin initially denied that Russian military forces had invaded Crimea but later acknowledged that they had done so, and even bestowed awards on soldiers who participated in the operation. David Herszenhorn and Cristiano Lima contributed to this report. ||||| President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington, Friday, June 8, 2018, to attend the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington, Friday, June 8, 2018, to attend the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the annual Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations (all times local): 8:30 a.m. President Donald Trump is calling for Russia to be reinstated to the leading group of industrialized nations, now known as the Group of Seven. Trump tells reporters: "Russia should be in the meeting, should be a part of it." Russia was ousted from the elite group in 2014 as punishment for President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. The suspension was supported by the other members of the group, including the U.S., Canada, Japan and four European nations. Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump associates colluded with Russia in a bid to sway the 2016 presidential election in Trump's favor. ___ 7:25 a.m. President Donald Trump says he won't be talking about the Russia probe for a while because he'll be focused on trade talks at the annual Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations. Trump notes on Twitter that he's heading for Canada, where the nations' leaders are gathering at a Quebec resort. Several are expected to challenge Trump's new trade policies, which include tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Trump tweets that the talks "will mostly center on the long time unfair trade practiced against the United States." After that, he'll head to Singapore for a summit with North Korea. He adds: "Won't be talking about the Russian Witch Hunt Hoax for a while!" ___ 6:40 a.m. President Donald Trump says he is looking forward to "straightening out unfair Trade Deals" at the annual Group of Seven meeting. The group of industrialized nations is gathering at a Quebec resort for discussions that are expected to be tense. The leaders from France and Canada say they will push back against new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Trump showed no signs of budging on his trade policies Friday, tweeting: "Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn't happen, we come out even better! ___ 1:50 a.m. President Donald Trump is set to descend on the annual Group of Seven meeting of industrialized nations, expecting tough trade talks as his go-it-alone policies leave him increasingly isolated. On the eve of Friday's gathering at a Quebec resort, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previewed what will likely be a tense two days. They stressed the need for respectful dialogue but say they will push back against new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, as they have on other issues. Trump is showing no signs of backing away from what he sees as key campaign promises. He tweeted Thursday: "Getting ready to go to the G-7 in Canada to fight for our country on Trade (we have the worst trade deals ever made)." ||||| Quebec City (CNN) President Donald Trump said Friday that Russia should be reinstated to a leading group of industrialized nations ahead of his visit to the G7 summit this weekend. Trump's statement is an extraordinary break from key US allies, and particularly striking given Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. A special counsel investigation into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with Russia is underway, though Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations. "Russia should be in this meeting," Trump told reporters upon leaving the White House for the summit, which is being held in Charlevoix, Canada. "They should let Russia come back in, because we should have Russia at the negotiating table." Russia was suspended from the group -- then known as the G8 -- in 2014 after the majority of member countries allied against Russia's annexation of Crimea, which Russia continues to hold. Asked in an interview earlier this week about what would need to happen for Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Austria's ORF broadcasting corporation that "there are no such conditions and there can never be." Friction with key allies Trump's comments underscore the growing divide between the US, under his administration, and Washington's closest allies. The President's willingness to look the other way on Russia's annexation of Crimea -- the first violation of a European country's borders since World War II -- will particularly deepen the chill with allies such as the UK, France and Germany, which are already furious about US trade tariffs, and Trump's rejection of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement. "We always been clear we should engage with Russia where it is in our interests, but we need to remember why G8 became the G7: it was because Russia illegally annexed Crimea," a European diplomat told CNN. "Since then, we have seen an increase in Russian misbehavior and attempts to undermine democracy in Europe. It is not appropriate for Russia to rejoin until we see it behaving responsibly. Putin should get nothing for free." At home, Trump's continuing failure to condemn Russia for its aggressive behavior and his ongoing push to restore more normal relations is bound to raise questions, once again, about his affinity for Moscow and Putin. Sen. John McCain blasted Trump for his comments, saying "The President has inexplicably shown our adversaries the deference and esteem that should be reserved for our closest allies." The Arizona Republican, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that Putin "chose to make Russia unworthy of membership in the G-8 by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. Nothing he has done since then has changed that most obvious fact. Every day, Russian-led separatist forces are killing Ukrainians in the Donbass. Every day, Putin's forces are helping the Assad regime slaughter the Syrian people. And every day, through assassinations, cyber-attacks, and malign influence, Russia is assaulting democratic institutions all over the world." The statement added, "Those nations that share our values and have sacrificed alongside us for decades are being treated with contempt. This is the antithesis of so-called 'principled realism' and a sure path to diminishing America's leadership in the world." Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement, "Putin is not our friend and he is not the President's buddy. He is a thug using Soviet-style aggression to wage a shadow war against America, and our leaders should act like it." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump was turning US foreign policy "into an international joke, doing lasting damage to our country." Former Vice President Joe Biden also criticized Trump's remarks , writing on Twitter, "Putin's Russia invaded its neighbors, violated our sovereignty by undermining elections, and attacks dissidents abroad. Yet our President wants to reward him with a seat at the table while alienating our closest democratic allies. It makes no sense." The comment not only surprised American allies and politicians, but Trump's own National Security Council staff. A National Security Council official told reporters in Quebec Trump's comments were not planned. When asked about whether there was a potential for a summit between Russian President Putin and President Trump, the official said there have been no discussions in terms of when, where or what that summit might look like. The official added that there was some chatter, but it's not something the NSC is working on internally. Acrimonious start to G7 Trump's comments also come at a time when Trump is on the outs with other members of the G7. On Thursday, Trump engaged in a bitter back-and-forth with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over Twitter, both of whom he'll meet face-to-face on Friday. Trump is expecting a knock-down, drag-out fight with top US allies over trade during his time at the conference, held in remote Quebec. It's a battle he believes he can win, but which he's unenthusiastic about waging in person, people familiar with his thinking say. On Thursday, Macron said the leaders would not rule out a 6+1 communique as opposed to the traditional document signed by all leaders at the end of the summit with shared goals and principles. One G7 leader, however, quickly backed Trump's statement: Italy's newly sworn in Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, who said it would be in "everyone's interest" for Russia to be reinstated. Although Conte, a former law professor, has not voiced particularly strong opinions on Russia in the past, his two deputies -- the leader of the Five Star movement and the far-right League Party, who have considered influence over him -- have frequently expressed pro-Russia views.

– President Trump is calling for Russia to be reinstated to the leading group of industrialized nations, now known as the Group of Seven, the AP reports. "Now, I love our country. I have been Russia's worst nightmare," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House Friday morning as he prepared to leave for the G7 summit in Canada, per Politico. "But with that being said, Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?" He added: "Whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run. And in the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table." Russia was ousted from the elite group in 2014 as punishment for President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. The suspension was supported by the other members of the group: the US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. CNN notes Trump's remarks come after a public Twitter battle Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over new tariffs the US has hit its allies with for "national security" purposes.

More than 350 volunteers joined authorities Sunday in a search for two young Iowa cousins whose bicycles were found abandoned near a lake. Family members held out hope even as investigators said they had found no new clues that could lead them to the girls, who were last seen shortly after noon Friday. Authorities located the bikes of 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins and her 10-year-old cousin, Lyric Cook-Morrissey, at Meyers Lake a few hours after they were reported missing. The Des Moines Register reported (http://dmreg.co/MaEPWe) that investigators had managed to search about 40 percent of the lake, and were also interviewing family, friends and registered sex offenders who live in the Evansdale area. Black Hawk County Sheriff's deputy Rick Abben said authorities have found no new clues. The mothers of both girls said they were trying to stay strong as the search entered its third day. "Today I'm feeling pretty good," Misty Cook-Morrissey said as crews assembled to look for her daughter and her niece. "Sometimes, when you think about it, you wonder if they're dead somewhere, but you try to push those thoughts out of your mind." Cook-Morrissey said she was grateful for the community support in Evansdale, a Waterloo suburb that is about 120 miles northeast of Des Moines. "It's been good talking to people," she said. "It keeps your mind off of what's happening." The girls' bikes were found at Meyers Lake a few hours after the youngsters were reported missing. Elizabeth's purse and cellphone were found about 20 feet away from the bikes, law enforcement officials said. It could take until Monday to complete the lake search. Abben said officials are "grasping for straws" to find information on the girls' whereabouts. Officials said they hoped to cover as much area as possible Sunday, because they expected the number of volunteers to drop as people return to work. Cook-Morrissey said her daughter might have tried to swim at the lake, despite a swimming ban. She said the family swims at another nearby lake regularly, and described Lyric as a good swimmer. Elizabeth's mother, Heather Collins, said it's rare for her daughter to venture too far from home, but she may have been persuaded by her older cousin. "We've talked about that before," Collins said "We've told them they're too young to go far." Misty Cook-Morrissey and Heather Collins are sisters. Meyers Lake is about 20 yards from Interstate 380, which means there is easy access to the lake and bike trail, Abben said at a news conference. ||||| Story highlights "Looking at it, it doesn't make any sense," says the father of one of the missing girls "It's as though they disappeared into thin air in broad daylight," says their aunt Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook, 10, have been missing since Friday More than 1,000 people joined a massive volunteer search effort over the weekend Family members of two girls last seen riding bicycles near a lake in Evansdale, Iowa, put on a brave face Monday, saying they are "bracing for the worst, but hoping for the best." The girls -- 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins and 10-year-old Lyric Cook -- were last seen by their grandmother on Friday when the two, who are cousins, left to go on a bike ride, authorities said. "We just want our girls home," Tammy Brousseau, an aunt to both girls told CNN's "AC360." "We're bracing for the worst, but hoping for the best." Sitting beside Brousseau during the interview was Misty Cook-Morrissey, Lyric's mother. She said she wanted people to know what the girls are like. "They're very outgoing. They're very sweet, talkative, they're fun. They smile a lot. They're pretty persistent in the things that they want. They're great, they're really great. You know what I mean?" she said. JUST WATCHED Dad: Not first time kid has gone missing Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Dad: Not first time kid has gone missing 02:13 JUST WATCHED Mom: Someone must have scared them badly Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Mom: Someone must have scared them badly 03:05 A massive volunteer search over the weekend failed to locate the girls, and authorities have suspended the volunteer effort. "Are we going to get answers? I'm not sure," Lyric's father, Daniel Morrissey, told HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell. "It's just baffling to try to figure out the pieces to the puzzle. Looking at it, it doesn't make any sense." "It's just been a nightmare," he said. "It's been a challenge to hold everything together and continue to just keep believing and praying and trusting God that he's got this." Brousseau, the aunt, also spoke to HLN's Velez-Mitchell, saying she believes her nieces must have been taken by a stranger. "It's as though they disappeared into thin air in broad daylight," she said. Authorities began dragging Meyers Lake over the weekend for a sign of the girls. Their bicycles were located hours after they were reported missing near that lake. The search remains a missing persons case. "We really have nothing new that I can tell you, other than the fact the search is continuing," Rick Abben, chief deputy for the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, told reporters Monday. "... We're still looking for both of them. There's no new evidence or anything that's been found." Nearly 1,000 volunteers helped in the search Saturday, and nearly 900 on Sunday, he said. Calls are coming in to a tip line, he said, and each bit of information is being checked out. Police ask that anyone who may have seen the girls on Friday contact authorities. Abben said the volunteer effort was suspended because authorities did not feel there was a benefit in having more people search. However, he said, "we can always call those folks back out." Agents from the FBI and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation joined the search on Saturday, authorities said. Abben told reporters Monday there was no indication the girls were outside Evansdale, a town of about 4,700 located about 12 miles southeast of Cedar Falls. Nor was there any indication of foul play, he said.

– Cousins Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook, 10, said goodbye to their grandmother and set off on bicycles for an Iowa lake Friday afternoon, and they haven't been seen since. More than 900 volunteers had joined search efforts by yesterday, CNN reports, but after finding no trace of the girls, authorities have suspended the volunteer effort. "It's like they vanished," an official says. "There's just nothing." The girls' bikes were found near the lake hours after they were reported missing, but authorities have found no sign of foul play, nor any hint of domestic issues. A purse and cell phone belonging to Collins were also found near the bikes, the AP adds. An aunt notes that the area is full of "brush" and "somebody could have pulled up—maybe had been watching them for a little bit of time." Says Elizabeth's mother: "Positive thinking is all we have right now and our faith that God will bring them back."

During his speech in Phoenix on Tuesday night, Donald Trump spat out the nickname “antifa,” short for “anti-fascist” but also a reference to a particular strand of aggressive left-wing activism. In Mr. Trump’s telling, the presence of antifa activists during the violence in Charlottesville, Va., this month was evidence that the far left is just as violent as the far right: “You know, they show up in the helmets and the black masks, and they’ve got clubs and they’ve got everything.” Surrogates have aped Mr. Trump’s “blame both sides” rhetoric; overnight, antifa — and its assumed synonym, “alt-left” — have become right-wing shibboleths, right there with “social justice warrior” and “liberal snowflake.” In truth, there is no symmetry between either “alt-right” and either “antifa” or “alt-left.” Antifa is the backlash to the backlash, a defensive response to the growing presence of right-wing extremism. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worry. Because antifa groups are willing to use force when needed, provoking them can trigger a self-fulfilling prophecy. So far, there is a fearful asymmetry between the far right and antifa: Over the decade ending in 2016, estimates of the percentage of politically motivated killings committed by right-wing extremists range from 73 to 92 percent, according to the conservative Daily Caller. Despite the spurious rhetoric of equivalency, supporters of antifa have, to date, killed no one. Who are the antifa, then? They do not advocate a positive doctrine, racial or otherwise. Some supporters consider themselves (as Mr. Trump accurately said) anarchists, some Marxists of different stripes; others don’t care much what you call them. There is no national antifa organization; most organized groups are local, concentrated in Texas and the Northwest. There’s not even a consensus among adherents as to whether to pronounce the term AN-tee-fah or an-TEE-fah. They aim to confront, expose, shame — and sometimes convert — white supremacists. It’s action and style, not doctrine, that unites them. In a world where racist movements form an archipelago of brown-walled islands — with friendly governments in power in Hungary, Poland and the United States — antifa fights back, and although not murderous, is not squeamish about its means. Considering normal political action hopeless, some antifa activists claim inspiration from the left-wing paramilitaries of Weimar Germany and from the Black Panther Party. They are aware of, or unimpressed by, the fact that when Hitler came to power, he crushed the left-wing militias, and that, having branded themselves as gun-toters, the Panthers became targets of convenience for police and federal agents. In antifa circles, the theme of hypermasculine bravado is often right out front, and unsurprisingly, a large majority of the antifa camp are men. Muscularity is prized. After last weekend, one anarchist from Charlottesville described himself as “a blue-collar person, with a job, family, and responsibilities” who “did not behave peacefully when I saw a thousand Nazis occupy a sizable American city. I fought them with the most persuasive instruments at hand, the way both my grandfathers did. I was maced, punched, kicked, and beaten with sticks, but I gave as good as I got, and usually better.” Few antifa groups wear masks or carry firearms, though in a street confrontation, especially in an open-carry state like Virginia, where the Charlottesville police did not separate rival groups, a few firearms go a long way. One group calling itself Redneck Revolt (“Putting the Red Back in Redneck”) displayed rifles in Charlottesville and took credit — witnesses agree — for protecting the larger crowd of antifa demonstrators. Many liberals and leftists think they taint the overwhelmingly nonviolent anti-Trump resistance movement and play into Mr. Trump’s hands. No less a left-wing eminence than Noam Chomsky calls the antifa “a minuscule fringe of the left” and “a major gift to the right.” Mr. Chomsky considers them unprincipled, outnumbered and outgunned, as well as a distraction from practical tasks. But many antifa activists do not think strategically about whom they alienate. They are convinced that the hour for normal politics has passed, and let the chips fall where they may. What happens now? Antifa, riding a vastly larger anti-Trump wave, will probably grow. So does the potential for armed clashes, especially in open-carry states. If the police do not act astutely, armed showdowns could develop. Right-wing paramilitaries have been training for years, descendants of the militias of the 1990s, reawakened by their horror that a black man had been elected president of the United States. They have uniforms, insignia, traditions and, not least, stockpiles of weapons. Not only do they thrive under a friendly president, but open-carry states like Virginia enable them to intimidate peaceful assemblies. For the racist right, violence is not only a tactic, it is a calling card. Taking a cue from the president, right-wing militias now have antifa in their sights. Charlottesville was only the most visible confrontation; the two sides have been clashing for months. “We bullied antifa,” a website called Men of the West crowed in May, after an ex-Marine smashed an antifa leader head first into a lamppost for touching his flag during a confrontation in Austin. Antifa depends far less on guns for its sense of identity. If effectively contained and self-contained, many of its supporters would likely return to the kind of nonviolent left-wing, anti-racist organizing that they were involved in before Mr. Trump rejuvenated the nationalist right with fire and fury. But for the foreseeable future, the counter-backlash is not going away. More Charlottesvilles, or worse, may be coming, too. ||||| Who are the antifa, then? They do not advocate a positive doctrine, racial or otherwise. Some supporters consider themselves (as Mr. Trump accurately said) anarchists, some Marxists of different stripes; others don’t care much what you call them. There is no national antifa organization; most organized groups are local, concentrated in Texas and the Northwest. There’s not even a consensus among adherents as to whether to pronounce the term AN-tee-fah or an-TEE-fah. They aim to confront, expose, shame — and sometimes convert — white supremacists. It’s action and style, not doctrine, that unites them. In a world where racist movements form an archipelago of brown-walled islands — with friendly governments in power in Hungary, Poland and the United States — antifa fights back, and although not murderous, is not squeamish about its means. Considering normal political action hopeless, some antifa activists claim inspiration from the left-wing paramilitaries of Weimar Germany and from the Black Panther Party. They are aware of, or unimpressed by, the fact that when Hitler came to power, he crushed the left-wing militias, and that, having branded themselves as gun-toters, the Panthers became targets of convenience for police and federal agents. In antifa circles, the theme of hypermasculine bravado is often right out front, and unsurprisingly, a large majority of the antifa camp are men. Muscularity is prized. After last weekend, one anarchist from Charlottesville described himself as “a blue-collar person, with a job, family, and responsibilities” who “did not behave peacefully when I saw a thousand Nazis occupy a sizable American city. I fought them with the most persuasive instruments at hand, the way both my grandfathers did. I was maced, punched, kicked, and beaten with sticks, but I gave as good as I got, and usually better.” Few antifa groups wear masks or carry firearms, though in a street confrontation, especially in an open-carry state like Virginia, where the Charlottesville police did not separate rival groups, a few firearms go a long way. One group calling itself Redneck Revolt (“Putting the Red Back in Redneck”) displayed rifles in Charlottesville and took credit — witnesses agree — for protecting the larger crowd of antifa demonstrators. Many liberals and leftists think they taint the overwhelmingly nonviolent anti-Trump resistance movement and play into Mr. Trump’s hands. No less a left-wing eminence than Noam Chomsky calls the antifa “a minuscule fringe of the left” and “a major gift to the right.” Mr. Chomsky considers them unprincipled, outnumbered and outgunned, as well as a distraction from practical tasks.

– Sunday's violence in Berkeley has brought renewed attention to the "antifa" movement, general shorthand for groups of black-clad "anti-fascist" protesters who show up at rallies to confront far-right protesters. In his post-Charlottesville remarks, President Trump blamed the antifa movement for contributing to the violence, and Sunday's confrontation "marked another street brawl between opposing ends of the political spectrum—violence that has become a regular feature of the Trump years and gives signs of spiraling upward," per the Washington Post. So just what is antifa? In a New York Times op-ed, Columbia professor Todd Gitlin offers some insights, describing antifa as the "backlash to the backlash, a defensive response to the growing presence of right-wing extremism." Given antifa members' willingness to use violence, he sees cause for concern. "They do not advocate a positive doctrine, racial or otherwise," writes Gitlin of antifa adherents. "Some supporters consider themselves (as Mr. Trump accurately said) anarchists, some Marxists of different stripes." No national organization exists, and groups (usually all men) spring up locally. Antifa groups typically are unarmed, but Gitlin sees the potential for that to change as confrontations with right-wing groups escalate. "If effectively contained and self-contained, many of its supporters would likely return to the kind of nonviolent left-wing, anti-racist organizing that they were involved in before Mr. Trump rejuvenated the nationalist right with fire and fury," writes Gitlin. But that's not likely in the near future, he adds. "More Charlottesvilles, or worse, may be coming." Click for the full column.

A heroic 11-year-old boy died after he jumped into a frozen Queens pond to save the life of his 12-year-old pal who had fallen through ice, authorities said. The deadly accident happened as Anthony Perez, 11, and Juan Umpierrez, 12, were playing in Forest Park at about 4 p.m., officials said. “He was on land, he only went out to the ice after the other kid fell through,” a law enforcement source told The Post. “He [Perez] was able to push him [Umpierrez] out to safety, but he fell through ice and he couldn’t get out.” Rescuers waded through the frigid, chest-high water — whacking a thin layer of ice with their hands — and plucked Perez from the pond, FDNY deputy chief George Healy said. But when they got Perez to dry land, he wasn’t breathing — so paramedics performed CPR and rushed the youngster to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. “He did help get him out, but he couldn’t save himself,” the law-enforcement source said. Perez’s neighbors in Middle Village were shocked and saddened by the news — but not surprised Anthony was so quick to act. “I’m going to call him a hero: He’s a hero,” said Carmen Rivera, 51, who lives downstairs from the Perez family. “He’s friendly with a lot of people, not shy — he loves to help. He’s a nice little kid.” Another neighbor, Leonardo Coraci, 41, also said Perez was well-liked. “He’s a good kid, he’s a really great kid . . . it’s a shame something bad had to happen,” said Coraci, who said the pond was once a baseball field. “It used to be a baseball field before it was a pond, and they actually had to change it into a stinking pond. They should have kept it as a baseball field. It stinks. “He’ll be in my prayers and it’s a shame. He’s a good kid – a really good kid.” The FDNY urged parents to warn kids about the dangers of playing on frozen bodies of water in the winter. “We implore you: Tell your children, the ice is not safe,” Healy said at a press conference Tuesday. “It’s not gonna support your weight. And there can be tragic consequences.” Some of the rescuers fell through the ice themselves while trying to save the boy, he added. Two firefighters were also treated for hypothermia. “The ice failed underneath them,” Healy said. “They were in chest-deep water. They had to physically break [the ice] with their hands.” Days when temperatures reach just above freezing — like on Tuesday when the Big Apple hit 35 degrees — are the most dangerous, Healy said. ||||| "They were in about chest deep water wading through the water. At some point the ice did firm up," Healy said. "They had to physically with their hands break through the ice and chop the ice so they could get to the area they knew that the child would most likely be in, the opening in the ice." ||||| NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – An 11-year-old boy has died after being pulled from an icy pond Tuesday in Queens. First responders were called to Forest Park in Woodhaven around 4:05 p.m. where they found the child unconscious in the water. He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. As CBS2’s Valerie Castro reported, the victim, identified as 11-year-old Anthony Perez McClean, grew up just minutes away from the pond that claimed his life as he tried to rescue a friend. “It doesn’t surprise me at all,” neighbor Angela Vargas said. “Because he’s got a good heart that little boy. Not because I know he’s dead. I can’t do nothing about it.” We implore parents – make sure your kids know the ice in the city of New York, on these lakes and ponds, is not safe –#FDNY Deputy Chief Healy from the scene at Forest Park #Queens, where a child was removed from the water after falling through the ice https://t.co/hRjTPmZLHn pic.twitter.com/6CD3T9EyaV — FDNY (@FDNY) February 6, 2018 Police sources told CBS2 McClean and a 12-year-old friend were near the pond when the older friend walked onto the ice and fell through. McClean walked out to save his friend and fell through the ice himself. “It appears that the child went out about 50 feet before the ice let go underneath him and was plunged into the water,” FDNY Dep. Chief George Healy said. Police sources said the friend ran home for help, but by the time firefighters arrived, McClean was already submerged and unconscious. “They had to – physically with their hands – break through the ice and chop through the ice, so that they could get to the area where they knew the child would most likely be in by the opening in the ice,” said Healy. “They had to go underneath to get the child and remove him.” Despite CPR efforts on the scene and on the way to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, McClean was pronounced dead. “It’s a terrible tragedy,” said neighbor Leonardo Coraci. “He’s a good kid, always said ‘hello,’ always respectful.” Two firefighters suffered minor injuries. “There’s signs around all these lakes in the city. Again, we implore you to tell your children, make sure they’re aware,” Healy said. “Today, the temperature was well above freezing. The ice is not safe, it’s not going to support your weight, and it can have tragic consequences.”

– An 11-year-old boy is being called a hero after he died trying to save a friend from a frozen pond Tuesday in New York City. CBS New York reports 11-year-old Anthony Perez and a 12-year-old friend were walking in a park in Queens around 4pm when the friend ventured out onto a frozen pond only to fall through the ice about 50 feet from the shore. Police say Anthony rushed to help his friend and fell in, too. "[Anthony] was able to push him out to safety, but he fell through ice and he couldn’t get out,” a law enforcement source tells the New York Post. The friend immediately ran for help. But by the time firefighters and police officers arrived, Anthony had been underwater for about 30 minutes and wasn't breathing, the New York Daily News reports. Multiple rescuers fell through the ice while trying to get to Anthony. “They had to—physically with their hands—break through the ice and chop through the ice so that they could get to the area where they knew the child would most likely be,” CBS quotes FDNY Deputy Chief George Healy as saying. Rescuers provided CPR at the scene and on the way to the hospital, but Anthony was pronounced dead. Two firefighters had to be treated for hypothermia. A neighbor says it doesn't surprise her that Anthony risked his life to help his friend. "He’s got a good heart that little boy," Angela Vargas says. “I’m going to call him a hero: He’s a hero,” neighbor Carmen Rivera tells the Post. (In Utah, a deputy with no protective gear rescued a boy from a frozen pond.)

Ali won the world heavyweight title for the first time aged just 22, beating Sonny Liston in Miami US President Barack Obama and boxing great George Foreman have led worldwide tributes to Muhammad Ali, who has died at the age of 74. "Ali shook up the world - and the world is better for it," Obama said. Foreman, who was beaten by Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974, said: "Muhammad Ali made you love him." British Prime Minister David Cameron, musician Sir Paul McCartney, boxers Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather and golfer Tiger Woods also paid tribute. Ali was admitted to a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona on Thursday suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease. The three-time world champion died from septic shock caused by "unspecified natural causes", his spokesman Bob Gunnell said. Ali's funeral will take place in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky at 19:00 BST on Friday, 10 June, where flags have been flying at half-mast since his death was announced. Former US president Bill Clinton and comedian Billy Crystal will deliver eulogies at the service, which will be open to the public. A procession will also be held in Louisville on the same day. 'A wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit' Muhammad Ali attended Barack Obama's inauguration as president in January 2009 In a lengthy statement, Obama said both he and wife Michelle "pray that the greatest fighter of them all finally rests in peace". "Like everyone else on the planet, Michelle and I mourn his passing," he said. "But we're also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time." Ali's quick wit and vocal indignation over racial discrimination made him a compelling character away from the ring. He also refused to be drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War because of his religious beliefs, resulting in him losing his licence and world title. "He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn't. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing," Obama added. "It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognise today. "He wasn't perfect, of course. For all his magic in the ring, he could be careless with his words, and full of contradictions as his faith evolved. But his wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit ultimately won him more fans than foes - maybe because in him, we hoped to see something of ourselves. 'Something greater than a boxer' Ali and Foreman met in the famous Rumble in the Jungle on 29 October 1974 Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live, two-time world champion Foreman said: "Muhammad Ali was what I call beautiful. He has been something special. "The man was the greatest. Forget about boxing, he was one of the greatest men to appear on television, in the media." Foreman's loss to Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire [now DR Congo] 42 years ago stands as one of the most iconic moments in any sport. Ali's 'rope-a-dope' strategy tired the unbeaten Foreman in the 80 degree heat, allowing him to force a stoppage in the eighth round. "Little did I know I would be facing something greater than a boxer," Foreman said of the fight. "He stood the test. He took everything I had and gave back worse. I loved the man. I wanted to beat him and knock him out but I loved the man." 'He stood for the world' Don King, who promoted many of Ali's fights, including the Rumble in the Jungle, said: "It's a sad day for life. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die. "Like Martin Luther King, his spirit will live on. He stood for the world." Eight-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao described Ali as a "giant". "Boxing benefitted from Muhammad Ali's talents but not as much as mankind benefitted from his humanity," the Filipino said. Floyd Mayweather, a world champion across five divisions, added: "There will never be another Muhammad Ali. The black community all around the world, black people all around the world, needed him. He was the voice for us. He's the voice for me to be where I'm at today." Listen: Muhammad Ali a 'complete inspiration' - Wladimir Klitschko Boxing stars react on Twitter Former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson Former WBC heavyweight champion Frank Bruno Former WBA and IBF light-welterweight champion Amir Khan 'We were very lucky that he chose boxing' Barry McGuigan, former world featherweight champion, said: "Everybody wanted to box because of him. He was just so amazing in every way. More than anything else, it was how humble and how brilliantly charismatic he was. "He was a beautiful-looking man, a beautiful-looking individual and he had so much compassion. He was the greatest sportsman there has ever been and we were very lucky that he chose boxing." World cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew described Ali as "the ultimate hero". "It's heartbreaking news to wake up to. The greatest sportsman of all-time in my opinion. He transcended the sport and this is a sad day," he said. "I hope something can be named after him. He can never be replicated." Former world super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe said Ali was his "inspiration". "People loved him, he was someone completely different, he backed it up in the ring and everybody wanted to tune in and watch him fight," the Welshman said. "There'll never be another Muhammad Ali. He was a superstar." Tributes flow in from beyond boxing British journalist Michael Parkinson interviewed Muhammad Ali four times and remembers him as boxing's biggest ever star. "He was a rockstar," Parkinson told BBC World Service. "It was not often I was gobsmacked but as he walked across the studio floor I'd never seen a more graceful or beautiful man, he was extraordinary. "He was a man who could fell you with a blow - kill you maybe - yet he had beautiful hands with long tapering fingers." Media playback is not supported on this device Muhammad Ali: "I wear one suit a day, I can only eat one meal a day, I can drive one car a day" Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney said "the world has lost a truly great man". "Dear Muhammad Ali. I loved that man. He was great from the first day we met him in Miami, and on the numerous occasions when I ran into him over the years," McCartney said in a statement. "Besides being the greatest boxer, he was a beautiful, gentle man with a great sense of humour who would often pull a pack of cards out of his pocket, no matter how posh the occasion, and do a card trick for you." The Beatles met Ali at the boxer's training camp in Miami in 1964 British Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Muhammad Ali was not just a champion in the ring - he was a champion of civil rights, and a role model for so many people." Former US President Bill Clinton said Ali possessed "a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again". "We watched him grow from the brash self-confidence of youth and success into a manhood full of religious and political convictions that led him to make tough choices and live with the consequences," he added. "Along the way we saw him courageous in the ring, inspiring to the young, compassionate to those in need, and strong and good-humoured in bearing the burden of his own health challenges." The ANZ Stadium in Sydney displayed a tribute to Muhammad Ali before the international football friendly match between Australia and Greece on Saturday Golfer Tiger Woods paid this tribute to Ali Former Beatle Ringo Starr was among the thousands to pay tribute on social media ||||| The Greatest made the world a better place. His work is done. We are better for it. Thank you. RIP, Champ. # BePeacepic.twitter.com/VtPhYRJS3U ||||| Muhammad Ali’s death Friday brought his longtime friend and promoter Bob Arum to recall the former heavyweight champion as “the most transforming figure that I have encountered – for America and the world.” Ali died at 74 in a Phoenix hospital, where he was moved this week for a respiratory illness, causing him to require life support Friday as family members came to his bedside. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s more than 30 years ago, moving many to tears with his arm-shaking lighting of the Olympic torch at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and family spokesman Bob Gunnell told NBC Friday, “We don’t have an official cause of death yet, but it has to be from complications of Parkinson’s.” It was the three-time heavyweight champion’s dynamic personality and fighting that will be most remembered. Veteran boxing publicist Bill Caplan worked on two Ali fights, including his famed 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” in Zaire against then-unbeaten George Foreman. “He was a great athlete, but the greatest publicity man I’ve ever known. He would do anything you asked [promotional-wise] and would think of a lot of himself,” Caplan said, recalling a scene months before the Foreman fight where the two heavyweights met casually inside an empty Hilton Hotel boardroom in Caracas, Venezuela. A look at the life and career of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. “I was like a fly on the wall for that,” Caplan said. “Ali was doing color on ABC with Howard Cosell. Ali couldn’t be any kinder one-on-one. He gave Foreman advice on how to handle being the champion, like he was a Dutch uncle -- couldn’t have been nicer. “Then we walked outside, where there were a lot of people in the lobby and Ali said, ‘You see this robot [emulating Foreman’s slow-moving power punches]? You know what I’m going to do to him?’ “You saw the two faces of Ali in one second. George was laughing and laughing. He got it.” After Ali beat Sonny Liston for the heavyweight belt, he faced being drafted to the Vietnam War, and refused – provoking a three-plus-year absence from the ring and serving as a lightning rod during the height of the civil rights era. “It’s hard for people 50 or younger to realize what this country was like in the 1950s and ‘60s, how bad it was for African-Americans in this country – how they fought just to eat at a lunch counter or stay at a hotel,” Arum said. “There was no opportunity. “Ali spoke out against that in a way that really connected with people, even more than the melodic and philosophical way that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out. Because Ali was a great sportsman and boxer, he was able to reach people and, I think, had a tremendous effect on bringing change to this country.” No act was more principled than giving up massive boxing purses to defy the draft, Arum said. “Once people saw that he sacrificed his livelihood for what he believed in, that really elevated him in the minds of people to be almost saint-like,” Arum said. “Everybody, myself included, counseled him not to take that step that led him to not fight for three and a half years, but he felt he was doing the right thing. And it ended up that it was the right thing – for him, the world and the country.” Ali proceeded to return to the ring against Joe Frazier in an epic 1971 showdown, then recaptured the heavyweight belt by knocking out Foreman in 1974 in Africa. Ali quickly avenged a 1978 loss to Leon Spinks for the third union with the belt. “His story and his character and his life will be part of history that will be studied by whoever looks back on the last 50 years,” said Arum, who promoted 26 Ali bouts, including the 1975 trilogy capping “Thrilla in Manila” fight with Frazier that is seen as the beginning of the brain damage that plagued his later life. Foreman remembers learning a few lessons inside and outside the ring from Ali. "Back in the time that Joe Frazier, Ali and I were going strong, they called us all great fighters. There's no question the greatest of all was Muhammad Ali," Foreman said Friday night. "I never had any animosity toward him. Never. I always respected him and I learned from him." Foreman said what he learned most was how to get along with reporters and to be more clever in the ring -- an asset that allowed Foreman to recapture a heavyweight belt 20 years after the "Rumble in the Jungle." Oscar De La Hoya, who fought in front of Ali sitting ringside in the first bout at Staples Center in 2000, said in a prepared statement, "Muhammad Ali is ... the fighter who ushered in the golden era of boxing and put the sport on the map. He paved the way for professional fighters including myself, elevating boxing to become a sport watched in millions of households around the world. "Ali's talent was undeniable ... beyond his incredible talent, he also made boxing interesting. Ali was fearless in the ring, and took on the toughest, most challenging opponents. Ali exemplified courage -- he never took the easy route, something to be admired in and outside of the ring. "Let us remember a man who pursued greatness in everything he did and be inspired to hold ourselves to that same standard. Rest in peace, my friend." Former champion boxer Manny Pacquiao weighed in from the Philippines. “We lost a giant today,” said Pacquiao, who was inspired by Ali’s devotion to the public and was recently elected to a Senate seat in his country. “Boxing benefited from Muhammad Ali's talents, but not nearly as much as mankind benefited from his humanity. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Ali family. May God bless them.” Arum witnessed Ali’s standing as the most well-known person in the world when he accompanied the then-retired icon to China to promote a boxing show in the early 1990s, after the country banned the sport during Ali’s reign. “Going through customs, there were these massive groups of Chinese that recognized him and went crazy. I was stunned,” Arum said. “He was a magical person and obviously the most amazing person I’ve had the privilege of being around in my lifetime.” Lance.pugmire@latimes.com Twitter: @latimespugmire ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Add a location to your Tweets When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more

– Muhammad Ali died Friday at the age of 74, likely from complications related to Parkinson's disease. The death of the Greatest led to an outpouring of tributes and memorials from those who knew him and others who admired him from afar. Here are 13 of those reactions from athletes, celebrities, and politicians: “It's been said it was Rope a dope, Ali beat me with no his beauty that beat me. Most beauty I've know loved him," George Foreman tweeted. “Thinking of #MuhammadAli and remembering a man who was not afraid to take a stand and who was committed to being his authentic self," Billie Jean King tweeted. "Ali shook up the world—and the world is better for it," the BBC quotes President Obama as saying in a statement. “The greatest man I have ever known," Billy Crystal tweeted. “The Greatest made the world a better place. His work is done. We are better for it," Carl Weathers tweeted. "Ali exemplified courage—he never took the easy route, something to be admired in and outside of the ring," the Los Angeles Times quotes Oscar De La Hoya as saying. “Boxing benefited from Muhammad Ali's talents, but not nearly as much as mankind benefited from his humanity," the Times quotes Manny Pacquiao as saying. “His may be the Greatest of 20th century American stories," Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted. “We will NEVER forget your courage, standing up to those in power. You gave up your title & your career rather than kill Vietnamese," Michael Moore tweeted. "From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again," ABC News quotes a statement from Bill and Hillary Clinton as saying. “Muhammad Ali was the greatest, not only an extraordinary athlete but a man of great courage and humanity," ABC quotes Bernie Sanders as saying in a statement. “Muhammad Ali is dead at 74! A truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!” Donald Trump tweeted. “God came for his champion. So long great one," Mike Tyson tweeted. (Click here for the best quotes from Ali himself.)

Just One More Thing... We have sent you a verification email. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your AJC.com profile. If you do not receive the verification message within a few minutes of signing up, please check your Spam or Junk folder. Close ||||| Mohammed Tawfeeq, a CNN producer, editor and Iraqi national who was detained at an Atlanta airport on Sunday, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging President Trump's executive order on immigration, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Tawfeeq has been a permanent legal resident of the U.S. since 2013. ADVERTISEMENT Tawfeeq’s CNN duties include frequently traveling to the Middle East, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday.“This is a basic request to clarify and assert his rights under the law. We support him in this effort and hope its resolved quickly," a CNN spokesperson told The Hill. Tawfeeq was detained Sunday at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for additional screening, delaying his entry into the United States. “The executive order has greatly increased the uncertainty involved in current and future international travel for returning lawful permanent residents like Mr. Tawfeeq,” the lawsuit states. Trump's executive order bars people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia from entering the U.S. for 90 days. It also bars refugees from entering the country for 120 days and indefinitely for Syrian refugees. Updated at 10:02 a.m. ||||| ATLANTA (CN) – A CNN journalist claims in court he was unlawfully detained over the weekend as a result of President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order banning immigrants from seven countries in the Middle East from entering the United States. In a lawsuit filed in the federal court in Atlanta on Monday, Mohammed Abdullah Tawfeeq says he’s traveled abroad for CNN as both a producer and editor for years without incident. However, he says, that changed on January 29, as he was returning to Atlanta from Baghdad. Two days earlier, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry into the country from seven countries. Tawfeeq’s native Iraq is one of seven countries affected by the ban. “When Mr. Tawfeeq presented himself for inspection at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the [U.S. Customs and Border Patrol] officer in primary inspection notified him that he could be refused entry under the President’s recently-signed Executive Order,” the complaint says. Tawfeeq says the officer scanned his passport and green card, and then began asking him pointed questions about the nature of his trip. “CBP officials then told Mr. Tawfeeq to wait because they needed to seek ‘an e-mail’ concerning whether he would be allowed into the United States,” the lawsuit claims. Tawfeeq says when he was finally allowed to leave the airport, customs officials offered him no explanation for their decision, no documents relating to his entry, and no one stamped his passport. In his lawsuit he maintains the implementation of Trump’s executive order and his detention at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Tawfeeq, a permanent legal resident of the United States since June 2013, says that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, his status entitles him “to greater procedural protections than non-immigrants/temporary aliens.” “The Executive Order has greatly increased the uncertainty involved in current and future international travel for returning lawful permanent residents like Mr. Tawfeeq,” the complaint says. “Defendants have sent conflicting signals regarding how and whether the Executive Order will be applied to permanent residents like Mr. Tawfeeq.” According to the complaint, after Trump signed the executive order, the State Department announced it would apply to all returning immigrants. A day later, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus attempted to clarify that it would not affect green card holders, but hours before Tawfeeq’s flight landed in Atlanta, the Department of Homeland Security said “it will continue to enforce all of President Trump’s Executive Orders.” The statement, release by Homeland Secretary John Kelly did say the order would not be applied to lawful permanent residents “absent the receipt of significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare,” but Tawfeeq says it was and continues to be unclear whether the department’s guidance to its employees matches that statement. He is seeking a declaration that the ban does not apply to legal permanent residents as well as an order of mandamus preventing it from being applied to those individuals. The defendants named in Tawfeeq’s lawsuit are the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the State Department, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, and acting Secretary of State Thomas Shannon. Tawfeeq is represented by Theresia Moser of Atlanta. Like this: Like Loading...

– A Trump administration official has called the president's travel ban a "massive success," but a CNN employee may beg to differ. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mohammed Tawfeeq—an Iraqi national and permanent legal US resident who's an editor and producer for the news network—was held at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Sunday evening as he returned after being on assignment in Iraq. Now Tawfeeq, who's enjoyed permanent resident status since 2013, is suing the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies for his detention, which the suit says was illegal. Per Courthouse News, Tawfeeq was returning to the US from Baghdad (he travels to the Middle East often for work) on Jan. 29 when a US Customs and Border Protection officer pulled him aside. Tawfeeq's green card and passport were examined, he was interrogated about his trip, and he was told he'd need to wait for "an email" from the proper authorities to clear him to enter the country. When he was finally allowed to leave, no one offered further explanation, and they didn't even stamp his passport or give him any entry papers. "The executive order has greatly increased the uncertainty involved in current and future international travel" for legal resident such as Tawfeeq, the suit claims, per the Hill. It also adds that, as a legal permanent resident, he should be afforded "greater procedural protections than non-immigrants/temporary aliens." A CNN rep says the network supports Tawfeeq and that his complaint "is a basic request to clarify and assert his rights under the law," per the Hill.

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Boston-area man accused of threatening to blow up an airplane allegedly had all the materials needed to build a pressure-cooker bomb before this kind of weapon was used in the Boston Marathon attack in April, according to comments made by the man’s mother in a recently unsealed police affidavit. Flowers lay on the sidewalk at the site of the first explosion as people walk along Boylston Street after the street reopened to the public for the first time since the Boston Marathon bombings in Boston, Massachusetts April 24, 2013. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi While investigators working with the FBI are looking to see if there are any links between the two cases, they have drawn no conclusions, according to two law enforcement sources. Prosecutors and the FBI declined to comment. The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force said it is investigating 27-year-old Daniel Morley after police in the small town of Topsfield, Massachusetts found a cache of weapons and bomb-making materials in his home on June 9. According to a police affidavit dated June 19, Morley told his mother that his best friend had bragged about knowing Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the two Chechen brothers suspected of detonating pressure-cooker bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15. Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police after the attack. No one else has been charged in the Topsfield case, a spokeswoman for the Essex County District Attorney said. The 25-page police affidavit details the allegations that served as the basis for the criminal charges against Morley. He is accused of assaulting his mother and her boyfriend and making a threat to hijack an airplane or ship. Morley’s defense attorney, Robert LeBlanc, did not return calls asking for comment. The person described by Morley’s mother as his best friend was named in the affidavit. Reuters could not reach him for comment. Topsfield police said they found in Morley’s bedroom closet a large, stainless steel pressure cooker and a black duffel bag. He also had materials to make a shrapnel bomb, such as black powder, igniters and pieces of metal that included ball bearings. In addition, he had a large assault rifle and a handgun, the affidavit shows. Morley’s mother told police that her son had the pressure cooker and the other materials before the Boston Marathon attacks, according to the affidavit. AMMUNITION AND A DRAWING Police said they also found several hundred rounds of ammunition and a drawing of what appeared to be the Boston skyline, with an airplane in the left hand corner and a figure of a man with a blue heart in his chest, holding a red heart in his hand. “While very stylized, the image does seem to match up with a portion of the Boston skyline,” the affidavit quoted anti-terrorism expert Clairissa Breen, who is part of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, as saying. “This could mean that something in that area is a target, or it could be artistic license.” The allegations outlined in the affidavit prompted the Topsfield police to contact the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. One focus of the FBI’s investigation is determining whether Morley was being influenced by others when he made the alleged airplane threat, according to the affidavit. Police also said they found a shoe box with the head of a decapitated bird, dismantled cell phones, flex cuff restraints, black gun powder, and a burnt green stuffed animal that had been stabbed repeatedly. Other items included a bucket with aluminum foil and steel containers with concealment cutouts. Police said they discovered all of the items last month after Morley told his mother and her boyfriend that he planned to burn down their house. Morley had moved in with them after being hit by a car while riding his bike in Boston. “It’s all been a big shock. I can’t really help you,” said Morley’s mother, Glenda Duckworth, when contacted by Reuters. Morley was placed in custody on June 9 after a nearly four-hour standoff that closed Topsfield’s picturesque town center. He is described by his mother in the search warrant affidavit as very bright, but troubled. After being arrested, police said he apologized to them for not taking his medications, which were not detailed in the affidavit. Morley is undergoing psychiatric evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital, according to his criminal case file put together by prosecutors. His next court appearance is set for Thursday at Ipswich District Court in Newburyport. “Morley advised his mother that he separated from (his best friend) because he was attempting to have him do something really bad, but Daniel did not want to do,” according to the police affidavit. ||||| UPDATE: Topsfield man arrested after bomb scare; Pressure cooker found in home. A Topsfield man was arrested on bomb scare charges early Sunday morning, June 9 after a domestic disturbance call led the police to his Washington Street home where they found a pressure cooker in his possession. Police say Daniel P. Morley, 27, made threats that the pressure cooker was explosive, which led them to call in the state police Special Tactical Operations (STOP) team. Middleton, Wenham and a couple other police departments and ambulance personnel also responded to the scene. Topsfield Police Chief Evan Haglund said that the device was ultimately found to be non-explosive. Morley also threatened to burn down the residence. He was charged with communicating a bomb scare, threatening to commit arson and two counts of domestic assault and battery. Police were initially called to the residence at 2:46 a.m. on Sunday morning when family members reported that Morley assaulted and threatened them. Officers investigated the residence and found a loaded bolt-action rifle, handgun, ammunition and knives in the suspect’s bedroom, according to police. Police then found the pressure cooker, which is when they called the STOP team. Once STOP confirmed that the device was non-explosive, custody of Morley was returned to the Topsfield police. Topsfield police sent out a Nixle alert to subscribing residents at 7:36 a.m. on Sunday saying that Washington and Main streets were closed due to a public safety emergency. Police sent out another alert at 9:30 a.m. saying the roads were reopened. Morley was taken to Bridgewater State Hospital on Sunday night and was scheduled for arraignment on Monday at Ipswich District Court in Newburyport as long as his health permits. The case remains under investigation and additional charges may be forthcoming.

– A man who was arrested June 9 in the Boston area had the necessary materials for building a pressure-cooker bomb like the kind used in the marathon attacks, according to recently unsealed police documents. And according to Daniel Morley's mother, he'd had the materials prior to the April marathon bombings. Now the FBI is investigating him and any possible links between the two cases, Reuters reports. Wicked Local reports that the 27-year-old was taken into custody after police responded to a domestic disturbance; Reuters reports he allegedly assaulted his mother and her boyfriend and threatened to blow up a plane. After Morley's arrest, police found weapons including an assault rifle and a handgun, a pressure cooker and other bomb materials, several hundred rounds of ammo, a black duffel bag, and some even weirder items (a bird's head in a shoebox, a burned and stabbed stuffed animal, a drawing of what appears to be the Boston skyline and a plane) in his home. Morley's mother also said her son told her that his best friend boasted of knowing Tamerlan Tsarnaev. And according to the affidavit, that friend "was attempting to have him do something really bad, but Daniel did not want to do," or so Morley told his mother. Morley is currently at a state hospital undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

Roy Moore: If Supreme Court changes God’s ‘organic law’ on marriage ‘I would not be bound thereby’ Idaho woman arrested for trying to convert Jewish acquaintance to Jesus by beating her Woman tortured by boyfriend told by court to write letters to her attacker or face jail 'Real Time' host Bill Maher [YouTube] Bill Maher said the attacks on the French satirical magazine should serve as a wakeup call to American liberals that mainstream Muslims do not share their democratic values. The comedian and talk show host appeared Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he addressed the murders of 12 people at the Paris offices of “Charlie Hebdo.” “This has to stop, and unfortunately, a lot of the liberals, who are my tribe — I am a proud liberal,” Maher said. “He’s about to turn on you,” Kimmel said. “No, I’m not turning on them,” Maher said. “I’m asking them to turn toward the truth as I have been for quite a while. I’m the liberal in this debate. I’m for free speech. To be a liberal, you have to stand up for liberal principles. It’s not my fault that the part of the world that is most against liberal principles is the Muslim part of the world.” Maher claimed the attacks were supported by mainstream Muslims throughout the world. “I know most Muslim people would not have carried out an attack like this, but here’s the important point,” he said. “Hundreds of millions of them support an attack like this, they applaud an attack like this. What they say is, we don’t approve of violence, but you know what, when you make fun of the prophet, all bets are off.” He said American liberals turned a blind eye to Muslim extremism. “They chop heads off in the square in Mecca,” Maher said. “Well, Mecca is their Vatican City. If they were chopping the heads off of Catholic gay people, wouldn’t there be a bigger outcry among liberals? I’d ask you.” Maher called on liberals in the U.S. to unequivocally condemn the attacks and the supposed motivations of the attackers. “We have to stop saying when something like this that happened in Paris today, we have to stop saying, well, we should not insult a great religion,” Maher said. “First of all, there are no great religions. They’re all stupid and dangerous — and we should insult them and we should be able to insult whatever we want. That is what free speech is like.” Watch Maher’s appearance posted online by Real Clear Politics: ||||| Jimmy Kimmel serves as host and executive producer of Emmy-nominated Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ABC's late-night talk show, well known for its huge viral video successes, with 8.6 billion views and 12.4 million subscribers on the show's YouTube channel. Some of Kimmel's most popular comedy bits include "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets," "Lie Witness News," "Unnecessary Censorship," "Halloween Candy YouTube Challenge" and music videos like "I (Wanna) Channing All Over Your Tatum." ||||| Bill Maher didn’t hold back Wednesday night, blasting “hundreds of millions” of the world’s Muslims for allegedly supporting the Islamic terrorist massacre of cartoonists, writers, and editors at a Parisian satirical magazine that has mocked the Prophet Muhammad. “I know most Muslim people would not have carried out an attack like this,” the host of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher said on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. “But here’s the important point: Hundreds of millions of them support an attack like this. They applaud an attack like this. What they say is, ‘We don’t approve of violence, but you know what? When you make fun of the Prophet, all bets are off.” “Hundreds of millions of Muslims?” a clearly skeptical Kimmel asked his fellow comedian, an out and proud atheist who in recent years has targeted the adherents of Islam for harsh criticism. “Absolutely,” Maher insisted. “That is mainstream in the Muslim world. When you make fun of the Prophet, all bets are off. You get what’s coming to you. It’s also mainstream that if you leave the religion, you get what’s coming to you—which is death. Not in every Muslim country… but this is the problem in the world that we have to stand up to.” He continued, “I’m the liberal in this debate,” adding that he grew up in a family that supported John F. Kennedy over racist Southern governments in the fight for civil rights. “The reason we were liberals is we were against oppression.” Needless to say, Maher’s vitriolic rant drew few laughs from the studio audience, which seemed stunned into silence by his uncompromising anger. Maher’s well-known anti-Islamic views have come in for severe criticism in recent months from moderate Muslims and even prominent liberals (such as Ben Affleck on an installment of Real Time) who’ve accused him of intolerance and ignorance. He praised the murdered editors, writers, and cartoonists of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for their bravery in lampooning Muslims in the face of death threats and even the November 2011 firebombing of their offices. “These guys had the balls of the Eiffel Tower. Their balls were bigger than Gerard Depardieu,” Maher said. By contrast, he said in a line that was partially bleeped during the broadcast, the politically correct liberals of the United States, especially those who’ve been arguing for sensitivity to delicate Muslim sensibilities, had turned America into “Pussy Nation.” When Kimmel warned that Maher was turning on his fellow liberals, Maher corrected, “No. I’m asking them to turn toward the truth. I’m the liberal in this debate. I’m for free speech. To be a liberal, you have to stand up for liberal principles. It’s not my fault that the part of the world that is most against liberal principles is the Muslim part of the world.” Maher cited an unidentified “study” of 130 countries in which 17 majority Muslim countries ranked in the bottom 20 regarding the treatment of women. “In 10 Muslim countries, you can get the death penalty just for being gay. They chop heads off in the square in Mecca. Well, Mecca is their Vatican City. If they were chopping heads off gay people in Vatican City, wouldn’t there be a bigger outcry among liberals?” When the show resumed after a commercial break, Maher’s bile had not run out, and he spent the next several minutes venting at Bill Cosby. Not only had the iconic comedian sexually assaulted many, many women, Maher argued, “I never thought he was funny.” He added: “People say he deserves his day in court… Do we have enough time?” Get The Beast In Your Inbox! Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast. Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't). By clicking “Subscribe,” you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Subscribe Thank You! You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason. Maher drew a contrast between the embattled Cosby, who has so far been accused by some 30 alleged victims, to such high-profile alleged offenders as Woody Allen, “who had one accuser,” and the late Michael Jackson, “who had two or three accusers,” young boys who said he fondled them. Recounting a childhood incident on the school playground, where one bully held him down while another socked him repeatedly in the face, Maher said that given the choice between that and “being jerked off by a pop star”—another bleeped phrase—he’d take the latter. RELATED: Bill Maher: Yes, I Can Generalize About Muslims After Maher-Affleck, We Need an Honest—and Calm—Dialogue on Islam ‘Real Time’ Panel Confronts Maher on Islam

– Bill Maher opened his mouth on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night and added his ever-controversial two cents to the discussion of yesterday's deadly shooting at Charlie Hebdo. While "most Muslim people" wouldn't carry out such an attack, Maher said "hundreds of millions of them support an attack like this. They applaud an attack like this." Maher continued, per Raw Story, "When you make fun of the Prophet, all bets are off." The Daily Beast reports an apparently stunned audience was noticeably subdued throughout his rant, in which he said all religions are "stupid and dangerous." "It's not my fault that the part of the world that is most against liberal principles is the Muslim part of the world," he said. Asking the audience to "turn toward the truth," he proceeded to attack how Muslim countries treat women, gay people, and those who leave Islam. "They chop heads off in the square in Mecca. Well, Mecca is their Vatican City. If they were chopping the heads off of Catholic gay people, wouldn't there be a bigger outcry among liberals?" Maher said. America's politically correct liberals weren't free from his critique, either. The Daily Beast notes Maher said those who argue for sensitivity to Muslim sensibilities have transformed the US into "Pussy Nation."

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A New Lebanon man running for the U.S. Senate seat responded to allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a minor. 2 News spoke to Eric Deaton inside the offices of Rion and Rion, with his attorney, Jon Paul Rion by his side. Deaton maintained that he did nothing wrong, despite charges filed by a Montgomery County grand jury. Despite the nature of the charges, Deaton said he planned to stay in the race for the senate seat, being vacated by Senator George Voinovich. Deaton was indicted on one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, on Monday. Perry Township police said Deaton had an inappropriate relationship with a 15 year old girl between March 2006 and 2007. Police believed he met the victim while serving as an elder at his church. Police said he would tutored her at times, and invited the teen to his home and paid her to do odd jobs. Police said they had hotel receipts and video to prove their case. But Deaton's attorney, Jon Paul Rion questioned the timing of indictment. It comes close to election time. Rion also said the hotel surveillance video and receipts would help prove that Deaton was innocent. Rion said Deaton had passed a 4-hour long polygraph test. Deaton was a member of the Constitution party. In a press conference on Tuesday morning, he said the accusations against him were lies. Deaton said he looked forward to defending himself in court. He also said he held the constitution dear to his heart, and was glad he had the rights to a due process. If found guilty Deaton could face five years in prison, and a fine of $10,000. He is scheduled to appear in court on September 14th. ||||| By Lynn Hulsey , Staff Writer DAYTON — Eric W. Deaton, a Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senate, was indicted Tuesday, Aug. 31, for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, according to Greg Flannagan, spokesman for Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. Deaton, 42, of New Lebanon is to be arraigned Sept. 14 in county common pleas court on the third-degree felony count. The indictment alleges that between March 20, 2006, and March 25, 2007, Deaton engaged in sexual conduct with a girl who was between the ages of 13 and 15, Flannagan said. Deaton faces five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. “I think this is politically motivated,” said Deaton, blaming the indictment on his decision to run for political office. “The powers that be don’t like that,” said Deaton, who said he intends to stay in the race. Deaton is married with three children and is a Cub Scout leader, according to his website. That could not be confirmed with the Boy Scouts of America. Deaton is running against Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Lee Fisher for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. Also running for the seat are Socialist Party candidate Daniel H. LaBotz, independent Michael Pryce and write-in candidate Arthur T. Sullivan. Deaton said he has Tea Party backing. His website lists endorsements from Liberty Candidates, Mansfield Tea Party and Akron Tea Party, along with a national group called Vote Family Values. A poster pictured on his deatonforsenate.com website says he supports fiscal responsibility, balanced and centered government, honoring founding principles. The poster also says, “Return moral citizens to office.” Deaton said he would have no further comment until a news conference this morning in the Dayton offices of his attorneys, Rion & Rion.

– Another day, another political sex scandal—but this one involves a minor. Ohio's Eric W. Deaton, Senate candidate for the conservative Constitution Party, was indicted Tuesday for having alleged sexual contact with a young girl, the Dayton Daily News reports. Deaton, 42, is accused of having unlawful sexual conduct with the girl, who he reportedly met at his church, while she was between the ages of 13 and 15 ... and he's calling the whole mess "politically motivated." He adds that “the powers that be don’t like” his decision to run for office, and says he'll stay in the race despite his Sept. 14 arraignment and the fact that he faces the possibility of five years in prison. According to WDTN Dayton, police say they have hotel surveillance video and receipts that prove their case ... and Deaton's lawyer says those very items (somehow) help prove that his client is innocent. Deaton, a married Cub Scout leader with three kids, says he has Tea Party endorsements.

UPDATE: The most recent version of this story can be found here. STATEN ISLAND -- Police sources say they have a "person of interest" in custody in connection with a string of fake bombs planted across the Island this month -- a jealous ex-lover hoping to get the police to arrest his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. Though no charges have been filed yet, investigators believe that "hoax devices" were left in Port Richmond, Randall Manor and Grymes Hill as part of a grudge between the two men, sources said. At least one device had a note written in Spanish accompanying it, those sources said. The most recent device, found in a computer bag on Saturday outside a home on Duncan Road in Grymes Hill, contained a propane container, with what looked like wires coming out, connected to another container of liquid, according to law enforcement sources. It wouldn't have exploded, those sources said. Police found two similar devices earlier this month -- one on Sept. 12, in a backpack by a black Toyota on Brentwood Avenue in Randall Manor, the other on Sept. 2, in a suitcase on an uninhabited stretch of Barrett Avenue just behind the Forest Avenue Shoppers Town strip mall in Port Richmond. The devices spurred the NYPD to form a task force over the weekend. Police also responded to four separate false alarms involving discarded bags since the first device was found. Police sources say that investigators don't believe terrorism to be a motive in the creation of the devices. ||||| Madman Staten Island bomber arrested after leaving three devices around borough: authorities The 54-year-old suspect was fueled by jealousy - his target was a man who lived on his block and recently married a woman the suspect liked, authorities said. The madman bomber responsible for leaving three inert devices on Staten Island was taken into custody Wednesday — and police believe he may have been fueled by jealousy, authorities said. Cops took the 54-year-old suspect in for questioning at his job in Manhattan. The bomber was lovestruck by a woman, 32, who lived nearby and had just gotten married this past Saturday - the day of the final incident — and the suspect was targeting the woman’s beau, officials said. All three know each other and live on the same block. The note left behind at each device had the 35-year-old target’s name and address. The suspect, whose name was not released, is being questioned at the 121st Precinct stationhouse. Charges are pending. "He, we believe, is the person responsible for the 3 incidents on Staten Island,” said Deputy Commissioner John McCarthy, the NYPD’s top spokesman. Oates, Michael/Michael Oates The suspect’s spree had triggered an all-out manhunt by the NYPD, sources said Wednesday. A task force of about 10 investigators has been put together to arrest the person who left three bombs in residential areas around the borough beginning on Sept. 2, police sources said. The homemade devices — propane cylinders duct taped to vials filled with gasoline attached to a container of nails and screws — were found inside laptop bags with wires sticking out of them, officials said. At least one of the devices had a nine-volt battery attached to it, police sources said. Another came with a clock, but the clock was not wired to the device. RELATED: NYPD EVACUATES STATEN ISLAND BLOCK AFTER FAKE BOMB FIND All three of the bombs had a threatening note in Spanish attached to them, a source said. Cops are concerned because if the devices were rigged properly, they could have exploded. Oates, Michael/Michael Oates “Whenever you have propane and gas and you can light it, you will have some sort of explosion that will cause damage,” a police source said. Cops evacuated nine homes on Cornell St. near Decker Ave. in Elm Park on Sept. 2 after the first fake bomb was discovered. Members of the NYPD Bomb Squad deployed a robot to open the laptop bag and inspect the would-be bomb, which didn’t contain an explosive. “Nothing like this has ever happened here,” Elm Park resident Nievas Pavia, 31, who lived near where the laptop bag was discovered, told the Daily News at the time. “We were shocked and worried because we weren't told anything... just that we had to leave.” The second device — the only one not found in a laptop case — was was found sitting next to a parked car on Brentwood Ave. near Henderson Ave. in Randall Manor, officials said. A crew of sanitation workers accidentally picked up the third gadget — which was placed among some garbage bags —on Duncan Road near Silver Lake Park at 8 a.m. Saturday. Nearby houses were evacuated as the NYPD bomb squad investigated. Cops are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

– A 54-year-old man is accused of planting three inert bombs around Staten Island in order to frame the husband of a neighborhood woman he liked, reports the Staten Island Advance. Police say the man left his homemade devices in residential areas over the last month, reports the Daily News, which describes them as "propane cylinders duct taped to vials filled with gasoline attached to a container of nails and screws." As constructed, they apparently wouldn't have been able to explode, say police, though it's not clear whether that was by design or ignorance. The man was reportedly smitten with a 32-year-old woman in his neighborhood—the Advance says he was her ex-boyfriend—and apparently none too happy that she recently got married. With each device was an angry note that implicated her husband, says the Daily News. The suspect was being questioned this afternoon, and charges are pending. "He, we believe, is the person responsible for the three incidents on Staten Island,” says an NYPD spokesperson.

Most people know how to eat an artichoke: Using your teeth, you scrape the meat from the bottom of each leaf. But Miamian Arturo Carvajal, a doctor with a family practice in Hollywood and a litigant in one of the stranger lawsuits we've ever seen, was mystified by the vegetable. "It takes a sophisticated diner to be familiar with the artichoke," says Carvajal's lawyer, Marc R. Ginsberg. "People might think that, as a doctor, he'd know how to eat one. But he was thinking it was like a food he might have eaten in his native Cuba, where you eat everything on the plate." In May 2009, Carvajal dined at Houston's in North Miami Beach. He order a grilled-artichoke special. It was a vegetable he had "never seen nor heard of previously," Carvajal claims in court filings. The server "fail[ed] to explain the proper method of consuming an artichoke," he says, namely that the "outside portion of the leaf should not be eaten; rather, only the inside portion of the leaf was safely digestible." Anybody who's ever eaten an artichoke knows the outside leaves are tough, brittle, and nearly dagger-sharp. But apparently, Carvajal courageously gnawed his way through every leaf on his plate. You can guess the rest of the story. Carvajal suffered "severe abdominal pain and discomfort." He went to the hospital, where an "exploratory laparotomy" revealed artichoke leaves lodged within his bowel, he claims. Among the alleged consequences of Carvajal eating an entire damn artichoke: "disability, disfigurement, mental anguish," and "loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life." This October 27, he filed a lawsuit alleging negligence seeking unspecified damages. We've embedded the complaint below. Riptide called Hillstone Restaurant Group, which owns the Houston's chain, for comment but have not heard back yet. A spokesperson for the group called Carvajal's claim a "silly notion," telling Business Insurance: "What's next? Are we going to have to post warnings on our menu they shouldn't eat the bones in our barbecue ribs?" Arturo Carvjal sues Houston's Restaurant for not advising him on how to eat an artichoke. Location Info More North Dade Restaurants Map Hillstone's 17355 Biscayne Blvd., Sunny Isles Beach, FL Category: Restaurant Sponsor Content ||||| Are restaurants legally obligated to educate their customers about potentially dangerous vegetables? That is the contention of a customer of a Florida restaurant, who argues that Houston's Restaurant in Miami should have taught him about the right way to eat an artichoke. According to his Oct. 25 lawsuit filed in circuit court in Miami-Dade County against Hillstone Restaurant Group Inc., Arturo Carvajal said he was a customer in May 2009 when he was offered a house special of grilled artichokes, which was not on the menu. Mr. Carvajal said he had neither seen nor heard of the dish previously, and his waiter never told him that the outside portion of the leaf is indigestible. As a result, Mr. Carvajal began “experiencing severe abdominal pain and discomfort,” according to the suit. An exploratory procedure revealed artichoke leaves lodged in his small bowel. Mr. Carvajal alleges that the restaurant and its manager were negligent in failing to train table servers to tell patrons about “the proper method of consuming an artichoke.” He is seeking nonspecified damages for bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, aggravation of pre-existing conditions as well as medical expenses, among other charges. Glenn Viers, the restaurant chain's vp and general counsel, said while it is difficult to make light of a situation where a guest ends up in the hospital, “It's just kind of a silly notion” that the company has a duty to post warnings against someone eating an entire artichoke. “What's next? Are we going to have to post warnings on our menu they shouldn't eat the bones in our barbeque ribs?” Mr. Viers said also the firm will defend the lawsuit “vigorously.”

– Just because Arturo Carvajal is a doctor, that doesn't mean he knows how to eat an artichoke—and he's suing a Miami restaurant for not instructing him on the proper method. Carvajal ordered the grilled artichoke (a vegetable he had "never seen nor heard of previously," according to court filings) and proceeded to eat the entire thing, rather than scraping just the meat off of the leaves. He later found himself experiencing abdominal pain, and doctors found artichoke leaves lodged in his bowel. He filed a suit seeking unspecified damages last month, the Miami New Times reports. In it, he complains that the server failed "to explain the proper method of consuming an artichoke." His lawyer explains that Carvajal thought "it was like a food he might have eaten in his native Cuba, where you eat everything on the plate." The restaurant's lawyer begs to differ: "What's next?" he asks Business Insurance. "Are we going to have to post warnings on our menu they shouldn't eat the bones in our barbecue ribs?" Click here for more wacky lawsuits.

« More on the stolen emails | Main | Willis Eschenbach caught lying about temperature trends » Category: Global Warming Posted on: December 8, 2009 9:52 PM, by Tim Lambert Not content with publishing George Will's fabrications about the stolen emails (for which, see Carl Zimmer), they now have a piece by climate expert Sarah Palin. The Washington Post simply does not care about the accuracy of the columns it publishes. Let's look at just one paragraph: The e-mails reveal that leading climate "experts" deliberately destroyed records, manipulated data to "hide the decline" in global temperatures, and tried to silence their critics by preventing them from publishing in peer-reviewed journals. What's more, the documents show that there was no real consensus even within the CRU crowd. Some scientists had strong doubts about the accuracy of estimates of temperatures from centuries ago, estimates used to back claims that more recent temperatures are rising at an alarming rate. I didn't add the link to this paragraph. It's a link to the WaPo's own report on the email theft and it directly contradicts Palin. For example, the WaPo's news story says: Phil Jones, the unit's director, wrote a colleague that he would "hide" a problem with data from Siberian tree rings with more accurate local air temperature measurements. But Palin says that he tried to "hide the decline" in global temperatures, when in fact he showed the increase in global temperatures since 1960. The Wapo's report does not support any of the false claims in Palin's paragraph. No they didn't deliberately destroy data, no, they didn't try to stop their critics from publishing. And while the emails show there are many things that the scientists disagree on, they doesn't mean there is no consensus about anything -- they agree that it is getting warmer and that we are causing it. So what use is the Washington Post? If they are not going to do even the most perfunctory fact checking on the stuff they publish, what value do they add? ||||| Wednesday's edition of the Washington Post features an op-ed by Sarah Palin, who reprises her call -- first made in a Facebook post last week -- for President Obama to "boycott" the major climate talks in Copenhagen due to the "Climate-gate" controversy (actually a non-controversy). "Policy decisions require real science and real solutions," Palin argued on Facebook, "not junk science and doomsday scare tactics pushed by an environmental priesthood that capitalizes on the public's worry and makes them feel that owning an SUV is a 'sin' against the planet." The reaction to Palin's latest piece, however, is focused not on what she wrote, but on the fact that the Washington Post chose to run it in the first place. Shortly after the op-ed was published online, Post media reporter Howard Kurtz tweeted that his paper was being "ripped for running Palin op-ed." Kurtz highlighted a blog post whose author refused to link to the op-ed because "[t]hey shouldn't be rewarded with the clicks, which is pretty much what this is about, I figure." Politico's Ben Smith wrote on Twitter that it "struck me as slightly odd [that the Post] published an expanded version of her Facebook piece." He added later, "I agree she's relevant and boycott call is news." The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder begged to differ with Smith's latter point. "Her boycott call is like a video press release," he wrote. "She's looking for a way to inject herself into this and found it." Ambinder published a critical "annotated" version of Palin's piece, noting at the onset, "Once again, the Washington Post has given Sarah Palin the chance to harness herself to the political story of the hour." ||||| by Mark Silva and updated In the practice of preaching to the choir, Sarah Palin appears to have all but patented the art of saying what a few want to hear -- and it's an all-new tune now. Palin, who was the Republican Party's nominee for vice president, is suggesting that President Barack Obama "boycott'' an international conference on climate change underway in Copenhagen, because some hacked emails questioning the ethics of some scientists at a university in Great Britain have given the obstinate opposition to the concept of global warming, let alone the science involving man's hand in climate change, all the fuel it needs to declare the case closed, conference over, thank you ma'am. The president's withdrawal from the conference, with an appearance planned near the summit's finish next week, would come as quite a surprise to a global community that has witnessed the reengagement of the United States in an international dialog about the fate of the planet from which the previous president had all but withdrawn until the end of his second term. But, for a share of the American electorate which fears the consequences of limitations on the emissions of pollutants that could force the U.S. to find alternative, and in some cases more costly, sources of energy - the fabled "energy tax'' - talk such as Palin's comes straight from the wand of the maestro. From Palin's new viewpoint, the consensus of world science on the question of global warming represents "the radical environmental movement'' -- though this was not the same tune Palin was whistling when she ran for national office last year: "We've got to reduce emissions,'' she said during the 2008 campaign, and get other nations to "come along.'' From the world's viewpoint, Palin's apparent new opposition to any dialog involving the United States in Copenhagen represents the politics of radical retrenchment. "With the publication of damaging e-mails from a climate research center in Britain, the radical environmental movement appears to face a tipping point,'' Palin writes in an Op-ed essay appearing in Wednesday's Washington Post. "The revelation of appalling actions by so-called climate change experts allows the American public to finally understand the concerns so many of us have articulated on this issue. "Climate-gate," Palin writes of the e-mails and other documents obtained from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia by hackers, "exposes a highly politicized scientific circle -- the same circle whose work underlies efforts at the Copenhagen climate change conference. The agenda-driven policies being pushed in Copenhagen won't change the weather,'' the former governor of Alaska writes, "but they would change our economy for the worse.'' "Drill, baby, drill": A hole so deep that no one but the most radicalized base of the Republican Party might possibly take seriously the pivoting of Palin on the question. Now she has a memoir and a book-tour, Going Rogue, apparently taking the title to heart. "I've always believed that policy should be based on sound science, not politics,'' writes Palin, who also has entertained creationism as a reasonable counterpoint to evolutionary theory, at least something worthy of teaching in the schools. "I am a proponent of teaching both,'' she said during her campaign for governor in 2006. "And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides." "Snake oil,'' Palin called the science of climate change in a recent radio interview, suggesting: "The fact is, the Caribou population is increasing.'' Yet Palin was far more generous about the challenge of climate change and what the world should do about it during last year's debate with Vice President Joe Biden, who then asserted flatly that global warming is "man-made.'' This is what Palin said in debate with Biden in October 2008: " Well, as the nation's only Arctic state and being the governor of that state, Alaska feels and sees impacts of climate change more so than any other state. And we know that it's real. "I'm not one to attribute every man -- activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet. But there are real changes going on in our climate. And I don't want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts? "We have got to clean up this planet. We have got to encourage other nations also to come along with us with the impacts of climate change, what we can do about that.'' And just eight months ago, at an Interior Department hearing, the then-governor of Alaska said this: "We Alaskans are living with the changes that you are observing in Washington, The dramatic decreases in the extent of summer sea ice, increased coastal erosion, melting of permafrost, decrease in alpine glaciers and overall ecosystem changes are very real to us.'' Yet this is no cause for curtailing drilling for new oil, she maintained: "Stopping domestic energy production of preferred fuels does not solve the issues associated with global warming and threatened or endangered species, but it can make them worse....Simply waiting for low-carbon-emitting renewable capacity to be large enough will mean that it will be too late to meet the mitigation goals for reducing [carbon dioxide] that will be required under most credible climate-change models.'' (Sarah Paln's book-signing in Fairfax, Va., over the weekend saw some snow flurries. . Photo by Paul J. Richards / AFP /Getty Images) "As governor, I was the first governor to form a climate change sub-cabinet to start dealing with the impacts. We've got to reduce emissions,'' Palin said in the October 2008 vice presidential debate with Biden. "John McCain is right there with an "all of the above" approach to deal with climate change impacts. "We've got to become energy independent for that reason. Also as we rely more and more on other countries that don't care as much about the climate as we do, we're allowing them to produce and to emit and even pollute more than America would ever stand for. So even in dealing with climate change, it's all the more reason that we have an "all of the above" approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change.'' Palin has staked a new stance on the issue little more than a year later - no more of that encouraging other nations "to come along with us with the impacts of climate change.'' Now, it's "come along'' for a new ride, preaching to the chorus of "Climate-gate'' protesters who maintain that all the world's science suddently has been reduced to rubble with a pile of hacked emails from England -- regardless of all the other science that has been conducted throughout the world. "As governor of Alaska,'' Palin writes in the Post Op-ed, "I took a stand against politicized science when I sued the federal government over its decision to list the polar bear as an endangered species despite the fact that the polar bear population had more than doubled. "I got clobbered for my actions by radical environmentalists nationwide, but I stood by my view that adding a healthy species to the endangered list under the guise of "climate change impacts" was an abuse of the Endangered Species Act. This would have irreversibly hurt both Alaska's economy and the nation's, while also reducing opportunities for responsible development. "Our representatives in Copenhagen should remember that good environmental policymaking is about weighing real-world costs and benefits -- not pursuing a political agenda. That's not to say I deny the reality of some changes in climate -- far from it. I saw the impact of changing weather patterns firsthand while serving as governor of our only Arctic state. I was one of the first governors to create a subcabinet to deal specifically with the issue and to recommend common-sense policies to respond to the coastal erosion, thawing permafrost and retreating sea ice that affect Alaska's communities and infrastructure. "But while we recognize the occurrence of these natural, cyclical environmental trends, we can't say with assurance that man's activities cause weather changes,'' she writes. "We can say, however, that any potential benefits of proposed emissions reduction policies are far outweighed by their economic costs. And those costs are real.. "President Obama has proposed serious cuts in our own long-term carbon emissions,'' Palin writes. "Meeting such targets would require Congress to pass its cap-and-tax proposals, which will result in job losses and higher energy costs (as Obama admitted during the campaign). That's not exactly what most Americans are hoping for these days. And as public opposition continues to stall Congress's cap-and-tax plans, Environmental Protection Agency bureaucrats plan to regulate carbon emissions themselves, doing an end run around the American people.'' Palin writes: "In his inaugural address, President Obama declared his intention to "restore science to its rightful place." "But instead of staying home from Copenhagen and sending a message that the United States will not be a party to fraudulent scientific practices, the president has upped the ante. He plans to fly in at the climax of the conference in hopes of sealing a "deal." Whatever deal he gets, it will be no deal for the American people. "What Obama really hopes to bring home from Copenhagen is more pressure to pass the Democrats' cap-and-tax proposal,'' Palin writes. "This is a political move. The last thing America needs is misguided legislation that will raise taxes and cost jobs -- particularly when the push for such legislation rests on agenda-driven science. "Without trustworthy science and with so much at stake, Americans should be wary about what comes out of this politicized conference. The president should boycott Copenhagen.''

– The Washington Post's decision to run an op-ed piece by Sarah Palin on the "Climategate" emails is attracting almost as much derision as Palin's call for President Obama to boycott the Copenhagen conference, the Huffington Post notes. Here's an attitude roundup: Palin was "looking for a way to inject herself into this and found it," writes Marc Ambinder, who dissects the piece paragraph by paragraph in a highly critical "annotated" version at the Atlantic. Scientific consensus on climate change now appears to represent "the radical environmental movement" to Palin, writes Mark Silva at the Chicago Tribune, noting that she was singing a different tune on the campaign trail last year. "What use is the Washington Post?" asks Tim Lambert at Science Blogs, complaining that even the links embedded in Palin's piece contradict her claim that there is no consensus on global warming. "If they are not going to do even the most perfunctory fact checking on the stuff they publish, what value do they add?"

FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2007 file photo, Prince performs during the halftime show of the Super Bowl XLI football game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. A Minnesota judge overseeing Prince's estate said Thursday,... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2007 file photo, Prince performs during the halftime show of the Super Bowl XLI football game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. A Minnesota judge overseeing Prince's estate said Thursday,... (Associated Press) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge overseeing Prince's estate narrowed down the wide pool of potential heirs for the late superstar's fortune on Friday, ruling out nearly 30 claimants while ordering genetic testing for six purported family members. Carver County Judge Kevin Eide's order requires genetic testing for Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, plus three half-siblings: Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson and John Nelson. Ken Abdo, the attorney for the three half-siblings declined to comment. Tyka Nelson's attorney did not immediately return a voicemail. Eide also ordered testing for Brianna Nelson, who has claimed to be Prince's niece, and possible grand-niece Victoria Nelson. The pair has claimed Briana Nelson's father was Prince's half-brother. Their attorney, Andrew Stoltman, declined to comment. It's unclear why the judge did not order testing for Omar Baker or Alfred Jackson, two men who were listed as half-brothers in the original petition for the court to name a special administrator to the estate, but Eide's order includes a note that the court "is not aware of any objection or dispute" that all six siblings or half-siblings are legitimate heirs. Jackson's attorney, Justin Bruntjen, declined to comment. An attorney for Baker could not be immediately reached. Prince died April 21 of a drug overdose. The process of determining his heirs and parceling out his estate has fallen to the courts because he had no known children and left no will. A DNA test has already ruled out a Colorado prison inmate who claimed to be Prince's son. Barring any others who could come forward claiming ties, Eide's order drastically limits who may benefit from Prince's fortunes — an estimated $300 million or more — or gain control of his legacy. Among those excluded from potential heirship in Eide's order are five unidentified people with shaky claims that Prince was their biological father. For example, one woman who said she was adopted claimed Prince was her father because "based upon the general description of the lifestyle of her biological parents, her fascination with the Decedent and physical similarities." The order also tosses out a handful of claimants who alleged that Prince's father was someone other than John L. Nelson, who is listed in court records as Prince's father. Among those claimants was Venita Jackson Leverette, whose attorney, James Selmer, called Eide's decision "a travesty" and said he's considering an appeal. Selmer opined that his client would be banned from undergoing testing while a man serving an eight-year prison sentence in Colorado was given a DNA test. "The better course would be to allow people that have a plausible connection to him to have a blood test," he said. The four Prince siblings or half-siblings ordered to undergo genetic testing all claim John L. Nelson as their father. Susan Link, head of estate planning for Minneapolis-based Maslon, said the judge may have ordered them tested because of the claimants who said John L. Nelson wasn't actually Prince's father — even though he threw out those claims. The two that don't need to be tested — Baker and Jackson — claim relation to Prince through a common mother, Mattie Shaw, but different fathers. ||||| (Reuters) - A Minnesota judge has excluded nearly 30 would-be heirs from the estate of the late pop star Prince, bolstering the inheritance claims of the performer’s sister and surviving half-siblings, probate court records released on Friday showed. U.S. musician Prince performs on stage at Yas Arena in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates November 14, 2010. REUTERS/Jumana El-Heloueh/File Photo The court order, issued on Thursday, came in response to a flood of individuals seeking a piece of an estate some have valued at more than $500 million, left by Prince when he died unexpectedly in April at the age of 57, apparently without a will. Claims have poured into the probate court since Prince’s younger sister, Tyka Nelson, filed a petition seeking appointment of a special administrator for the estate and naming herself and five half-siblings as the only known heirs. In his 19-page order, Carver County Judge Kevin Eide appeared to accept those six claims, stating, “The court is not aware of any objection or dispute with the statement that these persons are the siblings or half-siblings” of Prince. Under the ruling, Tyka Nelson and three half-siblings by Prince’s father will undergo genetic testing - John, Norrine and Sharon Nelson - along with two more individuals claiming to be Prince’s niece and grandniece. No provision for genetic testing was made for two other half-brothers - Alfred Jackson and Omar Baker - who shared a common mother with the singer. The judge dismissed claims of heirship from a total of 29 other people purported to have some degree of kinship with Prince, including a professed secret wife who said the CIA had classified their marriage records as top secret. Among other would-be heirs he denied were five people who came forward claiming Prince was their biological or adoptive father, and several others claiming their dad was also Prince’s genetic parent by way of an extramarital affair with his mother. Also dismissed were a batch of claims by several people who described themselves as descendants of a sister of Prince’s great-grandfather. The musician, born as Prince Rogers Nelson, has long been identified in public records as the only surviving son from the marriage between Mattie Della Shaw and John L. Nelson, both of whom are now dead. And Judge Eide ruled there was no “credible, documented claim” of a surviving Prince spouse. If Prince also left no will and no surviving offspring of his own, as appears to be the case, his estate under Minnesota law would be apportioned in equal shares to his siblings and the nearest surviving descendants of any siblings now dead. Siblings and half-siblings are treated the same. The special administrator of the estate, Bremer Trust, has said it was in the process of determining the fair-market value of Prince’s estate.

– There will be no payday for 29 people who claimed to be Prince's heirs, including a woman who said the CIA covered up her marriage to the superstar, a Minnesota judge ruled in an order disclosed Friday. Reuters reports that Carver County Judge Kevin Eide ordered genetic testing for six other claimants: Prince's sister, Tyka Nelson, three half-siblings by his father, and a possible niece and grandniece. Two half-brothers from Prince's mother will not be tested under the judge's ruling, which will determine the future of an estate thought to be worth up to $500 million. Other rejected claimants include at least five people who claimed Prince was their father, and several who claimed that their father had an affair with Prince's mother, making their father Prince's real father and the late star their half-brother, the AP reports. Under Minnesota law, the estate of Prince—who left no known will or surviving offspring—will be split between siblings, half-siblings, and the offspring of any deceased siblings. Despite the order for genetic testing, Eide's ruling says he "is not aware of any objection or dispute" to the six siblings or half-siblings being legitimate heirs. (A DNA test ruled out an inmate in Colorado who claimed he was Prince's son.)

Kenai cats could join dogs on the list of animals that city code requires to be restrained either by a leash, fence, or building. The cat leash law was introduced to the Kenai City Council by Kenai Mayor Pat Porter and council member Tim Navarre, who in the ordinance text cited an increase in residents’ complaints to the Kenai Animal Shelter about roaming cats and a growing cat population in the shelter that “has begun to tax the available resources of the Animal Shelter.” The council unanimously voted to postpone the ordinance Wednesday, with members Mike Boyle and Bob Molloy absent. It will now have a hearing and vote on October 5. The “restraint” which the ordinance would require of cats at all times is defined in Kenai code as “physical confinement, as by leash, chain, fence, or building.” The maximum penalty allowed in code for an animal violation is a fine of up to $500 per violation. A memo from Kenai city attorney Scott Bloom, attached to the ordinance, states the Kenai Animal Shelter “has received an increased number of complaints regarding cats roaming at large, defecating on private property, invading plant beds, and otherwise disturbing property owners’ peaceful enjoyment of their property.” Kenai Animal Control Office Jessica Hendrickson wrote in an email that she’d observed an increase in cat complaints, though numbers showing the increase don’t exist. “We have noticed an increase in the amount of calls with complaints about cats in the past several months,” Hendrickson wrote in an email. “Because we do not have a current Kenai Municipality Code regarding cat confinement, we do not keep detailed records regarding confinement complaints.” Two letters to council members from Bridgit Gillis and Sheila Holtzen, both residents of Kenai’s Woodland subdivision, were included in Wednesday’s meeting materials and emphasized such complaints. “I have been a cat owner myself and have nothing against having cats as pets,” Gillis wrote. “I do, however, have a problem with cat owners allowing their cats to roam freely within city limits, where we all live closely together. Not only is this practice disrespectful, but it does not have the best interest and safety of the cat in mind.” Holtzen wrote that with ill family members in her home, “having cats use my yard for a kitty litter box is a huge health issue, as well as being really nasty, and we shouldn’t have to tolerate this.” “Some days the stench coming from underneath my back deck is sickening!” Holtzen wrote. “Twice I have accidentally stuck my fingers in cat poop while trying to weed my flower garden, and I had to start live trapping them after that.” The Kenai Animal Shelter has six live traps it loans to residents for 14 days, Hendrickson wrote in her email. “Recently, the traps have been completely checked out and we have had a waitlist for people to pick them up when they have been returned,” Hendrickson wrote. Kenai resident and former council member Ryan Marquis testified to the cat leash law via an email, in which he wrote that “the flaw in this ordinance is that it assumes compliance.” “It is my opinion that those that start restraining their cats will be significantly fewer in number than those that ignore the ordinance (whether knowingly or not),” Marquis wrote. “Also, I believe that a large number of the cats that are likely prompting this ordinance are feral; they don’t have owners that can be responsible for them being unrestrained. If I’m correct, this means that Animal Shelter resources will be taxed even further.” Kenai resident Heather Morning also said the cat leash law would create more burden for the animal shelter rather than relieving it. “Every cat that is currently used to being outdoors would now have to be contained and every time that cat manages to get out of its containment, animal control would be tasked with having to get involved in that situation because it’s now an ordinance,” Morning said. Marquis wrote that the leash law could have an unexpected fiscal impact. “Are you prepared to increase Animal Control’s budget to support this new program?” Marquis wrote. “And remember, it’s not just additional food that the Shelter would need to acquire, it’s the personnel hours involved with chasing after complaint cats, other expenses associated with housing, time spent dealing with owners and the additional costs associated with increased euthanizations and vaccinations.” As of Thursday afternoon, Hendrickson wrote that she didn’t have available information on the costs associated with keeping cats at the shelter. At Wednesday’s meeting, Kenai City Manager Rick Koch said “it is not the case” that the shelter’s resources are being taxed. Koch said the shelter’s budget — $421,265 in Fiscal Year 2017 — “is sufficient for its operations, specifically for food.” In a memo given Wednesday, Koch recommended delaying the vote on the cat ordinance, writing to council members that he “would like to research historical information and provide that information to Council so that you have the best information available on which to base your decisions.” During the meeting, Koch elaborated on the information he sought. “I want to spend a little bit more time looking at the data as far as the number of complaints and calls, and provide that information in a report to council,” Koch said. “I’d like to be more specific and give you information on how we handle complaints for cats now, how many requests we get for live-traps … and I wanted to bring all those numbers for you guys to be able to have that and consider this action.” Porter requested that Koch also include in his report a list of other Alaskan cities that currently have cat leash laws. Hendrickson wrote in an email that the shelter can reasonably house 16 cats, or slightly more if there are cats that come from the same household and are used to living together. Hendrickson, who started working at the shelter in August 2015, wrote that the maximum number of cats hadn’t been reached during her time there. In August 2016 the Kenai Animal Shelter took in 48 cats, according to its latest monthly report. Of these, 34 were voluntarily given up by owners and 13 were brought in as strays, having been either impounded by animal control officers or brought in by residents who had trapped them. Hendrickson wrote that cats usually spend 5-10 days at the shelter before being adopted. “When an animal comes in as a stray we hold it for 3-5 days before we are able to adopt it out to allow for an owner to come in and claim it,” Hendrickson wrote. “However, we do have occasions when animals stay at the shelter for upwards of a month or so before they are adopted out.” Fourteen of the cats that entered the shelter in August were adopted. Three were claimed by owners, and two were euthanized. Twenty-nine were transferred to one of the four animal rescue centers that the Kenai shelter partners with. According to the shelter’s reports — submitted to the city council in meeting packets at the last meeting of each month — cat intake in 2016 and 2015 has ranged between the 62 cats taken during September 2015 and the 14 taken in February 2016. In each month, a majority of new cats have been those brought voluntarily by owners, and the majority of cats leave the shelter to be sent to rescue centers. Reach Ben Boettger at ben.boettger@peninsulaclarion.com. ||||| KENAI, Alaska (AP) — Cats will need leashes just like dogs if a proposal before the Kenai council wins approval. Kenai Mayor Pat Porter and council member Tim Navarre have proposed a cat leash law after complaints from residents about roaming felines. The Peninsula Clarion reports (http://bit.ly/2diht2m) that current city code does not include cats on its list of animals that need to be restrained. The proposed ordinance also cites complaints about the impact of a growing cat population on the Kenai Animal Shelter's resources. Kenai City Manager Rick Koch says shelter resources are sufficient. He said he will research data and see whether other Alaska communities have similar laws. Some residents are concerned about compliance and whether the law will tax animal control resources. A hearing and vote is set for Oct. 5. ___ Information from: (Kenai, Alaska) Peninsula Clarion, http://www.peninsulaclarion.com

– Cats will need leashes just like dogs if a proposal before the Kenai council in Alaska wins approval, the AP reports. Kenai Mayor Pat Porter and council member Tim Navarre have proposed a cat leash law after complaints from residents about roaming felines. According to the Peninsula Clarion, current city code does not include cats on its list of animals that need to be restrained. The proposed ordinance also cites complaints about the impact of a growing cat population on the Kenai Animal Shelter's resources. Kenai City Manager Rick Koch says shelter resources are sufficient. Some residents are concerned about compliance and whether the law will tax animal control resources. A hearing and vote is set for Oct. 5.

(CNN) -- The search continued Thursday for a gay porn actor suspected of dismembering his acquaintance, posting the video of the incident online and mailing the severed limbs to different locations in Ottawa, including to a political party's headquarters, according to a source with direct knowledge of the investigation. Authorities are searching for Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, who they allege is responsible for a human torso discovered in Montreal, thought to be linked to a human hand and foot that were separately mailed from Montreal to Ottawa. Magnotta, also known as Eric Clinton Newman, is a Montreal resident who allegedly knew the victim, identified only as a white male, Montreal police spokesman Ian Lafreniere told reporters Wednesday. The suspect has no criminal background, and his image and information related to him were later recovered from a "very graphic" website, Lafreniere said. The source later confirmed that at least one of the websites examined by authorities was a pornographic site. It's possible the body parts all came from the same dismembered victim, Lafreniere said, but police are still awaiting the results of forensic testing for confirmation. "The two parts of the body that were found in Ottawa ... we've got all the reasons to believe that it's linked to our homicide," he added, referring to the human torso found in Montreal. Authorities said they are asking the public for help in locating Magnotta, after a "coast-to-coast" warrant was issued for his arrest. Police say they plan to charge him with murder once he's apprehended. Lafreniere said authorities have also found other body parts, potentially from the same attack, which is believed to have been committed in Montreal. It would be the 11th homicide there this year. "It wasn't a random attack," Lafreniere said. "They knew each other." Lafreniere added that Magnotta had been "involved in some stuff on the Web, that's for sure," though he would not elaborate. The human foot was sent to the Conservative Party of Canada headquarters in Ottawa, prompting a hazardous materials team to investigate. The officers who responded noticed what appeared to be bloodstains on the box, police said. Ottawa police Sgt. Steve Hodgson told reporters outside the office that the package had been addressed to the Conservative Party. Staffers had begun to open the package before calling police, he said. The hand was intercepted by workers at a Montreal postal terminal. Ottawa's major-crimes unit is checking with other police departments for similar cases and looking back through missing-persons files for any clues, according to Constable Marc Soucy, an Ottawa police spokesman. "We're going to look at every avenue," he said. In Montreal, the human torso was found behind an apartment building, authorities said. CNN's Jake Carpenter, Paula Newton and Matt Smith contributed to this report. ||||| Vic Toews, Public Safety Minister, and Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, have denounced the discovery of a severed hand at an Ottawa mail depot and delivery of foot to Tory headquarters. Jason Kenney and Vic Toews Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS Vic Toews, Public Safety Minister, and Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, have denounced the discovery of a severed hand at an Ottawa mail depot and delivery of foot to Tory headquarters. A police officer removes a package containg a human foot from the Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa on Tuesday. Body parts found Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS A police officer removes a package containg a human foot from the Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa on Tuesday. Police have named Magnotta a suspect in the shocking case where dismembered body parts were mailed to Ottawa, including the headquarters of the governing Conservative party. Luka Magnotta THE CANADIAN PRESS Police have named Magnotta a suspect in the shocking case where dismembered body parts were mailed to Ottawa, including the headquarters of the governing Conservative party. Police have named Magnotta a suspect in the shocking case where dismembered body parts were mailed to Ottawa, including the headquarters of the governing Conservative party. Luka Magnotta SUBMITTED IMAGE Police have named Magnotta a suspect in the shocking case where dismembered body parts were mailed to Ottawa, including the headquarters of the governing Conservative party. Andrew Chung Quebec Bureau WARNING: THIS REPORT CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS MONTREAL—What began as a case of a severed foot sent to Canada’s ruling party headquarters has spiralled into an astonishing murder case involving a self-professed porn actor with links to Karla Homolka who’s accused of killing and dismembering a man in a Montreal apartment. Police have launched a Canada-wide manhunt for Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, a Toronto native who appears in several dubious places on the Internet. He’s accused, among other things, of torturing and killing kittens and being romantically linked to notorious sex killer Homolka, though in a 2007 newspaper report he denied this last allegation. The police hunt follows the discovery Tuesday of a headless torso inside a brown suitcase next to a pile of rubbish at a dingy Montreal apartment building. Police say a foot and hand mailed to Ottawa belonged to the body. Late Wednesday, CTV News was reporting there was a note in the box containing the severed foot sent to the Conservative headquarters. The note reportedly said it was the first of six body parts, and it indicated the killer would kill again, according to CTV. In another shocking twist, a grotesque video has emerged on the Internet that appears to show a man stabbing a naked and bound victim dozens of times with an ice pick, defiling the corpse and cutting off the head and limbs. Montreal police said they are investigating the video, which sources say appears to be authentic. Though the actual Montreal crime scene appears similar to the one shown in the murder video, police have not confirmed that the video does indeed show the murder of the man whose body parts were mailed to Ottawa. However, a police source said, “Everything looks like this is the person we’re talking about.” More: Second body part discovered in Ottawa after severed foot sent to Conservative party headquarters The sources added there is a “very strong possibility” that the man whose body parts were sent to Ottawa is an Asian male who was reported missing by family members several days ago. “The suspect and victim knew each other,” Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafrenière confirmed. He didn’t identify the victim. A source said the victim apparently attended the suspect’s apartment willingly. “I’ve been doing this job for close to 30 years now and I’ve never seen and never heard of something like this,” Lafrenière said. “It’s like watching a very bad movie. “It’s important to stay sensitive to these things. Some people might say ‘this happens’ in society. I don’t think so. It’s something very shocking.” The macabre discovery on Tuesday of a severed foot, delivered to the downtown Ottawa headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada, set alight confusion and concern on Parliament Hill and made international headlines. Hours later, Ottawa police confirmed a hand had been found in a package at a Canada Post processing facility. It had apparently been addressed to the Liberal party headquarters. On Wednesday, the situation escalated as Montreal police said they believed the body parts belonged to the same victim. They asked for the public’s help in finding Magnotta. The suitcase was reportedly sitting in the rubbish pile since last Friday. The video was posted online on May 25. Videos from the Toronto Star. Police spent much of Tuesday combing through the grimy second-floor studio apartment where the torso was found. Its windows look on to a major Montreal expressway. A poster from the 1942 film Casablanca is visible from outside. The poster can also be seen in photos posted on the Internet appearing to feature Magnotta. Neighbours had reported a strong foul odour emanating from the studio. Inside, the bed sheets and mattress were soaked with blood. “There was blood all over the bed,” said building manager Eric Schorer, 59. There was also a pool of what appeared to be blood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Traces were found too in the freezer. Inside the closet, a message scribbled in red ink reads: “If you don’t like the reflection, don’t look in the mirror. I don’t care.” Magnotta arrived in Montreal and rented the furnished apartment about four months ago for $490 a month, Schorer said. His rent was paid up to June 1. “He came from Toronto and wanted to start a job as a caregiver and to be closer to his child,” Schorer recalled. According to Schorer and other neighbours, Magnotta kept to himself, slept late into the day, going out in the late afternoon, perhaps to work. Neighbour Derek Mackinnon, 56, said Magnotta spoke to no other neighbours except himself, “maybe because I was gay too.” “He’s probably one of the coldest people you’ve ever met in your life,” Mackinnon said. Mackinnon, a former actor who starred in the 1980 horror film Terror Train, said Magnotta asked him how to make the transition from porn into legitimate acting. “He said his porn career was over.” He said he saw Magnotta bring home a male five nights ago, an unusual sight because he never previously saw the young man with anyone. He saw Magnotta leave the building the next morning wearing a red wig. “I thought, ‘What is going on with that?’ ” Mackinnon then began to cry, as he revealed that Magnotta had asked him to come to his apartment to see him, also five days ago. “I wonder,” he whispered, “if that could have been me.” The suspect legally changed his name in 2006. His birth name is Eric Clinton Newman. Police said he also goes by the pseudonym Vladimir Romanov. An online profile pegs him as a bisexual porn actor. He has been targeted as a cat torturer and killer by animal rights activists, who have posted horrific videos to support their accusations. In one, a cat is placed in a plastic bag and the air is sucked out with a vacuum. The suspect’s Facebook page lists a variety of heroes, from Madonna to Joseph Stalin. “There is such things as Monsters, Demons and Ghosts,” says a quote typed onto that page. “They live inside of us, and sometimes they win.” He also appears in an online blog posting about necrophilia. And a piece under Magnotta’s name posted in 2009 is titled, “How to Completely Disappear and Never Be Found.” “When making the decision to disappear, it is very important to understand that this is not a process that can be successfully accomplished overnight,” the article explains. Two top Conservative ministers denounced the posting of the body parts as a “criminal” act. “Bizarre and completely horrifying,” said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, saying it was clearly a “completely disgusting criminal act.” Conservative Party spokesman Fred DeLorey said the package, when it arrived at headquarters on Tuesday, was brought to Jenni Byrne, a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the campaign manager in the 2011 election, “because it looked suspicious.” “It was opened. Ms. Byrne examined it, saw the blood and smelled the odour and made the decision to call police.” Delorey said that “staff are very upset and disturbed by what happened yesterday.” With files from Tonda MacCharles and Allan Woods ALSO FROM THE STAR: Who is Luka Rocco Magnotta? Body parts sent to Conservative party headquarters ||||| View larger image Luka Rocco Magnotta is shown in a photo from the website www.luka-magnotta.com. Magnotta is wanted in the shocking case of a dismembered body whose parts were mailed to different places including the headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-www.luka-magnotta.com) View larger image Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, is seen is this photograph provided by police in Montreal. View larger image Luka Rocco Magnotta, 29, is seen is this photograph provided by police in Montreal. View larger image Luka Magnotta is shown in a photo from the website www.luka-magnotta.com. Magnotta is wanted in the shocking case of a dismembered body whose parts were mailed to different places including the headquarters of the Conservative Party of Canada. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-www.luka-magnotta.com) View larger image Police investigate after a severed human torso was found in Montreal on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. MONTREAL — CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT MAY DISTURB SOME READERS. In this chain of depraved events orchestrated by a disturbed mind, it turns out that the severed human foot delivered to Tory headquarters was only the latest link. Before that, someone repeatedly stabbed a young man with an ice pick. While both killer and victim lay naked, he dismembered the corpse and committed sexual and cannibalistic acts on it. That same person apparently videotaped the gory scene and posted it on the Internet. The video is now being reviewed by Montreal police, who are investigating a case that has shocked the country. A man by the name of Luka Rocco Magnotta is wanted in connection with a three-step crime: a killing, a dismemberment and a mailing of body parts to Ottawa. He is believed to be from Toronto and to have repeatedly used aliases and changed his name over the years. His new name, Luka Rocco Magnotta, has a prolific presence in the darkest corners of the Internet. For nearly two years, it has been notorious among animal-rights activists looking for a man who tortured and killed cats and posted videos of it online. He is also a low-budget porn actor. His online presence is much vaster, however, than bisexual porn videos. Magnotta is listed as a model. He has been romantically linked to sex-killer Karla Homolka -- a rumour that he has vehemently repudiated and others have shrugged off. He is an avid author of online articles. One article written in 2009, titled "How to Completely Disappear and Never Be Found," shares a six-step process for escaping and shedding one's identity. Another offers tips on how to get into the porn business. A Facebook page belonging to a self-described model with the same name list a variety of personal heroes. They include pop star Madonna and two Russian leaders: Vladimir Putin and Joseph Stalin. "There is such things as Monsters, Demons and Ghosts," says a quote typed onto that page. "They live inside of us, and sometimes they win." Police are now on the hunt for a suspect and trying to determine what demon might possibly have possessed a man to commit the acts alleged to have been committed in Montreal. Their key target is 29-year-old Magnotta. He has also gone by the names Eric Clinton Newman and Vladimir Romanov, among others. His multiple identities were confusing enough that even police had to issue a second press release Wednesday after originally identifying him as "Rocco Luka." The geographic epicentre of their investigation is a grimy apartment building in Montreal's west end. Magnotta was renting Apartment 208 in the brick mid-rise, by the bustling Decarie Expressway. Behind that building, a man's torso was found Tuesday in a locked suitcase, buried in a pile of garbage. On the same day, a foot was found in a package opened at Conservative headquarters and a hand was found at an Ottawa postal warehouse -- the latter package addressed to the Liberal party. The building manager told The Canadian Press that Magnotta had been living there for about four months. In the manager's words, he seemed like a nice guy. Police in masks were combing through the blood-soaked apartment Wednesday, having zeroed in on that particular unit from which a rotten stench was drifting out, says a building resident. The neighbour said police were showing neighbours pictures of two men -- the suspected victim and the homicide suspect. The packages in Ottawa came from a common source. They carried parts from the same male victim, and they were both mailed from Montreal. Police shared a few new details about the case Wednesday. "The suspect and victim knew each other," Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere told reporters. "It isn't linked to organized crime." It apparently took a few days for anyone to find a body part. A resident in the building described the scene in the trash-filled laneway behind the complex. "I saw the suitcase and I was tempted to go get it," said Richard Payette, 60. "It didn't look too damaged. I said, 'Maybe I'll go down and get it.' But I changed my mind." The grisly discovery was made later, by someone else living nearby. Police were milling about the second-floor apartment Wednesday, where there were still traces of blood and, reportedly, still some body parts stored. Payette said the door of Apartment 208 was left open for part of the day, and the smell of rotten meat was drifting out into the hallway. The building manager said Magnotta had lived there for four months but hadn't been seen around in a while. He said there were never any complaints about noise in the unit, and that Magnotta passed a credit test to rent there. "He seemed like a nice guy," said the manager, Eric Schorer. Police said Magnotta has no criminal record. What isn't clear is why body parts were mailed to Ottawa, including a foot received at the offices of the Conservative party and a hand found at a Canada Post warehouse. Finding him might not be easy. "When making the decision to disappear, it is very important to understand that this is not a process that can be successfully accomplished overnight," said the online disappearance tips, penned under Magnotta's name. "For best results under normal circumstances, a minimum of four months is really necessary to successfully carry out the heroic actions necessary to leave your old life behind. "This is certainly not an undertaking to be entered into lightly." ||||| Montreal police say Luka Rocco Magnotta is wanted in a homicide investigation in connection to the delivery of a human foot to the Conservative Party of Canada headquarters in Ottawa, and body parts discovered in both cities. Police said Magnotta, 29, is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant and police are asking for the public's help to find him. Magnotta is also known as Eric Clinton Newman and as Vladimir Romanov. Police describe him as five feet 10 inches tall and 135 pounds with black hair and blue eyes. Police said Magnotta knew the person whose torso was found in Montreal on Tuesday, but have yet to identify the victim. The epicentre of the investigation is a grimy apartment building in Montreal's west end. The torso was found behind the brick mid-rise, which is near the bustling Decarie Expressway. Sources have told CBC News that police believe they are in possession of evidence of the suspect filming the killing and dismembering of the victim. The building manager said Magnotta had lived there for four months but hadn't been seen around in a while. He said there were never any complaints about noise in the unit, and that Magnotta passed a credit test to rent there. Montreal police investigated the discovery of a human torso in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. (CBC) Montreal police investigated the discovery of a human torso in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. (CBC) "He seemed like a nice guy," the manager, Eric Schorer, told The Canadian Press. However, neighbour Richard Payette described him as "anti-social" and said Magnotta wouldn't talk to people. "Even when I said hello to him if I saw him, he wouldn't even respond," Payette said. Police in masks were combing through the blood-soaked apartment Wednesday, having zeroed in on the source of a rotten stench, says a building resident. The neighbour said police were showing neighbours pictures of two men — the suspected victim and the homicide suspect. Montreal police said Magnotta was not known to them and had no criminal record. But CBC News has learned that he was convicted on four counts of fraud in Ontario in 2005. He served 16 days pre-trial custody and was given a further nine-month conditional sentence and 12 months probation. The suspect's name has also come up in association with videos showing the killing of kittens. A CBC News source said police are also investigating a possible connection between the suspect and Karla Homolka. A website is also claiming it has posted video of a killing that is possibly linked to the suspect. Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafrenière said he would not substantiate internet rumours about the suspect. "We don't conduct our investigations via social media," he said. 2nd package addressed to Liberal Party The discovery of the torso is believed to be linked to the foot sent to the Conservative headquarters and a hand found at a Canada Post terminal. that was addressed to the Liberal Party of Canada headquarters. Police removed a bag containing a human foot that was delivered to the Conservative Party of Canada's headquarters in downtown Ottawa. (CBC) Police removed a bag containing a human foot that was delivered to the Conservative Party of Canada's headquarters in downtown Ottawa. (CBC) Lafrenière did not deny the second package was addressed to the Liberal Party, but told Solomon on Power and Politics it would be incorrect to link the actions to a political motive. "I've been a police officer for more than 20 years now and I met officers that were doing an investigation for more than 30 years and they said they never saw a scene like that," said Lafrenière "So it would be hard for me to say there is a political reason for this," he said. 'Horrible' crime scene The hand and foot mailed to Ottawa were sent from a fake Montreal address, police said. Police also said there were other body parts sent by mail that they are still investigating. Other body parts were also found at the same location where the torso was found. Police have not positively identified the victim. Lafrenière described the scene of the alleged crime as "horrible" but said investigators would be releasing few details for now. "The most important thing for us is to nab the suspect, and to make sure we don't jeopardize a future trial. I'd have a lot of trouble, as a father, to sleep if that happened." Foot sent via Canada Post The foot was discovered Tuesday after Ottawa police were called to the Conservative Party of Canada headquarters at 130 Albert St. A party spokesman told CBC News the package was brought to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's campaign manager Jenni Byrne. She examined the package after it was opened, he said, but called police when she saw the blood and smelled the odour. "Conservative Party staff are very upset and disturbed by what happened yesterday. It was such a horrible odour I'm sure many of us will never forget it," said Fred DeLorey, director of communications for the party. The hazardous materials unit was called in and the coroner soon confirmed the package contained a human foot that was partially decomposed.

– Toronto police have a suspect in a gruesome case in which body parts were mailed to at least two places, reports the local Star. The suspect is 29-year-old Luka Rocco Magnotta, described by CP24 of Toronto as a low-budget porn actor who has reportedly posted a wide range of disturbing videos, including the torture of cats. So far, three body parts believed to be from the same male victim have been discovered: a torso in a suitcase behind a Montreal building where Magnotta lived; a foot mailed to Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa; and a hand at a postal warehouse, also in Ottawa. The hand was reportedly addressed to Canada's Liberal Party, according to the CBC. Police aren't saying much about the case, other than that Magnotta and the victim knew each other. CP24 notes that among the Internet articles written by Magnotta is one titled "How to Completely Disappear and Never Be Found." Most news reports, including this one from CNN, are citing sources saying that Magnotta videotaped the dismemberment and posted it online.

Fall is still a great time to be single. This fall special is for that single person who is happy with who they are. This 925 Sterling Silver Ring can be worn on any finger but is usually worn on the right ring finger. The origination of the Venus and Mars, female and male symbols date back to the 1700's. The interlocked male and female symbols prominently displayed on the rings signify the attraction to others. ||||| Give a dead marriage its proper, final resting place. The Wedding Ring Coffin is the perfect gift for yourself or a loved one for bringing closure after a divorce. It’s time to... Bury the past and move on to a new tomorrow Latest News The View says Wedding Ring Coffin is amazing Social Links Who Gets The Coffin? Who gets the coffin? Katie or Tom? Cast your vote! ||||| His rings, which resemble traditional wedding bands except for a gap in the center, sell for $200 to $500. They have a “dual purpose,” according to the company’s Web site, not only as “attractive jewelry,” but also as “a healing tool for broken hearts.” Photo Never married? No worries. The Ah Ring, which stands for “available and happy,” is a $350 band with diamonds that is meant to be worn on the pinky. The ring’s meaning is hard to discern, because it looks like a silver band sprinkled with diamonds. And the Web site that sells it, apparently not wanting to ward off any potential customers, says that while the Ah ring was “originally created for confident and joyful single women,” others can wear it because the “Ah” can also stand for “attached and happy.” Della Beaver, who lives outside Philadelphia and manages operations for a medical referral service, bought herself an Ah Ring for her 50th birthday last June. She has never been married. “Usually men buy you diamonds, and I was like, ‘Why can’t I just buy my own diamond?’ ” Ms. Beaver said. “So the ring was liberating for me, because I don’t need others to tell me that I’m beautiful, I’m sexy, I’m intelligent, I’m fabulous just as I am.” Women are not the only buyers in this category. Tim Gould, the president of My Single Ring, said that of the nearly 1,000 rings he has sold since starting the online business last year — at $40 each — about 30 percent have been to men. One customer, Brian Chapman, a 31-year-old real estate agent in Chicago, said that his ring has been an “icebreaker” because women strike up conversations about it, and that it has led to as many dates in the four months he has worn it. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Chapman, who wears the ring on his right ring finger, said that some dates followed women approaching him and joking that he had his ring on the wrong finger, suspecting that he’d put his wedding ring on his other hand to disguise being married. Photo Andrea Helms, 36, an operations manager at an insurance company who is from Chicago, said she wears My Single Ring “to say that I’m comfortable being single” but in a way that is more discreet than “a neon sign on my forehead that says ‘single and looking.’ ” It did indeed get her a date: Ms. Helms was at a Chicago Cubs game wearing her My Single Ring when she was approached by Scott Gilbert, an owner of the company, who naturally was also wearing the ring. He asked her out, and they dated for a couple months — though not anymore — during which time Mr. Gilbert continued to wear his single ring as a “marketing tool,” Ms. Helms said. She said that some of her friends think wearing a ring that telegraphs one’s availability has its downside. If an unwanted suitor won’t leave you alone, it’s hard to play the boyfriend card. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. In that case, a woman might prefer the Ms. Taken ring, which at $30 is more of a gag gift. Also introduced in 2009 — and scheduled to be featured in Snuggie-like infomercials in June — it is a silver-and-crystal engagement-ring look-alike that can be slipped on as needed to thwart the advances of pushy guys. Then there is a more serious emerging category: specialty rings for gay men and lesbians. When Jeffrey Hames, 48, and Kenneth Daniel, 36, who live in Memphis and will be married in September on Cape Cod, decided to wed, “I did not want to go the traditional route, like Zales or other jewelers, where their wedding rings are tailored to being for a straight man and a straight woman,” said Mr. Daniel, a payroll administrator. The couple shopped at LoveAndPride.com, which sells wedding and commitment ceremony rings for same-sex couples by the jewelry designer Udi Behr. They selected matching white gold rings, each costing $1,895 and consisting of two interlocking bands bearing the classic male gender symbol (a circle with an arrow pointing up and to the right). Mr. Hames and Mr. Daniel are both wearing one of the bands during their engagement and will exchange the second during their ceremony. Meanwhile, the resale market for used engagement and wedding rings is booming, with popular online auction Web sites like IDoNowIDont.com, which Josh Opperman helped found after his fiancée broke off their engagement, and ExBoyfriendJewelry.com (tag line: “You don’t want it. He can’t have it back.”). For those who prefer not to part with them, however, the Wedding Ring Coffin is a casket-shaped box for decommissioned rings. According to Jill Testa, the founder of the company that sells them, the personalized engraved messages that customers have ordered for the coffins include, “He broke my heart but I broke the bank” and “The end of an error!”

– Not engaged, but just dying for an oh-so-special ring to call your own? Great news: Thanks to today’s brilliant jewelry marketers, there’s a ring for every relationship status you’d like to broadcast to the world, be it “available and happy” or “divorced, available, and happy.” Websites like MySingleRing.com offer you a silver band that promises to deliver the message, “I am an intelligent, empowered individual”…who also just so happens to be single and looking. The trend goes even further, reports the New York Times, with more divorced people starting to turn their wedding bands into “divorce rings” (picture a severed band with a stitched-together gap). If you just can’t bear the sight of your wedding band, no problem: D Jewelry Company will sell you a brand-new divorce ring. Want to go one step further? Consider the Wedding Ring Coffin.

Once upon a time, Chelsea Clinton was a little girl from Arkansas. advertisement And deep down, she still is. Despite her White House–Stanford-Oxford-Columbia-McKinsey–hedge-fund grooming, she’s still got a thing for poultry. “Fried chicken is my husband’s favorite food,” she divulges in her new office at the Clinton Foundation, a midtown Manhattan space outfitted with thick mahogany desks and an inordinate amount of beige that’s brightened ever so slightly by Chelsea’s surprisingly casual look–gray suede ankle boots and jeans. The first time her then-boyfriend, now-husband, Marc Mezvinsky, visited Little Rock, she whisked him off to Bojangles, her favorite childhood fried-chicken hole. In New York, she explains, he’ll now indiscriminately “gorge himself on fried chicken” anywhere from Popeyes on 14th Street to the more refined Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken in the East Village. Chelsea insists she would get in on the grease too, were it not for an allergy to gluten. “I was a vegetarian for 10 years and a pescatarian for eight. Then I woke up one day when I was 29 and craved red meat,” says Chelsea, now 34, and a self-described omnivore. “I’m a big believer in listening to my body’s cravings.” Of course, there was another Clinton who believed in listening to his body’s cravings; and the sad fact that such a harmless statement could call to mind a national embarrassment perfectly illustrates the dilemma facing the scion of one former president and one potential contender. For years, the world has been wondering what Chelsea would do someday, wondering especially if she would do things like, and with, her family. “One of my earliest childhood memories is being three years old and on the campaign trail with my dad,” says Chelsea, who was born when her father was governor of Arkansas. That day, a woman approached her and asked, “‘Do you want to grow up and be governor one day too?’ And I looked at her and said, ‘No, I’m 3. I’m just waving the flag. That is my job right now.’ Flag-waving extraordinaire.” “It is frustrating,” says Chelsea, “because who wants to grow up and follow their parents? … It’s funny to realize I feel called to this work as a daughter–proudly as a daughter.” For a decade after graduating from Stanford in 2001, Chelsea experimented with the world beyond the Clinton machine. In peripatetic bursts, she tried out international relations, then management consulting, then Wall Street, then a PhD. She even signed on for (an embarrassingly lightweight) gig as an NBC News “special correspondent.” Chelsea rationalizes this career promiscuity as a hallmark of being just another millennial, experimenting liberally until she figures out her professional purpose. But, of course, she’s not just another millennial. She’s political royalty. And now, finally, she has decided to join the Clinton family business. As vice chair of the recently rebranded Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, she is helping one of the world’s most notable philanthropies grow up. At the Democratic National Convention in 1992 Globe Photos, Zuma Press As with all things Clinton, it is anything but a simple, straightforward task. Reflecting her father’s famously scattered genius, the foundation has grown chaotically. Recently, it has been criticized scathingly by the New York Times and the New Republic for past bureaucratic ineptitude, and worse. It’s clear that Chelsea’s power within the organization, and in relation to its many and various power players, is a matter of some debate. But by applying all that she’s learned from her decade of job-hopping, Chelsea just may bring order to the organization. She’s been there three years and has a solid record. And her plans for its future are deeply ambitious. advertisement “It is frustrating, because who wants to grow up and follow their parents?” admits Chelsea. “I’ve tried really hard to care about things that were very different from my parents. I was curious if I could care about [money] on some fundamental level, and I couldn’t. That wasn’t the metric of success that I wanted in my life. I’ve talked about this to my friends who are doctors and whose parents are doctors, or who are lawyers and their parents are lawyers. It’s a funny thing to realize I feel called to this work both as a daughter–proudly as a daughter–and also as someone who believes that I have contributions to make.” Working in any family business is complicated. Working in this one is something else altogether. But opting in may turn out to be the best decision Chelsea Clinton has ever made. Enrolling in Stanford University back in 1997 was Chelsea’s first attempt to cut the umbilical cord connecting her to the family tradition of public life. Far from the Beltway, she found herself surrounded by people who used technology rather than politics to solve problems. It was the height of the first tech boom, and her new friends were dropping out of school to start or join startups (including Mezvinsky, who was also at Stanford, also the child of politicians, and then just a good friend; he now runs his own hedge fund). “This was all just beginning. That moment of being in Silicon Valley, it helped shape all of us,” says Anne Hubert, a close friend from Chelsea’s freshman year who now works as SVP of Viacom’s Scratch consultancy. Chelsea, who considered premed but majored in history, wasn’t drawn to the entrepreneurial life, but she did discover that she was “a person who wanted to fix, improve, expand things.” After graduating in 2001, Chelsea had no clear plan for how she could apply that inclination. She attended Oxford University in England, where she got her master’s in international relations. One day, she says, “I woke up and thought, Wow, I love this. Do I want to do a PhD? And then I realized, I’m going to be 27 and know a whole lot about one thing. So I did what everyone I knew was doing when they didn’t know what the right professional answer was for them and applied to different consulting firms. I thought that might help sort out if I wanted to have a professional track in health and public health, or an academic track, or something else altogether.” Chelsea spent three years at McKinsey, working in its public health practice before rising up the ranks to become a team manager in its financial services and technology practice. Then the doubts encroached again. “Was I going to continue to work a hundred hours a week and invest time there and energy to remain on the partner track?” she says. “Or was I going to go do something else?” “Something else” was working as a chemical-industry analyst at a hedge fund called Avenue Capital Group. As with every new job during these years, Chelsea had to make people forget her heritage. She explains that her method of debunking assumptions is pretty simple: She behaves as the overachiever that she has always been. “I will just always work harder [than anybody else] and hopefully perform better. And hopefully, over time, I preempt and erase whatever expectations people have of me not having a good work ethic, or not being smart, or not being motivated.” But ultimately, she was becoming more frayed than focused. She took a leave of absence from Avenue to work on Hillary’s 2008 campaign. After returning to her Wall Street job, she decided to also get her master’s in public health at Columbia, which entailed night and weekend classes. It was a grueling schedule. While she enjoyed being in the same industry as Mezvinsky–“We both built lots of Excel models and can talk about pivot tables together. We geek out a lot,” she says–the couple had little downtime. Chelsea left Avenue to finish her master’s and got a job as an assistant vice provost at NYU. advertisement Surprisingly, it took Chelsea and Marc’s 2010 wedding to put an end to the meandering. According to Bari Lurie, Chelsea’s chief of staff, the heretofore private Chelsea was caught off guard by the level of attention paid to the event. “It was abundantly clear there was this pent-up interest in her, and she couldn’t understand why,” says Lurie. When she had campaigned for her mom in 2008–400 events in 40 states–Chelsea had first experienced the impact her voice could have in a public setting. As Lurie explains it, “It was, ‘Gosh, everywhere I go it seems like there’s this interest in me. How can I displace some of that; how can I use that interest to help push forward issues I care about?’ ” Over the years, Chelsea had turned to her grandmother many times for advice. Hillary’s mother had a favorite phrase–“to whom much is given, much is expected”–that continually tugged at Chelsea. The bottom line, says Lurie, is that there was a platform waiting for her, if she could only figure out how and when to use it: “She quickly realized, ‘There is nothing I’m doing now that’s satiating this interest. This doing-nothing thing: I’ve tried it, and it didn’t work.’ ” Chelsea’s To-Do List Part data geek, part dynasty daughter, part celebrity, Chelsea’s found a way to thrive both within and without the family business. Ramin Talaie,Getty Images (1); Justin Sullivan, Getty Images (2); Heng Sinith, AP Images (3); Yana Paskova, The New York Times, Redux (4) 1. Reshape the Clinton foundation Secure the Clinton legacy by ensuring that the foundation will be sustainable for decades. Modernize it using data to track results. Get younger people involved. Do the necessary photo ops at foundation projects in African and Asian villages. Help raise a $250 million endowment. Democratize the president’s annual Manhattan confab, so it becomes more than a feel-good event. Become a regular on the speaker circuit, and show up when Bill and Hillary can’t. 2. Help The Secretary (In Whatever Ways Necessary) Promote Hillary’s new project: a partnership to save the African elephant. Accelerate her data-driven No Ceilings initiative; the partnership with the Gates Foundation analyzes rights for women globally. Become a senior adviser for that 2016 Hillary presidential run? 3. Tackle big causes Drive delivery of affordable treatments against diarrhea, the second-largest killer of children in the world. Get more people involved in public service. Help get juvenile detention facilities to collectively bargain for healthy food. Push for equal LGBT rights globally. 4. Get even more of a life Finish PhD dissertation. Do more softball interviews for NBC. Find best coffee shop in every city around globe. Tweet more or less daily. Is 2014 really the “Year of the Baby?” (Update: Yes, it is! Contemplate running for Congress–someday. Find time for date night with Marc, despite all this. The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation is not a foundation. Unlike the Gates or Rockefeller foundations, which function as trusts managing the disposal of the families’ wealth, the Clinton’s organization is actually a charity that must raise money from others in order to do work on the ground. This is just the beginning of the confusing nature of this philanthropic bureaucracy. The group has eight CEOs. One, Eric Braverman, is CEO of the whole enterprise, which is in some ways an umbrella organization for nine separate “initiatives” and two “entities.” In fact, they are divisions, each with its own leader, that focus philanthropy on a range of causes, including global warming (the Clinton Climate Initiative), food and health care for poverty-stricken Africans (the Clinton Development Initiative), sustainable small businesses (the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership), infant and toddler health (Too Small to Fail), and rebuilding the Haitian economy and infrastructure (the Clinton Foundation in Haiti). The glue that has held this together is President Clinton, who created the charity in 1997 (its first task was to raise funds for his presidential library) and who now presides over the annual three-day gathering of his pet project, the Clinton Global Initiative, in midtown Manhattan. The conference, which shuts down traffic as thoroughly as the General Assembly of the United Nations because it features equally noteworthy speakers from around the globe, brings together CGI members, who pay a $20,000 yearly membership fee to get a seat at the table with other corporations, NGOs, not-for-profits, and governments that want to partner and commit to solving specific global problems. CGI is a creature that only a character like Bill Clinton could create. With conferences and events around the year, it is his perpetual cocktail party, his Rolodex brought to vivid, brilliant life. “CGI combines all the things that the press and all of us love: money, celebrity, and doing good,” says Brad Smith, president of the Foundation Center, a non-for-profit information source on philanthropy. Put another way, says one Democratic consultant, “He gets the CEO of Coca-Cola in the room and says, ‘You can help distribute medicine in Tanzania.’ Everybody does it because everyone does what Bill Clinton says. It’s like he has this magic wand.” It is a unique construction designed to generate real good: CGI has helped create $103 billion of pledges to 2,800 philanthropic projects around the globe. At CGI events, the locus of power is constantly shifting between Chelsea and her parents. Photograph by Melissa Golden Enter Chelsea. When she arrived in 2011, she knew her primary role was to apply the data-driven skills she had developed in her other jobs to an organization that had long outgrown its startuplike infrastructure. “My father has always been such a doer. He had never focused on ensuring that we had the functions that not only enabled [other] doers to focus on doing, but also to help us keep systematic track of all the work that was being done,” she says. The foundation had more than 2,000 employees in 36 countries, but its back-office support had fallen behind. There was little collaboration between initiatives. Employees were focused on the work, but there was no unified system to report, measure, or assess the impact. There wasn’t even a comprehensive database that housed the hundreds of projects the foundation was working on. Furthermore, according to lengthy articles in The New York Times and The New Republic, there was considerable internal strife. The stories paint a picture of an organization mismanaged by old Clinton insiders, including the president’s longtime adviser, Doug Band, who allegedly had been exploiting his access to the former president, causing conflict-of-interest issues within CGI. (Band is no longer at the foundation; after the article came out, President Clinton told CBS This Morning that he is “very grateful” for all the fundraising Band had done for the foundation.) advertisement Understandably, this isn’t a past anyone at the foundation really wants to discuss. CGI CEO and former Goldman Sachs investment banker Bob Harrison denies outright that there were ever any issues. “I don’t think there’s ever been organizational chaos in my experience at CGI,” he snapped defensively when I asked him about the stories, telling me also that, “She [Chelsea] has not impacted the organization of CGI. And CGI has not, in my experience, been in any state of disarray.” And when I ask Chelsea herself to give me an assessment of the state of the foundation when she arrived, the former McKinsey consultant fails to mention any of these problems, and she doesn’t bring up the audit she and her father commissioned that year to analyze the foundation’s health until I explicitly ask her about it. She is her parents’ daughter, after all; during interviews, her crystal-clear thinking is accompanied by a healthy bit of deft stonewalling. But when you look closely, you find myriad ways Chelsea has been reorganizing this foundation that supposedly has never been in “disarray.” Of the three Clintons, she is the one who’s most hands-on. (She is also the only one whom staffers actually address by name; Bill and Hillary are “the President” and “the Secretary.”) Bill spends much of his time traveling around the globe, collecting checks from speeches at a rate as high as $11,000 per minute. Hillary, who has used the foundation as a refuge since her resignation as Secretary of State, will presumably be on the road again, working to get into the White House. So the onus is on Chelsea to help shift the foundation from a star-powered charity into a sophisticated, data-driven, sustainable organization that can thrive for decades to come. “You can’t measure everything,” says Chelsea, “but you can measure almost everything through quantitative or qualitative means, so that we know what we’re disproportionately good at. And, candidly, what we’re not so good at, so we can stop doing that and double down on what we’re particularly disproportionately good at.” Slowly, she is turning the Clinton Foundation into a more entrepreneurial enterprise. “Many of the initiatives of the foundation were in silos,” says CGI’s deputy director, Ed Hughes. “The president was happy to see each succeed on its own, but he did not necessarily appreciate them as a more comprehensive connection of opportunities.” When Chelsea arrived, some CGI employees worked out of the president’s office in Harlem, others operated out of midtown, and the rest were headquartered in downtown Manhattan. To incite collaboration, Chelsea insisted on a consolidation, which occurred last year, bringing all three offices into one midtown location. This January, Chelsea created a new position that sits across all nine initiatives. Julie Guariglia, the new-initiative liaison, compiles lengthy biweekly reports that alert workers at all the divisions of potential overlap, and suggests possible connections between initiatives. In the works is a database that will finally give employees access to data on all of the foundation’s activities. “Chelsea’s brought a willingness to invest in the product,” says Hughes. “I think she’s recognized–maybe it’s her background in management consulting–you need to spend money to make money.” Chelsea is also reshaping the way the foundation chooses the issues it wants to attack. “Sometimes President Clinton simply would come in and say, ‘You know, I had a great conversation with the King of Jordan. We should do something about Jordan.’ And it would be like, Well, now we’ll make Jordan a priority,” explains Hughes. Chelsea, on the other hand, “wants to see some evidence of why we’re making decisions, as opposed to the anecdotes,” adds Hughes. Chelsea especially wants the foundation to address concerns that have, in her words, “existed too long in the shadows, that historically have made people uncomfortable.” Two projects: ensuring that the juvenile justice system offers healthy food and combatting childhood diarrhea. Trying to give causes like these a new prominence is where Chelsea’s celebrity and political heritage are strategic weapons. Within the foundation, she has steered the Alliance for a Healthier Generation (a partnership with the American Heart Association) to train juvenile detention facilities to collectively bargain for healthier food. But the foundation can’t drive this alone, so she’s also pushing for national standards. According to Chelsea, the week before our second interview, “I did a foundation fundraiser in Connecticut and Senator Blumenthal came. I beelined for him, because he’s on the Judiciary Committee,” she admits. “He’s really interested in prison reform.” CGI’s Bob Harrison, right, is one of eight CEOs at the Clinton Foundation. “CGI has not been in any state of disarray,” he says. Photograph by Melissa Golden In 2011, Chelsea pushed the Clinton Health Access Initiative, which had historically focused on driving down the prices of HIV and AIDS vaccines, to do the same for Zinc/ORS, the leading treatment for diarrhea, which is the second-leading killer of children under 5 years old in the developing world. One of the first countries it targeted was Nigeria, but negotiating with the government, NGOs, public-sector organizations, pharma companies, and others threatened to endlessly delay the effort. According to Guariglia, the team asked Chelsea if she “could facilitate it–get the right players at the table, get them to commit to this program.” After a couple of weeks of intense preparation, Chelsea traveled to Nigeria and “went around to every partner, knew exactly what we needed from them, pledged her support and belief in this program, and got them to commit,” says Guariglia. Her academic work (she’s finishing her PhD in global health governance) armed her with the ability to talk about the issues, and she was able to get each player to understand how their role was important in the bigger picture. “Without her, it would have taken months of meetings,” says Guariglia. Prices of Zinc/ORS have been cut by 40% to 60% in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. advertisement “Celebrate those who have the courage to be second,” says Chelsea, “because I do think that often there is this claustrophobic pressure to innovate.” Chelsea’s most significant impact on the foundation’s long-term credibility is through the work she has done on her father’s signature initiative, CGI. She is trying to bring in younger members, hoping to “democratize” its commitments through a more sophisticated online platform, and doing everything she can to ensure that CGI can measure its actual impact. When the organization was created in 2005, it was highly forgiving of its members. Almost half are corporations, which regularly lap up tons of press with headline-grabbing declarations and are rarely held accountable on the other end. “The idea was that we were going to be a platform that allows a thousand flowers to bloom, without judgment,” says CGI’s Hughes. “We basically celebrated the effort, if not the achievement.” But when Chelsea arrived, she started asking questions about the actual results. So now the entire organization is undergoing an impact audit of its 2,800 commitments. The results so far, according to CGI CEO Harrison, suggest that in the organization’s first decade, 800 commitments have been completed. “But,” he adds, “then there are the 1,600 that are in the category of ongoing. Not every one of those we have a high level of confidence in where they stand.” Those deemed failures would be removed from the portfolio, albeit with no real consequence or public shaming (“We’re not a law-enforcement organization,” says Harrison). Nevertheless, says Hughes, “it is very clear that, at whatever point the book on CGI is written, it will need to reference whether what people got up and said they were going to do actually happened, and whether it made a difference.” This impact audit is part of a larger effort to transform CGI into a smart, accountable, and sustainable support system for philanthropic disrupters around the world. CGI now has 70 working sessions a year, where members and potential members can meet, brainstorm, and come up with ways to collaborate. The data-gathering exercise will help CGI learn what works best, so it can help members shape more effective commitments in the future. So far, CGI has learned that commitments are more successful when there’s a three- to five-year goal that is made by a group of organizations together, versus a single one. That’s the kind of learning that excites a data geek like Chelsea. She wants to see more groups make commitments that build on proven success, versus always feeling like they need to blaze a new trail. “Celebrate those who have the courage to be second,” says Chelsea, “because I do think that often there really is this claustrophobic pressure to innovate instead of to adapt.” On a blindingly snowy morning in Febru­ary, Chelsea Clinton takes the stage of a packed NYU auditorium along with the women married to the world’s two most powerful Bills. Melinda Gates and Hillary Clinton–along with Chelsea–are there to announce No Ceilings, a new collaboration between the Clinton Foundation and the Gates Foundation that will use data to analyze the progress of women and girls globally. While the three chairs onstage are intended to appear egalitarian, it quickly becomes apparent that here, Chelsea will function as a glorified Vanna White. She politely tees up questions for the two and melts into the backdrop when her mother cuts her off. Chelsea Clinton, speaking at a Clinton Global Initiative event in February. She’s always been “a person who wanted to fix, improve, expand things.” Photograph by Melissa Golden It’s a sharp contrast to her appearance one week later at CGI’s annual winter meeting. In front of several hundred people, she displays all the earmarks of a natural leader: command of the subject matter, passion that feels authentic, and off-the-cuff comments spliced in with academic favorites such as gestalt and milieu. She even displays an edgy wit during a Q&A session she shares with Harrison, who mentions that in Bill’s Harlem office he drank purified water from one of CGI’s developing-world commitments and jokes, “I’m alive today.” Chelsea, as if compensating for an embarrassing uncle, chides: “You’re more than alive, thankfully.” advertisement The more her handlers try to ensure a narrative that Chelsea is her own person, the more they remind you that she is also part of a machine. This day is clearly Chelsea’s operation. That is, it’s clear until an hour later, when, halfway through a discussion she’s leading on elephant poaching, the conference room doors open, two Secret Service men appear, and Chelsea’s father attempts to slip in quietly. By the time the former president sits down at the table, reaching for a cookie and a Diet Coke, the gravity in the room has shifted. The ebb and flow of power changes depending on which and how many Clintons are in a particular space at any given moment. There was a time when Hillary was defined by her husband. Chelsea’s challenge is to work within a Clinton enterprise without being solely defined by her parents. The Clinton machine makes this a particularly daunting task. Chelsea is as forward-thinking and open-minded as any Silicon Valley entrepreneur of her generation, but none of those folks is surrounded by the suffocating retinue that envelopes her public life. Chelsea’s handlers are likely auditioning for White House gigs, should Hillary become president, and they bring to their current jobs all the paranoia that may serve them well in Washington. One repeatedly urges Chelsea not to change her facial expression during the cover shoot for this issue, standing so close that it’s a miracle the staffer’s mug isn’t on the cover alongside Chelsea’s. Another sits in on her interviews holding an iPhone like a stopwatch (“you have two minutes”), whisks her away when she’s in the middle of answering one final question, and scolds this journalist for even mentioning Doug Band’s name in Chelsea’s presence. It’s all an odd, occasionally funny blend of control and confusion. Their four-page press release pointing to Chelsea’s impact at the foundation only obfuscates her true accomplishments by mentioning such ephemera as visiting rural Myanmar “where she delivered the six-billionth liter of clean water to a family” or “a Starkey Hearing Foundation event in Uganda, where Chelsea helped fit patients for hearing aids.” One handler explains that “CGI America is the project Chelsea’s least involved in,” while another insists that the division’s upcoming June conference is really Chelsea’s coming-out party. The more they try to ensure a narrative that Chelsea is her own person, the more they remind you that she is also part of a machine. Perhaps this is the way of Washington, but it’s not the way of the entrepreneurial culture she supposedly is embracing. “We see it as different things–the foundation, CGI, running for office, Hillary’s book, these trips,” says a Democratic consultant. “It’s all one thing. It’s all the family. Capital T, capital F.” The Family will almost surely call on Chelsea for a favor in 2016, assuming Hillary does again run for the presidency. In the 2008 campaign, Chelsea’s smart, lively, and engaged appearances helped younger voters feel connected to her then-60-year-old mother. Amie Parnes, coauthor of the recent New York Times best seller HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, is convinced Chelsea will take an even more formal role in her mother’s next run. “I can see her being a senior adviser,” she says. “You can see it already; she and her mom are working on these issues together–elephant poaching, women and girls. Something her mom learned last time was that there was arrogance at the top. She wasn’t hearing the truth from people, and Chelsea will give her the truth.” advertisement The lines are blurring even now, as her profile grows bigger. In March, she visited Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, the web series Mondays With Marlo [Thomas], and South by Southwest (not exactly her typical academic or humanitarian backdrop), where she told an audience of 3,000 about how technology can be used for social change. Sure, the SXSW speech could further Chelsea’s goal of winning over developers who can create quick and cheap apps in service of the foundation’s efforts in the developing world. But it also doesn’t hurt that she is starting to connect to the young technology-friendly voters Hillary lost to Obama the last time around. Assuming Chelsea gets very active in Hillary 2016, her presence at the foundation will have to go to the back burner. In addition to the all-encompassing nature of a campaign, under tax and election-campaign laws, a charity like the Clinton Foundation is prohibited from being involved in campaigning. So, explains Leslie Lenkowsky, professor of practice in public affairs and philanthropy at Indiana University, if Chelsea were traveling on behalf of the foundation and made a pit stop to give a Hillary campaign speech, “not one drop of money from the foundation can make its way to her campaign, not even a Xerox or cup of coffee. It becomes very, very tricky.” Where this might lead after 2016 is already a matter of much anticipation. Burberry CEO Christopher Bailey, a close friend of Chelsea’s, says, “I’m sure the foundation will always be part of her life, but I don’t know if it will be the only part of her life. I certainly do not think she’s come to the conclusion that this is it.” HRC‘s Parnes predicts Chelsea will ultimately end up in politics. “I could see her running for Congress in New York in 10 years,” she says. “She has the Clinton name, she has the chops, and she’s really smart and savvy. Nothing will hold her back.” In that scenario, you could look at the Clinton Foundation in Manhattan (where Chelsea lives with Mezvinsky in a $10 million apartment) as the perfect perch for Chelsea to prove her command of a wide range of vital global issues. Politics is inextricably in the fabric of her being, in her bloodline and her breeding. “People [were] always asking me [since I was a kid], ‘Do you want to go into politics?’ ” she tells me, her long, bony fingers and rounded features reminiscent of her father’s. “And for so long the answer was just a visceral no. Not because I had made any conscientious, deliberate decision, but since people had been asking for as long as literally I could remember, it was no.” Photograph by Peter Hapak “People were always asking me, ‘Do you want to go into politics?’ ” says Chelsea. “For so long the answer was just a visceral no.” It’s less visceral now. As Chelsea told Fast Company at SXSW, she’s now willing to leave the door open a crack. “I live in a city and a state and a country where I support my elected representatives. If at some point that weren’t the case, and I didn’t support my mayor or my city councilwoman or my congresswoman or either of my senators–and I’m lucky to live in a state where I have lots of women representing me, you know–maybe then I’d have to ask and answer the question for myself, and come to a different answer.” This is a person who will have a significant impact on the society around us, whether she operates within or outside of politics. Chelsea characterizes her career before the foundation as something like an act of rebellion. She’s grown up, and in her mid-thirties seems to have grown comfortable with her dual role as Clinton scion and self-defining adult. It’s an accommodation almost all of us make at some point. advertisement ||||| Chelsea Clinton says in a new interview that she's open to a run for a multitude of offices, from mayor of New York to the U.S. Senate. "I live in a city and a state and a country where I support my elected representatives," Clinton told Fast Company. "If at some point that weren't the case, and I didn't support my mayor or my city councilwoman or my congresswoman or either of my senators -- and I'm lucky to live in a state where I have lots of women representing me, you know -- maybe then I'd have to ask and answer the question for myself, and come to a different answer." The answer is pretty similar to a response Clinton, 34, has given before, except in her prior response, she didn't spell out the different offices that are on her radar. New York's two U.S. senators, for what it's worth, are Charles Schumer (D), 63, and Kirsten Gillibrand (D), 47. Here's a rundown of all the offices Clinton could run for, courtesy of The Fix. ||||| ADVERTISEMENT MarloThomas.com When asked about the prospect of ever running for office like both of her parents, Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, had a great response. One of Chelsea’s earliest childhood memories was when she was on the campaign trail with her father in Arkansas at the age of three. A woman asked her if she was going to run for governor one day, and Chelsea retorted, “No way! I’m three!” Up until 2008, when her mother ran for office, Chelsea had maintained that same answer, but now, she’s simply not so sure. During her mother’s 2008 Presidential campaign, Chelsea realized the fundamental importance of running for office. “There are many ways to serve, and right now, my calling is with the Clinton Foundation,” she explained. “I am really lucky that I live in a city, state and country where I support my elected officials. If I was ever to not feel that way and felt I could make a difference, I’d have to think about it very seriously,” Chelsea told us. For more information about the Clinton Global Initiative University, visit www.cgiu.org For more of Chelsea's life and career, view the slideshow below: Close  Life And Career Of Chelsea Clinton of   At just 34 years of age, Chelsea Clinton (pictured here with husband Marc Mezvinsky) has already lived a rich and exciting life -- as an Arkansas schoolgirl, White House resident, collegiate scholar, financial market whiz-kid, network journalist, national political consultant, avid supporter of the arts and, today, as Vice Chair of the globally renowned Clinton Foundation. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was inaugurated on January 20, 1993, becoming the 42nd President of the United States. That same day, Chelsea Clinton, not yet 13, moved into the White House with her parents and began her new life in the media spotlight as a First Daughter. Growing up, Chelsea was very close with her father, attending political events, speeches and rallies -- and always by his side. Here, President Clinton talks with Chelsea before a rally in his home state of Arkansas. President Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea greet the crowds before boarding a boat in Martha's Vineyard, during a family vacation in 1993. Despite growing up in the media glare, Chelsea -- thanks to her parents’ conscientious oversight -- led a relatively normal life, participating in many typical kids’ activities. She began taking dance classes at age four and continued to dance ballet throughout her teenage years. Here, she rehearses for an upcoming performance of Washington Ballet's holiday production of "The Nutcracker." She was 13. In 1996, President Bill Clinton was elected to a second term as U.S. President. Here, the family celebrates his successful re-nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Throughout President Clinton's two consecutive terms, Chelsea and her mother, Hillary Rodham Clinton, remained inseparable, attending political events together as First Lady and First Daughter. Here, mother and daughter bond while on a family retreat in Hilton Head, SC. In 2001, Chelsea graduated from Stanford University. She would go on to receive a Masters degree from Oxford University in 2003, and later, a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree. During New York Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008, Chelsea publicly supported her mom all along the campaign trail. Here, the pair greets the cheering throng at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. On July 31, 2010, Chelsea married Marc Mezvinsky, an investment banker and the son of politicians. Their nuptials, dubbed “Chelsea’s Dream Wedding” on the cover of People magazine, took place in an estate overlooking the Hudson River in Rhinebeck, New York. In a 2013 interview with Glamour magazine, Chelsea revealed that she and Marc “decided we were going to make 2014 the Year of the Baby.” Stay tuned! Following in the footsteps of her parents' political and social activism, Chelsea has become a prominent media figure, serving as a special correspondent for broadcast networks, including NBC News. Here, she speaks on a panel at the 2013 Education Nation Summit. Chelsea now serves as Vice Chair of the Clinton Global Foundation, an initiative created by her family to help create social change in developing countries. Here, she and her dad speak with entrepreneurs in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2013, in an effort to shed light on international health issues, including HIV testing. No Ceilings is an initiative launched at the Clinton Foundation, led by then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea. The initiative seeks to apply a data-driven approach to understanding the economic gains and gaps that women have experienced over the past 20 years. One of the most vital initiatives Chelsea spearheads through the Clinton Foundation is the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership between the Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association that focuses on childhood obesity. This past month, Chelsea spoke at the 2014 New York City Go Red For Women Luncheon at the New York Hilton. Throughout her career, Chelsea has remained committed to empowering the next generation to help create change. She has passionately enlisted youth in foundation programming through the Clinton Global Initiative University, a program that targets college students and urges them to commit to bringing social change to the world. Another program Chelsea has helped implement through the Clinton Foundation is Day of Action, a community service-centric initiative founded in direct response to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  Share  Tweet  ✖ Share this ✖ close Current Slide See more clips Add Marlo On Facebook: Follow Marlo on Twitter: @MarloThomas Weekly Newsletter Sign up to receive my email newsletter each week - It will keep you up-to-date on upcoming articles, Mondays with Marlo guests, videos, and more! Sign up here

– Chelsea Clinton is getting some attention for comments she made to Fast Company when asked about following her parents into politics. Her answer has always been a "visceral no," says the 34-year-old resident of New York City, but that's no longer the case: "I live in a city and a state and a country where I support my elected representatives. If at some point that weren't the case, and I didn't support my mayor or my city councilwoman or my congresswoman or either of my senators—and I'm lucky to live in a state where I have lots of women representing me, you know—maybe then I'd have to ask and answer the question for myself, and come to a different answer." At the Washington Post, Aaron Blake points out that Clinton has said something similar publicly on at least one other occasion, though she has never been so specific about possible offices. As for the two senatorial posts in New York, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is 47 and Chuck Schumer is 63. (Dad thinks Clinton ought to aim a little higher than a Senate seat, of course.)

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption As the oil and gas industry has expanded in parts of the US, so have the number of earthquakes Massive injections of wastewater from the oil and gas industry are likely to have triggered a sharp rise in earthquakes in the state of Oklahoma. Researchers say there has been a forty-fold increase in the rate of quakes in the US state between 2008-13. The scientists found that the disposal of water in four high-volume wells could be responsible for a swarm of tremors up to 35km away. Their research has been published in the journal, Science. Sudden swarm There has been increasing evidence of links between the process of oil and gas extraction and earthquakes in states like Arkansas, Texas, Ohio and Oklahoma in recent years. If a fault is close to failure, the amount that the pressure is going up at these locations in our model is enough to push them over the edge Dr Katie Keranen, Cornell University In 2011, a small number of people were injured and 14 houses were destroyed in the town of Prague, Oklahoma by a 5.7 tremor. Investigators linked it to the injection of wastewater from the oil industry. The US Geological Survey (USGS) has also reported on the question of seismicity induced by wastewater disposal. This new research goes further, linking a large swarm of Oklahoma tremors with a number of specific water wells, distantly located. More than 2,500 earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0 have occurred around the small town of Jones since 2008. This represents about 20% of the total in the central and western US in this period. Image copyright Cornell Image caption There has been a significant increase in the number of tremors in central Oklahoma since 2008 Researchers have now linked this increase to a near doubling in the volumes of wastewater disposed of in the central Oklahoma region between 2004 and 2008. Water is never far away in the energy extraction process. It is used not just for hydraulic fracturing, but also to squeeze more oil out of conventional wells. Large amounts of naturally occurring water are often released with the oil and gas - and this briny liquid needs to be separated from the fuels, using a method called "dewatering". "There is a high ratio of water to oil," said the study's lead author Dr Katie Keranen from Cornell University. "It differs for each well. The typical nationwide ratio is five to one. We're seeing much higher ratios, in the hundreds, at the beginning of the well." According to Dr Bill Ellsworth from the USGS, the high price of oil has driven this water-based approach. But the law says that drinking water has to be protected from the salty flow. "As part of the business model, you have to be able to dispose of these very large volumes of saline water. You can't treat it; you can't put it into the rivers. So, you have to inject it underground." Pressure points Four of the biggest of these wells in Oklahoma have been pumping around 4 million barrels of water a month to a depth of 3.5km beneath the surface. To determine the impact of this water, the scientists developed a model that could calculate the way the underground wave of pressure from these wells spread out. By comparing this to seismic data from the Jones cluster, it was concluded that the injection of wastewater is "likely responsible" for the swarm. "It is possible that pressure looks to have risen in the places where the earthquakes are occurring," said Dr Keranen. "That pressure increase is what we see in natural triggering. So, if a fault is close to failure, the amount that the pressure is going up at these locations in our model is enough to push them over the edge." The four wells that are the subject of the study are owned by a company called New Dominion. It insists that it operates its wells (named Sweetheart, Chambers, Flower Power and Deep Throat) safely and within permitted parameters. "The company notes the author did not consult with New Dominion's geologist and engineers to determine whether her premises are in any way correct," the company said in a statement. "At best, these incorrect assumptions are irresponsible." Bigger triggers The authors say that they are uncertain about the potential for the large-scale disposal of wastewater to trigger events of larger magnitude. They point to an incident in 2010 when an earthquake ruptured a portion of a 7km long fault. If the entire fault had gone, the authors write, it could have led to a magnitude 6.0 tremor. "We often see more larger earthquakes when we see a lot of smaller ones," said Dr Keranen. "But this is new situation with induced seismicity and we still have a lot of questions that we are trying to address." This view is echoed by Dr Bill Ellsworth from USGS. "There are thousands of these wells in the US, so only a few appear to be problematic. The difficulties can be avoided but we need to know more about the process so we can give proper guidance to the authorities." Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc. ||||| More than 230 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 3.0 have shaken the state of Oklahoma already this year. Before 2008 the state averaged one such quake a year. The surge in seismic activity has left residents and experts alike wondering about the underlying cause. Past research has shown that processes such as wastewater injection at oil drilling and fracking sites throughout the state could induce a small number of earthquakes but scientists have never been able to specifically link some of the more distant or stronger earthquakes with these sometimes faraway wastewater wells. That is, until now. A study published today in Science explains how wastewater injection sites—areas where toxic water left over from oil drilling and fracking processes is injected into the ground between impermeable layers of rocks to avoid polluting freshwater—could be driving the sharp increase in the sometimes-disastrous earthquake events. “It really is unprecedented to have this many earthquakes over a broad region like this,” says study co-author Geoffrey Abers of Cornell University. “Most big sequences of earthquakes that we see are either a main shock and a lot of aftershocks or it might be right at the middle of a volcano in a volcanic system or geothermal system. So you might see little swarms but nothing really this distributed and this persistent.” Abers and his colleagues dug up data on the rates and volumes of liquids associated with the wastewater injection sites. They then modeled the flow of the water and calculated the physical properties of the rocks into which the water was injected. In so doing the team determined that a relatively small number of wastewater injection sites used in oil drilling and fracking in Oklahoma may have the ability after all to induce relatively strong earthquakes a long distance away, throughout the state. “The important thing is that we are seeing earthquakes that are much more widely distributed, much farther from wells and in a lot of different directions,” Abers observes “Some of these earthquakes are as much as 20 miles away from what seems to be the primary wells that are increasing the pressure.” Scientists have known since the 1960s that wastewater injection, during which millions of barrels of wastewater are forced into a disposal well, can induce earthquakes by increasing the fluid pressures underground. That increasing pressure reduces the frictional strength of faults, Abers explains, allowing them to slip. Seismologist Austin Holland of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, who was not involved in the study, says there could be a large number of factors playing into the quakes. But like the authors of the new paper, he, too, has found evidence linking the Oklahoma quakes specifically to oil and gas activity. “We certainly do have a contribution from oil and gas, but the question is how much, how extensive is this and how is this occurring,” he says. “This study will certainly help improve our understanding in the scientific discussion of what is occurring in Oklahoma.” The number of wastewater injection sites also seems to keep increasing, according to Abers, who notes that the permitted rate of wastewater doubled between 2004 and 2008, and has most likely increased since then. He says several earthquakes in Texas over the past few years have been linked to wastewater injection but the scale of these events pales in comparison with what is happening in Oklahoma. There have also been well-documented cases of wastewater injection-driven quakes in Ohio, Utah, Colorado and British Columbia, all within the last year or so. Holland added that these events demand political and social discussion. “Just how important is it to produce oil and gas in Oklahoma, and are we willing to deal with the issues of these disposal wells in order to produce the oil and gas that we are accustomed to producing?” he asks. Abers notes that ongoing research on this topic will be needed to better understand the complexity of these processes as they continue into the future. “I think this rate of earthquake increase in the midcontinent is really extraordinary and is continuing, but this isn’t the last word on this in any means,” Abers remarks. “There is clearly something important going on there that we need to keep an eye on and that we need to be trying to understand.”

– Earthquakes in Oklahoma are up more than a hundredfold in recent years, and a new study spies a pretty clear link between the shaking and the fracking that has given the state's economy a huge boost. Researchers took a close look at four specific sites where wastewater from oil and gas extraction was injected into the ground and found that the process could be linked to swarms of quakes in areas up to 20 miles away from the sites, reports the BBC. The four wells examined have been pumping four million barrels of water a month to a depth of around two miles underground. At one site linked to the wells, a small town called Jones, there have been more 2,500 earthquakes greater than magnitude 3.0 since 2008—a fifth of the total in the central and western US during that period. "It really is unprecedented to have this many earthquakes over a broad region like this," a study co-author tells Scientific American, explaining that wastewater injection can cause quakes by sending out waves of fluid pressure, causing faults miles away to slip. "Most big sequences of earthquakes that we see are either a main shock and a lot of aftershocks or it might be right at the middle of a volcano in a volcanic system or geothermal system. So you might see little swarms but nothing really this distributed and this persistent," he says. (In Texas, several small towns troubled by quakes are considering banning fracking.)

The Pennsylvania State Police have a rigorous application process, which includes a polygraph pretest. Recently, a Crawford County man applying to become a state trooper apparently failed his polygraph so spectacularly, not only didn't he get the job, he ended up under arrest, instead. The Associated Press reports that 29-year-old Joseph Adam White, of Hartstown, was at the Meadville barracks for his police cadet lie detector exam when he admitted having sex with an underage girl four years ago during the polygraph pretest. The story doesn't detail how the subject came up. Only that White allegedly told the examiner that he had had consensual sex and other contact with the girl in 2011. She is now 19. Police tell AP they charged White on Thursday with four counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor and 10 counts of corruption of minors after interviewing the woman and corroborating that information. Needless to say, he won't be getting an interview. ||||| MEADVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Police say a Pennsylvania man applying to become a state trooper has been arrested after saying during a polygraph pretest that he had sex with an underage girl four years ago. State police say 29-year-old Joseph Adam White, of Hartstown, was at the Meadville barracks Jan. 15 for his police cadet lie detector exam. They say during the pretest, he told the examiner he had consensual sex and other contact with the girl in 2011. She is now 19. Police say they charged White on Thursday with four counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor and 10 counts of corruption of minors after interviewing the woman and corroborating that information. Online court records don't list an attorney for White, and he doesn't have a listed phone number.

– A Pennsylvania man is behind bars after allegedly telling state police he'd had sex with an underage girl. What's unusual: He told them while applying for a job as a state trooper, the AP reports via the Patriot-News. Police say Joseph White, 29, made the admission during a polygraph pretest at the Meadville state police barracks on Jan. 15. He allegedly admitted to consensual sex and other sexual contact with the girl four years ago; she's now 19. Police say the victim later corroborated the incidents, which occurred in a field in South Shenango Township, the Meadville Tribune reports. White was arrested Thursday on multiple charges of unlawful sexual contact with a minor and corruption of minors, and jailed on $25,000 bond. "Needless to say, he won't be getting an interview," quips the Patriot-News.

Photo A press representative for the director Michael Bay said on Thursday morning that the filmmaker was “fine” and “not hurt” after he was attacked in Hong Kong, where he is making “Transformers 4.” The press representative said later on Thursday that it was “erroneous” to say that Mr. Bay was injured in the attack, as some reports said, and that in fact the director had fended off a man “who was wielding an air-conditioning unit as a weapon.” Reuters reported that two Hong Kong men were arrested Thursday after approaching Mr. Bay at the “Transformers 4” set and demanding money. The men, who were said to be brothers and demanding about $13,000, attacked Mr. Bay; the older brother also was said to have attacked three police officers who tried to intervene. Both men were charged with suspicion of assault; the younger one was also charged with suspicion of blackmail. Reuters said that Mr. Bay had been injured on the right side of his face but that the injuries were not serious, and that filming had resumed after the episode. BBC News, citing local Hong Kong reports, said that the men may have been seeking “disturbance fees” paid to shops and businesses whose commerce was affected by the “Transformers 4” production. In a statement on Thursday, Gabriela Gutentag, a press representative for Mr. Bay, provided a somewhat different account. Her statement said: Director Michael Bay and the cast and crew of “Transformers: Age of Extinction” completed their first day of production in Hong Kong today, Oct. 17, 2013, after four and a half months of filming in Arizona, Utah, Texas, Michigan, Illinois and Washington State since late May. Contrary to several erroneous news reports made today, Bay did not get hurt in a fight on set. The production company did have a bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance) who was wielding an air-conditioning unit as a weapon. The man, who had earlier accosted several other crew members, rushed onto the set in Quarry Bay and swung the air-conditioning unit directly at Bay’s head. The director ducked and wrested the air-conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident. The company’s security team quickly stepped in and subdued the assault. The police, who also scuffled with the assailant and two of his companions, ultimately arrested the three men. No one on the cast or crew was injured and the production immediately resumed filming without further incident. Describing the episode in a post on his Web site, michaelbay.com, Mr. Bay wrote that his assailant “was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie ‘World War Z’ — he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them.” “He actually bit into one of the guard’s Nike shoe, insane,” Mr. Bay continued. “Thank God it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved.” “After that,” Mr. Bay wrote, “we had a great day shooting here in Hong Kong.” In an interview with The New York Times in April, Mr. Bay said he was a recognizable figure when he travels the world. “I was just in the Forbidden City, and people were taking pictures of me,” he said. “People know who you are.” ||||| Hong Kong Incident Posted on Oct 17, 2013 Hi, it’s Michael. Yes, the story is being passed around is not all true! Yes, some drugged up guys were being belligerent asses to my crew for hours in the morning of our first shoot day in Hong Kong. One guy rolled metal carts into some of my actors trying to shake us down for thousands of dollars to not play his loud music or hit us with bricks. Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount. I personally told this man and his friends to forget it we were not going to let him extort us. He didn’t like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That’s when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z—he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane. Thank god it was an Air Max, the bubble popped, but the toe was saved. Then it took fifteen Hong Kong cops in riot gear to deal with these punks. In all, four guys were arrested for assaulting the officers. After that, we had a great day shooting here in Hong Kong. The place couldn’t be better.

– Michael Bay's own rep calls it "bizarre": While filming the latest Transformers flick in China today, the director had what the rep describes as "a bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance) who was wielding an air conditioning unit as a weapon." After accosting a few crew members, he swung the AC unit at Bay's head, the New York Times reports. In true action hero style, Bay ducked and then "wrested the air conditioner from his attacker," the rep's statement continues. The suspect and two companions were arrested. Some reports said Bay was injured, but his rep says no one was hurt. On his website, Bay describes the suspects as "drugged up guys" and "belligerent asses." He says the crew paid local vendors for their inconvenience during filming, but the suspect "wanted four times that amount." After Bay fought him off, security stepped in: "But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z—he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them. He actually bit into one of the guards Nike shoe, insane," Bay writes. "Then it took 15 Hong Kong cops in riot gear to deal with these punks. In all, four guys were arrested for assaulting the officers."

J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press Even as profit surged, the board of JPMorgan Chase cut the pay package of its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, by 50 percent, in light of a multibillion-dollar trading loss last year. By the overall numbers, it was a good year for JPMorgan. The bank reported a record profit of $5.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up 53 percent from the period a year earlier. Revenue was also strong, rising 10 percent, to $23.7 billion for the period. “The firm’s results reflected strong underlying performance across virtually all our businesses for the fourth quarter and the full year, with strong lending and deposit growth,” Mr. Dimon said in statement. But the year was clouded by a multibillion-dollar trading loss stemming from a bad bet on derivatives. JPMorgan continues to unwind the bungled trade, which had racked up $6.2 billion in losses through the third quarter of 2012. The bank said it “experienced a modest loss” in the last three months of the year. In light of the trading losses, the bank’s board voted to reduce Mr. Dimon’s total compensation. That decision was driven by a desire to hold him accountable for some of the oversight failings that led to the troubled bet, according to several people close to the board. The board cut Mr. Dimon’s total compensation for 2012 to $11.5 million from $23 million a year earlier. While his salary remained the same at $1.5 million, his bonus was reduced to $10 million, paid out in restricted stock. On an earnings call on Wednesday, Mr. Dimon emphasized that this latest quarter largely signaled the end of the trading debacle. “We are getting near the end of it,” he said. Mr. Dimon acknowledged that the board “had a tough job” in assessing how to reduce his total compensation for the year. While “this was one huge mistake,” Mr. Dimon said, the board had to look at “the positives and the negatives.” He added that he “respects their decision.” Although Mr. Dimon’s compensation fell sharply, he dodged much of the criticism for the trading losses in two reports released on Wednesday. One report details the result of a sweeping investigation into the trades led by Michael J. Cavanagh, formerly the bank’s chief financial officer, and the other outlines the board’s findings. In the case of Mr. Dimon, the reports mainly took aim at his over-reliance on senior managers. “He could have better tested his reliance on what he was told,” the investigation found. Instead, much of the blame centered on Ina R. Drew, who oversaw the chief investment unit where the trading took place. Ms. Drew resigned in May shortly after the losses were disclosed. Under Ms. Drew’s leadership, there were failures “in three critical areas,” including the execution of a complex trading strategy and gaps in oversight of the large portfolio, according to the investigation. The report indicated that Ms. Drew failed “to appreciate the magnitude and significance of the changes” as the riskiness of the trades escalated. Barry Zubrow, the bank’s former chief risk officer, was also singled out. Douglas Braunstein, who left his position as chief financial officer in November, was cited “for weaknesses in financial controls.” The investigation found that the organization should “have asked more questions or to have sought additional information about the evolution of the portfolio.” Despite the overhang of the bad bet, JPMorgan produced record profit for the quarter, as economic and credit conditions improved. The bank reduced the money it set aside for potential losses, adding to overall profit. And the bank recorded gains in all its major divisions, showing strength in both consumer and corporate banking operations. For the full year, JPMorgan reported earnings of $21.3 billion, compared with $19 billion in 2011. Revenue in 2012, at $97 billion, was essentially flat. Despite the rocky market conditions and uncertainty related to the budget impasse, the corporate-focused businesses reported nice gains. Investment banking fees jumped 54 percent, to $1.7 billion, with improvements in debt and equity underwriting. Revenue in the commercial banking group hit $1.75 billion, after the 10th consecutive quarter of loan growth. Income in JPMorgan’s asset management group rose 60 percent, to $483 million. JPMorgan has been ramping up the business, as riskier ventures get crimped by new regulation. Like other big banks, JPMorgan’s earnings have been bolstered by a surge in mortgage lending, driven in part by a series of federal programs that have helped drive down interest rates. As homeowners seize on the low rates, JPMorgan is experiencing a flurry of refinancing applications. The bank is also making bigger gains when those loans are packaged and eventually sold to big investors. Over all, the mortgage banking group posted profit of $418 million for the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $269 million in the period a year earlier. But those low interest rates also present a challenge for JPMorgan, which is dealing with glut of deposits. The bank reported average total deposits of $404 billion, up 10 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011. As deposits pile up, the situation is weighing on profitability. The margin on deposits continued to shrink, dropping to 2.44 percent from 2.76 percent the period a year earlier. The bank also continues to face a slew of legal problems. In the last year, JPMorgan has worked to move beyond some of the issues stemming from the mortgage crisis. Along with competitors, JPMorgan reached deals with federal regulators over claims that its foreclosures practices might have led to wrongful eviction of homeowners. JPMorgan and other banks agreed this month to a $8.5 billion settlement with the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve, which ends a costly and flawed review of loans in foreclosure ordered up by the regulators in 2011. The bank spent roughly $700 million this quarter on costs associated with the review. Still, the bank is dealing with other cases that could prove costly. New York’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, filed a lawsuit against the bank related to Bear Stearns, the troubled unit that JPMorgan bought in the depths of the financial crisis. In the suit, filed in October, the attorney general claimed JPMorgan had defrauded investors who bought securities created from shoddy mortgages. JPMorgan was also hit with two enforcement actions this week, the first formal sanctions from federal banking regulators over the bank’s multibillion-dollar trading loss. Regulators from the Federal Reserve and the Comptroller of the Currency identified flaws throughout the bank, citing failures in its ability to assess how big losses might swell as a result of the complex trades. In addition, regulators found that bank executives did not adequately inform board members about the potential losses. ||||| JPMorgan Chase slashed CEO Jamie Dimon's bonus by 53%, citing the fallout from the bank's so-called London Whale trading losses. Dimon will take home $11.5 million, including a $10 million bonus. Last year, he was the best paid bank CEO with a $23.1 million pay package that included a $21.5 million bonus. JPMorgan's board also decided to push back Dimon's eligibility to sell $79 million of JPMorgan's stock for 18 months. Roughly 2 million shares were eligible for vesting on Jan. 22. "As Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Dimon bears ultimate responsibility for the failures that led to the losses in CIO and has accepted responsibility for such failures," the board said in regulatory filing. At the same time, the board also noted that JPMorgan has reported record profits for three consecutive years and praised what they called Dimon's forceful response to the trading problems. Related: Why is JPMorgan's board unchanged? JPMorgan reported fourth-quarter net income of $5.7 billion, or $1.39 a share, beating forecasts, while revenue of $24.4 billion was in line with estimates. The bank's strong results were driven by a sharp uptick in new mortgages, with mortgage originations increasing 33% year-over year. Fees from mortgages jumped 181% from the prior year. While the housing recovery is underway, Dimon said on an analyst call that he expects mortgage revenue to bounce around over the next several quarters. Revenues in all of the bank's business line, including investment banking and consumer banking, increased from last year. Investment banking fees jumped 52% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan reduced its staff by 1,500, or roughly 0.5%, to end the year with 258,965 employees. Even with the cuts, compensation expenses jumped 12% from the prior year. For the full year, the bank earned $21.3 billion, or $5.20 a share, on revenue of $99.9 billion Related: Hey Wall Street, get ready for more layoffs Still, investors weren't thrilled by the bank's results. Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) straddled the breakeven line Wednesday. So far this year, the bank's stock has gained more than 5%, after rallying 35% in 2012. Going forward, Dimon said JPMorgan expects to buy back less stock in the coming quarters to shore up its capital reserves. The bank still plans to buy back up to $3 billion of stock during the current quarter, but will ask regulators for permission to repurchase fewer shares after that. Since the financial crisis, the largest banks have been required to prove to the Federal Reserve that they have sufficient capital reserves to withstand another financial crisis. DImon said that the bank will spend this year building up its reserve related to international regulatory guidelines known as Basel III. JPMorgan managed to generate profits during each quarter of 2012, despite recording a $6.2 billion loss from the so-called London Whale trade -- the massive bet on credit derivatives made by one of the bank's London units that went terribly wrong. Since the trading losses were revealed, JPMorgan has shaken up its executive ranks and appointed a new chief financial officer. The bank has also fired executives and traders responsible for the losses and has said that their pay is subject to clawbacks. In October, the bank filed suit against Javier Martin-Artajo, the former boss of Bruno Iksil, the trader who made the bad bets and came to be known as the "London Whale." A source familiar with the case said Wednesday that the suit had been settled, with Martin-Artajo agreeing to return some of his pay via the clawback mechanism in his contract. Martin-Artajo could not be reached for comment. The news was reported earlier by Reuters. The fallout from the London Whale continued this week, when the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ordered JPMorgan to improve its risk management procedures. In November, the bank said other agencies -- including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission -- were also investigating the matter. On a call with journalists early Wednesday, Dimon said he expects it to be "non-issue" very soon. "We're getting near the end of it," he said. JPMorgan is the second major bank to report earnings. Wells Fargo (WFC) kicked off bank earnings season last Friday and Goldman Sachs (GS) reported fourth-quuarter profits that topped expectations early Wednesday. Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) will release results Thursday morning, and Morgan Stanley (MS) reports early Friday. CNNMoney's James O'Toole contributed to this report. ||||| Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool at the bottom of any article or visit www.djreprints.com Several thousand Morgan Stanley traders, investment bankers and other employees will get IOUs instead of cash when bonus day arrives Thursday, a fundamental change in Wall Street pay triggered by the financial crisis. The New York company will pay its bonuses in four equal installments, according to people briefed on the plan, with the first chunk coming in May and the last in January 2016. Employees who quit or are laid off before the payments stand to lose their deferred compensation unless they negotiate a separate deal with the company. "I don't think there will be a lot of cheers ...

– That sound you're hearing is probably Wall Street's tiniest violin playing for Jamie Dimon. As many expected, JPMorgan Chase's board slashed the CEO's salary in response to the "London Whale" disaster, dropping his incentive pay a backbreaking 53.5% to $10 million, leaving him a mere $11.5 million with which to feed his family, CNN Money reports. "As Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Dimon bears ultimate responsibility for the failures that led to the losses," the board wrote. Of course, the New York Times notes that the firm had an excellent year despite the Whale episode, with fourth quarter profit up 53% year-over-year. Maybe Dimon can cry on the shoulders of Morgan Stanley's traders and investment bankers, thousands of whom will be getting IOUs instead of cash bonuses this year, the Wall Street Journal reports. In response to the financial crisis, the bank is now breaking bonuses into four chunks, the last of which will come in 2016—if the employees are still with the bank. "I don't think there will be a lot of cheers on the trading floors of Morgan Stanley," one former Fed official remarked.

NEW YORK ( MainStreet) -- Jerks in the American media would have you believe all of America's iconic products are made elsewhere and American manufacturing is circling the wide, stinky drain to irrelevance. As the American media outlet that suggested just such a thing this year, we feel inclined to tell you that it's not exactly true. No,Chuck Taylors,Jeans,dolls and eventools aren't strictly "Made In The U.S.A." anymore, despite 61% of Americans tellingand Harris they'd pay more for American-made products. Yes, the University of Michigan says American manufacturers make only 75% of the items America consumes and may make less if manufacturing continues to be neglected. That doesn't mean there aren't still great items being produced on our shores each day under brand names Americans have loved for generations. 1 of 11 In fact, the U.S. is even encroaching on the turf of some of its biggest rivals. We took a look around the market and found 10 items that are still proudly Made in the U.S.A.: ||||| NEW YORK ( NEW YORK ( MainStreet ) -- What does being "American" mean in the marketplace? If you're a U.S. consumer, it's apparently a huge incentive. According to a 2010 survey by Adweek Media and Harris, 61% of Americans say they are more likely to buy a product when an ad says it's "Made in America." That includes 75% of Americans 55 and over, 66% of those 45 to 54 and 61% of those 35 to 44. If you're a U.S. consumer, it's apparently a huge incentive. According to a 2010 survey by Adweek Media and Harris, 61% of Americans say they are more likely to buy a product when an ad says it's "Made in America." That includes 75% of Americans 55 and over, 66% of those 45 to 54 and 61% of those 35 to 44. It also indicates a premium those same Americans are willing to pay for those products. After toys from China entered the country in 2007 laden with toxic levels of lead, pesticides and chemicals, a Gallup poll found that 82% of Americans would rather spend more money on a toy if it were made in the United States. That percentage jumped to 94% when survey participants were asked if they'd pay extra for food produced in the U.S. to avoid Chinese imports. It also indicates a premium those same Americans are willing to pay for those products. After toys from China entered the country in 2007 laden with toxic levels of lead, pesticides and chemicals, a Gallup poll found that 82% of Americans would rather spend more money on a toy if it were made in the United States. That percentage jumped to 94% when survey participants were asked if they'd pay extra for food produced in the U.S. to avoid Chinese imports. That consumer patriotism is great and all, but does it do any good when buyers are given conflicting messages about what is and isn't made in this country? Does a beer can draped in the colors of the American flag necessarily indicate an American brewer? Does a truck rambling through the rugged American landscape as a song about "our country" plays in the background necessarily indicate an "American-made" vehicle? That consumer patriotism is great and all, but does it do any good when buyers are given conflicting messages about what is and isn't made in this country? Does a beer can draped in the colors of the American flag necessarily indicate an American brewer? Does a truck rambling through the rugged American landscape as a song about "our country" plays in the background necessarily indicate an "American-made" vehicle? Does the presence of the word "American" in the product's name or in its producer's core marketing agenda make that product "American"? Does the presence of the word "American" in the product's name or in its producer's core marketing agenda make that product "American"? Any good, American skeptic knows the answer. Putting on a topcoat of red, white and blue and hiding behind a heavy layer of jingoism can't hide a product's true identity. That made it pretty easy to put together this checklist of 10 "American" products that have dual citizenship at best or are hiding their true colors at worst: Any good, American skeptic knows the answer. Putting on a topcoat of red, white and blue and hiding behind a heavy layer of jingoism can't hide a product's true identity. That made it pretty easy to put together this checklist of 10 "American" products that have dual citizenship at best or are hiding their true colors at worst: Budweiser Anheuser-Busch InBev ( BUD ) really wants you to believe that the only way to get something more American into a beer can is to brew it with grain grown on the battlefields at Lexington and Concord and water piped from the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. The company spent more than $1 billion on its NFL sponsorship alone and has plowed $239 million more into Super Bowl ads over the past decade. Its Clydesdales are American commercial icons and Budweiser's red, white and blue cans send a not-so-subtle message that despite the brewery's German roots, it's American to the last drop. The company spent more than $1 billion on its NFL sponsorship alone and has plowed $239 million more into Super Bowl ads over the past decade. Its Clydesdales are American commercial icons and Budweiser's red, white and blue cans send a not-so-subtle message that despite the brewery's German roots, it's American to the last drop. That facade came crashing down in 2008, when Brazilian-Belgian brewing company InBev took over Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. Though the company still has a dozen breweries in the U.S., there have been a whole lot of layoffs stateside in an attempt to make the brewer a leaner, more cosmopolitan international player. That facade came crashing down in 2008, when Brazilian-Belgian brewing company InBev took over Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion. Though the company still has a dozen breweries in the U.S., there have been a whole lot of layoffs stateside in an attempt to make the brewer a leaner, more cosmopolitan international player. Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob are still feature players in the stable, but now they're sharing shelf space with brewery mates such as Boddington's, Lowenbrau, Hoegaarden, Spaten and Labatt. Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob are still feature players in the stable, but now they're sharing shelf space with brewery mates such as Boddington's, Lowenbrau, Hoegaarden, Spaten and Labatt. Bud's not even the brewer's only big gun anymore, as it made clear by airing a Bud's not even the brewer's only big gun anymore, as it made clear by airing a Stella Artois ad featuring Adrien Brody during the Super Bowl a few years ago. It still throws around that "King of Beers" title here in the states, but its recent relegation to third place among U.S. beer brands indicates that crown is slipping. Don't blame Bud for talking tough and acting aggressively on football Sundays; when the game's over, it goes home to multinational masters that consider it their American Beck's. Coors What is the only thing worse that playing "American" while not being produced by an American company anymore? Putting on that costume while being produced by two foreign brewing juggernauts. What is the only thing worse that playing "American" while not being produced by an American company anymore? Putting on that costume while being produced byforeign brewing juggernauts. Such is the case for Coors, which stopped being solely a Rocky Mountain resident in 2005 when it merged with Canadian megabrewer Molson. That lumped the Coors brands in with a stable that includes the Molson products, England's Carling and Dutch-derived Grolsch. Still, it needed a little something extra to compete in the American marketplace. Such is the case for Coors, which stopped being solely a Rocky Mountain resident in 2005 when it merged with Canadian megabrewer Molson. That lumped the Coors brands in with a stable that includes the Molson products, England's Carling and Dutch-derived Grolsch. Still, it needed a little something extra to compete in the American marketplace. This is where Coors' branches on the family tree get complicated. SABMiller -- formed in 2002 when South African Breweries bought U.S.-based Miller Brewing -- teamed with MolsonCoors ( This is where Coors' branches on the family tree get complicated. SABMiller -- formed in 2002 when South African Breweries bought U.S.-based Miller Brewing -- teamed with TAP ) to market both companies' beers in the U.S. under the MillerCoors joint venture. While it's nice that Coors Light recently took the No. 2 spot in the American market from Budweiser, saying it's the No. 2 American beer brand is a bit of an oversimplification. At this point, Coors in the U.S. is equal parts American, Canadian, British and South African. You'd have to dig down through the beer ranks to Yuengling or Boston Brewing ( While it's nice that Coors Light recently took the No. 2 spot in the American market from Budweiser, saying it's the No. 2 American beer brand is a bit of an oversimplification. At this point, Coors in the U.S. is equal parts American, Canadian, British and South African. You'd have to dig down through the beer ranks to Yuengling or SAM ) -- with a combined U.S. market share of little more than 2% to MillerCoors' 29% -- before you found a truly "American" beer. Chevrolet Silverado You're right, John Mellencamp, You're right, John Mellencamp, this is our country . Just make sure you're including all of North America in that grouping. The Chevy Silverado and its doppelganger, the GMC Sierra, have all the makings of a big, durable, contractor-friendly, all-American truck. It's just that last adjective that General Motors ( The Chevy Silverado and its doppelganger, the GMC Sierra, have all the makings of a big, durable, contractor-friendly, all-American truck. It's just that last adjective that GM ) still has a bit of trouble with. Sure, some of the trucks are assembled at plants in Flint, Mich., and Fort Wayne, Ind., but a sizable number are also made in Silao, Mexico. Even those made north of the border aren't quite "American." Auto pricing site Cars.com booted the Silverado and Sierra out of the Top 10 of its American-Made Index after its pieces slipped below the list's cutoff of 75% domestically produced content to only 61%. Even those made north of the border aren't quite "American." Auto pricing site Cars.com booted the Silverado and Sierra out of the Top 10 of itsafter its pieces slipped below the list's cutoff of 75% domestically produced content to only 61%. That's no knock on the Silverado's quality, just a reminder that it takes a global village to raise a Chevy pickup. That's no knock on the Silverado's quality, just a reminder that it takes a global village to raise a Chevy pickup. Ford F-150 Didn't think you were going to get away that easily, did you, Ford ( Didn't think you were going to get away that easily, did you, F )? No, Ford didn't take any of the U.S. government's bailout money and doesn't assemble any of its U.S.-sold F-150s beyond U.S. borders. That doesn't mean that a big chunk of the F-150 isn't made elsewhere. No, Ford didn't take any of the U.S. government's bailout money and doesn't assemble any of its U.S.-sold F-150s beyond U.S. borders. That doesn't mean that a big chunk of the F-150 isn't made elsewhere. The F-150 may roll off the lines in Kansas City, Mo., and Dearborn, Mich., but only 60% of its parts are made in the U.S. That's actually a great statement on the F-150's quality and demand, considering that 90% of its parts were made in the U.S. before volume increased nearly 11% in the past year alone. Unfortunately, the F-150's popularity forced Ford to outsource parts and cut costs. The F-150 may roll off the lines in Kansas City, Mo., and Dearborn, Mich., but only 60% of its parts are made in the U.S. That's actually a great statement on the F-150's quality and demand, considering that 90% of its parts were made in the U.S. before volume increased nearly 11% in the past year alone. Unfortunately, the F-150's popularity forced Ford to outsource parts and cut costs. If you're looking for something a bit more American, however, Cars.com says the San Antonio, Texas-built Toyota ( If you're looking for something a bit more American, however, Cars.com says the San Antonio, Texas-built TM ) Tundra has the most American-made parts of any truck on the market while keeping assembly line jobs in-house. Rawlings baseballs As American as mom, baseball and apple pie? Not so fast, baseball. As American as mom, baseball and apple pie? Not so fast, baseball. St. Louis, Mo.-based Rawlings has been the official baseball supplier of Major League Baseball since 1977, but hasn't sewn a single stitch into cowhide stateside during that time. Well before Rawlings was called up to the majors, the company had outsourced its production to other spots in the northern hemisphere. St. Louis, Mo.-based Rawlings has been the official baseball supplier of Major League Baseball since 1977, but hasn't sewn a single stitch into cowhide stateside during that time. Well before Rawlings was called up to the majors, the company had outsourced its production to other spots in the northern hemisphere. Though founded in St. Louis all the way back in 1887, Rawlings moved its baseball manufacturing plant to Puerto Rico in 1969. That was followed by a move to Haiti shortly thereafter. Finally, the company settled down in Costa Rica, where it has been sending its cowhide, cores and twine ever since. Now part of Jarden ( Though founded in St. Louis all the way back in 1887, Rawlings moved its baseball manufacturing plant to Puerto Rico in 1969. That was followed by a move to Haiti shortly thereafter. Finally, the company settled down in Costa Rica, where it has been sending its cowhide, cores and twine ever since. Now part of JAH ) -- the same folks who own the Crock-Pot, Mr. Coffee, Oster, Rival and Sunbeam brands -- Rawlings is just a small cog in a really big conglomerate. It just happens to have the misfortune of providing a key element of the national pastime from the warm tropical confines of another nation entirely. It just happens to have the misfortune of providing a key element of the national pastime from the warm tropical confines of another nation entirely. Levi's Wear them to the fall of your totalitarian government, name drop them in your protest songs, but just don't call Levi's blue jeans Yankee made. Nothing could be further from the truth. Wear them to the fall of your totalitarian government, name drop them in your protest songs, but just don't call Levi's blue jeans Yankee made. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Levi Strauss & Co. bears little resemblance to the little outfit that cropped up in San Francisco during the late 1800s, outfitted the American counterculture in the mid-20th century and became the symbol of all things American by the time the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. By that time, the company itself was crumbling under pressure from cheaper overseas manufacturers and started shutting down its U.S. manufacturing operations. The Levi Strauss & Co. bears little resemblance to the little outfit that cropped up in San Francisco during the late 1800s, outfitted the American counterculture in the mid-20th century and became the symbol of all things American by the time the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. By that time, the company itself was crumbling under pressure from cheaper overseas manufacturers and started shutting down its U.S. manufacturing operations. Those "American" blue jeans started coming with "made in" tags as diverse as a soul-searching exchange student's passport stamps. They're made it Japan, Lesotho, Mexico, Cambodia, Turkmenistan, the Philippines and a whole lot of other places far beyond U.S. borders. Those "American" blue jeans started coming with "made in" tags as diverse as a soul-searching exchange student's passport stamps. They're made it Japan, Lesotho, Mexico, Cambodia, Turkmenistan, the Philippines and a whole lot of other places far beyond U.S. borders. The company still maintains a headquarters in San Francisco, but other outposts in Belgium and Singapore as well as manufacturing facilities spread throughout the globe indicate Levi's American identity hangs by a thread, if it hasn't frayed away completely. The company still maintains a headquarters in San Francisco, but other outposts in Belgium and Singapore as well as manufacturing facilities spread throughout the globe indicate Levi's American identity hangs by a thread, if it hasn't frayed away completely. American Girl dolls Hey kid, wanna buy a $100 doll? Hey kid, wanna buy a $100 doll? Don't worry, they're totally educational, have huge boutique stores and restaurants that you can spend hundreds more dollars in and are nothing like that morally reprehensible Barbie. Mattel ( Don't worry, they're totally educational, have huge boutique stores and restaurants that you can spend hundreds more dollars in and are nothing like that morally reprehensible Barbie. MAT ) should know, as it's owned American Girl since 1998 and has made American Girl and Barbie products in China since roughly that time. Not that American Girl dolls were all that American before Mattel got involved. The original dolls were made in Germany and weren't made any less pricey by the switch. But quibbling over the doll's price or manufacturing location is of little interest to American Girl, which views its mission as retelling American history through the eyes of pieces of plastic molded into the shape of 9-year-old girls and outfitted like audio-animatronic rejects from Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents. Not that American Girl dolls were all that American before Mattel got involved. The original dolls were made in Germany and weren't made any less pricey by the switch. But quibbling over the doll's price or manufacturing location is of little interest to American Girl, which views its mission as retelling American history through the eyes of pieces of plastic molded into the shape of 9-year-old girls and outfitted like audio-animatronic rejects from Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents. Actual American girls should consider themselves fortunate for the experience. After all, who can give a less biased view of the messy intricacies of American history than a smiling, disconnected friend from a foreign country? Actual American girls should consider themselves fortunate for the experience. After all, who can give a less biased view of the messy intricacies of American history than a smiling, disconnected friend from a foreign country? Craftsman tools Sears ( SHLD ) may be in trouble now with hundreds of stores facing closure and the fate of the entire company very much in doubt, but it's been through bad times before. Consider the case of its trademark Craftsman tool brand. Before you could just snap them up at any Ace Hardware, Craftsman was one of Sears' big draws and its finest example of durable American products. Consider the case of its trademark Craftsman tool brand. Before you could just snap them up at any, Craftsman was one of Sears' big draws and its finest example of durable American products. That little fable was all well and good until 2004, when a class-action suit accused Craftsman of not living up to its "Made in the USA" label. The suit accused Sears of using metal parts from Austria, Denmark, China, India and Mexico in its Craftsman products. That's a big no-no when the Federal Trade Commission says goods can be called American-made only if they're made entirely in the U.S. or made in the U.S. with an overwhelming majority of U.S.-made parts. That little fable was all well and good until 2004, when a class-action suit accused Craftsman of not living up to its "Made in the USA" label. The suit accused Sears of using metal parts from Austria, Denmark, China, India and Mexico in its Craftsman products. That's a big no-no when the Federal Trade Commission says goods can be called American-made only if they're made entirely in the U.S. or made in the U.S. with an overwhelming majority of U.S.-made parts. The claimants lost not because they were wrong, but because they failed to prove any injury from the mislabeling. While a whole lot of Craftsman products are still made in the U.S., some Craftsman products are now labeled "Made in China." The claimants lost not because they were wrong, but because they failed to prove any injury from the mislabeling. While a whole lot of Craftsman products are still made in the U.S., some Craftsman products are now labeled "Made in China." Schwinn bicycles Whether it's the classic beach cruiser or the traditional 10-speed, that Schwinn you're seeing at Wal-Mart ( Target ( Whether it's the classic beach cruiser or the traditional 10-speed, that Schwinn you're seeing at WMT ) or TGT ) hasn't been a consistent American classic for more than 20 years. After feeling the pinch from competitors such as Trek and Specialized and losing the ability to make bikes at a competitive cost, Schwinn originally sent all its manufacturing overseas in 1991. It went bankrupt a year later, but resurfaced in 1993 as a boutique outfit making lightweight bikes. After feeling the pinch from competitors such asandand losing the ability to make bikes at a competitive cost, Schwinn originally sent all its manufacturing overseas in 1991. It went bankrupt a year later, but resurfaced in 1993 as a boutique outfit making lightweight bikes. Schwinn's last bankruptcy in 2001 sealed its fate in the U.S. Schwinn was sold to Pacific Cycle. Pacific, in turn, was bought by Dorel Industries, a Canadian company that also makes furniture and baby products. The Schwinn bikes consumers see today are built in Taiwan and China and have little in common with the company's history -- besides a nameplate. Schwinn's last bankruptcy in 2001 sealed its fate in the U.S. Schwinn was sold to Pacific Cycle. Pacific, in turn, was bought by, a Canadian company that also makes furniture and baby products. The Schwinn bikes consumers see today are built in Taiwan and China and have little in common with the company's history -- besides a nameplate. In today's bicycle industry, though, being foreign-made is about the most American thing a large bicycle manufacturer can do. The National Bicycle Dealers Association says 99.5% of bikes sold in the United States are mass-market imports from Asian countries. In today's bicycle industry, though, being foreign-made is about the most American thing a large bicycle manufacturer can do. The National Bicycle Dealers Association says 99.5% of bikes sold in the United States are mass-market imports from Asian countries. ||||| KitchenAid mixers The old story goes that a Hobart Manufacturing executive's wife coined the name in 1915, telling the exec, "I don't care what you call it, this is the best kitchen aid I ever had." The KitchenAid brand appeared four years later, but didn't pick up steam until it appeared in multiple colors in 1955. Now more than 40 colors are produced by 700 workers at the KitchenAid factory in Greenville, Ohio. They're still a wedding industry staple and easily the heaviest, most durable appliance in most American kitchens. The company, now a Whirlpool (WHR) brand, has since branched into other areas of the kitchen, but the familiar outline of its popular mixer is still what springs to mind when someone asks for a KitchenAid. Next>

– Who says America is losing its touch? Well TheStreet did earlier this year, listing 10 iconic American brands now made overseas—like Levi's Jeans, Converse sneakers, and even American Girl dolls. But things aren't all bad, and it is Independence Day. So in the spirit of patriotism, TheStreet decided to list some iconic brands still made in the US of A. Like: Louisville Slugger: As the name implies, MLB's most popular bats still hail from Kentucky. Indian Motorcycles: This century-old company recently moved its factory—from North Carolina to Iowa. Slinky: Still ambling down out of Pennsylvania, as it has been since 1945. Gibson Guitars: The original Kalamazoo plant closed in 1984, but Les Paul is still all-American. The guitars are hand-crafted in Nashville. Kohler Fixtures: Did you know the name "Kohler" refers to Kohler, Wisconsin? Or that the company's products have been made there since 1912? Now you do. Weber Grills: While Weber's gas models are made overseas, its classic black-domed charcoal grills are still made in Palatine, Illinois. For the full list, click here, or to jump to where we've left off, click here.

All charges—against Crystal Mason—to be dropped and that there are proper steps taken to ensure all incarcerated people and formerly incarcerated people on probation or parole are aware of their inability to vote while they are on supervision. Mass incarceration is being used as a way to enforce the "Three Fifths Compromise," since in the United States of America people of color are incarcerated at a disproportionate rate and are then prohibited from voting. An estimated 6.1 million Americans are disenfranchised by felony convictions. Crystal Mason, is one of those people! Crystal was never told that having a felony conviction and being on supervision meant that she couldn’t vote under Texas law—so on November 8, 2016 she attempted to vote. But her name wasn’t on the list of registered voters, so she filled out a provisional ballot, which was eventually flagged. Crystal was later informed that her vote didn’t count, but they didn’t give her more details. She didn't find out the reasons why until she went to her scheduled meeting with her probation officer—she was arrested for voter fraud. On March 28th 2018, State District Judge Ruben Gonzalez—a conservative republican judge—sentenced Crystal—a black woman—to five years in prison for attempting to be a good citizen by exercising her voting rights, while a white woman in Iowa was sentenced to probation and a $750 dollar fine for attempting to vote twice for Donald Trump. Let's demand that DA Wilson—who on her website claims that her staff approaches each case with a commitment to compassion, yet she has shown no compassion towards Crystal or her children—drop all charges against Crystal Mason!! ||||| When Mason voted in 2016, her name was not on the list of registered voters. The election judge offered her the option to vote provisionally after signing an affidavit. The document lists several requirements to vote, including that the voter is not a felon or has served the full sentence. “The affidavit was a stop sign in front of her face,” Smid said. Smid said sentencing in such a case depends primarily on what the judge feels is deserved because there are very few cases to use as precedent. The judge had the option to sentence Mason to anywhere between two to 20 years in prison or probation. Mason told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that she was never told she was not eligible to vote, and she would not intentionally risk her freedom to vote. "I inflated returns," Mason told the Star-Telegram. "I was trying to get more money back for my clients. I admitted that. I owned up to that. I took accountability for that. I would never do that again. I was happy enough to come home and see my daughter graduate. My son is about to graduate. Why would I jeopardize that? Not to vote. ... I didn't even want to go vote." Mason’s defense attorney J. Warren St. John told the Star-Telegram an appeal has been filed in Mason’s case in order to allow her to be released on bond. ||||| In other states, like Kentucky and Iowa, felons who serve their full sentences, including parole, must apply to state officials in order to regain their right to vote. It is not automatic. Florida is similar, only there, convicted felons must wait at least five years after serving their full sentences before they can apply. (Felons’ voting rights in Florida have been the subject of a high-profile court battle in recent months, and residents there will vote on the issue this year.) Other states where felons may have to apply to regain voting rights, often depending on the severity of the crime, are Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware. Prison, parole or probation? In most states, felons cannot vote while they are in prison but can regain their voting rights after they are released (as in Massachusetts and Hawaii), after they complete their parole (as in Colorado and Connecticut), or when they are no longer on parole or probation (as in New Jersey and Texas). California relaxed its rules a little in 2016. Convicted felons sentenced to county jails there can now vote while in custody, but the shift did not apply to those who were sentenced to a state or federal prison. And there are two states that do not revoke criminals’ right to cast a ballot: Vermont and Maine. There, felons can vote even when they are behind bars. “The state disparities are really astounding,” said Christopher Uggen, a professor of sociology and law at the University of Minnesota who also worked on the 2016 Sentencing Project study. “It is definitely confusing at election time, and many former felons are risk-averse — they may not vote if they are afraid of getting a felony conviction for illegal voting.” ||||| [Where do states stand on voting rights for felons? Here’s a breakdown.] Ms. Mason, who was sentenced to 60 months in jail for tax fraud and was released in early 2016, has said that she didn’t know that she wasn’t allowed to vote in that year’s presidential election. She cast a provisional ballot at her local church after being told that her name could not be found on the rolls. The ballot was never counted. “Crystal’s name was purged from the rolls when she went to prison, but Crystal did not know that,” Ms. Grinter said in an interview on Tuesday. Whether felons can vote varies state by state, and has become a contentious issue. More than six million Americans have been stripped of their voting rights because of felony disenfranchisement laws, according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization that works on criminal justice reform. Two months ago, a petition was started online to have all charges against Ms. Mason, who is black, thrown out. In the petition her photo is placed next to a photo of Terri Lynn Rote, a white woman who was convicted of voter fraud in Iowa for trying to vote for President Trump twice. Ms. Rote was sentenced to two years’ probation and a $750 fine. The petition has over 38,000 signatures. As she prepared to appeal the rejection of her motion for a new trial, Ms. Mason said she had high hopes. “I showed my kids that no matter what you can get out and get your life in order,” said Ms. Mason. “But sometimes, regardless of whatever your past is, you are still going to be beat up for it.” ||||| The same judge who originally sentenced her to five years prison for casting an illegal ballot while being a felon under supervision has denied Crystal Mason's motion for a new trial. Mason, of Rendon south of Fort Worth, was convicted on March 28 and sentenced to a five-year prison stint by State District Judge Ruben Gonzalez. Gonzalez denied her petition late Monday in a 16-page ruling. Since her conviction, Mason has been at the center of controversial arguments about the existence of white privilege and voter suppression efforts, with more than 38,000 signatures on a petition to have all charges against her dropped, numerous news stories and editorials and a deluge of social media posts in support of and against the sentence imposed in her case. SIGN UP Help us deliver journalism that makes a difference in our community. Our journalism takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work to produce. If you read and enjoy our journalism, please consider subscribing today. SUBSCRIBE TODAY Crystal Mason, center, convicted for illegal voting and sentenced to 5 years in prison, during a break in Ruben Gonzalez's court, State District Court 432 at Tim Curry Justice Center in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, May 25, 2018. Max Faulkner mfaulkner@star-telegram.com Mason's attorney, Alison Grinter, said that she and other groups who thought the prison sentence was harsh were disappointed. Obviously, it was an uphill struggle to get the judge who made the initial ruling to change his mind. But no one is more disappointed than Mason, Grinter said. Prosecutor Matt Smid, Assistant Criminal District Attorney -- Chief of White Collar Crime/Public Integrity Unit, gives his closing arguments during a hearing in Ruben Gonzalez's court, State District Court 432 at Tim Curry Justice Center in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, May 25, 2018. The hearing was for Crystal Mason, who was convicted for illegal voting and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Max Faulkner mfaulkner@star-telegram.com "She's one step closer to going to prison for a vote that didn't even count," Grinter said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to get this case before fresh eyes in the appellate court and have a better outcome." The Tarrant County district attorney's office vigorously opposed the new trial motion during a March 25 hearing and in a brief in support of the state's position. Matt Smid, the prosecutor trying Mason's case, argued in his court filing that the judge does not have the authority to consider a friend of the court brief from the Texas Civil Rights Project and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Texas. The civil rights groups' brief states that the law that convicted Mason is trumped by a 2002 federal statute that gives an individual who believes that he or she has voting privileges the right to cast a provisional ballot in a federal election, shifting the burden of proof to the state. Smid never argued that the two non-profits' attorneys were incorrect, only that the assertions in the brief cannot be considered because they were not submitted by the deadline and because they were not raised by Mason's attorneys. Grinter argued that the judge could consider points stated by the attorneys with the Texas Civil Rights Project and ACLU. The argument that the federal government has provided a pathway for voters unsure about their eligibility to vote provides a new perspective the judge can use to evaluate Grinter's arguments, according to her brief. Defense attorney Alison Grinter is seen during a hearing in Ruben Gonzalez's court, State District Court 432 at Tim Curry Justice Center in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, May 25, 2018. The hearing was for Crystal Mason, who was convicted for illegal voting and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Max Faulkner mfaulkner@star-telegram.com Rebecca Stevens, one of the Texas Civil Rights Project attorneys who worked on the brief, said the federal law worked in Mason's case. Mason tried to vote and the state did not count that vote after determining that she was ineligible. But the sentence handed down was unfair, Stevens said. "Of the prosecutions we've seen engaging in election misconduct, the sentence that Mason received is far more aggressive," Stevens said. "The problem with that, at least anecdotally, is that people of color are being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, versus an election official actually forging signatures who got probation." In the end, the judge agreed with the state. Grinter said she will file an appeal with the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth. Grinter also said the ruling dovetails with a U. S. Supreme Court ruling upholding Ohio's purging of its voter rolls. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that states could kick people off voter rolls if they have not recently voted and did not answer a notice from election officials, according to a New York Times story. "Those who are working to suppress voting need to prove that in-person voting fraud is a real thing," Grinter said. "And they use cases like this to do that. It's sad those kinds of efforts have to stand on the backs of people like Crystal."

– Civil rights advocates see this as a tale of two voters. Crystal Mason, who is black, was sentenced to five years in prison for casting a ballot in Tarrant County, Texas, in 2016 while being a felon under supervision. Terri Lynn Rote, who is white, was sentenced to two years’ probation and a $750 fine for trying to vote for President Trump twice in Iowa. On Monday, the judge who sentenced Mason turned down her request for a new trial. “Prison is a lot closer for her today,” Mason’s lawyer told the New York Times. Mason, 43, had been sentenced to 60 months for tax fraud. She served part of her sentence and was released in 2016. She says she didn’t know that being a felon meant she was ineligible to vote. Her name had been purged from the voter rolls, and she was given a provisional ballot, which should have alerted her to her ineligibility, the prosecutor said. The judge had the option of sentencing Mason to anything from probation to 20 years, reported the Dallas Morning News in March. Whether a felon can vote varies by state. For example, as the New York Times notes, in Vermont, a person convicted of murder retains the right to vote, even while in prison. But in Mississippi, a conviction for perjury is enough to void the right to vote. Mason told the Star-Telegram that she was originally sent to jail for inflating returns and took responsibility for her actions. “I would never do that again. I was happy enough to come home and see my daughter graduate. My son is about to graduate. Why would I jeopardize that? Not to vote. ... I didn't even want to go vote.” Mason's attorney is appealing the decision. Mason's case is juxtaposed with Rote's in an online petition calling for charges against Mason to be dropped.

Juror No. 1 Joan G. Meier In her late 60s; retired, has a graduate degree. Juror No. 2 Raymond L. Screen Black male in his mid-30s; an information-technology worker. He has two children. Juror No. 3 Jennifer Ford A 32-year-old white female with no children; nursing student. Juror No. 4 Linda F. Bills Middle-aged black female. Juror No. 5 Harriet B. White White female in her 50s; retired nurse. Juror No. 6 Brian P. Berling A 33-year-old white male who is married and has two children; has been a chef for 15 years. Juror No. 7 Kimberly A. Kimball Divorced 41-year-old white female; no kids. Juror No. 8 Kathleen A. Nighland Married white woman in her 50s; service representative. Juror No. 9 James P. Kearns A 53-year-old single male; "semiretired" and cares for someone who had a stroke. Juror No. 10 Ronald H. Robertson A 57-year-old single white male; works as a billing representative for Verizon. Juror No. 11 David W. Angelo White male in his early 30s; teaches physical education and health at Largo High School Juror No. 12 Mary L. Fuhr White female ; married for 15 years and has two children from a prior marriage. ||||| The names of the jurors who determined Casey Anthony 's fate when they found her not guilty of first-degree murder this past summer were revealed this morning.But even with their identities revealed, there may remain one big, lingering question: Why did they reach the verdict that they did?None of the jurors — all Pinellas County residents — is obligated to talk to the media about the six weeks they spent serving on Anthony's trial in Orlando.The jurors are Joan Meier, Raymond Screen, Linda Bills, Harriet White, Brian Berling, Kimberly Kimball, Kathleen Nighland, James Kearns, Ronald Robertson, David Angelo, Mary Fuhr and Jennifer Ford.Alternate jurors whose names were not previously released are Elizabeth Jones and Heather Feuerhake.Alternate jurors Dean Edward Eckstadt and Russell William Huekler already voluntarily revealed their identities publicly.The panel already turned down one opportunity to speak to the media collectively.Sentinel reporters and a photographer have been knocking on doors throughout Pinellas County today, searching for the jurors. Many knocks went unanswered, and some neighbors said their juror neighbors had left town.Although the trial ended in July, the names were not released until today.In Anthony's high-profile case, Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry postponed the release of the juror names for three months as a "cooling off" period.In his July 26 order, Perry expressed significant concern over the safety of the jurors, noting that they "returned a verdict which was not viewed in a popular light by a large segment of the public."Perry recalled how the crowd outside the Orange County Courthouse reacted to the July verdict, holding signs that said, "Arrest the Jury," and "Somewhere a Village is Missing 12 Idiots." He also cited a news report saying one juror had to quit work and leave the state due to threats."Only time will heal those upset by the verdict and will allow public interest to subside sufficiently that violence may be avoided," Perry wrote in postponing the release of juror names until today.Anthony, 25, was found not guilty in July of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie in the summer of 2008.The 12-member jury also found Anthony not guilty of aggravated child abuse and not guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child. The jury did find her guilty of the far less significant charges of lying to law enforcement.It was a verdict that stunned spectators and angered the public.The jury was given the opportunity to talk to the media about their decision almost immediately after they rendered a verdict, but the panel declined.Perry noted in his order that he met with the jurors after the verdict and most "were adamant about their desire not to contact the media or appear on TV shows even though they could have received handsome payment for their time and effort."

– The jurors who cleared Casey Anthony of murder now might have to explain the verdict to their neighbors. Florida today released the jurors' identities, reports the Orlando Sentinel. Normally, the names are made public immediately after a trial, but the judge ordered a three-month delay given the public outrage over the verdict. Click for specifics on the panel, which has rejected requests to speak collectively about the decision.

Police union hiring of Jason Van Dyke sparks outrage Jason Van Dyke — the white Chicago cop charged with murder after firing 16 shots into a knife-wielding black teenager in 2014 — works for the Fraternal Order of Police, the union president confirmed Wednesday night. WFLD-Channel 32 first reported Wednesday night that Van Dyke was working at the FOP hall in the West Loop because he couldn’t find another job. The fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald prompted a U.S. Justice Department investigation of the Chicago Police Department — and the city’s release of a video of the shooting in November led to the firing of police Supt. Garry McCarthy on Dec. 1. Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he decided to hire Van Dyke after receiving a call from the Chicago Sun-Times several weeks ago asking whether the officer was working for the union. At the time, Angelo said that Van Dyke wasn’t working for the FOP. The Sun-Times made the inquiry after hearing from former FOP officials who thought Van Dyke was working for the union and were opposed to the arrangement. On Wednesday night, Angelo said he then considered the idea and decided to give Van Dyke a job. Van Dyke, who is stripped of his police powers and is on unpaid status, makes $12 an hour from the FOP — slightly above what a typical unarmed security guard is paid — to be a jack-of-all-trades for the union. “He might be on the roof, he might be in the office, he does anything we need,” Angelo said. Angelo said it’s not unprecedented. “We’ve probably had 100 people in no-pay status who we got jobs or hired at the hall. This is nothing new,” he said. Angelo said one of those officers was Serena Daniels, who was stripped of her police powers and was eventually fired after fatally shooting LaTanya Haggerty, an unarmed passenger in a car, in 1999. The FOP’s move drew quick criticism and sparked promises of protests. The Rev. Michael Pfleger blasted the move, saying in part on a Facebook post: “The Police Union says to Chicago we don’t give a Damn what he did or what you think he is one of ours, and we are going to take care of him . . . ” The post was shared by more than 1,000 people by early Thursday morning. ||||| ... ately the FREE Dinners for Fed Workers at BJ'S 79th and Racine will continue. Although the Government will reopen, many will not get checks immedi ||||| Protests are expected Thursday after news broke that the Chicago police officer charged with Laquan McDonald’s murder has been hired by the Fraternal Order of Police. NBC 5's Christian Farr reports. (Published Thursday, March 31, 2016) Protests are expected Thursday after news broke that the Chicago police officer charged in the death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald has been hired by the police union as a janitor and "jack-of-all-trades." Officer Jason Van Dyke now makes $12 an hour at the Fraternal Order of Police hall in the city’s West Loop, union president Dean Angelo told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday evening. In a statement Thursday, the union said it reached a decision "weeks ago" to "assist the Van Dyke family." "Due to the notoriety of the incident, the on-going threats of harm and intimidation and other issues caused him to become completely unemployable," Angelo said in a statement. "Furthermore, after several threats against the safety of his spouse and her clients his wife was forced to shut down her family-run business; resulting in zero household income." Angelo added that it is not the first time the union has hired officers "forced into a no pay status" and said the decision was based on the "sustenance needs of a police officer and his family." "For anyone to believe that the Lodge entered into this arrangement without consideration and forethought is improper and short sighted," the statement read. "Accuracy under these circumstances is paramount to truly grasping the significance to the decision made." Over the past several months, Van Dyke has appeared in court numerous times to face a judge on first-degree murder charges stemming from the October 2014 shooting. Van Dyke is accused of firing 16 shots at McDonald, who was seen on surveillance video walking away from police. Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty and his attorney has requested a change of venue, arguing it's impossible for his client to have a fair trial in Cook County. Officer Jason Van Dyke Hired by Police Union The officer charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald got a new job with the police union. NBC 5's Emily Florez reports. (Published Thursday, March 31, 2016) Already there has been heavy pushback against Van Dyke's new role. Father Michael Pfleger, a Roman Catholic priest and social activist, took to Facebook late Wednesday after news of the hiring broke. His heated post calling the move a "disgrace" and arguing that every union member should demand he be fired garnered more than 1,000 shares in just 10 hours. "The Police Union says to Chicago...we don't give a damn what he did, what you think, he is one of ours, and we are going to take care of him," he wrote. Other activists followed suit, planning demonstrations for outside the FOP at both noon and 6:30 p.m. "Officers under that uniform are regular people," activist Ja'mal Green said at the noon protest. "If I killed someone, I wouldn't get bail, I wouldn't get bail. If I killed someone I don't have a union to make sure that I'm employed." Some groups called for Van Dyke to be fired immediately and for the union to issue an apology. "Chicago’s going to get tired of doing these marches and being peaceful," Green said. "We have been peaceful over the last four months, we have made statement and we have made change but at the end of the day the residents are tired of these types of decisions, getting slapped in the face." Soon after, protesters were seen trying to enter the FOP office, but a line of police officers blocked the entrance. "The F.O.P. just declared war with the people of Chicago," wrote Jedidiah Brown. "The ultimate slap in the face is to hire a man who shot a child sixteen times." Prosecutor Bill Delaney had asked that Van Dyke remain held without bond on Nov. 30, 2015, but the judge rejected that, saying everyone is presumed innocent. He set Van Dyke’s bail at $1.5 million. Five hours later, Van Dyke posted bond and walked out of jail. Van Dyke is currently stripped of his police powers and is on unpaid status. His new job is considered to be at a level slightly higher than that of a typical security guard, according to the Sun-Times. "He might be on the roof, he might be in the office, he does anything we need," Angelo told the newspaper, adding that the hiring of Van Dyke is not an unprecedented move. "We’ve probably had 100 people in no-pay status who we got jobs or hired at the hall," he told the Sun-Times. "This is nothing new." In an interview with The Associated Press, Angelo said Van Dyke's suspension has been a "very difficult situation, financially" for the husband and father, adding that the union would do the same for any CPD officer. Van Dyke had been turned down for all other jobs, Angelo said, and his wife's business had to close its doors due to an onslaught of threats against the officer and his family. ||||| FILE - In this March 23, 2016 file photo, Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke, charged with murder in the 2014 videotaped shooting death of black teenager Laquan McDonald, walks in a courtroom during... (Associated Press) FILE - In this March 23, 2016 file photo, Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke, charged with murder in the 2014 videotaped shooting death of black teenager Laquan McDonald, walks in a courtroom during... (Associated Press) CHICAGO (AP) — A white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of a black teenager has been hired to work as a janitor for the city's police union as he awaits trial, the union president said Thursday. Dean Angelo, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago, says the union hired Jason Van Dyke about three weeks ago. Van Dyke is accused of shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014. The shooting was captured on squad-car video and has prompted investigations, including a federal civil rights probe of the Chicago Police Department. Van Dykes has been suspended from the department without pay. The union would do the same for any Chicago officer and have hired dozens of people who are in no-pay status, Angelo said. "This officer is in a very difficult situation financially. He has a family and we would do it for anybody that works as a Chicago Police officer," Angelo said. Van Dyke does various tasks, Angelo said. "He might be on the roof, he might be in the office, he does anything we need," Angelo said. Van Dyke has lost other jobs due to publicity and that threats closed his wife's business, the union said. Van Dyke's attorney last week asked court officials to let the officer not attend hearings because he has received threats of violence and death when he comes to court.

– Jason Van Dyke, the white Chicago police officer charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of black teen Laquan McDonald, has a new gig with the police union: janitor. The AP reports Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police hired Van Dyke—who is on unpaid leave from the police department—about three weeks ago. The Chicago Sun-Times describes him as a "jack-of-all-trades" making $12 an hour. “He might be on the roof, he might be in the office, he does anything we need,” union president Dean Angelo says. According to the union, Van Dyke has been unable to hold a job due to bad publicity, and threats forced his wife to close her business. "This officer is in a very difficult situation financially," Angelo tells the AP. "He has a family, and we would do it for anybody that works as a Chicago police officer." The announcement of Van Dyke's job with the police union on Wednesday sparked immediate criticism, and protesters were outside the Fraternal Order of Police Thursday, NBC Chicago reports. "If I killed someone, I wouldn't get bail," one protester says. "If I killed someone, I don't have a union to make sure that I'm employed." Van Dyke posted bond on $1.5 million bail, which the prosecution was against. The protester calls his hiring by the union a slap in the face to Chicago residents. In a Facebook post, a Catholic priest and social activist calls Van Dyke's hiring a "disgrace" and says "every union member should demand he be fired." Video released last year shows Van Dyke firing 16 shots at the 17-year-old McDonald, who was holding a knife, as McDonald walked away from officers in October 2014.

If you’re serious about crafting, then you may have fantasized about ditching the 9-5, picking up the glue gun, and opening an eponymous Etsy shop. Well, Alicia Shaffer from Three Bird Nest, is living that dream. Shaffer is one of the most successful sellers on the online craft site, with more than, gulp, an estimated $65,000 a month in sales. But she tells Yahoo DIY that it didn’t all happen, overnight, though. (Alicia Shaffer and family. All images courtesy Three Bird Nest) Etsy may seem like a quaint little destination for vintage pendants and handmade birthday cards, but with 30 million registered users, one million sellers and over one billion in total annual transactions, this is not your neighborhood craft fair. This is big e-commerce. girls posing with boquets More Where most shops would love to sell 300 items a day, Three Bird Nest is selling over 3,000. (If those numbers don’t make you wanting to quit your day job, then you must really love what you do.) Three Bird Nest has its own distinctive sensibility, but it’s not breaking the mold with exclusive, rarefied creations. Items similar to her lovely handmade, knitted scarves, wraps, headbands, beanies, boot socks and calf cozies (adorably irresistible) can be found elsewhere. So why is Shaffer cleaning up when others are coasting? Alicia wearing a homemade purple headband More One thing that stands out is Shaffer’s passion for her work. “I love textiles, fabric, fashion, designs, and seeing how different colors and fabrics pair together,” she says on her site. When the seller’s passion comes through, the shopper connects with craftsperson. But Shaffer also loves the business side. She happily absorbs the pressures that come from running her own mini empire. The creative process, from concepting, to production, to getting it in front of people to delivery is a high for her. To have a successful business on Etsy (or anywhere), she advises: you need to eat, sleep and breathe your brand. Shaffer also designs for a wide range of women, which broadens her potential customer base. “She’s a mom, a student, a daughter, a bride, a woman going on a first date,” she says. bracelets closeup More Read More ||||| Form S-1 As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2015. Registration No. 333- UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 Etsy, Inc. (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter) Delaware 5961 20-4898921 (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) (Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) 55 Washington Street, Suite 512 Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718) 855-7955 (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices) Kristina Salen Chief Financial Officer Etsy, Inc. 55 Washington Street, Suite 512 Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718) 855-7955 (Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service) Copies to: Kenneth R. McVay Richard C. Blake Greg S. Volkmar Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP 220 West 42nd Street, 17th Floor New York, NY 10036 (212) 730-8133 Jordan J. Breslow General Counsel Etsy, Inc. 55 Washington Street, Suite 512 Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718) 855-7955 Sarah K. Solum Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP 1600 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025 (650) 752-2000 Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement. If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ¨ If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨ If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨ If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one): Large accelerated filer ¨ Accelerated filer ¨ Non-accelerated filer x (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company ¨ CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1)(2) Amount of Registration Fee Common Stock, $0.001 par value $100,000,000 $11,620 (1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the amount of the registration fee in accordance with Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. (2) Includes the aggregate offering price of additional shares that the underwriters have the option to purchase. The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to such Section 8(a), may determine. The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We and the selling stockholders may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. Subject to Completion. Dated March 4, 2015. Shares Common Stock This is an initial public offering of shares of common stock of Etsy, Inc. Etsy is offering shares of common stock to be sold in the offering. The selling stockholders identified in this prospectus are offering an additional shares of common stock. Etsy will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares of common stock being sold by the selling stockholders. Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the common stock. It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price per share will be between $ and $ . Etsy intends to apply to have the common stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ETSY.” Etsy is an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 and, as such, has elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 15 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of the common stock. Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. Per Share Total Initial public offering price $ $ Underwriting discount(1) $ $ Proceeds, before expenses, to Etsy $ $ Proceeds, before expenses, to the selling stockholders $ $ (1) We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain expenses. See “Underwriting.” To the extent that the underwriters sell more than shares of common stock, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional shares from Etsy at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on , 2015. Goldman, Sachs & Co. Morgan Stanley Allen & Company LLC Prospectus dated , 2015 Table of Contents We, the selling stockholders and the underwriters have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectuses prepared by us or on our behalf or to which we have referred you. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the shares offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus is current only as of the date on the front cover of the prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date. For investors outside the United States: We, the selling stockholders and the underwriters have not done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of our common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the United States. Through and including , 2015 (the 25th day after the date of this prospectus), all dealers effecting transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to a dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to an unsold allotment or subscription. Prospectus Summary This summary highlights information contained in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before investing in our common stock, you should carefully read this entire prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto and the information in “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Unless the context otherwise requires, we use the terms “Etsy,” “company,” “we,” “us” and “our” in this prospectus to refer to Etsy, Inc. and, where appropriate, our consolidated subsidiaries. See “—Glossary” for the definitions of the following terms: “active buyer,” “active seller,” “community,” “ecosystem,” “global-local,” “GMS,” “member,” “platform” and “visit.” Our Mission Our mission is to reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world. We are building a human, authentic and community-centric global and local marketplace. We are committed to using the power of business to create a better world through our platform, our members, our employees and the communities we serve. These guiding principles are core to our mission: • Make it easy to find and buy unique goods from real people every day, on any platform, online and offline, anywhere in the world. • Help creative entrepreneurs start, responsibly scale and enjoy their businesses with Etsy. • Communicate the power of human connection whenever anyone experiences Etsy. Overview We operate a marketplace where people around the world connect, both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods. Handmade goods are the foundation of our marketplace. Whether crafted by an Etsy seller herself, with the assistance of her team or with an outside manufacturer in small batches, handmade goods spring from the imagination and creativity of an Etsy seller and embody authorship, responsibility and transparency. We believe we are creating a new economy, which we call the Etsy Economy, where creative entrepreneurs find meaningful work and both global and local markets for their goods, and where thoughtful consumers discover and buy unique goods and build relationships with the people who sell them. Etsy was founded in June 2005 in Brooklyn, New York as a marketplace for handmade goods and craft supplies. From those beginnings, we have built an innovative, technology-based platform that, as of 1 December 31, 2014, connected 54.0 million members, including 1.4 million active sellers and 19.8 million active buyers, in nearly every country in the world. In 2014, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.93 billion, of which 36.1% came from purchases made on mobile devices and 30.9% came from an Etsy seller or an Etsy buyer outside of the United States. Our community is the heart and soul of Etsy. Our community is made up of creative entrepreneurs who sell on our platform, thoughtful consumers looking to buy unique goods in our marketplace, responsible manufacturers who help Etsy sellers grow their businesses and Etsy employees who maintain our platform and nurture our ecosystem. Our business model is based on shared success: we make money when Etsy sellers make money. Our revenue is diversified, generated from a mix of marketplace activities and the services we provide Etsy sellers to help them create and grow their businesses. Marketplace revenue includes the fee an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction and the listing fee an Etsy seller pays for each item she lists. Seller Services revenue includes fees an Etsy seller pays for services such as prominent placement in search results via Promoted Listings, payment processing via Direct Checkout and purchases of shipping labels through our platform via Shipping Labels. Other revenue includes the fees we receive from a third-party payment processor. In 2014, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.93 billion, up 43.3% over 2013. In 2014, we generated revenue of $195.6 million, up 56.4% over 2013. In 2014, we generated a net loss of $15.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $23.1 million compared to a net loss of $0.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $16.9 million in 2013. See “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP. Our Values We are a mindful, transparent and humane business. We believe that business interests and social and environmental responsibility are interwoven and aligned and that the power of business should be used to strengthen communities and empower people. We plan and build for the long term. We want to build a company that lasts, and we plan to measure our success in years and decades. Etsy sellers in particular depend on us and on our platform to grow their businesses, so we will strive to make decisions that are best for the long-term health of our ecosystem. We value craftsmanship in all we make. Craftsmanship is the marriage of skill and passion. We believe every job at our company should demonstrate our commitment to craft. We are an engineering-driven company, and we think of our code as craft: we are makers of the products and services that our members use, and we approach the work we do with the same care and inspiration as do Etsy sellers. 2 We believe fun should be part of everything we do. Our mission includes fostering a world in which personal fulfillment is a key element of success. We believe that this way of working is connected and joyful. We strive to do excellent work and bring a sense of humor and playfulness to it. We keep it real, always. We have the courage and the will to do business in ways that are unconventional and impactful. We strive to stay genuine, maintaining integrity, humility and sincerity in everything we do. When we feel that we are not being true to our values or our mission, we are not afraid to stop and change course. Our Opportunity We operate at the center of several converging macroeconomic trends in online and mobile commerce, employment, consumption and manufacturing. We believe that in combination these trends will benefit millions of people in our ecosystem around the world: Etsy sellers engaging in their creative passion, working for themselves and defining success on their own terms; Etsy buyers accessing a diverse, global marketplace of goods that have historically been found in highly fragmented markets; and, increasingly, responsible manufacturers using modern tools to craft goods in partnership with Etsy sellers. Trends in Online and Mobile Commerce. Etsy sellers offer goods in dozens of online retail categories, including jewelry, stationery, clothing, home goods, craft supplies and vintage items. Euromonitor, a consumer market research company, estimated that the global online retail market was $695 billion in 2013, up from $280 billion in 2008, representing a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 19.9%. This growth is expected to continue, with the global online retail market becoming a significantly larger portion of the total retail market, reaching $1.5 trillion by 2018, implying a 16.6% CAGR from 2013. Mobile commerce is also increasingly important in online retail. comScore estimated that since the first quarter of 2013, consumers visiting online commerce sites spent more than half of their browsing time on mobile devices; however, online commerce spending via mobile devices represented only 11% of total online commerce dollars in the third quarter of 2014. Trends in Employment. Whether motivated by economic necessity or personal preference, a growing number of people are turning to self-employment for their livelihoods. In a 2012 survey of middle-class households in the United States by the Pew Research Center, 85% said that it was more difficult to maintain their living standards today than it was ten years ago. A study commissioned in July 2014 by the Freelancers Union and Elance-oDesk estimated that 53 million Americans are working as freelancers. Women are also contributing to the trend towards self-employment. World Bank research shows that, in certain developing nations, over half of the women in the labor force are self-employed. We believe that many of these people have creative skills that could provide a foundation for entrepreneurship, but that they often have little or no experience running their own businesses, and they typically lack the marketing resources, the technological expertise and the manufacturing and logistics capabilities to turn their creativity into a business. 3 Trends in Consumption. Most large retailers today follow the same formula, emphasizing efficiency and scale and pressuring their suppliers to reduce their costs in order to serve mass-produced goods at the lowest-possible prices. We believe, however, that many consumers want to purchase goods that are unique and that reflect their personality and style, not simply mass-produced, generic goods. Some consumers want their purchases to reflect their values; they want to support retailers and suppliers that have responsible and sustainable policies toward their employees, their communities and the environment. Finding these goods can be difficult, as markets for such goods have historically been highly fragmented across boutiques, consignment stores and other venues and marketplaces. Trends in Manufacturing. Because of advances in manufacturing technologies, individuals and small businesses now have the ability to manufacture goods in their homes and studios using tools such as computer-assisted design, 3D printers, computer-controlled routers and other machines at a fraction of the historical cost. We believe the decrease in the size and the cost of these tools will make it easier for creative entrepreneurs to start new businesses. We also believe that small-batch manufacturers will be able to use these new technologies to provide high-quality manufacturing services so that creative entrepreneurs can scale their own businesses. Our Strengths Our platform connects millions of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers globally, making it one of the largest online marketplaces in the world. We have achieved our scale because of the following key strengths: • Our Authentic, Trusted Marketplace. We have built an authentic, trusted marketplace that embodies our values-based culture, emphasizing respect, direct communication and fun. We have developed a reputation for authenticity as a result of Etsy sellers’ unique offerings and their adherence to our policies for handmade goods. We establish trust in our marketplace by emphasizing the person behind every transaction. We deepen connections among our members, making a personal relationship central to the member experience. The authenticity of our marketplace and the connections among people in our community are the cornerstones of our business. • Our Passionate, Engaged and Loyal Members. Our members are passionate, engaged and loyal—not only to us, but to each other—building a strong community. • Our Innovative Technology. Our widely-respected engineering team has built a sophisticated platform that enables millions of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers to smoothly transact across borders, languages and devices. • Our Scaled, Global-Local Marketplace. Our marketplace is global-local, meaning that we focus on building local Etsy communities around the world. Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers in these local 4 communities, in turn, have global reach and access through our platform. We believe our global-local marketplace creates strong competitive advantages outside the United States because our success is not dependent on scale in any given country. • Our Seller-Aligned Business Model. Etsy sellers are drawn to our platform because we empower them to succeed, and as Etsy sellers succeed, so do we. Our seller-aligned business model creates network effects. The more we invest in our platform, the more we enable Etsy sellers to pursue their craft and grow their businesses and the easier we make it for Etsy buyers to find unique goods. We call this Etsy’s Empowerment Loop. Our Strategy: The Path Ahead We plan to continue connecting creative entrepreneurs, thoughtful consumers and responsible manufacturers and expanding the impact of our platform through the following key strategies: • Make Etsy an Everyday Experience. We emphasize relationships, connecting creative entrepreneurs to thoughtful consumers around the world, and we continually strive to make those connections a daily habit for our members. The everyday experience starts with mobile. • Build Local Marketplaces, Globally. Our vision is global and local. We plan to invest in local marketing and content and local payment and shipping solutions in countries around the world. We believe our locally-focused work will broaden the reach of our global platform. • Offer High-impact Seller Services. Seller Services help an Etsy seller spend more time on the pleasures of her craft and less time on the administrative aspects of her business. We intend to enhance existing Seller Services, extend their geographic reach and introduce new ones. • Expand the Etsy Economy. We intend to fulfill our mission to reimagine commerce by expanding the impact of our platform beyond our community. For example, we intend to further develop our manufacturing program, our strategic partnerships and our public-private endeavors to bring the benefit of the Etsy Economy to more people and more communities. • Invest in Marketing. We believe that the rapid growth of our marketplace is a testament to our compelling value proposition for Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers have been our best marketers, sharing their positive experiences with their own communities. Even so, we plan to increase our marketing spending on traditional and online media to increase awareness of our brand and attract additional members to our ecosystem. 5 Risks Associated With Our Business Our business is subject to numerous risks described in “Risk Factors” immediately following this prospectus summary and elsewhere in this prospectus. Some of the more significant risks are: • We have a history of operating losses and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future. • Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate, which could cause our stock price to decline. • Adherence to our values and our focus on long-term sustainability may negatively influence our short- or medium-term financial performance. • The authenticity of our marketplace and the connections within our community are important to our success. If we are unable to maintain them, our ability to retain existing members and attract new members could suffer. • Further expansion into markets outside of the United States is important to the growth of our business but will subject us to risks associated with operations abroad. • We expect to increase our marketing efforts to help grow our business, but those efforts may not be effective at attracting new members and retaining existing members. • Our payments system depends on third-party providers and is subject to evolving laws and regulations. • Our ability to expand our ecosystem is important to the growth of our business. • We must develop new offerings to respond to our members’ changing needs. • If the mobile solutions available to Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are not effective, the use of our platform could decline. • We face intense competition and may not be able to compete effectively. See “Risk Factors” immediately following this prospectus summary for a more thorough discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties we face. Our Corporate Information Etsy was incorporated in the state of Delaware in February 2006 as Indieco, Inc., and we changed our name to Etsy, Inc. in June 2006. Our headquarters are located at 55 Washington Street, Suite 512, Brooklyn, New York 11201. Our telephone number is (718) 855-7955. Our website address is www.etsy.com. The information contained in, or accessible through, our website is not part of, and is not incorporated into, this prospectus, and investors should not rely on any such information in deciding whether to invest in our common stock. 6 We use various trademarks, trade names and design marks in our business, including Etsy®, Code as Craft™ and Craft Entrepreneurship™. This prospectus also contains trademarks and trade names of other businesses that are the property of their respective holders. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trademarks and trade names to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, those other companies. JOBS Act We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion or (c) in which we become a large accelerated filer, which means that we have been public for at least 12 months, have filed at least one annual report and the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last day of our then most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. We refer to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 as the “JOBS Act,” and references to “emerging growth company” have the meaning associated with such term in the JOBS Act. In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. 7 Glossary The following terms are used throughout this prospectus: Term Definition Active buyer An Etsy buyer is a member who has created an account in our marketplace. An Etsy buyer is identified by a unique e-mail address; a single person can have multiple Etsy buyer accounts. An active buyer is an Etsy buyer who has made at least one purchase in the last 12 months. Active seller An Etsy seller is a member who has created an account and has listed an item in our marketplace. An Etsy seller is identified by a unique e-mail address; a single person can have multiple Etsy seller accounts. An active seller is an Etsy seller who has incurred at least one charge from us in the last 12 months. Charges include transaction fees, listing fees and fees for Direct Checkout, Promoted Listings, Shipping Labels and Wholesale enrollment. Community Our community consists of Etsy sellers, Etsy buyers, manufacturers who work with Etsy sellers and Etsy employees. Ecosystem Our ecosystem consists of Etsy and the people and communities around the world who benefit from our platform. Global-local Global-local refers to our focus on building local Etsy communities around the world. The Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers in these local communities, in turn, have global reach and access through our platform. GMS Gross merchandise sales, or GMS, is the dollar value of items sold in our marketplace within the applicable period, excluding shipping fees and net of refunds associated with cancelled transactions. International GMS is GMS from transactions in which either the billing address for the Etsy seller or the shipping address for the Etsy buyer at the time of sale is outside of the United States. Mobile GMS is GMS from transactions that occur on a mobile device, such as a tablet or a smartphone. Mobile GMS excludes orders initiated on mobile devices but ultimately completed on a desktop. We began tracking mobile GMS in 2013. Member A member is represented by an open member account based on a unique e-mail address; a single person can have multiple member accounts. 8 Term Definition Platform Our platform includes our marketplace, our Seller Services, our technology and our community, both online and offline. The core of our platform is our marketplace, which connects people around the world to make, sell and buy unique goods. Visit A visit represents activity from a unique browser or mobile app. A visit ends after 30 minutes of inactivity. A mobile visit is a visit that occurs on a mobile device, such as a tablet or a smartphone. We began tracking mobile visits in 2013. 9 The Offering Common stock offered by us shares Common stock offered by the selling stockholders shares Underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares shares Common stock to be outstanding after this offering shares, or shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full Use of proceeds We estimate that our net proceeds from the sale of the common stock that we are offering will be approximately $ million, or approximately $ million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, assuming an initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders. The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our visibility, create a public market for our common stock and facilitate our future access to the public equity markets. We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including continued investments in the growth of our business. We also intend to use $300,000 of the proceeds of this offering to partially fund Etsy.org, a Delaware non-profit organization that we formed in January 2015. We may use a portion of the net proceeds to fund the build-out of our new corporate headquarters. In addition, we may use a portion of the net proceeds received by us from this offering for acquisitions of other complementary businesses, technologies or other assets. However, we have no current understandings, agreements or commitments for any specific material acquisitions at this time. See “Use of Proceeds.” Risk factors Read “Risk Factors” and other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should consider before deciding to invest in our common stock. Proposed Nasdaq trading symbol “ETSY” 10 The number of shares of common stock to be outstanding after this offering is based on 195,258,466 shares of common stock (including preferred stock on an as-converted basis) outstanding as of December 31, 2014, and excludes: • 376,471 shares of common stock issued to Etsy.org; • 23,050,594 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding as of December 31, 2014 under our 2006 Stock Plan, with a weighted-average exercise price of approximately $2.67 per share; • 2,037,490 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of options granted after December 31, 2014 under our 2006 Stock Plan, with an exercise price of $8.50 per share; • 406,060 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants outstanding as of December 31, 2014 with a weighted-average exercise price of approximately $0.66 per share; and • shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under our equity compensation plans, consisting of shares of common stock that will be reserved for issuance under our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, 3,036,004 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under our 2006 Stock Plan as of December 31, 2014 and shares of common stock that will be reserved for issuance under our 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. On the date of this prospectus, any remaining shares available for issuance under our 2006 Stock Plan will be added to the shares reserved for issuance under our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, and we will cease granting awards under our 2006 Stock Plan. Our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan and 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan also provide for automatic annual increases in the number of shares reserved thereunder, as more fully described in “Executive Compensation—Equity Plans.” Except as otherwise indicated, all information in this prospectus assumes: • the effectiveness of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the adoption of our amended and restated bylaws immediately prior to the completion of this offering; • the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of preferred stock into an aggregate of 106,896,493 shares of common stock, the conversion of which will occur immediately prior to the completion of this offering; • no exercise of outstanding options or warrants; and • no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to an additional shares of common stock. 11 Summary Consolidated Financial and Other Data You should read this summary consolidated financial and other data in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2014, are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following tables also show certain operational and non-GAAP financial measures. See the accompanying footnotes and “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for more information. Our historical results and key metrics are not necessarily indicative of future results, and results for any interim period presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any annual period. The consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013 have been revised to correct for the understatement of certain non-income tax-related expenses. See Note 15 of the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements. 12 Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands, except share and per share data) Consolidated Statements of Operations Data: Revenue: Marketplace $ 55,330 $ 78,544 $ 108,732 Seller Services 15,863 42,817 82,502 Other 3,409 3,661 4,357 Total revenue 74,602 125,022 195,591 Cost of revenue(1) 24,493 47,779 73,633 Gross profit 50,109 77,243 121,958 Operating expenses: Marketing(1) 10,902 17,850 39,655 Product development(1) 18,653 27,548 36,634 General and administrative(1) 21,909 31,112 51,920 Total operating expenses 51,464 76,510 128,209 (Loss) income from operations (1,355) 733 (6,251) Total other expense (1,175) (675) (4,009) (Loss) income before income taxes (2,530) 58 (10,260) Benefit (provision) for income taxes 145 (854) (4,983) Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Net loss per share of common stock—basic and diluted $ (0.04) $ (0.01) $ (0.19) Weighted average shares of common stock used in computing net loss per share—basic and diluted 60,563,723 65,334,548 80,493,407 Pro forma net loss per share of common stock—basic and diluted(2) (unaudited) $ (0.08) Weighted average shares of common stock used in computing pro forma net loss per share—basic and diluted(2) (unaudited) 187,389,900 Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands, except percentages) Other Operational and Financial Data(3): GMS $ 895,152 $ 1,347,833 $ 1,931,981 Adjusted EBITDA $ 10,669 $ 16,947 $ 23,081 Active sellers 830 1,074 1,353 Active buyers 9,317 14,032 19,810 Percent mobile visits N/A 41.3 % 53.2 % Percent mobile GMS N/A 29.5 % 36.1 % Percent international GMS 28.4 % 28.4 % 30.9 % 13 As of December 31, 2014 Actual Pro Forma(4) (in thousands) Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments $ 88,843 Working capital 88,540 Total assets 249,135 Deferred revenue 3,452 Long-term liabilities 60,382 Convertible preferred stock 80,212 Total stockholders’ equity 67,088 (1) Includes total stock-based compensation expense as follows: Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands) Cost of revenue $ 166 $ 200 $ 1,113 Marketing 57 79 216 Product development 436 785 1,461 General and administrative 3,435 2,770 7,260 Total stock-based compensation expense $ 4,094 $ 3,834 $ 10,050 (2) Pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share have been calculated assuming the conversion of all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into 106,896,493 shares of common stock as of the beginning of the applicable period or at the time of issuance, if later. (3) See “—Glossary” for the definitions of the following terms: “active buyer,” “active seller,” “GMS” and “visit.” See “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for the definition of Adjusted EBITDA and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. We began tracking mobile visits and mobile GMS in 2013. (4) Reflects the conversion of all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into 106,896,493 shares of common stock as of the date reflected and, on a pro forma basis, our sale of shares of common stock that we are offering at the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. The pro forma balance sheet data is illustrative only and will change based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease each of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, working capital, total assets, deferred revenue, long-term liabilities and total stockholders’ equity on a pro forma basis by approximately $ , assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same. We may also increase or decrease the number of shares we are offering. Each increase or decrease by shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease each of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, working capital, total assets, deferred revenue, long-term liabilities and total stockholders’ equity by approximately $ million, assuming that the assumed initial price to public remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. 14 Risk Factors Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before deciding whether to purchase shares of our common stock, you should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, our consolidated financial statements and related notes and all of the other information in this prospectus. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected. As a result, the price of our common stock could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment. Risks Related to Our Business and Industry We have a history of operating losses and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future. We incurred net losses of $15.2 million, $0.8 million and $2.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. As of December 31, 2014, we had an accumulated deficit of $32.4 million. We may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future. We expect that our operating expenses will increase substantially as we hire additional employees, increase our marketing efforts, expand our operations and continue to invest in the development of our platform, including new services and features for our members. These efforts may be more costly than we expect and our revenue may not increase sufficiently to offset these additional expenses. In addition, as a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. Further, our revenue growth may slow or our revenue may decline for a number of reasons, including those described in these Risk Factors. Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate, which could cause our stock price to decline. Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate for a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond our control. These reasons include those described in these Risk Factors as well as the following: • fluctuations in revenue generated from Etsy sellers on our platform, including as a result of the seasonality of marketplace transactions and Etsy sellers’ use Seller Services; • our success in retaining existing members and attracting new members; • the amount and timing of our operating expenses; • the timing and success of new services and features we introduce; • the impact of competitive developments and our response to those developments; • our ability to manage our existing business and future growth; • disruptions or defects in our marketplace, such as privacy or data security breaches; and • economic and market conditions, particularly those affecting our industry. 15 Fluctuations in our quarterly operating results may cause those results to fall below the expectations of analysts or investors, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline. Fluctuations in our results could also cause a number of other problems. For example, analysts or investors might change their models for valuing our common stock, we could experience short-term liquidity issues, our ability to retain or attract key personnel may diminish and other unanticipated issues may arise. In addition, we believe that our quarterly operating results may vary in the future and that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful. For example, our historical growth may have overshadowed the seasonal effects on our historical operating results. These seasonal effects may become more pronounced over time, which could also cause our operating results to fluctuate. You should not rely on the results of one quarter as an indication of future performance. Adherence to our values and our focus on long-term sustainability may negatively influence our short- or medium-term financial performance. Our values are integral to everything we do, and accordingly, we intend to focus on the long-term sustainability of our business and our ecosystem. We may take actions that we believe will benefit our business and our ecosystem and, therefore, our stockholders over a period of time, even if those actions do not maximize short- or medium-term financial results. However, these longer-term benefits may not materialize within the timeframe we expect or at all. For example: • we may choose to prohibit the sale of items in our marketplace that we believe are inconsistent with our values even though we could benefit financially from the sale of those items; • we may choose to revise our policies in ways that we believe will be beneficial to our members and our ecosystem in the long term even though the changes are perceived unfavorably among our existing members; or • we may take actions, such as investing in alternative forms of shipping or locating our servers in low-impact data centers, that reduce our environmental footprint even though these actions may be more costly than other alternatives. The authenticity of our marketplace and the connections within our community are important to our success. If we are unable to maintain them, our ability to retain existing members and attract new members could suffer. We have built an authentic, trusted marketplace that embodies our values-based culture, emphasizing respect, direct communication and fun. We have developed a reputation for authenticity as a result of Etsy sellers’ unique offerings and their adherence to our policies for handmade goods. We establish trust in our marketplace by emphasizing the person behind every transaction. We deepen connections among our members through our direct communication tools, seller stories on our website and our in-person events, making a personal relationship central to the member experience. As part of our community, we also strive to build meaningful connections with our members. For example, each of our employees, including 16 management, is expected to perform member support rotations to help foster connections among our community and to help us better understand the needs of our members. The authenticity of our marketplace and the connections among our members are the cornerstones of our business. Many things could undermine these cornerstones, such as: • complaints or negative publicity about us or our platform, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents; • changes to our policies that our members perceive as inconsistent with our values or that are not clearly articulated; • our failure to enforce our policies fairly and transparently, such as by failing to prevent the widespread listing of items in our marketplace that do not comply with our policies; • our failure to respond to feedback from our community; or • our failure to operate our business in a way that is consistent with our values. If we are unable to maintain the authenticity of our marketplace and encourage connections among members of our community, then our ability to retain existing members and attract new members could be impaired and our reputation and business could be adversely affected. In addition, our reputation could be harmed if we lose our status as a Certified B Corporation, whether by our choice or by our failure to meet B Lab’s certification requirements. Likewise, our reputation could be harmed if our publicly reported B Corporation score declines. B Lab, an independent, third-party organization, sets the standards for Certified B Corporation certification and may change those standards over time. Our growth depends on our ability to attract and retain an active community of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. In order to increase revenue and to achieve and maintain profitability, we must attract new members and retain existing members. We must also encourage Etsy sellers to list items for sale and use our Seller Services and encourage Etsy buyers to purchase items in our marketplace. We believe that many of our new members find Etsy by word of mouth and other non-paid referrals from existing members. If existing Etsy sellers are dissatisfied with their experience on our platform, they may stop listing items in our marketplace and may stop referring others to us. Likewise, if existing Etsy buyers do not find our platform appealing, whether because of a negative experience, lack of buyer-friendly features, declining interest in the nature of the goods offered by Etsy sellers or other factors, they may make fewer purchases and they may stop referring others to us. Under these circumstances, we may have difficulty attracting new Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers without incurring additional marketing expense. 17 Even if we are able to attract new members to replace members we lose, they may not maintain the same level of activity and the revenue generated from new members may not be as high as the revenue generated from the lost members. If we are unable to retain existing members and attract new members who contribute to an active community, our growth prospects would be harmed and our business could be adversely affected. Further expansion into markets outside of the United States is important to the growth of our business but will subject us to risks associated with operations abroad. Expanding our community into markets outside of the United States is an important part of our strategy. Although we have a significant number of members outside of the United States, we have limited experience in developing local markets outside the United States. The nature of the goods that Etsy sellers list in our marketplace may not appeal to non-U.S. consumers in the same way as they do to consumers in the United States. Also, visits to our marketplace from Etsy buyers outside the United States may not convert into sales as often as visits from within the United States. Our success in markets outside the United States will be linked to our ability to attract local Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers to our platform. If we are not able to do so, our growth prospects could be harmed. In addition, competition is likely to intensify in the international markets where we operate and plan to expand our operations. Local companies based in markets outside the United States may have a substantial competitive advantage because of their greater understanding of, and focus on, those local markets. Some of our competitors may also be able to develop and grow in international markets more quickly than we will. Continued expansion in markets outside of the United States will also require significant financial investment. These investments include marketing to attract and retain new members, developing localized services, forming relationships with third-party service providers, supporting operations in multiple countries and potentially acquiring companies based outside the United States and integrating those companies with our operations. Doing business in markets outside of the United States also subjects us to increased risks and burdens such as: • complying with different regulatory standards (including those related to the use of personal information, particularly in the European Union); • managing and staffing operations over a broader geographic area with varying cultural norms and customs; • adapting our platform to local cultural norms and customs; • potentially heightened risk of fraudulent transactions; • limitations on the repatriation of funds and fluctuations of foreign exchange rates; 18 • exposure to liabilities under anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and export control laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, the UK Bribery Act of 2010, trade controls and sanctions administered by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions; • varying levels of Internet, e-commerce and mobile technology adoption and infrastructure; • our ability to enforce contracts and intellectual property rights in jurisdictions outside the United States; and • barriers to international trade, such as tariffs or other taxes. Etsy sellers face similar risks in conducting their businesses across borders. Even if we are successful in managing the risks of conducting our business across borders, if Etsy sellers are not, our business could be adversely affected. Finally, operating in markets outside of the United States requires significant management attention. If we invest substantial time and resources to expand our operations outside of the United States and cannot manage these risks effectively, the costs of doing business in those markets may be prohibitive or our expenses may increase disproportionately to the revenue generated in those markets. We expect to increase our marketing efforts to help grow our business, but those efforts may not be effective at attracting new members and retaining existing members. Maintaining and promoting awareness of our marketplace and broader platform is important to our ability to retain existing members and to attract new members. We believe that much of the growth in our member base to date has originated from word-of-mouth referrals and other organic means, as our historical marketing efforts and expenditures have been relatively limited. Going forward, we intend to invest more in marketing, with a particular focus on bringing more Etsy buyers to our platform. We anticipate that our marketing initiatives may become increasingly expensive as competition increases, and generating a meaningful return on those initiatives may be difficult. Also, the marketing efforts we implement in the future may not succeed as we have limited marketing experience. Even if we successfully increase revenue as a result of these efforts, that additional revenue may not offset the expenses we incur. Our marketing efforts currently include search engine marketing and display advertising, as well as search engine optimization, social media usage, mobile “push” notifications and email. We obtain a significant number of visits via search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo!. Search engines frequently change the algorithms that determine the ranking and display of results of a user’s search, and those changes can negatively affect the placement of links to our marketplace and, therefore, reduce the number of visits to our marketplace. We also obtain a significant number of visits through email advertising. If we are unable to successfully deliver emails to our members or if members do not open our emails, whether out of choice, because those emails are marked as low priority or spam or for other reasons, our business could be adversely affected. Social networking websites, such as Facebook and Pinterest, are another important 19 source of visits to our marketplace. As online commerce and social networking continue to evolve, we must maintain a presence within these networks. We may be unable to develop or maintain such a presence. Our payments system depends on third-party providers and is subject to evolving laws and regulations. Etsy buyers can pay for purchases using Direct Checkout or PayPal. In the United States and other countries where Direct Checkout is available, Etsy buyers can pay with credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers and Etsy gift cards on our platform rather than being directed to a third-party payment platform. A significant portion of our GMS is processed through Direct Checkout, and a portion of our revenue is derived from Direct Checkout. We have engaged third-party service providers to perform underlying card processing, currency exchange, identity verification and fraud analysis services. If these service providers do not perform adequately or if our relationships with these service providers were to terminate, Etsy sellers’ ability to accept orders could be adversely affected and our business would be harmed. In addition, if these providers increase the fees they charge us, our operating expenses could increase. Alternatively, if we respond by increasing the fees we charge to Etsy sellers, some Etsy sellers may stop using Direct Checkout, stop listing new items for sale or even close their accounts altogether. The laws and regulations related to payments are complex and vary across different jurisdictions in the United States and globally. As a result, we are required to spend significant time and effort to comply with those laws and regulations. Any failure or claim of our failure to comply, or any failure by our third-party service providers to comply, could cost us substantial resources, could result in liabilities, or could force us to stop offering Direct Checkout. As we expand the availability of Direct Checkout or offer new payment methods to our members in the future, we may become subject to additional regulations and compliance requirements. Further, through our agreement with our third-party credit card processor, we are indirectly subject to payment card association operating rules and certification requirements, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. We are also subject to rules governing electronic funds transfers. Any change in these rules and requirements could make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. Our ability to expand our ecosystem is important to the growth of our business. We spend substantial time and resources creating new offerings in order to add new constituents to our ecosystem and to open new sales channels for Etsy sellers. For example, in October 2013, we expanded our ecosystem by allowing Etsy sellers to work with small-batch manufacturers. Additionally, in August 2014, we added traditional retailers to our ecosystem with the launch of our Wholesale offering, which allows Etsy sellers to sell their products to retailers on our platform. Our efforts to expand our ecosystem could fail for many reasons, including lack of acceptance of our offerings by existing members or new constituents, our failure to market our offerings effectively to new constituents, defects or errors in our new offerings or negative publicity about us or our new offerings. 20 Diversifying our offerings and expanding our ecosystem to benefit our community involves significant risk. For example, these initiatives may not drive increases in revenue, may require substantial investment and planning and may bring us more directly into competition with companies that are better established or have greater resources than we do. It will require additional investment of time and resources in the development and training of our personnel and our members. If we are unable to cost-effectively expand our ecosystem, then our growth prospects and competitive position may be harmed. We must develop new offerings to respond to our members’ changing needs. Our industry is characterized by rapidly changing technology, new service and product introductions and changing customer demands. We spend substantial time and resources understanding our members’ needs and responding to them. For example, we are continually developing additional Seller Services, improving search and discovery functionality and enhancing the member experience. Recently, we have focused on providing additional Seller Services and tools to help Etsy sellers manage and scale their businesses. For example, in August 2014, we launched our Wholesale offering. In addition, we developed a mobile app and expanded Direct Checkout to enable an Etsy seller in the United States to use our “Sell on Etsy Reader” to accept credit card and debit card payments in person, such as at her store or her booth at a craft fair. Our members may not be satisfied with our new offerings or perceive that the new offerings respond to their needs. Developing new offerings is complex, and the timetable for commercial release is difficult to predict and may vary from our historical experience. As a result, the introduction of new offerings may occur after anticipated or announced release dates. Our new offerings also may bring us more directly into competition with companies that are better established or have greater resources than we do. If we do not continue to cost-effectively develop new offerings that satisfy our members, then our competitive position and growth prospects may be harmed. In addition, new offerings may have lower margins than existing offerings and our revenue may not grow enough as a result of the new offerings to offset the cost of developing them. If the mobile solutions available to Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are not effective, the use of our platform could decline. Visits and purchases made on mobile devices by consumers, including Etsy buyers, have increased significantly in recent years. The smaller screen size and reduced functionality associated with some mobile devices may make the use of our platform more difficult or less appealing to members. Visits to our marketplace on mobile devices may not convert into purchases as often as visits made through personal computers, which could result in less revenue for us. Etsy sellers are also increasingly using mobile devices to operate their businesses on our platform. If we are not able to deliver a rewarding experience on mobile devices, Etsy sellers’ ability to manage and grow their businesses may be harmed and, consequently, our business may suffer. Further, although we strive to provide engaging mobile experiences for both Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers who visit our mobile website using a browser on their mobile device, we depend on Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers downloading our mobile apps to provide them the optimal mobile experience. 21 As new mobile devices and mobile platforms are released, we may encounter problems in developing or supporting apps for them. In addition, supporting new devices and mobile device operating systems may require substantial time and resources. The success of our mobile apps could also be harmed by factors outside our control, such as: • actions taken by providers of mobile operating systems or mobile app download stores; • unfavorable treatment received by our mobile apps, especially as compared to competing apps, such as the placement of our mobile apps in a mobile app download store; • increased costs to distribute or have members use our mobile apps; or • changes in mobile operating systems, such as iOS and Android, that degrade the functionality of our mobile website or mobile apps or that give preferential treatment to competitive products. If our members encounter difficulty accessing or using our platform on their mobile devices, or if our members choose not to use our platform on their mobile devices, our growth prospects and our business may be adversely affected. We face intense competition and may not be able to compete effectively. Our industry is highly competitive and we expect competition to increase in the future. To be successful, we need to attract and retain both Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. As a result, we face competition from a wide range of online and offline competitors. See “Business—Competition.” We compete with retailers for Etsy sellers. An Etsy seller can list her goods for sale with online retailers, such as Amazon.com, eBay or Alibaba, or sell her goods through local consignment and vintage stores and other venues or marketplaces. She may also sell wholesale directly to traditional retailers, including large national retailers, who discover her goods in our marketplace or otherwise. We also compete with companies that sell software and services to small businesses, enabling an Etsy seller to sell from her own website or otherwise run her business independently of our platform, such as Square, Intuit and Shopify. We compete to attract, engage and retain Etsy sellers based on many factors, including: • our brand awareness; • the breadth of our online presence; • the number and engagement of Etsy buyers; • the extent to which our Seller Services can ease the administrative tasks that an Etsy seller might encounter in running her business, including through mobile apps; • our fees; 22 • the strength of our community; and • our values. In addition, we compete with retailers for the attention of the Etsy buyer. An Etsy buyer has the choice of shopping with any online or offline retailer, whether large marketplaces, such as Amazon.com, eBay or Alibaba, or national retail chains, such as Pottery Barn or Target, or local consignment and vintage stores or other venues or marketplaces. Many of these competitors offer low-cost or free shipping, fast shipping times, favorable return policies and other features that may be difficult or impossible for Etsy sellers to match. We compete to attract, engage and retain Etsy buyers based on many factors, including: • the unique goods that Etsy sellers list in our marketplace; • our brand awareness; • the person-to-person commerce experience; • our reputation for authenticity; • our mobile apps; • ease of payment; and • the availability and reliability of our platform. Many of our competitors and potential competitors have longer operating histories, greater resources, better name recognition or more customers than we do. They may invest more to develop and promote their services than we do, and they may offer lower fees to sellers than we do. Additionally, we believe that it is relatively easy for new businesses to create online commerce offerings or tools or services that enable entrepreneurship. Local companies or more established companies based in markets where we operate outside of the United States may also have a better understanding of local customs, providing them a competitive advantage. For example, in certain markets outside the United States, we compete with smaller, but similar, local online marketplaces with a focus on unique goods that are attempting to attract sellers and buyers in those markets. If we are unable to compete successfully, or if competing successfully requires us to expend significant resources in response to our competitors’ actions, our business could be adversely affected. 23 We may expand our business through acquisitions of other businesses, which may divert management’s attention and/or prove to be unsuccessful. We have acquired a number of other businesses in the past and may acquire additional businesses or technologies in the future. For example, in April 2014 we acquired Jarvis Labs, Inc. (d/b/a Grand St.) and in June 2014 we acquired Incubart SAS (d/b/a A Little Market). Acquisitions may divert management’s time and focus from operating our business. Acquisitions also may require us to spend a substantial portion of our available cash, incur debt or other liabilities, amortize expenses related to intangible assets or incur write-offs of goodwill or other assets. In addition, integrating an acquired business or technology is risky. Completed and future acquisitions may result in unforeseen operational difficulties and expenditures associated with: • incorporating new businesses and technologies into our infrastructure; • consolidating operational and administrative functions; • coordinating outreach to our community; • maintaining morale and culture and retaining and integrating key employees; • maintaining or developing controls, procedures and policies (including effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures); and • assuming liabilities related to the activities of the acquired business before the acquisition, including liabilities for violations of laws and regulations, commercial disputes, taxes and other matters. Moreover, we may not benefit from our acquisitions as we expect, or in the time frame we expect. We also may issue additional equity securities in connection with an acquisition, which could cause dilution to our stockholders. Finally, acquisitions could be viewed negatively by analysts, investors or our members. Our ability to recruit and retain employees is important to our success. We strive to attract and motivate employees, from our office administrators to our management team, who share our dedication to our community and our mission. Some of the challenges we face in attracting and retaining employees include: • preserving our company culture as we grow; • continuing to attract and retain employees who share our values; • promoting existing employees into leadership positions to help sustain and grow our culture; • hiring employees in multiple locations globally; • responding to competitive pressures and changing business conditions in ways that do not divert us from our values; and 24 • integrating new personnel and businesses from acquisitions. Our ability to attract, retain and motivate employees, including our management team, is important to our success. In general, our key personnel work for us on an at-will basis. Other companies, including our competitors, may be successful in recruiting and hiring our employees, and it may be difficult for us to find suitable replacements on a timely basis or on competitive terms. Filling engineering, product management and other technical positions in the New York City area is particularly challenging, especially in light of our distinctive technology philosophy and engineering culture. Qualified individuals are limited and in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract, develop and motivate them. Even if we were to offer higher compensation and other benefits, people with suitable technical skills may choose not to join us or to continue to work for us. If we are not able to maintain our engineering culture and broader company culture, then our ability to recruit and retain employees could suffer and our business would be harmed. The growth of our business may strain our management team and our operational and financial infrastructure. We have experienced rapid growth in our business, such as in headcount, the number of Etsy sellers and the number of countries in which we have members, and we plan to continue to grow in the future, both in the United States and abroad. For example, our headcount has grown from 251 employees on December 31, 2011 to 685 employees on December 31, 2014, an increase of 172.9%. The growth of our business places significant demands on our management team and pressure to expand our operational and financial infrastructure. As we continue to grow, our operating expenses will increase. If we do not manage our growth effectively, the increases in our operating expenses could outpace any increases in our revenue and our business could be harmed. Continued growth could also pose other challenges, such as the need to develop and improve our operational, financial and management controls and to enhance our reporting systems and procedures. For example, in 2013 we began implementing a new enterprise resource planning, or ERP, system to enhance a variety of important functions such as invoicing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, foreign currency translation, financial consolidation and internal and external financial and management reporting matters. ERP system implementations are complex, long-term projects that involve substantial expenditures. To fully realize the benefits of the new ERP system we must also make significant changes to our business and financial processes. Our business may be harmed if the ERP system does not function as expected or does not result in the expected benefits. We rely on Etsy sellers to provide a fulfilling experience to Etsy buyers. A small portion of Etsy buyers complain to us about their experience with our platform. For example, Etsy buyers may report that they have not received the items that they purchased, that the items received were not as represented by an Etsy seller or that an Etsy seller has not been responsive to their questions. 25 Negative publicity and member sentiment generated as a result of these types of complaints could reduce our ability to attract new members or retain our current members or damage our reputation. A perception that our levels of responsiveness and member support are inadequate could have similar results. In some situations, we may choose to reimburse Etsy buyers for their purchases to help avoid harm to our reputation, but we may not be able to recover the funds we expend for those reimbursements. Anything that disrupts the operations of a substantial number of Etsy sellers, such as interruptions in delivery services, natural disasters, inclement weather, public health crises or political unrest, could also result in negative experiences for a substantial number of Etsy buyers. Etsy sellers rely on third-party services to deliver their orders. Etsy sellers work with a number of third-party services such as FedEx, UPS, the United States Postal Service and Canada Post to deliver their products to Etsy buyers. Anything that prevents timely delivery of goods to Etsy buyers could harm Etsy sellers and could negatively affect our reputation. Delays or interruptions may be caused by events that are beyond the control of the delivery services, such as inclement weather, natural disasters, transportation disruptions, terrorism, public health crises or labor unrest. For example, certain delivery services were reported to have been overwhelmed by the volume of shipments during the 2013 holiday season, resulting in significant delays in delivery times. The delivery services could also be affected by industry consolidation, insolvency or government shut-downs. Although we have agreements with certain delivery services that enable us to provide pre-paid shipping labels as a convenience to Etsy sellers, our agreements do not require these providers to offer delivery services to Etsy sellers. Further, our competitors could obtain preferential rates or shipping services, causing Etsy sellers to pay higher shipping costs or find alternative delivery services. If the goods sold in our marketplace are not delivered in proper condition, on a timely basis or at shipping rates that Etsy buyers are willing to pay, our reputation and our business could be adversely affected. Our reputation may be harmed if members of our community use unethical business practices. Our emphasis on our values makes our reputation particularly sensitive to allegations of unethical business practices by Etsy sellers or other members of our community. Our policies promote legal and ethical business practices, such as encouraging Etsy sellers to work only with manufacturers who do not use child or involuntary labor, who do not discriminate and who promote sustainability and humane working conditions. However, we do not control Etsy sellers or other members of our community or their business practices and cannot ensure that they comply with our policies. If members of our community engage in illegal or unethical business practices or are perceived to do so, we may receive negative publicity and our reputation may be harmed. Failure to deal effectively with fraud could harm our business. Although we have measures in place to detect and reduce the occurrence of fraudulent activity in our marketplace, those measures may not always be effective. 26 For example, Etsy sellers occasionally receive orders placed with fraudulent or stolen credit card data. Under current credit card practices, we may be liable for orders placed through Direct Checkout with fraudulent credit card data even if the associated financial institution approved the credit card transaction. Although we attempt to detect or challenge allegedly fraudulent transactions, we may not be able to do so effectively. As a result, our business could be adversely affected. We could also incur significant fines or lose our ability to give members the option of paying with credit cards if we fail to follow payment card industry data security standards or fail to limit fraudulent transactions conducted in our marketplace. Negative publicity and member sentiment resulting from fraudulent or deceptive conduct by members or the perception that our levels of responsiveness and member support are inadequate could reduce our ability to attract new members or retain existing members and damage our reputation. If sensitive information about our members is disclosed, or if we or our third-party providers are subject to cyber attacks, our members may curtail use of our platform, we may be exposed to liability and our reputation would suffer. We collect, transmit and store personal and financial information provided by our members, such as names, email addresses, the details of transactions and credit card and other financial information. Some of our third-party service providers, such as identity verification and payment processing providers, also regularly have access to member data. In an effort to protect sensitive information, we rely on a variety of security measures, including encryption and authentication technology licensed from third parties. However, advances in computer capabilities, increasingly sophisticated tools and methods used by hackers and cyber terrorists, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other developments may result in our failure or inability to adequately protect sensitive information. The preventive measures we take to address these risks are costly and may become more costly in the future. Like all online services, our platform is vulnerable to power outages, telecommunications failures and catastrophic events, as well as computer viruses, break-ins, phishing attacks, denial-of-service attacks and other cyber attacks. Any of these incidents could lead to interruptions or shutdowns of our platform, loss of data or unauthorized disclosure of personally identifiable or other sensitive information. Cyber attacks could also result in the theft of our intellectual property. If we gain greater visibility, we may face a higher risk of being targeted by cyber attacks. Advances in computer capabilities, new technological discoveries or other developments may result in cyber attacks becoming more sophisticated and more difficult to detect. We and our third-party service providers may not have the resources or technical sophistication to anticipate or prevent all such cyber attacks. Moreover, techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against us or our third-party service providers. Security breaches can also occur as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional or inadvertent breaches by our employees or employees of our third-party service providers. We and our third-party service providers regularly experience cyber attacks aimed at disrupting our and our third-party service providers’ services. If we or our third-party service providers experience security breaches that result in marketplace performance or availability problems or the loss or unauthorized 27 disclosure of sensitive information, people may become unwilling to provide us the information necessary to set up member accounts. Existing members may also decrease their purchases or stop listing new items for sale or close their accounts altogether. We could also face potential liability and litigation, which may not be adequately covered by insurance. Any of these results could harm our growth prospects, our business and our reputation. Our business depends on network and mobile infrastructure provided by third parties and on our ability to maintain and scale the technology underlying our platform. The reliability of our platform is important to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain members. As our number of members, volume of traffic, number of transactions and the amount of information shared on our platform grow, our need for additional network capacity and computing power will also grow. The operation of the technology underlying our platform is expensive and complex, and we could experience operational failures. If we fail to accurately predict the rate or timing of the growth of our platform, we may be required to incur significant additional costs to maintain reliability. We also depend on the development and maintenance of the Internet and mobile infrastructure. This includes maintenance of reliable Internet and mobile networks with the necessary speed, data capacity and security, as well as timely development of complementary products. Third-party providers host much of our technology infrastructure. Any disruption in their services, or any failure of our providers to handle the demands of our marketplace could significantly harm our business. We exercise little control over these providers, which increases our vulnerability to their financial conditions and to problems with the services they provide. If we experience failures in our technology infrastructure or do not expand our technology infrastructure successfully, then our ability to attract and retain members could be adversely affected, which could harm our growth prospects and our business. Our business depends on continued and unimpeded access to the Internet and mobile networks. Our members rely on access to the Internet or mobile networks to access our marketplace. Internet service providers may choose to disrupt or degrade our members’ access to our platform or increase the cost of such access. Mobile network operators or operating system providers could block or place onerous restrictions on our members’ ability to download and use our mobile apps. Internet service providers or mobile network operators could also attempt to charge us for providing access to our platform. Although the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, recently approved new rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from charging content providers higher rates in order to deliver their content over certain “fast traffic” lanes, these rules will not go into effect until later this year and could be subject to legal challenge or statutory preemption, which could delay or prevent implementation. If the FCC’s rules are not implemented, our business could be adversely impacted. Outside of the United States, government regulation of the Internet, including the idea of network neutrality, may be developing or non-existent. As a result, we could face discriminatory or anti-competitive practices that could impede both our and Etsy sellers’ growth prospects, increase our costs and harm our business. 28 Our business is subject to a large number of U.S. and non-U.S. laws, many of which are evolving. We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and around the world, including those relating to traditional businesses, such as employment laws and taxation, and newer laws and regulations focused on the Internet and online commerce, such as payment systems, privacy, anti-spam, data protection, electronic contracts and consumer protection. These laws and regulations are continuously evolving, and compliance is costly and can require changes to our business practices and significant management time and effort. Additionally, it is not always clear how existing laws apply to the Internet as many of these laws do not address the unique issues raised by the Internet or online commerce. For example, laws relating to online privacy are evolving differently in different jurisdictions. Federal, state and non-U.S. governmental authorities, as well as courts interpreting the laws, continue to evaluate the privacy implications of the use of third-party “cookies,” “web beacons” and other methods of online tracking. The United States, the European Union and other governments have enacted or are considering legislation that could significantly restrict the ability of companies and individuals to collect and store user information, such as by regulating the level of consumer notice and consent required before a company can employ cookies or other electronic tracking tools. Some providers of consumer devices and web browsers have implemented, or have announced plans to implement, ways to block tracking technologies which, if widely adopted, could also result in online tracking methods becoming significantly less effective. Any reduction in our ability to make effective use of such technologies could harm our ability to personalize the experience of Etsy buyers, increase our costs and limit our ability to attract new members and retain existing members on cost-effective terms. As a result, our business could be adversely affected. In some cases, non-U.S. privacy, data protection, consumer protection and other laws and regulations are more restrictive than those in the United States. For example, the European Union traditionally has imposed stricter obligations under such laws than the United States. Consequently, the expansion of our operations internationally may require changes to the ways we collect and use consumer information. Existing and future laws and regulations enacted by federal, state or non-U.S. governments could impede the growth or use of the Internet or online commerce. It is also possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on our platform or may even attempt to block access to our platform. If we are restricted from operating in one or more countries, our ability to attract or retain members may be adversely affected and we may not be able to grow our business as we anticipate. We strive to comply with all applicable laws, but they may conflict with each other, and by complying with the laws or regulations of one jurisdiction, we may find that we are violating the laws or regulations of another jurisdiction. Despite our efforts, we may not have fully complied in the past and may not in the future. If we become liable under laws or regulations applicable to us, we could be required to pay significant fines and penalties, and we may be forced to change the way we operate. That could require us to incur significant expenses or to discontinue certain services, which could negatively affect our business. 29 Additionally, if third parties with whom we work violate applicable laws or our policies, those violations could result in other liabilities for us and could harm our business. We may be unable to protect our intellectual property adequately. Our intellectual property is an essential asset of our business. To establish and protect our intellectual property rights, we rely on a combination of trade secret, copyright, trademark and, to a lesser extent, patent laws, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions. The efforts we have taken to protect our intellectual property may not be sufficient or effective. We generally do not elect to register our copyrights or the majority of our trademarks, relying instead on the laws protecting unregistered intellectual property, which may not be sufficient. In addition, our copyrights and trademarks, whether or not registered, and patents, may be held invalid or unenforceable if challenged. While we have obtained or applied for patent protection with respect to some of our intellectual property, we generally do not rely on patents as a principal means of protecting intellectual property. To the extent we do seek patent protection, any U.S. or other patents issued to us may not be sufficiently broad to protect our proprietary technologies. In addition, we may not be effective in policing unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Even if we do detect violations, we may need to engage in litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights. Any enforcement efforts we undertake, including litigation, could be time-consuming and expensive and could divert our management’s attention. In addition, our efforts may be met with defenses and counterclaims challenging the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights or may result in a court determining that our intellectual property rights are unenforceable. If we are unable to cost-effectively protect our intellectual property rights, then our business could be harmed. We may be subject to claims that items listed in our marketplace are counterfeit, infringing or illegal. Although we do not create or take possession of the items listed in our marketplace by Etsy sellers, we frequently receive communications alleging that items listed in our marketplace infringe third-party copyrights, trademarks, patents or other intellectual property rights. We have intellectual property complaint and take-down procedures in place to address these communications, and we believe such procedures are important to promote confidence in our marketplace. We follow these procedures to review complaints and relevant facts to determine whether to take the appropriate action, which may include removal of the item from our marketplace and, in certain cases, closing the shops of Etsy sellers who repeatedly violate our policies. Our procedures may not effectively reduce or eliminate our liability. In particular, we may be subject to civil or criminal liability for activities carried out by Etsy sellers on our platform, especially outside the United States where we may be less protected under local laws than we are in the United States. Under current U.S. copyright law and the Communications Decency Act, we may benefit from statutory safe harbor provisions that protect us from liability for content posted by our members. However, trademark and patent laws do not include similar statutory provisions, liability for these forms of intellectual property is often 30 determined by court decisions. These safe harbors and court rulings may change unfavorably. In that event, we may be held secondarily liable for the intellectual property infringement of Etsy sellers. Regardless of the validity of any claims made against us, we may incur significant costs and efforts to defend against or settle them. If a governmental authority determines that we have aided and abetted the infringement or sale of counterfeit goods or if legal changes result in us potentially being liable for actions by Etsy sellers on our platform, we could face regulatory, civil or criminal penalties. Successful claims by third-party rights owners could require us to pay substantial damages or refrain from permitting any further listing of the relevant items. These types of claims could force us to modify our business practices, which could lower our revenue, increase our costs or make our platform less user-friendly for our members. Moreover, public perception that counterfeit or other unauthorized items are common in our marketplace, even if factually incorrect, could result in negative publicity and damage to our reputation. We may be subject to intellectual property claims, which are extremely costly to defend, could require us to pay significant damages and could limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future. Companies in the Internet and technology industries are frequently subject to litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. We periodically receive notices that claim we have infringed, misappropriated or misused other parties’ intellectual property rights. To the extent we gain greater public recognition, we may face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property claims. Third-party intellectual property rights may cover significant aspects of our technologies or business methods or block us from expanding our offerings. Any intellectual property claim against us, with or without merit, could be time consuming and expensive to settle or litigate and could divert the attention of our management. Litigation regarding intellectual property rights is inherently uncertain due to the complex issues involved, and we may not be successful in defending ourselves in such matters. In addition, some of our competitors have extensive portfolios of issued patents. Many potential litigants, including some of our competitors and patent holding companies, have the ability to dedicate substantial resources to enforcing their intellectual property rights. Any claims successfully brought against us could subject us to significant liability for damages and we may be required to stop using technology or other intellectual property alleged to be in violation of a third party’s rights. We also might be required to seek a license for third-party intellectual property. Even if a license is available, we could be required to pay significant royalties or submit to unreasonable terms, which would increase our operating expenses. We may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, which could require significant time and expense. If we cannot license or develop technology for any allegedly infringing aspect of our business, we would be forced to limit our service and may be unable to compete effectively. Any of these results could harm our business. 31 We may be involved in litigation matters that are expensive and time consuming. In addition to intellectual property claims, we may become involved in other litigation matters, including class action lawsuits. Any lawsuit to which we are a party, with or without merit, may result in an unfavorable judgment. We also may decide to settle lawsuits on unfavorable terms. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial damages or fines, damage to our reputation or adverse changes to our offerings or business practices. Any of these results could adversely affect our business. In addition, defending claims is costly and can impose a significant burden on our management. Our software is highly complex and may contain undetected errors. The software underlying our platform is highly complex and may contain undetected errors or vulnerabilities, some of which may only be discovered after the code has been released. We rely heavily on a software engineering practice known as “continuous deployment,” meaning that we typically release software code many times per day. This practice may result in the more frequent introduction of errors or vulnerabilities into the software underlying our platform. Any errors or vulnerabilities discovered in our code after release could result in damage to our reputation, loss of members, loss of revenue or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our growth prospects and our business. We are subject to the terms of open source licenses because our platform incorporates open source software. The software powering our marketplace incorporates software covered by open source licenses. In addition, we regularly contribute source code to open source software projects and release internal software projects under open source licenses, and we anticipate doing so in the future. The terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts and there is a risk that the licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to operate our marketplace. Under certain open source licenses, we could be required to publicly release the source code of our software or to make our software available under open source licenses. To avoid the public release of the affected portions of our source code, we could be required to expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some or all of our software. In addition, use of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software because open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. Use of open source software may also present additional security risks because the public availability of such software may make it easier for hackers and other third parties to determine how to compromise our platform. Additionally, because any software source code we contribute to open source projects is publicly available, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights in such software source code may be limited or lost entirely, and we will be unable to prevent our competitors or others from using such contributed software source code. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage and, if not addressed, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. 32 Our business and our members may be subject to sales and other taxes. The application of indirect taxes, such as sales and use tax, value-added tax, or VAT, provincial taxes, goods and services tax, business tax and gross receipt tax, to businesses like ours and to our members is a complex and evolving issue. For example, as of January 1, 2015, the European Union imposed an obligation on marketplaces to collect and remit VAT on sales of automatically-downloaded digital items, and we are in the process of implementing such collection and remittance procedures. Significant judgment is required to evaluate applicable tax obligations and as a result amounts recorded are estimates and could change. In many cases, the ultimate tax determination is uncertain because it is not clear how existing statutes apply to our business or to Etsy sellers’ businesses. One or more states, the federal government or other countries may seek to impose additional reporting, record-keeping or indirect tax collection obligations on businesses like ours that facilitate online commerce. For example, the U.S. Congress is currently considering the “Marketplace Fairness Act,” which would grant states the authority to require online merchants to collect sales tax on online sales at the time a transaction is completed. New taxes could also require us or Etsy sellers to incur substantial costs to capture data and collect and remit taxes. If such obligations were imposed, the additional costs associated with tax collection, remittance and audit requirements could make selling in our marketplace less attractive and more costly for Etsy sellers, which could adversely affect our business. We may experience fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate. We are subject to taxation in the United States and in numerous other jurisdictions. We record tax expense based on current tax payments and our estimates of future tax payments, which may include reserves for estimates of probable settlements of tax audits. At any one time, multiple tax years could be subject to audit by various taxing jurisdictions. As a result, we expect that throughout the year there could be ongoing variability in our quarterly tax rates as taxable events occur and exposures are re-evaluated. Further, our effective tax rate in a given financial statement period may be adversely impacted by changes in tax laws, changes in the mix of revenue among different jurisdictions, changes to accounting rules and changes to our ownership or capital structure. Fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate could adversely affect our business. In January 2015, we implemented a revised corporate structure to more closely align our structure with our global operations and future expansion plans outside of the United States. Our new corporate structure changes how we use our intellectual property and implements certain intercompany arrangements, which we expect may result in a reduction in our overall effective tax rate and other operational efficiencies. The tax laws of the jurisdictions in which we operate are subject to interpretation, and their application may depend on our ability to operate our business in a manner consistent with our corporate structure. Moreover, these tax laws are subject to change. Tax authorities may disagree with our position as to the tax treatment of our transfer of intangible assets or determine that the manner in which we operate our business does not achieve the intended tax consequences. If our new corporate structure does not achieve our expectations for any of these or other reasons, we may be subject to a higher overall effective tax rate and our business may be adversely affected. 33 We rely on consumer discretionary spending and may be adversely affected by economic downturns and other macroeconomic conditions or trends. Macroeconomic conditions may adversely affect our business. If general economic conditions deteriorate in the United States or other markets where we operate, consumer discretionary spending may decline and demand for the goods available in our marketplace may be reduced. This would cause sales in our marketplace to decline and adversely impact our business. Conversely, if recent trends supporting self-employment and the desire for supplemental income were to reverse, the number of Etsy sellers offering their goods in our marketplace could decline and the number of goods listed in our marketplace could decline. Even without changes in economic conditions, the demand for the goods listed in our marketplace is dependent on consumer preferences. Consumer preferences can change quickly and may differ across generations and cultures. If demand for the goods that Etsy sellers offer in our marketplace declines, our business would be harmed. Trends in socially-conscious consumerism and buying locally could also shift or slow to the detriment of our business. Our growth prospects would also be hampered if the shift to online and mobile commerce does not continue. The terms of our debt instruments may restrict our ability to pursue our business strategies. We do not currently have any obligations outstanding under our credit facility. However, our credit facility requires us, and any debt instruments we may enter into in the future may require us, to comply with various covenants that limit our ability to take actions such as: • disposing of assets; • completing mergers or acquisitions; • incurring additional indebtedness; • encumbering our properties or assets; • paying dividends or making other distributions; • making specified investments; and • engaging in transactions with our affiliates. These restrictions could limit our ability to pursue our business strategies. If we default under our credit facility and if the default is not cured or waived, the lenders could terminate their commitments to lend to us and cause any amounts outstanding to be payable immediately. Such a default could also result in cross defaults under other debt instruments. Our assets and cash flow may not be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under all of our outstanding debt instruments if some or all of these instruments are accelerated upon a default. Moreover, any such default would limit our ability to obtain additional financing, which may have an adverse effect on our cash flow and liquidity. 34 We may need additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with cash generated from operations and available borrowing capacity under our credit facility, will be enough to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months. However, we may require additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other developments, such as acquisitions or investments we may decide to pursue. If our resources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to borrow funds under our credit facility or sell additional equity or debt securities. The sale of additional equity securities could result in dilution to our existing stockholders. Borrowing funds would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in additional operating and financial covenants that would limit our operations. It is also possible that financing may not be available to us in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If our insurance coverage is insufficient or our insurers are unable to meet their obligations, our insurance may not mitigate the risks facing our business. We contract for insurance to cover a number of risks and potential liabilities. Our insurance policies cover areas such as general liability, errors and omissions liability, employment liability, business interruptions, data breach, crime, product liability and directors’ and officers’ liability. For certain types of business risk, we may not be able to, or may choose not to, acquire insurance. In addition, we may not obtain enough insurance to adequately mitigate the risks we face or we may have to pay high premiums and/or deductibles for the coverage we do obtain. Additionally, if any of our insurers becomes insolvent, it would be unable to pay any claims that we make. We are an emerging growth company and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors. We are an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of some of the exemptions from the reporting requirements applicable to other public companies. For example, we intend to take advantage of the exemption from the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and the exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments. It is possible that investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions. If so, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion or (c) in which we become a large accelerated filer, which means that we have been public for at least 12 months, have filed at least one annual report and the market value of our common 35 stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last day of our then most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. Operating as a public company will require us to incur substantial costs and will require substantial management attention. In addition, our management team has limited experience managing a public company. As a public company, we will incur substantial legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. For example, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, or the Exchange Act, the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. The rules and regulations of Nasdaq will also apply to us following this offering. As part of the new requirements, we will need to establish and maintain effective disclosure and financial controls and make changes to our corporate governance practices. We expect that compliance with these requirements will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming. Most of our management and other personnel have little experience managing a public company and preparing public filings. In addition, we expect that our management and other personnel will need to divert attention from other business matters to devote substantial time to the reporting and other requirements of being a public company. In particular, we expect to incur significant expense and devote substantial management effort to complying with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will need to hire additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge. Our management will not be required to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until the end of the fiscal year for which our second annual report is due. If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy of our financial reports. As a public company, we will be required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal controls. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Beginning with our second annual report following this offering, we will be required to provide a management report on internal control over financial reporting. When we are no longer an emerging growth company, our management report on internal control over financial reporting will need to be attested to by our independent registered public accounting firm. We do not expect to have our independent registered public accounting firm attest to our management report on internal control over financial reporting while we are an emerging growth company. If we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, we may not detect errors on a timely basis and our financial statements may be materially misstated. In addition, our internal control 36 over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all errors and fraud. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be detected. If there are material weaknesses or failures in our ability to meet any of the requirements related to the maintenance and reporting of our internal controls, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and that could cause the price of our common stock to decline. In addition, we could become subject to investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional management attention and which could adversely affect our business. As described below we currently have two material weaknesses, which we are in the process of remediating. We currently have identified two material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that, if not corrected, could result in material misstatements of our financial statements. In connection with the audit of our financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2014, we identified two material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is defined as a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. First, we determined that we did not have adequate procedures and controls to appropriately account for certain non-income tax-related expenses and comply with the related filing requirements. Second, we determined that we did not have adequate cut-off procedures to ensure the timely recording of certain period-end accruals. These two material weaknesses resulted in a misstatement of expenses in prior periods that were immaterial to previously issued annual financial statements but in combination were material to certain interim periods. The impact of these material weaknesses resulted in the revision of our consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013, for the three months ended March 31, 2013, the three and six months ended June 30, 2013, the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, the three months ended December 31, 2013 and the three months ended September 30, 2014. The impacts of these material weaknesses also resulted in the restatement of our consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2014, the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 and the nine months ended September 30, 2014. Neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm has performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In light of the material weaknesses that were identified, we believe that it is possible that additional material weaknesses and control deficiencies may have been identified if such an evaluation had been performed. 37 We are working to remediate the material weaknesses. We have taken steps to enhance our internal control environment and plan to take additional steps to remediate the material weaknesses. Specifically: • we began building an in-house tax function in early 2014 and have added a global head of tax, senior tax manager of planning and a dedicated senior state tax accountant and plan to add an experienced director of tax accounting. We have also hired additional qualified personnel in our accounts payable function, including an experienced supervisor, and plan to add an additional experienced senior accountant. We will continue to evaluate the structure of the finance organization and add resources as needed; • we are implementing additional internal reporting procedures, including those designed to add depth to our review processes and improve our segregation of duties; • we are updating our systems so that we may collect the necessary information to enable us to more effectively monitor and comply with applicable non-income tax-filing requirements on a timely basis; • we are improving the communication and coordination among our finance departments and our record-keeping procedures and we have expanded cross-functional involvement and input into period-end accruals. We are also planning enhancements in our procure-to-pay process as well as additions to analytical procedures used to assess period-end accruals; and • we are in the process of documenting, assessing and testing our internal control over financial reporting as part of our efforts to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The actions that we are taking are subject to ongoing senior management review as well as audit committee oversight. Although we plan to complete this remediation process as quickly as possible, we cannot at this time estimate how long it will take, and our efforts may not be successful in remediating these material weaknesses. In addition, we will incur additional costs in improving our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to successfully remediate these material weaknesses or if we identify additional material weaknesses, we may not detect errors on a timely basis. This could harm our operating results, cause us to fail to meet our SEC reporting obligations or Nasdaq listing requirements on a timely basis, adversely affect our reputation, cause our stock price to decline or result in inaccurate financial reporting or material misstatements in our annual or interim financial statements. Our business could be adversely affected by natural disasters, public health crises, political crises or other unexpected events. Natural disasters and other adverse weather and climate conditions, public health crises, political crises, such as terrorist attacks, war and other political instability, or other unexpected events, could disrupt our operations, Internet or mobile networks, or the operations of one or more of our service providers. For example, when Hurricane Sandy struck New York in October 2012, although our data centers were unaffected, our headquarters in Brooklyn was closed for five days, and we experienced a heavy volume of 38 member support requests which required us to devote additional resources to handle those requests. Events of this type could also impact Etsy sellers’ ability to continue producing goods for sale in our marketplace. In addition, such events could negatively impact consumer spending in the affected regions. If any of these events occurs, our business could be adversely affected. 39 Risks Related to This Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock The price of our common stock could be volatile and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above our initial public offering price. Declines in the price of common stock could subject us to litigation. There has not been a public market for our common stock prior to this offering and an active trading market may not develop following this offering. Even if such a market does develop, it may not be sustainable. If trading in our common stock is not active, you may not be able to sell your shares quickly, at the market price or at all. The initial public offering price for the shares was determined by negotiations between us and the representative of the underwriters and may not be indicative of prices that will prevail in the trading market following this offering. In addition, the trading prices of the securities of technology companies have historically been highly volatile. Accordingly, the price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations for many reasons, many of which are beyond our control, including those described in these Risk Factors and others such as: • variations in our operating results and other financial and operational metrics, including the key financial and operating metrics disclosed in this prospectus, as well as how those results and metrics compare to analyst and investor expectations; • speculation about our operating results in the absence of our own financial projections; • failure of analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our company, changes in their estimates of our operating results or changes in recommendations by analysts that follow our common stock; • announcements of new services or enhancements, strategic alliances or significant agreements or other developments by us or our competitors; • announcements by us or our competitors of mergers or acquisitions or rumors of such transactions involving us or our competitors; • changes in our board of directors, management or other key personnel; • disruptions in our marketplace due to hardware, software or network problems, security breaches or other issues; • the strength of the global economy or the economy in the jurisdictions in which we operate, and market conditions in our industry and those affecting our members; • trading activity by our principal stockholders, including upon the expiration of contractual lock-up agreements; • the performance of the equity markets in general and in our industry; • the operating performance of other similar companies; 40 • changes in legal requirements relating to our business; • litigation or other claims against us; • the number of shares of our common stock that are available for public trading; and • any other factors discussed in this prospectus. In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences a loss of investor confidence, the price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, results of operations or financial condition. The price of our common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies, even if those events do not directly affect us. Some companies that have experienced volatility in the trading price of their stock have been the subject of securities class action litigation. If we are the subject of such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and could divert our management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business. We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may not use them effectively. The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our visibility, create a public market for our common stock and facilitate our future access to the public equity markets. We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including continued investments in the growth of our business. We also intend to use $300,000 of the proceeds of this offering to partially fund Etsy.org, a Delaware non-profit organization that we formed in January 2015. We may use a portion of the net proceeds to fund the build-out of our new corporate headquarters. In addition, we may use a portion of the net proceeds received by us from this offering for acquisitions of other complementary businesses, technologies or other assets. However, we have no current understandings, agreements or commitments for any specific material acquisitions at this time. Except with respect to Etsy.org, we have not yet determined the manner in which we will allocate the net proceeds we receive from this offering. As a result, our management will have broad discretion in the allocation and use of the net proceeds. See “Use of Proceeds.” The failure by our management to allocate or use these funds effectively could harm our business. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds we receive from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value. Our ultimate use of the net proceeds from this offering may vary substantially from their currently intended use. We do not intend to pay dividends on our capital stock, so any returns will be limited to increases in the value of our common stock. We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the operation and expansion of our business. Accordingly, we do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. In addition, our ability to pay cash dividends on our capital stock is restricted by the terms of our credit facility and is likely to be restricted by 41 any future debt financing arrangement we enter into. Any return to stockholders will therefore be limited to increases in the price of our common stock, if any. Our directors, executive officers and principal stockholders beneficially own a substantial percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval. Our directors, executive officers, greater than 5% stockholders and their respective affiliates will hold in the aggregate approximately % of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock following this offering, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock in this offering. Therefore, these stockholders will continue to have the ability to influence us through their ownership position, even after this offering. If these stockholders act together, they may be able to determine all matters requiring stockholder approval. For example, these stockholders will be able to control elections of directors, amendments of our charter documents or approval of any merger, sale of assets or other major corporate transaction. This may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our capital stock that other stockholders may feel are in their best interests. If you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution. The initial public offering price is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock of $ per share as of December 31, 2014. Investors purchasing common stock in this offering will pay a price per share that substantially exceeds the net tangible book value per share. As a result, investors purchasing common stock in this offering will incur immediate dilution of $ per share, based on the initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the price range on the cover page of this prospectus. This dilution is due to the substantially lower price paid by our investors who purchased shares prior to this offering as compared to the price offered to the public in this offering. In addition, as of December 31, 2014, there were outstanding options to purchase 23,050,594 shares of our common stock with a weighted average exercise price of approximately $2.67 per share and warrants to purchase 406,060 shares of our common stock (including preferred stock on an as-converted basis) with a weighted average exercise price of approximately $0.66 per share. The exercise of any of these options or warrants would result in additional dilution. As a result of the dilution to investors purchasing shares in this offering, investors may receive less than the purchase price paid in this offering in the event of our liquidation. See “Dilution.” Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market by our existing stockholders following this offering could cause the price of our common stock to decline. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We cannot predict the effect that sales may have on the prevailing price of our common stock. 42 All of our executive officers and directors and the holders of substantially all of our capital stock are subject to lock-up agreements with the underwriters of this offering that restrict the stockholders’ ability to transfer shares of our common stock for periods of at least 180 days, and for a portion of the shares, 270 and 360 days from the date of this prospectus. The lock-up agreements limit the number of shares of common stock that may be sold immediately following this offering. Subject to certain limitations, approximately shares will become eligible for sale upon expiration of the 180-day lock-up period, approximately shares will become eligible for sale upon expiration of the 270-day lock-up period and approximately shares will become eligible for sale upon expiration of the 360-day lock-up period. In addition, based on our capitalization as of December 31, 2014, shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding options and shares issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants will also be eligible for sale upon expiration of the 180-day lock-up period. We intend to register all of the shares underlying outstanding options and any shares underlying other equity incentives we may grant in the future for public resale under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. Accordingly, these shares will be able to be freely sold in the public market upon issuance to the extent permitted by any applicable vesting requirements and the lock-up agreements described above. Sales of stock by these stockholders could adversely affect the trading price of our common stock. Certain holders of shares of our common stock have registration rights. See “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights.” Registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in the shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, except for shares held by our affiliates as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Sales of securities by any of these stockholders could adversely affect the trading price of our common stock. Future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase common stock could result in additional dilution to our stockholders and could cause the price of our common stock to decline. We may issue additional common stock, convertible securities or other equity following the completion of this offering. We also expect to issue common stock to our employees, directors and other service providers pursuant to our equity incentive plans. Such issuances could be dilutive to investors and could cause the price of our common stock to decline. New investors in such issuances could also receive rights senior to those of holders of our common stock. If analysts do not publish research about our business or if they publish inaccurate or unfavorable research, our stock price and trading volume could decline. The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that analysts publish about our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If few analysts cover us, demand for our common stock could decrease and our common stock price and trading volume may decline. Similar results may occur if one or more of these analysts stop covering us in the future or fail to publish reports on us regularly. 43 Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, could limit attempts to make changes in our management and could depress the price of our common stock. Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company or limiting changes in our management. Among other things, these provisions: • establish a classified board of directors so that not all members of our board of directors are elected at one time; • permit our board of directors to establish the number of directors and fill any vacancies and newly created directorships; • provide that directors may only be removed for cause; • require super-majority voting to amend some provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws; • authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock that our board of directors could use to implement a stockholder rights plan; • eliminate the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders; • prohibit stockholder action by written consent, which means all stockholder actions must be taken at a meeting of our stockholders; • provide that our board of directors is expressly authorized to amend or repeal any provision of our bylaws; • restrict the forum for certain litigation against us to Delaware; and • establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at annual stockholder meetings. These provisions may delay or prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace members of our management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law may delay or prevent a change in control of our company. Section 203 imposes certain restrictions on mergers, business combinations and other transactions between us and holders of 15% or more of our common stock. Anti-takeover provisions could depress the price of our common stock by acting to delay or prevent a change in control of our company. For information regarding these and other provisions, see “Description of Capital Stock.” 44 Our certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees. Our certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees and may discourage these types of lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions. 45 Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. The forward-looking statements are contained principally in “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Letter from Chad” and “Business.” Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations and expenses, business strategies and plans, competitive position, business environment and potential growth opportunities. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Those risks include those described in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements in this prospectus. Also, forward-looking statements represent our beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this prospectus. You should read this prospectus and the documents that we have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, and any related free writing prospectus, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this prospectus speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. 46 Industry and Market Data We obtained the industry, market and competitive position data in this prospectus from our own internal estimates and research, from industry and general publications and from research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. In addition, industry publications, studies and surveys generally state that they have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. While we believe that each of these studies and publications is reliable, we have not independently verified market and industry data from third parties. Likewise, while we believe our internal company data is reliable and the definitions of these key operating metrics are appropriate, neither such data nor these definitions have been verified by any independent source. 47 Use of Proceeds We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the issuance of our common stock in this offering, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, will be approximately $ million, or approximately $ million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, assuming an initial public offering price of $ per share, which is the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders. Each $1.00 increase (or decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (or decrease) net proceeds to us by $ million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us on the cover page of this prospectus remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Each 1,000,000 increase (or decrease) in the number of shares of common stock offered by us would increase (or decrease) net proceeds to us by approximately $ million, assuming an initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the price range on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our visibility, create a public market for our common stock and facilitate our future access to the public equity markets. We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including continued investments in the growth of our business. Consistent with our values and our mission, we also intend to use $300,000 of the proceeds of this offering to partially fund Etsy.org, a Delaware non-profit organization that we formed in January 2015. Etsy.org will be dedicated to educating women and other under-represented entrepreneurial populations and empowering them to build businesses that regenerate communities and the planet. See “Business—Our Strategy: The Path Ahead” for additional information about Etsy.org. We may use a portion of the net proceeds to fund the build-out of our new corporate headquarters. In addition, we may use a portion of the net proceeds received by us from this offering for acquisitions of other complementary businesses, technologies or other assets. However, we have no current understandings, agreements or commitments for any specific material acquisitions at this time. Except with respect to Etsy.org, we have not allocated specific amounts of the net proceeds received by us from this offering for any of these purposes and, as a result, we will have broad discretion in the allocation and use of the net proceeds. Pending our use of the net proceeds received by us from this offering, we intend to invest the net proceeds in short and intermediate term, interest-bearing obligations, investment grade instruments, certificates of deposit or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government. 48 Dividend Policy We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future decision to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend on a number of factors, including our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors thinks are relevant. Under Delaware law, we can only pay dividends either out of “surplus” or out of the current or the immediately preceding year’s net profits. Surplus is defined as the excess, if any, at any given time, of the total assets of a corporation over its total liabilities and statutory capital. As a result, we may not pay dividends according to our policy or at all if, among other things, we do not have sufficient cash to pay the intended dividends. Our future ability to pay cash dividends on our stock may be limited by the terms of any future debt or preferred securities and is limited by the terms of our Credit Agreement. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Sources of Liquidity” for further information about our Credit Agreement. 49 Capitalization The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments and capitalization as of December 31, 2014: • on an actual basis; • on a pro forma basis to give effect to (i) the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into common stock and (ii) the effectiveness of the amendment and restatement of our certificate of incorporation in connection with the completion of this offering; and • on a pro forma as adjusted basis to give effect to the adjustments discussed above and the issuance and sale by us of shares of common stock in this offering, and the receipt of the net proceeds from our sale of these shares at an assumed initial public offering price of the common stock of $ per share, the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. The unaudited pro forma and pro forma as adjusted information below is illustrative only, and cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, total stockholders’ equity and total capitalization after this offering will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. You should read this table in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Description of Capital Stock” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. 50 As of December 31, 2014 Actual Pro Forma Pro Forma as Adjusted(1) (unaudited) (in thousands, except share and per share data) Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments $ 88,843 $ $ Convertible preferred stock: Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 21,165,473 shares authorized, 21,124,432 shares issued and outstanding, actual; shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted $ 80,212 $ $ Stockholders’ equity: Common stock, $0.001 par value; 240,000,000 shares authorized, 88,361,973 shares issued and outstanding, actual; shares authorized, shares issued and outstanding, pro forma and shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted 88 Additional paid-in capital 103,311 Accumulated deficit (32,377) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (3,934) Total capitalization $ 147,300 $ $ (1) A $1.00 increase (or decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share would increase (or decrease) each of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, additional paid-in capital and total capitalization by $ million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us on the cover page of this prospectus remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares is exercised in full, cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, additional paid-in capital and total capitalization would increase by approximately $ million, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, and we would have shares of our common stock issued and outstanding. See “Prospectus Summary—The Offering” for a description of those shares that are or are not reflected as outstanding shares on a pro forma basis in the table above. 51 Dilution If you invest in our common stock, your investment will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering. Dilution results from the fact that the per share offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the book value per share attributable to our existing stockholders. Our pro forma net tangible book value as of was $ million, or $ per share of common stock. Our pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total tangible assets reduced by the amount of our total liabilities and divided by the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of , after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our preferred stock into common stock in connection with this offering. After giving effect to our sale in this offering of shares of common stock at an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of would have been approximately $ million, or $ per share of common stock. This represents an immediate pro forma as adjusted dilution of $ per share to investors purchasing shares in this offering. The following table illustrates this per share dilution. Assumed initial offering price per share $ Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of $ Increase in pro forma net tangible book value per share attributable to investors purchasing shares in this offering $ Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering Dilution per share to investors in this offering $ A $1.00 increase (or decrease) in the assumed offering price of $ per share would increase (or decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering by $ , assuming that the number of shares offered by us on the cover page of this prospectus remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering would be approximately $ per share, and the dilution in pro forma net tangible book value per share to investors in this offering would be approximately $ per share. The following table summarizes, as of , the differences between the number of outstanding shares of our common stock purchased from us, after giving effect to the conversion of our preferred stock into common stock, the total cash consideration paid and the average price per share paid by our existing 52 stockholders and by our new investors purchasing shares in this offering at the assumed offering price of the common stock of $ per share, the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us: Shares Purchased Total Consideration Average Price Per Share Number Percent Amount Percent Existing stockholders % $ % $ New investors Total 100 % $ 100 % $ Sales by the selling stockholders in this offering will cause the number of shares held by existing stockholders to be reduced to shares, or % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering, and will increase the number of shares held by new investors to shares, or % of the total number of shares outstanding after this offering. A $1.00 increase (or decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $ per share would increase (or decrease) total consideration paid by new investors by $ million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us on the cover page of this prospectus remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us. After giving effect to the sale of shares in this offering by us and the selling stockholders, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, our existing stockholders would own % and our new investors would own % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering. See “Prospectus Summary—The Offering” for a description of those shares that are or are not reflected in the foregoing tables or discussion. To the extent that any outstanding options or warrants are exercised, new investors will experience further dilution. 53 Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data The following tables show selected consolidated financial data. The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2013 and 2014, are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following tables also show certain operational and non-GAAP financial measures. See the accompanying footnotes and “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for more information. Our historical results and key metrics are not necessarily indicative of future results, and results for any interim period presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any annual period. Our consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013 have been revised to correct for the understatement of certain non-income tax related expenses. See Note 15 of the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements. The following selected consolidated financial data and key metrics should be read together with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. 54 Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands, except share and per share data) Consolidated Statements of Operations Data: Revenue: Marketplace $ 55,330 $ 78,544 $ 108,732 Seller Services 15,863 42,817 82,502 Other 3,409 3,661 4,357 Total revenue 74,602 125,022 195,591 Cost of revenue(1) 24,493 47,779 73,633 Gross profit 50,109 77,243 121,958 Operating expenses: Marketing(1) 10,902 17,850 39,655 Product development(1) 18,653 27,548 36,634 General and administrative(1) 21,909 31,112 51,920 Total operating expenses 51,464 76,510 128,209 (Loss) income from operations (1,355) 733 (6,251) Total other expense (1,175) (675) (4,009) (Loss) income before income taxes (2,530) 58 (10,260) Benefit (provision) for income taxes(2) 145 (854) (4,983) Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Net loss per share of common stock—basic and diluted $ (0.04) $ (0.01) $ (0.19) Weighted average shares of common stock used in computing net loss per share—basic and diluted 60,563,723 65,334,548 80,493,407 Pro forma net loss per share of common stock—basic and diluted(3) (unaudited) $ (0.08) Weighted average shares of common stock used in computing pro forma net loss per share—basic and diluted(3) (unaudited) 187,389,900 Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands, except percentages) Other Operational and Financial Data(4): GMS $ 895,152 $ 1,347,833 $ 1,931,981 Adjusted EBITDA $ 10,669 $ 16,947 $ 23,081 Active sellers 830 1,074 1,353 Active buyers 9,317 14,032 19,810 Percent mobile visits N/A 41.3 % 53.2 % Percent mobile GMS N/A 29.5 % 36.1 % Percent international GMS 28.4 % 28.4 % 30.9 % 55 As of December 31, 2013 2014 (in thousands) Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments $ 54,870 $ 88,843 Working capital 57,566 88,540 Total assets 106,159 249,135 Deferred revenue 2,760 3,452 Long-term liabilities 2,725 60,382 Convertible preferred stock 80,212 80,212 Total stockholders’ equity 4,003 67,088 (1) Includes total stock-based compensation expense as follows: Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands) Cost of revenue $ 166 $ 200 $ 1,113 Marketing 57 79 216 Product development 436 785 1,461 General and administrative 3,435 2,770 7,260 Total stock-based compensation expense $ 4,094 $ 3,834 $ 10,050 (2) Includes a valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets in certain European jurisdictions which was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2014. No tax benefit has been recognized for the applicable losses during this period. (3) Pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share have been calculated assuming the conversion of all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into 106,896,493 shares of common stock as of the beginning of the applicable period or at the time of issuance, if later. (4) See “Prospectus Summary—Glossary” for the definitions of the following terms: “active buyer,” “active seller,” “GMS” and “visit.” See “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below for the definition of Adjusted EBITDA and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net (loss) income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. We began tracking mobile visits and mobile GMS in 2013. Non-GAAP Financial Measures Adjusted EBITDA In this prospectus, we provide Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure that represents our net (loss) income before interest expense, net, (benefit) provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization, adjusted to eliminate stock-based compensation expense, net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities, foreign exchange loss and acquisition-related expenses. Below is a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net (loss) income, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. We have included Adjusted EBITDA in this prospectus because it is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to evaluate our operating performance and trends, allocate internal resources, prepare and approve our annual budget, develop short- and long-term operating plans and assess the health of our business. As our Adjusted EBITDA increases, we are able to invest more in our platform. We believe 56 that Adjusted EBITDA can provide a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business as it removes the impact of certain non-cash items and certain variable charges. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: • although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements; • Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the impact of stock-based compensation expense or changes in the fair value of warrants; • Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us; • Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect acquisition-related expenses; • Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the impact of foreign exchange loss; • Adjusted EBITDA, in future periods, will not reflect the impact of our contributions to Etsy.org; and • other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, you should consider Adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including net (loss) income and our other GAAP results. The following table reflects the reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods indicated: Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands) Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Excluding: Interest expense, net 438 256 549 (Benefit) provision for income taxes (145) 854 4,983 Depreciation and amortization 7,930 12,380 17,223 Stock-based compensation expense 4,094 3,834 5,920 Stock-based compensation expense—acquisitions — — 4,130 Net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities 737 419 411 Foreign exchange loss — — 3,049 Acquisition-related expenses — — 2,059 Adjusted EBITDA $ 10,669 $ 16,947 $ 23,081 57 Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this prospectus. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business and our performance and future success, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should review the “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis. Overview We operate a marketplace where people around the world connect, both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods. Handmade goods are the foundation of our marketplace. Whether crafted by an Etsy seller herself, with the assistance of her team or with an outside manufacturer in small batches, handmade goods spring from the imagination and creativity of an Etsy seller and embody authorship, responsibility and transparency. We believe we are creating a new economy, which we call the Etsy Economy, where creative entrepreneurs find meaningful work and both global and local markets for their goods, and where thoughtful consumers discover and buy unique goods and build relationships with the people who sell them. Etsy was founded in June 2005 in Brooklyn, New York as a marketplace for handmade goods and craft supplies. From those beginnings, we have built an innovative, technology-based platform that, as of December 31, 2014, connected 54.0 million members, including 1.4 million active sellers and 19.8 million active buyers, in nearly every country in the world. In 2014, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.93 billion, of which 36.1% came from purchases made on mobile devices and 30.9% came from an Etsy seller or an Etsy buyer outside of the United States. Our business has grown in significant ways: • Our GMS was $1.35 billion in 2013, up 50.6% over 2012, and was $1.93 billion in 2014, up 43.3% over 2013. • Our revenue was $125.0 million in 2013, up 67.6% over 2012. In 2013, our Marketplace revenue was $78.5 million, up 42.0% over 2012, and our Seller Services revenue was $42.8 million, up 169.9% over 2012. Our revenue was $195.6 million in 2014, up 56.4% over 2013. In 2014, our Marketplace revenue was $108.7 million, up 38.4% over 2013, and our Seller Services revenue was $82.5 million, up 92.7% over 2013. 58 • As of December 31, 2013, our number of active sellers was 1.1 million, up 29.4% since December 31, 2012, and our number of active buyers was 14.0 million, up 50.6% since December 31, 2012. As of December 31, 2014, our number of active sellers was 1.4 million, up 26.0% since December 31, 2013, and our number of active buyers was 19.8 million, up 41.2% since December 31, 2013. • Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers have transacted across borders since our first year of business, and our international community continues to grow. International GMS was 28.4% of GMS in 2013 and was 30.9% of GMS in 2014. Currently, Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are based in nearly every country in the world and our marketplace is available in 10 languages. • We launched our first mobile app in 2011, and we continue to enhance our mobile offerings. Mobile visits represented 41.3% of visits in 2013 and 53.2% of visits in 2014. Mobile GMS represented 29.5% of GMS in 2013 and 36.1% of GMS in 2014. • We have continued to expand our Seller Services. We launched Promoted Listings in 2011, followed by Direct Checkout in 2012, Shipping Labels in 2013 and Wholesale in 2014. We operate a platform for third-party sellers. Our business model is based on shared success: we make money when Etsy sellers make money. We do not compete with Etsy sellers, hold inventory or sell goods. Our revenue is diversified, generated from a mix of marketplace activities and the services we provide Etsy sellers to help them create and grow their businesses. Marketplace revenue includes the fee an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction and the listing fee an Etsy seller pays for each item she lists. Seller Services revenue includes fees an Etsy seller pays for services such as prominent placement in search results via Promoted Listings, payment processing via Direct Checkout and purchases of shipping labels through our platform via Shipping Labels. Other revenue includes the fees we receive from a third-party payment processor. In 2013, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.35 billion, up 50.6% over 2012, and in 2014, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.93 billion, up 43.3% over 2013. In 2013, we generated revenue of $125.0 million, up 67.6% over 2012, and in 2014, we generated revenue of $195.6 million, up 56.4% over 2013. In 2013, we generated a net loss of $0.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $16.9 million compared to a net loss of $2.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $10.7 million in 2012. In 2014, we generated a net loss of $15.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $23.1 million compared to a net loss of $0.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $16.9 million in 2013. See “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. The consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013 have been revised to correct for the understatement of certain non-income tax-related expenses. See Note 15 of the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements. 59 Key Operating and Financial Metrics We collect and analyze operating and financial data to evaluate the health of our ecosystem, allocate our resources (such as capital, time and technology investments) and assess the performance of our business. In addition to revenue, net (loss) income and other results under GAAP, the key operating and financial metrics we use are: Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands, except percentages) GMS $ 895,152 $ 1,347,833 $ 1,931,981 Adjusted EBITDA $ 10,669 $ 16,947 $ 23,081 Active sellers 830 1,074 1,353 Active buyers 9,317 14,032 19,810 Percent mobile visits N/A 41.3 % 53.2 % Percent mobile GMS N/A 29.5 % 36.1 % Percent international GMS 28.4 % 28.4 % 30.9 % GMS Gross merchandise sales, or GMS, is the dollar value of items sold in our marketplace within the applicable period, excluding shipping fees and net of refunds associated with cancelled transactions. GMS does not represent revenue earned by us. GMS relates only to Marketplace activity and does not reflect Seller Services activity. However, because our revenue and cost of revenue depend significantly on the dollar value of items sold in our marketplace, we believe that GMS is an indicator of the success of Etsy sellers, the satisfaction of Etsy buyers, the health of our ecosystem and the scale and growth of our business. Adjusted EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA represents our net (loss) income before interest expense, net, (benefit) provision for income taxes and depreciation and amortization, adjusted to eliminate stock-based compensation expense, net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities, foreign exchange loss and acquisition-related expenses. In future periods, we intend to exclude the impact of our contributions to Etsy.org from Adjusted EBITDA. We have included Adjusted EBITDA in this prospectus because it is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to understand and evaluate our operating performance and trends, allocate internal resources, prepare and approve our annual budget, develop short- and long-term operating plans and assess the health of our ecosystem. As our Adjusted EBITDA increases, we are able to invest more resources in our community. We also believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business as it removes the impact of non-cash items and certain variable charges. See “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for information regarding the limitations of using Adjusted EBITDA as a financial measure and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net (loss) income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. 60 Active Sellers An active seller is an Etsy seller who has incurred at least one charge from us in the last 12 months. Charges include transaction fees, listing fees and fees for Direct Checkout, Promoted Listings, Shipping Labels and Wholesale enrollment. An Etsy seller is a member who has created an account and has listed an item in our marketplace. An Etsy seller is identified by a unique e-mail address; a single person can have multiple Etsy seller accounts. We succeed when Etsy sellers succeed, so we view the number of active sellers as a key indicator of the awareness of our brand, the reach of our platform, the potential for growth in GMS and revenue and the health of our ecosystem. Active Buyers An active buyer is an Etsy buyer who has made at least one purchase in the last 12 months. An Etsy buyer is a member who has created an account in our marketplace. An Etsy buyer is identified by a unique e-mail address; a single person can have multiple Etsy buyer accounts. We succeed when Etsy buyers order items from Etsy sellers, so we view the number of active buyers as a key indicator of our potential for growth in GMS and revenue, the reach of our platform, awareness of our brand, the engagement and loyalty of Etsy buyers and the health of our ecosystem. Mobile Visits A mobile visit is a visit that occurs on a mobile device, such as a tablet or a smartphone. Etsy sellers are increasingly using mobile devices to manage their listings and track their business performance on our platform. In addition, Etsy buyers increasingly use mobile devices to search, browse and purchase items on our platform. We began tracking mobile visits in 2013. We view percent mobile visits as a key indicator of the level of engagement of our members on our mobile website and mobile apps and of our ability to sustain GMS and revenue. Mobile GMS Mobile GMS is GMS that occurs on a mobile device, such as a tablet or a smartphone. Mobile GMS excludes orders initiated on mobile devices but ultimately completed on a desktop. We began tracking mobile GMS in 2013. We believe that mobile GMS indicates our success in converting mobile activity into mobile purchases and demonstrates our ability to grow GMS and revenue. International GMS International GMS is GMS from transactions where either the billing address for the Etsy seller or the shipping address for the Etsy buyer at the time of sale is outside of the United States. We believe that international GMS shows the level of engagement of our community outside the United States and demonstrates our ability to grow GMS and revenue. 61 Key Factors Affecting Our Performance We believe that our performance and future success depend on a number of factors that present significant opportunities for us but also pose risks and challenges, including those discussed below and in the section titled “Risk Factors.” Growth and Retention of Active Sellers and Active Buyers Our success depends in part on the growth and retention of our active sellers and active buyers. Our revenue is driven by the number of active sellers, seller engagement, the number of active buyers, buyer engagement and our ability to maintain an authentic, trusted marketplace. As of December 31, 2014, our marketplace had grown to 1.4 million active sellers and 19.8 million active buyers, up from 1.1 million active sellers and 14.0 million active buyers as of December 31, 2013. Failure to effectively attract and retain new active sellers and active buyers, to re-engage inactive sellers and inactive buyers and to engage active sellers and active buyers on a cost-effective basis would adversely affect our revenue growth, operating results and the overall health of our ecosystem. To analyze our retention rates, we measure repeat activity by our members. Cohort of 2011 Active Sellers We refer to active sellers as of December 31, 2011 as “2011 Active Sellers.” Fifty-three percent of 2011 Active Sellers remained active sellers as of December 31, 2012, 39% of 2011 Active Sellers remained active sellers as of December 31, 2013 and 32% of 2011 Active Sellers remained active sellers as of December 31, 2014. The average annual GMS per 2011 Active Seller in 2012 was nearly three times higher than in 2011, the average annual GMS per 2011 Active Seller in 2013 was four times higher than in 2011 and the average annual GMS per 2011 Active Seller in 2014 was five times higher than in 2011. Year Ended December 31, 2011 2012 2013 2014 Percent 2011 Active Sellers 100 % 52.6 % 39.3 % 32.3 % Average GMS per 2011 Active Seller $ 817 $ 2,241 $ 3,314 $ 4,299 Cohort of 2011 Active Buyers We refer to active buyers as of December 31, 2011 as “2011 Active Buyers.” Forty-six percent of 2011 Active Buyers remained active buyers as of December 31, 2012, 45% of 2011 Active Buyers remained active buyers as of December 31, 2013 and 45% of 2011 Active Buyers remained active buyers as of December 31, 2014. The average annual GMS per 2011 Active Buyer in 2012 was 72% higher than in 2011, the average annual GMS per 2011 Active Buyer in 2013 was 81% higher than in 2011 and the average annual GMS per 2011 Active Buyer in 2014 was 89% higher than in 2011. Year Ended December 31, 2011 2012 2013 2014 Percent 2011 Active Buyers 100 % 46.2 % 44.7 % 44.7 % Average GMS per 2011 Active Buyer $ 103 $ 177 $ 186 $ 195 62 High-Impact Seller Services Growth Our business model is based on shared success: we make money when Etsy sellers make money. Because of this, we provide services to an Etsy seller to help her start and grow her shop. As of December 31, 2014, 18.2% of active sellers used Promoted Listings, 36.1% of active sellers used Direct Checkout and 21.4% of active sellers in the United States and Canada used Shipping Labels. Our effectiveness in increasing the uptake of our Seller Services, enhancing existing Seller Services and extending their geographic reach and introducing new Seller Services will directly impact the success of Etsy sellers, our revenue growth and our operating results. International Growth Our growth will depend in part on international Etsy sellers and international Etsy buyers constituting an increasing portion of our community. International GMS was 28.4% of GMS in 2013 compared to 30.9% in 2014. Currently, Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are based in nearly every country in the world, and our marketplace is available in 10 languages. Although we promote cross-border transactions, our strategy is to build and deepen local Etsy communities around the world, each with its own ecosystem of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. To meet this goal, we plan to invest in local marketing and content and local payment and shipping solutions. An inability to develop these Etsy communities or to otherwise grow our business outside the United States on a cost-effective basis could adversely affect our GMS, revenue and other operating results. Mobile Growth We believe continued enhancement of the mobile features of our platform will be critical to attracting and retaining Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers and maintaining the vibrancy of our marketplace. The success of this effort will be increasingly important as shopping on mobile devices displaces shopping on desktops and as Etsy sellers increasingly seek to run their shops via mobile devices. We launched our first mobile app in 2011 and since then have expanded our mobile offerings for both Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. Our “Sell on Etsy” mobile app, which we launched in April 2014, is designed to help an Etsy seller operate her shop, manage orders and access resources. Our Etsy buyer apps and mobile web experience include features designed to keep Etsy buyers engaged and offer an improved shopping experience. As of December 31, 2014, our mobile apps have been downloaded 21.8 million times, and mobile visits represented 53.2% of visits in 2014. In addition, in the same period, mobile GMS was 36.1% of GMS. If we are unable to continue to engage Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers through our mobile offerings, then our GMS and revenue growth and other operating results could be adversely affected. Investment in Marketing To date, we have grown largely due to strong brand awareness and word-of-mouth referrals, with the majority of our visits coming from direct and organic channels. In 2013, we spent $17.9 million on marketing expenses, or 14.3% of revenue, compared with 14.6% of revenue in 2012. However, in 2014, we began 63 increasing our brand and digital marketing efforts. In 2014, we spent $39.7 million on marketing expenses, or 20.3% of revenue, up 122.2% over 2013. Our growth will depend in part on our continued ability to launch marketing campaigns that resonate with new and existing members and appropriately balance our level of marketing spending with the benefits that may be realized through member and revenue growth. Investment in Growth We have made, and will continue to make, significant investments in our platform to attract members and enhance the member experience. In 2013, we spent $27.5 million on product development expenses, or 22.0% of revenue, up 47.7% over 2012, and in 2014, we spent $36.6 million on product development expenses, or 18.7% of revenue, up 33.0% over 2013. We have invested significant resources in our technology platform and infrastructure to date and plan to continue to invest in innovation to address the needs of our members. We also plan to hire additional personnel to address the needs of our community. As part of this growth in headcount, we signed a lease in May 2014 for a new headquarters facility to accommodate our anticipated growth in personnel. The investments we make in our platform are all designed to grow our ecosystem and revenue and to improve our operating results in the long term, but these investments could also delay our ability to achieve profitability or reduce our profitability in the near term. Components of Our Results of Operations Revenue Our revenue consists of Marketplace revenue, Seller Services revenue and Other revenue. Marketplace revenue. Marketplace revenue consists of the 3.5% fee that an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction on our platform, exclusive of shipping fees charged. Marketplace revenue also consists of a listing fee of $0.20 per item that she lists (for up to four months) in our marketplace. Although revenue from completed Wholesale transactions is included in Marketplace revenue, revenue from Wholesale enrollment is included in Seller Services revenue. Seller Services revenue. Seller Services revenue consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us for the Seller Services she uses, including Promoted Listings, Direct Checkout, Shipping Labels and Wholesale. • Revenue from Promoted Listings consists of cost-per-click based fees an Etsy seller pays us for prominent placement of her listings in search results generated by Etsy buyers in our marketplace. • Revenue from Direct Checkout consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us to process credit, debit and Etsy Gift Card payments. Direct Checkout fees vary between 3–4% of the item’s total sale price plus a flat fee per order, depending on the country in which her bank account is located. Direct Checkout fees are taken from the item’s total sale price, including shipping. 64 • Revenue from Shipping Labels consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us when she purchases shipping labels through our platform, net of the cost we incur in purchasing those shipping labels. We are able to provide our sellers shipping labels from the United States Postal Service and Canada Post at discounted pricing due to the volume of purchases through our platform. • Revenue from Wholesale consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us when she is approved to enroll in our Wholesale program. Other revenue. Other revenue includes the fees we receive from a third-party payment processor. Our revenue recognition policies are discussed under “—Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates.” Cost of Revenue Cost of revenue consists primarily of expenses associated with the operation and maintenance of our platform and data centers, including depreciation and amortization, employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, and energy and bandwidth costs. Cost of revenue also includes the cost of interchange and other fees for credit card processing services, credit card verification service fees and credit card chargebacks to support Direct Checkout revenue, as well as employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for our member support staff, and costs of refunds made to Etsy buyers that we are not able to collect from Etsy sellers. Our cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue may change over time as our revenue mix changes; for example, to the extent that Direct Checkout revenue increases as a percentage of revenue, there may be a dampening effect on our gross margin. Operating Expenses Operating expenses consist of marketing, product development and general and administrative expenses. Direct and indirect employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, are the most significant component of the product development and general and administrative expense categories, and we expect these costs to increase as we continue to hire new employees in order to support our anticipated growth. We include stock-based compensation expense in connection with the grant of stock options in the applicable operating expense category based on the respective equity award recipient’s function. Marketing. Marketing expenses consist primarily of targeted online marketing costs, such as search engine marketing and, to a much lesser extent, offline marketing expenses, such as television advertising. Marketing expenses also include employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for our employees involved in marketing, public relations and communications activities. Marketing expenses are primarily driven by investments to grow and retain members on our platform. Product development. Product development expenses consist primarily of employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for our employees involved in product development activities. Additional expenses include consulting costs related to the development, quality assurance and testing of new technology and enhancement of our existing technology. 65 General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of costs associated with the use of facilities and equipment, including depreciation and amortization, rent, and certain professional services expenses. General and administrative expenses also include employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for our employees involved in general corporate functions and currency gains or losses. General and administrative expenses are primarily driven by increases in headcount required to support business growth, and, to a lesser extent in the near term, will be driven by expenses incurred to make the transition to being a public company. Other Expense, net Other expense, net consists of interest expense, interest income, foreign exchange loss and net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities. 66 Results of Operations The following tables show our results of operations for the periods presented and express the relationship of certain line items as a percentage of revenue for those periods. The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results. Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands) Revenue: Marketplace $ 55,330 $ 78,544 $ 108,732 Seller Services 15,863 42,817 82,502 Other 3,409 3,661 4,357 Total revenue 74,602 125,022 195,591 Cost of revenue 24,493 47,779 73,633 Gross profit 50,109 77,243 121,958 Operating expenses: Marketing 10,902 17,850 39,655 Product development 18,653 27,548 36,634 General and administrative 21,909 31,112 51,920 Total operating expenses 51,464 76,510 128,209 (Loss) income from operations (1,355) 733 (6,251) Other expense, net (1,175) (675) (4,009) (Loss) income before income taxes (2,530) 58 (10,260) Benefit (provision) for income taxes 145 (854) (4,983) Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Revenue: Marketplace 74.2% 62.8% 55.6% Seller Services 21.3 34.2 42.2 Other 4.6 2.9 2.2 Total revenue 100.0 100.0 100.0 Cost of revenue 32.8 38.2 37.6 Gross profit 67.2 61.8 62.4 Operating expenses: Marketing 14.6 14.3 20.3 Product development 25.0 22.0 18.7 General and administrative 29.4 24.9 26.5 Total operating expenses 69.0 61.2 65.5 (Loss) income from operations (1.8) 0.6 (3.2) Other expense, net (1.6) (0.5) (2.0) (Loss) income before income taxes (3.4) 0.0 (5.2) Benefit (provision) for income taxes 0.2 (0.7) (2.5) Net loss (3.2) (0.6) (7.8) 67 Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2013 and 2014 Revenue Year Ended December 31, Change 2013 2014 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Revenue: Marketplace $ 78,544 $ 108,732 $ 30,188 38.4 % Percentage of total revenue 62.8 % 55.6 % Seller Services $ 42,817 $ 82,502 $ 39,685 92.7 % Percentage of total revenue 34.2 % 42.2 % Other $ 3,661 $ 4,357 $ 696 19.0 % Percentage of total revenue 2.9 % 2.2 % Total revenue $ 125,022 $ 195,591 $ 70,569 56.4 % Revenue increased $70.6 million, or 56.4%, to $195.6 million in 2014 compared to 2013, of which 55.6% consisted of Marketplace revenue and 42.2% consisted of Seller Services revenue. Marketplace revenue increased $30.2 million, or 38.4%, to $108.7 million in 2014 compared to 2013. This growth corresponded with a 43.3% increase in GMS to a total of $1.93 billion for 2014. As our GMS increased, our Marketplace revenue increased, primarily as a result of an increase in the amount of transaction fees received and an increase in listings from new and existing Etsy sellers with a corresponding increase in listing fees received. During 2014, international GMS increased as a percentage of total GMS to 30.9%, up from 28.4% for 2013. During 2014, mobile GMS increased as a percentage of total GMS to 36.1%, up from 29.5% for 2013. Active sellers increased 26.0% to 1.4 million and active buyers increased 41.2% to 19.8 million for 2014 compared to 2013. Seller Services revenue increased $39.7 million, or 92.7%, to $82.5 million in 2014 compared to 2013. The growth in Seller Services revenue was primarily driven by an increase in revenue from Direct Checkout services, as well as increases in Promoted Listings and Shipping Labels. The increase in Direct Checkout services revenue reflects continued increases in U.S. Direct Checkout revenue, as well as growth in international Direct Checkout services as those services were initiated in the second quarter of 2013. As of December 31, 2014, we offered Direct Checkout in 10 currencies, including the U.S. dollar. The increase in Promoted Listings revenue reflects enhancements made to the service in 2014. The increase in Shipping Label revenue reflects an increase in the number of Etsy sellers using the service and, to a lesser extent, the introduction of Shipping Labels in Canada in 2014. Other revenue increased $0.7 million, or 19.0%, to $4.4 million in 2014 compared to 2013. Other revenue decreased as a percentage of total revenue, however, as Etsy buyers opted to use Direct Checkout for their purchases rather than a third-party payment processor. 68 Cost of Revenue Year Ended December 31, Change 2013 2014 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Cost of revenue $ 47,779 $ 73,633 $ 25,854 54.1 % Percentage of total revenue 38.2 % 37.6 % Cost of revenue increased $25.9 million, or 54.1%, to $73.6 million in 2014 compared to 2013, primarily as a result of an increase in the cost of supporting Direct Checkout revenue due to the introduction of international Direct Checkout as well as growth in the U.S. Direct Checkout revenue. To a lesser extent, the increase was due to an increase in depreciation and amortization for ongoing maintenance of our technology infrastructure and an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our member support and technical operations teams. Operating Expenses Marketing Year Ended December 31, Change 2013 2014 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Marketing $ 17,850 $ 39,655 $ 21,805 122.2 % Percentage of total revenue 14.3 % 20.3 % Marketing expenses increased $21.8 million, or 122.2%, to $39.7 million in 2014 compared to 2013, primarily as a result of an increase in search engine marketing from Google product listing ads and, to a lesser extent, from an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our marketing team, which includes our public relations and communications teams. Product development Year Ended December 31, Change 2013 2014 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Product development $ 27,548 $ 36,634 $ 9,086 33.0 % Percentage of total revenue 22.0 % 18.7 % Product development expenses increased $9.1 million, or 33.0%, to $36.6 million in 2014 compared to 2013, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our product and engineering teams. 69 General and administrative Year Ended December 31, Change 2013 2014 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) General and administrative $ 31,112 $ 51,920 $ 20,808 66.9 % Percentage of total revenue 24.9 % 26.5 % General and administrative expenses increased $20.8 million, or 66.9%, to $51.9 million in 2014 compared to 2013, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related costs from headcount growth in general corporate functions and from building out the executive management team and, to a lesser extent, due to increased legal and accounting fees. Other Expense, net Year Ended December 31, Change 2013 2014 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Other expense, net $ (675) $ (4,009) $ (3,334) 493.9 % Percentage of total revenue (0.5)% (2.0)% Other expense, net increased $3.3 million, or 493.9%, to $4.0 million in 2014 compared to 2013, primarily as a result of the foreign exchange loss. Provision for Income Taxes Year Ended December 31, Change 2013 2014 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Provision for income taxes $ (854 ) $ (4,983) $ (4,129) NM Percentage of total revenue (0.7 )% (2.5)% Our effective tax rate fluctuates from period to period due to changes in the mix of income and losses in jurisdictions with a wide range of tax rates, the amount of stock-based compensation expense and net unrealized loss on warrants, the impact of acquisitions, the change resulting from the amount of recorded valuation allowance, the permanent difference between GAAP and local tax laws and certain one-time items such as tax rate changes. For the year ended December 31, 2014, we determined that the existence of a three-year cumulative loss in a foreign jurisdiction was sufficient negative evidence to warrant the establishment of a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in that jurisdiction. As a result, we recorded a valuation allowance against certain of our deferred tax assets of $0 as of December 31, 2013 and $2.1 million as of December 31, 2014. 70 Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2012 and 2013 Revenue Year Ended December 31, Change 2012 2013 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Revenue: Marketplace $ 55,330 $ 78,544 $ 23,214 42.0 % Percentage of total revenue 74.2 % 62.8 % Seller Services $ 15,863 $ 42,817 $ 26,954 169.9 % Percentage of total revenue 21.3 % 34.2 % Other $ 3,409 $ 3,661 $ 252 7.4 % Percentage of total revenue 4.6 % 2.9 % Total revenue $ 74,602 $ 125,022 $ 50,420 67.6 % Revenue increased $50.4 million, or 67.6%, to $125.0 million in 2013 compared to 2012, of which 62.8% consisted of Marketplace revenue and 34.2% consisted of Seller Services revenue. Marketplace revenue increased $23.2 million, or 42.0%, to $78.5 million in 2013 compared to 2012. This growth corresponded with a 50.6% increase in GMS to a total of $1.35 billion for 2013. As our GMS increased, our Marketplace revenue increased, primarily as a result of an increase in the amount of transaction fees received and an increase in listings from new and existing Etsy sellers with a corresponding increase in listing fees received. During 2013, international GMS as a percentage of total GMS was 28.4%, and mobile GMS as a percentage of total GMS was 29.5%. Active sellers increased 29.4% to 1.1 million and active buyers increased 50.6% to 14.0 million for 2013 compared to 2012. Seller Services revenue increased $27.0 million, or 169.9%, to $42.8 million in 2013 compared to 2012. The growth in Seller Services revenue was primarily driven by an increase in revenue from Direct Checkout services, as well as increases in Promoted Listings and Shipping Labels. The increase in Direct Checkout services revenue reflects a full year of U.S. Direct Checkout revenue, as the service was first introduced in the United States in the second quarter of 2012, as well as the introduction of international Direct Checkout services starting in the second half of 2013. As of the end of 2013, we offered Direct Checkout in 10 currencies, including the U.S. dollar. The increase in Promoted Listings revenue and the increase in Shipping Label revenue reflect an increase in the number of Etsy sellers using these services. Other revenue increased $0.3 million, or 7.4%, to $3.7 million in 2013 compared to 2012. Other revenue decreased as a percentage of revenue, however, as Etsy buyers opted to use Direct Checkout for their purchases rather than a third-party payment processor. 71 Cost of Revenue Year Ended December 31, Change 2012 2013 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Cost of revenue $ 24,493 $ 47,779 $ 23,286 95.1 % Percentage of total revenue 32.8 % 38.2 % Cost of revenue increased $23.3 million, or 95.1%, to $47.8 million in 2013 compared to 2012, primarily as a result of an increase in the cost of supporting Direct Checkout revenue due to the introduction of international Direct Checkout as well as growth in the U.S. Direct Checkout revenue. To a lesser extent, the increase was due to an increase in depreciation and amortization for ongoing maintenance of our technology infrastructure and an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our member support and technical operations teams. Operating Expenses Marketing Year Ended December 31, Change 2012 2013 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Marketing $ 10,902 $ 17,850 $ 6,948 63.7 % Percentage of total revenue 14.6 % 14.3 % Marketing expenses increased $6.9 million, or 63.7%, to $17.9 million in 2013 compared to 2012, primarily as a result of an increase in search engine marketing from Google product listing ads and, to a lesser extent, from an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our marketing team, which includes our public relations and communications teams. Product development Year Ended December 31, Change 2012 2013 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Product development $ 18,653 $ 27,548 $ 8,895 47.7 % Percentage of total revenue 25.0 % 22.0 % Product development expenses increased $8.9 million, or 47.7%, to $27.5 million in 2013 compared to 2012, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our product and engineering teams. 72 General and administrative Year Ended December 31, Change 2012 2013 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) General and administrative $ 21,909 $ 31,112 $ 9,203 42.0 % Percentage of total revenue 29.4 % 24.9 % General and administrative expenses increased $9.2 million, or 42.0%, to $31.1 million in 2013 compared to 2012, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related costs from headcount growth in general corporate functions and from building out the executive management team. Other Expense, net Year Ended December 31, Change 2012 2013 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Other expense, net $ (1,175) $ (675) $ 500 42.6% Percentage of total revenue (1.6)% (0.5)% Other expense, net decreased primarily as a result of a smaller unrealized loss in 2013 for our warrant liability and lower interest expense. Benefit (Provision) for Income Taxes Year Ended December 31, Change 2012 2013 $ % (in thousands, except percentages) Benefit (provision) for income taxes $ 145 $ (854) $ (999) NM Percentage of total revenue 0.2 % (0.7 )% Our effective tax rate fluctuates from period to period due to changes in the mix of income and losses in jurisdictions with a wide range of tax rates, the amount of stock-based compensation expense and net unrealized loss on warrants, the impact of acquisitions, the change resulting from the amount of recorded valuation allowance, the permanent difference between GAAP and local tax laws and certain one-time items such as tax rate changes. Quarterly Results of Operations The following tables show selected unaudited quarterly results of operations and other operational and non-GAAP financial data for the eight quarters ended December 31, 2014, as well as the percentage that each line item in the following results of operations data represents of revenue. The results of operations data for each of these quarters has been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus and includes all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair statement of our results of operations for these periods. The results of operations data for the three months ended March 31, 2013, the three and six months ended June 30, 2013, 73 the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, the three months ended December 31, 2013 and the three months ended September 30, 2014 have been revised and the three months ended March 31, 2014, the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 and the nine months ended September 30, 2014 have been restated to correct for the understatement of certain non-income tax-related expenses and the misstatement of expenses due to period-end cutoff errors. See Note 16 of the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements. This data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our quarterly results of operations and operational and non-GAAP financial data will vary in the future. These quarterly operating results are not necessarily indicative of our operating results for any future quarter or year. Three Months Ended Mar. 31, 2013 June 30, 2013 Sept. 30, 2013 Dec. 31, 2013 Mar. 31, 2014 Restated June 30, 2014 Restated Sept. 30, 2014 Dec. 31, 2014 (in thousands) Revenue: Marketplace $ 17,152 $ 17,741 $ 19,189 $ 24,462 $ 23,727 $ 24,777 $ 26,917 $ 33,311 Seller Services 8,161 8,768 9,851 16,037 15,833 16,587 19,392 30,690 Other 831 855 917 1,058 976 1,145 1,325 911 Total revenue 26,144 27,364 29,957 41,557 40,536 42,509 47,634 64,912 Cost of revenue 9,581 10,499 11,548 16,151 15,394 17,345 18,115 22,779 Gross profit 16,563 16,865 18,409 25,406 25,142 25,164 29,519 42,133 Operating expenses: Marketing 3,004 3,223 4,148 7,475 7,468 8,766 8,808 14,613 Product development 6,690 6,754 7,056 7,048 8,042 8,792 10,077 9,723 General and administrative 6,619 7,489 7,905 9,099 9,213 11,400 13,686 17,621 Total operating expenses 16,313 17,466 19,109 23,622 24,723 28,958 32,571 41,957 Income (loss) from operations 250 (601) (700) 1,784 419 (3,794) (3,052) 176 Total other (expense) income, net (159) (254) (158) (104) (669) 235 (1,144) (2,431) Income (loss) before income taxes 91 (855) (858) 1,680 (250) (3,559) (4,196) (2,255) (Provision) benefit for income taxes (408) 1,903 1,939 (4,288) (213) 408 (2,075) (3,103) Net (loss) income $ (317) $ 1,048 $ 1,081 $ (2,608) $ (463) $ (3,151) $ (6,271) $ (5,358) 74 Three Months Ended Mar. 31, 2013 June 30, 2013 Sept. 30, 2013 Dec. 31, 2013 Mar. 31, 2014 Restated June 30, 2014 Restated Sept. 30, 2014 Dec. 31, 2014 Revenue: Marketplace 65.6% 64.8% 64.1% 58.9% 58.5% 58.3% 56.5% 51.3% Seller Services 31.2 32.0 32.9 38.6 39.1 39.0 40.7 47.3 Other 3.2 3.1 3.1 2.5 2.4 2.7 2.8 1.4 Total revenue 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Cost of revenue 36.6 38.4 38.5 38.9 38.0 40.8 38.0 35.1 Gross profit 63.4 61.6 61.5 61.1 62.0 59.2 62.0 64.9 Operating expenses: Marketing 11.5 11.8 13.8 18.0 18.4 20.6 18.5 22.5 Product development 25.6 24.7 23.6 17.0 19.8 20.7 21.2 15.0 General and administrative 25.3 27.4 26.4 21.9 22.7 26.8 28.7 27.1 Total operating expenses 62.4 63.8 63.8 56.8 61.0 68.1 68.4 64.6 Income (loss) from operations 1.0 (2.2) (2.3) 4.3 1.0 (8.9) (6.4) 0.3 Total other (expense) income, net (0.6) (0.9) (0.5) (0.3) (1.7) 0.6 (2.4) (3.7) Income (loss) before income taxes 0.3 (3.1) (2.9) 4.0 (0.6) (8.4) (8.8) (3.5) (Provision) benefit for income taxes (1.6) 7.0 6.5 (10.3) (0.5) 1.0 (4.4) (4.8) Net (loss) income (1.2) 3.8 3.6 (6.3) (1.1) (7.4) (13.2) (8.3) Three Months Ended Mar. 31, 2013 June 30, 2013 Sept. 30, 2013 Dec. 31, 2013 Mar. 31, 2014 June 30, 2014 Sept. 30, 2014 Dec. 31, 2014 (in thousands, except percentages) Other financial and operations data(1): GMS $ 290,295 $ 298,497 $ 319,454 $ 439,587 $ 414,833 $ 438,472 $ 467,202 $ 611,474 Adjusted EBITDA(2) $ 3,813 $ 3,084 $ 3,656 $ 6,394 $ 6,103 $ 3,432 $ 4,248 $ 9,298 Active sellers 891 944 1,012 1,074 1,135 1,191 1,284 1,353 Active buyers 10,591 11,686 12,633 14,032 15,260 16,490 18,102 19,810 Percent mobile visits 37.5 % 37.7 % 42.8 % 46.0 % 50.2 % 52.1 % 54.7 % 55.0 % Percent mobile GMS 27.8 % 28.5 % 30.3 % 30.7 % 35.2 % 35.5 % 36.5 % 37.0 % Percent international GMS 29.0 % 28.4 % 27.9 % 28.4 % 30.6 % 30.9 % 31.6 % 30.6 % (1) See “Prospectus Summary—Glossary” for the definitions of the following terms: “active buyer,” “active seller,” “GMS” and “visit.” See “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for the definition of Adjusted EBITDA. (2) Adjusted EBITDA has been restated for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and June 30, 2014. 75 The following table reflects the reconciliation of net (loss) income to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods indicated (in thousands): Three Months Ended Mar. 31, 2013 June 30, 2013 Sept. 30, 2013 Dec. 31, 2013 Mar. 31, 2014 Restated June 30, 2014 Restated Sept. 30, 2014 Dec. 31, 2014 Net (loss) income $ (317) $ 1,048 $ 1,081 $ (2,608) $ (463) $ (3,151) $ (6,271) $ (5,358) Excluding: Interest expense, net 77 86 39 54 53 107 165 224 Provision (benefit) for income taxes 408 (1,903) (1,939) 4,288 213 (408) 2,075 3,103 Depreciation and amortization 2,626 2,824 3,282 3,648 3,895 4,132 4,465 4,731 Stock-based compensation expense 937 861 1,074 962 1,176 1,737 1,299 1,708 Stock-based compensation expense—acquisitions — — — — — 348 1,448 2,334 Net unrealized loss (gain) on warrant and other liabilities 82 168 119 50 616 (342) (35) 172 Foreign exchange loss — — — — — — 1,014 2,035 Acquisition-related expenses — — — — 613 1,009 88 349 Adjusted EBITDA $ 3,813 $ 3,084 $ 3,656 $ 6,394 $ 6,103 $ 3,432 $ 4,248 $ 9,298 Seasonality and Quarterly Trends Etsy sellers experience increased sales and use more Seller Services during the fourth-quarter holiday shopping season. This has resulted in increased revenue for us during the fourth quarter of each fiscal year, which can compare to lower revenue in the first quarter of the following fiscal year. For example, revenue in the first quarter of 2014 decreased slightly when compared with revenue in the fourth quarter of 2013. We expect this seasonality to continue in future years. Our operating (loss) income has also been affected by these historical trends because many of our expenses are relatively fixed in the short term. As our growth rates begin to moderate, the impact of these seasonality trends on our results of operations may become more pronounced. Our quarterly revenue increased sequentially quarter-to-quarter for all periods presented above, other than the first quarter of 2014, corresponding to our GMS performance in the same periods. We cannot assure you that this pattern of sequential revenue growth will continue. We believe that it is generally more meaningful to compare year-over-year results than sequential quarter-over-quarter results. Our quarterly cost of revenue increased sequentially quarter-to-quarter for substantially all periods presented above, primarily due to increases in visits and to increased usage of Direct Checkout during the period and, to a lesser extent, to an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our member support and technical operations teams. Marketing expenses increased sequentially quarter-to-quarter for substantially all periods presented above, and significantly increased beginning in the fourth quarter of 2013, primarily due to increased marketing 76 programs to attract and retain new Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers on our platform and, to a lesser extent, to an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our marketing team, which includes our public relations and communications teams. Product development expenses generally remained consistent or increased sequentially quarter-to-quarter for the periods presented above, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related costs resulting from increased headcount in our product and engineering teams. General and administrative expenses increased sequentially quarter-to-quarter for substantially all periods presented above, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related costs from headcount growth in general corporate functions and from building out the executive management team. Our business is directly affected by the behavior of consumers. Economic conditions and competitive pressures can significantly impact, both positively and negatively, the level of demand by Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers on our platform. Consequently, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of our future operating performance. Liquidity and Capital Resources The following tables show our cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, accounts receivable and working capital as of the dates indicated: As of December 31, 2013 2014 (in thousands) Cash and cash equivalents $ 36,795 $ 69,659 Short-term investments 18,075 19,184 Accounts receivable, net 11,102 15,404 Working capital 57,566 88,540 As of December 31, 2014, our cash and cash equivalents, a majority of which were held in cash deposits and money market funds, were held for working capital purposes. We intend to increase our capital expenditures to support the growth in our business and operations, and intend to invest approximately $50.0 million through the middle of 2016 to build out our new Brooklyn, New York headquarters. We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with cash generated from operations and available borrowing capacity under our Credit Agreement, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months. However, our liquidity assumptions may prove to be incorrect, and we could exhaust our available financial resources sooner than we currently expect. We may seek to borrow funds under our Credit Agreement or raise additional funds at any time through equity, equity-linked or debt financing arrangements. Our future capital requirements and the adequacy of available funds will depend on many factors, including those described in the section of this prospectus captioned “Risk Factors.” We may not be able to secure additional financing to meet our operating requirements on acceptable terms, or at all. 77 Sources of Liquidity Since our inception, we have financed our operations and capital expenditures primarily through cash flows generated by operations and through non-registered sales of preferred stock and common stock. Since inception and as of December 31, 2014, we have raised a total of $125.6 million from the sale of preferred stock and common stock (including proceeds from the exercise of stock options), net of costs and expenses associated with such financings and net of repurchases of $0.5 million of capital stock. Credit Facility In May 2014, we entered into a $35.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility pursuant to a Revolving Credit and Guaranty Agreement with several lenders, or the Credit Agreement. In March 2015, we amended the Credit Agreement to increase the credit facility to $50.0 million. As amended, the Credit Agreement will mature in May 2019. The amended Credit Agreement includes a letter of credit sublimit of $10.0 million and a swingline loan sublimit of $15.0 million. Borrowings under the amended Credit Agreement (other than swingline loans) bear interest, at our option, at (i) a base rate equal to the highest of (a) the prime rate, (b) the federal funds rate plus 0.50% and (c) an adjusted LIBOR rate for a one-month interest period plus 1.00%, in each case plus a margin ranging from 0.00% to 0.25% or (ii) an adjusted LIBOR rate plus a margin ranging from 1.00% to 1.25%. Swingline loans under the amended Credit Agreement bear interest at the same base rate (plus the margin applicable to borrowings bearing interest at the base rate). These margins are determined based on the total leverage ratio for the preceding four fiscal quarters. We are also obligated to pay other customary fees for a credit facility of this size and type, including an unused commitment fee and fees associated with letters of credit. As amended, the Credit Agreement also permits us, in certain circumstances, to request an increase in the facility by an additional amount of up to $50.0 million (and in minimum amounts of $10.0 million) at the same maturity, pricing and other terms. The amended Credit Agreement contains customary representations and warranties applicable to us and our subsidiaries and customary affirmative and negative covenants applicable to us and our restricted subsidiaries. The negative covenants include restrictions on, among other things, indebtedness, liens, investments, mergers, dispositions, transactions with affiliates and dividends and other distributions. These restrictions do not prohibit any of our subsidiaries from making pro rata payments to us or any other person that owns an equity interest in any such subsidiary. The amended Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant that requires us and our subsidiaries to maintain a total leverage ratio (defined as net debt to adjusted EBITDA) not to exceed 3.50 to 1.00. As amended, the Credit Agreement includes customary events of default, including a change in control and a cross-default on our material indebtedness. Our obligations under the amended Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of our and our subsidiaries’ assets, and our obligations under the amended Credit Agreement are guaranteed by certain of our subsidiaries. As of March 4, 2015, no amounts have been drawn under the credit facility. In January 2015, we implemented a revised corporate structure to more closely align our structure with our global operations 78 and future expansion plans outside the United States. The amendment to the Credit Agreement includes a waiver with respect to our compliance with certain restrictions in the Credit Agreement, to the extent that actions taken to implement our revised corporate structure could be construed as breaches or defaults under the Credit Agreement. Historical Cash Flows Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 (in thousands) Cash (used in) provided by: Operating activities $ 9,684 $ 16,542 $ 12,087 Investing activities (28,877 ) (15,025 ) (20,723 ) Financing activities 42,972 (103 ) 45,237 Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities Our cash flows from operations are largely dependent on the amount of revenue generated on our platform. Net cash provided by operating activities in each period presented has been influenced by changes in accounts receivable, funds receivable and customer accounts, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, and funds payable and amounts due to customers. Net cash provided by operating activities was $12.1 million in 2014, as a result of net loss of $15.2 million, depreciation and amortization expense, stock-based compensation expense and other non-cash charges of $27.1 million and changes in our operating assets and liabilities that provided $0.3 million in cash. Net cash provided by operating activities was $16.5 million in 2013, as a result of net loss of $0.8 million, depreciation and amortization expense, stock-based compensation expense and other non-cash charges of $19.6 million and changes in our operating assets and liabilities that used $2.2 million in cash. Net cash provided by operating activities was $9.7 million in 2012 as a result of net loss of $2.4 million, depreciation and amortization expense, stock-based compensation expense and other non-cash charges of $13.5 million and changes in our operating assets and liabilities that used $1.4 million in cash. Net Cash Used in Investing Activities Our primary investing activities have consisted of capital expenditures, including investments in website development and internal-use software and purchases of property and equipment to support our overall business growth. Investments in website development and internal-use software and purchases of property and equipment may vary from period to period due to timing of the expansion of our operations. Additionally, we have invested some of our excess cash balances in U.S. Government and agency bills. Net cash used in investing activities was $20.7 million in 2014. This was primarily attributable to $5.3 million in restricted cash associated with the lease of our new Brooklyn, New York headquarters, $4.7 million in cash paid to acquire businesses, capital expenditures, including $8.3 million for website development and internal-use software and $1.3 million for purchases of property and equipment, and net purchases of marketable securities of $1.1 million. 79 Net cash used in investing activities was $15.0 million in 2013. This was primarily attributable to capital expenditures, including $9.3 million for website development and internal-use software and $7.8 million for purchases of property and equipment, offset by sales of marketable securities of $2.8 million. Net cash used in investing activities was $28.9 million in 2012. This was primarily attributable to purchases of U.S. Government and agency bills of $16.1 million as well as capital expenditures, including $7.4 million for website development and internal-use software and $6.5 million for purchases of property and equipment, offset by sales of marketable securities of $1.4 million. Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Financing Activities Net cash provided by financing activities was $45.2 million in 2014. This was primarily attributable to net proceeds from a common stock financing of $35.0 million, proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $8.0 million and the excess tax benefit from the exercise of stock options of $4.9 million, offset by payments related to our public offering of $1.0 million and payments on capitalized lease obligations of $1.5 million. Net cash used in financing activities was $0.1 million in 2013. This was primarily attributable to payments on capitalized lease obligations of $1.3 million, offset by proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $1.3 million. Net cash provided by financing activities was $43.0 million in 2012. This was primarily attributable to net proceeds from a preferred stock financing of $39.8 million and proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $4.6 million, offset by payments on capitalized lease obligations of $1.4 million. Off Balance Sheet Arrangements We did not have any off balance sheet arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K, in 2012, 2013 or 2014. Contractual Obligations The following table summarizes our future fixed contractual obligations as of December 31, 2014 (in thousands): Total Less than 1 Year 1–3 Years 3–5 Years More than 5 Years Capital lease obligations $ 4,903 $ 1,755 $ 3,148 $ — $ — Operating lease obligations 21,044 3,870 2,699 3,523 10,952 Long-term debt 547 — 267 280 — Interest payments 892 535 357 — — Facility financing obligations 90,314 — 9,684 18,858 61,772 Purchase obligations 9,824 5,154 3,734 936 — Total contractual obligations $ 127,524 $ 11,314 $ 19,889 $ 23,597 $ 72,724 80 Capital lease obligations consist of obligations under capital leases for computer equipment. Operating lease obligations consist of obligations under non-cancelable operating leases for our existing and new headquarters (both in Brooklyn, New York) and for our offices in San Francisco, California and Dublin, Ireland. Long-term debt consists of obligations we assumed in connection with our acquisition of Incubart SAS. Interest payments consist of interest due in connection with our capital leases. Facility financing obligations consist of the portion of our obligations for our new headquarters in Brooklyn, New York that is accounted for as a build-to-suit lease. Purchase obligations consist of commitments for our co-location and other support services. For those agreements with variable terms, we do not estimate what the total obligation may be beyond any minimum quantities and/or pricing. In addition, we have uncertain tax positions of $0.4 million, which are not reflected in the table as the ultimate resolution and timing are uncertain. Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates. We believe that the assumptions and estimates associated with revenue recognition, income taxes, internal-use software and website development costs, business combinations, goodwill and intangible assets, leases and stock-based compensation have the greatest potential impact on our consolidated financial statements. Therefore, we consider these to be our critical accounting policies and estimates. For further information on all of our significant accounting policies, see Note 1 of the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements. Revenue Recognition We operate a platform for third-party sellers. Our business model is based on shared success: we make money when Etsy sellers make money, and we offer services to help Etsy sellers be more successful. We do not compete with Etsy sellers, hold inventory or sell goods. Our revenue is diversified, generated from a mix 81 of marketplace activities and the services we provide Etsy sellers to help them create and grow their businesses. Our revenue consists of Marketplace revenue, Seller Services revenue and Other revenue. Our revenue is recorded net of actual and expected refunds. Marketplace revenue includes the fee an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction and the listing fee an Etsy seller pays for each item she lists. Seller Services revenue includes fees an Etsy seller pays for services such as prominent placement in search results via Promoted Listings, payment processing via Direct Checkout and purchases of shipping labels through our platform via Shipping Labels. We deduct our cost of shipping labels and estimated refunds from gross shipping fees to determine net shipping fees. Other revenue includes the fees we receive from a third-party payment processor. We recognize revenue when all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement; (2) the service has been provided to the Etsy seller; (3) the collection of fees is reasonably assured; and (4) the amount of fees to be paid by the Etsy seller is fixed or determinable. We evaluate whether it is appropriate to recognize revenue on a gross or net basis based upon our evaluation of whether we: are the primary obligor in a transaction, have inventory risk and have latitude in establishing pricing and selecting suppliers. Based on our evaluation of these factors, revenue is recorded net of merchandise values associated with the transaction. Marketplace revenue. Marketplace revenue consists of the 3.5% fee that an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction on our platform, exclusive of shipping fees charged. Marketplace revenue also consists of a listing fee of $0.20 per item that she lists in our marketplace. Although revenue from completed Wholesale transactions is included in Marketplace revenue, revenue from Wholesale enrollment is included in Seller Services revenue. Transaction fees are recognized when the corresponding transaction is made. Listing fees are recognized ratably over a four-month listing period, unless the item is sold or the seller relists it, at which time any remaining listing fee is recognized. Seller Services revenue. Seller Services revenue consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us for the Seller Services she uses, including Promoted Listings, Direct Checkout, Shipping Labels and Wholesale. • Revenue from Promoted Listings consists of cost-per-click based fees an Etsy seller pays us for prominent placement of her listings in search results generated by Etsy buyers in our marketplace. Revenue is recognized when the Promoted Listing is clicked. • Revenue from Direct Checkout consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us to process credit, debit and Etsy Gift Card payments. Direct Checkout fees vary between 3–4% of the item’s total sale price plus a flat fee per order, depending on the country in which her bank account is located. Direct Checkout fees are taken from the item’s total sale price, including shipping. Revenue from Direct Checkout is recognized when the corresponding transaction is made. Revenue from breakage on Etsy Gift Cards is recognized when the amount is probable and estimable. Given the lack of historical experience related to gift card activity, there has been no breakage revenue recorded to date. 82 • Revenue from Shipping Labels consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us when she purchases shipping labels through our platform, net of the cost we incur in purchasing those shipping labels. We are able to provide our sellers shipping labels from the United States Postal Service and Canada Post at a discounted price due to the volume of purchases through our platform. We recognize Shipping Label revenue when an Etsy seller purchases a shipping label. We recognize Shipping Label revenue on a net basis as we are not the primary obligor in the delivery of these services. • Revenue from Wholesale consists of fees an Etsy seller pays us when she is approved to enroll in our Wholesale program. The one-time Wholesale enrollment fee is recognized ratably over the estimated customer life. Revenue from completed Wholesale transactions is included in Marketplace revenue. Other revenue. Other revenue includes the fees we receive from a third-party payment processor. Other revenue is recognized as the transactions are processed by the third-party payment processor. Income Taxes We account for income tax benefit (provision) based on (loss) income before income taxes, and we use the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. We assess the need for a valuation allowance on an annual basis to reduce deferred tax assets to the amounts we expect to be realized. We account for uncertainty in income taxes using a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by the taxing authorities. The amount recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate audit settlement. We have no unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2012 and 2013 and have an unrecognized tax benefit of $0.4 million as of December 31, 2014. We recognize interest and penalties, if any, associated with tax matters as part of the income tax provision and include accrued interest and penalties with the related tax liability in our consolidated balance sheet. Website Development and Internal-Use Software We capitalize certain costs incurred in connection with software developed for our platform and software developed for internal use. In accordance with authoritative accounting guidance, we begin to capitalize our costs to develop software when preliminary development efforts are successfully completed, management has authorized and committed project funding and it is probable that the project will be completed and the 83 software will be used as intended. We also capitalize costs related to upgrades and enhancements when it is probable the expenditures will result in additional functionality or will extend the useful life of existing functionality. These costs are amortized over the estimated useful life of the asset, typically three years. We periodically review these assets to determine whether the projects will be completed, placed in service, removed from service or replaced by other internally-developed or third-party software; if an asset is not expected to provide any future benefit, the asset is retired and any unamortized cost is expensed. Costs related to the design or maintenance of software developed for our platform and software developed for internal use are expensed as incurred. Business Combinations, Goodwill and Intangible Assets We have completed a number of acquisitions of other businesses in the past and may acquire additional businesses or technologies in the future. The results of businesses acquired in a business combination are included in our consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition. We allocate the purchase price, which is the sum of the consideration provided and may consist of cash, equity or a combination of the two, in a business combination to the identifiable assets and liabilities of the acquired business at their acquisition date fair values. The excess of the purchase price over the amount allocated to the identifiable assets and liabilities, if any, is recorded as goodwill. Determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed requires management to use significant judgment and estimates, including the selection of valuation methodologies, estimates of future revenues and cash flows, discount rates and selection of comparable companies. When we issue stock-based or cash awards to an acquired company’s stockholders, we evaluate whether the awards are contingent consideration or compensation for post-acquisition services. The evaluation includes, among other things, whether the vesting of the awards is contingent on the continued employment of the acquired company’s stockholder beyond the acquisition date. If continued employment is required for vesting, the awards are treated as compensation for post-acquisition services and recognized as expense over the requisite service period. We carry intangible assets at cost, and we amortize them on a straight-line basis, which approximates the pattern of the benefits derived, over their estimated useful lives, typically three to five years. When circumstances indicate that the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable, we review our identifiable amortizable intangible assets for impairment. Goodwill is not amortized but is tested for impairment annually in the fourth quarter, as well as when events indicate that the carrying amount of this asset may exceed its fair value. The assessment is performed at the reporting unit level using the two-step goodwill impairment test to identify potential goodwill impairment. The first step is to compare the fair value of the reporting unit to the book value including goodwill. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds the book value, goodwill is not impaired. If the book value exceeds the fair value, the second step of the process is performed to measure the amount of the impairment. The accounting guidance also allows for a simplified approach to testing for impairment, in 84 which a company can assess certain qualitative factors (referred to as “step zero”) to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If that is the case, the entity must perform the quantitative analysis. No impairment of goodwill was recorded at December 31, 2013 or 2014. Leases We lease office space and certain computer equipment in multiple locations under non-cancelable lease agreements. The leases are reviewed for classification as operating or capital leases. For operating leases, rent is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease period. For capital leases, we record the leased asset with a corresponding liability. Payments are recorded as reductions to the liability with an appropriate interest charge recorded based on their outstanding remaining liability. We consider the nature of the renovations and our involvement during the construction period of newly-leased office space to determine if we are considered to be the owner of the construction project during the construction period. If we determine that we are the owner of the construction project, we are required to capitalize the fair value of the building as well as the construction costs incurred on our consolidated balance sheet along with a corresponding financing liability (“build-to-suit accounting”). Upon occupancy for build-to-suit leases, we assess whether the circumstances qualify for sales recognition under the sale-leaseback accounting guidance. If the lease meets the sale-leaseback criteria, we will remove the asset and related financial obligation from the balance sheet and treat the building lease as an operating lease. If upon completion of construction, the project does not meet the “sale-leaseback” criteria, the leased property will be treated as a capital lease for financial reporting purposes. Stock-Based Compensation Stock options awarded to employees, members of our board of directors and non-employee third parties are measured at fair value at each grant date. We consider what we believe to be comparable publicly-traded companies, discounted free cash flows and an analysis of our enterprise value in estimating the fair value of our common stock. Options generally vest over a four-year period with 25% of the shares underlying the options vesting on the date that is 12 months after the vesting commencement date and thereafter 1/48th of the shares vesting each month, subject to continued service with us through each vesting date. Stock-based compensation cost is measured on the grant date, based on the estimated fair value of the award using a Black-Scholes pricing model and recognized as an expense over the employee’s or director’s requisite service period on a straight-line basis. We expect to continue to grant stock options in the future, and, to the extent that we do, our stock-based compensation expense recognized in future periods will likely increase. We account for stock-based compensation arrangements with non-employees using a fair value approach. The fair value of these options is measured using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model reflecting the 85 same assumptions as applied to employee options in each of the reported periods, other than the expected life, which is assumed to be the contractual life of the option. The compensation costs of these arrangements are subject to remeasurement over the vesting terms as earned. We account for stock-based compensation arrangements in restricted shares, subject to a put option that allows the holder of the shares to put the shares back to us for cash, as liability-classified stock awards. These awards are re-measured at each reporting period, with changes in fair value being charged to the statement of operations. Compensation expense is recognized using a graded vesting methodology for each separately vesting tranche of the award as though the award were, in substance, multiple awards. Unless the put option is exercised, the restricted shares will be reclassified from a liability to an equity classified award upon the termination of the put option. Key Assumptions Our Black-Scholes option-pricing model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the fair value of the underlying common stock, the expected volatility of the price of our common stock, risk-free interest rates, the expected term of the option and the expected dividend yield of our common stock. These estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment. If factors change and different assumptions are used, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future. • Fair Value of Our Common Stock. Because our stock is not publicly traded, we must estimate the fair value of our common stock, as discussed in “—Common Stock Valuations” below. • Expected Volatility. As we have not been a public company and do not have a trading history for our common stock, the expected stock price volatility for our common stock is estimated by taking the average historical price volatility for industry peers based on daily price observations over a period equivalent to the expected term of the stock option grants. Industry peers, which we have selected, consist of several public companies in the industry similar in size, stage of life cycle and financial leverage. These industry peers are also used in our common stock valuations. We intend to continue to consistently apply this process using the same or similar public companies until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of our own common stock share price becomes available, or unless circumstances change such that the identified companies are no longer similar to us, in which case more suitable companies whose share prices are publicly available would be used in the calculation. • Risk-free Interest Rate. The risk-free interest rate is based on the yields of U.S. Treasury securities with maturities similar to the expected term of the options for each option group. • Expected Term. The expected term represents the period that our stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding. As we do not have sufficient historical experience for determining the expected term of the stock option awards granted, we base our expected term for awards issued to employees or 86 members of our board of directors on the simplified method, which represents the average period from vesting to the expiration of the stock option. For grants to non-employees, the expected term is equal to the contractual term, which is generally ten years. • Expected Dividend Yield. We have never declared or paid any cash dividends to common stockholders and do not presently plan to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, we use an expected dividend yield of zero. In determining the fair value of stock options granted, the following weighted average assumptions were used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model for awards granted in the periods indicated: Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Assumptions: Expected volatility 42.7% – 43.9% 45.7% – 50.3% 43.0% – 49.0% Risk-free interest rate 0.7% – 1.1% 0.9% – 1.9% 1.7% – 2.1% Expected term (in years) 5.12 – 6.08 5.48 – 6.08 5.46 – 6.08 Dividend rate —% —% —% Common Stock Valuations The fair value of our common stock underlying stock options has historically been determined by our board of directors, with assistance from management, based upon information available at the time of grant. Given the absence of a public trading market for our common stock and in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Practice Aid, Valuation of Privately Held Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation, or the Practice Aid, our board of directors has exercised reasonable judgment and considered numerous objective and subjective factors to determine the best estimate of the fair value of our common stock at each grant date. These factors included: • contemporaneous third-party valuations of our common stock; • the prices, rights, preferences and privileges of our preferred stock relative to the common stock; • the prices of preferred stock sold by us to third-party investors in arms-length transactions; • the prices of common stock sold to third-party investors by us and in secondary transactions or repurchased by us in arms-length transactions; • our operating and financial performance; • current business conditions and projections; • the likelihood of achieving a liquidity event for the shares of common stock underlying these stock options, such as an initial public offering or sale of our company, given prevailing market conditions; 87 • the lack of marketability of our common stock; • the market performance of comparable publicly traded e-commerce and technology companies; and • the U.S. and global economic and capital market conditions and outlook. The per share estimated fair value of our common stock in the table below represents the determination by our board of directors of the fair value of our common stock as of the date of grant, taking into consideration the various objective and subjective factors described above, including the valuations of our common stock. There is inherent uncertainty in these estimates and, if we had made different assumptions than those described below, the fair value of the underlying common stock and amount of our stock-based compensation expense, net loss and net loss per share amounts would have differed. Following the closing of our initial public offering, the fair value per share of our common stock for purposes of determining stock-based compensation will be the closing price of our common stock as reported on the applicable grant date. The following table summarizes by grant date the number of shares of common stock subject to stock options granted from January 1, 2013 through the date of this prospectus, as well as the associated per share exercise price and the estimated fair value per share of our common stock on the grant date: Grant Date Number of Shares Underlying Options Granted Exercise Price per Share Estimated Fair Value per Share January 22, 2013 713,810 $ 2.38 $ 2.38 February 4, 2013 1,521,851 $ 2.38 $ 2.38 May 7, 2013 460,384 $ 2.79 $ 2.79 July 17, 2013 236,465 $ 2.79 $ 2.79 September 20, 2013 157,938 $ 3.01 $ 3.01 October 29, 2013 2,263,295 $ 3.01 $ 3.01 December 11, 2013 798,467 $ 3.11 $ 3.11 February 19, 2014 2,203,970 $ 4.13 $ 4.13 March 13, 2014 121,010 $ 4.13 $ 4.13 April 22, 2014 501,064 $ 5.18 $ 5.18 July 16, 2014 1,442,401 $ 5.23 $ 5.23 November 5, 2014 2,132,990 $ 6.19 $ 6.19 November 12, 2014 12,000 $ 6.19 $ 6.19 January 30, 2015 2,037,490 $ 8.50 $ 8.50 Based on an assumed initial public offering price of $ per share, the midpoint of the offering price range on the cover page of this prospectus, the intrinsic value of stock options outstanding at was $ million, of which $ million and $ million related to stock options that were vested and unvested, respectively, at that date. In valuing our common stock, our board of directors determined the equity value of our business using the income approach. The income approach estimates the fair value of a company based on the present value of such company’s future estimated cash flows and the residual value of such company beyond the forecast period. These future values are discounted to their present values to reflect the risks inherent in such company achieving these estimated cash flows. Significant inputs of the income approach (in addition to 88 our estimated future cash flows themselves) include the long-term growth rate assumed in the residual value, discount rate and normalized long-term operating margin. The terminal value was calculated to estimate our value beyond the forecast period by applying valuation metrics to the final year of our forecasted revenue and discounting that value to the present value using the same weighted average cost of capital, or WACC, applied to the forecasted periods. For valuations through February 10, 2014, the equity value determined was allocated to the common stock using the Option Pricing Method, or OPM. The OPM treats common stock and preferred stock as call options on an equity value, with exercise prices based on the liquidation preference of the preferred stock. Therefore, the common stock has value only if the funds available for distribution to the stockholders exceed the value of the liquidation preference at the time of a liquidity event such as a merger, sale or initial public offering, assuming the enterprise has funds available to make a liquidation preference meaningful and collectible by the stockholders. The common stock is modeled to be a call option with a claim on the enterprise at an exercise price equal to the remaining value immediately after the preferred stock is liquidated. The OPM uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to price the call options. The OPM is appropriate to use when the range of possible future outcomes is so difficult to predict that forecasts would be highly speculative. Beginning with the March 31, 2014 valuation, we changed the methodology for allocating our equity value to our common stock to a probability weighted expected return method, or PWERM. We made this change as greater certainty developed regarding a possible liquidity event. The PWERM methodology relies on a forward-looking analysis to predict the possible future value of a company. Under this method, discrete future outcomes, including initial public offering, non-IPO scenarios and a merger or sale are weighted based on our estimate of the probability of each scenario. We applied a hybrid method of the PWERM where the non-IPO scenario is modeled using an OPM to reflect the full distribution of possible non-IPO outcomes. The hybrid method is useful when certain discrete future outcomes can be predicted, but also accounts for uncertainty regarding the timing or likelihood of specific alternative exit events. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Under the JOBS Act, we meet the definition of an emerging growth company. We have irrevocably elected to opt out of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards pursuant to Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act. In March 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued new accounting guidance clarifying the accounting for the release of cumulative translation adjustment into net income when a company either sells a part or all of its investment in a foreign entity or no longer holds a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets that is a nonprofit activity or a business within a foreign entity. The new guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning on or after December 15, 2013. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on our consolidated financial statements. 89 In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that will replace existing revenue recognition guidance. Among other things, the updated guidance requires companies to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new guidance will be effective for us beginning January 1, 2017. We are currently evaluating the effect the guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements. In August 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standard update under which management will be required to assess an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern and provide related footnote disclosures in certain circumstances. The new guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016 and for annual and interim periods thereafter. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have an impact on our financial statements or disclosures. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk We have operations both within the United States and internationally, and we are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business, including the effects of interest rate changes and foreign currency fluctuations. Information relating to quantitative and qualitative disclosures about these market risks is described below. Interest Rate Sensitivity Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments as of December 31, 2014 were held primarily in cash deposits and money market funds. The fair value of our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments would not be significantly affected by either an increase or decrease in interest rates due mainly to the short-term nature of these instruments. As of December 31, 2014, no amounts were outstanding under our credit facility. Any future borrowings incurred under the credit facility would accrue interest at a floating rate based on a formula tied to certain market rates at the time of incurrence (as described above). A 10% increase or decrease in our current interest rate would not have a significant impact on our interest expense. Foreign Currency Risk Most of our sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, and therefore, our revenue is not currently subject to significant foreign currency risk. Our operating expenses are denominated in the currencies of the countries in which our operations are located, and may be subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in the Pound Sterling and Euro. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may cause us to recognize transaction gains and losses in our statement of operations. A 10% increase or decrease in current exchange rates could result in additional income or expense of $1.8 million. 90 Letter from Chad The Etsy Economy Since inception, Etsy has challenged conventional ways of thinking about commerce, business, individuals and communities. I intend to keep our unconventional operating philosophy as we become a public company, and I welcome new investors into our community. When I joined Etsy almost seven years ago, Etsy was an online marketplace for handmade goods, vintage items and craft supplies that connected sellers and buyers. Even in my early days at Etsy, it was clear to me that the vision for Etsy could extend far beyond the founding idea of the company and have even more potential to impact the world for good. Vision is just the starting point. I believe Etsy can truly change the world when our vision is met with strong culture, a powerful team and disciplined execution. In my time at Etsy, I’ve put my heart and soul into nurturing a culture and building a team and company that match the ambition of our mission. Today our mission is much more expansive than when Etsy began: to reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world. The reimagination of commerce means transforming every aspect of how goods are made, bought and sold. We believe that Etsy has the long-term potential to transform the world economy into one that is more people-centered and community-focused—one that values and honors designers and makers and one that creates stronger connections among people who make, sell and buy goods. We see an economy that is more sustainable and transparent—and one that is more joyful. We believe in an economy that transcends price and convenience, one that emphasizes relationships over transactions and optimizes for authorship and provenance. We call this the Etsy Economy. Building the Etsy Economy matters more than ever. For decades now, the conventional and dominant retail model has relentlessly focused on delivering goods at the lowest price, valuing products and profits over community, short-changing the future with the instant gratification of today. I do not believe that this race to the bottom is a sustainable, successful model. Our growing community has made it clear that they desire thoughtful alternatives to mass commerce and impersonal retail and products that better reflect their personal style and values. Person by person, sale by sale, we are building a new model to replace the old. With GMS of $1.93 billion in 2014, I see the Etsy Economy emerging. 91 Etsy’s Values If you want to understand Etsy, you’ll have to understand our values. • We are a mindful, transparent and humane business. • We plan and build for the long term. • We value craftsmanship in all we make. • We believe fun should be part of everything we do. • We keep it real, always. Fundamentally, we believe that companies can and should use the power of business to create social good, which is reflected in our status as a Certified B Corporation. Our commitment to using business as a force of good manifests itself in the way we run our business. People often ask me how I choose between the success of our community and the success of our business. My answer is that I don’t have to choose; we have built a business that does well when our community is successful. Making money matters to Etsy because our financial success creates long-term sustainability for our community. The more we invest in our platform, the more we enable Etsy sellers to pursue their craft and grow their businesses and the easier we make it for Etsy buyers to find unique goods. We call this Etsy’s Empowerment Loop. Community At Etsy, we believe that our strength and business success rest in the interdependence among Etsy sellers, Etsy buyers, responsible manufacturers and our employees—in other words, our community. Etsy sellers represent a diverse mosaic of needs and aspirations. Some sellers are first-time small business owners and benefit greatly from our seller support and education programs. The vast majority of sellers on Etsy are one-person shops, and we continue to embrace and develop new ways to support them. Other sellers have grown and need help scaling with the assistance of responsible manufacturers, creating opportunity for other participants in the Etsy Economy. In all cases, we empower each Etsy seller to succeed on her own terms. I have heard concerns that by allowing our sellers to partner with responsible manufacturers, we are diluting our handmade ethos. I share our community’s desire to preserve what is special about Etsy. After all, Etsy has always served as an antidote to mass manufacturing. We still do. With our vision of responsible manufacturing, we are promoting a new, people-centered model in which artisans can preserve the spirit of craftsmanship and grow responsibly by collaborating with people at small-batch manufacturers to make their goods. This brings more hands together to build both products and 92 more diverse local, living economies. These local, living economies band together into a larger Etsy Economy made up of individuals with diverse roles but all sharing a collective vision of an economy based on community. When individuals share a collective vision, the power and possibility of community manifest in profound ways. Etsy is, by design, a collection of many small things. As we grow, Etsy becomes a larger collection of individuals and communities, with compounding benefits when they connect with each other. Etsy sellers have self-organized into more than 10,000 groups around the world, known as “Etsy Teams.” They provide local support to each other and collaborate with Etsy on initiatives, such as teaching entrepreneurship to economically disadvantaged people in their communities, lobbying the government on issues important to Etsy sellers, running local craft fairs and translating Etsy’s site into other languages. In 2012, Mayor Larry Morrissey reached out to me on Twitter asking how to build an Etsy Economy in his community of Rockford, Illinois. Rockford is a city that has faced challenges familiar to many cities in America and around the world: loss of manufacturing jobs, high unemployment and a struggling economy. We worked with Mayor Morrissey, members of the local Rockford Etsy Team, the public education system, local arts organizations and the public housing authority to launch the Etsy Craft Entrepreneurship Program. This program teaches people with a craft skill that entrepreneurship and economic opportunity are within reach on our platform. We have extended this program to 10 cities around the world and see it as an inspirational model for even deeper community involvement in the coming years. Our concept of community includes the cities where we live and work, and we run Etsy in a way that supports our own local economy and ecosystem. At our headquarters in Brooklyn, twice a week we serve a meal that we call “Eatsy.” Our approach is to foster community and productivity through a meal, designed for employees to eat together on picnic-style benches. This meal allows employees to engage with each other, within and across teams, and increases team-building and work relationships throughout the company. Eatsy also serves as an end point for company-wide meetings, so that employees can continue the conversation on important workplace topics. In 2014, we sourced food from over 40 local businesses with an emphasis on our health and ecological impact. We eat on compostable plates, and employees sign up to deliver our compost by bike to a local farm in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where it is turned back into the soil that produces the food we enjoy together. In this way, Eatsy goes into the very soil we live and work on. Eatsy is a metaphor for how I think about many aspects of our business and our relationship to the world around us: regenerative, mindful, interdependent, community-based and fun. 93 Why Etsy Should be a Public Company I believe the principles and resources of being a public company align well with the model of shared success that is fundamental to Etsy’s way of doing business, namely that we make money when our sellers make money. Investing in the growth of our business and increasing Etsy’s visibility will help elevate Etsy sellers and attract more buyers, which creates more opportunities for everyone. Accountability / transparency Etsy has a long history of providing data to the community, everything from key financial metrics, to our gross happiness index, to our carbon footprint data, to our workplace diversity stats. As a public company, we will be able to provide a higher level of transparency and accountability to a broader number of people. Community participation Being a private company means that most people don’t have an opportunity to invest in Etsy. When Etsy is a public company, anyone will be able to own a piece of Etsy, including our sellers, our buyers and anyone else who shares Etsy’s values and mission. These shareholders will be valued members of our community. Long-term sustainability We want to be a company that spans generations. Eighty-six of the original companies in the S&P 500 index are still publicly traded after 58 years. I view going public as an important step towards providing Etsy with the capital and long-term corporate structure to achieve similar longevity. Making the world more like Etsy I believe that Etsy can be a public company that holistically integrates the concerns of people and the planet, the present and the future, profitability and accountability. If we succeed, then other companies might replicate our model. We think the world will be a better place for it. As a public company, we will continue to concentrate on the long term. Our mission to reimagine commerce is a big goal and it will take time to achieve it; success will be based on strategies that evolve over years and decades, not just quarters. We are more focused on creating long-term results for us and our community than short-term results that lack that promise. I believe this approach will deliver the most sustainable long-term returns to investors. 94 When we’re public, we do not plan to give quarterly or annual earnings guidance. I think providing quantitative earnings guidance is misaligned with Etsy’s mission. For example, the pressure to hit a quarterly financial target could incent us too heavily to seek near-term gains, which could diminish our ability to fulfill our larger mission over the long-term. We will continue to be transparent with our investors. Instead of providing guidance in the traditional sense, I plan to talk frequently with our investors about our progress, challenges and opportunities. I welcome investors who share our long-term, community-oriented philosophy. What’s Ahead I am intensely grateful to all of the people who have given so much of themselves to build Etsy, and I am excited to welcome new like-minded shareholders to our community. We are entering a new era. I believe that successful businesses will be those that combine vision, execution and discipline with values, heart and conviction. That is how I plan to lead Etsy and work with our community to build a more fulfilling and lasting world through commerce. Etsy will be entering its second decade this year, and we look forward to many more in our new form as a public company. Onward, 95 Business Our Mission Our mission is to reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world. We are building a human, authentic and community-centric global and local marketplace. We are committed to using the power of business to create a better world through our platform, our members, our employees and the communities we serve. Overview We operate a marketplace where people around the world connect, both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods. Handmade goods are the foundation of our marketplace. Whether crafted by an Etsy seller herself, with the assistance of her team or with an outside manufacturer in small batches, handmade goods spring from the imagination and creativity of an Etsy seller and embody authorship, responsibility and transparency. We believe we are creating a new economy, which we call the Etsy Economy, where creative entrepreneurs find meaningful work and both global and local markets for their goods, and where thoughtful consumers discover and buy unique goods and build relationships with the people who sell them. Etsy was founded in June 2005 in Brooklyn, New York as a marketplace for handmade goods and craft supplies. From those beginnings, we have built an innovative, technology-based platform that, as of December 31, 2014, connected 54.0 million members, including 1.4 million active sellers and 19.8 million active buyers, in nearly every country in the world. In 2014, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.93 billion, of which 36.1% came from purchases made on mobile devices and 30.9% came from an Etsy seller or an Etsy buyer outside of the United States. Our Community Our community is the heart and soul of Etsy. Our community is made up of creative entrepreneurs who sell on our platform, thoughtful consumers looking to buy unique goods in our marketplace, responsible manufacturers who help Etsy sellers grow their businesses and Etsy employees who maintain our platform and nurture our ecosystem. 96 Our business model is based on shared success: we make money when Etsy sellers make money. Our revenue is diversified, generated from a mix of marketplace activities and the services we provide Etsy sellers to help them create and grow their businesses. Marketplace revenue includes the fee an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction and the listing fee an Etsy seller pays for each item she lists. Seller Services revenue includes fees an Etsy seller pays for services such as prominent placement in search results via Promoted Listings, payment processing via Direct Checkout and purchases of shipping labels through our platform via Shipping Labels. Other revenue includes the fees we receive from a third-party payment processor. In 2014, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.93 billion, up 43.3% over 2013. In 2014, we generated revenue of $195.6 million, up 56.4% over 2013. In 2014, we generated a net loss of $15.2 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $23.1 million compared to a net loss of $0.8 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $16.9 million in 2013. See “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net (loss) income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Our Values Our values are integral to everything we do. We are a mindful, transparent and humane business. We believe that business interests and social and environmental responsibility are interwoven and aligned and that the power of business should be used to strengthen communities and empower people. To demonstrate our commitment, each year we publish a Values & Impact report to monitor and then publicly report our efforts to minimize the harm and maximize the benefit that we have on people and the planet. B Lab, an independent nonprofit organization, has certified us as a B Corporation for our adherence to rigorous social and environmental standards, and Fortune has recognized us as a great place to work in both 2013 and 2014. We plan and build for the long term. We want to build a company that lasts, and we plan to measure our success in years and decades. Etsy sellers in particular depend on us and on our platform to grow their businesses, so we will strive to make decisions that are best for the long-term health of our ecosystem. We value craftsmanship in all we make. Craftsmanship is the marriage of skill and passion. We believe every job at our company should demonstrate our commitment to craft. We are an engineering-driven company, and we think of our code as craft: we are makers of the products and services that our members use, and we approach the work we do with the same care and inspiration as do Etsy sellers. 97 We believe fun should be part of everything we do. Our mission includes fostering a world in which personal fulfillment is a key element of success. We believe that this way of working is connected and joyful. We strive to do excellent work and bring a sense of humor and playfulness to it. We keep it real, always. We have the courage and the will to do business in ways that are unconventional and impactful. We strive to stay genuine, maintaining integrity, humility and sincerity in everything we do. When we feel that we are not being true to our values or our mission, we are not afraid to stop and change course. Our Community Our community includes Etsy sellers, Etsy buyers, responsible manufacturers and Etsy employees. Etsy Sellers: Creative Entrepreneurs Etsy sellers join our community to be part of a vibrant global-local marketplace that allows them to express their creativity and turn their passion into a business while connecting to thoughtful consumers locally and around the world. As of December 31, 2014, there were 1.4 million active sellers on our platform and more than 11% of active sellers as of that date had been selling on Etsy for more than four years. Etsy Sellers We support a diverse group of artists, makers, designers and collectors from around the world—from the solo artisan to the full-time jewelry maker with staff; from the antique furniture collector to the textile graphic designer partnering with a small-batch manufacturer. Etsy sellers range from hobbyists to professional merchants, and have a broad range of personal and professional goals. In November 2014, we conducted a survey of U.S. Etsy sellers who made a sale in the preceding 12 months, to which 4,000 sellers responded. The 2014 Seller Survey reveals a unique population of Internet-enabled creative entrepreneurs who are building businesses on their own terms—prioritizing flexibility, independence and creativity. Some Etsy sellers are looking for extra pocket money, while others depend on their shops to support themselves and their families. According to our 2014 Seller Survey, among U.S. Etsy sellers: • 86% are women; 98 • 95% run their shops from their homes; • 90% aspire to grow their sales in the future; • 79% started their Etsy shop as an outlet for creativity; • 65% started their Etsy shop as a way to supplement income; and • 76% consider their Etsy shop to be a business. Etsy Buyers: Thoughtful Consumers Etsy buyers visit our marketplace to discover a broad selection of unique goods that are hard to find elsewhere, ranging from a $5 ornament to a $50 hand-knit sweater to a $2,000 custom-made coffee table. We believe many Etsy buyers are motivated by more than simply price and convenience; we believe they also value craftsmanship, artistry, uniqueness, authenticity and sustainability. We find that Etsy buyers want to know how items were made, where they were made and who made them. In our marketplace, Etsy buyers can enjoy a personalized shopping experience and direct interactions with Etsy sellers. Etsy buyers can also purchase customized items or other bespoke goods from Etsy sellers. By buying in our marketplace, Etsy buyers are supporting creative entrepreneurs in their local communities and around the world. As of December 31, 2014, there were 19.8 million active buyers on our platform. Marketplace Activity Etsy buyers also include retailers we have selected for our Wholesale offering, which we launched in August 2014. From local boutiques to national chains such as Nordstrom, West Elm and Whole Foods, retailers use our platform to connect with new artists and designers and to add unique and distinctive items to their store offerings. As of December 31, 2014, more than 6,500 local boutiques and three U.S. national retail chains had been invited to join our Wholesale offering. Responsible Manufacturers We are committed to helping Etsy sellers who want to work with responsible, small-batch manufacturing partners to increase their production. An Etsy seller might work with a cut-and-sew shop to make clothes she has designed, a casting house that casts her wax models for her jewelry designs or a digital printing 99 house that prints her photographs on household items. We ask Etsy sellers to work with manufacturers who adhere to our ethical expectations: humane working conditions, non-discrimination policies, sustainability practices and no child, youth or involuntary labor. As of December 31, 2014, we had approved more than 3,000 Etsy shops for over 5,000 manufacturing partnerships. Much of this production is local: as of December 31, 2014, 86% of manufacturers partnering with Etsy sellers were located in the same country as the Etsy seller. Etsy Employees We too are members of our community. Whether crafting our policies, talking with Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers in our online forums or building the tools and services underlying our marketplace, our employees create lasting, authentic connections in our community. Etsy employees emphasize building personal relationships with Etsy sellers, visiting their shops, inviting them to our offices for lunch or celebrating with them at in-person events. Our Opportunity We operate at the center of several converging macroeconomic trends in online and mobile commerce, employment, consumption and manufacturing. We believe that in combination these trends will benefit millions of people in our ecosystem around the world: Etsy sellers engaging in their creative passion, working for themselves and defining success on their own terms; Etsy buyers accessing a diverse, global marketplace of goods that have historically been found in highly fragmented markets; and, increasingly, responsible manufacturers using modern tools to craft goods in partnership with Etsy sellers. Trends in Our Favor Trends in Online and Mobile Commerce Etsy sellers offer goods in dozens of online retail categories, including jewelry, stationery, clothing, home goods, craft supplies and vintage items. Euromonitor, a consumer market research company, estimated that the global online retail market was $695 billion in 2013, up from $280 billion in 2008, representing a 100 compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 19.9%. This growth is expected to continue, with the global online retail market becoming a significantly larger portion of the total retail market, reaching $1.5 trillion by 2018, implying a 16.6% CAGR from 2013. Mobile commerce is also increasingly important in online retail. comScore estimated that since the first quarter of 2013, consumers visiting online commerce sites spent more than half of their browsing time on mobile devices; however, online commerce spending via mobile devices represented only 11% of total online commerce dollars in the third quarter of 2014. Trends in Employment Whether motivated by economic necessity or personal preference, a growing number of people are turning to self-employment for their livelihoods. In a 2012 survey of middle-class households in the United States by the Pew Research Center, 85% said that it was more difficult to maintain their living standards today than it was ten years ago. The erosion of middle-income jobs is not unique to the United States: we believe middle-class families in many developed countries face similar challenges. Responding to these challenges, many people supplement their incomes and support their families by becoming freelancers, and freelancers are now making significant contributions to their respective economies. A study commissioned in July 2014 by the Freelancers Union and Elance-oDesk, or the Freelancer Study, estimated that 53 million Americans are working as freelancers, or 34% of the U.S. workforce. The same study estimated that this freelance workforce adds $715 billion to the U.S. economy each year. Brandi Harper, Etsy Shop: purlBknit, Brooklyn, NY The Freelancer Study also found that millennials (workers under 35) represent a source of growth in the number of Americans working as freelancers. Millennials are more likely to freelance than older workers—38% of millennials are freelancing, compared to 32% of workers over 35—and many millennials have spent their entire working lives in this freelance era. Millennial freelancers are also more likely to search out work that has “a positive impact on the world” (62% of millennials vs. 54% of non-millennials) or is “exciting” (62% of millennials vs. 47% of non-millennials). 101 Many other people are motivated by similar personal priorities to start their own businesses. In 2012, a Harvard Business School study found that “autonomy” was a top motivation in a faculty survey of 2,000 business founders, amongst all age cohorts and for both men and women. Women are also contributing to the trend towards self-employment. According to an October 2012 analysis by Booz and Company, by 2020, 865 million women worldwide who have not previously been part of the economic mainstream will join as producers, consumers, employees and entrepreneurs. World Bank research shows that, in certain developing nations, over half of the women in the labor force are self-employed. In combination, these data underscore the importance of tools that help people start and grow their businesses. We believe that many of these freelancers, millennials and women have creative skills that could provide a foundation for entrepreneurship, but that they often have little or no experience running their own businesses, and they typically lack the marketing resources, the technological expertise and the manufacturing and logistics capabilities to turn their creativity into a business. Trends in Consumption Most large retailers today follow the same formula, emphasizing efficiency and scale and pressuring their suppliers to reduce their costs in order to serve mass-produced goods at the lowest-possible prices. We believe, however, that many consumers want to purchase goods that are unique and that reflect their personality and style, not simply mass-produced, generic goods. Some consumers want their purchases to reflect their values; they want to support retailers and suppliers that have responsible and sustainable policies toward their employees, their communities and the environment. Finding these goods can be difficult, as markets for such goods have historically been highly fragmented across boutiques, consignment stores and other venues and marketplaces. Chris and Katie Francis, Lee Goodwin, Olivia Turrell, Etsy Shop: Docksmith, Brunswick, ME A 2014 Nielsen study reported that global consumers between the ages of 21 and 34 represent 51% of all consumers who are willing to pay extra for sustainable products. The Nielsen study also indicated that 55% of consumers worldwide are willing to pay extra for products and services from companies committed to social impact, a 10% increase from a similar study in 2011, and that 46% of those consumers identified support for small businesses and entrepreneurship as a key cause. 102 Still other thoughtful consumers are looking to support their local communities and prefer buying goods that they can trace to an individual person or community. According to a 2014 Havas Worldwide case study, 53% of consumers say that when possible they prefer to buy directly from an individual producer than from a store or shopping center. These consumers prefer to bypass large manufacturers and retailers when possible in favor of buying locally and independently-produced goods. Trends in Manufacturing Just as the power of computing, once reserved for government and large businesses, is now available to individuals on their personal computers and mobile devices, individuals and small businesses now have the ability to manufacture goods in their homes and studios using tools such as computer-assisted design, 3D printers, computer-controlled routers and other machines at a fraction of the historical cost. We believe the decrease in the size and the cost of these tools will make it easier for creative entrepreneurs to start new businesses. We also believe that small-batch manufacturers will be able to use these new technologies to provide high-quality manufacturing services to creative entrepreneurs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2011, approximately 65% of manufacturing establishments had 19 or fewer employees. Manufacturing plants that produce items such as apparel, leather, ornamental metal, furniture, printing materials, cutlery and jewelry tended to have even smaller workforces, as 80% had 19 or fewer employees. We believe that to scale their own businesses, creative entrepreneurs can access this growing number of small-batch manufacturers. Allison Faunce, Etsy Shop: Little Hero Capes, Somerset, MA 103 Our Strengths Our platform connects millions of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers globally, making it one of the largest online marketplaces in the world. We have achieved our scale because of the following key strengths: Our Authentic, Trusted Marketplace. We have built an authentic, trusted marketplace that embodies our values-based culture, emphasizing respect, direct communication and fun. We have developed a reputation for authenticity as a result of Etsy sellers’ unique offerings and their adherence to our policies for handmade goods embodying the principles of authorship, responsibility and transparency. We establish trust in our marketplace by emphasizing the person behind every transaction. We deepen connections among our members through our direct communication tools, seller stories on our website and apps and in-person events, making a personal relationship central to the member experience. The authenticity of our marketplace and the connections among people in our community are the cornerstones of our business. Our Passionate, Engaged and Loyal Members. Our members are passionate, engaged and loyal—not only to us, but to each other—building a strong community. • Our active sellers and active buyers remain so for multiple years. For example, 32.3% of active sellers and 44.7% of active buyers as of December 31, 2011 continued to be active sellers and active buyers, respectively, three years later, as of December 31, 2014. In addition, as of December 31, 2014, 11% of active sellers have been selling on Etsy for more than four years. Likewise, as of December 31, 2014, 11% of active buyers have been members for more than four years. • Our members’ repeat sales and purchases drive GMS growth. In 2014, 78.5% of our GMS resulted from repeat purchases made by Etsy buyers, and 99.3% of our GMS was generated by repeat sales made by Etsy sellers. • Our active sellers and active buyers also log into Etsy frequently. During the fourth quarter of 2014, 78% of active sellers as of December 31, 2014 and 63% of active buyers as of December 31, 2014 logged in to our marketplace. • Our members also spend time with each other. For example, Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers sent 216 million messages on our platform in 2014 using our Conversations tool. As of December 31, 2014, 27.7% of active sellers belong to a self-organized Etsy Team, developing supportive personal relationships with other Etsy sellers as they build their independent creative businesses. Currently, over 10,000 Etsy Teams have formed around the world. 104 The passion and loyalty demonstrated by Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers underlies the growth and scale of our platform. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Factors Affecting Our Performance—Growth and Retention of Active Sellers and Active Buyers” for more information. GMS Contribution by Purchase Type Our Innovative Technology. Our widely-respected engineering team has built a sophisticated platform that enables millions of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers to smoothly transact across borders, languages and devices. Our team is at the forefront of the software engineering practice of continuous deployment. We update our code as often as every 20 minutes, and as many as 70 times per day, with more than 10,000 deploys during the year ended December 31, 2014. To enhance the performance of our platform, we collect and analyze a large volume of data. For example, we currently collect more than 1.8 million discrete metrics, which we expect will increase as we grow. Further, in the field of search relevance and purchase recommendations, we currently collect and analyze more than 1,200 terabytes of data to calculate search and personalization relevance signals in real time to recommend goods to each prospective Etsy buyer from a broad inventory of unique goods. For the year ended December 31, 2014, 53.2% of our visits and 36.1% of our GMS were generated on a mobile device. We developed our “Sell on Etsy” mobile app to help the Etsy seller operate her shop and manage orders. Our mobile website and our mobile app for Etsy buyers, which we developed to keep Etsy buyers engaged wherever they are, includes search, discovery, curation, personalization and social shopping features, optimized for the mobile experience. 105 Our Scaled, Global-Local Marketplace. Our marketplace is global-local, meaning that we focus on building local Etsy communities around the world. Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers in these local communities, in turn, have global reach and access through our platform. Currently, Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are based in nearly every country in the world and our marketplace is available in 10 languages. In 2014, 30.9% of our GMS involved an Etsy seller or Etsy buyer outside of the United States. We believe our global-local marketplace creates strong competitive advantages outside the United States because our success is not dependent on scale in any given country; instead, the diverse location of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers creates the scale, and a concentration of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers in any given region can give rise to a vibrant local Etsy marketplace. Our Seller-Aligned Business Model. Etsy sellers are drawn to our platform because we empower them to succeed, and as Etsy sellers succeed, so do we. Our seller-aligned business model creates network effects. The more we invest in our platform, the more we enable Etsy sellers to pursue their craft and grow their businesses and the easier we make it for Etsy buyers to find unique goods. We call this Etsy’s Empowerment Loop. Some 76% of Etsy sellers consider their Etsy shops to be businesses and 90% want to grow their businesses, as indicated by our 2014 Seller Survey. We focus on offering Seller Services that help an Etsy seller spend more of her time on her creative passion and less of her time on the administrative aspects of running a business. During the year ended December 31, 2014, 46.1% of Etsy sellers used at least one of our Seller Services. Similarly, we have launched our manufacturing and Wholesale offerings in an effort to enable an Etsy seller to grow her business on our platform. Etsy Empowerment Loop 106 Our Strategy: The Path Ahead Make Etsy an Everyday Experience. The power of human connection is central to the Etsy member experience. We emphasize relationships, connecting creative entrepreneurs to thoughtful consumers around the world, and we continually strive to make those connections a daily habit for our members. The everyday experience starts with mobile. In 2014, 53.2% of our visits and 36.1% of our GMS were generated on a mobile device: • We will continue to help the Etsy seller manage her shop, connect with Etsy buyers and sell her goods on our platform, all on her mobile device. We plan to bring the Etsy experience to local communities, using mobile technology to highlight Etsy sellers’ goods in nearby brick-and-mortar stores and crafts fairs. • We will continue to make it easy and fun for Etsy buyers to connect with Etsy sellers and to discover and purchase Etsy sellers’ unique goods, particularly though mobile devices. We plan to improve Etsy buyers’ engagement with our community through enhanced content, search and discovery. Build Local Marketplaces, Globally. Our vision is global and local. In 2014, 28.9% of Etsy sellers were located outside the United States, and 30.9% of our GMS involved an Etsy seller or Etsy buyer outside of the United States. Although we promote cross-border transactions, our strategy is to build and deepen local Etsy communities around the world, each with its own ecosystem of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. To meet this goal, we plan to invest in local marketing and content and local payment and shipping solutions in countries around the world. We believe our locally-focused work will broaden the reach of our global platform. Kamma Spring, Etsy Shop: Lorgie, Fremantle, Australia 107 Offer High-impact Seller Services. Seller Services, such as Promoted Listings, Direct Checkout and Shipping Labels, help an Etsy seller spend more time on the pleasures of her craft and less time on the administrative aspects of her business. Seller Services represented $42.8 million, or 34.2%, of our revenue in 2013, a 169.9% increase over 2012, and $82.5 million, or 42.2%, of our revenue in 2014, a 92.7% increase over 2013. According to our 2014 Seller Survey, for every hour that an Etsy seller spends making her products, she spends another hour doing business-related tasks, including inventory management, shipping, customer service, marketing and accounting. We intend to enhance existing Seller Services, extend their geographic reach and introduce new ones to increase the amount of time an Etsy seller can devote to her craft. How an Etsy Seller Spends Her Time Expand the Etsy Economy. We intend to fulfill our mission to reimagine commerce by expanding the impact of our platform beyond our community. By further developing our manufacturing program, we believe we will help Etsy sellers who want to grow their businesses connect with skilled partners, while helping to revitalize small-batch manufacturing in local communities. We will also continue to focus on our Wholesale offering, which we launched in August 2014, so that Etsy sellers can sell their products to select retail partners such as Nordstrom, West Elm and Whole Foods. Finally, we plan to focus on strategic partnerships, technological advances and public-private endeavors such as our Craft Entrepreneurship program, which we believe will bring the benefit of the Etsy Economy to more people and more communities. 108 Invest in Marketing. We believe that the rapid growth of our marketplace is a testament to our compelling value proposition for Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers have been our best marketers, and the majority of our visits have come from direct and organic channels. Historically, we have invested relatively small amounts in marketing. We spent only $10.9 million on marketing in 2012 and only $17.9 million in 2013. In 2014, we began increasing our brand and digital marketing efforts and spent $39.7 million in marketing, up 122% from 2013. We plan to continue to increase our marketing spending on traditional and online media to increase awareness of our brand and attract additional members to our ecosystem. Visits to Etsy by Channel Our investment in marketing has shown early signs of success. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2013, we strategically increased our marketing spending in the United Kingdom, our second largest market in terms of number of active sellers, with a goal of growing the number of Etsy buyers in the United Kingdom. In the following twelve months, we spent five times more on search engine marketing in the United Kingdom during the twelve months ended September 30, 2014 than we did during the same period in the prior year. During the twelve months ended September 30, 2014, the number of active buyers in the United Kingdom grew 112.9% year-over-year, compared to 89.0% year-over-year in the same period in the prior year. Additionally, Etsy buyers in the United Kingdom spent more in our marketplace, with the amount spent increasing by 114.2% year-over-year versus 64.7% year-over-year in the same period in the prior year. Our success in the United Kingdom demonstrates our ability to accelerate growth with marketing improvements and increased marketing spending. We intend to apply the key lessons from our experience in the United Kingdom into growing other local Etsy markets around the globe. 109 Our Platform Our platform is an authentic vehicle for person-to-person commerce, both globally and locally. Our platform includes our marketplace, our Seller Services, our technology and our community, both online and offline. The core of our platform is our marketplace, which connects people around the world to make, sell and buy unique goods. Connecting People through Our Platform The Etsy Seller Experience Our platform makes it easy for an Etsy seller to open an Etsy shop and operate her business. We help the Etsy seller in the following ways: • Seller Services. We offer a variety of services to help Etsy sellers build their personal brands, engage potential customers and complete transactions. These services include: • Promoted Listings. Our Promoted Listings offering enables an Etsy seller to pay a cost-per-click based fee to feature and promote her goods in search results generated by Etsy buyers on our platform. This service allows an Etsy seller to target Etsy buyers who are specifically searching for goods similar to those she offers for sale. As of December 31, 2014, 18.2% of active sellers used Promoted Listings in 2014. • Direct Checkout. Our Direct Checkout offering allows Etsy sellers to accept various forms of payment such as credit cards, debit cards and Etsy gift cards. As of December 31, 2014, Direct Checkout was available in 22 countries and 10 currencies. Once an Etsy buyer makes payment, the Etsy seller receives the funds in her own bank account and in her local currency. In addition, in October 2014, we expanded Direct Checkout to enable an Etsy seller in the United States to use our “Sell on Etsy Reader” to accept credit card and debit card payments in person, whether at her store or her booth at a craft fair. As of December 31, 2014, 36.1% of active sellers used Direct Checkout in 2014. 110 • Shipping Labels. Etsy sellers can purchase United States Postal Service and Canada Post shipping labels through our platform with the appropriate amount of postage. The ability to print shipping labels at home reduces the cost and time it takes Etsy sellers to ship goods to Etsy buyers. As of December 31, 2014, 21.4% of active sellers in the United States and Canada purchased shipping labels through our platform in 2014. Use of Seller Services in 2014 • Mobile. We developed our “Sell on Etsy” mobile app to help Etsy sellers operate their shops and manage orders. Etsy sellers can also access communication and shop management tools and help resources through the Sell on Etsy mobile app. From its launch in April 2014 through December 31, 2014, 21.9% of active sellers used our Sell on Etsy app. • Seller Dashboard. Etsy sellers can analyze visits to their shop and listings, estimate the effectiveness of their spending on Promoted Listings, monitor orders and track sales using our online seller dashboard. Etsy sellers can access the dashboard on our website or on our Sell on Etsy mobile app. • Education. We provide extensive educational resources to teach Etsy sellers how to build and grow their businesses on our platform through blog posts, video tutorials, the Etsy Seller Handbook (available on our website), access to our online forums, and insights from our support teams. In addition to our own educational resources, Etsy sellers connect through Etsy Teams to build personal relationships, collaborate, and educate and support each other. The Etsy Buyer Experience To help Etsy buyers discover and purchase items that they love, we provide a number of tools, including: • Communication. We believe human connection is central to Etsy buyers’ engagement. Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers use the Conversations tool on our platform to communicate, person to person, about their orders, to request custom goods or personalization of goods or simply to have a conversation about the product or the process. In 2014, our members sent 216 million messages on our platform. • Search and discovery. Our platform is engineered to provide a personalized experience to each Etsy buyer that adjusts in real time based on her interactions with our marketplace. An Etsy buyer may search for an item using our search tool bar and filter the results by color, price, location or other characteristics. She may browse through items, creating an activity feed by “favoriting” items that catch 111 her eye and by following shops and tastemakers. In 2014, our members tagged 775 million favorites on our platform. We glean insights from Etsy buyers’ interactions through our machine-learning algorithms and through traditional information retrieval techniques, such as cookies. We use these insights to personalize the activity feed an Etsy buyer sees when she comes to Etsy, with suggestions of shops or tastemakers to follow and items to buy or favorite. We use the data we collect and the insights we gain to match Etsy sellers’ goods with Etsy buyers’ tastes and interests. Our community is large and engaged, with more than 4.3 billion search page views in 2013. Discovering Unique Goods • Mobile. We strive to keep Etsy buyers engaged wherever they are, by providing the functionality of our website in iOS and Android mobile apps, specifically crafted for Etsy buyers. Our mobile apps for Etsy buyers include search and discovery, curation, personalization and social shopping features similar to those that Etsy buyers enjoy on our desktop site. Our mobile apps have been downloaded 21.8 million times as of December 31, 2014. Our Policies Our members rely on us to maintain a marketplace that meets their expectations for authenticity. Our policies are designed to give the Etsy buyer the comfort that she is purchasing unique goods from a small business that adheres to certain principles. Most fundamentally, we require that goods listed in our marketplace be handmade, vintage or craft supplies. Handmade items begin with the imagination and creativity of the Etsy seller. To conform to our vision of handmade, we ask that the Etsy seller follow these three principles: • Authorship: The Etsy seller should have a meaningful design and creative role in the items she is selling. • Responsibility: The Etsy seller should know how her goods are made and by whom. • Transparency: The Etsy seller should be open and honest about how her goods are made and by whom. 112 Etsy buyers enjoy a high degree of insight into Etsy sellers’ business practices. Our policies encourage Etsy sellers to be transparent about themselves, their businesses and the goods they sell. We enforce our policies through the following: Integrity team. The job of our Integrity team is to remove items that do not belong in our marketplace. We use a combination of machine learning, automated systems and community-generated queries and flags to review items and shops that may be in violation of our policies. Trust and Safety team. Our Trust and Safety team uses human review and sophisticated automated tools and algorithms to detect fraud. We cancel transactions if fraud is detected, and we strive to prohibit bad actors from using our platform. Responsible Seller Growth team. Our Responsible Seller Growth team reviews the application of every Etsy seller who applies to work with an outside manufacturer. We do not review or approve the manufacturer; instead, we look to the Etsy seller to provide evidence of authorship, responsibility and transparency. Our Case System. Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers communicate via our Case System in instances when items do not arrive or are not as expected. Disputes are often resolved without our involvement. When necessary, we intervene, and when appropriate, we may suspend or terminate the accounts of members who do not adhere to our policies. Our Unique Engineering Culture and Approach Etsy engineering is widely known for its thought-leading approaches to software development as well as its unique engineering culture. Our engineering team coined the phrase “Code as Craft” to describe our love for building software and our melding of engineering discipline and individual craftsmanship. We believe our engineers have the skills, practices and experience needed to embrace the change the future inevitably brings. As of December 31, 2014, our engineering team consisted of 241 employees. Code as Craft 113 Our engineering culture is built on three principles: • A mindful and humane approach. We trust humans and we build for humans. We believe that judgment, mindfulness and intelligence can be found and developed in the people doing the work, and our environment provides continuous opportunities to develop those traits. An organization of engaged, empowered, mindful engineers can adapt to inevitable and unpredictable change. • A spirit of generosity. Our engineers believe that we are part of a larger community of practice and a larger world, and part of each engineer’s job is improving our team, our company, our industry and the world. Every engineer is expected to contribute to open source software projects and to write or speak publicly. We believe this increases job satisfaction and retention, gives us outsized influence in our industry and eases onboarding as prospective employees can learn about our culture before joining us. • Adaptability and learning. We learn through honest, blameless reflection on lessons and surprises. We believe that traditional root-cause analysis makes learning from mistakes difficult. Our blameless post-mortem process is a widely-cited technique that we believe is becoming best practice among organizations that value innovation. Blameless post-mortems drive a significant percentage of our development as we analyze what about our production environment was less then optimal and rapidly make corresponding adjustments. Our Work Culture We pride ourselves on our values-based culture. We emphasize respect, direct communication and fun. We focus on maximizing our employees’ professional and personal well-being. We evaluate performance not just on traditional business metrics, but also on societal and environmental goals and on adherence to our mission and values. We believe employee happiness comes from engaging and fulfilling work and from ample personal and professional growth opportunities. We invest heavily in employee development by offering coaching, skills workshops and training. We actively encourage personal education through arts and crafts workshops and employee-taught classes called “Etsy School,” covering subjects ranging from screen printing to Python programming. As of December 31, 2014, we had 685 employees worldwide, with 430 in our offices in Brooklyn, New York. Of those employees, we had 153 in member operations, 332 in product and engineering, 89 in marketing and 111 in corporate. Our product development expenses were $18.7 million, $27.5 million and $36.6 million in the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. We proactively work and recruit to improve the gender balance at all levels of our company. As of December 31, 2014, 51% of employees identified as female. As of December 31, 2014, women comprised 46% of managers and 28% of product, engineering and technical operations employees. 114 Etsy.org In January 2015, we formed Etsy.org, a Delaware non-profit organization, to focus on building innovative educational programs that reimagine how and to whom business is taught. In particular, Etsy.org will focus on educating women and other under-represented entrepreneurial populations and empowering them to build businesses that regenerate communities and the planet. In January 2015, we issued 376,471 shares of our common stock to Etsy.org, and we expect to use $300,000 of the proceeds of this offering to partially fund Etsy.org. Competition We compete with retailers for the Etsy seller. An Etsy seller can list her goods for sale with online retailers or sell her goods through local consignment and vintage stores and other venues and marketplaces. She may also sell wholesale directly to traditional retailers, including large national retailers, who discover her goods in our marketplace or otherwise. We also compete with companies that sell software and services to small businesses, enabling an Etsy seller to sell from her own website or otherwise run her business independently of our platform. We are able to compete for Etsy sellers based on our brand awareness, the breadth of our online presence, the number and engagement of Etsy buyers, our Seller Services, our fees, the strength of our community and our values. We also compete with retailers for the attention of the Etsy buyer. An Etsy buyer has the choice of shopping with any online or offline retailer, whether large marketplaces or national retail chains or local consignment and vintage stores or other venues or marketplaces. We are able to compete for Etsy buyers based on the unique goods that Etsy sellers list in our marketplace, awareness of our brand, the person-to-person commerce experience, our reputation for authenticity, our mobile apps, ease of payment and the availability and reliability of our platform. Intellectual Property Protection of our technology and intellectual property is an important component of our success. We rely on intellectual property laws, primarily including trade secret, copyright and trademark laws in the United States and abroad, and we use confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements, invention assignment agreements and other contractual rights to protect our intellectual property. While we have obtained or applied for patent protection for some of our intellectual property, we generally do not rely on patents as a principal means of protecting intellectual property. We register domain names, trademarks and service marks in the United States and abroad. We also rely upon common law protection for certain trademarks. 115 Circumstances beyond our control could pose a threat to our intellectual property rights. Effective intellectual property protection may not be available in the United States or other countries in which we operate. In addition, the efforts we have taken to protect our intellectual property rights may not be sufficient or effective. Any impairment of our intellectual property rights could harm our business, our ability to compete and our operating results. Facilities Our headquarters are located in Brooklyn, New York where we occupy approximately 104,493 square feet under a lease that expires in 2016. We use these facilities for our principal administration, technology and development and engineering activities. Our European headquarters are located in Dublin, Ireland. In May 2014, we signed a lease for new corporate headquarters, also located in Brooklyn, which we expect to occupy in 2016. The lease covers two buildings totaling approximately 198,635 square feet and will expire approximately ten years from the later to occur of the two buildings’ lease commencement dates. We expect that our new space will allow us to grow our local staff, will be LEED-certified and will support our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint. We also maintain offices in Hudson (New York), San Francisco, Berlin, Dublin, London, Paris, Melbourne and Toronto. We believe that our current facilities are suitable and adequate to meet our ongoing needs and that, if we require additional space, we will be able to obtain additional facilities. Government Regulation As with any company operating on the Internet, we grapple with a growing number of local, national and international laws and regulations. These laws are often complex, sometimes contradict other laws, and are frequently still evolving. Laws may be interpreted and enforced in different ways in various locations around the world, posing a significant challenge to our global business. For example, U.S. federal and state laws, EU directives, and other national laws govern the processing of payments, consumer protection and the privacy of consumer information; other laws define and regulate unfair and deceptive trade practices. Still other laws dictate when and how sales or other taxes must be collected. Laws of defamation apply online and vary by country. The growing regulation of e-commerce worldwide could impose additional compliance burdens and costs on us or on Etsy sellers, and could subject us to significant liability for any failure to comply. Additionally, because we operate internationally, we need to comply with various laws associated with doing business outside of the United States, including anti-money laundering, anti-corruption and export control laws. 116 Legal Matters From time to time, we are involved in legal proceedings and subject to claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. Although the results of legal proceedings and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe we are not currently party to any legal proceedings which, if determined adversely to us, would individually or taken together have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, cash flows or financial condition. There can be no assurances that we will obtain a favorable outcome. Regardless of the outcome, such proceedings can harm us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of resources and other factors. 117 Management Executive Officers and Directors Our executive officers and directors, and their ages and positions as of January 31, 2015, are listed below: Name Age Position(s) Executive Officers: Chad Dickerson 42 President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Kristina Salen 43 Chief Financial Officer Jordan Breslow 59 General Counsel and Secretary Kellan Elliott-McCrea 37 Chief Technology Officer and Chief Architect Non-Employee Directors: James W. Breyer 53 Director M. Michele Burns 57 Director Jonathan D. Klein 54 Director Fred Wilson 53 Lead Independent Director (1) Member of audit committee (2) Member of compensation committee (3) Member of nominating and corporate governance committee The following is a brief biography of each of our executive officers and directors: Executive Officers Chad Dickerson has served as our president and chief executive officer since July 2011, as a member of our board of directors since September 2011, and has served as the chairman of our board of directors since October 2014. He previously served as our chief technology officer from September 2008 until July 2011. Prior to Etsy, Mr. Dickerson was the director of the Advanced Products/Brickhouse team at Yahoo! Inc., a multinational Internet company, from December 2007 to August 2008, was the head of the Yahoo! Developer Network from June 2006 to December 2007 and was the director of platform evangelism from August 2005 to May 2006. Prior to Yahoo!, Mr. Dickerson served as chief technology officer at InfoWorld Media Group, Inc., an information technology online media business, from April 2001 to August 2005. Mr. Dickerson worked on early web-based newspapers, including Salon.com from July 1998 to March 2001. Mr. Dickerson holds a B.A. in English literature from Duke University. Mr. Dickerson should serve as a member of our board of directors because he is our chief executive officer and because he has extensive experience in media and technology companies. Kristina Salen has served as our chief financial officer since January 2013. Prior to Etsy, Ms. Salen led the media, Internet, and telecommunications research group of FMR LLC d/b/a Fidelity Investments, a multinational financial services company, from January 2006 to January 2013. Prior to Fidelity, Ms. Salen worked in various financial and executive roles at several companies, including Oppenheimer Capital LLC, 118 an investment firm, from June 2002 to December 2005; Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., a financial services corporation acquired by Bank of America Corporation in January 2009, from June 1997 to June 2001; Lazard Frere & Co. LLC, a global financial advisory and asset management firm, from April 1996 to June 1997; and SBC Warburg, an investment bank, from December 1994 to April 1996. Ms. Salen has served as a member of the board of directors of Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc., a cloud-based talent management software solution company, since July 2014. Ms. Salen holds a B.A. in Political Science from Vassar College and an M.B.A. in finance from Columbia University. Jordan Breslow has served as our general counsel since November 2013 and as secretary since September 2014. Prior to Etsy, Mr. Breslow served as general counsel of New Island Capital Management, Inc., an impact investment advisor, from April 2011 to November 2013; as general counsel of Silver Spring Networks, Inc., a provider of smart grid networks, from May 2008 to September 2010; and as general counsel of Opsware, Inc. (formerly called Loudcloud), a provider of data center software, from February 2000 to September 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Breslow was an associate and a partner at several law firms. Mr. Breslow has also served as a Adjunct Professor at the New York University School of Law since February 2015. Mr. Breslow has also lectured at University of California-Berkeley Law School and San Francisco State University. Mr. Breslow holds a B.A. in Anthropology from San Francisco State University and a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Kellan Elliott-McCrea has served as our chief technology officer and chief architect since July 2011, and previously served as our vice president of engineering from July 2010 to July 2011. Prior to Etsy, Mr. Elliott-McCrea worked as Flickr’s architect at Yahoo! from May 2006 to June 2010. Prior to Yahoo!, Mr. Elliott-McCrea served as an engineer at several start-ups. Mr. Elliott-McCrea founded his first Internet startup, Metaevents, Inc., a developer of an online calendar publishing tool, in 1997, which was acquired in 2000 by AnyDay.com, Inc., an online free calendar and scheduling service, shortly before AnyDay.com, Inc. was acquired by Palm, Inc., a mobile product manufacturer, where he served as a principal engineer. Mr. Elliott-McCrea is the author of several well-known open source libraries, including MagpieRSS which is a key component of a large number of open source applications. He is also a co-author of the IETF security standard: OAuth. Non-Employee Directors James W. Breyer has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2008. Mr. Breyer has been a partner of Accel Partners, a venture capital firm, since 1987. Mr. Breyer is also the founder and has been the chief executive officer of Breyer Capital, an investment firm, since July 2006. Mr. Breyer has served on the board of directors of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., a media company, since June 2013, and also serves on the boards of directors of several privately-held companies. Mr. Breyer has served as a fellow of the Harvard Corporation, a Harvard University Governing Board, since 2013. Previously, Mr. Breyer served as a member of the boards of directors of Brightcove, Inc., an online video and publishing platform, from 2005 to 2013; News Corporation, a mass media company, from 2011 to 2013; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a multinational retail company, from 2001 to 2013, Facebook, Inc., a worldwide social network, from 2005 to 2013; Dell Inc., a worldwide merchant of technology products and services, from 2009 to 2013; Model N, Inc., a provider of 119 revenue management solutions, from 2000 to 2013; Prosper Marketplace, Inc., a peer-to-peer online credit platform operator from 2005 to 2012; and Marvel Entertainment, Inc., a character-based entertainment company, from 2006 to 2009. Mr. Breyer holds a B.S. in interdisciplinary studies from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. Mr. Breyer should serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive experience with retail, media and technology companies, as a venture capitalist and as one of our early investors. M. Michele Burns has served as a member of our board of directors since March 2014. Ms. Burns has served as the Center Fellow and Strategic Advisor to the Stanford Center on Longevity at Stanford University since August 2012. Ms. Burns served as the chief executive officer of the Retirement Policy Center sponsored by Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., an insurance brokerage and consulting firm, from October 2011 to February 2014; as chairman and chief executive officer of Mercer LLC (a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.), a human resources consulting firm, from September 2006 to October 2011; as chief financial officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. from March 2006 to September 2006; and as chief financial officer and chief restructuring officer of Mirant Corporation, an energy company, from May 2004 to January 2006. Ms. Burns joined Delta Airlines in January 1999 and served as chief financial officer from August 2000 until April 2004. She began her career at Arthur Andersen in 1981, serving ultimately as the Senior Partner, Southern Region Federal Tax Practice until December 1998. Ms. Burns has served as a member of the boards of directors of Cisco Systems, Inc., a multinational company that designs, manufactures and sells networking equipment, since November 2003; Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., an investment banking firm and affiliate of one of the underwriters of this offering, since October 2011; and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, since July 2014. She also serves on the boards of directors of, or as an advisor to, several private companies. She previously served as a member of the board of directors of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., a multinational retail company, from June 2003 to June 2013. She is a member of the executive board of directors of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, where she also serves as Treasurer. Ms. Burns holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Georgia and a Master of Accountancy from the University of Georgia. Ms. Burns should serve as a member of our board of directors due to her expertise in corporate finance, accounting and strategy, including experience gained as the chief financial officer of public companies. She also brings expertise in global and operational management, including a background in organizational leadership and human resources. Jonathan D. Klein has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2011. Mr. Klein is co-founder and chief executive officer of Getty Images, Inc., a global digital media company and the premier creator and distributor of still imagery and video worldwide. Mr. Klein has also served as a member of the board of directors of Getty Images, Inc. (and its predecessor company Getty Communications) since March 1995. Mr. Klein has served as a member of the board of directors of Squarespace, Inc., a provider of web publishing products and services, since July 2010 and served as a member of the board of directors of Real Networks, Inc., a provider of Internet streaming media delivery software and services, from January 2003 to November 2011. Mr. Klein also serves as a member of the boards of directors of numerous non-profit organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Groton School, where he serves as president, and Friends 120 of the Global Fight Against HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, where he serves as chairman. Mr. Klein holds an M.A. in law from the University of Cambridge. Mr. Klein should serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive experience with communications and media companies. Fred Wilson has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2007 and has served as our lead independent director since October 2014. Mr. Wilson was a founder and has served as a managing partner of Union Square Ventures, a venture capital firm, since June 2003. Mr. Wilson also serves on the boards of directors of various private companies in connection with his role at Union Square Ventures. Mr. Wilson holds an S.B. in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wilson should serve as a member of our board of directors due to his extensive experience with social media and technology companies, as a venture capitalist, and as one of our early investors. Our directors hold office until their successors have been elected and qualified or appointed, or the earlier of their death, resignation or removal. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers. Director Independence We intend to apply to have our common stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The listing rules of this stock exchange generally require that a majority of the members of a listed company’s board of directors be independent within 12 months following the closing of an initial public offering. Our board of directors has determined that none of our non-employee directors has a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and that each of these directors is “independent” as that term is defined under the rules of Nasdaq. The independent members of our board of directors will hold separate regularly scheduled executive session meetings at which only independent directors are present. Audit committee members must also satisfy the independence rules in SEC Rule 10A-3 adopted under the Exchange Act. In order to be considered independent for purposes of Rule 10A-3, a member of an audit committee of a public company may not, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the audit committee, the board of directors or any other board committee, accept, directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from the listed company or any of its subsidiaries or be an affiliated person of the listed company or any of its subsidiaries. Each of qualify as an independent director pursuant to Rule 10A-3. 121 Board Composition Immediately after this offering, our board of directors will be divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. At each annual meeting of stockholders, the successors to directors whose terms then expire will be elected to serve until the third annual meeting following election. Our directors will be divided among the three classes as follows: • the Class I directors will be , and their terms will expire at our annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2016; • the Class II directors will be , and their terms will expire at our annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2017; and • the Class III directors will be , and their terms will expire at our annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2018. Directors in a particular class will be elected for three-year terms at our annual meeting of stockholders in the year in which their terms expire. As a result, only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. Each director’s term continues until the election and qualification of his or her successor, or the earlier of his or her death, resignation or removal. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will be in effect after this offering provide that only our board of directors can fill vacant directorships, including newly created seats. Any additional directorships resulting from an increase in the authorized number of directors would be distributed among the three classes so that, as nearly as possible, each class would consist of one-third of the authorized number of directors. The classification of our board of directors may have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in our control or management. See “Description of Capital Stock—Anti-Takeover Provisions—Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions.” Board Oversight of Risk One of the key functions of our board of directors is informed oversight of our risk management process. In particular, our board of directors is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure, and our executive officers are responsible for the day-to-day management of the material risks we face. Our board of directors administers its oversight function directly as a whole and through its standing committees. For example, our audit committee is responsible for overseeing the management of risks associated with financial reporting, accounting and auditing matters; our compensation committee oversees the management of risks associated with executive compensation policies and programs; and our nominating 122 and corporate governance committee oversees the management of risks associated with director independence, conflicts of interest, composition and organization of our board of directors and director succession planning. Board Committees Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee, to be effective after this offering. Our board of directors may establish other committees to facilitate the management of our business. Our board of directors and its committees meet throughout the year and may also hold special meetings and act by written consent from time to time, as appropriate. Our board of directors has delegated various responsibilities and authority to its committees as generally described below. The committees will regularly report on their activities and actions to our full board of directors. Each member of each committee of our board of directors qualifies as an independent director in accordance with listing standards. Each committee of our board of directors has a written charter approved by our board of directors, which will be posted on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.etsy.com after this offering. The inclusion of our website address in this prospectus does not include or incorporate by reference the information on our website into this prospectus. Members serve on these committees until their resignation or until otherwise determined by our board of directors. Audit Committee The members of our audit committee will be after this offering, each of whom can read and understand fundamental financial statements. are each independent under the rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of Nasdaq applicable to audit committee members. will chair the audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that qualifies as an audit committee financial expert within the meaning of SEC regulations and meets the financial sophistication requirements of Nasdaq. Our audit committee assists our board of directors’ oversight of the following: the integrity of our financial statements, our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, the qualifications, independence and performance of our independent registered public accounting firm, the design and implementation of our internal audit function and risk assessment and risk management. Among other things, our audit committee is responsible for reviewing and discussing with our management the adequacy and effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures. The audit committee also discusses with our management and independent registered public accounting firm the annual audit plan and scope of audit activities, scope and timing of the annual audit of our financial statements and the results of the audit, quarterly reviews of our financial statements and, as appropriate, initiates inquiries into other aspects of our financial affairs. Our audit committee is responsible for establishing and overseeing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of any complaints reporting accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters, as well as for the confidential and anonymous submissions by our employees concerning questionable accounting or auditing matters. In addition, our audit committee has direct responsibility for 123 the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of the work of our independent registered public accounting firm. Our audit committee has sole authority to approve the hiring and discharging of our independent registered public accounting firm, all audit engagement fees and terms and all permissible non-audit engagements with our independent registered public accounting firm. Our audit committee will review and oversee all related person transactions in accordance with our policies and procedures. Compensation Committee The members of our compensation committee will be after this offering. will chair the compensation committee. Each member of our compensation committee is independent under the rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of Nasdaq applicable to compensation committee members. Our compensation committee assists our board of directors with its oversight of the forms and amount of compensation for our executive officers, and the administration of our incentive plans for employees and other service providers, including our equity incentive plans, and certain other matters related to our compensation programs. Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee will be after this offering. will chair the nominating and corporate governance committee. Our nominating and corporate governance committee assists our board of directors with its oversight of and identification of individuals qualified to become members of our board of directors, consistent with criteria approved by our board of directors, and selects, or recommends that our board of directors select, director nominees; develops and recommends to our board of directors a set of corporate governance guidelines; and oversees the evaluation of our board of directors. Code of Conduct Our board of directors has adopted a code of conduct that will be effective after this offering and will apply to all of our employees, officers and directors. We also expect our contractors, consultants, suppliers and agents to follow our code of conduct in connection with their work for us. Our code of conduct represents the standards by which we operate and reflects our values of being a mindful, transparent and humane business. The purpose of our code of conduct is to promote: honesty and integrity, including with respect to actual or apparent conflicts of interest; full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in periodic reports to be filed by us; and compliance with all applicable rules and regulations. The code of conduct will be posted on the Investor Relations section of our website at www.etsy.com after this offering. We intend to disclose future amendments to, or waivers of, our code of conduct at the same location on our website. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and you should not consider information contained on our website to be part of this prospectus or in deciding whether to invest in our common stock. 124 Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation As noted above, the compensation committee of our board of directors will consist of . During our fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, our compensation committee consisted of Jonathan D. Klein and Fred Wilson. None of our executive officers serves, or served during our fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any other entity that has or has had one or more executive officers serving as a member of our board of directors or our compensation committee. 2014 Director Compensation Prior to this offering, we did not have a formal compensation program for non-employee directors. We have granted stock option awards on an ad hoc basis to members of our board of directors who are not otherwise affiliated with us. In April 2014 we granted an option to purchase 253,294 shares of our common stock to M. Michele Burns in connection with her election to our board of directors. The option vests 25% when Ms. Burns completes 12 months of continuous service with us and then in equal monthly installments over the following 36 months of her service with us. We reimburse directors for their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in attending board of directors and committee meetings. For services rendered during the year ended December 31, 2014, our non-employee directors received the following compensation: Name Option Awards ($)(1) Total ($) Fred Wilson — — James W. Breyer — — M. Michele Burns 629,537 (2) 629,537 Caterina Fake(3) — — Jonathan D. Klein — — Daniel Rimer(4) — — (1) As of December 31, 2014, Mr. Klein held options to purchase 478,261 shares of Etsy common stock, Ms. Burns held options to purchase 253,294 shares of Etsy common stock and no other non-employee member of our board of directors held Etsy options or stock awards. (2) The value disclosed is the aggregate grant date fair value of options to purchase 253,294 shares granted to Ms. Burns in 2014 computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. See Note 9 of the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for a discussion of the assumptions made by us in determining the grant date fair value of our equity awards. (3) Ms. Fake resigned from our board of directors in July 2014. (4) Mr. Rimer resigned from our board of directors in March 2015. In March 2015, we adopted a new non-employee director compensation program that will be effective upon the completion of this offering. Under this program, each new, non-employee director who joins our board of directors will be granted equity compensation (in the form of stock options or restricted stock units) upon the effective date of his or her election to our board of directors with a fair value (calculated in accordance with FASB 125 ASC Topic 718) at the time of grant equal to $350,000. Equity awards for new directors will vest in equal annual installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date if the director has served continuously as a member of our board of directors through the applicable vesting date. In addition, equity awards for new directors will vest in full in the event that we are subject to a change in control or upon certain other events. Beginning in 2016 on the date of our annual meeting of stockholders, each non-employee director will receive an annual board retainer equity award with a fair value (calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718) at the time of grant equal to $175,000. At the election of the director, up to 50% of the annual retainer may be paid in cash. Equity awarded as an annual retainer will vest in full on the date of our next annual meeting of stockholders if the director has served continuously as a member of our board of directors through the date of that meeting. In addition, annual retainer equity awards will vest in full in the event that we are subject to a change in control or upon certain other events. A director will not be eligible to receive an annual retainer in the same calendar year in which he or she receives an initial new director equity grant. In addition to the annual and new director fees described above, non-employee directors will receive the following payments in cash, payable annually: Role Annual Cash Payments ($) Lead Independent Director 15,000 Audit Committee Chairperson 18,000 Audit Committee Member 9,000 Compensation Committee Chairperson 10,000 Compensation Committee Member 5,000 Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Chairperson 6,000 Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Member 3,000 Mr. Breyer and Mr. Wilson have waived their compensation as directors. 126 Executive Compensation Summary Compensation Table The following table provides information concerning the compensation of our chief executive officer and our two other most highly compensated executive officers, or our named executive officers. Name and Principal Position Year Salary ($) Bonus ($) Option Awards ($)(1) Non-equity Incentive Plan Compensation ($) All Other Compensation ($) Total ($) Chad Dickerson 2014 300,000 — — 247,500 — 547,500 President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman 2013 300,000 — — — — 300,000 Kristina Salen 2014 297,917 — — 211,750 70,316 (2) 579,983 Chief Financial Officer 2013 251,202 175,000 1,715,430 — 192,333 2,333,965 Jordan Breslow 2014 275,000 — — 166,375 — 441,375 General Counsel and Secretary 2013 38,616 75,000 1,010,468 — 25,000 1,149,074 (1) The amounts in this column represent the aggregate grant date fair value of stock option awards granted to the officer in the applicable fiscal year computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 and do not reflect cash compensation actually received by the named executive officer. See Note 9 of the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for a discussion of the assumptions made by us in determining the grant date fair value of our equity awards. (2) Represents a payment of $43,234 in connection with Ms. Salen’s relocation to the New York metropolitan area, plus a tax gross-up of $27,082 on the value of the relocation benefits. Narrative Explanation of Compensation Arrangements with Our Named Executive Officers In 2014, the compensation of our named executive officers consisted primarily of base salary, annual cash incentive bonuses and long-term equity incentive compensation, in the form of stock options. Base Salaries For the year ended December 31, 2014, the annual base salaries for our named executive officers were as follows: Mr. Dickerson—$300,000; Ms. Salen—$300,000; and Mr. Breslow—$275,000. Historically, the base salaries of our executive officers have been reviewed on an ad hoc basis and adjusted only when our board of directors or compensation committee determines an adjustment is appropriate. In February 2014, Ms. Salen’s salary was increased from her initial base salary of $275,000 to $300,000 in light of her performance in 2013 and her responsibilities. 127 Annual Cash Incentive Bonuses Prior to 2014, we did not have a regular annual cash incentive bonus program for our executive officers. In 2014, our compensation committee approved an annual cash incentive plan in which certain of our employees, including our named executive officers, participated. The bonus plan was funded based upon the satisfaction of company-wide Adjusted EBITDA margin and net revenue goals. Because we exceeded our Adjusted EBITDA margin goal, the bonus plan was funded above target. The target bonuses for our named executive officers for 2014, as a percentage of base salary, were 75% for Mr. Dickerson, 59% for Ms. Salen and 50% for Mr. Breslow, and the actual bonus payouts were 110% of target for Mr. Dickerson and 121% of target for Ms. Salen and Mr. Breslow. The individual bonus payments were approved by our compensation committee and our board of directors with input from Mr. Dickerson for the other named executive officers. Long-Term Equity Incentive Compensation We grant stock options to our employees, including our named executive officers, as the long-term equity incentive component of our compensation program. Stock options allow employees to purchase shares of our common stock at a price no less than the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant and are generally granted to employees in connection with their commencement of employment. Our board of directors or compensation committee from time to time also grants stock options to certain employees who have had a long tenure at Etsy, who have taken on significant new responsibilities or as a reward for superior performance. Employee stock options generally vest 25% when an employee completes 12 months of service with us and then in equal monthly installments over the following 36 months of service with us. None of our named executive officers received stock options in 2014. In January 2015, we granted an option to purchase 600,000 shares of our common stock to Mr. Dickerson and an option to purchase 290,000 shares of our common stock to Ms. Salen. The options vest 25% upon Mr. Dickerson’s or Ms. Salen’s 12 months of continuous service from January 30, 2015 and then in equal monthly installments over his or her following 36 months of service with us. For information regarding the vesting acceleration provisions applicable to the options held by our named executive officers, see “—Change in Control Benefits” below. Employee Benefits and Perquisites Our named executive officers are eligible to participate in our health and welfare plans to the same extent as other full-time employees generally. We generally do not provide our named executive officers with perquisites or other personal benefits. From time to time, however, we provide relocation benefits to new executive officers. 128 Outstanding Equity Awards at 2014 Fiscal Year-End The following table sets forth information regarding unexercised stock options held by each of our named executive officers as of December 31, 2014. Stock Option Awards Name Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options Exercisable(#) Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options Unexercisable(#) Option Exercise Price ($) Option Expiration Date Chad Dickerson 600,000 350,000 (1) 1.15 7/28/2021 1,713,876 1,521,702 (2) 2.38 7/16/2022 Kristina Salen 697,515 824,336 (3) 2.38 2/3/2023 Jordan Breslow 192,345 517,852 (4) 3.11 12/10/2023 (1) This stock option vested 25% on July 19, 2012, with the remainder vesting in 36 equal monthly installments thereafter if Mr. Dickerson remains continuously employed with us on each vesting date. (2) This stock option vested 25% on June 11, 2013, with the remainder vesting in 36 equal monthly installments thereafter if Mr. Dickerson remains continuously employed with us on each vesting date. (3) This stock option vested 25% on February 3, 2014, with the remainder vesting in 36 equal monthly installments thereafter if Ms. Salen remains continuously employed with us on each vesting date. (4) This stock option vested 25% on November 11, 2014, with the remainder vesting in 36 equal monthly installments thereafter if Mr. Breslow remains continuously employed with us on each vesting date. For information regarding the vesting acceleration provisions applicable to the options held by our named executive officers, see “—Change in Control Benefits” below. Employment Agreements A summary of the material terms of the employment letter agreements with our named executive officers and other arrangements providing benefits in connection with such officers’ termination of employment or in connection with a change in control is below. Chad Dickerson In August 2011, we entered into an employment letter agreement with Mr. Dickerson in connection with his promotion to chief executive officer. Under this agreement, Mr. Dickerson’s annual salary was set at $300,000 per year and he received an option to purchase 2,400,000 shares of our common stock, as described in more detail above under “—Outstanding Equity Awards at 2014 Fiscal Year-End.” In addition, for information regarding the vesting acceleration provisions applicable to Mr. Dickerson’s stock options, see “—Change in Control Benefits” below. If Mr. Dickerson’s employment is terminated in an involuntary termination, he will be entitled to the severance benefits described below under “—Severance Benefits” or “—Change in Control Benefits.” 129 Kristina Salen In January 2013, we entered into an employment letter agreement with Ms. Salen in connection with her appointment as our chief financial officer. Under this agreement, Ms. Salen’s annual salary was set at $275,000 and she is eligible to receive a cash incentive bonus for each fiscal year starting in 2014 if the relevant performance measures are satisfied. Ms. Salen also received a signing bonus of $175,000 and was entitled to relocation benefits to assist with her move to the New York metropolitan area. Pursuant to subsequent letter agreements we entered into with Ms. Salen, she received a temporary living stipend, an additional relocation payment and a gross-up for taxes incurred in connection with her temporary housing and transportation reimbursements in connection with her relocation. In addition, pursuant to Ms. Salen’s employment letter agreement, she received an option to purchase 1,521,851 shares of our common stock in 2013, as described in more detail above under “—Outstanding Equity Awards at 2014 Fiscal Year-End.” In addition, for information regarding the vesting acceleration provisions applicable to Ms. Salen’s stock options, see “—Change in Control Benefits” below. If Ms. Salen’s employment is involuntarily terminated, she will be entitled to the severance benefits described below under “—Severance Benefits” or “—Change in Control Benefits.” Jordan Breslow In October 2013, we entered into an employment letter agreement with Mr. Breslow in connection with his appointment as our general counsel. Under this agreement, Mr. Breslow’s annual salary was set at $275,000 and he is eligible to receive a cash incentive bonus for each fiscal year starting in 2014 if the relevant performance measures are satisfied. Mr. Breslow also received a signing bonus of $75,000 and was entitled to relocation benefits of up to $25,000 to assist with his move to the New York metropolitan area. In addition, pursuant to Mr. Breslow’s employment letter agreement, he received an option to purchase 710,197 shares of our common stock in 2013, as described in more detail above under “—Outstanding Equity Awards at 2014 Fiscal-Year End.” In addition, for information regarding the vesting acceleration provisions applicable to Mr. Breslow’s stock options, see “—Change in Control Benefits” below. If Mr. Breslow’s employment is involuntarily terminated, he will be entitled to the severance benefits described below under “—Severance Benefits” or “—Change in Control Benefits.” 130 Severance and Change in Control Benefits Prior to the completion of this offering, only Mr. Dickerson was provided severance benefits. In connection with this offering, our board adopted the severance plan and change in control severance plan described below. Severance Benefits Severance Plan In 2015, our board of directors adopted a severance plan for key employees, including our named executive officers, effective upon the completion of this offering. Under the severance plan, if we terminate a named executive officer’s employment without cause or if a named executive officer terminates employment for good reason other than in the 3 months before or 12 months after a change in control, then, if the named executive officer signs a release of claims, he or she will be entitled to receive continued salary payments for 12 months, in the case of Mr. Dickerson, and 6 months, in the case of Ms. Salen and Mr. Breslow. The named executive officer will also be entitled to receive reimbursement for healthcare continuation coverage for the lesser of the number of months in the severance period or until healthcare continuation coverage ends or the named executive officer becomes eligible for substantially equivalent coverage. This severance plan supersedes Mr. Dickerson’s prior severance benefits. Chad Dickerson Prior to the completion of this offering, Mr. Dickerson was provided severance benefits pursuant to his employment letter agreement. Under this agreement, if we terminated Mr. Dickerson’s employment without cause or if he resigned for good reason, we would continue to pay his base salary for a period of six months. The salary continuation would be subject to Mr. Dickerson’s resignation from our board of directors and the boards of directors of any of our subsidiaries and execution of a release of claims. Change in Control Benefits Change in Control Severance Plan In 2015, our board of directors also adopted a change in control severance plan for key employees, including our named executive officers, effective upon the completion of this offering. Under this change in control severance plan, if we terminate a named executive officer’s employment without cause or if a named executive officer terminates employment for good reason in the 3 months before or 12 months after a change in control, then, if the named executive officer signs a release of claims, he or she will be entitled to receive continued salary payments for 24 months, in the case of Mr. Dickerson, and 12 months, in the case of Ms. Salen and Mr. Breslow. The named executive officer will also be entitled to receive reimbursement for healthcare continuation coverage for the lesser of the number of months in the severance period or until healthcare continuation coverage ends or the executive becomes eligible for substantially equivalent 131 coverage. Finally, the named executive officer will be entitled to full vesting of any outstanding equity awards then held by the named executive officer. This change in control severance plan supersedes Mr. Dickerson’s prior change in control severance benefits. Chad Dickerson Prior to the completion of this offering, only Mr. Dickerson was provided severance benefits in connection with a change in control. Pursuant to Mr. Dickerson’s stock option agreements, in the event that we experienced a change in control and, within 12 months following such change in control, Mr. Dickerson was terminated involuntarily, his stock options would fully vest. Equity Plans 2015 Equity Incentive Plan Our board of directors adopted the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan in , and our stockholders approved it in . The 2015 Plan became effective immediately on adoption although no awards will be made under it until the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Our 2015 Stock Equity Incentive will replace our 2006 Stock Plan described below, and no further grants will be made under our 2006 Stock Plan following completion of this offering. However, awards outstanding under the 2006 Stock Plan will continue to be governed by their existing terms. Share Reserve. The number of shares of our common stock available for issuance under our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan will equal the sum of (a) shares , (b) the number of shares of our common stock remaining available for issuance under our 2006 Stock Plan as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and (c) the number of shares of our common stock subject to awards under our 2006 Stock Plan that subsequently expire or lapse unexercised and shares issued pursuant to such awards that are forfeited or repurchased by us (such combined number not to exceed shares). The number of shares reserved for issuance under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan will be increased automatically on the first business day of each of our fiscal years during the term of the plan, commencing in 2016, by a number equal to the smallest of: • shares; • % of the number of shares of common stock outstanding on December 31 of the prior year; and • the number of shares determined by our board of directors. In general, to the extent that any awards under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan are forfeited, terminate, expire or lapse without the issuance of shares, or if we repurchase the shares subject to awards granted under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, those shares will again become available for issuance under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, as will shares applied to pay the exercise or purchase price of an award or to satisfy tax withholding obligations related to any award. All share numbers described in this summary of the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan will automatically adjust in the event of a stock split, a stock dividend, a reverse stock split or similar occurrence. 132 Administration. Our compensation committee administers the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan. The compensation committee has complete discretion to make all decisions relating to the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan and outstanding awards, including repricing outstanding options and modifying outstanding awards. Eligibility. Employees, non-employee directors and consultants are eligible to participate in our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan. Types of Award. Our 2015 Equity Incentive Plan provides for the following types of awards: • incentive and nonstatutory stock options; • stock appreciation rights; • restricted share awards; • stock unit awards; and • performance cash awards. Options and Stock Appreciation Rights. The exercise price for options granted under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the grant date. Optionees may pay the exercise price in cash or, with the consent of the compensation committee and as set forth in the applicable option grant agreement: • with shares of common stock that the optionee already owns; • by an immediate sale of shares through a broker approved by us; • through a net exercise procedure; or • by other methods permitted by applicable law. An optionee who exercises a stock appreciation right receives the increase in value of our common stock over the exercise price. The exercise price for stock appreciation rights may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the grant date. The settlement value of a stock appreciation right may be paid in cash, shares of our common stock or a combination of these forms of payment. Options and stock appreciation rights vest as determined by the compensation committee at the time of grant. In most cases, they will vest over a four-year period following the date of grant. Options and stock appreciation rights expire at the time determined by the compensation committee but in no event more than ten years after they are granted. These awards generally expire earlier if the participant’s service terminates earlier. No participant may be granted stock options and stock appreciation rights covering more than 2,000,000 shares (or stock options and/or stock appreciation rights covering more than 4,000,000 shares for a new hire) in any fiscal year. 133 Restricted Shares and Stock Units. Restricted shares and stock units may be awarded under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan in return for any lawful consideration, and participants who receive restricted shares or stock units generally are not required to pay cash for their awards. In general, these awards will be subject to vesting. Vesting may be based on length of service, the attainment of performance-based goals or a combination of both, as determined by the compensation committee. No participant may be granted restricted share awards and stock units covering more than 1,500,000 shares (or 3,000,000 restricted shares and/or restricted stock units for a new hire) in any fiscal year. This annual limit is in addition to any stock options and stock appreciation rights the participant may receive during a calendar year. Settlement of vested stock units may be made in the form of cash, shares of common stock or a combination of these forms of payment. The permissible performance goals to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code are listed under “—Performance Goals.” Performance Cash Awards. Performance cash awards may be granted under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan that qualify as performance-based compensation that is not subject to the income tax deductibility limitations imposed by Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, if the award is approved by our compensation committee and the grant or vesting of the award is tied solely to the attainment of performance goals during a designated performance period. The permissible performance goals to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code are listed under “—Performance Goals.” No participant may be paid more than $1,500,000 in cash (or $3,000,000 for a new hire) in any fiscal year pursuant to a performance cash award granted under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan. Performance Goals. Performance goals for the grant or vesting of awards under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan may be based on any one of, or combination of, the following: budget performance, buyer acquisition, retention and/or growth, cash flow, cash flow return on investment, comparisons with various stock market indices, costs and expenses (including reduction of both), earnings or earnings per share (including earnings before taxes, earnings before interest and taxes, earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, including adjusted measures), employee satisfaction and/or retention, free cash flow or free cash flow per share, gross margin, gross profits, headcount, market share, net income (before or after taxes), operating income or EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) on a GAAP or non-GAAP basis, operating or EBIT margin, return on assets, investment or capital employed, return on equity or average stockholders’ equity, revenue (gross or net), GMS, seller acquisition, retention and/or growth, member satisfaction, stockholders’ equity, stock price return relative to market indices and/or peer group, total stockholder return and working capital. Any of the above metrics may be measured either in absolute terms, compared to any incremental increase or decrease or compared to results of a peer group, to market performance indicators or to market indices. To the extent a performance award is not intended to comply with Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, the compensation committee may select other measures of performance. 134 Corporate Transactions. In the event we are a party to a merger, consolidation or certain change in control transactions, outstanding awards granted under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, and all shares acquired under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, will be subject to the terms of the definitive transaction agreement (or, if there is no such agreement, as determined by our compensation committee). Unless an award agreement provides otherwise, such treatment may include any of the following with respect to each outstanding award: • the continuation, assumption or substitution of an award by us or the acquiror or surviving corporation; • the cancellation of the unvested portion of an award without payment of any consideration; • the cancellation of the vested portion of options and stock appreciation rights in exchange for a payment equal to the excess, if any, of the value that a holder of a share of our common stock receives in the transaction over the exercise or purchase price of such award; • the cancellation of outstanding stock units (whether vested or unvested) in exchange for a payment equal to the value that a holder of a share of our common stock receives in such transaction; or • the assignment of any repurchase or reacquisition rights held by us to the surviving or acquiring entity. The compensation committee is not required to treat all awards, or portions thereof, in the same manner. The compensation committee has the discretion to provide that an award granted under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan will vest on an accelerated basis if we are subject to a change in control or if the participant is subject to an involuntary termination, either at the time such award is granted or afterwards. A change in control includes: • any person acquiring beneficial ownership of more than 50% of our total voting power; • the sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of our assets; • our merger or consolidation after which our voting securities represent 50% or less of the total voting power of the surviving or acquiring entity; or • individuals who are members of our board of directors or individuals who were approved or recommended by members of our board of directors cease to constitute a majority of our board of directors over a 12-month period. Changes in Capitalization. In the event that there is a specified type of change in the capital structure of our common stock, such as a stock split, reverse stock split or dividend paid in common stock, proportionate adjustments will automatically be made to the kind and maximum number of shares: • reserved for issuance under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan; 135 • by which the share reserve may increase automatically each year; • that may be granted to a participant in a year (as established under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan pursuant to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code); • that may be issued upon the exercise of incentive stock options; and • covered by each outstanding option, stock appreciation right and stock unit; as well as the exercise price applicable to each outstanding option and stock appreciation right and the repurchase price, if any, applicable to restricted shares. In the event that there is a declaration of an extraordinary dividend payable in a form other than our common stock in an amount that has a material effect on the price of our common stock, a recapitalization, a spin-off or a similar occurrence, the compensation committee may make such adjustments as it deems appropriate, in its sole discretion. Amendments or Termination. Our board of directors may amend or terminate the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan at any time. If our board of directors amends the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, it does not need to ask for stockholder approval of the amendment unless required by applicable law, regulation or rules. The 2015 Equity Incentive Plan will continue in effect for ten years from the later of its adoption date or the date of approval of the latest share increase, unless our board of directors decides to terminate the plan earlier. Forfeiture. Awards under the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan are subject to recovery to the extent required by any law, government regulation, stock exchange listing requirement or company policy. 2006 Stock Plan Our board of directors adopted our 2006 Stock Plan in May 2006, and our stockholders approved it in June 2006. The most recent amendment to the 2006 Stock Plan was adopted by our board of directors in December 2013, and we obtained stockholder approval of that amendment in January 2014. No further awards will be made under our 2006 Stock Plan after this offering. The awards outstanding after this offering under the 2006 Stock Plan will continue to be governed by their existing terms. Share Reserve. We have reserved 48,505,935 shares of our common stock for issuance under the 2006 Stock Plan, all of which may be issued as incentive stock options. In general, if options or shares awarded under the 2006 Stock Plan are reacquired or repurchased by us or otherwise forfeited by a 2006 Stock Plan participant, then those shares or option shares will again become available for awards under the 2006 Stock Plan. Administration. Our board of directors administered the 2006 Stock Plan before this offering, and the compensation committee will administer the 2006 Stock Plan after this offering. Before this offering, our board of directors had, and after this offering, our compensation committee will have, complete discretion to make all decisions relating to our 2006 Stock Plan. 136 Eligibility. Employees, members of our board of directors who are not employees and consultants are eligible to participate in our 2006 Stock Plan. Types of Award. Our 2006 Stock Plan provides for the following types of awards: • incentive and nonstatutory stock options; and • direct award or sale of shares of our common stock, including restricted shares (subject to a right of repurchase by us upon the participant’s termination with respect to unvested shares). Options and restricted shares vest at the times determined by our board of directors. Both options and restricted shares generally vest over a four-year period following the date of grant. Options expire not more than 10 years after they are granted but generally expire earlier if the participant’s service terminates earlier. Options. The exercise price for options granted under the 2006 Stock Plan may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the option grant date. Participants may pay the exercise price of options, or the purchase price of shares, by using cash or cash equivalents. In addition, at the discretion of our board of directors, payment may be made by using: • a full-recourse promissory note, against which the purchased shares are pledged as security for payment of the principal amount of, and interest on, the note; • shares of common stock that the optionee already owns; • an immediate sale of the option shares through a broker designated by us; • in the case of a sale of shares, services rendered to us; or • any other form of payment permitted by applicable law. Restricted Stock. We may grant or sell restricted stock to participants under the 2006 Stock Plan. Change in Control. In the event we are a party to a merger or consolidation, outstanding options granted under the 2006 Stock Plan will be subject to the terms of the definitive transaction agreement. Such treatment shall include any of the following: • the continuation, assumption or substitution of the option by us or the acquiror or surviving corporation; • the full exercisability of outstanding options and full vesting of the common shares subject to options, followed by cancellation of such options; or • the cancellation of the outstanding options in exchange for a payment equal to the excess, if any, of the value that a holder of a share of our common stock receives in the transaction over the exercise price of the option. 137 Changes in Capitalization. In the event that there is a specified type of change in the capital structure of our common stock, such as a stock split, reverse stock split or dividend paid in common stock, proportionate adjustments will automatically be made to the kind and maximum number of shares: • reserved for issuance under the 2006 Stock Plan; • that may be issued upon the exercise of incentive stock options; and • covered by each outstanding option; as well as the exercise price applicable to each outstanding option. In the event that there is a declaration of an extraordinary dividend payable in a form other than our common stock in an amount that has a material effect on the price of our common stock, a recapitalization, a spin-off or a similar occurrence, the compensation committee may make such adjustments as it deems appropriate, in its sole discretion. Amendments or Termination. Our board of directors may amend or terminate the 2006 Stock Plan at any time. If our board of directors amends the 2006 Stock Plan, it does not need to ask for stockholder approval of the amendment unless the amendment increases the number of shares available for issuance, materially changes the class of persons eligible to receive incentive stock options or is otherwise required by applicable law. The 2006 Stock Plan will continue in effect for ten years from the later of its adoption date or the date of approval of the latest share increase, unless our board of directors decides to terminate the plan earlier. 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan General. Our board of directors adopted our 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or our ESPP, in , and our stockholders approved it in . The ESPP will become effective as of the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Our ESPP is intended to qualify under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code. Share Reserve. We have reserved shares of our common stock for issuance under the ESPP. The number of shares reserved for issuance under the ESPP will automatically be increased on the first business day of each of our fiscal years, commencing in 2016, by a number equal to the smallest of: • shares; • % of the shares of common stock outstanding on the last business day of the prior fiscal year; or • the number of shares determined by our board of directors. 138 The number of shares reserved under the ESPP will automatically be adjusted in the event of a stock split, stock dividend, extraordinary dividend payable in a form other than our common stock in an amount that has a material effect on the price of our common stock or a reverse stock split (including an adjustment to the per-purchase period share limit). Administration. The compensation committee will administer the ESPP. Eligibility. All of our employees are eligible to participate if we employ them for 20 or more hours per week and for more than five months per year. Eligible employees may begin participating in the ESPP at the start of any offering period. Offering Periods. Each offering period will last a number of months determined by the compensation committee, not to exceed 27 months. A new offering period will begin periodically, as determined by the compensation committee. Offering periods may overlap or may be consecutive. Unless otherwise determined by the compensation committee, two offering periods of six months’ duration will begin in each year on January 1 and July 1. However, our compensation committee has not yet determined when to commence operation of the ESPP, so we currently do not expect an offering period to commence in July 2015. Amount of Contributions. Our ESPP permits each eligible employee to purchase common stock through payroll deductions. Each employee’s payroll deductions may not exceed 15% of the employee’s cash compensation. Each participant may purchase up to the number of shares determined by the compensation committee on any purchase date, not to exceed shares. The value of the shares purchased in any calendar year may not exceed $25,000. Participants may withdraw their contributions at any time before the date 10 days before stock is purchased. Purchase Price. The price of each share of common stock purchased under our ESPP will not be less than 85% of the lower of the fair market value per share of common stock on the first day of the applicable offering period or the fair market value per share of common stock on the purchase date. Other Provisions. Employees may end their participation in the ESPP at any time. Participation ends automatically upon termination of employment with us. If we experience a change in control, our ESPP will end and shares will be purchased with the payroll deductions accumulated to date by participating employees. Our board of directors or our compensation committee may amend or terminate the ESPP at any time. If our board of directors amends the ESPP, it does not need to ask for stockholder approval of the amendment unless the amendment increases the number of shares available for issuance, extends the term of the ESPP or is otherwise required by applicable law. The ESPP will continue in effect for twenty years from its adoption date unless our board of directors decides to terminate the ESPP earlier. 139 Management Cash Incentive Plan Our board of directors adopted the Management Cash Incentive Plan, or the Bonus Plan, in March 2015 and our stockholders approved it in 2015. The Bonus Plan became effective upon adoption by our board of directors. General. The Bonus Plan is intended to motivate participants to achieve performance goals through cash incentive awards and is intended to permit awards that meet the requirements of the performance-based compensation exemption from Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code to the extent that it is applicable to us and the Bonus Plan. Administration. Our compensation committee has the authority to administer and interpret the Bonus Plan, including the authority to determine which employees shall be granted awards, the terms and conditions of awards and achievement of performance goals. Performance Criteria. To the extent Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code is applicable to us and an award under the Bonus Plan is intended to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, our compensation committee establishes the performance goal or goals applicable to that award by the 90th day of the performance period (and no later than the date on which 25% of the performance period has lapsed). To the extent Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code is applicable to us and an award under the Bonus Plan is intended to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, the performance criteria will be based on any one of, or combination of, the following: budget performance, buyer acquisition, retention and/or growth, cash flow, cash flow return on investment, comparisons with various stock market indices, costs and expenses (including reduction of both), earnings or earnings per share (including earnings before taxes, earnings before interest and taxes, earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, including adjusted measures), employee satisfaction and/or retention, free cash flow or free cash flow per share, gross margin, gross profits, headcount, market share, net income (before or after taxes), operating income or EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) on a GAAP or non-GAAP basis, operating or EBIT margin, return on assets, investment or capital employed, return on equity or average stockholders’ equity, revenue (gross or net), GMS, seller acquisition, retention and/or growth, member satisfaction, stockholders’ equity, stock price return relative to market indices and/or peer group, total stockholder return and working capital. Any of the above metrics may be measured either in absolute terms, compared to any incremental increase or decrease or compared to results of a peer group, to market performance indicators or to market indices. Our compensation committee can establish other performance goals for any award under the Bonus Plan not intended to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. 140 Maximum Award; Discretion. The maximum award amount payable under the Bonus Plan is $7,500,000. Our compensation committee has the discretion to reduce awards under the Bonus Plan for any reason or increase awards that are not intended to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, up to the maximum award amount. Awards intended to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code cannot be increased beyond the award achieved based on actual performance. Forfeiture. Awards under the Bonus Plan are subject to recovery to the extent required by any law, government regulation, stock exchange listing requirement or company policy. 141 Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions In addition to the compensation arrangements with directors and executive officers described under “Executive Compensation” and “Management” and the registration rights described under “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights,” the following is a description of each transaction since January 1, 2012 and each currently proposed transaction in which: • we have been or are to be a participant; • the amount involved exceeds or will exceed $120,000; and • any of our directors, executive officers or beneficial holders of more than 5% of our capital stock, or any immediate family member of, or person sharing the household with, any of these individuals (other than tenants or employees), had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. Equity Financings Series F Preferred Stock In May 2012, we sold an aggregate of 11,594,203 shares of our Series F preferred stock at a purchase price of $3.45 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $40,000,000. The following table summarizes purchases of our Series F preferred stock by beneficial holders of more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock and an entity founded and managed by one of our directors: Name of Stockholder Shares of Series F Preferred Stock Total Purchase Price Entities affiliated with Accel Partners(1)(2) 4,968,944 $ 17,142,856.80 Breyer Capital L.L.C.(3) 552,105 1,904,762.25 Entities affiliated with Index Ventures(4)(5) 3,450,656 11,904,763.20 Union Square Ventures Opportunity Fund, L.P.(6) 1,380,262 4,761,903.90 (1) Affiliates of Accel Partners holding our securities, whose shares are aggregated for purposes of reporting the above share ownership information, are Accel London II L.P., Accel London Investors 2008 L.P., Accel Growth Fund II L.P., Accel Growth Fund II Strategic Partners L.P. and Accel Growth Fund Investors 2012 L.L.C. (2) James W. Breyer, a member of our board of directors, is a partner at Accel Partners. (3) Mr. Breyer, a member of our board of directors, is the manager of Breyer Capital L.L.C. (4) Affiliates of Index Ventures holding our securities, whose shares are aggregated for purposes of reporting the above share ownership, are Index Ventures Growth I (Jersey), L.P., Index Ventures Growth I Parallel Entrepreneur Fund (Jersey), L.P. and Yucca (Jersey) SLP. (5) Daniel Rimer, a member of our board of directors from April 2012 to March 2015, is a partner at Index Ventures. (6) Fred Wilson, a member of our board of directors, is a partner at Union Square Ventures. 142 Common Stock On April 1, 2014, we sold an aggregate of 6,603,774 shares of our common stock to Tiger Global Private Investment Partners VII, L.P., or Tiger Global PIP VII, and a principal of Tiger Global PIP VII at a purchase price of $5.30 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $35,000,000. Tiger Global PIP VII, a beneficial holder of more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock, purchased 6,601,273 shares of such shares for a total purchase price of $34,986,747. Third-Party Tender Offers 2012 Third-Party Tender Offer In May 2012, we entered into a letter agreement with certain holders of our capital stock pursuant to which we agreed to waive certain transfer restrictions in connection with, and assist in the administration of, a tender offer that such holders proposed to commence. In May 2012, these holders commenced a tender offer to purchase shares of our capital stock from certain of our securityholders at a price of $3.45 per share, less transaction costs, pursuant to an Offer to Purchase to which we were not a party. Chad Dickerson and Kellan Elliott-McCrea, each of whom is an executive officer, as well as other Etsy employees, sold shares of our capital stock in the tender offer. In addition, Handmade Partners LLC, an entity controlled by Albert Wenger, who is a partner of Union Square Ventures, a beneficial holder of more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock, also sold shares of our capital stock in the tender offer. An aggregate of 4,289,778 shares of our capital stock were tendered pursuant to the tender offer, of which entities affiliated with Accel Partners purchased 1,839,027 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $6,280,338, entities affiliated with Index Ventures purchased 1,276,639 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $4,359,765, Union Square Ventures Opportunity Fund, L.P. purchased 510,484 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $1,743,320 and Breyer Capital L.L.C. purchased 204,193 shares for an aggregate purchase price of $697,326. Each of Accel Partners, Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures Opportunity Fund, L.P., together with its respective affiliated entities, is a beneficial holder of more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock. In addition, certain of our directors are affiliated with the purchasers. 2014 Third-Party Tender Offer In January 2014, we entered into a letter agreement with certain third parties, pursuant to which we agreed to waive certain transfer restrictions in connection with, and assist in the administration of, a tender offer that such parties proposed to commence. In January 2014, these parties commenced a tender offer to purchase shares of our capital stock from certain of our securityholders at a price of $5.30 per share, pursuant to an Offer to Purchase to which we were not a party. Chad Dickerson and Kellan Elliott-McCrea were among the Etsy employees who participated in selling shares in the tender offer. In addition, Albert Wenger, who is a partner of Union Square Ventures, a beneficial holder of more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock, Handmade Partners LLC, an entity 143 controlled by Mr. Wenger, and John Buttrick, who is a partner of Union Square Ventures, also sold shares of our capital stock in the tender offer. An aggregate of 6,308,440 shares of our capital stock were tendered pursuant to the tender offer. Investor Rights Agreement Pursuant to a sixth amended and restated investor rights agreement, dated May 1, 2012 and most recently amended on May 2, 2014, certain holders of our preferred stock, including entities with which certain of our directors are affiliated, are entitled to rights with respect to the registration of their shares, including demand registration rights, following this offering. These registration rights will terminate as to any stockholder at such time as all of such stockholder’s securities (together with any affiliate of the stockholder with whom such stockholder must aggregate its sales) could be sold pursuant to Rule 144 of the Securities Act, but in any event no later than the five-year anniversary of this offering. For a description of these registration rights, see “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights.” Right of First Refusal Pursuant to certain of our equity compensation plans and certain agreements with our stockholders, including a third amended and restated first refusal and co-sale agreement dated May 1, 2012 and most recently amended on May 2, 2014, we or our assignees have a right to purchase shares of our capital stock that stockholders propose to sell to other parties. Since January 1, 2012, we have waived or assigned our right of first refusal in connection with the sale of certain shares of our capital stock, resulting in the purchase of such shares by certain holders of more than 5% of our capital stock in a series of transactions. Since January 2014, pursuant to agreements entered into in January 2014, as amended most recently in May 2014, we were obligated to assign all of our contractual rights of first refusal to Tiger Global PIP VII and Tiger Global Private Investment Partners VIII, L.P., or the Tiger Global funds, which funds collectively hold more than 5% of our capital stock, and two principals of the Tiger Global funds until the earlier of December 31, 2014 and such time as certain conditions have been satisfied. Thereafter, we were obligated to assign our contractual rights of first refusal pro rata to entities affiliated with each of Accel Partners, Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures and the Tiger Global funds until the earlier of December 31, 2014 and such time as certain conditions have been satisfied. Our obligation to assign our rights of first refusal to these various funds terminated on December 31, 2014, and our rights of first refusal will terminate upon the completion of this offering. Agreements to Vote We are party to a sixth amended and restated voting agreement dated May 1, 2012 and most recently amended on November 5, 2012 under which certain holders of our capital stock, including entities with which certain of our directors are affiliated, have agreed to vote their shares of our capital stock on certain 144 matters, including with respect to the election of directors. Upon the completion of this offering, this voting agreement will terminate and none of our stockholders will have any special rights regarding the election or designation of members of our board of directors. Pursuant to certain stock transfer and other agreements, if our board of directors approves an amendment to our certificate of incorporation specifying that we become a “public benefit corporation” subject to the requirements of Chapter 1, Subchapter XV of the Delaware General Corporation Law, certain holders of more than 5% of our capital stock have an obligation to vote all voting securities held by such holders, or over which such holders otherwise exercise voting or investment authority, in favor of such amendment. Upon the completion of this offering, the obligation will terminate and none of our stockholders will have any obligation to vote in favor of any such amendment. Indemnification Agreements Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which will be effective upon the completion of this offering, contains provisions limiting the liability of directors, and our amended and restated bylaws, which will be effective upon the completion of this offering, provide that we will indemnify each of our directors to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws also provide our board of directors with discretion to indemnify our officers and employees when determined appropriate by our board of directors. We also intend to enter into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and officers. The indemnification agreements will provide that we will indemnify each such person against any and all expenses incurred by such person because of his or her status as one of our directors or officers, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws. In addition, the indemnification agreements will provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, we will advance all expenses incurred by our directors and officers in connection with a legal proceeding involving his or her status as a director or officer. Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions Our audit committee has the primary responsibility for the review, approval and oversight of any “related person transaction,” which is any transaction, arrangement or relationship (or series of similar transactions, arrangements or relationships) in which we are, were or will be a participant and the amount involved exceeds $120,000, and in which the related person had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. We intend to adopt a written related person transaction policy to be effective upon the completion of this offering. Under our related person transaction policy, our management will be required to submit any related person transaction not previously approved or ratified by our audit committee to our audit committee. In approving or rejecting the proposed transactions, our audit committee will take into account the relevant facts and circumstances and will approve only those transactions that are in, or are not inconsistent with, our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders. 145 Although we have not had a written policy prior to this offering for the review and approval of related person transactions, our board of directors has historically reviewed and approved any transaction where a director or officer had a financial interest, including the transactions described above. Prior to approving such a transaction, the material facts as to a director’s or officer’s relationship or interest as to the agreement or transaction were disclosed to our board of directors, which took take this information into account when evaluating the transaction and determining whether such transaction was fair to us and in the best interest of our stockholders. 146 Principal and Selling Stockholders The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of January 31, 2015, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of common stock offered by us and the selling stockholders in this offering, for: • each of our named executive officers; • each of our directors; • all of our executive officers and directors as a group; • each stockholder, or group of affiliated persons, known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock; and • each of the selling stockholders. We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC, which generally define beneficial ownership to include any shares over which a person exercises sole or shared voting or investment power. Such determination is not necessarily indicative of beneficial ownership for any other purpose. Except as indicated by the footnotes below, we believe, based on the information furnished to us, that the persons and entities named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock that they beneficially own, subject to applicable community property laws. Applicable percentage ownership is based on 196,381,160 shares of common stock outstanding at January 31, 2015, after giving effect to the conversion of all outstanding shares of preferred stock as of that date into an aggregate of 106,896,493 shares of our common stock, which will occur immediately prior to the completion of this offering. For purposes of computing percentage ownership after this offering, we have assumed the issuance and sale by us of shares of common stock in this offering and that the underwriters will not exercise their option to purchase additional shares. In computing the number of shares of common stock beneficially owned by a person and the percentage ownership of that person, we deemed to be outstanding all shares of common stock subject to options or warrants held by that person or entity that are currently exercisable or that will become exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015. We did not deem these shares outstanding, however, for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person. 147 Unless otherwise indicated, the address of each beneficial owner listed in the table below is c/o Etsy, Inc., 55 Washington Street, Suite 512, Brooklyn, New York 11201. Beneficial Ownership Prior to this Offering Shares Being Offered Beneficial Ownership After this Offering Name of Beneficial Owner Number Percent Number Percent Named Executive Officers and Directors: Jordan Breslow(1) 236,732 * James W. Breyer(2) 58,871,865 30.0 % M. Michele Burns(3) 63,323 * Chad Dickerson(4) 4,224,206 2.1 % Jonathan D. Klein(5) 535,326 * Kristina Salen(6) 792,630 * Fred Wilson(7) 29,917,245 15.2 % All executive officers and directors as a group (8 persons)(8) 95,059,043 47.4 % 5% Stockholders: Entities affiliated with Accel Partners(9) 52,984,798 27.0 % Entities affiliated with Index Ventures(10) 25,160,628 12.8 % Entities affiliated with Tiger Global Management(11) 14,237,651 7.3 % Entities affiliated with Union Square Ventures(12) 29,917,245 15.2 % Selling Stockholders: * Less than 1 percent. (1) Consists of 236,732 shares of common stock issuable pursuant to options exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015. (2) Consists of (i) 52,984,798 shares of common stock held by entities affiliated with Accel Partners, as reflected in footnote 9 below; (ii) 2,347,070 shares of common stock held by Mr. Breyer, Trustee of James W. Breyer 2005 Trust dated March 25, 2005; (iii) 2,333,570 shares of common stock held by Mr. Breyer, Trustee of The James W. Breyer 2011 Annuity Trust 3, dated March 10, 2011; and (iv) 1,206,427 shares of common stock held by Breyer Capital L.L.C. Mr. Breyer, a member of our board of directors, is a partner of Accel Partners, and therefore, may be deemed to share voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by Accel Partners. Mr. Breyer is the manager of Breyer Capital L.L.C. and has sole voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by this limited liability company. The address for Mr. Breyer is c/o Accel Partners, 428 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301. (3) Consists of 63,323 shares of common stock issuable pursuant to options exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015. (4) Consists of (i) 1,506,713 shares of common stock held by Mr. Dickerson and Nancy Suess Dickerson as joint tenants with right of survivorship and (ii) 2,717,493 shares of common stock issuable pursuant to options exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015. (5) Consists of (i) 43,479 shares of common stock held by Mr. Klein and Deborah A. Klein; (ii) 43,478 shares of common stock held by the JD Klein Family Settlement Trust; (iii) 428,442 shares of common stock held by Mr. Klein and Deborah A. Klein as community property; and (iv) 19,927 shares of common stock issuable pursuant to options exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015. Abacus Trust Co., Ltd. (Abacus) is the trustee of the JD Klein Family Settlement Trust and has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares held directly by the trust. Eimear Mary Dowling, Stewart Henderson Fleming, Andrew James Cardwell, Martin Heaney, Paul Terence Kneen and John Paul Watterson are the directors of Abacus and, therefore, each may be deemed to share voting and investment power over the securities held by the JD Klein Family Settlement Trust. The address for Mr. Klein is c/o Getty Images, 75 Varick Street, Suite 500, New York, New York 10013. (6) Consists of 792,630 shares of common stock issuable pursuant to options exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015. (7) Consists of 29,917,245 shares of common stock held by entities affiliated with Union Square Ventures, as reflected in footnote 12 below. Mr. Wilson, a member of our board of directors, is a general partner of Union Square Ventures, and therefore, may be deemed to share voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by Union Square Ventures. The address for Mr. Wilson is c/o Union Square Ventures, 915 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10010. 148 (8) Includes (i) 90,811,222 shares of common stock beneficially owned by our directors and named executive officers; (ii) 3,830,105 shares of common stock issuable to our directors and named executive officers pursuant to options exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015; (iii) 100,000 shares of common stock held by an executive officer who is not a named executive officer; and (iv) 317,716 shares of common stock issuable to an executive officer who is not a named executive officer pursuant to options exercisable within 60 days of January 31, 2015. (9) Consists of (i) 29,756,265 shares of common stock held by Accel X L.P. (A10); (ii) 2,571,895 shares of common stock held by Accel X Strategic Partners L.P. (A10SP); (iii) 3,129,765 shares of common stock held by Accel Investors 2008 L.L.C. (Accel Investors 2008); (iv) 6,442,660 shares of common stock held by Accel Growth Fund II L.P. (AGF); (v) 466,657 shares of common stock held by Accel Growth Fund II Strategic Partners L.P. (AGFSP); (vi) 627,212 shares of common stock held by Accel Growth Fund Investors 2012 L.L.C. (AGF Investors 2012); (vii) 9,663,899 shares of common stock held by Accel London II L.P. (Accel London); and (viii) 326,445 shares of common stock held by Accel London Investors 2008 L.P. (Accel London 2008). Accel X Associates L.L.C. (A10A) is the general partner of A10 and A10SP and has sole voting and investment power over the shares held directly by the limited partnerships. Andrew G. Braccia, Mr. Breyer, Kevin J. Efrusy, Sameer K. Gandhi, Ping Li, Tracy L. Sedlock and Richard P. Wong are the managing members of A10A and Accel Investors 2008 and, therefore, may be deemed to share voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by A10, A10SP and Accel Investors 2008. Accel Growth Fund II Associates L.L.C. (AGFA) is the general partner of AGF and AGFSP and has sole voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by the limited partnerships. Andrew G. Braccia, Mr. Breyer, Sameer K. Gandhi, Ping Li, Tracy Sedlock, Ryan J. Sweeney and Richard P. Wong are the managing members of AGFA and AGF Investors 2012 and, therefore, may be deemed to share voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by AGF, AGFSP and AGF Investors 2012. Accel London II Associates L.L.C. (ALA L.L.C.) is the general partner of Accel London 2008 and Accel London II Associates L.P., which is the general partner of Accel London, and has sole voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by Accel London 2008 and Accel London. Jonathan Biggs, Kevin Comolli, Bruce Golden and Hendrik Nelis are the managers of ALA L.L.C. and, therefore, may be deemed to share voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by Accel London and Accel London 2008. We refer to A10A, AGFA, Accel Investors 2008, AGF Investors 2012, ALA L.L.C., Accel London 2008 and affiliated entities as Accel Partners. The address for Accel Partners is 428 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301. (10) Represents (i) 24,190,729 shares of common stock held by Index Ventures Growth I (Jersey), L.P. (Index Growth); (ii) 844,034 shares of common stock held by Index Ventures Growth I Parallel Entrepreneur Fund (Jersey), L.P. (Index Parallel); and (iii) 125,865 shares of common stock held by Yucca (Jersey) SLP (Yucca). Index Venture Growth Associates I Limited is the managing general partner of Index Growth and Index Parallel and is an affiliate of Yucca, and has sole voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by the entities. Bernard Dallé, David Hall, Phil Balderson, Ian Henderson, Nigel Greenwood and Sinéad Meehan are the directors of Index Venture Growth Associates I Limited and, therefore, may be deemed to share voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by Index Growth, Index Parallel and Yucca. We refer to Index Growth, Index Parallel and Yucca as Index Ventures. The address for Index Growth and Index Parallel is No. 1 Seaton Place, St. Helier, Jersey JE48YJ, Channel Islands and for Yucca is c/o Elian Employee Benefit Services Limited, 44 Esplanade, St. Helier, Jersey JE49WG, Channel Islands. (11) Represents (i) 13,449,299 shares of common stock held by Tiger Global Private Investment Partners VII, L.P. (Tiger Global PIP VII) and (ii) 788,352 shares of common stock held by Tiger Global Private Investment Partners VIII, L.P. (Tiger Global PIP VIII). Tiger Global PIP VII and Tiger Global PIP VIII are ultimately controlled by Chase Coleman, Lee Fixel and Scott Shleifer. We refer to Tiger Global PIP VII and Tiger Global PIP VIII as Tiger Global Management. The address for Tiger Global Management is 9 West 57th Street, 35th Floor, New York, New York 10019. (12) Represents (i) 26,491,160 shares of common stock held by Union Square Ventures 2004, L.P. (USV 2004); (ii) 527,710 shares of common stock held by Union Square Principals 2004, L.L.C. (USV Principals); and (iii) 2,898,375 shares of common stock held by Union Square Ventures Opportunity Fund, L.P. (USV OP). Union Square GP 2004, L.L.C. (USV GP) is the general partner of USV 2004 and USV Principals and has sole voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by these limited partnerships. Union Square Opportunity Fund GP, L.L.C. (USV OPGP) is the general partner of USV OP and has sole voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by the limited partnership. We refer to USV GP, USV OPGP and affiliated entities as Union Square Ventures. Mr. Wilson, Brad Burnham, Albert Wenger, Andy Weissman and John Buttrick are partners at Union Square Ventures and, therefore, may be deemed to share voting and investment power with regard to the shares held directly by Union Square Ventures. The address for Union Square Ventures is 915 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10010. 149 Description of Capital Stock This section contains a description of our capital stock and the material provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will be in effect upon the completion of this offering and is qualified by reference to the forms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws filed as exhibits to the registration statement relating to this prospectus, and by the applicable provisions of Delaware law. General Upon the completion of this offering, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize shares of undesignated preferred stock, the rights, preferences and privileges of which may be designated from time to time by our board of directors. Upon the completion of this offering, our authorized capital stock will consist of shares, all with a par value of $0.001 per share, of which: • shares are designated common stock; and • shares are designated preferred stock. As of December 31, 2014, and after giving effect to the automatic conversion of all of our outstanding preferred stock into common stock in connection with this offering, there were outstanding: • 195,258,466 shares of our common stock held of record by 312 stockholders; • 23,050,594 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options; and • 406,060 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants. Additionally, in January 2015, we issued 376,471 shares of common stock to Etsy.org. Common Stock Dividend Rights Subject to preferences that may apply to shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of outstanding shares of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and only then at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine. Under Delaware law, we can only pay dividends either out of “surplus” or out of the current or the immediately preceding year’s net profits. Surplus is defined as the excess, if any, at any given time, of the total assets of a corporation over its total liabilities and statutory 150 capital. The value of a corporation’s assets can be measured in a number of ways and may not necessarily equal their book value. See “Dividend Policy” for more information. Voting Rights The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share. Stockholders do not have the ability to cumulate votes for the election of directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will be in effect upon completion of this offering will provide for a classified board of directors consisting of three classes of approximately equal size, each serving staggered three-year terms. Only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. No Preemptive or Similar Rights Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights and is not subject to conversion, redemption or sinking fund provisions. Right to Receive Liquidation Distributions Upon our dissolution, liquidation or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders are distributable ratably among the holders of our common stock, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights and payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock. Preferred Stock Upon the completion of this offering, no shares of preferred stock will be outstanding. However, we will be authorized, subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law, to issue preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each series, and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each series and any of its qualifications, limitations or restrictions. Our board of directors also can increase or decrease the number of shares of any series, but not below the number of shares of that series then outstanding, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of the common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company and may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of common stock. We have no current plan to issue any shares of preferred stock. 151 Options As of December 31, 2014, we had options to purchase 23,050,594 shares of our common stock outstanding under our 2006 Stock Plan. Subsequent to December 31, 2014, we granted options to purchase 2,037,490 shares of our common stock under our 2006 Stock Plan. Warrants As of December 31, 2014, we had outstanding immediately exercisable warrants to purchase (i) an aggregate of 11,373 shares of our Series C preferred stock at an exercise price of $2.67 per share, or the Series C warrant, (ii) an aggregate of 24,510 shares of our Series D preferred stock at an exercise price of $6.63 per share, or the Series D warrant, and (iii) an aggregate of 4,723 shares of our Series E preferred stock at an exercise price of $15.88 per share, or the Series E warrant. Immediately following this offering, the Series C warrant will be exercisable for 113,730 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.267 per share, the Series D warrant will be exercisable for 245,100 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.663 per share and the Series E warrant will be exercisable for 47,230 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $1.588 per share. The Series C warrant expires on November 14, 2017. The Series D warrant expires on the later of May 15, 2015 and five years from the date of this offering. The Series E warrant expires on the later of August 9, 2017 and five years from the date of this offering. Registration Rights Following the completion of this offering, holders of an aggregate of shares of our common stock will have registration rights. These shares are referred to as registrable securities. The holders of these registrable securities possess registration rights pursuant to the terms of our sixth amended and restated investor rights agreement dated May 1, 2012, as amended, or investor rights agreement, which terms are described in additional detail below. We originally entered into the investor rights agreement in connection with our Series A-1 preferred stock financing and amended it mostly recently on May 2, 2014. Demand Registration Rights Under our investor rights agreement, at any time commencing on the date that is 180 days following the effective date of our first registration statement, upon the written request of the holders of not less than 30% of the registrable securities then outstanding that we file a registration statement under the Securities Act with an anticipated aggregate price to the public of at least $7.5 million, we will be obligated to use our commercially reasonable efforts to register the sale of all registrable securities that holders may request in writing to be registered within 20 days of the mailing of a notice by us to all holders of such registration. We are required to effect no more than two registration statements that are declared or ordered effective, subject to certain exceptions. We may postpone the filing of a registration statement for up to 120 days twice in any 12-month period if in the good faith judgment of our board of directors such registration would 152 be seriously detrimental to us, and we are not required to effect the filing of a registration statement during the period beginning 90 days prior to our good faith estimate of the date of the filing of, and ending on a date 180 days following the effective date of, a registration initiated by us. Piggyback Registration Rights If we register any of our securities for public sale, we will be obligated to use all commercially reasonable efforts to register all registrable securities that the holders of such securities request in writing be registered within 10 days of mailing of notice by us to all holders of the proposed registration. However, this right does not apply to a registration relating solely to employee benefit plans, a registration relating to the offer and sale of debt securities or a registration relating to a corporate reorganization or other transaction under Rule 145 of the Securities Act. The managing underwriter of any underwritten offering will have the right to limit, due to marketing reasons, the number of shares registered by these holders to 25% of the total shares covered by the registration statement, except for in this offering, in which these holders may be excluded entirely if the underwriters determine that the sale of their shares may jeopardize the success of the offering. Form S-3 Registration Rights At any time commencing on the date that is 180 days following the effective date of our first registration statement, the holders of the registrable securities can request that we register all or a portion of their shares on Form S-3 if we are eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-3 and the aggregate price to the public of the shares offered is at least $3 million. We are required to file no more than two registration statements on Form S-3 per 12-month period upon exercise of these rights, subject to certain exceptions. We may postpone the filing of a registration statement for up to 120 days twice in any 12-month period if in the good faith judgment of our board of directors such registration would be seriously detrimental to us, and we are not required to effect the filing of a registration statement during the period beginning 90 days prior to our good faith estimate of the date of the filing of, and ending on a date 180 days following the effective date of, a registration initiated by us. Registration Expenses We will pay all expenses (other than underwriting discounts, selling commissions and stock transfer taxes) of the holders incurred in connection with each of the registrations described above. However, we will not pay for any expenses of any demand or Form S-3 registration if the request is subsequently withdrawn at the request of the holders of a majority of the registrable securities to be registered, subject to limited exceptions. Termination of Registration Rights The registration rights described above will survive this offering and will terminate as to any stockholder at such time as all of such stockholder’s securities (together with any affiliate of the stockholder with whom 153 such stockholder must aggregate its sales) could be sold pursuant to Rule 144 of the Securities Act, but in any event no later than the five-year anniversary of this offering. Anti-Takeover Provisions Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law Upon the completion of this offering, we will be governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law regulating corporate takeovers. This section prevents some Delaware corporations from engaging, under some circumstances, in a business combination. A business combination includes a merger or sale of at least 10% of the corporation’s assets with any interested stockholder, meaning a stockholder who, together with affiliates and associates, owns or, within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status, did own 15% or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock, unless: • the transaction is approved by the board of directors prior to the time that the interested stockholder became an interested stockholder; or • subsequent to such time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders by at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder. A Delaware corporation may “opt out” of these provisions with an express provision in its original certificate of incorporation or an express provision in its certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws resulting from a stockholders’ amendment approved by a majority of the outstanding voting shares. We have not opted out of these provisions. As a result, mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts of us may be discouraged or prevented. Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions Upon the completion of this offering, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws will include a number of provisions that may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or delaying or preventing changes in control of our management team, including the following: Board of Directors Vacancies. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will authorize only our board of directors to fill vacant directorships. In addition, the number of directors constituting our board of directors will be set only by resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions will prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees. Classified Board. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors, each of whom will hold office for a three-year term. In addition, directors may only be removed from our board of directors for 154 cause and only by the approval of our then outstanding shares of our common stock. The existence of a classified board could delay a successful tender offeror from obtaining majority control of our board of directors, and the prospect of that delay might deter a potential offeror. Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that stockholders will not be able to take action by written consent, and will only be able to take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. Stockholders will not be permitted to cumulate their votes for the election of directors. Our amended and restated bylaws will further provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our entire board of directors, the chairman of our board of directors or our chief executive officer. Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations. Our amended and restated bylaws will provide advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at any meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws will also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our meetings of stockholders. Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock. Our board of directors will have the authority, without further action by the holders of common stock, to issue up to shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by our board of directors. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock will enable our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. Choice of Forum Upon the completion of this offering, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. 155 Transfer Agent and Registrar Upon the completion of this offering, the transfer agent and registrar for our common stock will be American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC. The transfer agent’s address is 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11219, and its telephone number is (800) 937-5449. Listing We intend to apply to have our common stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ETSY.” 156 Shares Available for Future Sale Before this offering, there has not been a public market for shares of our common stock. Future sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock, including shares issued upon the exercise of outstanding options, in the public market following this offering or the possibility of these sales occurring could cause the prevailing market price for our common stock to fall or impair our ability to raise equity capital in the future. Following this offering, we will have outstanding shares of our common stock, based on the number of shares outstanding as of December 31, 2014. Of these outstanding shares, all of the shares of common stock sold in this offering will be freely tradable, except that any shares purchased in this offering by our affiliates, as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act, can only be sold in compliance with Rule 144. The remaining shares of common stock that are not sold in this offering will be “restricted securities,” as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. These restricted securities are eligible for public sale only if they are registered under the Securities Act or if they qualify for an exemption from registration under Rule 144 or Rule 701 under the Securities Act, which are summarized below. In addition, all of our executive officers and directors and the holders of substantially all of our capital stock are subject to lock-up agreements with us or the underwriters of this offering that restrict the stockholders’ ability to transfer shares, subject to specific exceptions, of our common stock for periods of at least 180 days, and for a portion of the shares, 270 and 360 days from the date of this prospectus, as described below. As a result of these agreements and the provisions of our investors’ rights agreement described above under “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights,” subject to the provisions of Rule 144 or Rule 701, shares will be available for sale in the public market as follows: • beginning on the date of this prospectus, the shares sold in this offering will be immediately available for sale in the public market; • beginning 181 days after the date of this prospectus, up to an aggregate of additional shares will become eligible for sale in the public market, of which shares will be held by affiliates and subject to the volume and other restrictions of Rule 144, as described below; • beginning 271 days after the date of this prospectus, up to an aggregate of additional shares will become eligible for sale in the public market, of which shares will be held by affiliates and subject to the volume and other restrictions of Rule 144, as described below; • beginning 361 days after the date of this prospectus, up to an aggregate of additional shares will become eligible for sale in the public market, of which shares will be held by affiliates and subject to the volume and other restrictions of Rule 144, as described below; 157 • the remainder of the shares will be eligible for sale in the public market from time to time thereafter, subject in some cases to the volume and other restrictions of Rule 144, as described below. Lock-Up Agreements Our executive officers, directors and stockholders holding substantially all of our outstanding capital stock are subject to lock-up agreements with the underwriters of this offering that restrict the stockholders’ ability to transfer shares of our common stock, subject to certain exceptions, for periods of at least 180 days, and for a portion of the shares, 270 and 360 days from the date of this prospectus, except with the prior written consent of Goldman, Sachs & Co. In addition, substantially all other holders of our common stock, options and warrants have previously entered into lock-up agreements with us not to sell or otherwise transfer any of their common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of common stock for a period that extends until 181 days after the date of this prospectus. See “Underwriting” for a more complete description of the lock-up agreements with the underwriters. Rule 144 In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, a person who has beneficially owned shares of our restricted common stock for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the 90 days preceding, a sale, and we are subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, for at least 90 days before the sale. In addition, under Rule 144, any person who is not an affiliate of ours and has held their shares for at least one year, including the holding period of any prior owner other than one of our affiliates, would be entitled to sell an unlimited number of shares immediately upon the completion of this offering without regard to whether current public information about us is available. Persons who have beneficially owned shares of our restricted common stock for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or any time during the 90 days preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of either of the following: • 1% of the number of common shares then outstanding, which will equal approximately shares immediately after this offering assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, based on the number of common shares outstanding as of December 31, 2014; or • the average weekly trading volume of our common shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale; provided, in each case, that we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least 90 days before the sale. Such sales both by affiliates and by non-affiliates must also comply with the manner of sale, current public information and notice provisions of Rule 144. 158 Rule 701 Any of our service providers who purchased shares under a written compensatory plan or contract prior to this offering may be entitled to rely on the resale provisions of Rule 701. Rule 701, as currently in effect, permits resales of shares, including by affiliates, in reliance upon Rule 144 but without compliance with certain restrictions, including the holding period requirement, of Rule 144. Rule 701 further provides that non-affiliates may sell such shares in reliance on Rule 144 without having to comply with the public information, volume limitation or notice provisions of Rule 144. All holders of Rule 701 shares are required to wait until 90 days after the date of this prospectus before selling such shares if such resale is done under Rule 701. All Rule 701 shares are, however, subject to lock-up agreements and will only become eligible for sale upon the expiration of these lock-up agreements. Registration Rights Upon completion of this offering, the holders of shares of our common stock will have registration rights. See “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights.” All such shares are covered by lock-up agreements. Following the expiration of the lock-up period, registration of these shares under the Securities Act would result in the shares becoming freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act immediately upon the effectiveness of the registration, except for shares purchased by our affiliates. Form S-8 Registration Statements We intend to file a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act covering all of the shares of common stock subject to options outstanding, as well as reserved for future issuance, under our stock plans. We expect to file this registration statement as soon as practicable after this offering. However, none of the shares registered on Form S-8 will be eligible for resale until the expiration of the lock-up agreements to which they are subject. 159 Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations for Non-U.S. Holders of Common Stock The following is a discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations with respect to the ownership and disposition of shares of common stock applicable to non-U.S. holders who acquire such shares in this offering and hold such shares as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) (generally, property held for investment). For purposes of this discussion, a “non-U.S. holder” means a beneficial owner of our common stock (other than an entity or arrangement that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is not, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, any of the following: • a citizen or resident of the United States; • a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, or any other corporation treated as such; • an estate, the income of which is includable in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or • a trust if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more “U.S. persons,” as defined under the Code, have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) such trust has made a valid election to be treated as a U.S. person for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This discussion is based on current provisions of the Code, Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, judicial opinions, published positions of the Internal Revenue Service and other applicable authorities, all of which are subject to change (possibly with retroactive effect). This discussion does not address all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be important to a particular non-U.S. holder in light of that non-U.S. holder’s individual circumstances, nor does it address any aspects of the unearned income Medicare contribution tax pursuant to the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, any U.S. federal estate and gift taxes, any U.S. alternative minimum taxes or any state, local or non-U.S. taxes. This discussion may not apply, in whole or in part, to particular non-U.S. holders in light of their individual circumstances or to holders subject to special treatment under the U.S. federal income tax laws (such as insurance companies, tax-exempt organizations, financial institutions, brokers or dealers in securities, “controlled foreign corporations,” “passive foreign investment companies,” non-U.S. holders that hold our common stock as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion transaction or other integrated investment and certain U.S. expatriates). If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner therein will generally depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Partners of a partnership holding our common 160 stock should consult their tax advisor as to the particular U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable to them. THIS SUMMARY IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF ALL TAX CONSEQUENCES FOR NON-U.S. HOLDERS RELATING TO THE OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR COMMON STOCK. PROSPECTIVE HOLDERS OF OUR COMMON STOCK SHOULD CONSULT WITH THEIR TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM (INCLUDING THE APPLICATION AND EFFECT OF ANY STATE, LOCAL, NON-U.S. INCOME AND OTHER TAX LAWS) OF THE OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR COMMON STOCK. Dividends In general, the gross amount of any distribution we make to a non-U.S. holder with respect to its shares of common stock will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a rate of 30% to the extent the distribution constitutes a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes, unless the non-U.S. holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable tax treaty and the non-U.S. holder provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (generally an applicable Internal Revenue Service Form W-8). A distribution will constitute a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. To the extent any distribution does not constitute a dividend, it will be treated first as reducing the adjusted basis in the non-U.S. holder’s shares of common stock and then, to the extent it exceeds the adjusted basis in the non-U.S. holder’s shares of common stock, as gain from the sale or exchange of such stock. Any such gain will be subject to the treatment described below under “—Gain on Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock.” Dividends we pay to a non-U.S. holder that are effectively connected with its conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable tax treaty, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment of such non-U.S. holder) will not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, as described above, if the non-U.S. holder complies with applicable certification and disclosure requirements. Instead, such dividends generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis, at regular U.S. federal income tax rates. Dividends received by a non-U.S. corporation that are effectively connected with its conduct of trade or business within the United States may be subject to an additional branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable tax treaty). Gain on Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock In general, a non-U.S. holder will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale or other disposition of the non-U.S. holder’s shares of common stock unless: • the gain is effectively connected with a trade or business carried on by the non-U.S. holder within the United States (and, if required by an applicable tax treaty, is attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment of such non-U.S. holder); 161 • the non-U.S. holder is an individual and is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and certain other conditions are met; or • we are or have been a U.S. real property holding corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding such disposition or such non-U.S. holder’s holding period of our common stock, and the non-U.S. holder has held, at any time during said period, more than 5% of the class of our stock being sold. Gain that is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States (or so treated) generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income tax basis, at regular U.S. federal income tax rates. If the non-U.S. holder is a non-U.S. corporation, the branch profits tax described above also may apply to such effectively connected gain. An individual non-U.S. holder who is subject to U.S. federal income tax because the non-U.S. holder was present in the United States for 183 days or more during the year of sale or other disposition of our common stock will be subject to a flat 30% tax on the gain derived from such sale or other disposition, which may be offset by U.S. source capital losses. We believe that we are not and we do not anticipate becoming a U.S. real property holding corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Withholdable Payments to Foreign Financial Institutions and Other Non-U.S. Entities The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, will impose a U.S. federal withholding tax of 30% on certain payments to foreign financial institutions, investment funds and certain other non-U.S. persons that fail to comply with certain information reporting and certification requirements pertaining to their direct and indirect U.S. securityholders and/or U.S. accountholders. Such payments would include our dividends and the gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of our common stock. Under applicable Treasury Regulations, this withholding will apply to payments of dividends on our common stock, and to payments of gross proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our common stock made on or after January 1, 2017. Prospective investors are encouraged to consult with their own tax advisors regarding the possible implications of this legislation on their investment in our common stock. Backup Withholding, Information Reporting and Other Reporting Requirements We must report annually to the Internal Revenue Service and to each non-U.S. holder the amount of dividends paid to, and the tax withheld with respect to, each non-U.S. holder. These reporting requirements apply regardless of whether withholding was reduced or eliminated by an applicable tax treaty. Copies of this information reporting may also be made available under the provisions of a specific tax treaty or agreement with the tax authorities in the country in which the non-U.S. holder resides or is established. 162 A non-U.S. holder will generally be subject to backup withholding for dividends on our common stock paid to such holder unless such holder certifies under penalties of perjury (generally by providing an applicable Internal Revenue Service form W-8) that, among other things, it is a non-U.S. holder (and the payor does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that such holder is a U.S. person) or otherwise establishes an exemption. Information reporting and backup withholding generally are not required with respect to the amount of any proceeds from the sale or other disposition of our common stock by a non-U.S. holder outside the United States through an office outside the United States of a non-U.S. broker that does not have certain specified connections to the United States. However, if a non-U.S. holder sells or otherwise disposes of its shares of common stock through a U.S. broker or the U.S. offices of a non-U.S. broker, the broker will generally be required to report the amount of proceeds paid to the non-U.S. holder to the Internal Revenue Service and also backup withhold on that amount unless such non-U.S. holder provides appropriate certification to the broker of its status as a non-U.S. person (and the payor does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that such holder is a U.S. person) or otherwise establishes an exemption. Information reporting will also apply if a non-U.S. holder sells its shares of common stock through a non-U.S. broker deriving more than a specified percentage of its income from U.S. sources or having certain other connections to the United States, unless such broker has documentary evidence in its records that such non-U.S. holder is a non-U.S. person (and the payor does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that such holder is a U.S. person) and certain other conditions are met, or such non-U.S. holder otherwise establishes an exemption. Backup withholding is not an additional income tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules from a payment to a non-U.S. holder generally can be credited against the non-U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, if any, or refunded, provided that the required information is furnished to the Internal Revenue Service in a timely manner. Non-U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the application of the information reporting and backup withholding rules to them. 163 Underwriting The company, the selling stockholders and the underwriters named below have entered into an underwriting agreement with respect to the shares being offered. Subject to certain conditions, each underwriter has severally agreed to purchase the number of shares indicated in the following table. Goldman, Sachs & Co. is the representative of the underwriters. Underwriters Number of Shares Goldman, Sachs & Co. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC Allen & Company LLC Total The underwriters are committed to take and pay for all of the shares being offered, if any are taken, other than the shares covered by the option described below unless and until this option is exercised. The underwriters have an option to buy up to an additional shares from the company to cover sales by the underwriters of a greater number of shares than the total number in the table above. They may exercise that option for 30 days. If any shares are purchased pursuant to this option, the underwriters will severally purchase shares in approximately the same proportion as in the table above. The following tables show the per share and total estimated underwriting discounts and commissions to be paid to the underwriters by the company and the selling stockholders. Such amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. Paid by the Company No Exercise Full Exercise Per Share $ $ Total $ $ Paid by the Selling Stockholders No Exercise Full Exercise Per Share $ $ Total $ $ Shares sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price on the cover of this prospectus. Any shares sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at a discount of up to $ per share from the initial public offering price. After the initial offering of the shares, the representative may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The offering of the shares by the underwriters is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part. The company and its officers, directors and holders of substantially all of the company’s capital stock, including the selling stockholders, have agreed with the underwriters, subject to certain exceptions, not to dispose of or hedge any of their common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of 164 common stock during periods of at least 180 days, and for a portion of the shares, 270 and 360 days from the date of this prospectus, except with the prior written consent of Goldman, Sachs & Co. This agreement does not apply to any existing employee benefit plans. See “Shares Available for Future Sale” for a discussion of certain transfer restrictions. Prior to the offering, there has been no public market for the shares. The initial public offering price will be negotiated among the company and the representative. Among the factors to be considered in determining the initial public offering price of the shares, in addition to prevailing market conditions, will be the company’s historical performance, estimates of the business potential and earnings prospects of the company, an assessment of the company’s management and the consideration of the above factors in relation to market valuation of companies in related businesses. The company intends to apply to list the common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ETSY.” In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell shares of common stock in the open market. These transactions may include short sales, stabilizing transactions and purchases to cover positions created by short sales. Short sales involve the sale by the underwriters of a greater number of shares than they are required to purchase in the offering, and a short position represents the amount of such sales that have not been covered by subsequent purchases. A “covered short position” is a short position that is not greater than the amount of additional shares for which the underwriters’ option described above may be exercised. The underwriters may cover any covered short position by either exercising their option to purchase additional shares or purchasing shares in the open market. In determining the source of shares to cover the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of shares available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase additional shares pursuant to the option described above. “Naked” short sales are any short sales that create a short position greater than the amount of additional shares for which the option described above may be exercised. The underwriters must cover any such naked short position by purchasing shares in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the common stock in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering. Stabilizing transactions consist of various bids for or purchases of common stock made by the underwriters in the open market prior to the completion of the offering. The underwriters may also impose a penalty bid. This occurs when a particular underwriter repays to the underwriters a portion of the underwriting discount received by it because the representative has repurchased shares sold by or for the account of such underwriter in stabilizing or short covering transactions. Purchases to cover a short position and stabilizing transactions, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own accounts, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the company’s stock, and together with the imposition of the penalty bid, may stabilize, maintain or 165 otherwise affect the market price of the common stock. As a result, the price of the common stock may be higher than the price that otherwise might exist in the open market. The underwriters are not required to engage in these activities and may end any of these activities at any time. These transactions may be effected on , in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. The underwriters do not expect sales to discretionary accounts to exceed five percent of the total number of shares offered. The company and the selling stockholders estimate that the total expenses of the offering, including registration, filing and listing fees, printing fees and legal and accounting expenses and the expenses of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, qualification, but excluding estimated underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $ . We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for up to $ of expenses relating to clearance of this offering with FINRA. The company and the selling stockholders have agreed to indemnify the several underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The underwriters and their respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include sales and trading, commercial and investment banking, advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, market making, brokerage and other financial and non-financial activities and services. Certain of the underwriters and their respective affiliates have provided, and may in the future provide, a variety of these services to the issuer and to persons and entities with relationships with the issuer, for which they received or will receive customary fees and expenses. For example, affiliates of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are lenders under our Credit Agreement. In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates, officers, directors and employees may purchase, sell or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade securities, derivatives, loans, commodities, currencies, credit default swaps and other financial instruments for their own account and for the accounts of their customers, and such investment and trading activities may involve or relate to assets, securities and/or instruments of the issuer (directly, as collateral securing other obligations or otherwise) and/or persons and entities with relationships with the issuer. The underwriters and their respective affiliates may also communicate independent investment recommendations, market color or trading ideas and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such assets, securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they should acquire, long and/or short positions in such assets, securities and instruments. In addition, M. Michele Burns, a member of the company’s board of directors, is also a member of the board of directors of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co., an underwriter in this offering. 166 IPO Participation Program At our request, the underwriters have reserved up to 5% of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus for sale, at the initial public offering price, to individual investors. We call this our IPO Participation Program, or IPP. The purpose of the IPP is to allow our U.S.-based Etsy community and other individual investors to participate in our IPO. Sales in the IPP will be made at our direction by Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, an underwriter of this offering, or its affiliates. We do not know if individual investors will choose to purchase all or any portion of these reserved shares, but any purchases they do make will reduce the number of shares available in the overall offering. Any reserved shares not purchased in the IPP will be offered by the underwriters to the general public on the same terms as the other shares of common stock. Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a Relevant Member State), each underwriter has represented and agreed that with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that Relevant Member State (the Relevant Implementation Date) it has not made and will not make an offer of shares to the public in that Relevant Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the shares which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that it may, with effect from and including the Relevant Implementation Date, make an offer of shares to the public in that Relevant Member State at any time: (a) to legal entities which are authorised or regulated to operate in the financial markets or, if not so authorised or regulated, whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities; (b) to any legal entity which has two or more of (1) an average of at least 250 employees during the last financial year; (2) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000 and (3) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000, as shown in its last annual or consolidated accounts; (c) to fewer than 100 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive) subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representative for any such offer; or (d) in any other circumstances which do not require the publication by the Issuer of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive. For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of shares to the public” in relation to any shares in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to 167 purchase or subscribe the shares, as the same may be varied in that Relevant Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Relevant Member State and the expression Prospectus Directive means Directive 2003/71/EC and includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State. Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom Each underwriter has represented and agreed that: (a) it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the FSMA) received by it in connection with the issue or sale of the shares in circumstances in which Section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to the Issuer; and (b) it has complied and will comply with all applicable provisions of the FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the shares in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom. Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong The shares may not be offered or sold by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap.32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap.32, Laws of Hong Kong), and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the shares may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to shares which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder. Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the shares may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the shares be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person, or any person 168 pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA. Where the shares are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 by a relevant person which is: (a) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or (b) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest in that trust shall not be transferable for 6 months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares under Section 275 except: (1) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the SFA or to a relevant person, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA; (2) where no consideration is given for the transfer; or (3) by operation of law. Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan The securities have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law) and each underwriter has agreed that it will not offer or sell any securities, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan (which term as used herein means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to a resident of Japan, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and any other applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines of Japan. 169 Legal Matters The validity of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus will be passed upon for us by Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP, New York, New York. As of the date of this prospectus, an investment fund associated with Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP beneficially owned less than 0.25% of the outstanding shares of our common stock. The underwriters have been represented by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Menlo Park, California. Experts The consolidated financial statements of Etsy, Inc. as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2014 included in this prospectus have been so included in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting. The financial statements of Jarvis Labs, Inc. as of December 31, 2012 and 2013, for the period from June 11, 2012 (inception) to December 31, 2012 and for the year ended December 31, 2013 included in this prospectus have been so included in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting. The financial statements of Incubart SAS as of December 31, 2012 and 2013 and for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2013 included in this prospectus have been so included in reliance of the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit, independent accountants, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting. Where You Can Find More Information We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of common stock offered hereby. This prospectus, which constitutes a part of the registration statement, does not contain all of the information set forth in the registration statement or the exhibits filed therewith. For further information about us and the common stock offered hereby, reference is made to the registration statement and the exhibits filed therewith. Statements contained in this prospectus regarding the contents of any contract or any other document that is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement are not necessarily complete, and in each instance we refer you to the copy of such contract or other document filed as an exhibit to the registration statement. You may inspect a copy of the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules to the registration statement without charge at the offices of the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You may obtain copies of all or any part of the registration statement from the public reference section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549 upon the payment of the prescribed fees. You may obtain 170 information on the operation of the public reference room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding registrants like us that file electronically with the SEC. You can also inspect our registration statement on this website. Upon the completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information reporting requirements of the Securities Act and we will file reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. These reports, proxy statements and other information will be available for inspection and copying at the public reference room and website of the SEC referred to above. We also maintain a website at www.etsy.com, at which you may access these materials free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and you should not consider information contained on our website to be part of this prospectus or in deciding whether to invest in our common stock. 171 Index to the Consolidated Financial Statements F-1 Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of Etsy, Inc.: In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive (loss) income, changes in convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ (deficit) equity and cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Etsy, Inc. (the “Company”) and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2014 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. /s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP New York, New York March 4, 2015 F-2 Etsy, Inc. Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands except share and per share data) As of December 31, 2013 As of December 31, 2014 Pro Forma as of December 31, 2014 (Unaudited) ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 36,795 $ 69,659 $ 69,659 Short-term investments 18,075 19,184 19,184 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,279 and $1,841 as of December 31, 2013 and 2014, respectively 11,102 15,404 15,404 Prepaid and other current assets 3,721 12,241 12,241 Deferred tax assets—current 1,802 2,932 2,932 Funds receivable and seller accounts 5,290 10,573 10,573 Total current assets 76,785 129,993 129,993 Restricted cash — 5,341 5,341 Property and equipment, net 23,107 75,538 75,538 Goodwill 5,346 30,831 30,831 Intangible assets, net 493 5,410 5,410 Other assets 428 2,022 2,022 Total assets $ 106,159 $ 249,135 $ 249,135 LIABILITIES, CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 5,346 $ 8,231 $ 8,231 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 5,043 17,442 17,442 Capital lease obligations—current portion 780 1,755 1,755 Funds payable and amounts due to sellers 5,290 10,573 10,573 Deferred revenue 2,760 3,452 3,452 Total current liabilities 19,219 41,453 41,453 Capital lease obligations—net of current portion 38 3,148 3,148 Warrant liability 1,428 1,920 — Deferred tax liabilities 1,259 3,081 3,081 Facility financing obligation — 50,320 50,320 Other liabilities — 1,913 1,913 Total liabilities 21,944 101,835 99,915 F-3 Etsy, Inc. Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands except share and per share data) As of December 31, 2013 As of December 31, 2014 Pro Forma as of December 31, 2014 (Unaudited) Commitments and contingencies Convertible preferred stock: Series A and A-1 convertible preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 2,363,786 shares authorized; 2,363,786 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and no shares issued and outstanding pro forma; $808 aggregate liquidation preference as of December 31, 2013 and 2014) 808 808 — Series B convertible preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 1,128,431 shares authorized; 1,128,425 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and no shares issued and outstanding pro forma; $903 aggregate liquidation preference as of December 31, 2013 and 2014) 865 865 — Series C convertible preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 1,234,084 shares authorized; 1,222,282 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and no shares issued and outstanding pro forma; $3,263 aggregate liquidation preference as of December 31, 2013 and 2014) 3,361 3,361 — Series D and D-1 convertible preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 4,240,120 shares authorized; 4,215,610 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and no shares issued and outstanding pro forma; $27,949 aggregate liquidation preference as of December 31, 2013 and 2014) 27,870 27,870 — Series E convertible preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 401,450 shares authorized; 396,727 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and no shares issued and outstanding pro forma; $6,300 aggregate liquidation preference as of December 31, 2013 and 2014) 6,201 6,201 — Series 1 convertible preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 203,399 shares authorized; 203,399 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and no shares issued and outstanding pro forma; $1,312 aggregate liquidation preference as of December 31, 2013 and 2014) 1,322 1,322 — Series F convertible preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 11,594,203 shares authorized; 11,594,203 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 and no shares issued and outstanding pro forma; $40,000 aggregate liquidation preference as of December 31, 2013 and 2014) 39,785 39,785 — Total convertible preferred stock 80,212 80,212 — Stockholders’ equity: Common stock ($0.001 par value, 205,000,000 shares authorized as of December 31, 2013 and 240,000,000 shares authorized as of December 31, 2014 and pro forma December 31, 2014; 66,165,965, 88,361,973 and 195,258,466 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2014 and pro forma December 31, 2014, respectively) 66 88 195 Additional paid-in capital 20,911 103,311 185,336 Accumulated deficit (17,134) (32,377) (32,377) Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income 160 (3,934) (3,934) Total stockholders’ equity 4,003 67,088 149,220 Total liabilities, convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ equity $ 106,159 $ 249,135 $ 249,135 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements F-4 Etsy, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Operations (In thousands except share and per share data) Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Revenue $ 74,602 $ 125,022 $ 195,591 Cost of revenue 24,493 47,779 73,633 Gross profit 50,109 77,243 121,958 Operating expenses: Marketing 10,902 17,850 39,655 Product development 18,653 27,548 36,634 General and administrative 21,909 31,112 51,920 Total operating expenses 51,464 76,510 128,209 (Loss) income from operations (1,355) 733 (6,251) Other (expense) income: Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs (486) (302) (590) Interest and dividend income 48 46 41 Net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities (737) (419) (411) Foreign exchange loss — — (3,049) Total other expense (1,175) (675) (4,009) (Loss) income before income taxes (2,530) 58 (10,260) Benefit (provision) for income taxes 145 (854) (4,983) Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Deemed dividend to investors in relation to the tender offer (256) — — Net loss attributable to common stockholders—basic $ (2,641) $ (796) $ (15,243) Undistributed earnings reallocated from convertible preferred stock — — — Net loss attributable to common stockholders—diluted $ (2,641) $ (796) $ (15,243) Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders: Basic $ (0.04) $ (0.01) $ (0.19) Diluted $ (0.04) $ (0.01) $ (0.19) Weighted average common shares outstanding: Basic 60,563,723 65,334,548 80,493,407 Diluted 60,563,723 65,334,548 80,493,407 Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders (unaudited): Basic $ (0.08) Diluted $ (0.08) Pro forma weighted average common shares outstanding (unaudited): Basic 187,389,900 Diluted 187,389,900 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements F-5 Etsy, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income (In thousands) Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Other comprehensive (loss) income: Cumulative translation adjustment (26) 221 (4,091) Unrealized losses on marketable securities, net of tax — (9) (3) Other comprehensive (loss) income (26) 212 (4,094) Comprehensive loss $ (2,411) $ (584) $ (19,337) The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements F-6 Etsy, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Changes in Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ (Deficit) Equity (In thousands except share and per share data) Series A and A-1 Convertible Preferred Stock Series B Convertible Preferred Stock Series C Convertible Preferred Stock Series D and D-1 Convertible Preferred Stock Series E Convertible Preferred Stock Series 1 Convertible Preferred Stock Series F Convertible Preferred Stock Common Stock Treasury Stock Addi- tional Paid-in Capital Accum- ulated Deficit Accumu- lated Other Compre- hensive (Loss) Income Total Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Shares Amount Balance as of December 31, 2011 2,363,786 $ 808 1,128,431 $ 865 1,217,230 $ 3,207 4,215,610 $ 27,870 396,727 $ 6,201 203,399 $ 1,322 — $ — 59,571,970 $ 59 (1,277,590) $ (1) $ 6,553 $ (13,697) $ (26) $ (7,112) Stock options expense — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 4,297 — — 4,297 Exercise of vested options — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 5,889,452 6 — — 4,628 — — 4,634 Exercise of Convertible Series C Warrants — — — — 5,056 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Issuance of Series F Preferred Shares at $3.45 per share, net of issuance cost of $215,262 — — — — — — — — — — — — 11,594,203 39,785 — — — — — — — — Repurchase of shares — — (6) — (4) — — — — — — — — — — — (20,000) — (60) — — (60) Fair value of exercised warrants — — — — — 154 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Deemed dividend on share transaction — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 256 (256) — — Other comprehensive loss — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (26) (26) Net loss — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (2,385) — (2,385) Balance as of December 31, 2012 2,363,786 808 1,128,425 865 1,222,282 3,361 4,215,610 27,870 396,727 6,201 203,399 1,322 11,594,203 39,785 65,461,422 65 (1,297,590) (1) 15,674 (16,338) (52) (652) Stock options expense — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 4,077 — — 4,077 Exercise of vested options — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2,049,133 2 — — 1,326 — — 1,328 Repurchase of shares — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (47,000) — (188) — — (188) Retirement of repurchased shares — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (1,344,590) (1) 1,344,590 1 — — — — Excess tax benefit from the exercise of stock options — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 22 — — 22 Other comprehensive income — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 212 212 Net loss — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (796) — (796) Balance as of December 31, 2013 2,363,786 808 1,128,425 865 1,222,282 3,361 4,215,610 27,870 396,727 6,201 203,399 1,322 11,594,203 39,785 66,165,965 66 — — 20,911 (17,134) 160 4,003 Stock options expense — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 6,110 — — 6,110 Exercise of vested options — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 8,431,282 8 — — 7,948 — — 7,956 Issuance of common stock — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 6,603,774 7 — — 34,993 — — 35,000 Issuance of stock at acquisition date — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 7,160,952 7 — — 27,716 — — 27,723 Stock expense-acquisitions — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 756 — — 756 Excess tax benefit from the exercise of stock options — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 4,877 — — 4,877 Other comprehensive loss — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (4,094) (4,094) Net loss — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (15,243) — (15,243) Balance as of December 31, 2014 2,363,786 $ 808 1,128,425 $ 865 1,222,282 $ 3,361 4,215,610 $ 27,870 396,727 $ 6,201 203,399 $ 1,322 11,594,203 $ 39,785 88,361,973 $ 88 — $ — $ 103,311 $ (32,377) $ (3,934) $ 67,088 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements F-7 Etsy, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (In thousands) Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Cash flows from operating activities Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities: Stock-based compensation expense 4,094 3,834 5,920 Stock-based compensation expense-acquisitions — — 4,130 Depreciation and amortization expense 7,930 12,380 17,223 Bad debt expense 1,295 1,002 1,881 Foreign exchange loss — — 3,049 Amortization of debt issuance costs 14 8 68 Net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities 737 419 411 Loss on disposal of assets 125 677 79 Deferred income taxes (736) 1,282 (817) Excess tax benefit from exercise of stock options — (22) (4,877) Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions: Accounts receivable (4,046) (4,832) (6,197) Funds receivable and seller accounts (2,258) (2,907) (3,975) Prepaid expenses and other current assets (426) (1,667) (5,820) Other assets (83) (295) (1,446) Accounts payable 2,340 1,712 1,046 Accrued liabilities 430 1,960 11,463 Funds payable and amounts due to sellers 2,258 2,993 3,880 Deferred revenue 395 794 693 Other liabilities — — 619 Net cash provided by operating activities 9,684 16,542 12,087 Cash flows from investing activities Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired (200) (675) (4,688) Purchases of property and equipment (6,528) (7,762) (1,304) Development of internal-use software (7,418) (9,310) (8,280) Purchase of U.S. Government and agency bills (16,081) (39) (21,698) Sale of marketable securities 1,350 2,761 20,588 Net increase in restricted cash — — (5,341) Net cash used in investing activities (28,877) (15,025) (20,723) Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from the issuance of preferred stock 39,785 — — Repurchase of stock (60) (188) — Proceeds from the issuance of common stock — — 35,000 Proceeds from exercise of stock options 4,634 1,328 7,956 Excess tax benefit from the exercise of stock options — 22 4,877 Payments on capitalized lease obligations (1,387) (1,265) (1,480) Deferred payments on acquisition of business — — (75) Payments relating to public offering — — (1,041) Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 42,972 (103) 45,237 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash (27) 446 (3,737) Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 23,752 1,860 32,864 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 11,183 34,935 36,795 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 34,935 $ 36,795 $ 69,659 Supplemental cash flow disclosures: Cash paid for interest $ 431 $ 233 $ 342 Cash paid for income taxes $ 264 $ 206 $ 217 F-8 Etsy, Inc. Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (In thousands) Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Supplemental non-cash disclosures Equipment acquired under capital lease obligations $ 581 $ — $ 5,564 Stock-based compensation capitalized in development of capitalized software $ 203 $ 243 $ 190 Fair value of exercised liability-classified warrants $ 154 $ — $ — Non-cash additions to development of internal-use software and property and equipment $ 414 $ 398 $ 2,510 Non-cash addition to construction in progress related to build-to-suit lease and facility financing obligation $ — $ — $ 50,320 Non-cash addition to capitalized public offering costs $ — $ — $ 1,413 Fair value of common stock issued in acquisition $ — $ — $ 27,723 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements F-9 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 1—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Description of Business Etsy, Inc. (the “Company” or “Etsy”) was incorporated in Delaware in February 2006. Etsy operates a marketplace where people around the world connect, both online and offline, to make, sell and buy unique goods. The Company generates revenue primarily from transaction and listing fees, Promoted Listings, Direct Checkout fees, and Shipping Label sales. Evaluation of Subsequent Events The Company has evaluated subsequent events that occurred after December 31, 2014 through March 4, 2015, the date on which the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2014 were issued. Basis of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Etsy and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The 2012 and 2013 financial statements have been revised to correct certain errors. See Note 15—Revisions to Consolidated Financial Statements. Unaudited Pro Forma Financial Information Upon the consummation of the initial public offering contemplated by the Company, all of the outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock will convert into shares of common stock. The December 31, 2014 unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet data has been prepared assuming the conversion of the outstanding convertible preferred stock into 106,896,493 shares of common stock. Use of Estimates The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The accounting estimates that require management’s most difficult and subjective judgments include revenue recognition, income taxes, website development costs and internal-use software, purchase price allocations for business combinations, valuation of goodwill and intangible assets and stock based compensation. The Company evaluates its estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis and revises them when necessary. Actual results may differ from the original or revised estimates. F-10 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Revenue Recognition The Company operates a platform for third-party sellers. Its business model is based on shared success: the Company makes money when Etsy sellers make money. The Company does not compete with Etsy sellers, hold inventory or sell goods. The Company’s revenue is diversified, generated from a mix of marketplace activities and the services the Company provides Etsy sellers to help them create and grow their businesses. The Company’s revenue consists of Marketplace revenue, Seller Services revenue and Other revenue. The Company’s revenue is recorded net of actual and expected refunds. Marketplace revenue includes the fee an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction and the listing fee an Etsy seller pays for each item she lists. Seller Services revenue includes fees an Etsy seller pays for services such as prominent placement in search results via Promoted Listings, payment processing via Direct Checkout and purchases of shipping labels through the Company’s platform via Shipping Labels. The Company deducts its cost of shipping labels and estimated refunds from gross shipping fees to determine net shipping fees. Other revenue includes the fees the Company receives from a third-party payment processor. The Company recognizes revenue when all of the following conditions are satisfied: (1) there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement; (2) the service has been provided to the Etsy seller; (3) the collection of fees is reasonably assured; and (4) the amount of fees to be paid by the Etsy seller is fixed or determinable. The Company evaluates whether it is appropriate to recognize revenue on a gross or net basis based upon its evaluation of whether it is the primary obligor in a transaction, has inventory risk and has latitude in establishing pricing and selecting suppliers. Based on its evaluation of these factors, revenue is recorded net of merchandise values associated with the transaction. Marketplace revenue. Marketplace revenue consists of the 3.5% fee that an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction on the Company’s platform, exclusive of shipping fees charged. Marketplace revenue also consists of a listing fee of $0.20 per item that she lists in its marketplace. Revenue from completed Wholesale transactions is also included in Marketplace revenue, whereas revenue from Wholesale enrollment is included in Seller Services revenue. Transaction fees are recognized when the corresponding transaction is made. Listing fees are recognized ratably over a four-month listing period, unless the item is sold or the seller relists it, at which time any remaining listing fee is recognized. Seller Services revenue. Seller Services revenue consists of fees an Etsy seller pays the Company for the Seller Services she uses, including Promoted Listings, Direct Checkout, Shipping Labels and Wholesale enrollment. • Revenue from Promoted Listings consists of cost-per-click based fees an Etsy seller pays the Company for prominent placement of her listings in search results generated by Etsy buyers in its marketplace. Revenue is recognized when the Promoted Listing is clicked. F-11 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements • Revenue from Direct Checkout consists of fees an Etsy seller pays the Company to process credit, debit and Etsy Gift Card payments. Direct Checkout fees vary between 3-4% of the item’s total sale price plus a flat fee per order, depending on the country in which her bank account is located. Direct Checkout fees are based on the item’s total sale price, including shipping. Revenue from Direct Checkout is recognized when the corresponding transaction is made. Revenue from breakage on Etsy Gift Cards is recognized when the amount is probable and estimable. Given the lack of historical experience related to gift card activity, there has been no breakage revenue recorded to date. • Revenue from Shipping Labels consists of fees an Etsy seller pays the Company when she purchases shipping labels directly through its platform, net of the cost it incurs in purchasing those shipping labels. The Company provides its sellers shipping labels from the United States Postal Service and Canada Post at a discounted price due to the volume of purchases through its platform. The Company recognizes Shipping Label revenue when an Etsy seller purchases a shipping label. The Company recognizes Shipping Label revenue on a net basis as it is not the primary obligor in the delivery of these services. • Revenue from Wholesale consists of fees an Etsy seller pays the Company when she is approved to enroll in its Wholesale program. The one-time Wholesale enrollment fee is recognized ratably over the estimated customer life. Revenue from completed Wholesale transactions is included in Marketplace revenue. Other revenue. Other revenue includes the fees the Company receives from a third-party payment processor. Other revenue is recognized as the transactions are processed by the third-party payment processor. The following table summarizes revenue by type of service (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Marketplace $ 55,330 $ 78,544 $ 108,732 Seller Services 15,863 42,817 82,502 Other 3,409 3,661 4,357 Revenue $ 74,602 $ 125,022 $ 195,591 F-12 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Cost of Revenue Cost of revenue consists primarily of expenses associated with the operation and maintenance of the Company’s platform and data centers, including depreciation and amortization, employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, and energy and bandwidth costs. Cost of revenue also includes the cost of interchange and other fees for credit card processing services, credit card verification service fees and credit card chargebacks to support Direct Checkout revenue, as well as employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for our member support staff, and costs of refunds made to Etsy buyers that the Company is not able to collect from Etsy sellers. Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The Company’s trade accounts receivable are recorded at amounts billed to Etsy sellers and are presented on the consolidated balance sheet net of the allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance is determined by a number of factors, including age of the receivable, current economic conditions, historical losses and management’s assessment of the financial condition of Etsy sellers. Receivables are written off once they are deemed uncollectible, which may arise when Etsy sellers file for bankruptcy or are otherwise deemed unable to repay the amounts owed to the Company. Estimates of uncollectible accounts receivable are recorded to general and administrative expense. The following table summarizes the allowance activity during the periods indicated (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Balance as of the beginning of period $ 998 $ 1,357 $ 1,279 Bad debt expense 1,295 1,002 1,881 Write-offs, net of recoveries and other adjustments (936 ) (1,080 ) (1,319 ) Balance as of the end of period $ 1,357 $ 1,279 $ 1,841 Funds Receivable and Seller Accounts and Funds Payable and Amounts due to Sellers The Company records funds receivable and seller accounts and funds payable and amounts due to sellers as current assets and liabilities, respectively, on the consolidated balance sheet. Funds receivable and seller accounts represent amounts received or expected to be received from Etsy buyers via third-party credit card processors, which flow through an Etsy bank account for payment to Etsy sellers. This cash and related receivable represent the total amount due to sellers, and as such a liability for the same amount is recorded to funds payable and amounts due to Etsy sellers. F-13 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Property and Equipment Property and equipment, consisting principally of computer equipment and purchased software, are recorded at cost. The Company capitalizes construction in progress for build-to-suit lease agreements where we are the owner, for accounting purposes only, during the construction period. Depreciation and amortization are recognized using the straight-line method in amounts sufficient to relate the cost of depreciable and amortizable assets to operations over their estimated useful lives. Repairs and maintenance are charged to operations as incurred. Internal-use Software and Website Development Costs Costs incurred to develop software for internal use and the Company’s website are capitalized and amortized over the estimated useful life of the software, generally three years. The Company also capitalizes costs related to upgrades and enhancements when it is probable the expenditures will result in additional functionality or will extend the useful life of existing functionality. Costs related to the design or maintenance of internal-use software and website development are expensed as incurred. The Company periodically reviews internal-use software and website development costs to determine whether the projects will be completed, placed in service, removed from service, or replaced by other internally developed or third-party software. If the asset is not expected to provide any future benefit, the asset is retired and any unamortized cost is expensed. Depreciable/Amortizable Tangible Long-Lived Assets When events or changes in circumstances require, the Company assesses the likelihood of recovering the cost of tangible long-lived assets based on its expectations of future profitability, undiscounted cash flows and management’s plans with respect to operations to determine if the asset is impaired and subject to write-off. Measurement of any impairment loss is based on the excess of the carrying value of the asset over the fair value. Leases The Company leases office space and certain computer equipment in multiple locations under non-cancelable lease agreements. The leases are reviewed for classification as operating or capital leases. For operating leases, rent is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease period. For capital leases, the Company records the leased asset with a corresponding liability. Payments are recorded as reductions to the liability with an appropriate interest charge recorded based on the then-outstanding remaining liability. The Company considers the nature of the renovations and the Company’s involvement during the construction period of newly leased office space to determine if it is considered to be the owner of the F-14 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements construction project during the construction period. If the Company determines that it is the owner of the construction project, it is required to capitalize the fair value of the building as well as the construction costs incurred on its consolidated balance sheet along with a corresponding financing liability (“build-to-suit accounting”). Upon occupancy for build-to-suit leases, the Company assesses whether the circumstances qualify for sales recognition under the sale-leaseback accounting guidance. If the lease meets the sale-leaseback criteria, the Company will remove the asset and related financial obligation from the balance sheet and treat the building lease as an operating lease. If upon completion of construction, the project does not meet the sale-leaseback criteria, the leased property will be treated as a capital lease for financial reporting purposes. Business Combinations The Company has completed a number of acquisitions of other businesses in the past and may acquire additional businesses or technologies in the future. The results of businesses acquired in a business combination are included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition. The Company allocates the purchase price, which is the sum of the consideration provided and may consist of cash, equity or a combination of the two, in a business combination to the identifiable assets and liabilities of the acquired business at their acquisition date fair values. The excess of the purchase price over the amount allocated to the identifiable assets and liabilities, if any, is recorded as goodwill. Determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed requires management to use significant judgment and estimates, including the selection of valuation methodologies, estimates of future revenue and cash flows, discount rates and selection of comparable companies. When the Company issues stock-based or cash awards to an acquired company’s stockholders, the Company evaluates whether the awards are contingent consideration or compensation for post-acquisition services. The evaluation includes, among other things, whether the vesting of the awards is contingent on the continued employment of the acquired company’s stockholder beyond the acquisition date. If continued employment is required for vesting, the awards are treated as compensation for post-acquisition services and recognized as expense over the requisite service period. The Company carries intangible assets at cost, and it amortizes them on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, typically three years. When circumstances indicate that the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable, the Company reviews its identifiable amortizable intangible assets for impairment. To date, the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the Company’s business combinations have primarily consisted of goodwill and finite-lived intangible assets, consisting primarily of developed technologies, customer relationships and trademarks. The estimated fair values and useful lives of identifiable intangible F-15 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements assets are based on many factors, including estimates and assumptions of future operating performance and cash flows of the acquired business, the nature of the business acquired, and the specific characteristics of the identified intangible assets. The estimates and assumptions used to determine the fair values and useful lives of identified intangible assets could change due to numerous factors, including market conditions, technological developments, economic conditions and competition. In connection with determination of fair values, the Company may engage independent appraisal firms to assist with the valuation of intangible and certain tangible assets acquired and certain assumed obligations. Acquisition-related transaction costs incurred by the Company are not included as a component of consideration transferred, but are accounted for as an expense in the period in which the costs are incurred. Goodwill Goodwill represents the excess of the aggregate fair value of the consideration transferred in a business combination over the fair value of the assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed. Goodwill is not amortized, but is subject to an annual impairment test. Management has determined that the Company has a single reporting unit and performs its annual goodwill impairment test during the fourth quarter or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the goodwill may be impaired. Events or changes in circumstances which could trigger an impairment review include significant changes in the manner of the Company’s use of the acquired assets or the strategy for the Company’s overall business, significant negative industry or economic trends, significant underperformance relative to historical or projected future results of operations, a significant adverse change in the business climate, an adverse action or assessment by a regulator, unanticipated competition or a loss of key personnel. The Company has the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If, after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, an entity determines it is not more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then additional impairment testing is not required. However, if an entity concludes otherwise, then it is required to perform the first of a two-step impairment test. The first step involves comparing the estimated fair value of the reporting unit with its respective book value, including goodwill. If the estimated fair value exceeds book value, goodwill is considered not to be impaired and no additional steps are necessary. If, however, the fair value of the reporting unit is less than book value, then a second step is required that compares the carrying amount of the goodwill with its implied fair value. The estimate of implied fair value of goodwill may require valuations of certain F-16 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements internally-generated and unrecognized intangible and tangible net assets. If the carrying amount of goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of the goodwill, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to the excess. The Company completed a Step 1 analysis during the fourth quarter of 2014. No impairment of goodwill was recorded at December 31, 2013 or 2014. Intangible Assets Intangible assets are amortized over the estimated useful life of the acquired technology, customer relationships and trademarks, generally three years. Stock-Based Compensation For employee stock-based awards, the Company calculates the fair value of the award on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and the expense is recognized over the service period for awards expected to vest. For non-employee stock-based awards, the Company calculates the fair value of the award on the date of grant in the same manner as employee awards over the contractual term; however, the unvested portion of the awards is revalued at the end of each reporting period until such time as the non-employee award is fully vested. We account for stock-based compensation arrangements in restricted shares, subject to a put option that allows the holder of the shares to put the shares back to the Company for cash, as liability-classified stock awards. These awards are re-measured at each reporting period, with changes in fair value being charged to the statement of operations. Compensation expense is recognized using a graded vesting methodology for each separately vesting tranche as though the award were, in substance, multiple awards. Unless the put option is exercised, the restricted shares will be reclassified from a liability to an equity classified award upon the termination of the put option. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, the Company recognized expenses of approximately $3.9 million, $3.7 million and $5.9 million for employee stock options, respectively, and $0.2 million, $0.2 million and $0.1 million for non-employee stock options, respectively. Additionally, the Company recorded $4.1 million in acquisition-related stock-based compensation expense for the year ended December 31, 2014, of which $3.4 million relates to liability-classified awards. Cash and Cash Equivalents The Company considers all investments with an original maturity of three months or less at time of purchase to be cash equivalents. F-17 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Concentration of Credit Risk Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents. The Company reduces credit risk by placing its cash and cash equivalents with major financial institutions with high credit ratings. At times, such amounts may exceed Federally insured limits. Fair Value of Financial Instruments Management believes that the fair value of financial instruments, consisting of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable, approximates carrying value due to the immediate or short-term maturity associated with its cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and accounts payable. Income Taxes Income tax benefit (provision) is based on (loss) income before income taxes and is accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized as income in the period that includes the enactment date. Management assesses the need for a valuation allowance on an annual basis to reduce deferred tax assets to the amounts expected to be realized. The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes using a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by the taxing authorities. The amount recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate audit settlement. The Company has no unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2012 and 2013 and has an unrecognized tax benefit of $0.4 million at December 31, 2014. The Company recognizes interest and penalties, if any, associated with income tax matters as part of the income tax provision and includes accrued interest and penalties with the related income tax liability in the consolidated balance sheet. F-18 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Marketing Marketing expenses consist primarily of targeted online marketing costs, such as search engine marketing, and offline marketing expenses, such as television advertising. Marketing expenses also include employee-related costs, including stock-based compensation expense, for our employees involved in marketing, public relations and communications activities. Marketing expenses are expensed as incurred. Net (Loss) Income Per Share The Company follows the two-class method when computing net (loss) income per share as the Company has issued shares that meet the definition of participating securities. The two-class method determines net (loss) income per share for each class of common stock and participating securities according to dividends declared or accumulated and participation rights in undistributed earnings. The two-class method requires income available to common stockholders for the period to be allocated between common stock and participating securities based upon their respective rights to receive dividends as if all income for the period had been distributed. The Company’s convertible preferred stock contractually entitles the holders of such shares to participate in dividends, but does not contractually require the holders of such shares to participate in losses of the Company. Accordingly, the two-class method does not apply for periods in which the Company reports a net loss or a net loss attributable to common stockholders resulting from dividends, accretion or modifications to its convertible preferred stock. Basic net (loss) income per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the net (loss) income attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted net (loss) income attributable to common stockholders is computed by adjusting net (loss) income attributable to common stockholders to reallocate undistributed earnings based on the potential impact of dilutive securities, including outstanding common stock options, convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase common stock and convertible preferred stock. Diluted net (loss) income per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the diluted net (loss) income attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares, including potential dilutive common shares assuming the dilutive effect of outstanding common stock options, convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase common stock and convertible preferred stock. For periods in which the Company has reported net losses, diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is the same as basic net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, because dilutive common shares are not assumed to have been issued if their effect is anti-dilutive. F-19 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Segment Data The Company identifies operating segments as components of an entity for which discrete financial information is available and is regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker, or decision-making group, in making decisions regarding resource allocation and performance assessment. The Company defines the term “chief operating decision maker” to be its chief executive officer. The Company has determined it operates in one operating segment and one reportable segment, as its chief operating decision maker reviews financial information presented on only a consolidated basis for purposes of allocating resources and evaluating financial performance. Foreign Currency The Company has determined that the functional currency for each of its foreign operations is the local currency in which the operation is located. All assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Revenue and expenses are translated using average exchange rates during the period. Foreign currency translation adjustments are reflected in stockholders’ equity as a component of other comprehensive (loss) income. Transaction gains and losses including intercompany transactions denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the entity involved are included in foreign exchange loss within other (expense) income in the statement of operations. Excess Tax Benefits from Exercise of Stock Options The Company uses the “with and without” approach in determining the order in which tax attributes are utilized. As a result, the Company recognizes a tax benefit from stock-based awards in additional paid-in capital only if an incremental tax benefit is realized after all other tax attributes currently available to the Company have been utilized. When tax deductions from stock-based awards are less than the cumulative book compensation expense, the tax effect of the resulting difference (“shortfall”) is charged first to additional paid-in capital, to the extent of the Company’s pool of windfall tax benefits, with any remainder recognized in income tax expense. The Company determined that it had a sufficient windfall pool available through December 31, 2014 to absorb any shortfalls. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (“JOBS Act”), the Company meets the definition of an emerging growth company. The Company has irrevocably elected to opt out of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards pursuant to Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act. In March 2013, the FASB issued new accounting guidance clarifying the accounting for the release of cumulative translation adjustment into net income when a company either sells a part or all of its F-20 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements investment in a foreign entity or no longer holds a controlling financial interest in a subsidiary or group of assets that is a nonprofit activity or a business within a foreign entity. The new guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning on or after December 15, 2013. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standards update that replaces existing revenue recognition guidance. Among other things, the updated guidance requires companies to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the effect the guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements. In August 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standard update under which management will be required to assess an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern and provide related disclosures in certain circumstances. The new guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016 and for annual and interim periods thereafter. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have an impact on the Company’s financial statements or disclosures. Note 2—Business Combinations In April 2012, the Company acquired the assets of Trunkt LLC for a purchase price of $200,000, plus two additional contingent payments of $100,000 that were tied to continued employment with the Company and were recognized as post-acquisition compensation expense and paid out by the Company in 2013. Acquired assets consisted of customer information, domain access rights, certain web services and a trademark. The purchase price was allocated to the acquired technology intangible assets in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. This acquisition did not have any measureable impact on consolidated revenue or (loss) income from operations. In January 2013, the Company acquired the assets of The Lascaux Company, Inc., owners of the “Mixel” iOS mobile application, for a purchase price of $750,000, which consisted of $675,000 paid on the closing date and $75,000 due on the first anniversary of the closing date, subject to indemnification provisions. In connection with the acquisition, the Company granted options to purchase 362,320 shares of common stock to certain key employees of the acquired company. Acquired assets consisted of the Mixel iOS mobile application and related source code and domain name registration. The purchase price was allocated between acquired technology intangible assets and goodwill in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. This acquisition did not have any measureable impact on consolidated revenue or (loss) income from operations. F-21 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements On April 29, 2014, the Company completed the acquisition of Jarvis Labs, Inc., owners of the “Grand St.” online technology marketplace. Total consideration for the acquisition was approximately $3.2 million, consisting of $1.0 million in cash and 425,104 shares of the Company’s common stock with a fair value of $2.2 million on the acquisition date. Additionally, the Company issued 657,160 shares of common stock, with a fair value of $3.4 million on the acquisition date, which are tied to continued employment with the Company and are being accounted for as post-acquisition stock-based compensation expense over the three-year vesting period. Because the Company is not publicly traded, the Company utilizes equity valuations based on comparable publicly-traded companies, discounted cash flows, an analysis of the Company’s enterprise value and any other factors deemed relevant in estimating the fair value of its common stock for purposes of calculating the fair value of the purchase price. The following table summarizes the components of the Grand St. purchase price and the allocation of the purchase price at fair value (in thousands): Cash paid $ 1,040 Common shares 2,202 Total purchase consideration $ 3,242 Working capital $ 85 Developed technology 2,000 Customer relationships 600 Trademarks 200 Goodwill 991 Deferred tax liability (634) Net assets acquired $ 3,242 Included in working capital is approximately $0.1 million of cash acquired. The amounts allocated to developed technology, customer relationships and trademark (the acquired intangible assets) total $2.8 million. The fair value assigned to developed technology was determined primarily using the cost approach, which estimates the cost to reproduce the asset, adjusted for loss due to functional and economic obsolescence. The fair value of the Company’s customer relationships was determined primarily using the income approach, which discounts expected future cash flows to present value using estimates and assumptions determined by management. The fair value assigned to trademark was determined using the relief from royalty method, where the owner of the asset realizes a benefit from owning the intangible asset rather than paying a rental or royalty rate for use of the asset. The acquired identifiable intangible assets are being amortized on a straight-line basis over three years, which approximates the pattern in which the assets are utilized. None of the goodwill recorded in the acquisition is deductible for tax purposes. F-22 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements On June 18, 2014, the Company completed the acquisition of Incubart SAS, a societe par actions simplifiee organized under the laws of France, which operates the online marketplace A Little Market (“ALM”). Total consideration for the acquisition was $30.8 million, consisting of $5.3 million in cash, of which $4.2 million was paid on the closing date and $0.3 million is due to be paid on March 31, 2015 and $0.8 million is due to be paid on February 16, 2016, and 4,879,693 shares of the Company’s common stock with a fair value of $25.5 million on the acquisition date. Because the Company is not publicly traded, the Company utilizes equity valuations based on comparable publicly-traded companies, discounted cash flows, an analysis of the Company’s enterprise value and any other factors deemed relevant in estimating the fair value of its common stock for purposes of calculating the fair value of the purchase price. The terms of the purchase agreement provide for the sale of put options to certain of the former shareholders of ALM. The put options enable the holders of the options to sell up to all of their shares back to the Company, subject to certain vesting and restrictions, at fair value, but not to exceed $4.13 per share and not less than $2.00 per share. The put right terminates with respect to a share on the earlier of one year from when such share is vested or the liquidation date, as defined in the agreement containing the put option. The holders of the options paid an aggregate of $0.1 million cash to the Company at the date of acquisition and the Company recorded a $0.1 million liability for the fair value of the put options at that time. Additionally, the Company issued 1,198,995 shares of common stock, with a fair value of $6.3 million on the acquisition date, which are tied to continued employment with the Company and are being accounted for as post-acquisition stock-based compensation expense over the three-year vesting period. Since the put options relate in part to these shares, these restricted shares will be recorded as liability-classified stock awards as earned. The following table summarizes the components of the purchase price at fair value and the allocation of the purchase price at fair value (in thousands): Cash paid $ 5,290 Common shares 25,521 Total purchase consideration $ 30,811 Working capital $ 625 Property and equipment and other assets 95 Developed technology 1,636 Customer relationships 1,693 Trademarks 775 Goodwill 27,309 Deferred tax liability (757) Other long-term liabilities (565) Net assets acquired $ 30,811 Included in working capital is approximately $0.5 million of cash and cash equivalents acquired. F-23 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The amount allocated to developed technology, customer relationships and trademark (the acquired intangible assets) total $4.1 million. The fair value assigned to developed technology was determined primarily by using the cost approach, which estimates the cost to reproduce the asset, adjusted for loss due to functional and economic obsolescence. The fair value of the Company’s customer relationships was determined primarily by using the income approach, which discounts expected future cash flows to present value using estimates and assumptions determined by management. The fair value assigned to trademark was determined using the relief from royalty method, where the owner of the asset realizes a benefit from owning the intangible asset rather than paying a rental or royalty rate for use of the asset. The acquired identifiable intangible assets are being amortized on a straight-line basis over three years, which approximates the pattern in which the assets are utilized. Goodwill of $27.3 million, none of which is deductible for tax purposes, was recorded in connection with the ALM acquisition, which is primarily attributed to synergies arising from the acquisition and the value of the acquired workforce. The Company incurred approximately $2.1 million in acquisition-related costs, included in general and administrative expenses. These acquisitions increased revenue by $1.8 million and contributed $5.7 million to the Company’s consolidated net loss in the year ended December 31, 2014. The impact to net loss was primarily due to amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation associated with the acquisitions. The following unaudited pro forma financial information presents the combined operating results of the Company, Grand St. and ALM as if each acquisition had occurred as of January 1, 2013. The unaudited pro forma financial information includes the accounting effects of the business combinations, including adjustments to the amortization of intangible assets and professional fees associated with the acquisition. The unaudited pro forma information does not necessarily reflect the actual results that would have been achieved, nor is it necessarily indicative of our future consolidated results. The unaudited pro forma financial information is presented in the table below for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2014 (in thousands except per share amounts): Year Ended December 31, 2013 2014 Revenue $ 127,838 $ 197,395 Net loss (7,533) (15,403) Basic net loss per share (0.11) (0.19) Diluted net loss per share (0.11) (0.19) F-24 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 3—Marketable Securities Short-term investments consist of marketable securities that are available-for-sale. The cost and fair value of available-for-sale securities were as follows as of the dates indicated (in thousands): Cost Gross Unrealized Holding Loss Gross Unrealized Holding Gain Fair Value December 31, 2013 U.S. Government and agency bills $ 18,073 $ (1) $ 3 $ 18,075 $ 18,073 $ (1) $ 3 $ 18,075 December 31, 2014 U.S. Government and agency bills $ 19,188 $ (5) $ 1 $ 19,184 $ 19,188 $ (5) $ 1 $ 19,184 The Company’s investments in marketable securities consist primarily of investments in Corporate Certificates of Deposit and AAA-rated U.S. Government and agency bills. When evaluating investments for other-than-temporary impairment, the Company reviews factors such as length of time and extent to which fair value has been below cost basis, the financial condition of the issuer and the Company’s ability and intent to hold the investment for a period of time, which may be sufficient for anticipated recovery in market value. The Company evaluates fair values for each individual security in the investment portfolio. Note 4—Property and Equipment Property and equipment consisted of the following as of the dates indicated (in thousands): As of December 31, Estimated useful lives 2013 2014 Computer equipment 3 years $ 13,837 $ 16,876 Furniture and equipment 4 years 1,630 1,987 Software 1 - 3 years 2,380 1,146 Leasehold improvements Shorter of life of asset or lease term 2,706 3,134 Construction in progress(1) Not applicable — 51,796 Website development 3 years 23,897 31,156 44,450 106,095 Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization 21,343 30,557 $ 23,107 $ 75,538 (1) The Company capitalizes construction in progress and records a corresponding long-term liability for build-to-suit lease arrangements where it is considered the owner, for accounting purposes, during the construction period. Depreciation and amortization expense on property and equipment was $7.7 million, $12.1 million and $15.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively, which includes amortization expense for equipment acquired under capital leases of $1.5 million, $1.2 million and F-25 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements $1.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. The gross balance of leased equipment as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 was $3.3 million and $6.0 million, respectively. The related accumulated amortization of equipment under capital leases was $2.6 million and $1.2 million at December 31, 2013 and 2014, respectively. The following table summarizes capitalized website development and internal-use software activities during the periods indicated (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2013 2014 Balance as of the beginning of the period $ 14,993 $ 23,897 Additions to website development, excluding stock-based compensation 9,600 8,281 Additions to website development—stock-based compensation 243 190 Less: Retirements 939 1,212 23,897 31,156 Less: Accumulated amortization 12,003 18,968 $ 11,894 $ 12,188 For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, the Company recorded amortization expense relating to capitalized website development and internal-use software of $3.7 million, $6.3 million and $8.1 million, respectively. The loss on write-off for website development and internal-use software assets that were retired during the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014 was $0.1 million, $0.7 million and $0.1 million, respectively. Note 5—Goodwill and Intangible Assets The following table summarizes the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the periods indicated (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2013 2014 Balance as of the beginning of the period $ 5,166 $ 5,346 Acquisitions 180 28,300 Other adjustments(1) — (2,815) Balance as of the end of the period $ 5,346 $ 30,831 (1) Primarily includes the effect of foreign currency translation. The Company did not recognize any goodwill impairments during the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014. F-26 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements At December 31, 2013 and 2014, the gross book value and accumulated amortization of intangible assets were as follows (in thousands): As of December 31, 2013 As of December 31, 2014 Gross book value Accumulated amortization Net book value Gross book value Accumulated amortization Net book value Trademarks $ — $ — $ — $ 892 $ (169) $ 723 Technology 1,045 (641) 404 4,505 (1,547) 2,958 Customer relationships 200 (111) 89 2,313 (584) 1,729 Intangible assets, net $ 1,245 $ (752 ) $ 493 $ 7,710 $ (2,300) $ 5,410 Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014 was $0.2 million, $0.3 million and $ 1.5 million, respectively. Based on amounts recorded at December 31, 2014, the Company will recognize intangible asset amortization expense in each of the years ending December 31 as follows (in thousands): 2015 $ 2,368 2016 2,171 2017 871 2018 — Thereafter — Total amortization expense $ 5,410 Note 6—Warrants The Company has outstanding warrants to purchase 11,373 shares of its Series C Preferred stock with an exercise price of $2.67 per share, 24,510 shares of its Series D Preferred stock with an exercise price of $6.63 per share, and 4,723 shares of its Series E Preferred stock with an exercise price of $15.88 per share (see Note 8). All of these warrants were originally issued in connection with previous lines of credit and were fair valued on the date of issuance, and the fair value amount was recognized as debt issuance costs and amortized to interest expense over the original life of the line of credit. As these warrants are exercisable into shares of Preferred stock, which include certain redemption rights that are outside of the control the Company, in accordance with ASC Topic 480 Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, the warrants are accounted for as liabilities and are revalued at each balance sheet date. The warrants were fully vested at issuance. F-27 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The Company determined the fair value of the convertible preferred stock warrants utilizing the Black-Scholes model with the following weighted-average assumptions: Series C December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Risk-free interest rate 0.7% 1.3% 1.1% Expected term (in years) 5.0 4.0 3.0 Estimated dividend yield 0% 0% 0% Weighted-average estimated volatility 40.0% 41.0% 43.1% Fair value (in thousands) $ 319 $ 442 $ 579 Series D December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Risk-free interest rate 0.3% 0.3% 0.5% Expected term (in years) 2.5 1.5 0.5 Estimated dividend yield 0% 0% 0% Weighted-average estimated volatility 39.0% 36.0% 38.9% Fair value (in thousands) $ 597 $ 859 $ 1,156 Series E December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Risk-free interest rate 0.7% 1.3% 1.1% Expected term (in years) 5.0 4.0 3.0 Estimated dividend yield 0% 0% 0% Weighted-average estimated volatility 39.0% 41.0% 43.1% Fair value (in thousands) $ 93 $ 127 $ 185 During the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, the Company recorded an unrealized loss of $0.7 million, $0.4 million and $0.5 million, respectively, from the remeasurement of the warrants to fair value. In June 2012, the Company issued 5,056 shares of Series C preferred stock to convert 5,481 warrants at an exercise price of $2.67 per share. The fair market value of a share of common stock at the time of exercise was $3.45. The warrant holder exercised the right to convert this warrant in a cashless transaction and 425 shares were forfeited to the Company as payment of the exercise price. The Company revalued the warrant at the time of exercise and reclassified approximately $0.2 million in warrant liability to Series C preferred stock. F-28 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 7—Debt Credit Agreement In May 2014, the Company entered into a $35.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility pursuant to a Revolving Credit and Guaranty Agreement with several lenders (the “Credit Agreement”). The Credit Agreement will mature in May 2019. The Credit Agreement includes a letter of credit sublimit of $10.0 million and a swingline loan sublimit of $15.0 million. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement (other than swingline loans) bear interest, at the Company’s option, at (i) a base rate equal to the highest of (a) the prime rate, (b) the federal funds rate plus 0.50% and (c) an adjusted LIBOR rate for a one-month interest period plus 1.00%, in each case plus a margin ranging from 0.00% to 0.25% or (ii) an adjusted LIBOR rate plus a margin ranging from 1.00% to 1.25%. Swingline loans under the Credit Agreement bear interest at the same base rate (plus the margin applicable to borrowings bearing interest at the base rate). These margins are determined based on the total leverage ratio for the preceding four fiscal quarter period. The Company is also obligated to pay other customary fees for a credit facility of this size and type, including an unused commitment fee and fees associated with letters of credit. The Credit Agreement also permits the Company, in certain circumstances, to request an increase in the facility by an amount of up to $50.0 million (and in minimum amounts of $10.0 million) at the same maturity, pricing and other terms. The Credit Agreement contains customary representations and warranties applicable to the Company and its subsidiaries and customary affirmative and negative covenants applicable to the Company and its restricted subsidiaries. The negative covenants include restrictions on, among other things, indebtedness, liens, investments, mergers, dispositions, transactions with affiliates and dividends and other distributions. These restrictions do not prohibit a subsidiary of the Company from making pro rata payments to the Company or any other person that owns an equity interest in such subsidiary. The Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant that requires the Company and its subsidiaries to maintain a total leverage ratio (defined as net debt to adjusted EBITDA) not to exceed 3.50 to 1.00. The Credit Agreement includes customary events of default, including a change in control and a cross-default on the Company’s material indebtedness. The Company’s obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of the Company and its subsidiaries’ assets, and its obligations under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by certain of the Company’s subsidiaries. At December 31, 2014, the Company did not have any borrowings under the Credit Agreement. In January 2015, the Company implemented a revised corporate structure to more closely align its structure with its global operations and future expansion plans outside the United States. The amendment to the Credit F-29 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Agreement described below includes a waiver with respect to the Company’s compliance with certain restrictions in the Credit Agreement, to the extent that actions taken to implement its revised corporate structure could be construed as breaches or defaults under the Credit Agreement. Subsequent Event In March 2015, the Company amended the Credit Agreement (the “Amended Credit Agreement”) to increase the senior secured revolving credit facility to $50.0 million. The Amended Credit Agreement contains the same pricing covenants and other material terms as the Credit Agreement. Facility Financing Obligation As a result of the nature of and the Company’s involvement in the renovations during the construction period of the newly leased office space in Brooklyn, NY, it is considered to be the owner, for accounting purposes only, of the construction project and is required to capitalize the fair value of the building as well as the construction costs incurred by the landlord on its consolidated balance sheet (“build-to-suit accounting”). Under the build-to-suit accounting guidance, through December 31, 2014 the Company has recorded a facility financing obligation of $50.3 million, equal to the fair market value of the assets received from the landlord as of the lease signing date in May 2014 and the estimated fair value of the subsequent construction costs incurred by the landlord through December 31, 2014. Note 8—Stockholders’ Equity At December 31, 2013 and 2014, the authorized capital stock of the Company consisted of 205,000,000 and 240,000,000 shares of common stock, respectively, and 21,165,473 shares of convertible preferred stock. The convertible preferred stock, with the exclusion of Series 1 preferred stock, is referred to as “senior preferred stock.” Common Stock At December 31, 2012, there were 65,461,422 and 64,163,832 shares of common stock issued and outstanding, respectively. At December 31, 2013, there were 66,165,965 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. At December 31, 2014, there were 88,361,973 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. Holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share. Holders of common stock are not entitled to receive dividends unless declared by the board of directors. The voting, dividend and liquidation rights of F-30 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements the holders of common stock are subject to and qualified by the rights and preferences of the holders of convertible preferred stock. No dividends have been declared through December 31, 2014. The common stock has a $0.001 par value. Convertible Preferred Stock In May 2012, the Company entered into the Series F Stock Purchase Agreement with several investors to sell 11,594,203 shares of Series F preferred stock at $3.45 per share for an aggregate value of $40.0 million. The Company recorded stock issuance costs of approximately $0.2 million as additional paid-in-capital in connection with the Series F preferred stock financing. At December 31, 2013 and 2014, the Company’s outstanding convertible preferred stock consisted of the following (in thousands, except share data): Shares Authorized Shares Outstanding Carrying Values Series A and A-1 preferred stock 2,363,786 2,363,786 $ 808 Series B preferred stock 1,128,431 1,128,425 865 Series C preferred stock 1,234,084 1,222,282 3,361 Series D and D-1 preferred stock 4,240,120 4,215,610 27,870 Series E preferred stock 401,450 396,727 6,201 Series 1 preferred stock 203,399 203,399 1,322 Series F preferred stock 11,594,203 11,594,203 39,785 Total convertible preferred stock 21,165,473 21,124,432 $ 80,212 The rights and preferences of the convertible preferred stock are as follows: Voting Rights. Each holder of convertible preferred stock is entitled to one vote for each share of common stock into which such holder’s shares of convertible preferred stock are then convertible. Except as provided by law or the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, the holders of the convertible preferred stock and common stock vote together as a single class. The holders of preferred stock are entitled to voting rights for the election of board of director members as follows: Series A-1, Series B and Series C vote together as a single class to elect one director, Series D and Series D-1 vote as a single class to elect one director and Series E votes to elect one director. Additionally, the holders of common stock elect one director. All remaining directors are elected by the holders of preferred stock and common stock voting together as a single class. Dividends. The holders of the convertible preferred stock are entitled, when, as and if declared by the board of directors, and prior and in preference to common stock, to receive non-cumulative dividends at a rate of 8% of the original purchase price per share (listed in the table below). Payment of any dividends to the holders of the convertible preferred stock shall be made on a pro rata, pari passu basis in proportion to the F-31 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements dividend rates for each series of convertible preferred stock. The right to receive dividends on shares of convertible preferred stock shall not be cumulative, and no right to such dividends shall accrue to holders of cumulative preferred stock by reason of the fact that dividends on said shares are not declared or paid in any calendar year. Liquidation. In the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of the Company, the holders of the senior preferred stock shall be entitled to receive, prior and in preference to any distribution to the holders of the Series 1 preferred stock and common stock, an amount per share equal to the sum of the liquidation preference (presented below) and all declared but unpaid dividends (if any). If amounts available to be distributed are insufficient to pay the liquidation preferences of the senior preferred stock in full, then the entire assets of the Company legally available for distribution shall be distributed to the holders of the senior preferred stock ratably in proportion to the preferential amount each holder would have otherwise been entitled to receive. After payment of the liquidation preferences to the senior preferred stock, if assets remain available for distribution to the Company’s stockholders, the holders of Series 1 preferred stock shall be entitled to receive, prior and in preference to any distribution to the holders of common stock, an amount per share equal to the sum of the liquidation preference applicable to the Series 1 preferred stock and all declared but unpaid dividends (if any). If the remaining amounts available to be distributed are insufficient to pay the liquidation preferences of the Series 1 preferred stock in full, then the entire assets of the Company legally available for distribution shall be distributed ratably in proportion to the preferential amount each holder would have otherwise been entitled to receive. After payment of the liquidation preferences to the convertible preferred stock, all remaining assets shall be distributed to the holders of the common stock of the Company in proportion to the number of shares of common stock held by them. The liquidation preference provisions of the convertible preferred stock are considered contingent redemption provisions because there are certain elements that are not solely within the control of the Company, such as a change in control of the Company. Accordingly, the Company has presented the convertible preferred stock within the mezzanine portion of the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. F-32 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Conversion. Each outstanding share of convertible preferred stock is convertible, at the holder’s option or automatically upon certain events as described below, into shares of common stock at a conversion rate determined by dividing the original issue price for such share by the then Conversion Price for such share. The original issue price, conversion price and liquidation preference price of each series of preferred stock are as follows: Price Per Share Original Issue Price Conversion Price Liquidation Preference Series A preferred stock $ 0.2429 $ 0.02429 $ 0.2429 Series A-1 preferred stock 0.3915 0.03915 0.3915 Series B preferred stock 0.80 0.080 0.80 Series C preferred stock 2.67 0.267 2.67 Series D preferred stock 6.63 0.663 6.63 Series D-1 preferred stock 6.63 0.663 6.63 Series E preferred stock 15.88 1.588 15.88 Series 1 preferred stock 6.45 0.645 6.45 Series F preferred stock 3.45 3.45 3.45 The conversion price is subject to adjustment in the event of certain anti-dilutive issuances of shares of common stock. The conversion price per share in the table above reflects the adjustment for the 10-for-1 stock split of the Company’s common stock effective in May 2011. Each share of convertible preferred stock will convert into shares of common stock at its then effective conversion rate upon the earlier of (A) immediately prior to the closing of a firm commitment underwritten initial public offering pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, with gross proceeds to the Company of not less than $30 million, or (B) upon receipt by the Company of a written request for such conversion from the holders of not less than a majority of the convertible preferred stock, voting together as a single class on an as-converted basis. No shares of Series F preferred stock shall be converted into shares of common stock unless either (i) such conversion is in connection with a public offering where the price per share is equal to or greater than $5.18, or (ii) the holders of a majority of the Series F preferred stock, voting as a separate class, otherwise consent to such conversion. Redemption. The convertible preferred stock is not redeemable at the option of the holder. Tender Offers In connection with the May 2012 Series F Preferred Stock financing, the Series F investors participated in a tender offer to purchase up to an aggregate of 12,753,623 shares of common stock and preferred stock (on an as-converted basis) at a price of $3.45 per share (on an as-converted basis) from the Company’s employees and existing stockholders with the maximum aggregate offer price of up to $44.0 million. The terms of the tender offer were further limited to a maximum of 30% of a participant’s fully-vested stock and options and F-33 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements warrants to purchase stock. The tender offer was made on May 15, 2012 and expired on July 6, 2012. At the close of the transaction, the Company recorded approximately $0.9 million as compensation expense related to the excess of the selling price per share paid to the Company’s employees and former employees over the fair value of the tendered shares, and approximately $0.3 million as a deemed dividend in relation to the excess of the selling price per share paid to existing investors over the fair value of the shares tendered. On January 13, 2014, certain investors participated in a tender offer to purchase up to an aggregate of 14,000,000 shares of common stock and preferred stock (on an as-converted basis) at a price of $5.30 per share (on an as-converted basis) from the Company’s employees and existing stockholders with the maximum aggregate offer price of up to $74.2 million. The terms of the tender offer were limited to a maximum of one-half of an employee’s fully-vested stock and options and warrants to purchase stock and a minimum of one-half of a former employee’s or non-employee’s fully-vested stock and options and warrants to purchase stock. At the close of the transaction, 6,308,440 shares were tendered for a total price of $33.4 million. Common Stock Issuances In April 2014, the Company issued 6,603,774 shares of common stock to certain investors at $5.30 per share for an aggregate value of $35.0 million. Additionally, the Company issued a total of 7,160,952 shares of common stock in connection with the acquisitions of Grand St. and ALM, of which 5,304,797 shares with an aggregate fair value of $27.7 million on the applicable acquisition dates are included in the Company’s purchase price and 1,856,155 shares with an aggregate fair value of $9.7 million on the applicable acquisition dates are tied to continued employment with the Company and are being accounted for as post-acquisition compensation expense. Stock Repurchases In 2012, the board of directors authorized the repurchase of 20,000 shares of outstanding common stock at a cost of $0.1 million, 6 shares of outstanding Series B preferred stock at a cost of $297, and 4 shares of outstanding Series C preferred stock at a cost of $126. These repurchased shares were retired and removed from the number of shares issued in the consolidated balance sheet. In 2013, the board of directors authorized the repurchase and retirement of 47,000 shares of outstanding common stock at a cost of $0.2 million. The repurchased shares were retired and have been removed from both the issued and outstanding number of shares in the consolidated balance sheet and consolidated statement of stockholders’ equity. F-34 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Secondary Transactions In the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company recorded $0.5 million as compensation expense related to the excess of the selling price per share paid to certain of the Company’s former employees over the fair value of the shares sold to an investor by these former employees in secondary transactions. Note 9—Stock-based Compensation The Company maintains the 2006 Stock Plan (the “Stock Plan”). Under the Stock Plan, incentive and nonqualified stock options or rights to purchase common stock may be granted to eligible participants. Options are generally granted for a term of 10 years. Options granted under the Stock Plan generally vest 25% after the first year of service and ratably each month over the remaining 36-month period contingent on continued employment with the Company on each vesting date. At December 31, 2013 and 2014, 43,432,935 and 48,505,935 shares were authorized under the Stock Plan, respectively, and 3,063,945 and 3,036,004 shares were available for future grant, respectively. The fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. Since the Company is not publicly traded, the Company utilizes equity valuations based on comparable publicly-traded companies, discounted free cash flows, an analysis of the Company’s enterprise value and any other factors deemed relevant in estimating the fair value of its common stock. The risk-free rate for periods within the contractual life of the option is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant. Expected volatilities are based on implied volatilities from market comparisons of certain publicly traded companies and other factors. The expected term of stock options granted has been determined using the simplified method, which uses the midpoint between the vesting date and the contractual term. The requisite service period is generally four years from the date of grant. The fair value of options granted in each year using the Black-Scholes pricing model has been based on the following assumptions: Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Volatility 42.7% - 43.9% 45.7% - 50.3% 43.0% - 49.0% Risk-free interest rate 0.7% - 1.1% 0.9% - 1.9% 1.7% - 2.1% Expected term (in years) 5.12 - 6.08 5.48 - 6.08 5.46 - 6.08 Dividend rate —% —% —% F-35 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The following table summarizes the activity for the Company’s options: Shares Weighted-Average Exercise Price Weighted-Average Remaining Contract Term (in years) Aggregate Intrinsic Value Outstanding at January 1, 2012 25,037,740 $ 0.73 Granted 7,717,321 2.33 Exercised (5,889,452) 0.79 Forfeited/Cancelled (2,993,224) 1.15 Outstanding at December 31, 2012 23,872,385 1.18 Granted 6,152,210 2.76 Exercised (2,049,133) 0.65 Forfeited/Cancelled (1,594,527) 1.90 Outstanding at December 31, 2013 26,380,935 1.55 7.42 Granted 6,413,435 5.14 Exercised (8,431,282) 0.94 Forfeited/Cancelled (1,312,494) 3.29 Outstanding at December 31, 2014 23,050,594 2.67 7.57 $ 134,386,069 Total exercisable at December 31, 2014 11,212,671 1.44 6.32 79,212,034 Total vested and expected to vest at December 31, 2014 21,663,138 2.57 7.48 128,508,325 The weighted-average grant date fair value of options granted in the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014 was $0.97, $1.30 and $2.43, respectively. The total intrinsic value of options exercised in the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014 was $9.0 million, $4.0 million and $24.8 million, respectively, and the total fair value of awards that vested in the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014 was $2.5 million, $3.5 million and $4.7 million, respectively. The total unrecognized compensation at December 31, 2014 was $16.6 million, which will be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.99 years. Total stock-based compensation expense included in the consolidated statements of operations is as follows (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Cost of revenue $ 166 $ 200 $ 1,113 Marketing 57 79 216 Product development 436 785 1,461 General and administrative 3,435 2,770 7,260 $ 4,094 $ 3,834 $ 10,050 F-36 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The total stock-based compensation expense in the year ended December 31, 2014 includes $4.1 million in acquisition-related stock-based compensation expense. Note 10—Income Taxes The following are the domestic and foreign components of the Company’s (loss) income before income taxes (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Domestic $ (2,873) $ (544) $ 6,084 International 343 602 (16,344) (Loss) income before income taxes $ (2,530) $ 58 $ (10,260) The income tax (benefit) provision is comprised of the following (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Current: Federal $ 89 $ 91 $ 5,378 State 353 (614) 21 Foreign 149 95 401 Total current 591 (428) 5,800 Deferred: Federal (302) 871 (50) State (434) 411 (186) Foreign — — (581) Total deferred (736) 1,282 (817) Total income tax (benefit) provision $ (145) $ 854 $ 4,983 The current tax expense listed above does not reflect income tax benefits of $0, $22,000 and $4.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively, related to excess tax deductions on share-based compensation because we recorded these benefits directly to additional paid-in capital. F-37 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements A reconciliation of the income tax (benefit) provision at the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate of 34% to the Company’s total income tax (benefit) provision is as follows (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Income tax (benefit) provision at federal statutory rate $ (860) $ 20 $ (3,488) State and local taxes net of federal benefit (67) (135) (109) Foreign income tax rate differential 33 (131) 3,255 Non-deductible stock-based compensation 378 611 1,963 Net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities 251 143 140 Non-deductible items 68 114 152 Uncertain tax positions — — 398 Return to provision adjustment 32 240 36 Non-deductible acquisition costs — — 582 Change in valuation allowance — — 2,065 Other 20 (8) (11) Total income tax (benefit) provision $ (145) $ 854 $ 4,983 Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effect of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets (liabilities) are as follows (in thousands): As of December 31, 2013 2014 Deferred tax assets: Net operating loss carryforwards $ 83 $ 3,274 Stock-based compensation expense 1,502 2,222 Accrued VAT liability 573 612 Alternative minimum tax credit 176 163 Allowance for doubtful accounts 420 701 Deferred rent 136 108 Accrued vacation 169 413 Intangible assets 87 — Unrealized loss on foreign currency — 554 Other, net 504 1,041 Total deferred tax assets 3,650 9,088 Less valuation allowance — 1,892 Total net deferred tax asset 3,650 7,196 Deferred tax liabilities: Depreciation (3,107) (5,467) Other liabilities — (1,878) Total deferred tax liabilities (3,107) (7,345) Net deferred tax assets (liabilities) $ 543 $ (149) F-38 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements As of December 31, 2013, the Company had approximately $10.6 million and $5.0 million of federal and pre-apportionment New York City net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards, respectively, as well as immaterial amounts of NOLs in other state and local jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2014, the Company had approximately $6.9 million and $4.3 million of federal and preapportionment New York City NOL carryforwards, respectively, as well as immaterial amounts of NOLs in other states. The federal NOLs will begin to expire in 2031 if unused. The New York City NOLs will expire in 2033 if unused. All of the federal NOLs and most of the other NOL carryforwards are attributable to excess tax deductions from stock option exercises. The benefit of these NOLs will be credited to additional paid in capital when the NOLs are utilized. As of December 31, 2013 and 2014, the Company had approximately $0.2 million of federal alternative minimum tax credits, which may be carried forward indefinitely. The utilization of the Company’s NOL carryforwards is subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code due to a change of ownership. However, the Company does not believe such annual limitation will impact its realization of the NOL carryforwards. The Company assesses the likelihood of its ability to realize the benefit of its deferred tax assets in each jurisdiction by evaluating all relevant positive and negative evidence. To the extent the Company determines that some or all of its deferred tax assets are not more likely than not to be realized, it establishes a valuation allowance. For the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company determined that the existence of a three-year cumulative loss incurred in certain foreign jurisdictions, inclusive of 2014, constituted sufficiently strong negative evidence to warrant the establishment of a valuation allowance. As a result, a valuation allowance of $1.9 million as of December 31, 2014 has been recorded against certain of the Company’s deferred tax assets. The amount of the deferred tax assets considered realizable is $7.2 million. The following table summarizes the valuation allowance activity for the periods indicated (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Balance as of the beginning of period $ — $ — $ — Additions charged to expense — — 3,915 Deletions credited to expense — — (1,850 ) Currency translation — — (173 ) Balance as of the end of period $ — $ — $ 1,892 F-39 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The Company has not recorded deferred income taxes with respect to undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries as such earnings are expected to remain reinvested indefinitely. Upon distribution as dividends or otherwise, such amounts would be subject to taxation in the U.S. However, U.S. tax liabilities would be offset, in whole or part, by allowable tax credits with respect to income taxes previously paid to foreign jurisdictions. The amount of undistributed earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries at December 31, 2014, as well as the related deferred income tax, if any, is not material. As of December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2013, the Company had no unrecognized income tax benefits. As of December 31, 2014 the Company had unrecognized income tax benefits of $0.4 million. The following table summarizes the unrecognized tax benefit activity for the periods indicated (in thousands): As of December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Balance as of the beginning of period $ — $ — $ — Additions based on tax positions related to the current year — — 398 Additions for tax positions of prior years — — — Reductions for tax provisions of prior years — — — Settlements — — — Balance as of the end of period $ — $ — $ 398 The Company files tax returns in the United States, New York and various other state and foreign jurisdictions. Generally, tax returns filed for 2011 and later years remain open to examination. To the extent tax attributes generated in earlier, closed years are carried forward into years that are open to examination, they may be subject to adjustment in audit. F-40 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 11—Fair Value Measurements The Company has characterized its investments in marketable securities, based on the priority of the inputs used to value the investments, into a three-level fair value hierarchy. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1), and lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). If the inputs used to measure the investments fall within different levels of the hierarchy, the categorization is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the investment. Investments recorded in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet are categorized based on the inputs to valuation techniques as follows: Level 1—These are investments where values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets in an active market that the Company has the ability to access. Level 2—These are investments where values are based on quoted market prices in markets that are not active or model derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable in active markets. Level 3—These are liabilities where values are derived from techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable. The following are the major categories of assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2013 and 2014 using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1), significant other observable inputs (Level 2) and significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) (in thousands): As of December 31, 2013 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total Asset Cash equivalents: Money market funds $ 20,285 $ — $ — $ 20,285 U.S. Government bills 3,534 — — 3,534 23,819 — — 23,819 Short-term investments: U.S. Government and agency bills 18,075 — — 18,075 $ 41,894 $ — $ — $ 41,894 Liability Warrants classified as liability $ — $ — $ 1,428 $ 1,428 F-41 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements As of December 31, 2014 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total Asset Cash equivalents: Money market funds $ 20,288 $ — $ — $ 20,288 U.S. Government bills 2,426 — — 2,426 22,714 — — 22,714 Short-term investments: U.S. Government and agency bills 19,184 — — 19,184 $ 41,898 $ — $ — $ 41,898 Liability Put option classified as liability $ — $ — $ 16 $ 16 Acquisition–related contingent consideration classified as liability — — 3,374 3,374 Warrants classified as liability — — 1,920 1,920 $ — $ — $ 5,310 $ 5,310 Level 1 instruments include money market funds and Corporate Certificates of Deposit and AAA-rated U.S. Government and agency securities, which are valued based on inputs including quotes from broker-dealers or recently executed transactions in the same or similar securities. The table below provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances for the liabilities measured at fair value using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2013 2014 Balance at beginning of period $ 1,009 $ 1,428 Acquired — 97 Changes to liability-classified stock awards — 3,374 Settled — — Net increase in fair value 419 411 Balance at end of period $ 1,428 $ 5,310 F-42 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 12—Net Loss Per Share The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share for periods presented (in thousands, except share and per share data): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Net loss $ (2,385) $ (796) $ (15,243) Deemed dividend on share transaction (256) — — Net loss attributable to common stockholders (basic) $ (2,641) $ (796) $ (15,243) Dilutive effect of allocated income related to participating preferred stock — — — Net loss attributable to common stockholders (dilutive) $ (2,641) $ (796) $ (15,243) Basic shares: Weighted-average common shares outstanding 60,563,723 65,334,548 80,493,407 Diluted shares: Common equivalent shares from stock options to purchase common stockholders — — — Dilutive effect of assumed conversion of warrants — — — Weighted-average shares used to compute diluted net loss per share 60,563,723 65,334,548 80,493,407 Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders: Basic net loss per share applicable to common stockholders $ (0.04) $ (0.01) $ (0.19) Diluted net loss per share applicable to common stockholders $ (0.04) $ (0.01) $ (0.19) The following potential common shares were excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders because their effect would have been anti-dilutive for the periods presented: Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 Stock options 25,488,714 24,844,659 22,616,546 Warrants 406,060 406,060 406,060 Convertible preferred stock 106,896,493 106,896,493 106,896,493 Total anti-dilutive securities 132,791,267 132,147,212 129,919,099 F-43 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Unaudited Pro Forma Net Loss Per Share The following table sets forth the computation of the Company’s unaudited pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock (in thousands except share and per share data): Year Ended December 31, 2014 (unaudited) Numerator: Net loss for basic and diluted earnings per share $ (15,243) Add: Net unrealized loss on warrants 492 Net loss for pro forma basic and diluted earnings per share $ (14,751) Denominator: Weighted average common stock outstanding (basic) 80,493,407 Add: conversion of convertible preferred stock 106,896,493 Total weighted average shares outstanding used in basic pro forma net loss per share 187,389,900 Dilutive effect of stock options and warrants — Total weighted average shares outstanding used in diluted pro forma net loss per share 187,389,900 Pro forma basic net loss per share $ (0.08) Pro forma diluted net loss per share $ (0.08) The following potential common shares were excluded from the calculation of diluted pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders because their effect would have been anti-dilutive for the periods presented: Year Ended December 31, 2014 Stock options 22,616,546 Warrants 406,060 Total anti-dilutive 23,022,606 Note 13—Segment and Geographic Information The Company has determined that it operates in one reportable segment that has been identified based on how the Company’s chief operating decision maker manages the Company’s business (see Note 1). F-44 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Revenue by country is based on the current billing address of the seller. The following table summarizes revenue by geographic area (in thousands): Year Ended December 31, 2012 2013 2014 United States $ 61,706 $ 103,428 $ 153,866 International 12,896 21,594 41,725 Revenue $ 74,602 $ 125,022 $ 195,591 No individual international country’s revenue exceeds 5% of total revenue. All significant long-lived assets are located in the United States. Note 14—Commitments and Contingencies Lease Commitments Capital Leases The Company entered into a credit agreement with ePlus Group, Inc (“ePlus”) on January 3, 2014, which provided the Company with a credit line of up to $8.0 million for computer equipment leases (the “ePlus Line”). The ePlus Line allows the Company to order equipment from any approved vendor. ePlus purchases the equipment on behalf of the Company and leases it back to the Company. The leases have a 36-month term and are payable in equal monthly installments with a buy-out option of $1 or fair market value at the end of the lease term depending on the equipment. As of December 31, 2014, the Company has leased approximately $5.6 million of computer equipment using the ePlus Line. The Company had a credit agreement with TriplePoint Capital, LLC (“TriplePoint”), which provided the Company with a credit line of up to $20.0 million for computer equipment leases (the “TriplePoint Line”). The TriplePoint Line allowed the Company to order equipment from any vendor. TriplePoint purchased the equipment on behalf of the Company and leased it back to the Company. The leases have a 36-month term, interest rate of 8.25%, and are payable in equal monthly installments. The Company stopped buying equipment under the TriplePoint Line in June 2012 and is paying off the remaining lease obligations in accordance with the terms of the credit agreement. At December 31, 2014, the Company had leased approximately $0.4 million of computer equipment using the TriplePoint Line. In connection with the execution of the TriplePoint Line, the Company issued TriplePoint a warrant to purchase 4,723 shares of Series E Preferred Stock at an exercise price of $15.88 per share (the “TriplePoint Series E Warrant”). The TriplePoint Series E Warrant was valued at $43,000 on the date of issuance, which F-45 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements the Company recognized as debt issuance cost and amortized over 36 months from the date of issuance. The warrant was fully vested at issuance. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014, the accompanying consolidated statement of operations includes charges of approximately $0.4 million, $0.2 million and $0.4 million for interest expense, respectively, related to the equipment leased using the TriplePoint Line and ePlus Lines. Operating Leases In 2012, the Company amended its existing lease for office space in Brooklyn, NY to extend its expiration to 2016. The portion of deferred rent liability related to the prior lease of approximately $0.3 million is being amortized and recorded as rent expense over the new lease term. During 2012, the Company also entered into a new lease for office space in San Francisco, CA expiring in 2017. In 2014, the Company entered into a new lease for office space in Dublin, Ireland expiring in 2024. Rent expense for these operating leases is recognized over the term of each respective lease on a straight-line basis. In addition, the Company leases other office facilities under shorter terms and cancellable leases. Total rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2013 and 2014 was $1.7 million, $2.4 million and $3.6 million, respectively. Build-to-Suit Lease In May 2014, the Company entered into a 10-year lease agreement for approximately 199,000 rentable square feet of office space in Brooklyn, NY for the Company’s new headquarters, which lease is expected to commence in 2015. Of the total new office space, approximately 172,000 rentable square feet is being accounted for as a build-to-suit lease and approximately 27,000 rentable square feet located in an adjacent building is being accounted for as an operating lease. In connection with the lease agreement, the Company established a $5.3 million collateral account, reflected in the restricted cash balance on the consolidated balance sheet. F-46 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The following table represents the Company’s commitments under its current capital, operating, and build-to-suit lease agreements as of December 31, 2014 (in thousands): Capital Lease Obligations Operating Leases Build-to-Suit Lease Periods ending 2015 $ 2,288 $ 3,870 $ — 2016 2,250 854 529 2017 1,257 1,845 9,155 2018 — 1,756 9,394 2019 — 1,767 9,464 Thereafter — 10,952 61,772 Total minimum payments required $ 5,795 $ 21,044 $ 90,314 Amounts representing interest 892 Present value of net minimum payments 4,903 Current maturities 1,755 Long-term payment obligations $ 3,148 Tax Contingencies The Company had a reserve of $2.5 million and $3.5 million at December 31, 2013 and 2014, respectively, for certain non-income tax obligations, representing management’s best estimate of its liability. In addition, the Company could be subject to examination in various jurisdictions related to income and non-income tax matters. The resolution of these types of matters, giving recognition to the recorded reserve, could have an adverse impact on the Company’s business. Legal Proceedings From time to time in the normal course of business, various claims and litigation have been asserted or commenced against the Company. Due to uncertainties inherent in litigation and other claims, the Company can give no assurance that it will prevail in any such matters, which could subject the Company to significant liability for damages. Any claims or litigation, regardless of their success, could have an adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated results of operations or cash flows in the period the claims or litigation are resolved. As of December 31, 2014, the Company does not believe that there are any material litigation exposures. Note 15—Revisions to Consolidated Financial Statements In the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company determined that its prior years’ annual consolidated financial statements included an understatement in certain non-income tax-related expenses. This understatement F-47 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements impacts the Company’s consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, balance sheets and statements of cash flows. The Company assessed the effect of the errors on prior periods’ financial statements in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) No. 99—Materiality and SAB No. 108—Considering the Effects of Prior Year Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in Current Year Financial Statements. Based on quantitative and qualitative factors, the Company determined that the errors were not material to any previously issued annual consolidated financial statements. The Company determined that the correction of the cumulative amounts of the errors would be material to the consolidated financial statements for the three months ended December 31, 2014 and, as such, has revised its previously issued consolidated financial statements for 2012 and 2013. The adjustments related to years prior to 2012 are reflected as a $0.1 million adjustment to beginning accumulated deficit for fiscal year 2012. All financial information contained in the accompanying notes to these financial statements has been revised to reflect the correction of these errors. The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss are as follows (in thousands except per share amounts): Year Ended December 31, 2012 Year Ended December 31, 2013 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Revenue $ 74,602 $ — $ 74,602 $ 125,022 $ — $ 125,022 Cost of revenue 24,408 85 24,493 47,679 100 47,779 Gross profit 50,194 (85) 50,109 77,343 (100) 77,243 Operating expenses Marketing 10,789 113 10,902 17,621 229 17,850 Product development 18,629 24 18,653 27,527 21 27,548 General and administrative 21,867 42 21,909 31,060 52 31,112 Total operating expenses 51,285 179 51,464 76,208 302 76,510 (Loss) income from operations (1,091) (264) (1,355) 1,135 (402) 733 Total other expense (1,140) (35) (1,175) (617) (58) (675) (Loss) income before income taxes (2,231) (299) (2,530) 518 (460) 58 Benefit (provision) for income taxes 32 113 145 (1,029) 175 (854) Net loss $ (2,199) $ (186) $ (2,385) $ (511) $ (285) $ (796) Net loss per share—basic and diluted $ (0.04) $ — $ (0.04) $ (0.01) $ — $ (0.01) Net loss $ (2,199) $ (186) $ (2,385) $ (511) $ (285) $ (796) Other comprehensive (loss) income (26) — (26) 212 — 212 Comprehensive loss $ (2,225) $ (186) $ (2,411) $ (299) $ (285) $ (584) F-48 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated balance sheets are as follows (in thousands): As of December 31, 2012 As of December 31, 2013 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Deferred tax assets-current $ 1,379 $ 201 $ 1,580 $ 1,426 $ 376 $ 1,802 Total current assets 68,752 201 68,953 76,409 376 76,785 Total assets 92,635 201 92,836 105,783 376 106,159 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 1,950 527 2,477 4,055 988 5,043 Total current liabilities 10,929 527 11,456 18,231 988 19,219 Total liabilities 12,748 527 13,275 20,956 988 21,944 Accumulated deficit (16,011) (327) (16,338) (16,522) (612) (17,134) Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity (325) (327) (652) 4,615 (612) 4,003 Total liabilities, convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ (deficit) equity 92,635 201 92,836 105,783 376 106,159 The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated statements of cash flow are as follows (in thousands): As of December 31, 2012 As of December 31, 2013 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Net loss $ (2,199) $ (186) $ (2,385) $ (511) $ (285) $ (796) Deferred income taxes (622) (114) (736) 1,458 (176) 1,282 Accrued liabilities 130 300 430 1,499 461 1,960 Net cash provided by operating activities 9,684 — 9,684 16,542 — 16,542 Note 16—Revisions and Restatements to Quarterly Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited) In the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company determined that certain of its 2013 and 2014 interim consolidated financial statements included misstatements of expenses due to period-end cutoff errors. The errors impact the Company’s consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), balance sheets and statements of cash flows in each period. The Company assessed the effect of the errors on prior periods’ financial statements in accordance with SAB No. 99—Materiality and SAB No. 108—Considering the Effects of Prior Year Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in Current Year Financial Statements and, based on quantitative and qualitative factors, determined that the errors, in combination with the understatement of non-income tax-related expenses described in Note 15, were material to the consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2014, the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 and the nine months ended September 30, 2014. As such, the Company has restated its interim F-49 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements consolidated financial statements for these periods. In addition, the impact of these adjustments to the consolidated financial statements was not material to the three months ended March 31, 2013, the three and six months ended June 30, 2013, the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, the three months ended December 31, 2013 and the three months ended September 30, 2014 and therefore the Company has revised its interim consolidated financial statements for these periods. The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated statements of operations are as follows (in thousands): Quarter Ended March 31, 2013 Quarter Ended June 30, 2013 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Revenue $ 26,144 $ — $ 26,144 $ 27,364 $ — $ 27,364 Cost of revenue 9,559 22 9,581 10,475 24 10,499 Gross profit 16,585 (22) 16,563 16,889 (24) 16,865 Operating expenses Marketing 2,962 42 3,004 3,180 43 3,223 Product development 6,686 4 6,690 6,750 4 6,754 General and administrative 6,610 9 6,619 7,474 15 7,489 Total operating expenses 16,258 55 16,313 17,404 62 17,466 Income (loss) from operations 327 (77) 250 (515) (86) (601) Total other expense (147) (12) (159) (240) (14) (254) Income (loss) before income taxes 180 (89) 91 (755) (100) (855) (Provision) benefit for income taxes (442) 34 (408) 1,865 38 1,903 Net (loss) income $ (262) $ (55) $ (317) $ 1,110 $ (62) $ 1,048 Quarter Ended September 30, 2013 Quarter Ended December 31, 2013 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Revenue $ 29,957 $ — $ 29,957 $ 41,557 $ — $ 41,557 Cost of revenue 11,524 24 11,548 16,121 30 16,151 Gross profit 18,433 (24) 18,409 25,436 (30) 25,406 Operating expenses Marketing 4,088 60 4,148 7,391 84 7,475 Product development 7,049 7 7,056 7,042 6 7,048 General and administrative 7,831 74 7,905 9,145 (46) 9,099 Total operating expenses 18,968 141 19,109 23,578 44 23,622 (Loss) income from operations (535) (165) (700) 1,858 (74) 1,784 Total other expense (143) (15) (158) (87) (17) (104) (Loss) income before income taxes (678) (180) (858) 1,771 (91) 1,680 Benefit (provision) for income taxes 1,870 69 1,939 (4,322) 34 (4,288) Net income (loss) $ 1,192 $ (111) $ 1,081 $ (2,551) $ (57) $ (2,608) F-50 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) for the six months ended June 30, 2013 and the nine months ended September 30, 2013 are as follows (in thousands except per share amounts): Six Months Ended June 30, 2013 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2013 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Revenue $ 53,508 $ — $ 53,508 $ 83,465 $ — $ 83,465 Cost of revenue 20,034 46 20,080 31,558 70 31,628 Gross profit 33,474 (46) 33,428 51,907 (70) 51,837 Operating expenses Marketing 6,142 85 6,227 10,230 145 10,375 Product development 13,436 8 13,444 20,485 15 20,500 General and administrative 14,084 24 14,108 21,915 98 22,013 Total operating expenses 33,662 117 33,779 52,630 258 52,888 Loss from operations (188) (163) (351) (723) (328) (1,051) Total other expense (387) (26) (413) (530) (41) (571) Loss before income taxes (575) (189) (764) (1,253) (369) (1,622) Benefit for income taxes 1,423 72 1,495 3,293 141 3,434 Net income (loss) $ 848 $ (117) $ 731 $ 2,040 $ (228) $ 1,812 Net loss per share—basic and diluted $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — Net income (loss) $ 848 $ (117) $ 731 $ 2,040 $ (228) $ 1,812 Other comprehensive income 84 — 84 201 — 201 Comprehensive income (loss) $ 932 $ (117) $ 815 $ 2,241 $ (228) $ 2,013 The effects of the adjustments on the 2014 quarterly consolidated statements of operations are as follows (in thousands): Quarter Ended March 31, 2014 Quarter Ended June 30, 2014 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated Revenue $ 40,536 $ — $ 40,536 $ 42,509 $ — $ 42,509 Cost of revenue 15,361 33 15,394 17,309 36 17,345 Gross profit 25,175 (33) 25,142 25,200 (36) 25,164 Operating expenses Marketing 7,258 210 7,468 8,804 (38) 8,766 Product development 7,981 61 8,042 8,782 10 8,792 General and administrative 8,768 445 9,213 10,809 591 11,400 Total operating expenses 24,007 716 24,723 28,395 563 28,958 (Loss) income from operations 1,168 (749) 419 (3,195) (599) (3,794) Total other expense (649) (20) (669) 260 (25) 235 (Loss) income before income taxes 519 (769) (250) (2,935) (624) (3,559) (Provision) benefit for income taxes (404) 191 (213) 400 8 408 Net income (loss) $ 115 $ (578) $ (463) $ (2,535) $ (616) $ (3,151) F-51 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Quarter Ended September 30, 2014 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Revenue $ 47,634 $ — $ 47,634 Cost of revenue 18,080 35 18,115 Gross profit 29,554 (35) 29,519 Operating expenses Marketing 8,563 245 8,808 Product development 10,067 10 10,077 General and administrative 13,722 (36) 13,686 Total operating expenses 32,352 219 32,571 Loss from operations (2,798) (254) (3,052) Total other expense (1,116) (28) (1,144) Loss before income taxes (3,914) (282) (4,196) (Provision) benefit for income taxes (2,268) 193 (2,075) Net loss $ (6,182) $ (89) $ (6,271) The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and the nine months ended September 30, 2014 are as follows (in thousands except per share amounts): Six Months Ended June 30, 2014 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2014 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated Revenue $ 83,045 $ — $ 83,045 $ 130,679 $ — $ 130,679 Cost of revenue 32,670 69 32,739 50,750 104 50,854 Gross profit 50,375 (69) 50,306 79,929 (104) 79,825 Operating expenses Marketing 16,062 172 16,234 24,625 417 25,042 Product development 16,763 71 16,834 26,830 81 26,911 General and administrative 19,577 1,036 20,613 33,299 1,000 34,299 Total operating expenses 52,402 1,279 53,681 84,754 1,498 86,252 Loss from operations (2,027) (1,348) (3,375) (4,825) (1,602) (6,427) Total other expense (389) (45) (434) (1,505) (73) (1,578) Loss before income taxes (2,416) (1,393) (3,809) (6,330) (1,675) (8,005) Benefit (provision) for income taxes (4) 199 195 (2,272) 392 (1,880) Net loss $ (2,420) $ (1,194) $ (3,614) $ (8,602) $ (1,283) $ (9,885) Net loss per share—basic and diluted $ (0.03) $ (0.02) $ (0.05) $ (0.11) $ (0.02) $ (0.13) Net loss $ (2,420) $ (1,194) $ (3,614) $ (8,602) $ (1,283) $ (9,885) Other comprehensive (loss) income (173) — (173) (2,756) — (2,756) Comprehensive loss $ (2,593) $ (1,194) $ (3,787) $ (11,358) $ (1,283) $ (12,641) F-52 Etsy, Inc. Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated balance sheets as of June 30 and September 30, 2014 are as follows (in thousands): As of June 30, 2014 As of September 30, 2014 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated Deferred tax assets—current $ 2,985 $ 504 $ 3,489 $ 2,149 $ 568 $ 2,717 Total current assets 116,949 504 117,453 121,840 568 122,408 Total assets 224,006 504 224,510 237,711 568 238,279 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 12,018 2,310 14,328 11,459 2,463 13,922 Total current liabilities 24,186 2,310 26,496 31,860 2,463 34,323 Total liabilities 68,653 2,310 70,963 88,371 2,463 90,834 Accumulated deficit (18,942) (1,806) (20,748) (25,124) (1,895) (27,019) Total stockholders’ (deficit) equity 75,141 (1,806) 73,335 69,128 (1,895) 67,233 Total liabilities, convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ (deficit) 224,006 504 224,510 237,711 568 238,279 The effects of the adjustments on the consolidated statements of cash flow for the six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2014 and the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2014 are as follows (in thousands): Six Months Ended June 30, 2013 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2013 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised As Originally Reported Adjustments As Revised Net loss $ 848 $ (117) $ 731 $ 2,040 $ (228) $ 1,812 Deferred income taxes 728 (72) 656 1,092 (117) 975 Accrued liabilities 870 189 1,059 980 345 1,325 Net cash provided by operating activities 6,655 — 6,655 10,110 — 10,110 Six Months Ended June 30, 2014 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2014 As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated As Originally Reported Adjustments As Restated Net loss $ (2,420) $ (1,194) $ (3,614) $ (8,602) $ (1,283) $ (9,885) Deferred income taxes (470) (129) (599) 464 (194) 270 Accrued liabilities 7,302 1,322 8,624 4,901 1,477 6,378 Net cash provided by operating activities 6,914 — 6,914 11,986 — 11,986 F-53 Independent Auditor’s Report To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Jarvis Labs, Inc.: We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Jarvis Labs, Inc., which comprise the balance sheets as of December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, and the related statements of operations and comprehensive loss, changes in convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2013 and the period from June 11, 2012 (inception) to December 31, 2012. Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Auditor’s Responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on our judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, we consider internal control relevant to the Company’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion. F-54 Opinion In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Jarvis Labs, Inc. at December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2013 and for the period from June 11, 2012 (inception) to December 31, 2012 in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. /s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP New York, New York November 3, 2014 F-55 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Balance Sheets As of December 31, 2012 As of December 31, 2013 As of March 31, 2014 (unaudited) Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 812,319 $ 591,004 $ 98,662 Accounts receivable 5,213 29,862 27,500 Inventory 13,800 139,672 150,810 Prepaid expenses — 37,591 33,000 Total current assets 831,332 798,129 309,972 Property and equipment, net 14,542 39,742 35,520 Total assets $ 845,874 $ 837,871 $ 345,492 Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit Current liabilities Accounts payable $ — $ 86,893 $ 48,329 Accrued expenses and other payables 11,028 246,307 74,215 Deferred revenue 1,160 235 — Warrant liability — 56,844 70,137 Debt—current portion — 135,908 188,848 Total current liabilities 12,188 526,187 381,529 Debt—net of current portion — 334,829 298,625 Total liabilities 12,188 861,016 680,154 Commitments and contingencies Convertible preferred stock Series Seed—par value $0.00001; 4,539,629 shares authorized as of December 31, 2012, and 4,728,155 shares authorized as of December 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014; 3,391,581 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2012, and 4,419,683 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014 972,577 1,272,577 1,272,577 Total convertible preferred stock 972,577 1,272,577 1,272,577 Stockholders’ (deficit) equity Common stock, par value $0.00001, 15,500,000 shares authorized as of December 31, 2012 and 15,688,486 shares authorized as of December 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014; 8,700,000 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2012 and 2013, and March 31, 2014. 87 87 87 Additional paid-in capital 936 7,185 11,173 Accumulated deficit (139,914) (1,302,994) (1,618,499) Total stockholders’ deficit (138,891) (1,295,722) (1,607,239) Total liabilities, convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ deficit $ 845,874 $ 837,871 $ 345,492 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements F-56 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss Period from June 11, 2012 (inception) to December 31, Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended March 31, 2012 2013 2013 2014 (unaudited) Revenue $ 15,795 $ 968,249 $ 104,373 $ 274,353 Cost of revenue 12,573 818,930 83,080 230,606 Gross profit 3,222 149,319 21,293 43,747 Operating expenses: Sales and marketing 18,490 284,205 39,255 30,187 Product and technology 96,347 757,178 117,516 234,257 General and administrative 8,629 242,518 53,701 64,780 Total operating expenses 123,466 1,283,901 210,472 329,224 Loss from operations (120,244) (1,134,582) (189,179) (285,477) Other (expense) income: Interest expense and other (19,684) (18,070) — (16,735) Unrealized loss on warrant liability — (10,746) — (13,293) Interest income 14 318 146 — Total other expense (19,670) (28,498) 146 (30,028) Net and comprehensive loss $ (139,914) $ (1,163,080) $ (189,033) $ (315,505) The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements F-57 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Statements of Changes in Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Deficit Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock Common Stock Additional Paid-In Capital Accumulated Deficit Total Stockholders’ Deficit Shares Amount Shares Amount Balance at June 11, 2012 (inception) — $ — — $ — $ — $ — $ — Issuance of common stock par value $0.00001 — — 8,700,000 87 (87) — — Issuance of Series Seed preferred stock par value $0.00001 3,391,581 972,577 — — — — — Stock-based compensation — — — — 1,023 — 1,023 Net loss — — — — — (139,914) (139,914) Balance at December 31, 2012 3,391,581 972,577 8,700,000 87 936 (139,914) (138,891) Issuance of Series Seed preferred stock par value $0.00001 1,028,102 300,000 — — — — — Stock-based compensation — — — — 6,249 — 6,249 Net loss — — — — — (1,163,080) (1,163,080) Balance at December 31, 2013 4,419,683 1,272,577 8,700,000 87 7,185 (1,302,994) (1,295,722) Stock-based compensation — — — — 3,988 — 3,988 Net loss — — — — — (315,505) (315,505) Balance at March 31, 2014 (unaudited) 4,419,683 $ 1,272,577 8,700,000 $ 87 $ 11,173 $ (1,618,499) $ (1,607,239) The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements F-58 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Statements of Cash Flows Period from June 11, 2012 (inception) to December 31, Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended March 31, 2012 2013 2013 2014 (unaudited) Cash flows from operating activities Net loss $ (139,914) $ (1,163,080) $ (189,033) $ (315,505) Net loss used in operating activities: cash used by operations Depreciation expense 813 12,375 6,585 8,138 Stock based compensation 1,023 6,250 772 3,988 Unrealized loss on Warrant Liability — 10,744 — 13,293 Non-cash interest expense — 17,958 — 16,735 Changes in operating assets and liabilities Increase in accounts receivable (5,213) (24,649) (10,000) 2,361 Increase in inventory (13,800) (125,872) (52,580) (11,138) (Increase) decrease in prepaid expenses and other receivables — (37,591) — 4,591 Increase (decrease) in accounts payable — 86,893 — (38,564) Increase (decrease) in accrued expenses and other payables 12,188 234,355 10,008 (172,090) Net cash used in operating activities (144,903) (982,617) (234,248) (488,191) Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of property and equipment (15,355) (37,575) (5,350) (4,151) Net cash used in investing activities (15,355) (37,575) (5,350) (4,151) Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from issuance of preferred stock, net of issuance cost 972,577 300,000 300,000 — Proceeds from Loan and warrant issuance — 498,877 — — Net cash provided by financing activities 972,577 798,877 300,000 — Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents 812,319 (221,315) 60,402 (492,342) Cash and cash equivalents Beginning of year — 812,319 812,319 591,004 End of year $ 812,319 $ 591,004 $ 872,721 $ 98,662 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements F-59 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements 1. Organization Organization and Nature of Business Jarvis Labs, Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated in the state of Delaware on June 11, 2012 (inception). The Company owns and operates Grandst.com, a website that provides a marketplace for creative new technology and merchandise. The Company generates revenue through direct retail sales. The Company is based in New York, NY and operates in the United States. Unaudited Interim Financial Information The accompanying balance sheet as of March 31, 2014, the related statements of operations, comprehensive loss and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2014, and the statement of changes in convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ deficit for the three months ended March 31, 2014 are unaudited. The unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments necessary to state fairly the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2014 and results of operations and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2014. The financial data and the other information disclosed in these notes to the financial statements related to these three-month periods are unaudited. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. The accounting estimates that require management’s most difficult and subjective judgments include the useful life and recoverability of fixed assets, the fair value of options issued for services and the fair value of warrants. The Company evaluates its estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis and revises when necessary. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Revenue Recognition The Company recognizes revenue from product sales when the following four criteria are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the selling price is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. F-60 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements The Company evaluates whether it is appropriate to record the gross amount of product sales and related costs or the net amount earned as commissions. Generally, the Company is the primary obligor in its sales to customers, has latitude in establishing prices and selecting suppliers and maintains inventory risk, and therefore revenue is recorded at the gross sales price. Product sales represent revenue from the sale of products and related shipping fees. Product sales and shipping revenues, net of promotional discounts, rebates, and return allowances, are recorded when the products are shipped and title passes to customers. Cost of Sales Cost of sales consists of the purchase price of products sold, inbound shipping and duty charges and credit card processing fees. Shipping charges to receive products from the Company’s suppliers are included in the Company’s inventory, and recognized as cost of sales upon sale of products to the Company’s customers. Cash and Cash Equivalents The Company considers all short-term highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Inventory The Company’s inventory is comprised of finished goods and are valued at the lower of average cost or market, and are evaluated periodically for product obsolescence, excess balances and other indications of impairment in value. Property and Equipment Property and equipment consisting of office furniture, office and computer equipment and leasehold improvements are recorded at cost. Property and equipment is depreciated using the straight-line method over the shorter of the estimated life of the asset or the lease term. Fair Value Measurement The Company’s financial instruments are measured and recorded at fair value based on inputs and assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or a liability. ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, defines fair value as the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining fair value, management considers the principal or most advantageous market in which F-61 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements the Company would transact, and also considers assumptions that market participants would use when pricing the asset or liability, such as inherent risk, transfer restrictions, and risk of non-performance. ASC Topic 820 further requires disclosures on the amount and reason for transfers in and out of Level 1 and 2 fair value measurements. The standards also require disclosure of activities, including purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements within the Level 3 fair value measurements. The standards also clarify existing disclosure requirements on levels of disaggregation and disclosures about inputs and valuation techniques. This pronouncement requires disclosure regarding the manner in which fair value is determined for assets and liabilities and establishes a three-tiered value hierarchy into which these assets and liabilities are grouped, based upon significant inputs as follows: Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Level 2—Observable inputs, other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data. Level 3—Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. This includes certain pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques that use significant unobservable inputs. When a determination is made to classify a financial instrument within Level 3, the determination is based upon the lack of significance of the observable parameters to the overall fair value measurement. However, the fair value determination for Level 3 financial instruments may consider some observable market inputs. The lowest level of significant input determines the placement of the entire fair value measurement in the hierarchy. The following table reflects the activity for the Company’s major classes of liabilities measured at fair value using Level 3 inputs: Total Fair Value at March 31, 2014 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Liabilities: Warrant liabilities $ 70,137 $ — $ — $ 70,137 Total Liabilities $ 70,137 $ — $ — $ 70,137 F-62 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements Total Fair Value at December 31, 2013 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Liabilities: Warrant liabilities $ 56,844 $ — $ — $ 56,844 Total Liabilities $ 56,844 $ — $ — $ 56,844 The following table reflects the activity for the Company’s major classes of liabilities measured at fair value using Level 3 inputs: Liabilities: Year Ended December 31, 2012 Year Ended December 31, 2013 Three Months Ended March 31, 2014 (Unaudited) Balance at beginning of period $ — $ — $ 56,844 Level 3 liabilities acquired — 46,098 — Level 3 liabilities settled — — — Unrealized loss on warrant liability — 10,746 13,293 Included in earnings (unrealized) — — — Balance at end of period $ — $ 56,844 $ 70,137 Impairment of Long-lived Assets The Company continually evaluates whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate the remaining estimated useful lives of long-lived assets may require revision, or that the remaining balance of long-lived assets may not be recoverable. When factors indicate that long-lived assets should be evaluated for possible impairment, the Company uses an estimate of the related undiscounted future cash flows over the remaining life of the long-lived asset group in measuring whether they are recoverable. If the carrying value of the asset group exceeds the estimated undiscounted future cash flows, a loss is recorded to the extent the asset group’s carrying value exceeds its fair value. Fair value would typically be determined based upon the asset group’s estimated discounted cash flows. No assets were determined to be impaired in the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013. Sales and Marketing Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of online and offline advertising costs, marketing materials and market research. Advertising costs are expensed in the period in which they are incurred. The advertising and promotion costs for 2012 and 2013 and for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2014 are $14,758, $217,558, $65,832 and $11,618 respectively. F-63 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements Product and Technology Product and technology expenses include facilities costs, technology compensation, stock based compensation and employee benefits, website hosting fees, software licensing costs and certain other allocated costs. General and Administrative General and administrative expenses include facilities costs, administrative charges, professional services fees and other general overhead costs. Stock-based Compensation The stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is amortized over the requisite service period for the award granted. Calculating stock-based compensation requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the expected term of the stock-based awards and stock price volatility. The Company estimates the expected life of stock options granted based on the simplified method, which the Company believes is representative of future behavior. The Company estimates the volatility of the common stock on the date of grant based on the historic volatility of comparable companies in the industry. The Company selected the risk-free interest rate based on yields from United States Treasury zero-coupon issues for a term consistent with the expected life of the awards in effect at the time of grant. The Company estimates the expected forfeiture rate based on historical experience of the stock-based awards that are granted, exercised and canceled. The Company may, from time to time, grant stock options to non-employees. For non-employee stock options, the Company calculates the fair value of the award on the date of grant in the same manner as employee awards, however the unvested portion of the awards are revalued at the end of each reporting period and the pro-rata compensation expense is adjusted accordingly until such time the non-employee award is fully vested. At the time, the total compensation recognized to date shall equal the fair value of the award as calculated on the measurement date, which is the date at which the award recipient’s performance is complete. Concentrations of Credit Risk Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable. At times, such amounts may exceed the limits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. F-64 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements The Company’s financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents, loans receivable, accounts payable, and loans payable. At December 31, 2012 and 2013 and for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2014 the fair values of these instruments approximated their financial statement carrying amounts due to their relatively short-term nature. Income Taxes The Company utilizes the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes, as well as operating loss, capital loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are classified as current or noncurrent based on the classification of the related assets or liabilities for financial reporting, or according to the expected reversal dates of the specific temporary differences if not related to an asset or liability for financial reporting. Valuation allowances are established against deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that they will not be realized. As of December 31, 2012 and 2013, the Company recorded a full valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets. Consequently, the Company has not recognized deferred income tax assets or liabilities for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amount of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. The Company’s policy is to recognize interest and penalties expense, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. The Company’s uncertain tax positions are related to tax years that remain subject to examination by the relevant tax authorities. As of December 31, 2013, the Company did not have any uncertain tax positions. F-65 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements 2. Property and Equipment Property and equipment at December 31, 2012, 2013 and for the three months ended March 31, 2014 consists of the following: Estimated Useful Lives Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended March 31, 2014 2012 2013 (Unaudited) Computer equipment 3 years $ 15,355 $ 24,801 $ 24,801 Furniture and Equipment 4 years — 9,046 9,046 Leasehold Improvements Shorter of life of asset or lease term — 19,083 19,083 Less: Accumulated depreciation (813) (13,188) (17,410) $ 14,542 $ 39,742 $ 35,520 Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment was approximately $813, $12,375, and $4,222 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013 and for the three months ended March 31, 2014, respectively. 3. Accrued Expenses and Other Payables Accrued expenses and other payables consist of the following: Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended March 31, 2014 2012 2013 (unaudited) Accruals and Other Payables Accrued Expenses $ 6,476 $ 192,076 $ 55,139 Deferred Rent Liability 4,552 19,911 19,076 Accrued Salary — 34,320 — $ 11,028 $ 246,307 $ 74,215 4. Loan In October 2013, the Company entered into a Loan & Security Agreement with Venture Lending & Leasing, which made $500,000 available to the Company, all of which had been drawn down by the Company as of December 31, 2013. The facility is used for working capital purposes and bears interest at the rate of 11%. The agreement also contains restrictive covenants, including financial reporting requirements. The terms and conditions of the loan required repayments to start in April 2014 and shall be repaid in thirty (30) equal monthly payments of principal plus interest. Interest expense related to borrowings under the line of credit F-66 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements amounted to $13,349 and $12,125 during the year ended December 31, 2013 and the three months ended March 31, 2014, respectively. In connection with the borrowing, the Company issued warrants to purchase 92,242 and 92,243 shares of Series Seed preferred stock at exercise prices of $0.2918 per share. The warrants expire in October 2023. At issuance at October 22, 2013, at December 31, 2013 and at March 31, 2014, the warrants were valued at $46,098, $56,844 and $70,137, respectively, using an option pricing model. Key assumptions at October 22, 2013, December 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014 included a remaining term of 10 years, 9.8 years and 9.5 years, respectively, and a volatility of 83.74% based on a group of comparable companies and a risk-free interest rate of 2.54 - 2.98%. The Company recorded the initial value of the warrants as debt discount of the loan and recorded $4,610 as an expense in 2013 in connection with the debt discount amortization. In addition, $1,123 was incurred as debt issuance costs. As the warrants are exercisable into Series Seed preferred stock, which include certain redemption rights that are considered outside of the control of the Company, in accordance with ASC Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, the warrants are accounted for as a liability and are revalued at each balance sheet date. The warrants were fully vested at issuance. The fair value of the loan was not materially different from its carrying value as interest rates have not changed materially since the loan was entered into. Annual maturities of the loan are as follows: Year Ending December 31, 2014 $ 135,908 2015 199,476 2016 164,616 500,000 Less : Unamortized discount (42,611) Plus : Interest accrued & unpaid 13,348 470,737 Less : Current maturities (135,908) Long term maturities $ 334,829 5. Capital Stock As of December 31, 2012, the Company had been authorized to issue 20,039,629 shares of stock, at a par value of $0.00001 per share, consisting of 15,500,000 shares of common stock and 4,539,629 shares of preferred stock. The Company has 3,391,581 shares of preferred stock and 8,700,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. As of December 31, 2013 and March 31, 2014, the Company had been F-67 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements authorized to issue 20,416,641 shares of stock, at a par value of $0.00001 per share, consisting of 15,688,486 shares of common stock and 4,728,155 shares of preferred stock. As of December 31, 2013, the Company has 4,419,683 shares of preferred stock and 8,700,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. Dividend The holders of shares of preferred stock shall be entitled to receive dividends, out of any assets legally available, prior and in preference to any declaration or payment of any dividend on the common stock of this corporation and at the applicable dividend rate, as declared by the board of directors. Such dividends shall not be cumulative. The holders of the outstanding preferred stock can waive any dividend preference that such holders shall be entitled to receive upon the affirmative vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of preferred stock then outstanding (voting together as a single class and not as a separate series, and on an as-converted basis). The dividend rate is $0.0233 per annum for each share of the Series Seed preferred stock (as adjusted for any stock splits, stock dividends, combinations, subdivisions, recapitalizations or the like). The Company has not declared or paid any dividends. Liquidation Unless the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding shares of the preferred stock, voting together as a single class and on an as-converted basis, elect otherwise in writing, each of the following transactions shall be deemed a “Liquidation Event”: a. A merger or consolidation in which the Company is the constituent party or its subsidiary is the constituent party and the Company issues shares of its capital stock pursuant to such a merger or consolidation, with stipulations; b. The sale, lease, transfer, exclusive license or other disposition, in one transaction or series of related transactions, by the Company or any subsidiary of the Company of all or substantially all the assets of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, except where such sale, lease, transfer, exclusive license or other disposition is to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company; In the event of any Liquidation Event, the holders of each share of preferred stock then outstanding shall be entitled to be paid, out of the available funds and assets, and prior and in preference to any payment or distribution to the holders of common stock, an amount per share equal to the liquidation amount for each such series of preferred stock plus all declared but unpaid dividends thereon. F-68 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements Conversion The holders of the preferred stock have the right to convert at any time and from time to time, and without the payment of additional consideration by the holder thereof, into such number of fully paid and nonassessible shares of common stock as is determined by dividing the original issue price for the preferred stock by the conversion price at the time of the conversion. The preferred stock will be automatically converted into common stock upon a qualified initial public offering, which will result in at least $30 million of proceeds. 6. Stock-Based Compensation The Company has a 2012 Stock and Option Grant Plan (the “Plan”) under which the Company may grant stock options for up to 1,466,488 shares of common stock. Stock options expire either four or ten years from the date of the grant. For initial grants, vesting occurs over either (i) two years, with vesting occurring immediately each month, or (ii) four years, with the first 25% of the awards vesting twelve months after the vesting commencement date and the remaining 75% of the awards vesting monthly over the next thirty-six months. The Company’s policy for attributing the value of stock-based compensation is on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the entire award. During 2013 and 2012 no options were exercised. At December 31, 2013, there were 1,116,360 shares available for grant under the Plan. The fair value for options and share awards granted under the Plan are estimated at the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and the following range of assumptions were used for grants during the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 and the three months ended March 31, 2014: Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended March 31, 2014 2012 2013 Risk-free interest rates 0.74% 0.62% – 1.91% 0.80% Expected dividend yield 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Expected term 6.25 years 3.03 – 5.75 years 3.25 years Volatility 188.8% 144.0% 143% F-69 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements The impact on recording stock-based compensation expense for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2013 and the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2014 was as follows: Year Ended December 31, Three Months Ended March 31, 2012 2013 2013 2014 (Unaudited) Sales and marketing $ — $ — $ — $ — Product and technology 1,023 6,249 772 3,988 General and administrative — — — — Total stock-based compensation expense, net of tax $ 1,023 $ 6,249 $ 772 $ 3,988 The following table summarizes the stock option activity: Total Options Outstanding Weighted Average Exercise Price Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term Outstanding at December 31, 2011 Options granted 100,000 $ 0.0001 Options exercised — — Options forfeited — — Outstanding at December 31, 2012 100,000 0.0001 8.68 Options granted 250,128 0.10 Options exercised — — Options forfeited — — Outstanding at December 31, 2013 350,128 0.07 5.41 Options granted 110,220 0.10 Options exercised — — Options forfeited — — Outstanding at March 31, 2014 460,348 0.08 4.83 Exercisable at December 31, 2013 33,333 $ 0.0001 5.41 Vested and expected to vest at December 31, 2013 350,128 $ 0.07 5.41 The weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted during the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 and the three months ended March 31, 2014 was $25,013, $10,231 and $26,453, respectively. The stock compensation expense for employee awards was $5,923, $1,023, $3,541 and $772 for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 and three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The stock compensation expense for non-employee awards was $326, $0, $447 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 and three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively. As of F-70 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements December 31, 2013, there was $28,143 of unrecognized stock compensation expense related to non-vested share-based compensation arrangements granted under the Plan. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 8.68 years. The total fair value of shares vested during the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 was $3,333 and $0, respectively. 7. Commitments and Contingencies In 2013, the Company entered into a new lease for office space in New York, NY expiring in 2016. Rent expense for the operating lease is recognized over the term of the lease on a straight line basis. Total rent for this lease for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 and three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013 is $80,411, $0, $19,076 and $6,353, respectively. Operating 2014 $ 134,400 2015 138,559 2016 52,515 2017 — 2018 — Total minimum payments required: $ 325,474 From time to time, the Company is involved in disputes or legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company believes that there is no dispute or litigation pending that could have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows. 8. Income Taxes The significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets are as follows: 2012 2013 Net operating loss $ 59,514 $ 479,178 Fixed Assets 139 2,151 Stock based compensation 439 4,098 Other — — Deferred tax assets before valuation allowance 60,092 485,427 Less: Valuation allowance (60,092) (485,427) Total deferred tax assets $ — $ — As of December 31, 2012 and 2013, the Company had a net operating loss carry-forward of approximately $140 thousand and $1.1 million available to reduce future taxable income. F-71 Jarvis Labs, Inc. Notes to the Financial Statements The Company follows ASC 740, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes. As of December 31, 2012 and 2013, there were no uncertain tax positions. As of December 31, 2012 and 2013, the Company was subject to federal and state income tax in the United States. Since the Company is in a loss carry-forward position, the Company is generally subject to U.S. federal and state income tax examinations by tax authorities for all years for which a loss carry-forward is available. It is the Company’s policy to record interest and penalties as a component of income tax expense. No amounts of interest or penalties were recognized in the financial statements upon adoption of this guidance as of and for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012. 9. Subsequent Events The Company has performed an evaluation of subsequent events through November 3, 2014, the date of issuance of these financial statements. In April 2014, the Company was acquired by Etsy, Inc. F-72 Independent Auditor’s Report To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Incubart SAS: We have audited the accompanying statements of Incubart SAS which comprise the balance sheets as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, and the related statements of income and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes to the financial statements. Management’s Responsibility for the Financial Statements Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in France; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Auditor’s Responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on our judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, we consider internal control relevant to the Company’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion. F-73 Opinion In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Incubart SAS at December 31, 2013 and 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in France. Emphasis of matter Accounting principles generally accepted in France vary in certain significant respects from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Information relating to the nature and effect of such differences is presented in Note 12 to the financial statements. November 3, 2014 /s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Pierre Marty F-74 Incubart SAS Assets (all amounts in Euros) As of December 31, 2013 2012 Assets Gross Depr.Prov. Net Gross Depr.Prov. Net LONG TERM ASSETS Intangible assets Goodwill Other intangible assets 63,598 30,033 33,565 41,315 19,229 22,086 Tangible assets 31,016 11,180 19,836 18,468 4,544 13,924 Deposits 74,830 74,830 81,265 81,265 TOTAL(I) 169,444 41,213 128,231 141,048 23,773 117,275 CURRENT ASSETS Stocks and work in progress Debtors Trade debtors 194,943 194,943 8,269 8,269 Other debtors 173,792 173,792 272,792 272,792 Short term investments 670,000 670,000 1,050,000 1,050,000 Cash at bank and in hand 1,451,519 1,451,519 563,421 563,421 Prepaid expenses 353 353 19,279 19,279 TOTAL(II) 2,490,607 0 2,490,607 1,913,761 0 1,913,761 Deferred charges(III) Redemption bond premium(IV) Unrealized exchange losses(V) TOTAL ASSETS(I to V) 2,660,051 41,213 2,618,838 2,054,809 23,773 2,031,036 F-75 Incubart SAS Equity and Liabilities (all amounts in Euros) As of December 31, 2013 2012 Equity and Liabilities Net Net CAPITAL AND RESERVES Share capital 65,365 65,365 Share premium account 2,008,797 2,008,797 Revaluation reserve Reserves: - Legal reserve - Statutory reserves - Regulated reserves - Other reserves 115 115 Retained earnings (763,491) (343,309) Loss for the period (466,520) (420,182) Tax regulated provisions TOTAL(I) 844,266 1,310,786 PROVISIONS FOR CONTINGENCIES AND LIABILITIES TOTAL(II) CREDITORS Bank loans and overdrafts 360,000 Other loans and financial liabilities 52,079 Trade creditors 67,382 127,737 Tax and social creditors 231,880 104,741 Other creditors 1,063,231 487,772 TOTAL(III) 1,774,572 720,250 TOTAL EQUITY and LIABILITIES (I to III) 2,618,838 2,031,036 F-76 Incubart SAS Income Statement (all amounts in Euros) For the years ended December 31, 2013 2012 Income statement France Export Total Total Operating income Sales of goods Sales of processed goods Sales of services 1,349,602 72,207 1,421,809 719,757 Turnover 1,349,602 72,207 1,421,809 719,757 Change in stocks of finished goods Own work capitalised Operating grants Reversal of provisions and cost recharge 5,688 4,266 Other operating income 36,671 44,161 TOTAL(I) 1,464,168 768,184 Operating expenses Purchase of goods Change in stocks of goods Purchase of raw materials and consumables Change in stocks of raw materials and consumables Other external expenses 789,165 565,557 Taxes 22,514 10,372 Wages and salaries 988,657 611,204 Social contributions 221,727 97,649 Amortization and depreciation on fixed assets 17,440 9,723 Other operating expenses 20,836 109,282 TOTAL(II) 2,060,339 1,403,787 OPERATING LOSS(I – II) (596,171) (635,603) Financial income 29,383 30,163 TOTAL(III) 29,383 30,163 Financial expenses 102 21 TOTAL(IV) 102 21 FINANCIAL INCOME(III – IV) 29,281 30,142 LOSS BEFORE TAX AND EXTRAORDINARY ITEMS(I – II + III – IV) (566,890) (605,461) F-77 Incubart SAS Income Statement (all amounts in Euros) For the years ended December 31, Income statement 2013 2012 Extraordinary income On operating activities On investing activities 98 Reversal of provisions and cost recharge TOTAL(V) 98 Extraordinary expenses On operating activities 3,094 On investing activities 6,435 15 Depreciation and provision expenses TOTAL(VI) 9,529 15 EXTRAORDINARY (EXPENSE) INCOME(V – VI) (9,529) 83 Corporation tax(VII) (109,899) (185,196) TOTAL INCOME(I + III + V) 1,493,551 798,445 TOTAL EXPENSES(II + IV + VI + VII) 1,960,071 1,218,627 NET LOSS (466,520) (420,182) F-78 Incubart SAS Statements of Cash Flows (all amounts in Euros) For the years ended December 31, 2013 2012 Cash flows from operating activities Net loss (466,520) (420,182) Adjustments for: Depreciation 17,440 9,723 Investment income (29,383) (30,143) Working capital changes: Increase in trade debtors (186,674) (7,166) Decrease/Increase in other debtors 99,000 (228,305) Decrease/Increase in prepaid expenses 18,926 (19,279) Decrease/Increase in trade creditors (60,355) 84,513 Increase in tax and social creditors 127,139 58,321 Increase in other creditors 575,459 361,092 Net cash from operating activities 95,032 (191,426) Cash flows from investing activities Purchase of property, plant and equipment (28,396) (97,197) Sale of short-term investments 380,000 450,000 Investment income 29,383 30,143 Net cash used in investing activities 380,987 382,946 Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from long-term borrowings 412,079 — Net cash used in financing activities 412,079 — Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 888,098 191,520 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 563,421 371,901 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 1,451,519 563,421 F-79 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Note 1—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies 1. Description of business Incubart SAS (the “Company”) was incorporated in Paris in March 2009. Incubart owns and operates among other websites, alittlemarket.com and alittlemercerie.com, websites that provide a marketplace for the purchase and sale of handmade goods and commercial supplies. The Company generates revenue primarily from commissions on sales and seller advertising fees. The Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with: • PCG 1999, approved by ministerial order on June 22, 1999 • Law number 83 353 of April 30, 1983 • Decree 83 1020 of November 29, 1983 • Accounting standards arising from the Authority de Normes Comptables (ANC) The financial statements have been prepared on a going-concern basis. The notes and tables below form an integral part of the annual accounts. 2. Significant events In 2012, the Company launched two new platforms: A Little Maman, dedicated to nursery items and A Little Market in Italy. In 2013, the Company launched one new platform, A Little Epicerie, dedicated to Food. With regards to product features, the Company has launched two major features: the multishop basket and the installment payment service. 3. Revenue recognition Revenue is mainly generated from commissions on sales made by listed sellers and from the sale of advertising on the Company’s website. The main line of revenue is transaction fees, which include commissions on orders placed by purchasers on the Company’s websites and payment processing fees charged when the buyer pays with a credit card through the Company’s secured system. F-80 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements In accordance with its terms of business, the Company has no responsibility in the fulfillment of orders placed by buyers and earns a fixed commission per transaction. Based on the aforementioned factors, revenue is recorded net of amounts collected from buyers and remitted to sellers. Seller refunds are recorded as a reduction to gross revenue. Transaction fees—The Company earns a commission on sales made between the seller and their buyer. Revenue from commissions on sales is recognized when the transaction is successfully completed, which occurs when a buyer purchases the item on the website with their credit card or their e-wallet. Advertising fees—The Company offers search advertising where sellers can advertise their items based on featured search results. The advertising fees are recognized as revenue when purchased by the sellers. 4. Intangible assets Intangible assets, consisting principally of website and purchased software, are carried at cost and amortized over their estimated useful lives, generally on a straight-line basis over three years. The Company reviews its identifiable amortizable intangible assets to be held and used for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. Measurement of any impairment loss is based on the excess of the carrying value of the asset over its fair value. 5. Research and development From the commencement of financial year 2012, development of software for internal use has been expensed as incurred. Prior to 2012, certain development costs, primarily relating to third party developers, had been capitalized. 6. Property and equipment Property and equipment, consisting principally of computer equipment and different fittings, are recorded at cost. Depreciation and amortization are recognized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Repairs and maintenance are charged to operations as incurred. The depreciation rate of the main assets are the following: • Website Development Costs: 5 years • Computer Hardware: 3 to 5 years F-81 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements 7. Accounts receivable The Company’s trade accounts receivable are recorded at amounts billed to customers and presented on the balance sheet net of the allowance for doubtful accounts. The allowance is determined by a number of factors, including age of the receivable, current economic conditions, historical losses and management’s assessment of the financial condition of customers. Receivables are written off once they are deemed uncollectible, which may arise when customers file for bankruptcy or are otherwise deemed unable to repay the amounts owed to the Company. 8. Provisions Provisions for liabilities are made in accordance with rule CRC 2000-06. Provisions for risks and expenses are recorded to take account of probable future sacrifices or outflows of economic benefits arising from present obligations and which result from past transactions. These provisions are estimated based on consideration of the best available information known to management at the year-end closing date. 9. Purchased gift vouchers The Company recognizes a liability for gift cards purchased on its websites. Under French generally accepted accounting principles (“French GAAP”), the Company records cash received against a liability, which is released to the income statement when the voucher expires or is redeemed. When a customer uses the purchased gift vouchers, the related commission is recognized as revenue. If a purchased gift card expires unused, a gain is recognized in the income statement. As at December 31, 2013, the liability was estimated at EUR 13,947, compared with EUR 11,306 as at December 31, 2012. 10. Free gift vouchers The Company may decide to grant free gift vouchers to buyers on a discretionary basis as sales incentives. These vouchers are not offered in connection with a current transaction, but rather as an incentive for future purchases. The Company records these as a discount on a future sale at the time of redemption. 11. Cash and cash equivalents The Company considers all investments with a maturity of three months or less at the time of purchase to be cash equivalents. F-82 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Short term investments amount to EUR 670,000 as at December 31, 2013 and EUR 1,050,000 as at December 31, 2012. 12. Restricted cash When a purchaser pays through the Incubart secured system, the funds are put in an escrow account until remitted to the merchant, after deduction of commission and processing fees. The restricted cash balance of the dedicated bank account is presented within Cash at bank and in hand and amounts to EUR 1,042,491 as at December 31, 2013 (2012 : EUR 476,448). The corresponding liability towards the listed sellers is recorded under “Other creditors” in the balance sheet. 13. Accounting policies and changes in accounting estimates There were no changes in the methods of evaluation during the course of the financial year. There were no changes in the presentation of the financial statements during the course of the financial year. 14. Pensions The Company’s defined benefit obligation is only the French statutory lump sum payment. The projected benefit obligation is not material for the financial years 2013 and 2012 (EUR 14,043 and EUR 6,447, respectively). 15. Taxes Deferred taxes are not recognized on the face of the balance sheet in the statutory financial statements. 16. Competitiveness and employment tax credit (CICE) This tax credit was enacted from January 1, 2013 and amounts to EUR 15,527 at December 31, 2013. This will be collected by the Company in cash independently of its future taxable result. 17. Foreign currency translations The Company’s revenue and expenses are essentially transacted in Euros, and its assets and liabilities are all denominated in Euros, which is the functional currency of the Company. F-83 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements 18. Stock-based compensation No stock options, warrants or other equity instruments have been issued to any employees, directors, related parties or other third parties. 19. Credit agreements On October 8, 2012, the Company entered into an interest-free credit agreement with OSEO of EUR 450,000, of which EUR 360,000 had been drawn down as at December 31, 2013 (2012: Nil). The loan is repayable quarterly, at an average of EUR 28,000 per quarter, beginning December 31, 2016, with a minimum of EUR 160,000 to be repaid. There is a clause in the agreement which allows for a penalty-free early repayment, at any time, of the loan in full. On July 30, 2012, the Company entered into an interest-free agreement with COFACE. The agreement is intended to finance marketing development initiatives undertaken in foreign markets. As at December 31, 2013, the amount drawn down totaled EUR 52,079. The Company is obliged to pay back either 14% of the turnover generated from foreign sales, or a maximum of the amount of the loan drawn down, whichever is lower, dating 12 months after the export-related project is considered concluded by management and COFACE is informed. 20. Related party transactions There are no related party transactions for 2012 and 2013. 21. Segment reporting information The Company operates solely in France and in Italy for 2012 and 2013. 22. Subsequent events The Company was acquired in full by Etsy, Inc., a U.S.-based company, on June 18, 2014. F-84 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Note 2—Fixed Assets Financial Year 2012 (all amounts in Euros) Gross amount opening balance Acquisitions Disposals Gross amount closing balance Intangible assets Other intangible assets 32,315 9,000 41,315 TOTAL 32,315 9,000 41,315 Tangible assets Plant, machinery and equipment Other fixtures and fittings 3,880 3,880 Vehicles Office equipment, computer hardware, furniture 5,101 9,487 14,588 TOTAL 5,101 13,367 18,468 Financial assets Deposits 6,435 74,830 81,265 TOTAL 6,435 74,830 81,265 GRAND TOTAL 43,851 97,197 141,048 Financial Year 2013 (all amounts in Euros) Gross amount opening balance Acquisitions Disposals Gross amount closing balance Intangible assets Other intangible assets 41,315 22,283 63,598 TOTAL 41,315 22,283 63,598 Tangible assets Plant, machinery and equipment Other fixtures and fittings 3,880 3,880 Vehicles Office equipment, computer hardware, furniture 14,588 12,548 27,136 TOTAL 18,468 12,548 31,016 Financial assets Deposits 81,265 6,435 74,830 TOTAL 81,265 6,435 74,830 GRAND TOTAL 141,048 34,831 6,435 169,444 F-85 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Note 3—Depreciation Financial Year 2012 (all amounts in Euros) Opening balance Additional allowances Reductions dispo./Rever. Closing balance Intangible assets Other intangible assets 12,179 7,050 19,229 TOTAL 12,179 7,050 19,229 Tangible assets Other fixtures and fittings 208 208 Office equipment, computer hardware, furniture 1,871 2,465 4,336 TOTAL 1,871 2,673 4,544 GRAND TOTAL 14,050 9,723 23,773 Financial Year 2013 (all amounts in Euros) Opening balance Additional allowances Reductions dispo./Rever. Closing balance Intangible assets Other intangible assets 19,229 10,804 30,033 TOTAL 19,229 10,804 30,033 Tangible assets Other fixtures and fittings 208 776 984 Office equipment, computer hardware, furniture 4,336 5,860 10,196 TOTAL 4,544 6,636 11,180 GRAND TOTAL 23,773 17,440 41,213 F-86 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Note 4—Receivables Financial Year 2012 (all amounts in Euros) Receivables Gross amount Liquidity of the asset Within 1 year After 1 year Non Current Assets Amount receivable from subsidiaries Loans Deposits 81,265 81,265 Current Assets Doubtful and in dispute trade debtors Other trade debtors 8,269 8,269 Receivables representing borrowed securities Employees Social contributions 9,478 9,478 Corporation tax 192,890 192,890 Value-added tax 33,999 33,999 Other taxes Sundries Intercompany and current accounts Other debtors 36,425 36,425 Prepaid expenses 19,279 19,279 TOTAL 381,605 300,340 81,265 Financial Year 2013 (all amounts in Euros) Receivables Gross amount Liquidity of the asset Within 1 year After 1 year Non Current Assets Amount receivable from subsidiaries Loans Deposits 74,830 74,830 Current Assets Doubtful and in dispute trade debtors Other trade debtors 229,892 229,892 Receivables representing borrowed securities Employees Social contributions Corporation tax 94,503 94,503 Value-added tax 22,331 22,331 Other taxes Sundries Intercompany and current accounts Other debtors 22,009 22,009 Prepaid expenses 353 353 TOTAL 443,918 369,088 74,830 F-87 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Note 5—Trade Creditors and Payables Financial Year 2012 (all amounts in Euros) Payables Gross amount Within 1 year 1 to 5 years After 5 years Convertible debenture loans / Other debenture loans Bank loans and overdraft - Payable over 1 year - Payable over more than 1 year Other loans and financial liabilities Trade creditors 127,737 127,737 Personnel 27,791 27,791 Social contributions 45,847 45,847 Corporation tax Value-added tax 29,963 29,963 Guaranteed bonds Other taxes 1,140 1,140 Long term creditors Intercompany and current accounts Other creditors(1) 487,772 487,772 Liabilities representing borrowed securities Deferred income TOTAL 720,250 720,250 (1) Other creditors include the liabilities for the sellers for an amount of EUR 476,448 and the balance of the purchased gift vouchers for an amount of EUR 11,306. Financial Year 2013 (all amounts in Euros) Payables Gross amount Within 1 year 1 to 5 years After 5 years Convertible debenture loans / Other debenture loans Bank loans and overdraft - Payable over 1 year - Payable over more than 1 year 360,000 249,000 111,000 Other loans and financial liabilities 52,079 52,079 Trade creditors 67,382 67,382 Personnel 53,814 53,814 Social contributions 126,873 126,873 Corporation tax Value-added tax 47,020 47,020 Guaranteed bonds Other taxes 4,173 4,173 Long term creditors Intercompany and current accounts Other creditors(1) 1,063,231 1,063,231 Liabilities representing borrowed securities Deferred income TOTAL 1,774,572 1,362,493 301,079 111,000 (1) Other creditors include the liabilities for the sellers for an amount of EUR 1,042,491 and the balance of the purchased gift vouchers for an amount of EUR 13,947. F-88 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Note 6—Accrued Payables (all amounts in Euros) Accrued payables included in Balance Sheet December 31, 2013 December 31, 2012 Convertible debenture loans Other debenture loans Bank loans and overdrafts Other loans and financial liabilities Trade creditors 28,337 30,378 Social contributions 81,050 45,304 Fixed assets creditors Other creditors TOTAL 109,387 75,682 Note 7—Prepayments and Deferred Income (all amounts in Euros) Deferred Income December 31, 2013 December 31, 2012 Operating incomes Financial incomes Extraordinary incomes TOTAL Prepaid Expenses December 31, 2013 December 31, 2012 Operating expenses 353 19,279 Financial expenses Extraordinary expenses TOTAL 353 19,279 Note 8—Share Capital Financial Year 2012 Category of shares Par value Number of shares As at the beginning of the period As at the end of the period As at the beginning of the period Issued during the period Redeemed during the period As at the end of the period Ordinary Shares 1.00 1.00 65,365 65,365 F-89 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Financial Year 2013 Category of shares Par value Number of shares As at the beginning of the period As at the end of the period As at the beginning of the period Issued during the period Redeemed during the period As at the end of the period Ordinary Shares 1.00 1.00 65,365 65,365 Note 9—Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity (all amounts in Euros) Financial Year 2012 INCUBART Statement of changes in equity for the year ended December 31, 2012 Share Capital Share Premium Retained Earnings Other reserves Revaluation Surplus Total Equity Balance at December 31, 2011 65,365 2,008,797 (343,309) 115 0 1,730,968 Changes in equity for the year 2012 Issue of share capital Loss for the year (420,182) (420,182) Revaluation gain Dividends Balance at December 31, 2012 65,365 2,008,797 (763,491) 115 0 1,310,786 Financial Year 2013 INCUBART Statement of changes in equity for the year ended December 31, 2013 Share Capital Share Premium Retained Earnings Other reserves Revaluation Surplus Total Equity Balance at December 31, 2012 65,365 2,008,797 (763,491) 115 0 1,310,786 Changes in equity for the year 2013 Issue of share capital Loss for the year (466,520) (466,520) Revaluation gain Dividends Balance at December 31, 2013 65,365 2,008,797 (1,230,011) 115 0 844,266 Note 10—Leases On September 12, 2012, the Company entered into a 9 year lease for office space at 18/20 rue de Faubourg du Temple, with 2 break options at 30 August 2015 and 30 August 2018. F-90 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements Total rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2013 was EUR 32,516 and EUR 60,796, respectively. Fiscal Year 2012 (all amounts in Euros) Future Minimum Lease Payments 2013 49,830 Within 1 year from financial statement date: 49,830 2014 49,830 Greater than 1 year from financial statement date: 382,030 2015 49,830 431,860 2016 49,830 Fiscal Year 2013 (all amounts in Euros) Future Minimum Lease Payments 2014 49,830 Within 1 year from financial statement date: 49,830 2015 49,830 Greater than 1 year from financial statement date: 332,200 2016 49,830 382,030 2017 49,830 Note 11—Taxes Due to losses incurred since the inception of the Company, no corporate income tax has been due by the Company. However, tax credits have been recorded by the Company as follows: • R&D tax credit 2013: EUR 109,899 and 2012: EUR 185,196 • CICE 2013 (Competitiveness and employment tax credit): EUR 15,527 The amounts of accumulated losses carried forward are EUR 973,780 as at December 31, 2012 and EUR 1,547,358 as at December 31, 2013, respectively. Note 12—Reconciliation to United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles The Company’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with French accounting standards, which differ in certain material respects from accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”). Such differences involve methods for measuring the amounts in the financial statements. The F-91 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements principal differences between French accounting standards and US GAAP applicable to the Company are quantified and described below: Reconciliation of net income (French GAAP—US GAAP) (all amounts in Euros) Year Ended December 31, Note 2012 2013 (in thousands) Loss reported under French GAAP (420.2) (466.5) Software and website development costs A 97.2 104.0 Revenue recognition (advertising fees) B (14.9) (22.0) Debt issuance costs C 11.4 Interest free loan D 6.4 Deferred payment terms E (8.0) Deferred tax effect of US GAAP adjustments F Loss reported under US GAAP (337.9) (374.7) Reconciliation of equity (French GAAP—US GAAP) (all amounts in Euros) Year Ended December 31, Note 2012 2013 (in thousands) Equity reported under French GAAP 1,310.8 844.3 Software and website development costs A 298.7 402.8 Revenue recognition (advertising fees) B (41.7) (63.7) Debt issuance costs C 11.4 Interest-free loan D 6.4 Deferred payment terms E (8.0) Deferred tax effect of US GAAP adjustments F Equity reported under US GAAP 1,567.8 1,193.2 A. Software and website development costs Software and website development is performed by external service providers as well as the Company’s employees. Under French GAAP, the company capitalized only website development fees charged by third-party service providers up until December 31, 2011. Starting in 2012, all software development costs were expensed. US GAAP requires capitalization of certain internal and external costs incurred in the development of websites and software for internal use. Costs of the preliminary design phase and costs incurred in the operation and maintenance of the software must be expensed as incurred. Costs incurred during the development phase must be capitalized. These F-92 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements same rules apply to upgrades and enhancements made to the platform, to the extent it is probable that they will result in additional functionalities to the platform. B. Revenue recognition The Company recognizes fees charged to listed sellers for more prominently displaying their products. Under French GAAP, the fees are recognized upfront in the income statement. Under US GAAP, this search advertisement revenue is recognized as “impressions” (i.e., the number of times that an advertisement appears in pages viewed by users of the Company’s website) are delivered. C. Debt issuance costs A transaction fee was charged in connection with a financing received in fiscal year 2013. Under French GAAP, the fee is recorded in operating expenses. Under US GAAP, the fee should be capitalized as debt issuance costs and amortized to the income statement using an effective interest rate method. D. Government grants in the form of an interest-free loan In fiscal year 2013, the Company drew down an interest-free loan from a government body. Under French GAAP, the liability is equal to the amount of proceeds received and is not discounted to its net present value. US GAAP requires the Company to impute interest when the stated interest rate of a note payable or receivable is below market rate in accordance with the substance of the transaction. The substance of this transaction is a government subsidy for an amount equivalent to the difference between proceeds received and fair value of the note (NPV of cash flows using a market interest rate). E. Deferred payment terms During fiscal year 2013, the Company began to allow buyers to elect to pay in 3 monthly installments, in which case the Company bears credit risk and charges the buyer an additional fee. Under French GAAP, the fee was recognized upfront in the income statement. Under US GAAP, the fee is considered, in substance, as interest income and is recognized using an effective interest method over the term of the receivable. F-93 Incubart SAS Notes to the Financial Statements F. Income taxes Under French GAAP, deferred taxes are not recognized in the statutory financial statements. Under US GAAP, deferred tax is computed on all temporary differences between the tax bases and book values of assets and liabilities which will result in taxable or tax deductible amounts arising in future years. Deferred taxes are measured at enacted rates. The Company records deferred tax assets, primarily in connection with their net operating losses, up to an amount that is offset by the deferred tax liabilities, primarily associated with the differences between their book and tax basis for capitalized software and website development costs. As a result of the Company’s history of losses, a full valuation allowance is applied against any remaining net deferred tax assets, as the realization of the future benefit is not more likely than not. Net deferred tax assets prior to the valuation allowance under U.S. GAAP were EUR 85,655 for 2012 and EUR 116,290 for 2013. Reconciliation of operating expenses The following table presents the disclosure of costs and expenses based on the caption requirements of Rule 5-03 of Regulation S-X of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Such costs and expenses have been allocated from the French GAAP presentation, and adjusted for US GAAP reconciliation items accordingly. 2013 2012 (in Euros) Cost of revenue 477,609 269,818 Marketing 530,838 456,961 Product development 543,102 212,645 General and administrative 350,986 318,726 Operating expenses 1,902,535 1,258,150 Reconciliation of operating expenses from French GAAP to US GAAP 2013 2012 (in Euros) Operating expenses - French GAAP 2,060,339 1,403,787 US GAAP adjustments: Other operating expense (1) (42,359) (48,427) Software and website development costs (104,022) (97,210) Debt issuance costs (11,423) — Operating expenses—US GAAP 1,902,535 1,258,150 (1) These represent other operating income and reversal of provisions and cost recharges that should be reflected within operating expense under U.S. GAAP, but are included in operating income under French GAAP. F-94 Unaudited Combined Pro Forma Financial Information On April 29, 2014, Etsy, Inc. (the “Company”) completed the acquisition of Jarvis Labs, Inc., owners of the “Grand St.” online technology marketplace. Total consideration for the acquisition was approximately $3.2 million, consisting of $1.0 million in cash and 425,104 shares of the Company’s common stock with a fair value of $2.2 million on the acquisition date. Additionally, the Company issued 657,160 shares of common stock with a fair value of $3.4 million on the acquisition date, which are tied to continued employment with the Company and are being accounted for as post-acquisition stock-based compensation expense over the three-year vesting period. On June 18, 2014, the Company completed the acquisition of Incubart SAS, a societe par actions simplifiee organized under the laws of France, which operates the online marketplace A Little Market (“ALM”). Total consideration for the acquisition was $30.8 million, consisting of $5.3 million in cash, of which $4.2 million was paid at closing, $0.3 million will be paid in March 2015 and $0.8 million in February 2016, and 4,879,693 shares of the Company’s common stock with a fair value of $25.5 million on the acquisition date. The terms of the purchase agreement provide for the sale of put options to certain of the former shareholders of ALM. The put options enable the holders of the options to sell up to all of their shares back to the Company, subject to certain vesting and restrictions, at fair value, but not to exceed $4.13 per share and not less than $2.00 per share. The put right terminates with respect to a share on the earlier of one year from when such share is vested or the liquidation date, as defined in the agreement containing the put option. The holders of the options paid an aggregate of $0.1 million cash to the Company at the date of acquisition and the Company recorded a $0.1 million liability for the fair value of the put option at the time. Additionally, the Company issued 1,198,995 shares of common stock with a fair value of $6.3 million on the acquisition date, which are tied to continued employment with the Company and are being accounted for as post-acquisition stock-based compensation expense over the three-year vesting period. Since the put options relate in part to these shares, these shares will be recorded as liability-classified stock awards as earned. The historical financial information for Etsy is derived from the Company’s audited consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 2014 contained in this prospectus. The historical financial information of Grand St. and ALM has been derived from the historical audited financial statements and the unaudited financial statements of Grand St. and ALM for the period from January 1, 2014 through April 29, 2014 and the period from January 1, 2014 through June 18, 2014, respectively. The financial statements for Grand St. were prepared in accordance with the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (U.S. GAAP). The financial statements for ALM were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in France (French GAAP) which is a comprehensive basis of accounting different from U.S. GAAP. The historical ALM French GAAP financial statements have been reconciled to U.S. GAAP and, as a result, the historical financial information of ALM included in the pro forma combined statement of operations is presented in U.S. GAAP. F-95 The ALM historical EUR denominated financial statement amounts have been translated to U.S. Dollars (USD) using the following exchange rates: EUR / $ Interim period ended June 18, 2014 Average spot rate 1.3716 The unaudited pro forma combined statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2014 give effect to the acquisitions as if they had occurred on January 1, 2014. The unaudited pro forma adjustments have been made for informational purposes. The actual results reported by the combined company in periods following the acquisitions may differ significantly from those reflected in these unaudited pro forma combined statements. As a result, the pro forma combined information is not intended to represent and does not purport to be indicative of what the combined company’s financial condition or results of operations would have been had the acquisitions been completed on the applicable dates of this pro forma combined financial information. In addition, the pro forma combined financial information does not purport to project the future financial condition and results of operations of the combined company. The unaudited pro forma combined financial statements are based on various assumptions, including consideration paid and the allocation thereof to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed from Grand St. and ALM are based on preliminary estimates of fair value. The pro forma assumptions and adjustments are described in the accompanying notes presented on the following pages. Pro forma adjustments are those that are directly attributable to the transactions, are factually supportable and, with respect to the unaudited pro forma combined statements of operations, are expected to have a continuing impact on the consolidated results. The final purchase price and the allocation thereof may differ from that reflected in the pro forma combined financial statements after the final valuation procedures are performed and amounts are finalized. The unaudited pro forma combined financial information does not reflect any cost savings from operating efficiencies, synergies or other restructuring that could result from the acquisition. F-96 Unaudited Pro Forma Combined Statement of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2014 (In thousands except share and per share data) Etsy, Inc. Jarvis Labs, Inc. Incubart SAS Pro Forma Combined December 31, 2014 April 29, 2014 June 18, 2014 Pro Forma Adjustments Notes December 31, 2014 REVENUE: Revenue $ 195,591 $ 357 $ 1,447 $ — $ 197,395 Cost of revenue 73,633 302 381 606 1 74,922 Gross Profit 121,958 55 1,066 (606) 122,473 OPERATING EXPENSES: Marketing 39,655 63 378 328 1 40,424 Product development 36,634 301 496 — 37,431 General and administrative 51,920 169 359 (2,059) 2 1,333 5 51,722 Total operating expenses 128,209 533 1,233 (398) 129,577 Income (loss) from operations (6,251) (478) (167) (208) (7,104) OTHER (EXPENSE) INCOME: Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs (590) (86) — 86 3 (590) Interest and dividend income 41 — 16 — 57 Net unrealized loss on warrant and other liabilities (411) (13) — 505 6 81 Foreign exchange loss (3,049) — — — (3,049) Total other (expense) income (4,009) (99) 16 591 (3,501) Income (loss) before income taxes (10,260) (577) (151) 383 (10,605) (Provision) benefit for income taxes (4,983) — 185 — (4,798) Net (loss) income $ (15,243) $ (577) $ 34 $ 383 $ (15,403) Basic net loss per share applicable to common stockholders $ (0.19) $ (0.08) Diluted net loss per share applicable to common stockholders $ (0.19) $ (0.08) Weighted average common stock outstanding (basic) 80,493,407 109,307,822 4 189,801,229 Weighted average common stock outstanding (diluted) 80,493,407 109,307,822 4 189,801,229 F-97 Notes to Unaudited Pro Forma Combined Financial information Note 1—Basis of Presentation The unaudited pro forma combined financial information was prepared using the acquisition method of accounting and was derived from the audited financial statements of Etsy, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2014, the unaudited financial statements of Grand St. for the period from January 1, 2014 through April 29, 2014 and the unaudited financial statements of ALM for the period from January 1, 2014 through June 18, 2014. The unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2014 gives effect to the acquisitions as if they each occurred on January 1, 2014. The Company prepared the unaudited pro forma combined financial information using the acquisition method of accounting under existing U.S. GAAP standards. The authoritative guidance for fair value defines the term “fair value,” sets forth the valuation requirements for any asset or liability measured at fair value, expands related disclosure requirements and specifies a hierarchy of valuation techniques based on the nature of inputs used to develop the fair value measures. Fair value is defined in the guidance as “the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.” This is an exit price concept for the valuation of the asset or liability. In addition, market participants are assumed to be buyers and sellers in the principal (or the most advantageous) market for the asset or liability. Fair value measurements for an asset assume the highest and best use by these market participants. Many of these fair value measurements can be highly subjective and it is possible that other professionals, applying reasonable judgment to the same facts and circumstances, could develop and support a range of alternative estimated amounts. The pro forma adjustments described below have been developed based on assumptions and estimates, including assumptions relating to the consideration paid and the allocation thereof to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed from Grand St. and ALM based on preliminary estimates of fair value. The final purchase price and the allocation thereof may differ from that reflected in the pro forma combined financial statements after final valuation procedures are performed and amounts are finalized. The unaudited pro forma combined financial statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and do not purport to represent what the actual consolidated results of operations would have been had the acquisition occurred on the dates assumed, nor are they necessarily indicative of future consolidated results of operations. The unaudited pro forma combined financial statements do not reflect any cost savings from operating efficiencies, synergies or other restructurings that could result from the acquisition, as such costs are not currently factually supportable. F-98 Management performed a review of Grand St.’s and ALM’s accounting policies, based primarily on available historical financial information, to determine whether any adjustments were necessary to ensure comparability in the pro forma combined financial statements. At this time, the Company is not aware of any differences, other than those stated in either in the unaudited pro forma adjustments or identified in the Grand St. or ALM stand-alone financial statements provided elsewhere in this prospectus, which would have a material impact on the pro forma combined financial statements. Note 2—Purchase Price Allocation This business combinations resulted in the total purchase price being allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed according to their estimated fair values at the date of acquisitions with the remaining unallocated purchase price recorded as goodwill as follows: Grand St. (in thousands) Cash paid $ 1,040 Common shares 2,202 Total purchase consideration $ 3,242 Working capital $ 85 Developed technology 2,000 Customer relationships 600 Trademarks 200 Goodwill 991 Deferred tax liability (634) Net assets acquired $ 3,242 Included in working capital is approximately $0.1 million of cash acquired. The amounts allocated to developed technology, customer relationships and trademark (the acquired intangible assets) total $2.8 million. The fair value assigned to developed technology was determined primarily using the cost approach, which estimates the cost to reproduce the asset, adjusted for loss due to functional and economic obsolescence. The fair value of Grand St.’s customer relationships was determined primarily using the income approach, which discounts expected future cash flows to present value using estimates and assumptions determined by management. The fair value assigned to trademark was determined using the relief from royalty method, where the owner of the asset realizes a benefit from owning the intangible asset rather than paying a rental or royalty rate for use of the asset. The acquired identifiable intangible assets are being amortized on a straight-line basis over three years, which approximates the pattern in which the assets are utilized. None of the goodwill recorded in the acquisition is deductible for tax purposes. F-99 ALM (in thousands) Cash paid $ 5,290 Common shares 25,521 Total purchase consideration $ 30,811 Working capital $ 625 Property and equipment and other assets 95 Developed technology 1,636 Customer relationships 1,693 Trademarks 775 Goodwill 27,309 Deferred tax liability (757) Other long-term liabilities (565) Net assets acquired $ 30,811 Included in working capital is approximately $0.5 million of cash and cash equivalents acquired. The amount allocated to developed technology, customer relationships and trademarks (the acquired intangible assets) total $4.1 million. The fair value assigned to developed technology was determined primarily by using the cost approach, which estimates the cost to reproduce the asset, adjusted for loss due to functional and economic obsolescence. The fair value of ALM’s customer relationships was determined primarily by using the income approach, which discounts expected future cash flows to present value using estimates and assumptions determined by management. The fair value assigned to trademark was determined using the relief from royalty method, where the owner of the asset realizes a benefit from owning the intangible asset rather than paying a rental or royalty rate for use of the asset. The acquired identifiable intangible assets are being amortized on a straight-line basis over three years, which approximates the pattern in which the assets are utilized. Goodwill of $27.3 million, none of which is deductible for tax purposes, was recorded in connection with this acquisition, which is primarily attributed to synergies arising from the acquisition and the value of the acquired workforce. Note 3—Unaudited Pro Forma Adjustments (1) Pro forma adjustment to record additional amortization expense related to Grand St. and ALM acquired identifiable intangible assets, net of historical amortization amounts of $11,000, as if the acquisition occurred on January 1, 2014 and amortization of the acquired assets is recorded on a straight-line basis over three years. Intangible assets acquired are as follows (in thousands): Grand St. ALM Developed technology $ 2,000 $ 1,636 Trademarks 200 775 Customer relationships 600 1,693 $ 2,800 $ 4,104 F-100 Amortization of developed technology and trademark is recorded within cost of revenue. Customer relationship amortization is recorded within marketing expense. (2) Pro forma adjustment to eliminate acquisition costs relating to the purchase of Grand St. and ALM in 2014. (3) Pro forma adjustment to eliminate interest expense on debt that was not acquired by Etsy. (4) For purposes of this unaudited combined pro forma financial information, the 425,104 and 4,879,693 shares of non-compensatory common stock issued to Grand St. and ALM shareholders, respectively, was given effect in the computation of basic and diluted net income per share for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2014 as if the acquisitions had occurred on January 1, 2013. In addition, the conversion of all outstanding shares of convertible preferred stock into 106,896,493 shares of common stock is assumed to have occurred on January 1, 2013. (5) Pro forma adjustment to record stock compensation expense in connection with the issuance of 1,198,995 shares of common stock valued at $6.3 million to certain former shareholders of ALM and 657,160 shares of common stock valued at $3.4 million to certain former shareholders of Grand St. that are tied to continuing employment. (6) Pro forma adjustment to reflect the effect of the assumed conversions of outstanding warrants exercisable for preferred securities of the Company and Grand St. into warrants exercisable for common stock and the corresponding elimination of the expense included in operating results from the change in the fair value of the warrants. F-101 Part II Information Not Required in Prospectus Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution The following table presents the costs and expenses, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, payable in connection with this offering. All amounts are estimates except the SEC registration fee, the FINRA filing fee and Nasdaq listing fee. Except as otherwise noted, all the expenses below will be paid by us. SEC registration fee $ * FINRA filing fee * Nasdaq listing fee * Printing and engraving expenses * Legal fees and expenses * Accounting fees and expenses * Transfer agent and registrar fees * Miscellaneous fees and expenses * Total $ * * To be completed by amendment. Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law authorizes a court to award, or a corporation’s board of directors to grant, indemnity to directors and officers under certain circumstances and subject to certain limitations. The terms of Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law are sufficiently broad to permit indemnification under certain circumstances for liabilities, including reimbursement of expenses incurred, arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. As permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, upon completion of this offering, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will contain provisions relating to the limitation of liability and indemnification of directors and officers. The amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our directors will not be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability: • for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders; • for acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; • in respect of unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or • for any transaction from which the director derives any improper personal benefit. II-1 Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that if Delaware law is amended after the approval by our stockholders of the certificate of incorporation to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the personal liability of directors, then the liability of our directors will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. Our amended and restated bylaws will provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, as it now exists or may in the future be amended, against all expenses and liabilities reasonably incurred in connection with their service for or on our behalf. Our amended and restated bylaws will provide that we shall advance the expenses incurred by a director or officer in advance of the final disposition of an action or proceeding, and permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any director, officer, employee or other enterprise agent for any liability arising out of his or her action in that capacity, whether or not Delaware law would otherwise permit indemnification. We intend to enter into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and officers, a form of which is attached as Exhibit 10.1. The form of agreement provides that we will indemnify each of our directors and officers against any and all expenses incurred by that director or officer because of his or her status as one of our directors or officers, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws. In addition, the form agreement provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, we will advance all expenses incurred by our directors and officers in connection with a legal proceeding. Reference is made to the underwriting agreement contained in Exhibit 1.1 to this registration statement, indemnifying our directors and officers against limited liabilities. In addition, Section 2(f) of our amended and restated investors’ rights agreement contained in Exhibit 4.2 to this registration statement provides for indemnification of certain of our stockholders against liabilities described in that agreement. We currently carry and intend to continue to carry liability insurance for our directors and officers. Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities The following sets forth information regarding all unregistered securities sold from January 1, 2012 to January 31, 2015, giving effect to a 10-for-1 forward split of our common stock, which occurred on May 5, 2011. On May 1, 2012, we issued and sold an aggregate of 11,594,203 shares of our Series F preferred stock to 12 accredited investors at $3.45 per share for an aggregate consideration of approximately $40,000,000. On June 26, 2012, we issued and sold 5,056 shares of our Series C preferred stock to one accredited investor upon exercise of a warrant issued to such investor on November 15, 2007. Pursuant to the terms of the warrant, the exercise price of $2.67 per share was paid through the cancellation of 425 shares of Series C preferred stock otherwise issuable under the warrant. II-2 We have granted options to purchase 22,320,456 shares of our common stock to service providers under our 2006 Stock Plan, with per share exercise prices ranging from $1.18 to $8.50. We have issued and sold an aggregate of 17,216,090 shares of our common stock upon exercise of options issued under our 2006 Stock Plan for aggregate consideration of approximately $14,810,000, with per share exercise prices ranging from $0.01 to $4.13. On April 1, 2014, we issued and sold an aggregate of 6,603,774 shares of our common stock to two accredited investors at $5.30 per share for an aggregate consideration of approximately $35,000,000. On January 30, 2015, we issued 376,471 shares of our common stock to Etsy.org for no consideration. We issued an aggregate of 7,160,952 shares of our common stock in connection with our acquisitions of certain companies or their assets and as consideration to individuals and entities who were former service providers and/or stockholders of such companies. None of the foregoing transactions involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering. We believe that the offers, sales and issuances of the above securities were exempt from registration under the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act or Regulation D promulgated thereunder as transactions by an issuer not involving any public offering, or in reliance on Rule 701 promulgated under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act because the transactions were pursuant to compensatory benefit plans or contracts relating to compensation as provided under Rule 701. The recipients of the securities in each of these transactions represented their intentions to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view to or for sale in connection with any distribution thereof, and appropriate legends were placed upon the stock certificates issued in these transactions. We believe all recipients had adequate information about us or had adequate access, through their relationships with us, to information about us. Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules (a) Exhibits. We have filed the exhibits listed on the accompanying Index to Exhibits, which is incorporated herein by reference. (b) Financial Statement Schedules. All schedules have been omitted because the information required to be presented in them is not applicable or is shown in the consolidated financial statements or related notes. Item 17. Undertakings The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser. II-3 Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that: (1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective. (2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, as amended, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. (3) In a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser: (i) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424; (ii) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant; (iii) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and (iv) Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser. II-4 Signatures Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Brooklyn, State of New York, on this 4th day of March, 2015. ETSY, INC. /s/ Kristina Salen Kristina Salen Chief Financial Officer Power of Attorney KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Chad Dickerson, Jordan Breslow and Kristina Salen, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this registration statement (including post-effective amendments) and any registration statement related thereto filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) increasing the number of securities for which registration is sought, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully for all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof. Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated. Signature Title Date /s/ Chad Dickerson Chad Dickerson President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman (Principal Executive Officer) March 4, 2015 /s/ Kristina Salen Kristina Salen Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) March 4, 2015 /s/ James W. Breyer James W. Breyer Director March 4, 2015 /s/ M. Michele Burns M. Michele Burns Director March 4, 2015 /s/ Jonathan D. Klein Jonathan D. Klein Director March 4, 2015 /s/ Fred Wilson Fred Wilson Director March 4, 2015 II-5 Index to Exhibits Exhibit No. Description 1.1* Form of Underwriting Agreement. 3.1 Eighth Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Registrant, as amended, as currently in effect. 3.2* Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Registrant, to be effective upon completion of this offering. 3.3 Bylaws of Registrant, as currently in effect. 3.4* Form of Amended and Restated Bylaws of Registrant, to be effective upon completion of this offering. 4.1* Form of Registrant’s common stock certificate. 4.2* Sixth Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement, dated May 1, 2012, by and among the Registrant and the other parties thereto, as amended on March 19, 2013, January 13, 2014 and May 2, 2014. 4.3 Warrant to Purchase Stock, dated November 15, 2007, by and among the Registrant and Silicon Valley Bank. 4.4 Plain English Warrant Agreement, dated May 15, 2008, by and among the Registrant and TriplePoint Capital LLC. 4.5 Plain English Warrant Agreement, dated August 9, 2010, by and among the Registrant and TriplePoint Capital LLC. 5.1* Opinion of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP. 10.1* Form of Indemnification Agreement between the Registrant and each of its directors and executive officers. 10.2.1 2006 Stock Plan, as amended, and forms of agreements thereunder. 10.2.2 Form of Stock Option Agreement under 2006 Stock Plan with Chad Dickerson. 10.3* 2015 Equity Incentive Plan and form of agreement thereunder. 10.4* 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. 10.5 Agreement of Lease, dated April 14, 2009, between Registrant and 55 Washington Street LLC, as amended. 10.6 Agreement of Lease, dated May 12, 2014, among Registrant, 117 Adams Owner LLC and 55 Prospect Owner LLC. 10.7 Revolving Credit and Guaranty Agreement, dated May 16, 2014, between Registrant and the other parties thereto, as amended (conformed copy). 10.8* Employment offer letter between Registrant and Chad Dickerson, dated August 31, 2011. 10.9.1* Employment offer letter between Registrant and Kristina Salen, dated January 12, 2013, as amended. 10.9.2* Relocation letter agreement between Registrant and Kristina Salen, dated June 18, 2013. 10.10* Employment offer letter between Registrant and Jordan Breslow, dated October 20, 2013. 10.11 2014 Executive Bonus Plan. 10.12 Severance Plan and form of Participation Notice thereunder. 10.13 Change in Control Severance Plan and form of Participation Notice thereunder. 10.14 Management Cash Incentive Plan. 10.15 Compensation Program for Non-Employee Directors. 21.1* List of Subsidiaries of Registrant. 23.1 Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (Etsy, Inc.). 23.2 Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (Jarvis Labs, Inc.). 23.3 Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit, Independent Accountants (Incubart SAS). 23.4* Consent of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP (contained in Exhibit 5.1). 24.1 Power of Attorney (contained in the signature page to this registration statement). * To be filed by amendment. II-6 ||||| Depending on whom you ask, Alicia Shaffer, owner of the hit Etsy store Three Bird Nest, is a runaway success story — or an emblem of everything that has gone wrong with the fast-growing online marketplace for handmade goods. With the help of up to 25 local seamstresses and alluring photography, Ms. Shaffer takes in upward of $70,000 a month in revenue selling twee headbands and leg warmers via Etsy. But as her business has grown, she has been harshly criticized online and accused of mass-producing goods, of obtaining wares from China. Detractors consider her a blight on Etsy’s hipster cred. The dispute over how goods are produced and sold on a site that prides itself on feel-good, handmade authenticity underscores the growing pains transforming Etsy as it moves toward a potentially lucrative initial public offering of stock. As for Ms. Shaffer, she denies the claims that have dogged her business recently but says she understands why questions have arisen about the volume of goods she produces. She says her store strictly adheres to Etsy’s guidelines, including that all items listed are either handmade or “vintage” secondhand, with some new exceptions that allow for approved outside manufacturing. “We’re a team of dedicated Etsy artisans who have been able to grow a tiny shop into a little machine,” she said. ||||| I shut down my Etsy store in November. I'd been a seller since April 2006, less than a year after Etsy first went into beta. I was in my first job out of journalism school, and making cards and journals was a creative outlet and a way for me to score some extra money. I'd been selling stuff on the side at craft shows for a few years at that point, part of a larger wave of modern crafters who met online and inspired each other to start businesses. Etsy debuted at just the right time: Indie craft shows had started popping up around the U.S. in the early 2000s, but running your own online store was a complicated task. (My "store" at the time encouraged buyers to mail me money orders.) Most of the people who joined Etsy in those first few years were like me—independent crafters who were already at least somewhat established IRL—and the quality of the goods on the site was generally high. Things have changed in the past decade: Indie craft has grown from a close-knit subculture to a giant economy that influences trends in big box stores. And Etsy has grown from a startup built by crafters and for crafters to a juggernaut on the verge of an IPO. The most recent success story of a mom making a million dollars a year isn't what it seems. In practical terms, scaling the handmade economy is an impossibility. So while Etsy maintains a hipster façade, they lost their indie cred years ago. Grace Dobush About Grace Dobush is a freelance journalist in Cincinnati, where she writes about design, tech, politics and culture. She also organizes an indie craft show and wrote the Crafty Superstar craft business guides. Follow her gracedobushtogo. I have to acknowledge this: Modern craft would not be as hot as it is without Etsy or something like it. Like book authors who hate Amazon's policies, crafters who hate Etsy find it hard to leave because of the site's immense traffic and generally positive public reputation. Just before the Christmas rush, I finally put my money where my mouth is and shut down my shop. My reasons for leaving the site aren't unique, even though casual shoppers and potential investors have no idea of the drama going on behind the scenes. Here's my beef with Etsy. A Bigger Market Isn't a Better Market There are more than 30 million items listed on Etsy right now. That popularity is, of course, great for Etsy. But new hobbyist sellers, desperate for clicks, often price their products so low as to make real profit an impossible dream. And that popularity isn't good for shoppers, who have to wade through pages of crap to find what they're looking for. Searching for "mermaid" in the wedding gown category of Etsy returns 1,299 results, ranging from a $6,882 gown made by Project Runway's Leanne Marshall to dresses for less than $200, one purportedly handmade lace dress going for $65. (For those who aren't up to date on their fabric prices, the materials to make a wedding dress alone would cost at least $65.) A friend and I recently discovered we both always sort results by highest price when we're searching on Etsy to see only the serious sellers. What other e-commerce sites can say the same? Etsy needs casual crafters to keep paying the 20-cent listing fees and, if any of the items sell, the 3.5 percent transaction fees and any additional payment processing fees. (See "She's Making Jewelry Now.") Etsy doesn't disclose its finances, but it facilitated $1.35 billion in sales in 2013, which adds up to more than $47 million in transaction fees, not counting listing or payment processing fees. Resellers Are Rampant That Etsy began allowing manufacturing partners in 2013 underscored the reseller issue that has plagued the site for years. The Marketplace Integrity, Trust & Safety team—which has the unenviable task of policing sellers for adherence to Etsy rules—is unable or unwilling to weed out sellers of mass-manufactured goods. And having sellers who are able to move nearly a million dollars of product a year is great for Etsy's bottom line. Sellers have been dissatisfied with Etsy's policing of mass-manufactured items posing as handmade for a long time, but the site hasn't seemed receptive to their concerns. An Etsy staffer I met a few years ago dismissed sellers' questions about Chinese resellers as "kind of racist." The snark site Regretsy (RIP) was one of the few big gathering places where sellers and shoppers could voice their frustrations with the marketplace. Any kind of "calling out" of accused resellers or bad businesspeople on Etsy's forums is usually acknowledged by an admin shutting down the thread with "I'm going to close this up now." Etsy Has Homogenized Indie Craft From the beginning, Etsy has pushed the "quit your day job" storyline. The fact is, the majority of the people selling on Etsy aren't running their businesses full-time, and the idea of quitting your day job is a manic pixie fever dream. If you want to make it big on Etsy, you don't necessarily want to make things that fulfill your creative dreams; you just want it to get onto the front page and sell like hand-felted hotcakes. The Etsy effect on craft trends is striking. At the San Francisco edition of the Renegade Craft Fair in November, I was struck at how most things look like the homepage of Etsy, pinnable, pretty things. (See "Put A Bird On It.") It's so incredibly boring. How many pieces of geometric jewelry with a pop of color can the earth bear? Will we ever see hand-drawn logos without antlers and arrows? How much barn wood must we salvage to atone for our crafty sins? Successful Businesses Leave Etsy The biggest secret is this: Makers who have what it takes to succeed—good product, a good marketing plan, a pricing structure that compensates everyone in their supply chain fairly—don't really need Etsy for long. Etsy is the fifth most-visited marketplace site in the U.S., after Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Best Buy. But for that visibility, sellers have little autonomy in the store's design, and are subject to the site's rules, fees and design. A customer complaint can freeze your payment account. An accusation of copyright violation can freeze your store or shut it down entirely. For a full-time crafter, that's too much of a risk. Successful makers of a certain size eventually move to e-commerce platforms that give them much more flexibility and control for fewer fees. If you're working in high volume or high price points, using a customizable ecommerce platform such as Big Cartel or Shopify massively reduces your fee obligation, as I outlined in a comparison chart. I see the recent policy changes Etsy has made—allowing third-party manufacturing partners, entering the wholesale space—as last-ditch efforts to keep super-successful sellers using the site. But successful handmade businesspeople weren't waiting for permission from Etsy to hire help or get into wholesaling. They grew out of the site and took their wares elsewhere. The David Has Turned Into Goliath At its outset, Etsy was a powerful tool for makers, by makers. We were a bunch of Davids, fighting back against the big-box Goliaths with artisanal slingshots. Founder Rob Kalin came up through the same online craft forums that me and my crafty cohorts did, and we were making a revolution. In the past few years it's become apparent that Etsy is the Goliath. Indie craft's whole purpose from the outset was to meet your makers and consume conscientiously. Now, when you ask your friend where they got that cool "Weekend at Bernies" cross stitch sampler, they'll tell you, "I bought it from Etsy"—the maker's identity is secondary, if noted at all. I'm not pessimistic about handmade culture at large: Maker culture is thriving independently of Etsy, and it's easier than ever for crafters to run independent online stores. I prefer to sell my wares (and buy my presents) at local indie craft markets and in curated bricks-and-mortar shops that reflect the flavor of their communities and encourage real relationships between makers and buyers. The bottom line is this: Etsy needs crafters more than crafters need Etsy. ||||| Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story Etsy was born in 2005 in a Brooklyn loft as a way for one of its co-founders to sell his handmade wooden goods. Now the company is seeking to go public in what promises to be one of the more closely watched market debuts of the year. Etsy filed its first prospectus for an initial public offering on Wednesday, disclosing a preliminary fund-raising target of $100 million. But the online bazaar — whose wares range from whimsical knit “beard” hats to vintage jewelry — will most likely seek much more. With the filing, Etsy is preparing to market itself to prospective investors in as soon as three weeks and could begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market by mid-April under the symbol ETSY. Unlike some of the other prominent companies that have gone public over the last six months, like the Alibaba Group of China or the online lender Lending Club, Etsy has quirkiness built into its DNA. Its first chief executive and co-founder, Rob Kalin, barely squeaked into college and came up with Etsy as a way to sell his homemade wares. (Its name, Mr. Kalin has said, arose from a misunderstanding of the Italian phrase “eh, sì” from the movie “8 1/2.”) Photo “Since inception, Etsy has challenged conventional ways of thinking about commerce, business, individuals and communities,” Chad Dickerson, the company’s chief executive, wrote in a letter included in the prospectus. “I intend to keep our unconventional operating philosophy as we become a public company, and I welcome new investors into our community.” But its path to an initial offering has been rocky at times. Mr. Kalin stepped down as chief executive in 2011 and was succeeded by Mr. Dickerson, the chief technical officer at the time. And the company has been criticized for failing to adequately clamp down on the sale of counterfeit goods as well as for letting vendors sell products that come from factories instead of vintage finds or goods solely from artisanal workshops. Still, in its decade of existence, Etsy has become a significant business. It reported $195.6 million in sales last year, up 56 percent from the previous year. And as of Dec. 31, it had 685 employees, most of whom are still based in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn. Like other Internet companies that aim to go public, Etsy presents a measure of earnings that differs from that required by generally accepted accounting principles. Etsy’s own metric, known as adjusted Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, says that the company made $23 million last year. But it lost $15 million according to standard accounting principles. Adjusted Ebitda was positive because in addition to excluding taxes, depreciation and amortization, it did not count the cost of paying employees in stock. While investors often find such nonstandard measures of profits useful, they may be surprised at some of the items Etsy has left out of its particular metric. The company, for instance, also excluded acquisition-related expenses and foreign exchange losses. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Advertisement Continue reading the main story If those two items are included in the calculation, Etsy’s underlying earnings growth would slow considerably. Specifically, the firm’s adjusted Ebitda increased 36 percent in 2014, from $17 million in 2013. But if acquisition and foreign exchange costs were included, growth would have been only 6 percent. Other items in the filing may give investors pause. Etsy, for instance, said that it had 19.8 million “active buyers” at the end of 2014. An active buyer doesn’t have to be using Etsy frequently, though. The only requirement is to have made one purchase in the previous 12 months, according to the filing. Though the prospectus did not disclose details like how many of its shares are outstanding, it is possible to estimate market value. EBay trades at about 14 times its Ebitda for 2014. Applying that multiple to Etsy’s adjusted Ebitda would give it a value of about $322 million. In his letter, Mr. Dickerson said that the company would not give quarterly or annual earnings guidance, numbers used by many public companies to steer analysts’ expectations. Etsy’s biggest existing shareholders include investment firms like Accel Partners, Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures. Together, the three control more than half of the company. The prospectus did not disclose how many shares any of the firms planned to sell. As part of the offering, Etsy plans to take about $300,000 of its proceeds from the I.P.O. to finance Etsy.org, a nonprofit it established in January to help train female entrepreneurs. The offering is being led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

– When customers order an heirloom pet teepee, Charles Manson necklace, or vinyl Gorillaz wall clock from Etsy, they expect it to be lovingly handmade or authentically vintage, perhaps even customized and made from ecologically sound materials. But critics of the site are claiming that sellers are increasingly taking to mass production or even reselling cheap items from overseas—a move that many see as undermining the crafts giant's authenticity and credibility, the New York Times reports. And although execs from the online marketplace didn't grant interviews with the Times ahead of its potential IPO, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson notes in the IPO prospectus that there have been complaints about sellers working with outside manufacturers and "diluting our handmade ethos," he notes. "After all, Etsy has always served as an antidote to mass manufacturing. We still do." Etsy used to ban sellers from outsourcing manufacturing or hiring employees to keep up with demand, the Times notes—until Dickerson relaxed the rules in 2013, as long as certain criteria were met. Alicia Shaffer's Etsy shop has been featured on Yahoo and in Fast Company as one of Etsy's biggest success stories; she tells the Times that while she understands why people are skeptical about her high-volume output, she follows all of Etsy's guidelines, hiring a couple dozen local seamstresses to help her out. But Grace Dobush, an ex-Etsy seller, tells the Times that "as Etsy has gotten bigger, it’s gotten more like eBay." In an essay last month for Wired, Dobush notes the "pages of crap" shoppers have to filter through and a seeming disinterest on Etsy's part to purge resellers. "At its outset … we were a bunch of Davids, fighting back against the big-box Goliaths with artisanal slingshots. … In the past few years it's become apparent that Etsy is the Goliath." (Click to read about Etsy's "haunted doll" market.)

An attorney representing a boy who accused former Pennsylvania State University football coach Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse said his client and other alleged victims planned to testify at a hearing in two weeks, marking the first time they would publicly confront Mr. Sandusky. Michael Boni, an attorney in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., said Tuesday his teenage client, who made his initial allegation to youth-services officials in 2008, planned to appear at a Dec. 13 preliminary hearing for Mr. Sandusky in Centre County Court. However, Mr. Sandusky could waive his right to the open hearing. Enlarge Image Close Getty Images Penn State students attending a candlelight vigil earlier this month on campus for victims of child abuse. Mr. Boni's client is known as Victim 1 in a grand-jury report issued by the Pennsylvania attorney general earlier this month. The attorney general charged Mr. Sandusky with 40 criminal counts related to alleged abuse of eight boys over a 15-year period, after meeting them through a charity he founded called the Second Mile. Mr. Sandusky has said he is innocent of all charges. Until recently, the boy attended Central Mountain High School in Mill Hall, Pa., but he transferred to another school after being bullied, according to people familiar with the situation. The school has declined to comment because of the criminal case. More Charity Founded by Sandusky Seeks to Dismiss Suit Mr. Boni said he and Philadelphia attorney Slade McLaughlin were hired last week to represent the boy and his mother. The lawyers plan to file civil litigation, Mr. McLaughlin said, but not until the criminal case is concluded. Mr. Boni named Mr. Sandusky, the Second Mile charity, Penn State and "a number of individuals" as potential defendants. "They're certainly within our crosshairs," Mr. Boni said. Mr. Boni said he did not anticipate that there would be an impediment to suing Penn State because it is a public university. He noted that Penn State has an independent board of trustees and is not an arm of the state the way other schools are. "There's Pennsylvania appellate case law that has found that Penn State is not entitled to sovereign immunity," he said. A Penn State spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. A Second Mile spokesman declined to comment on potential civil lawsuits. The charity added that it was focused on cooperating with law enforcement and saving its programs. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families," it said. Mr. Boni said the media glare surrounding the case has taken an emotional toll on the boy and his mother, and that recent remarks by Mr. Sandusky's lawyer, Joseph Amendola of State College, Pa., added to this burden. In recent media interviews, Mr. Amendola said that he believed that Victim 1 made up the allegations against Mr. Sandusky, and that he has evidence to refute other alleged victims' claims in the grand-jury report. "The statements issued by Mr. Sandusky and his attorney have caused tremendous emotional hardship to both of my clients. They have been devastated by these accusations and hurtful remarks," Mr. Boni said. Mr. Amendola didn't return a call requesting comment on his remarks or a possible civil case. Separately, on Monday, Second Mile said it was now asking its donors to direct contributions to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, a group that works to eliminate sexual violence. Second Mile said it was continuing to review three options—continuing to operate, transferring programs to another nonprofit, or closing altogether—but that its December programs would continue. "Effective immediately, we ask that you join us in this commitment to sexual-abuse survivors by sending your donations to PCAR to support sexual-abuse prevention, as well as the counseling needs of sexual-abuse victims," the charity wrote. "The events reported over the past few weeks have saddened and horrified us; we are determined to do all we can to help the survivors with the healing process," the group wrote. Second Mile also is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit that asked a judge to prevent it from transferring any financial assets. Last week, lawyers who said they represent one of the alleged victims filed a suit in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia seeking an injunction, because alleged victims of abuse might seek monetary damages from the nonprofit. Attorneys for Second Mile have argued that the plaintiffs' complaint should be denied on numerous grounds, including that there has yet to be a lawsuit brought seeking damages, that there are no facts supporting allegations that the charity is "dissipating" its assets, and that the suit was brought in the wrong jurisdiction. Moreover, Second Mile's attorneys argued that the plaintiffs had failed to show any "immediate or irreparable harm," because there is no evidence that the charity is transferring its assets. The plaintiffs lawyers didn't return calls seeking comment on Tuesday. Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com ||||| Nov. 5, 2011: In this photo provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky, center, is placed in a police car in Bellefonte, Pa. to be taken to the office of a Centre County Magisterial District judge.AP All of the alleged victims identified in the child sex charges against disgraced ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky are expected to testify next month in open court, a lawyer for one of the victims told FoxNews.com, despite claims by Sandusky's defense team that some of the victims would recant. Slade McLaughlin, one of two Philadelphia-area attorneys representing "Victim One," suggested there was little doubt about the testimony. "In ordinary course of things, it would be expected that all victims would testify," McLaughlin said. Sandusky is accused of sexually abusing eight young boys over 15 years, allegedly using his charity The Second Mile to find his victims. The grand jury report notes that two of the victims have not been identified despite eyewitness accounts. The other six are expected to take the stand at the upcoming hearing set for Dec. 13, including the Clinton County youth known so far only as Victim One. The alleged victim kickstarted the investigation by telling authorities he was being abused by Sandusky, a former defensive coordinator under legendary football coach Joe Paterno. The case has engulfed Penn State in scandal over how school officials responded to what they knew about the allegations, and it led to the firing of Paterno and the university's president. Two other school officials were hit with charges of perjury and failure to report allegations of child abuse to authorities as required by law. McLaughlin said he and Michael Boni were retained last week by Victim One and have been busy preparing their client for the hearing. The victim, now 18, is still experiencing emotional turmoil over the abuse by Sandusky, McLaughlin said. Sandusky's attorney Joseph Amendola has said repeatedly that some of the alleged victims would recant their allegations. He also has said one of the victims cited in the grand jury report would be coming forward with a different story, casting doubt on the allegations involving him. Amendola downplayed the upcoming testimony in an email Tuesday to FoxNews.com. "We believe there's a significant possibility at least one and perhaps two of the alleged victims may testify no sexual contact occurred between them and Jerry Sandusky," he said, while acknowledging that others likely will claim "sexual acts" or "inappropriate touching" occurred. Sandusky has denied the charges against him, though he admitted in a TV interview that he had showered with boys after camp workouts.

– Jerry Sandusky will likely face six of his accusers at an open hearing Dec. 13, their first public confrontation with the former Penn State coach. Despite claims from Sandusky's defense team that some would recant their allegations, an attorney for "Victim One" tells Fox News that all six of the alleged victims who have been identified are expected to testify. Two other victims remain unidentified. "Victim One," who initiated the investigation in 2008 and is now 18, is being prepared for the hearing, his attorney says. But Sandusky's attorney downplayed the testimony, telling Fox News, "We believe there's a significant possibility at least one and perhaps two of the alleged victims may testify no sexual contact occurred between them and Jerry Sandusky." Sandusky could still waive his right to an open hearing, the Wall Street Journal notes.

President Trump attacked one of the women who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in harsh and stark language Tuesday, as senators escalated their partisan warfare over his confirmation ahead of a highly anticipated hearing. After his speech at the United Nations, Trump took aim at Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale University and the second woman to accuse the nominee. She told the New Yorker magazine that he exposed himself to her at a party when they were both first-year students. Dismissing Ramirez’s account because she was “totally inebriated and all messed up,” Trump also accused Democrats of playing a “con game” in an attempt to derail his Supreme Court choice. “The second accuser has nothing,” Trump told reporters. “The second accuser thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. She admits she was drunk. She admits time lapses.” The president dismissed the notion that the allegation could be disqualifying, saying sarcastically: “Oh, gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that.” Trump’s charged rhetoric against his nominee’s accusers came as Republicans quickly closed ranks around Kavanaugh, even as a handful of pivotal swing votes remained quiet on whether they would ultimately support his confirmation in the coming days. The high court begins its new term Monday, and Republicans are under intense political pressure from conservatives to confirm Kavanaugh amid warnings that failure could cost the GOP in November’s midterm elections. Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh has strongly denied accusations from two women of sexual misconduct. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) Late Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent out a notice scheduling a 9:30 a.m. committee vote Friday in the case “that a majority of the members are prepared” to vote then. The full Senate could vote next Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was defiant, speaking confidently about Kavanaugh’s prospects, assailing Democrats and casting the nominee as a victim of “the weaponization of unsubstantiated smears.” “We’re going to be moving forward. I’m confident we’re going to win,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “He will be confirmed in the very near future.” And asked Tuesday whether he could envision any scenario in which the White House withdraws Kavanaugh’s nomination, principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on MSNBC: “Absolutely not.” Looking ahead to Thursday’s hearing, Republicans hired a female lawyer from outside the panel to lead the questioning as the GOP faced the politically tough optics of the all-male Republican lineup questioning an accuser. “We have hired a female assistant to go on staff and to ask these questions in a respectful and professional way,” said McConnell. The committee’s chairman, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), confirmed in a statement late Tuesday that it had hired Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to do the questioning, shortly after The Post first reported the decision. A registered Republican, Mitchell is the sex crimes bureau chief for the Maricopa County attorney’s office in Phoenix, where she has worked for 26 years. “I’m very appreciative that Rachel Mitchell has stepped forward to serve in this important and serious role,” Grassley said. “Ms. Mitchell has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity.” Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegation from Ramirez, as well as the accusation from Christine Blasey Ford, who told The Washington Post that he sexually assaulted her when they were high school students in Maryland. Top panel staffers held a call with Kavanaugh earlier Tuesday to interview him about the allegation outlined in the New Yorker. As he has done publicly, he again denied the allegation in the staff interview, a panel spokesman said. Unlike a previous staff interview, Democratic aides listened in on the Tuesday afternoon call, another person briefed on the conversation said. But the Democrats — who have called for the FBI to reopen its background investigation of Kavanaugh — made their objections to the process clear and subsequently refused to ask the judge questions, the person said. One of the biggest points of contention remained the outside counsel who would question Ford and Kavanaugh. Republicans sought to avoid a repeat of 1991, when an all-male panel’s questioning of Anita Hill about her allegations of sexual impropriety against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas angered female voters, who elected dozens of women in November 1992. Thomas was confirmed to the court. All 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are men (as are six of the 10 Democrats). “We’ve done it because we want to depoliticize the whole process, like the Democrats politicized the Anita Hill thing,” said Grassley, who was on the panel in 1991. “The whole point is to create an environment where it’s what Dr. Ford has asked for, to be professional and to not be a circus.” Senate Democrats plan to ask questions of Kavanaugh and Ford, and the Democratic panel members met midday Tuesday to strategize about the hearing. “It’s up to them,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, said of Republicans’ plan to use an outside lawyer. “It’s certainly their right to do that, and we’ll see how it goes. I’ve been on the committee for 24 years, and I’ve never seen it before. But we’ll see.” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) pushed back at McConnell and Senate Republicans in unusually personal terms, criticizing him for a promise last week to “plow right through” the proceedings despite the drama over the accusers. “Does that sound like someone who’s treating these allegations with respect and fairness and evenhandedness?” Schumer asked. “Does that sound like someone who wants to get the real facts no matter where they fall? Certainly not to me. Not to the American people.” Ford has alleged that Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her to a bed, groped her and put his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams as he tried to take off her clothes at a house party in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh has denied being at the party. Meanwhile, the committee continued its outreach to Ramirez. Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) said Republicans had been rebuffed after trying to contact her lawyer, and a committee spokesman said it has not received a statement or additional evidence from her legal team after requesting them. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that while the White House is open to testimony from Ramirez, she stressed that the confirmation process needs to come to a close. The New Yorker reported Sunday that in Ramirez’s initial conversations with the publication, “she was reluctant to characterize Kavanaugh’s role in the alleged incident with certainty.” But “after six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections to say that she remembers Kavanaugh had exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away,” the magazine said. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) remained quiet about her intentions but stressed that the Thursday hearing should continue — even while the senator called for Ramirez to speak to the Judiciary Committee under oath. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), another potential swing vote, said it was hard to assess Ramirez’s credibility at this point. “If there are allegations out there, then Ms. Ramirez needs to be willing to come forward with them, just as Dr. Ford has been willing to come forward, albeit reluctantly and understandably so,” Murkowski said. “And so in order for us to take them under consideration, she needs to take the next steps.” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Ramirez’s accusations seem “pretty thinly sourced.” As to whether they should be explored, he said he will leave that to the Judiciary Committee. “Whatever they decide is fine with me,” Corker said. By the time the panel holds its hearing Thursday, there could be a third Kavanaugh accuser. Lawyer Michael Avenatti has said he is representing a woman who has accusations about Kavanaugh’s behavior in high school. In a Tuesday tweet, Avenatti said the woman would come forward only when she is ready but said he expects that to be within 36 hours. At their regular Tuesday party lunch, Republicans were told to be prepared to be in Washington this weekend to process Kavanaugh’s nomination, senators said. Meanwhile, another misconduct allegation threatened to play out Thursday on the other side of Capitol Hill. The House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday invited a woman who has accused Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, a former Democratic congressman, of sexual harassment and retaliation. Gabriel Pogrund, Josh Dawsey, Rosalind S. Helderman, Karoun Demirjian and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report. ||||| In this image from Senate Television, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks about Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the floor of the Senate Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, on Capitol Hill... (Associated Press) In this image from Senate Television, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks about Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the floor of the Senate Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. McConnell is condemning allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh as a "shameful,... (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (all times local): 12:10 p.m. President Donald Trump says Democrats are playing a "con game" against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Trump is seeking to cast doubt on sexual misconduct allegations lodged against Kavanaugh by a Yale classmate, Deborah Ramirez, who made her claims in an article published in The New Yorker magazine. Trump says Ramirez says it might not have been Kavanaugh and there were gaps in her memory. He says she says "she was totally inebriated and all messed up." Trump says: "This is a con game being played by the Democrats." Kavanaugh is set to testify Thursday at a public hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, is also expected to testify. ___ 11:18 a.m. A key Republican senator is indicating she believes there should be a new FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after allegations of sexual misconduct. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is one of a handful of Senate Republicans undecided on Kavanaugh's confirmation. When asked Tuesday if there should be a full FBI investigation about the claims, she said: "Well, it would sure clear up all the questions, wouldn't it?" President Donald Trump and most Senate Republicans have said an FBI investigation isn't needed. Kavanaugh and his initial accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford says he sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers. A second woman told the New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her in college. Kavanaugh denies both claims. ____ 11 a.m. The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell owes Christine Blasey Ford an apology for calling her allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh a smear job. Schumer says "he should apologize to her immediately." Two women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct decades ago. He has denied sexually assaulting anyone. Schumer, the minority leader, also says it is galling that McConnell is making charges of partisanship by Democrats. He says McConnell has done more than maybe anyone else to politicize the Supreme Court nomination process. Schumer says that if McConnell truly believed the allegations were a partisan attack, he would join Democrats in calling for a background investigation. Schumer says "I think they're afraid of the facts." __ 10:35 a.m. The Senate's top Republican says unconfirmed, decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh are no reason to block his Supreme Court nomination. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says such charges are "nowhere near" a reason to "nullify someone's career." He says in the United States, accused people are supposed to be treated with fairness and a presumption of innocence. McConnell's emphasis on fairness comes as Republican leaders have ramped up efforts to solidify support for Kavanaugh among GOP senators. Christine Blasey Ford has accused Kavanaugh of molesting her during an early 1980s high school party. Deborah Ramirez has said Kavanaugh forced her to touch his penis during a Yale dormitory party when both were freshmen. Kavanaugh has denied both allegations. McConnell says the Senate will vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation soon. __ 7:25 a.m. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says "we would be open" to Deborah Ramirez, a second woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, testify before the Senate Judiciary panel this week. Sanders says that "process could take place on Thursday," when Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has separately accused him of assaulting her in high school, are scheduled to testify. She says President Donald Trump "has said a number of times these individuals should be heard." At the same time, she noted that Kavanaugh has been "unequivocal in his denial" of sexual assault allegations. She adds, "This is a country where you're innocent until proven guilty except when you're a conservative Republican." Republicans have accused Democrats of a smear campaign by using the women's accusations of misconduct by Kavanaugh in high school and college to try to defeat his nomination. __ 12:40 a.m. Brett Kavanaugh says he won't let "false accusations" drive him from his quest to win Senate confirmation to the Supreme Court. That's part of an aggressive drive by President Donald Trump and top Republicans to rally the public and GOP senators behind Kavanaugh's teetering nomination. Trump and Republican leaders are accusing Democrats of a smear campaign by using accusations by two women of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh in the 1980s to try scuttling his Senate confirmation. There were no immediate indications that the emergence of a second accuser had fatally wounded Kavanaugh's prospects. But Republicans tried projecting unflinching support for Kavanaugh that included the nominee taking the unusual step of defending himself in a television interview. Kavanaugh said Monday on Fox News Channel, "I've never sexually assaulted anyone." ||||| Sitting beside the President of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez, President Donald Trump said the two on-record accusations of sexual assault and misconduct made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh were “a con game being played by the Democrats.” “As the President of a great country, Colombia, you must say, ‘How is this possible?’” Trump asked the Colombian president. “Thirty-six years ago and nobody ever knew about it, nobody ever heard about it?” Trump continued. “And now a new charge comes up and she said, well, it might not be him, and there were gaps, and she said she was totally inebriated and she was all messed up and she doesn’t know it was him, but it might have been him? Oh gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that?” “This is a con game being played by the Democrats.” Watch below: ||||| CLOSE President Donald Trump says Democrats are playing a "con game" against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (Sept. 25) AP President Donald Trump arrives with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, and National Security Advisor John Bolton, left, at the United Nations on Sept. 24, 2018. (Photo: JUSTIN LANE, EPA-EFE) NEW YORK – President Donald Trump unloaded on congressional Democrats Tuesday for playing a "con game" over his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and he used his strongest language yet to criticize those accusing him of sexual assault. “The second accuser has nothing,” Trump said of Deborah Ramirez, who has accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a party when they were freshmen at Yale University. “She admits that she was drunk. She admits time lapses." Trump made the remarks to reporters during a bilateral meeting with the president of Colombia, Iván Duque Márquez, at the United Nations General Assembly. He focused most of his ire on Democrats, who have urged a delay in the face of accusations from Ramirez and Christine Blasey Ford. “They’re really con artists,” Trump said of Democrats. “They don’t believe it themselves. They’re playing a con game, and they play it very well.” The Democrats are playing a high level CON GAME in their vicious effort to destroy a fine person. It is called the politics of destruction. Behind the scene the Dems are laughing. Pray for Brett Kavanaugh and his family! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018 In a late-night tweet, Trump again blasted Democrats for what he called a "vicious effort to destroy a fine person" and asked for prayers for Kavanaugh and his family. "The Democrats are playing a high level CON GAME in their vicious effort to destroy a fine person. It is called the politics of destruction. Behind the scene the Dems are laughing. Pray for Brett Kavanaugh and his family!" Trump wrote. But Trump, who initially took a more cautious approach to Kavanaugh's accusers, has increasingly ramped up his criticism of them. Last week he questioned why Ford had not reported the allegations to authorities at the time. On Tuesday, he took a more direct approach in questioning Ramirez's story. "Now a new charge comes up and she says it may not be him and there are gaps. And she was totally inebriated and all messed up, and she doesn’t know," Trump said. "It might have been him, or it might have been him. "Gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge," Trump continued. "This is a con game being played by the Democrats." Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2QXWeag

– President Trump amped up the rhetoric Tuesday by calling Democrats "con artists" and saying Brett Kavanaugh's second accuser "has nothing" on the Supreme Court nominee, USA Today reports. "She admits that she was drunk," says Trump of Deborah Ramirez, who accuses Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a drunken dormitory party years ago. "She admits time lapses." Talking Points Memo notes that Trump was at UN headquarters in New York with the president of Colombia, Ivan Marquez, when he said, "As the president of a great country, Colombia, you must say, 'How is this possible?' Thirty-six years ago and nobody ever knew about it, nobody ever heard about it?” "And now a new charge comes up and she said, well, it might not be him, and there were gaps, and she said she was totally inebriated and she was all messed up and she doesn’t know it was him, but it might have been him?" adds Trump. "Oh gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court judge because of that?" Of the Democrats, he says: "They’re really con artists. They don’t believe it themselves. They're playing a con game, and they play it very well." Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Ramirez could testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday—the same day Christine Ford plans to speak—and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who remains undecided on Kavanaugh, suggests she supports a full FBI investigation, per the AP.

Photo Hillary Clinton’s campaign said on Monday that an image posted by Donald J. Trump on Twitter over the weekend that showed a photo of Mrs. Clinton against a backdrop of $100 bills and a Star of David was “blatantly anti-Semitic.” The post accused Mrs. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, of being the “most corrupt candidate ever.” But critics seized on the episode as the latest example of a longtime pattern of racially charged remarks by Mr. Trump, saying the post was meant to exploit stereotypes against Jewish people. In a rebuke on Tuesday, the House speaker, Paul Ryan, said in a radio interview with Charlie Sykes on WTMJ in Milwaukee, according to The Hill website: “Look, anti-Semitic images, they’ve got no place in a presidential campaign. Candidates should know that.” Mr. Ryan added, “I really believe he’s got to clean up how his new media works.” The backlash has been swift enough to cause Mr. Trump to do something relatively out of character: He deleted the original post, later sharing an image showing Mrs. Clinton next to a circle instead of the six-point star. The news website Mic traced the first image, posted by Mr. Trump on Saturday, to a message board containing anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi imagery, and to Twitter accounts that circulated the images. Photo Sarah Bard, the Clinton campaign’s director of Jewish outreach, said in a statement: “Donald Trump’s use of a blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it’s a part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern. Now, not only won’t he apologize for it, he’s peddling lies and blaming others.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Though he replaced the image (one observer noted that the tips of the star were still visible in the new post), Mr. Trump took to Twitter on Monday to defend his original decision to post the image with a star. “Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff’s Star, or plain star!” he wrote. In a statement released on Monday night, Mr. Trump dismissed Mrs. Clinton’s campaign’s criticism as “false” and “ridiculous” and repeated his claim that the image was a “basic star often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior.” But some social media users have disputed Mr. Trump’s suggestion, with one person asking why would he delete a posting if he truly believed it was a sheriff’s star. Mr. Trump’s supporters have insisted that the image never contained a Star of David and that people were being too sensitive or politically correct. Corey Lewandowski, Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager, appeared on Sunday on CNN and called the reaction “political correctness run amok.” Other Trump supporters said on Twitter that the news media was exploiting a nonissue. They said they supported the theory that those accusing Mr. Trump of anti-Semitism were creating a fictional subtext for the image. “The only reason the Trump sheriff star tweet is controversial is because CNN makes it that way,” wrote one supporter of Mr. Trump. But white nationalists, including the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, weighed in with praise for the tweet: The Anti-Defamation League has long condemned Mr. Trump’s remarks on immigrants as hate speech and stereotyping. It called on him in 2015 to stop “fomenting hatred.” Get the Morning Briefing by Email What you need to know to start your day, delivered to your inbox. Monday – Friday. On Monday, Jonathan Greenblatt, the group’s chief executive, said in an interview that Mr. Trump’s handling of the controversy over the posting did not pass muster. “The most appropriate response to the criticisms would be to address them head-on, to apologize, and to articulate firmly and forcefully that bigotry of any sort has no place in this campaign, and that hate has nothing to do with making America great again,” Mr. Greenblatt said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Trump seemed eager on Monday to move beyond the episode. He posted a flurry of messages about his potential choices for a vice-presidential running mate: “The only people who are not interested in being the V.P. pick are the people who have not been asked!” He then wrote a post that blamed radical Islam for terrorist attacks. ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Donald Trump tweeted a meme Saturday that used dog-whistle anti-Semitism to announce that his political rival, "Crooked Hillary," had "made history." The meme Trump tweeted prominently featured the Star of David, a holy symbol of the Jewish religion that Nazis attempted to pervert by forcing Jews over the age of 6 to sew it onto their clothing during Hitler's reign. Emblazoned onto the Star of David in Trump's meme are the words "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!" The star lies atop a giant pile of money. Source: Donald Trump's Twitter (since deleted) Mic discovered Sunday that Donald Trump's Twitter account wasn't the first place the meme appeared. The image was previously featured on 8chan's /pol/ — an Internet message board for the alt-right, a digital movement of neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and white supremacists newly emboldened by the success of Trump's rhetoric — as early as June 22, over a week before Trump's team tweeted it. Though the thread where the meme was featured no longer exists, you can find it by searching the URL in Archive.is, a "time capsule of the internet" that saves unalterable text and graphic of webpages. Doing so allows you to see the thread on /pol/ as it originally existed. Of note is the file name of the photo, HillHistory.jpg, potentially a nod to the Neo-Nazi code for "HH," or "Heil Hitler," which the alt-right is fond of hiding in plain sight. The watermark on the lower-left corner of the image leads to a Twitter account that regularly tweets violent, racist memes commenting on the state of geopolitical politics. Other examples of images tweeted by this account include anti-Semitic images of journalists, violent propaganda about Muslims and refugees and racist images of Clinton and black Democrats. Following this report, the account from which the watermarked Star of David meme comes began deleting some of its more inflammatory images. The account itself no longer exists as of Sunday afternoon. And here is that image of the Jewish journalist with the enlarged nose as it originally appeared on @FishBoneHead1's Twitter: Dan Scavino, the Trump Campaign's social media director, issued a statement late Monday saying "the social media graphic used this weekend was not created by the campaign nor was it sourced from an anti-Semitic site. It was lifted from an anti-Hillary Twitter user where countless images appear." @DanScavino, Trump's director of social media, releases this statement saying that he lifted image from Twitter:pic.twitter.com/QHr90a5N3J But rather than laying this controversy to bed, Scavino's explanation for where the Trump team "lifted" the image begs further questioning. When Trump's team sources memes, images and other media from Twitter, the team has a longstanding pattern of always attributing the account from which they found it, no matter how big or small that account may be. So faithfully has the Trump account adhered to this practice in the past that it once attributed an image to "WhiteGenocideTM," a user whose Twitter is rife with white nationalist slogans and neo-Nazi imagery. "@WhiteGenocideTM: @realDonaldTrump Poor Jeb. I could've sworn I saw him outside Trump Tower the other day! pic.twitter.com/e5uLRubqla" Here are several other examples of Trump's image attribution practice in action. "@w4djt: "Under a Trump presidency, America will make brilliant new trade deals!" -Donald Trump #dtmag pic.twitter.com/NpYI9i4iSG" "@brazosboys: Hillary read "sigh" off the Teleprompter, She's so fake she has to be told how to feel: https://youtu.be/iYUQtxXZPsk @FoxNews For contrast, here, again, is the screenshot of the deleted Trump tweet containing the offending of image of Hillary and the Star of David. In this particular instance, not only does the Trump account fail to attribute the @FishboneHead1 account — or mention any other Twitter account, for that matter — but whoever superimposed the "Fox News Poll" banner over the lower-left corner of the image completely obscured @FishboneHead1's watermark, thereby further obfuscating the origin of the image. If, as Scavino claims, Trump's team really did find the controversial meme from Twitter — and not from /pol/, or another digital repository for racist, xenophobic and violent imagery like it — it is unclear why the Trump campaign would choose this particular instance not to attribute the account from which they found it, rupturing from their longstanding attribution practice just when the campaign would seem to need it most. Mic previously reported white supremacists rally on the internet to track and expose what they believe to be a vast anti-white conspiracy, centuries old, in which Jews have paid off politicians and infiltrated the media to undermine Western society from the top down. The Clinton meme Trump tweeted — which previously appeared on perhaps the biggest bastion of the anti-Semitic alt-right — has brought that same hateful paranoia into the mainstream. One relationship of particular importance to their "anti-White conspiracy" is that between Jewish reporters and Hillary Clinton, whom they believe to be working in tandem to undermine the Western world, preventing nations like the U.S. from becoming more like their vision of utopia — a nation with racial purity among its core values. Source: Twitter On Saturday, Trump deleted his original tweet of the meme and in its place uploaded an alteration that replaces the Star of David with a circle. Crooked Hillary -- Makes History! #ImWithYou #AmericaFirstpic.twitter.com/PKQhYhMmIX Scavino, who runs the Twitter for a presidential candidate who has called Mexicans drug dealers, criminals and rapists and who has repeatedly called for a ban on Muslims from entering the United States, said that he deleted the image because "as the Social Media Director for the campaign, [he] would never offend anyone." As lawyer and writer William Hodges pointed out, at least two of the points of the original star are still visible from below the circle on the new image on Trump's twitter. He just put the circle on top of the Star of David. You can still see its points.pic.twitter.com/PjNSp38T3X In November, Trump retweeted a meme perpetuating the racist lie that black people committed more violent crimes against white people than any other race. That image was found to have originated from a white supremacist's account as well. Trump tweeted Monday denying that the star in the photo was a Star of David. Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star! His claim that the star in the offending image is a Sheriff's Star echoes the statement from former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who argued the previous day on CNN, where Lewandowski now works, that "this is a simple star... the same star that sheriff's departments across the country use all over the place to represent law enforcement." Though Trump's tweet on Monday explaining the star used almost the exact same wording as Lewandowski's statement on CNN Sunday, the two currently have no official professional relationship. The Trump campaign ousted Lewandowski as its campaign manager in June. He joined CNN as a political commentator just three days later. Later on Monday, the Trump team released yet another denial of the offending image's anti-Semitism, this time arguing that Clinton's team is "trying to divert attention from the dishonest behavior of herself and her husband." @realDonaldTrump statement on @HillaryClinton Star of David meme. Original @mic story here: https://mic.com/articles/147711/donald-trump-s-star-of-david-hillary-clinton-meme-was-created-by-white-supremacists#.6Cc5ELBZ4 ...pic.twitter.com/Z0KvKr9MWc Hilary Clinton's campaign on Monday responded to the meme, calling it "a blatantly anti-Semetic image from racist websites," and adding that it's "part of a pattern that should give voters major cause for concern." @HillaryClinton statement on that Trump tweet from Saturday which featured, then didn't, a six point star:pic.twitter.com/E5Com0Ezam In March, Trump asked his supporters in Florida to raise their right hands and pledge their loyalty to him. Donald Trump makes members of his Orlando crowd raise their right hands and swear to vote in the primary.pic.twitter.com/EVenRilJrV Its vile historical parallel to the Nazi rallies of World War II was as obvious as it was terrifying. Let me make this clear to Trump fans: This photo in Florida guarantees he will never be president.pic.twitter.com/dUXh4Bdy22 Mic has reached out to the Trump campaign to ask why it chose this instance to break routine by not crediting the offending Star of David image to the Twitter account from which they claim to have found it. Mic also inquired as to whether anyone on the campaign altered the image as it had previously appeared on both /pol/ and Twitter in order to obscure @FishboneHead1's watermark in the lower-left corner of the meme. We will update when we hear back. July 5, 2016, 1:09 p.m.: This story has been updated. ||||| This collaborative project is an extension of the 2016 End of Term project, intended to document the federal government's web presence by archiving government websites and data. As part of this preservation effort, URLs supplied from partner institutions, as well as nominated by the public, will be crawled regularly to provide an on-going view of federal agencies' web and social media presence. Key partners on this effort are the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative and the Data Refuge project. This collection is a continuation of the 2016 End of Term web archiving and, as such, is deduplicated against that collection. It allows for the ongoing archiving of publicly nominated websites beyond the "official" end of the End of Term project. Interested members of the public, particularly government information specialists, are invited to submit selected web sites to be included in the collection using the public nomination tool. For more information on partner institutions, web crawling and past End of Term projects, please visit the End of Term Archive. ||||| Donald Trump responded on Monday to a swirling controversy over an apparently antisemitic tweet featuring Hillary Clinton which he subsequently deleted. Trump comments 'clearly' racist, says Gary Johnson amid antisemitism furor Read more Using Twitter again, Trump said: “Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff’s Star, or plain star!” Later, he put out a statement on his website blaming Clinton for “false attacks” and said that linking the star with antisemitism was “ridiculous”. “Clinton, through her surrogates, is just trying to divert attention from the dishonest behavior of herself and her husband,” the statement said. The argument that the star in the original tweet, which had six points and was superimposed over an image of $100 bills, was not a star of David was first used by Trump’s fired campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, in an appearance as a CNN pundit on Sunday. The image in Trump’s original tweet was traced by the news site Mic to a white supremacist message board. Trump’s tweet was deleted on Saturday and replaced by a similar image featuring a circle rather than a star. Clinton, whom Trump’s tweets labelled “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!”, has not commented. On Monday her campaign’s director of Jewish outreach, Sarah Bard, issued a statement. “Not only won’t he apologize for it,” Bard said, “he’s peddling lies and blaming others. Trump should be condemning hate, not offering more campaign behavior and rhetoric that engages extremists. The president should be someone who brings Americans together, not someone who sends signals and offers policies of division.” On Sunday, the Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, told CNN in a wide-ranging conversation: “He has said 100 things that would disqualify anyone else from running for president but it doesn’t seem to affect him. The stuff he’s saying is just incendiary. It’s racist.” On Monday, the chief executive the Anti-Defamation League condemned Trump’s tweet as further evidence of extremist sympathies within the Trump campaign. “We’ve been troubled by the tone of this campaign for the past six months,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, national director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, also speaking to CNN. “The first time something like this happens, like the quote from [in fact attributed to] Mussolini, it’s called a mistake. The second time it happens, like you re-tweet from a white supremacist Twitter account, that’s sloppy. But we’re now at the sixth or seventh time the Trump campaign has invoked bigotry or racism. It’s a pattern that’s perplexing, troubling and wrong.” At minimum, said Greenblatt, the deleted tweet raised questions about why a national presidential campaign could be looking at racist websites or antisemitic sections of online sources and using such searches to find content to share with the public. Greenblatt said the tweet was a dog-whistle to neo-Nazis that did not belong in the campaign. “These bigoted and prejudicial ideas don’t belong in the conversation,” Greenblatt said. “Donald Trump is the presumptive GOP candidate and we’d like to see him speak out with the same energy he brings to the campaign to call out white supremacists. “We want to him to make it clear that bigotry and antisemitism has nothing to do with making America great again.” Bard echoed Greenblatt, saying in her statement: “Donald Trump’s use of a blatantly antisemitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it’s a part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern.” A Trump surrogate, Boris Epshteyn, appeared on CNN. He said the ADL was a “notoriously left-leaning Jewish organisation”, adding that a lot of “conservative-leaning Jews … disagreed with the ADL on a lot of its stances”. “I will not stand for the idea that a tweet like this was antisemitism,” Epshteyn said. “It was a mistake and it was taken down. End of discussion.” On Monday, Dan Scavino, the Trump campaign’s social media director, said the star was not sourced from an antisemitic website, but “lifted from an anti-Hillary Twitter user where countless images appear.” Scavino said: “The sheriff’s badge – which is available under Microsoft’s “shapes” - fit with the theme of corrupt Hillary and that is why I selected it. “As the Social Media Director for the campaign, I would never offend anyone and therefore chose to remove the image.” This not the first time Trump has been linked to antisemitic or white supremacist views. In February, he was asked repeatedly about the Ku Klux Klan and its notorious former grand wizard, David Duke, and refused to immediately disavow Duke’s expressions of enthusiasm for his campaign. When he did disavow Duke, he failed to articulate why the Klan’s white nationalism was wrong. Trump’s inconsistency over instances of alleged antisemitism is underlined by his own family ties – his daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism when she married the real estate developer and publisher Jared Kushner in 2009. He is said to be a key adviser to the Trump campaign. Trump has also reiterated his support for Israel in several statements and speeches. The prominent Republican donor Sheldon Adelson has proclaimed that Trump is definitely pro-Israel, reportedly vowing to give $100m or more to the Trump campaign. On Sunday, Trump tweeted a statement on the death, at 87, of the Holocaust survivor and Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel. He wrote: “On Saturday a great man, Elie Wiesel, passed away. The world is a better place because of him and his belief that good can triumph over evil!” Donald Trump taps into manufacturing regions to extract Democratic voters Read more He also recently condemned the murder of a man who was reportedly killed by a Palestinian gunman while driving with three children. “I strongly condemn this attack and call upon the Palestinian leadership to completely end this barbaric behavior,” he said in a statement. “I also call upon President Obama to recognise and condemn each and every terrorist attack against Israeli citizens. This cannot become the ‘new normal’. It has to end.” The latest incident may be more accurately attributed to the Trump campaign’s capacity to bring attention on itself even when it would be advantageous to remain silent. Trump tweeted and deleted the post on the same day Hillary Clinton was interviewed by FBI agents for three and a half hours about her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state, and as controversy continued over Bill Clinton’s private meeting with attorney general Loretta Lynch.

– With just over four months to go until Election Day, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are locked in battle over the shape of a star. In a statement issued Monday, the Clinton campaign's director of Jewish outreach slammed the Trump campaign's use of a Star of David in an anti-Clinton image as "blatantly anti-Semitic," reports the New York Times, which notes that Mic traced the image to a message board used by white supremacists. Trump, however, tweeted: "Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star." Dan Scavino, Trump's social media director, said the image had been "lifted from an anti-Hillary Twitter user where countless images appear." Trump later issued a statement on his website saying the star is used by "sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior" and that Clinton "is just trying to divert attention from the dishonest behavior of herself and her husband." Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wasn't buying the "sheriff's badge" line, the Guardian reports. He told CNN on Monday that the Trump campaign has had a troubling tone for months. The first couple of times Trump did things like retweet images from white supremacists could be called mistakes, he said. "But we're now at the sixth or seventh time the Trump campaign has invoked bigotry or racism. It's a pattern that’s perplexing, troubling, and wrong."

After a year in which liberals scored impressive, high-profile Supreme Court victories, conservatives could be in line for wins on some of this term's most contentious issues, as the justices consider cases that could gut public sector labor unions and roll back affirmative action at state universities. However, as the court's new term kicks off Monday, uncertainty surrounds several other politically potent cases that could wind up on the court’s agenda. Story Continued Below Litigation over state efforts to limit abortion by regulating clinics and doctors is making its way to the high court. And the justices are already facing a batch of petitions involving the rights of religious institutions to opt out of providing contraception under Obamacare. Both issues seem likely to land on this term's docket, although the justices haven’t formally taken up either. Many in the Obama administration would also like to see the court weigh in on immigration in coming months, upholding the president’s right to grant quasi-legal status and work permits to millions of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children. But it’s unclear whether that fight will get to the justices in time for a decision this term or whether Obama’s effort to expand his executive actions on immigration will remain blocked by a lower court order until the president leaves office. Here’s POLITICO’s look at five of the most important cases the justices could grapple with soon: A potential body blow to labor Public-employee unions and politicians of both parties are keenly focused on a California dispute about whether states can compel government employees to pay union dues. A loss for the unions could sharply diminish the clout of a movement already struggling with its political relevance. The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, was brought by Orange County, Calif. schoolteacher Rebecca Friedrichs and other teachers, who are arguing that forcing them to pay union dues violates their First Amendment rights. They also contend that unions should have to get permission before collecting dues used for political purposes, as opposed to the current system that requires objecting employees to opt out. “The significance is substantial, either way it comes out,” said University of California at Irvine Law Professor Catherine Fisk. “The reason why conservative lawyers are bringing these case is the hope that a significant number of government employees choose not to join the union and certain government employee unions will be weaker.” The Roberts court has not been friendly to unions, issuing a 5-4 ruling last year that prohibited mandatory union fees for home health workers but stopped short of banning so-called “agency shops” in government. The new case directly asks the justices to overturn a 38-year-old precedent that allows all workers covered by union negotiations to be charged for representation. How the case will be resolved is unclear, partly because the conservative justices often see limits on government employee’s First Amendment rights when their speech is at issue. Fisk said the unions are “rationally fearful” about what the court will do, but she thinks the justices might end up dumping the case after it’s heard. “I think the case raises so many doctrinal problems for them,” she said. Higher ed affirmative action back in the crosshairs Two years after punting the case back to an appeals court, the justices will take a second crack at resolving a dispute about the constitutionality of the University of Texas at Austin's affirmative action program. The case was brought by rejected applicant Abigail Fisher, who contends she was rejected because of her race. The last time Fisher’s case went before the high court, affirmative action opponents hoped it would serve as a vehicle to pare back preferences for racial and ethnic groups at government-run schools. However, the justices instead told the 5th Circuit it had been too deferential to the University of Texas’s claims that the programs were narrowly tailored to promote diversity. Justice Anthony Kennedy won the support of six other justices for a decision that said such programs must be handled with "strict scrutiny,” but the decision did not suggest they were automatically unconstitutional. Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself because she was involved in the case during her previous service as solicitor general. The real question is whether Kennedy will join the four other Republican appointees in setting such a high bar for affirmative action that many public colleges will abandon the preferences and admissions practices they use to achieve racial and ethnic diversity. The meaning of "one person, one vote’ A Texas case has the potential to deal a blow to Latino political clout, tilting the balance of power away from urban areas and towards suburban and rural areas with more white voters. Evenwel v. Abbott presents the question of whether state legislative districts can be apportioned using a count of eligible voters rather than a count of all people. If immigrants (both illegal and legal) as well as children can be left out of the count, “the rural areas where voters tend to have fewer non-citizens or where there are fewer young people concentrated would necessarily gain,” said New York University Law Professor Rick Pildes. “It’s a reasonable inference if the urban areas are more Democratic leaning that they would lose power to more Republican rural areas.” Congressional redistricting shouldn’t be directly affected by the case, Pildes said, because the Constitution says the U.S. census used for that reapportionment should be based on each state's population. But others say the ruling could spill over into Congressional redistricting down the line. Religious nonprofits and Obamacare In the Hobby Lobby case last year, the justices allowed for-profit companies to seek religious exemptions from Obamacare’s coverage requirements. But now, several religious-affiliated schools and institutions –including the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home in Denver – have filed lawsuits, too. They argue that the administration’s process for allowing religious nonprofits to opt out of the contraception requirement requires them to violate their religious beliefs. The Supreme Court has eight petitions – including one that just arrived from the federal government — on this issue. Some prominent judges are effectively begging the Supreme Court to jump in by lamenting the refusal of some courts to protect the largely-Catholic religious entities from sanctions for failing to fill out paperwork that triggers the contraception exemption but also sets in motion coverage from others. “How ironic that this most consequential claim of religious free exercise, with literally millions of dollars in fines and immortal souls on the line, should be denied when nearly every other individual religious freedom claim has been upheld by this court,” 5th Circuit Judge Edith Jones complained in a dissent last week. “How tragic to see the humiliation of sincere religious practitioners, which, coming from the federal government and its courts, implicitly denigrates the orthodoxy to which their lives bear testament. And both ironic and tragic is the harm to the Judeo-Christian heritage whose practitioners brought religious toleration to full fruition in this nation. Undermine this heritage, as our founders knew, and the props of morality and civic virtue will be destroyed.” The justices haven’t signaled which of the challenges, if any, they’ll consider but are expected to do so in the coming weeks. Testing when abortion clinic regulations go too far Two of the latest tactics in the abortion wars could wind up before the justices this term: requirements that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and that abortion clinics meet standards for hospitals or surgical centers. An appeals court has upheld most such limits in Texas, but in June the Supreme Court voted, 5-4, to block key parts of the law until the justices decide whether to weigh in. Petitions to take up that case and a similar law in Mississippi are already pending at the Supreme Court. Supporters of the laws say they are designed to protect women's health, but abortion providers and abortion rights advocates say the laws would force many clinics to close and penalize poor women who could not afford travel to distant clinics. A similar Wisconsin law led to combative oral arguments in front of the 7th Circuit last week. Judge Richard Posner suggested the law was a transparent effort to prevent abortions, not aid women. “Governor Walker, before he withdrew from the presidential competition, said he thought abortion should be forbidden even if the mother dies as a result, " Judge Richard Posner said to a lawyer for the state, in remarks first reported by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "Is that kind of official Wisconsin policy?" “That perhaps is Governor Walker’s personal view, but it’s not a state policy,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Keenan replied. Keenan insisted requiring doctors to have admitting privileges was a reasonable precaution to aid women. “The admitting privileges would benefit the continuity of care for the woman when she goes to that hospital,” he said. Posner said the fact that the law was intended to kick in one business day after it was passed made clear the authors' intentions. “That statute can’t be justified in terms of women’s health,” the judge said. Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this report. ||||| The new term’s biggest rulings will land in June, as the 2016 presidential campaign enters its final stretch, and they will help shape the political debate. “Constitutional law and politics are certainly not the same thing, but they are interrelated, never more so than in a presidential election year that will likely determine who gets to appoint the next justice or two or three,” said Vikram D. Amar, dean of the University of Illinois College of Law. By the time the next president is inaugurated, Justice Stephen G. Breyer will be 78, Justices Scalia and Kennedy will be 80, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be 83. “This coming term will again put into focus that the court is divided along partisan lines and that the 2016 presidential elections will be hugely consequential in shaping constitutional and other law for perhaps a generation or more,” said Neal E. Devins, a law professor at William & Mary. The current court is the first in history split along partisan lines, where the party of the president who appointed each justice is a reliable predictor of judicial ideology. Put another way, all five Republican appointees are to the right of all four Democratic appointees. It was not long ago that Republican appointees like Justices John Paul Stevens and David H. Souter routinely voted with the court’s liberal wing. As a consequence of the current alignment, Professor Devins said, “the Roberts court has generated more marquee decisions divided by party alignment than all other courts combined.” The last term’s big cases did not for the most part follow that pattern because Justice Kennedy, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and sits at the court’s ideological fulcrum, voted with the court’s liberal wing at an unusually high rate. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “The story of the last term is that the left side of the court did a lot of winning,” said Irving L. Gornstein, the executive director of Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute. “This term,” he added, “I would expect a return to the norm, with the right side of the court winning a majority but by no means all of the big cases, with Justice Kennedy again the key vote.” The cases on unions and affirmative action, for instance, were almost certainly added to the docket by the more conservative justices in the confidence that they would be able to move the law to the right. Both cases were created by legal entrepreneurs and brought on behalf of plaintiffs recruited by conservative groups. Photo The case on unions, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, No. 14-915, may deal a blow to organized labor. “It could set the stage for a Citizens United-style reconsideration in the area of union dues,” said John P. Elwood, a lawyer at Vinson & Elkins, referring to the 2010 decision that transformed campaign finance law. The new case takes aim at a compromise fashioned by the court in 1977 in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education. In Abood, the court said public workers who decline to join a union can nevertheless be required to pay for the union’s collective bargaining efforts to prevent freeloading and ensure “labor peace.” But nonmembers, the court went on, cannot be forced to pay for the union’s purely political activities, as that would amount to forbidden compelled speech under the First Amendment. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. The California teachers who brought the new case say t collective bargaining is itself political, as it concerns public policy on spending, seniority, class size and the like. Unions respond that the case is a First Amendment Trojan horse designed to further weaken the power of organized labor. The unions have reason to be nervous. The court has twice signaled that it may be ready to overrule Abood notwithstanding the doctrine of stare decisis, Latin for “to stand by things decided.” Justice Alito, the court’s leading critic of Abood, offered a joking alternative definition in public remarks last month. “It is a Latin phrase,” he said. “It means ‘to leave things decided when it suits our purposes.’ ” Advertisement Continue reading the main story The case on unions is not the only sequel on the docket. In Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, No. 14-981, the court will return to the subject of whether the Constitution permits public colleges and universities to take account of race in admissions decisions. In 2013, in a short, vague compromise ruling in the case, the court refused to decide whether the admissions plan at the University of Texas at Austin — which combines race-neutral and race-conscious tools to achieve diversity — is constitutional. The court’s return to the subject after an appeals court sustained the hybrid plan has struck many supporters of affirmative action as an ominous sign. The case was brought by the Project on Fair Representation, a small conservative advocacy group that successfully mounted a challenge to the Voting Rights Act in 2013. The group is also behind this term’s most important case on voting, Evenwel v. Abbott, No. 14-940, which asks the court to address the meaning of “one person, one vote.” The court has never resolved whether state voting districts should have the same number of people, including unauthorized immigrants, children and others not eligible to vote, or the same number of voters. Allowing states to count only voters would in many parts of the country shift political power from cities to rural areas, a move that would generally benefit Republicans. On the last day of the term in June, Justices Breyer and Ginsburg announced that they had grave doubts about the constitutionality of the death penalty and seemed to invite a broad challenge. It has not yet arrived, and it is hardly clear that a majority would be receptive to such a challenge. The new term does have an unusually high number of capital cases presenting more focused issues, including a challenge to Florida’s sentencing scheme, Hurst v. Florida, No. 14-7505, and a case on race discrimination in jury selection, Foster v. Chatman, No. 14-8349. The court has not heard an abortion case since 2007, when it upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. That seems about to change. The most likely candidate is a challenge to a Texas law that threatens to reduce the number of abortion clinics in the state to about 10, down from more than 40. Should the court agree to hear the case, Whole Woman’s Health Center v. Cole, No. 15-274, it is likely to produce the most important abortion ruling since 1992, when Planned Parenthood v. Casey reaffirmed the constitutional right to abortion identified in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The question in the Texas case is whether two parts of a 2013 state law imposed an “undue burden” on the constitutional right to abortion. One part of the law requires all clinics in the state to meet the standards for “ambulatory surgical centers,” including regulations concerning buildings, equipment and staffing. The other requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. An appeals court largely upheld the contested provisions, but the Supreme Court in June, by a 5-to-4 vote, stepped in to block the ruling while it considered whether to hear the case. That suggests three things: that the court is likely to hear the case, that its decision will be closely divided and that the ruling will land in June, thrusting a volatile and divisive issue into the middle of the presidential race. ||||| WASHINGTON—The death penalty is shaping up to be a big issue for the Supreme Court as it begins a new term Monday, with at least six capital-punishment cases on the docket and a recent wave of executions keeping the justices up late to field last-minute appeals. In the weeks ahead, the court is set to hear arguments over the constitutionality of capital sentences in Florida, Georgia, Kansas and Pennsylvania. The focus on execution issues follows a 5-4 ruling last term involving a sedative used for lethal injections. The split...

– The Supreme Court is facing a docket of high-profile political cases that will test whether recent liberal victories were more fluke or firm conviction, the New York Times reports. The court—which is divided 5-4 for conservatives, but saw Justice Roberts vote liberal on Obamacare and same-sex marriage—will look at cases including unions, affirmative action, and possibly abortion. A primer: Unions: Since 1977, unions have been allowed to charge non-union workers for dues that go to collective bargaining efforts, but not political ones. Now California teachers have brought a case saying collective bargaining is itself political. "It could set the stage for a Citizens United-style reconsideration in the area of union dues," a lawyer says. Affirmative Action: Abigail Fisher says that being white played a role in the University of Texas denying her admission back in 2008. The Supreme Court punted on her case in 2013, and now it's back on the docket. Like the unions case, this was brought by a conservative group that recruited the plaintiffs. The death penalty: Justices will decide on capital-punishment cases in Pennsylvania, Kansas, Georgia, and Florida, the Wall Street Journal reports. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer have already expressed doubts about whether capital punishment is constitutional. "One person, one vote": Should state legislative districts be drawn based on their number of people or eligible voters? If justices choose the latter—leaving out immigrants and children—Latinos could lose political clout and rural areas will gain, Politico reports. Abortion: Justices may opt to revisit a Texas law that could reduce the state's abortion clinics from more than 40 to roughly 10. At issue is whether new clinic requirements are an "undue burden" on women's right to an abortion. One commentator believes this Supreme Court session will be ugly for liberals.

Horrified teammates wept as a player's leg bone snapped during one of the most closely watched U.S. college basketball games of the year. Louisville's Chane Behanan, foreground, and Wayne Blackshear (20) react to guard Kevin Ware's injury during the first half of the Midwest Regional final against Duke in the NCAA college basketball tournament,... (Associated Press) Trainers check on Louisville guard Kevin Ware (5) after an injury during the first half of the Midwest Regional final against Duke in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in... (Associated Press) Louisville's Wayne Blackshear (20) and Chane Behanan (21) react to Kevin Ware's injury during the first half of the Midwest Regional final in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 31,... (Associated Press) "The bone's 6 inches (152 millimeters) out of his leg, and all he's yelling is, `Win the game, win the game,'" said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who wiped away tears Sunday as national television quickly backed away from showing replays of Kevin Ware's nasty fall. "I've not seen that in my life." (hash)KevinWare shot to one of the top worldwide trending topics on Twitter. Video of the injury was posted on YouTube. And Ware's teammates went on to surge past Duke, 85-63, to win one of just four spots in the race to the national finals. Ware's right leg bent in such an awkward, frightening angle that CBS stopped showing replays. Team officials said the leg was broken in two places. Louisville star Russ Smith heard the break, and Chane Behanan, Ware's closest friend, couldn't believe what was happening. "The bone was literally out. I saw white, it was literally out," said Behanan, who collapsed to his hands and knees at the sight. The injury happened right in front of the team. Behanan looked as if he was going to be sick. "I've never seen anything like that," Behanan said. "I don't remember the last time I cried." Dr. Frederick Azar, a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, said Ware "jumped pretty far horizontally and vertically, and he landed with a twist," which puts so much torsion and stress on the bones they could have just snapped. Louisville, the top overall seed in the tournament, went more than 3 minutes without scoring after the accident but regained its composure. "We won this for him," Pitino said. Behanan switched into Ware's No. 5 jersey near the end of the game. ___ Associated Press writer Michael Marot and AP Chief Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione contributed to this report. ||||| CLOSE Skip in Skip x Embed x Share Rick Pitino said Louisville wouldn't have been able to move forward from Kevin Ware's leg injury had Ware not told his team 12 times that he would be fine and pushed them to beat Duke. VPC Luke Hancock, right, comforts teammate Kevin Ware after Ware's injury Sunday. (Photo: Jamie Rhodes, USA TODAY Sports) Story Highlights Kevin Ware had successful surgery Sunday night Ware had his bone re-set, a rod inserted and his wound closed Ware hopes to rejoin his team in Atlanta to support them in the Final Four Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware underwent successful surgery Sunday night to repair the gruesome open fracture of his right tibia he suffered during the Cardinals' 85-63 win over Duke in the Midwest Regional final, and he is expected to remain in Indianapolis until at least Tuesday, Louisville announced. Ware had the bone reset, and a rod was inserted into his leg during the operation that lasted about two hours. The wound caused by the bone puncturing through his skin in his lower leg was closed. Louisville's late-night release said no timetable for recovery has been set, but the early prognosis from sports medicine director Fred Hina — given right after the game while Ware was in surgery — was that Ware is bound for a lengthy recovery, but the injury is not likely a career-ending one. LOPRESTI: Injury evokes serious emotion PHOTO: Kevin Ware's moment with trophy REACTION: Outpouring of support for Ware Hina was part of the team that stabilized Ware's injury on the court as he was removed on a stretcher. "It's an injury that needs to be dealt with in a swift fashion due to the fact that it was open, and there are infection concerns, and then obviously you need to stabilize that fracture," he said. "One thing you have to establish is, is there circulation below the fracture? Did he disrupt any arteries or veins? Once we establish that, it's stabilizing the fracture as tight as we can so that it doesn't move." Ware is hopeful he can return to Louisville after Tuesday, then join the Cardinals as they advance to the Final Four in Atlanta, his hometown. VIDEO: HOW LOUISVILLE CAME TOGETHER AFTER INJURY CLOSE Skip in Skip x Embed x Share Kevin Ware talking was a 'calming influence' on the Louisville basketball team, said Cardinals point guard Peyton Siva. Louisville's team physician traveled with Ware in the ambulance to the hospital after the injury, and Hina and Ware's girlfriend, who was at the game, have been in contact with Ware's mother, who lives in Atlanta. Ware's mother planned to travel to see him soon, Hina said. Hina said Ware's recovery time would be based on the nature of the hardware that was inserted in his leg. "Because it was a weight-bearing bone and it was such a difficult injury, it will take a while," Hina said. "But he will play again." JOE THEISMANN: Former QB knows Kevin Ware's pain NCAA: Quickly deletes its own tweet about Ware injury FULL BRACKET: Complete NCAA tournament results Hina likened the injury to the season-ending fracture suffered by former Louisville running back Michael Bush in the 2006 season. Bush recovered to be chosen in the next year's NFL draft and currently plays for the Chicago Bears. "Once I spoke to the trainer at halftime and he told me it's Michael Bush's injury," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "He said it's going to take some time coach, but he'll be fine. Once I knew that, then I could regroup and just get them refocused. ... He's going to be fine. Now if this was a career-ending injury? (But) we all know how good Michael Bush is right now, and it's a Michael Bush injury." Hina said he's seen similar severe fractures, but there's no getting used to seeing injuries so gruesome. "It never gets more palatable," he said. Bush posted on Twitter that he cried after seeing Ware's injury. "I feel so bad," he wrote. "Flashback of myself." MORE REACTION: Gruesome injury brings teammates to tears GAME RECAP: Ware inspires Louisville to win, Final Four berth Dr. Craig Roberts, chairman of Louisville's department of orthopedic surgery, was coming out of an operation when he caught the replay of Ware's injury on TV. "It was very dramatic, very deformed," Roberts said. "I hate to use the word grisly, but it brought me back to Joe Theismann," he said, referring to the professional football player whose compound fracture in 1985 ended his career. An open fracture could have been caused simply by the amount of force and the angle at which Ware landed after leaping to challenge a Duke shot, Roberts said. "It looks like what we call a bending fracture — like snapping a pencil with your finger," he said. "There was a significant amount of force, and the angle looked about right." Roberts said open fractures of this sort would be treated by intravenous antibiotics and surgery to implant a metal rod within eight hours of the injury. He added that Methodist Hospital "has a very strong group of orthopedic surgeons." Dr. Tony Wanich, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, said Ware's injury was extremely unusual given the circumstance, and that such severe fractures are usually seen in car crashes. In such an injury, Roberts said that in the "best-case scenario," a patient would begin to show signs of healing within 8-12 weeks. "With ... physical therapy, top-notch rehab, he may actually be doing quite well by three months or so," he said. "From there, it's a matter of muscle rehabilitation, strengthening, sport-specific rehab." Dr. Robin West, a Pittsburgh Steelers orthopedic surgeon, said that typically, the best-case scenario to return from such a compound fracture is 6-8 months. But she said the fact that Ware's bone broke through his skin will likely add to his recovery time. "The blood supply gets cut off to the bone, and it's an open system," West said. "There can be a pretty significant rate of infection, and the blood supply is worse, so the healing is slower." Wanich said it will be important to monitor Ware closely during the 24 hours after surgery because of the risk of infection and blood flow problems. Roberts said that possible complications could include slow healing of the bones or soft tissues. "Sometimes the wound itself is so injured that over time the skin and muscle can die," he added. "The healing itself is sometimes a little delayed on account of its being an open fracture (with) high energy." As for returning to the sport, Roberts thought Ware's prognosis was good. "There's a very high likelihood that we'll see him play again," he said. Steven Jones, Matthew Frassica and Adam Himmelsbach write for the Louisville Courier-Journal, a Gannett partner property. PHOTOS: THE BEST PHOTOS FROM THE ELITE 8 ||||| In many ways, it had been an exemplary few days for the NCAA and its signature basketball tournament—a weekend that put the madness back in March. On Friday, Michigan and star guard Trey Burke completed an epic comeback over Kansas. On Saturday, Cinderella team Wichita State crashed the Final Four. But for many people watching the Louisville-Duke game unfold, a disturbing injury to Louisville guard Kevin Ware illustrated a different sort of madness: the continued lack of compensation for the players who make the tournament so special. "Pray for [Ware]," columnist Dave Zirin tweeted. "There is no safety-net for the injured NCAA athlete." Injury among worst seen on TV Ware's broken leg—"about the most gruesome injury I've seen in a basketball game," bemoaned analyst Seth Davis—came on a routine play, as he landed awkwardly after trying to block a shot by Duke's Tyler Thornton. And evoking memories of a similar, career-ending injury to the NFL's Joe Theismann, Ware snapped his leg in two places, with his tibia bone sticking six inches out of the skin. Ware will miss at least a year, Louisville coach Rick Pitino said after the game, and it's fair to wonder if he'll ever play high-level basketball again. The injury was so graphic that it prompted an immediate debate over propriety: Should the footage even be shown? And while websites like Deadspin and BuzzFeed posted links to the video, others (including CBS, which was televising the game) elected to halt replays. Few protections for NCAA athletes But the most important discussion returned to the questionable morality of college athletics: Were Ware's services being exploited by the NCAA? Keep in mind: Ware was playing for no pay beyond an athletic scholarship to Louisville—a scholarship that's often only renewed at a coach's discretion. While Ware's surgery will be covered by Louisville, he has no recompense to file for worker's compensation. Under the NCAA's deliberately ambiguous terminology of "student-athletes," the organization is shielded from such claims. While most college sports programs are money-losers, the NCAA's annual TV ad revenue from March Madness exceeds $1 billion. And Louisville is the most profitable college basketball team in the nation. What happens next--for Ware and the NCAA Entering Sunday, Ware was a fringe NBA prospect—ranked 76th among all college sophomores by one service—far from a lock to make that league, but likely to play professionally at some point. Ware's injury raises serious questions about his ability to do exactly that. Under a best-case scenario, Ware recovers after several years of rehab, but suffers some loss to future earnings. Consider the case of Michael Bush, a former Louisville running back who suffered a similar injury in 2006. Bush was a projected top-10 pick in the 2007 NFL draft; after snapping his leg, he fell to the 100th pick and lost out on a windfall of $40 million or so. Under a worst-case scenario, Ware deals with continued medical burdens—and as Salon's David Sirota points out, ends up getting stuck with the bill. Sunday's episode ensures that the NCAA will face pressure from Zirin, Sirota, and other usual suspects. Taylor Branch's seminal article on "The Shame of College Sports" will be passed around again. But it's important to remember that Ware's broken leg was unusually terrible, and unusually high-profile. The debate will fade as the next round of games resume. Meanwhile, every season of college football or basketball sees hundreds of lesser injuries, to lesser players, on lesser stages, with no compensation for the afflicted. Perhaps it's madness that we're not more mad about that. Also on Forbes: -- Follow @ddiamond

– Louisville guard Kevin Ware is recovering from what commentators say is the most horrific injury they've ever seen in a basketball game. Ware snapped his right leg in two places as he landed from a jump in the first half of the Cardinals' Midwest Regional final against Duke, leaving his broken tibia bone sticking six inches out of his skin, USA Today reports. Surgery last night was successful, but Ware is expected to be out for at least a year. Ware's teammates went on to beat Duke, 85-63. Before Ware was stretchered out of the stadium, he called his teammates over and urged them to win the game. "The bone's 6 inches out of his leg, and all he's yelling is, 'Win the game, win the game,'" Louisville coach Rick Pitino tells the AP. "I've not seen that in my life." Louisville will pay for Ware's surgery, but he was playing for no pay beyond a scholarship and NCAA regulations shield the organization from compensation claims, Forbes notes.

Utah man Samuel Shaffer dreamed of growing old with the 8-year-old he took as his child bride — but the leader of a doomsday cult will now be aging behind bars. Shaffer, 34, was convicted Wednesday on one count of rape of a child and one count of child sodomy. According to multiple reports, he was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison — and Utah State Courts spokesman Geoff Fattah tells PEOPLE he will spend a minimum of 26 years behind bars. The sentence for the co-leader of the Knights of Crystal Blade, a fundamentalist offshoot of the Mormon Church, comes after Shaffer told detectives that he was married to the 8-year-old daughter of John Coltharp, another cult member. Coltharp, who pleaded guilty on June 13 to charges of child sodomy and child bigamy, said he was married to Shaffer’s 7-year-old daughter, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by Salt Lake Tribune. Coltharp’s sentencing is scheduled for August 8. RELATED: Two Members of Utah Doomsday Sect Allegedly Married Each Other’s 7- and 8-Year-Old Daughters Shaffer told deputies he had been the prophet of the church — which believes in doomsday prophecies and practices polygamy — but had recently passed down the title to Coltharp. Police began investigating the situation on Dec. 1 after Coltharp’s ex-wife called police to report Coltharp had kidnapped their four children, according to an Iron County Sheriff’s Office press release previously obtained by PEOPLE. Shaffer was taken into custody and told police where they could find two of the girls. Deputies discovered one of Shaffer’s daughters and one of Coltharp’s daughters inside two blue plastic 50-gallon water barrels located approximately 1,000 yards south of the Coltharp property. Shaffer told police the two girls had been placed in the water barrels to hide them from law enforcement. Police said the two girls had spent approximately 24 hours inside the barrel in subfreezing temperatures. “These two children were not properly dressed for the cold temperatures and did not have food or water at that time,” the release states. “Shaffer also made statements he had left a firearm behind on the ground next to the barrel.” • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Police said Shaffer initially refused to tell authorities the whereabouts of the remaining two girls but that he finally did. The girls were found in “poor health with signs of dehydration and acting lethargic” in an abandoned single-wide mobile trailer, police said. All four girls were transported by ambulance to the Cedar City hospital where they received emergency medical care. PEOPLE was unable to immediately reach Shaffer’s attorney, Troy Sundquist, so it was not clear if he plans to appeal the sentencing. ||||| (KUTV) — Self-proclaimed cult leader Samuel Shaffer pleaded guilty on Wednesday to felony sodomy on a child. Shaffer was sentenced in Sanpete County to 15 years to life in prison. Other charges filed against Shaffer in Sanpete County were dismissed, including an additional felony count of sodomy on a child, one felony count of obstruction of justice, one count of child bigamy, a felony, and one count of lewdness involving a child, a misdemeanor. Shaffer, 34, was previously sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for first-degree felony rape of a child and one second-degree felony count of child abuse. The sentencing, carried out in Iron County, required Shaffer serve a minimum of 26 years in prison. Shaffer's Sanpete County sentencing will run concurrent with the Iron County sentencing. Shaffer was the self-proclaimed prophet of a cult group called The Knights of the Crystal Blade. He and another cult member, named John Alvin Coltharp, 34, were married to each other's daughters, who are minors. On December 4, 2017, an Amber Alert was issued for Coltharp's daughters. Police began an investigation after Coltharp's ex-wife told authorities that he had taken their four children and fled after losing custody in divorce proceedings. Two girls were found in a single-wide trailer; the other two were found in empty 50-gallon water drums. Shaffer was arrested in December 2017 on kidnapping charges. Coltharp pleaded guilty on June 13 to charges of child sodomy and child bigamy. His sentencing is scheduled to take place August 8. On June 8, a third man was identified as an alleged follower of the doomsday group and charged with child sexual abuse. RELATED: Cult leader Sam Shaffer pleads guilty to rape, child abuse Cult leader Samuel Shaffer gets 26 years to life in prison Doomsday cult leader pleads guilty to child sodomy and child bigamy 3rd man accused of child sex abuse from Utah doomsday group

– A Utah man who said he was the prophet of a polygamist sect is headed to prison after his conviction and sentencing this week on a child sodomy charge. Samuel Shaffer is the Knights of the Crystal Blade leader who was arrested in December on kidnapping charges involving his two daughters, as well as the two daughters and two sons of sect co-founder John Coltharp, who was also arrested. On Wednesday in Sanpete County, Shaffer pleaded guilty to felony sodomy on a child and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, KUTV reports. Among the details Shaffer shared with detectives as they looked into his case, per People: that he'd "married" Coltharp's 8-year-old daughter, and Coltharp had done the same with his 7-year-old daughter. Shaffer, listed as either 34 or 35, had previously been sentenced to 26 years to life in Iron County on child rape and child abuse charges; his new sentence will run concurrent with that one. "I sincerely believed that child marriage was a correct principle from God," Shaffer told Sanpete County Judge Marvin Bagley, per USA Today. "And I've seen the consequences of what's happened, and I know that I shouldn't have done it now." But Bagley wasn't buying his excuses. "I'm not aware of any religion in this world that justifies an adult having a sexual relationship with an 8-year-old girl," Bagley said. "Certainly it's a violation of Utah law." Coltharp is set to be sentenced Aug. 8.

A Visalia high school teacher is in jail after forcibly cutting a student's hair in class. Video surfaced Wednesday showing 52-year-old Margaret Gieszinger chasing students with scissors between desks while belting out the "Star Spangled Banner" at University Preparatory High School.RELATED: Boy who had hair forcibly cut 'absolutely terrified', may sue Visalia teacher, says lawyer It was first period inside Gieszinger's chemistry class and a bizarre chain of events is about to take off. Students say the teacher came into class with a pair of scissors declaring it was hair cut day."We think she's going to try to be funny and be like 'Oh did you really think I was going to cut his hair?' But she did cut a hair off, and she started singing the Star Spangled Banner and she was singing it really loudly as she ceremoniously tossed a chunk of hair behind her," said a student who wanted to remain anonymous.The student says he was sitting in the back of the classroom and ran to the main office for help."I hope I never have to see her at the school again, because I know for a fact I can never see her as a respectable authority figure in my life."The video continues to show Gieszinger grabbing at another girl's hair before everyone makes a run for it out of the classroom. Students say they don't know what triggered her behavior but say she had a similar breakdown earlier this week."I know that on Monday she had another freak out because a test was missing or something. She accused the students of taking the test."College of the Sequoias Police have since arrested Gieszinger on suspicion of corporal injury to a child. Her bail is set at $100,000.The Tulare County Office of Education has released a statement regarding the incident: ||||| VISALIA, California - A high school teacher was arrested Wednesday morning on suspicion of felony child endangerment, police say. University Prepatory High School science teacher, Margaret Gieszinger, 52, of Exeter, was arrested at her home around noon, says the College of the Sequoias District Police Chief Kevin Mizner. The high school is located on the community college's campus. He says, Gieszinger allegedly told students she was giving "free haircuts," and a student thought she was joking, so he sat in her chair and she started cutting. He told her to stop, Mizner says, but she wouldn't and the student ran out of the classroom. Mizner says she followed the student out with scissors, other students tried to intervene, and eventually other staff got her to stop. She stopped teaching for the day and went home, Mizner says. Police interviewed students and watched cell phone footage of the incident and had enough cause to arrest Gieszinger at her home. According to jail records, Gieszinger is booked into the Tulare County Adult Pre-Trial Facility and her bail is set at $100,000. ||||| Margaret Gieszinger (Photo: Tulare County Sheriff's Department) A Visalia teacher has been arrested after an Instagram video showed her appearing to forcibly chop off at least one student's hair while belting out the National Anthem in her classroom. College of the Sequoias police responded Wednesday to a University Preparatory High School classroom after reports of child endangerment involving a teacher and a "pair of scissors," said Police Chief Kevin Mizner. Science teacher Margaret Gieszinger, 52, of Exeter, was later arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment. Her bail was set at $100,000. The arrest followed three videos posted to social media on Wednesday showing a student sitting in a chair at the front of the classroom as the teacher cuts off portions of the student's hair. She then tosses the chunks of hair behind her. The Times-Delta has seen the videos but cannot publish them online at this time due to copyright concerns. As the student attempts to get up and walk back to his desk, the teacher says, "You're not done," and motions him to sit back down. She then chops his hair again. He again stands up and moves away from her. Shortly after, in the video, the teacher calls out other students and then walks over to a female student. The teacher appears to grab a piece of the student's hair and attempts to snip it. Other students then begin to scream and run out of the classroom. The teacher continues to loudly sing as students flee. Students at University Prep High School walk to class on Thursday, December 6, 2018. On Wednesday, a science teacher was arrested after she was recorded cutting a student's hair. (Photo: Calley Cederlof) Want more news like this? Click here to subscribe to visaliatimesdelta.com. "All students are safe," Principal Eric Thiessen said, Wednesday afternoon. He directed questions to the district. Lilli Gates, one of Gieszinger's students, said the incident is out of character for the teacher. "When everything was going on I was terrified, and I so badly wanted to blame her. I was scared she was going to come back," Gates said. "What she did to my classmates and I is inexcusable. I am not trying to make excuses for her, I simply ask everyone to reconsider how they view her. She is a loving and kind lady. She is usually all smiles and laughs. This is not the Miss G. we know and love." Sara Rocha is a parent of a UPHS junior. Rocha's daughter is friends with a girl in Gieszinger's class. Trouble started on Monday, Rocha said. A test went missing earlier in the week and Gieszinger's blamed students, she said. During Monday's incident, Rocha said Gieszinger made her daughter's friend cry. Students reached out to administrators on Monday, according to Rocha. "(Students) asked for help," she said, "but were told they had to go back to class." A teacher at Hurley Elementary School, Rocha said she is disappointed in the administration's lack of intervention. "We have to take it seriously when (students) come to us," she said. "We absolutely need to listen to kids. This breaks my heart." Rocha said UPHS is a "great school" and teachers make an effort to connect with students. But, she feels more could have been done to prevent Wednesday's incident. "I've always felt safe at UPHS," she said. "But the fact kids asked for help and didn't get it makes me really sad." Students at University Prep High School walk class on Thursday morning. On Wednesday, a science teacher was arrested after she was recorded cutting a student's hair. (Photo: Calley Cederlof) Police say they've completed their initial investigation into the incident and the case will soon be submitted to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office for review. According to Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Gieszinger's credential was suspended in 2007 and 2016. It's unclear why her credentials were suspended. The 2016 suspension lasted 14 days. The 2007 suspension lasted seven. The 2016 credential suspension was cited as an Education Code 44421 suspension. Education Code 44421 suspension reads: "The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall privately admonish, publicly reprove, revoke or suspend for immoral or unprofessional conduct, or for persistent defiance of, and refusal to obey, the laws regulating the duties of persons serving in the public school system, or for any cause that would have warranted the denial of an application for a credential or the renewal thereof, or for evident unfitness for service." Commission on Teach Credentialing did not respond to calls before this story went to press. According to Transparent California, a pay and pension online database, Gieszinger was previously employed by Lindsay Unified School District and Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School District. Both school districts did not return calls for comment. Tulare County Office of Education, which oversees the high school, is also investigating the incident, said Rob Herman, public information officer. After refusing to comment on the incident Wednesday, TCOE officials released a statement Thursday morning. "The staff at University Preparatory High School and the administration at the Tulare County Office of Education are deeply concerned for the students who were subjected to the disturbing behavior in Margaret Gieszinger’s class yesterday morning," said Jim Vidak, superintendent of Tulare County schools. "To support all students on the UPHS campus today, we have sent top counselors from our mental health services program. They will continue to be available to the students as long as necessary." Vidak added that Gieszinger will not return to her UPHS classroom and that a "highly-qualified substitute teacher" will take over for the rest of the semester. UPHS administration will work closely with the substitute teacher until a replacement teacher is hired, Vidak said. About 225 students are enrolled in the Tulare County Office of Education high school. University Prep opened on the COS campus in 2009. More: What prompted a Tulare County student to attack school staff? More: Valley Children's is one step closer to opening large Visalia clini Read or Share this story: https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/2018/12/05/visalia-teacher-sings-anthem-chops-students-hair/2218275002/

– A California teacher is behind bars with bail set at $100,000 after she allegedly followed through on what students thought was a teasing offer of "free haircuts." Police were called to Visalia's University Preparatory High School on Wednesday in response to an Instagram video that appeared to show science teacher Margaret Gieszinger using scissors to chop off a student's hair during a first-period chemistry class. Hair flew amid the teacher's loud rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," per the Visalia Times-Delta, which adds Gieszinger stopped the male student as he tried to get away. "You're not done," she allegedly said, and continued cutting. Gieszinger then was said to have grabbed the hair of a female student before kids screamed and ran for the classroom door. Two days earlier, Gieszinger had claimed students were responsible for a test that had gone missing, a parent tells the Times-Delta. "They asked for help from administrators on Monday but were told they had to go back to class," one parent says. One student describes the behavior as out of character for the 52-year-old teacher, later arrested at her home on suspicion of felony child endangerment, per YourCentralValley.com. "Loving and kind," she's "usually all smiles and laughs. This is not the Miss G. we know and love," the student tells the Times-Delta. But: "I hope I never have to see her at the school again," another student tells KFSN. "I can never see her as a respectable authority figure in my life." Gieszinger was handed two-week suspensions for unknown reasons in 2007 and 2016. (A Florida teacher was accused of drowning animals in class.)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- A South Carolina serial killer already serving life in prison for seven slayings told authorities he has two additional victims buried near an interstate, a sheriff said Tuesday. Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said investigators are bringing Todd Kohlhepp to the county to lead them to the supposed location of the bodies, the Greenville News reported. "We're trying to get a game plan together to find out exactly where and what to do. Investigators have been talking to him," Wright said. "We're not going to try to keep that quiet. We're going to go search." Kohlhepp told investigators that two people are buried near Interstate 26 in Spartanburg County in the northwest part of the state. Wright is unsure who the supposed additional victims are or exactly where they are, he said. "We haven't been able to confirm anything he's claimed yet," Wright said. "It's not to say that the details are not sketchy because it's been so long, but we're obligated to go check." Kohlhepp is serving seven consecutive life sentences without parole at Broad River Correctional Facility in Columbia after pleading guilty to multiple charges in May 2017. "48 Hours" investigated the case in the episode, "Buried Truth." His string of crimes was uncovered in 2016 after police rescued Kala Brown from a storage container where she was chained at the neck and investigators found a body buried in a shallow grave. Brown told investigators she saw Kohlhepp shoot and kill her boyfriend, 32-year-old Charles Carter, who went with her for a cleaning job on Kohlhepp's property in rural Spartanburg County. Kohlhepp raped Brown while holding her against her will, and told her he had also killed a husband and wife in December 2015, burying their bodies on his land. Johnny Joe Coxie, 29, had been killed immediately, and Kohlhepp kept 26-year-old Meagan Leigh McCraw-Coxie alive for six days before shooting her in the back of the head on Christmas, Solicitor Barry Barnette said. The Associated Press typically doesn't identify victims of sexual assault, but Brown has spoken publicly about her traumatic experience. Kohlhepp admitted to her that he had killed four people in the Superbike motorcycle shop in November 2003, the prosecutor said. The owner, Scott Ponder, 30; Beverly Guy, 52; Brian Lucas, 30; and Chris Sherbert, 26 were killed because Kohlhepp thought they were making fun of him. Guy was Ponder's mother and worked as a bookkeeper. Lucas was a service manager, and Sherbert was a mechanic at the shop. Kohlhepp's crimes took place over more than a decade as he ran a real estate business. According to the plea agreement signed by Kohlhepp, he will serve seven consecutive life terms plus 60 years on kidnapping, sexual assault and other charges. Kohlhepp will not be eligible for parole, and he also agreed not to appeal the sentence. Kohlhepp moved to South Carolina in 2001 shortly after 14 years in prison for pleading guilty to kidnapping in Arizona. Authorities there said the then 15-year-old forced a 14-year-old neighbor back to his home at gunpoint, tied her up and raped her. Friends and co-workers at Kohlhepp's real estate business said he was a hard worker with some strange habits. He would watch pornographic videos during work and joked on his firm's website that he motivated workers by not feeding them. ||||| The Upstate's most notorious serial killer's claim that there were two more bodies buried in Spartanburg County led to a search Wednesday that failed to turn up anything, officials said. Sheriff Chuck Wright said Tuesday that Todd Kohlhepp claimed the bodies were in the Enoree area. Advertisement "He didn't tell me. He didn't tell our investigators. He told somebody who told us," Wright told WYFF News 4 Tuesday night. Lt. Kevin Bobo released the following statement after the search concluded: “When Todd Kohlhepp was arrested in November, 2016, he made vague statements to our investigators about committing two homicides prior to the Superbike incident. “At that time, we researched his statement and found no evidence to support his claim. “Since his incarceration at the S.C. Department of Corrections, he made that same claim to a production company that is filing a documentary about his crimes, but his account to that company differed in some details and also included possible locations of these two alleged victims. “Last week, two of our investigators went to the Department of Corrections and interviewed Kohlhepp. Some of the details he shared with our investigators differed from what he had shared with the production company; specifically, that the victims were buried in one location as opposed to two different ones. “Those investigators asked Kohlhepp if he would be willing to show us the location of these two alleged victims. Todd Kohlhepp declined that request. “Monday and Tuesday, our investigators met with the production company and compared notes to see what was consistent in Kohlhepp’s claims and what wasn’t. That additional research led to numerous deputies and cadaver dogs searching a wooded area at the dead end of a frontage road at Highway 92 and I-26 in Enoree. “Again, we didn’t find any evidence to support his claim. At present, there aren’t any plans to go back to the site tomorrow, and that lead will be suspended until Kohlhepp decides to share more detailed information that can be verified.” Maria Awes, senior vice president of Committee Films, confirmed in a statement late Wednesday afternoon that her company is working on the Kohlhepp documentary. “We are currently on the ground filming an exclusive documentary series about Todd Kohlhepp, airing next year on the true crime and justice channel, Investigation Discovery (ID). “As this is an active investigation, we are working closely with law enforcement to be completely transparent with our information and filming only within their specified parameters.” Tuesday, Wright had said he felt like he was "between a rock and a hard place" because Kohlhepp killed seven people, so they had to check it out. The search for more victims Deputies and K-9's began to search about 9 a.m. “This will be the last time this happens until he gives me some specifics that I can corroborate, because I don’t want it to be one of those things – he wants to stay relevant,” Wright said. “If he’s got more victims, I promise you, there are no limits to what we won’t do, within the law. I am obligated to see if there are anymore victims here, and if so, we’ll do the best we can to find them, and we’ll work it from there.” WYFF News 4 Wright said he didn't want to give more attention to Kohlhepp, but he owed it to the families of possible victims to follow up. Dozens of vehicles lined the road near the heavily area where the search took place. The film makers who are producing a documentary on Kohlhepp's victims were also at the scene. Wright said he allowed them to shoot the search "from a distance." He said the nonprofit group Foothills Search and Rescue's dogs were used in the search. Wright said the dogs are capable of finding bodies several feet underground, even if they have been buried for years. Wright said if they had found any spots they wanted to investigate further, there was an industrial X-ray machine at the scene that is capable of detecting items buried 5 to 7 feet underground. Kohlhepp is an admitted serial killer Kohlhepp, 47, is serving seven consecutive life sentences plus an additional 60 years in prison after admitting he killed seven people and sexually assaulted a woman that he held captive in a storage container in November 2016. Kohlhepp confessed that he killed Beverly Guy, Scott Ponder, Brian Lucas and Chris Sherbert in November 2003 at Superbike Motorsports. He confessed to the Superbike Motorsports killings after investigators found Kala Brown, a woman who had been reported missing, on Nov. 4, 2016, chained inside a storage container on Kohlhepp’s property in rural Woodruff. She had been reported missing two months before. In the days that followed, authorities also found the bodies of Brown's boyfriend, Charlie Carver, and Meagan Coxie and Johnny Coxie buried on Kohlhelpp's property. AlertMe

– One of South Carolina's most notorious serial killers claims to have buried two more bodies near an interstate—but a full day of searching Wednesday failed to find any remains. Police using cadaver dogs searched an area near Interstate 26 in southern Spartanburg County without success after receiving information from a production company making a documentary on Todd Kohlhepp, who is already serving life for seven murders, CBS News reports. Sheriff Chuck Wright said there would be no more searching without new information. "At present, there aren't any plans to go back to the site tomorrow, and that lead will be suspended until Kohlhepp decides to share more detailed information that can be verified," he told WYFF4, adding that while he doesn't want to give Kohlhepp more attention, it is his duty to families of potential victims to investigate. "This will be the last time this happens until he gives me some specifics that I can corroborate, because I don't want it to be one of those things—he wants to stay relevant," he said. (Kohlhepp has previously said he won't disclose how many people he killed.)

Chelsea Handler on her new studio: 'I’m most excited about having a shower in my office' so I never have to walk semi-nude past my guests again Late-night talk and comedy host moves to new quarters that once served Jack Benny and Conan O'Brien What Chelsea Handler loves most about the new set for her late-night show is that she doesn’t have to parade partially nude past her guests anymore. “I’m most excited about having a shower in my office, so that I no longer have to shower downstairs and then walk by the audience lineup in a robe,” says the “Chelsea Lately” host. “Yeah, I’m not joking, that’s what happened. “The audience would be lined up outside, and I would go downstairs to this industrial-like shower, put my hair up in a, like, a towel ponytail and a robe, and then walk out past them — while people would ask me to sign books. So we’re going to be avoiding that.” The comedy talk show, which airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on E!, makes its big move Monday from a small studio in Santa Monica to the larger Stage 1 at Universal Studios. Stage 1 was built for “The Jack Benny Show” in 1962, and was also home to the doomed “Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien.” But Handler says she isn’t worried her show will meet the same fate. “I'm not superstitious at all, I’m not a Russian,” cracks the comedian. Besides a private shower, the new studio has another advantage. “We have so much more space now that we’re going to be able to have Chuy enter on elephants and different kinds of animals,” Handler says of her oft-abused sidekick, Chuy Bravo. And what does Bravo think about the set upgrade? “Chuy can’t speak English, so I don’t even know if he knows about the move,” Handler quips. The new set can accommodate 200 audience members, up from 75. But the show hopes to maintain an intimate vibe. Timothy White/E! “Conan has a great intimate audience and he is about 200,” Handler says. “My whole shtick is my audience, so I actually really want them more involved in the show, as cheesy as that may sound. We think of really funny ways to get them involved. “Recently, for instance, we picked people out of the crowd and then just had them choose, out of three male [‘Chelsea Lately’] writers, whom they want to have sex with the least, and put them in order,” Handler explains. “I want my audience in there. I’m a standup comedian, so I need people.” Handler, 37, has hosted “Chelsea Lately” since 2007. It’s the most-watched cable late-night talk show among women age 18-34 Her close pal Jennifer Aniston appears on the show Monday, the first guest in the new digs. “She’s a friend, and she’s a good friend, so she was nice enough to say yes,” Handler says. “And of course, she’s obviously the best person you can get. So she’s just an email away. “We’re friends, so it’ll be a nice, relaxing conversation,” adds Handler. “My idea is I want all these great girls to be on the first couple of weeks to christen the stage and to kind of give me their blessing.” Other names this week include Fergie on Tuesday, Miley Cyrus on Wednesday and Christina Aguilera Thursday. “I like to have a home for people just to have a lot of fun,” Handler says of welcoming guests. “Everybody looks good on the show when they come on, and has a great sense of humor about themselves. I have no problem being the butt of the jokes, and everybody comes off looking hilariously funny.” The new, state-of-the-art studio boasts improved sound and lighting systems. “I’m here to stay, I’m not going anywhere,” Handler says. “I think for a while, I was kind of confused about what I was going to do, but now I’m not, so I’m going full throttle. gsalamone@nydailynews.com Watch an interview with Chelsea Handler on her new set here ||||| SANDRA Bullock and Chelsea Handler have stripped off for a comedy shower scene on Chelsea Lately. The movie star and talk show host appeared in the steamy skit together, which was shown in the US last night, to mark Chelsea's show's move to a new studio.

– To mark her move to a new studio, Chelsea Handler last night … got naked in a shower with Sandra Bullock. Bullock took the opportunity to slap Handler around a bit, give her some career advice, and chide her for peeing in the shower. "We don't make pee pee in showers anymore," Bullock informed her. "We make pee pee in the potty." But, the Sun reports, Handler later revealed that Bullock didn't go totally nude for the sketch, and only Handler was "really naked." Handler had earlier expressed her excitement that the new studio includes a shower in her office, the New York Daily News reports. "I’m most excited about having a shower in my office, so that I no longer have to shower downstairs and then walk by the audience lineup in a robe," Handler said. "Yeah, I’m not joking, that’s what happened." Later on the last night's episode of Chelsea Lately, Jennifer Aniston appeared and actually teared up a bit while talking about her engagement to Justin Theroux, the Sun adds. "I just got verklempt," Jen said. Handler is apparently a Theroux fan—she called him "the greatest guy ever." (She also teased Aniston about showing her nipples, noting, "Every time Jen comes on the show there's always something when her nipples are very, very pronounced.")

In his address to the nation almost two weeks ago, President Obama promised to use force against the armies of Islamic State "wherever they are," and he specifically mentioned Syria. But Monday night's airstrikes in that country came sooner and with more force than expected, targeting not only Islamic State but also the Khorasan Group, an Al Qaeda offshoot thought to be plotting attacks on Americans. This major offensive raises questions about whether the United States (and a few Arab allies) are planning a prolonged air campaign in a country whose leadership did not invite intervention. Coupled with his successful lobbying of Congress to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to train supposedly moderate Syrian rebels, the airstrikes mark a major reversal for Obama. Until recently he has assiduously resisted American entanglement in Syria's civil war, and for good reason. The conflict pits President Bashar Assad, a secular dictator with innocent blood on his hands, against an assortment of opponents whose division into moderate and extremist factions isn't nearly so neat or stable as some advocates of U.S. intervention suppose. Obama changed his mind about intervention in Syria for the same reason he decided to launch airstrikes in Iraq and augment the U.S. military presence in that country: a sickeningly swift sequence of events in which Islamic State fighters routed Iraqi forces, terrorized Christians and other minorities and seemed poised to attack Baghdad. Obama also was influenced, understandably, by the horrific beheadings of two American journalists. The result was his promise of a long-term campaign to "degrade and ultimately destroy" Islamic State. Obama said that wouldn't require U.S. combat forces. But if the threat posed by Islamic State justifies a rethinking of Obama's aversion to intervention in Syria, might it not also incline him to change his view about "no boots on the ground"? Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that if necessary he would recommend that U.S. military "advisors" accompany Iraqi troops into battle. The airstrikes mark a major reversal for Obama. We find that prospect troubling. Islamic State is a heinous group, a threat to U.S. interests (though not, as far as we know, to the U.S. homeland) and a threat to the rights of those in the Middle East whom it despises as infidels. But is the threat serious enough to justify an ever-escalating role for the U.S. military in Syria and Iraq? Does the U.S. have a clear strategy and achievable aims? The case has yet to be made. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion ||||| The initial bombing raids on Islamic State targets in Syria Monday night mark a welcome offensive that takes the war to the terrorists who beheaded two Americans and threaten U.S. interests in the Middle East and security at home. President Obama says this will be a long campaign, and it will need to be given the limitations he has put on the military. The immediate impetus for the first air strikes was to stop ISIS assaults on Kurdish civilians in the north of Syria while also hitting the Khorasan branch of al Qaeda that...

– The New York Times editorial board thinks President Obama has the US blundering into a new war with the expanded airstrikes in Syria. Before the US gets any deeper into the operation, the president should open this up for a full debate in Congress, says the editorial. It's also "puzzling" that in preparing the nation on Sept. 10 for these airstrikes, Obama said nothing about the Khorasan group that is suddenly Public Enemy No. 1. "There isn’t a full picture—because Mr. Obama has not provided one—of how this bombing campaign will degrade the extremist groups without unleashing unforeseen consequences in a violent and volatile region," says the editorial. "In the absence of public understanding or discussion and a coherent plan, the strikes in Syria were a bad decision." Agree: The airstrikes are a "major reversal" for a president who opposed intervention in Syria for so long, writes the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. Can we trust that he won't reverse himself on ground troops, too? Yes, ISIS and the Khorasan group pose threats to US interests, "but is the threat serious enough to justify an ever-escalating role for the US military in Syria and Iraq?" asks the editorial. "Does the US have a clear strategy and achievable aims? The case has yet to be made." Disagree: The Wall Street Journal editorial board not only applauds the airstrikes but thinks US ground troops should be ready to move quickly. If the mission is to succeed, and it must, they'll be needed to direct airstrikes as militants hide in populated areas. "No US President should ever start a war he doesn't intend to win, and wars rarely go as smoothly as advertised in advance," concludes the editorial. "Now that he has attacked ISIS, Mr. Obama must show that America is the strong horse."

Theropod dinosaurs, thought to be the direct ancestors of birds, sported birdlike feathers. But were they the only feathery dino group? Godefroit et al. describe an early neornithischian dinosaur with both early feathers and scales. This seemingly feathery nontheropod dinosaur shows that feathers were not unique to the ancestors of birds and may even have been quite widespread. Abstract Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits from northeastern China have yielded varied theropod dinosaurs bearing feathers. Filamentous integumentary structures have also been described in ornithischian dinosaurs, but whether these filaments can be regarded as part of the evolutionary lineage toward feathers remains controversial. Here we describe a new basal neornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia with small scales around the distal hindlimb, larger imbricated scales around the tail, monofilaments around the head and the thorax, and more complex featherlike structures around the humerus, the femur, and the tibia. The discovery of these branched integumentary structures outside theropods suggests that featherlike structures coexisted with scales and were potentially widespread among the entire dinosaur clade; feathers may thus have been present in the earliest dinosaurs. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus' discovery in Siberia challenges our understanding of how dinosaurs evolved, as Pallab Ghosh reports (UK users only) All dinosaurs were covered with feathers or had the potential to grow feathers, a study suggests. The discovery of 150-million-year-old fossils in Siberia indicates that feathers were much more widespread among dinosaurs than previously thought. The find "has completely changed our vision of dinosaurs", the lead researcher told BBC News. The details have been published in the journal Science. It is a big discovery. It has completely changed our vision of dinosaurs Dr Pascal Godefroit, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences The creature, called Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, was about 1m long, with a short snout, long hind legs, short arms, and five strong fingers. Its teeth show clear adaptations for chewing plants. Until now, fossilised evidence of feathery dinosaurs has come from China and from a meat eating group called theropods. The latest discovery, in Russia, is from a completely separate group of plant-eating dinosaurs called ornithischians - which account for half of all dinosaurs. Fluffy covering The find takes the origin of feathers millions of years further back in time than had previously been thought, said Dr Pascal Godefroit of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels, Belgium, who led the research. Image copyright Th.Hubin Image caption Belgian and Russian researchers discovered an area filled with ancient dinosaur bones in Kulinda, south eastern Siberia "It was a big surprise," he said. Instead of thinking of dinosaurs as dry, scary scaly creatures a lot of them actually had a fluffy, downy covering like feathers on a chick Dr Maria McNamara, Cork University "The fact that feathers have now been discovered in two distinct groups, theropods in China and ornithischians in Russia means that the common ancestor of these species which might have existed 220 million years ago also probably had feathers." The discovery has "completely changed our vision of dinosaurs", he added. "Instead of thinking of dinosaurs as dry, scary scaly creatures a lot of them actually had a fluffy, downy covering like feathers on a chick," said co-researcher Dr Maria McNamara of Cork University in Ireland. Alternative view So do all the pictures of dinosaurs in children's books need to be redrawn to make creatures like Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex and the vicious Velociraptor, fluffier and cuter? Image copyright Pascale Golinvaux/RBINS/Science Image caption The researchers believe the dark areas on this dinosaur fossil are remains of the earliest feathers Perhaps a little bit, according to Professor Mike Benton, of Bristol University, who was also involved in the work. "Our research doesn't mean that all dinosaurs had feathers, especially as adults," he told BBC News. "Some will have had feathers as young animals and kept them throughout their lives. Others may have lost feathers as they grew up, and became large enough not to need them, or replaced feathers with scales or relied on bony plates in the skin for protection." The key point is that dinosaurs were all initially feathered and warm blooded, confirmation of an idea that has prevailed for years, he said. "Feathers were used first for insulation and signalling; they only later became adapted for flight." But Dr Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum in London, has doubts. "Most feathers have a branching structure," he told BBC News. "Instead these look like little streamers coming from a central plate. No bird has that structure in any part of its plumage and none of the developmental models that biologists use to understand the evolution of feathers includes a stage that has anything like that kind of anatomy." Follow Pallab on Twitter

– Dinosaurs were scaly old things, right? Not so much, apparently. A Science study of 150-million-year-old fossils uncovered in Siberia is playing a big role in flipping that perception on its head, suggesting that nearly all dinosaurs actually sprouted feathers. At least five species of feathered dinosaurs have turned up in China over the last 20 years, all belonging to the theropod group of raptors. The latest fossils, however, come from a two-legged dinosaur in the ornithischian group, which National Geographic says accounts for about half of all dinosaurs. "Probably that means the common ancestor of all dinosaurs had feathers," the study author says. The fossils have "completely changed our vision of dinosaurs," he adds, per the BBC. A paleontologist not involved with the study calls it "fantastic" and says it revealed three types of feather imprints different from those of other feathered dinosaurs as well as those of modern birds: "I don't know" why they had feathers, he says. "These animals couldn't fly, that's all we can tell you." (Read about a dinosaur that did fly—with four wings.)

A Maryland State Police cruiser sits at a blocked southbound entrance on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway that accesses the National Security Agency, Monday, March 30, 2015, in Fort Meade, Md. A spokeswoman... (Associated Press) Mary Phelan, a spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department, says the car involved in the NSA shooting was stolen Monday morning from a hotel in Jessup, Maryland. She declined to name the hotel, citing the ongoing investigation, or release any further details, referring all questions to the FBI. ___ 3:55 p.m. Authorities aren't saying yet why two men dressed as women tried to enter the National Security Agency's campus at Fort Meade, Maryland without permission shortly before 9 a.m. Monday. But the NSA has issued a statement providing a point by point description of what happened next. NSA Spokesman Jonathan Freed said in a statement that an agency officer gave the driver "routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus," but the driver disobeyed them, so barriers were deployed. Freed says the driver then accelerated toward an NSA Police vehicle blocking the road, and that police fired at them when the driver refused to stop, crashing into the police vehicle. One person inside the unauthorized vehicle died at the scene of causes that were not immediately determined. The other was hospitalized, as was one police officer. The NSA statement does not mention anyone other than NSA police firing a weapon. ___ 2:15 p.m. The National Security Agency says one of its officers fired on a car whose driver refused to obey instructions for safely exiting a restricted area. An NSA statement says two people were in the vehicle that attempted to make an unauthorized entry to the agency's campus at Fort Meade, Maryland. The agency says "the driver then failed to obey an NSA Police officer's routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus. The vehicle failed to stop and barriers were deployed." The agency says the unauthorized vehicle then accelerated toward an NSA Police vehicle blocking the road, and police fired at them when the driver refused to stop, crashing into the police vehicle. The agency says one person inside the unauthorized vehicle died at the scene, while the other was taken to a local hospital with injuries. One police officer also was injured and hospitalized. ___ 1:20 p.m. Fort Meade's commander says one person was killed and another injured when they tried to drive a vehicle into the National Security Agency portion of the installation without authorization. A statement from Col. Brian Foley says NSA personnel prevented the two from gaining access to the campus of intelligence agencies. Foley also says that the shooting is contained and under investigation. He says "the residents, service members and civilian employees at the installation are safe" and that Fort Meade will "continue to remain vigilant at all of our access control points." ___ 1 p.m. The FBI is taking the lead investigating a deadly firefight outside Fort Meade, one of the most secure locations near the nation's capital. The fortified campus includes the National Security Agency, the Defense Information systems Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. The post is the largest single employer in Maryland, with offices for about 11,000 military personnel and 29,000 civilian employees. One man was killed and another critically injured after officials said they tried to ram their SUV through a gate that serves as the entrance to the NSA just off the scenic Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Aerial video of the crime scene showed emergency workers loading an injured man in uniform into an ambulance. Two senior government officials told The Associated Press that one of the men in the dark, unmarked SUV was killed. ___ 12:45 p.m. FBI agents from Baltimore are investigating a firefight Monday morning outside a gate at the National Security Agency, where two men dressed as women apparently tried to force their sport utility vehicle past security. The shooting happened outside the NSA's campus in Fort Meade, Maryland, just off Interstate 295 in Anne Arundel County. FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson says an "Evidence Response Team" is processing the crime scene and that FBI agents are interviewing witnesses. The FBI will then work with federal prosecutors in Maryland to see if charges are warranted. ___ 12:40 p.m. Another building on the NSA campus was damaged by gunfire earlier this month. Authorities captured a man March 3 who they believe fired that night on the NSA site, as well as earlier at several nearby places and two moving vehicles. The suspect in that case, Hong Young, told police he heard voices directing him to fire on one of the occupied vehicles. ___ 12:20 p.m. A senior defense department official says the two men who tried to ram their sport utility vehicle through a gate at the National Security Agency were dressed as women. The official says Defense Secretary Ash Carter has been briefed on the situation, which is being investigated by the FBI. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is still developing. FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson says the scene is contained and that it does not appear to be linked to terrorism. Authorities say at least one of the men in the car has died. ___ Noon Aerial images of the scene at a National Security Agency gate at Fort Meade shows that a white SUV marked "NSA Police" is damaged, with its front end crumpled and the hood up. The other damaged vehicle is a dark, unmarked sport utility vehicle. ___ 11:50 a.m. The FBI says the shooting at the NSA gate is not believed to be related to terrorism. FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson said in an email Monday that the shooting scene is contained. She says the agency is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted. Thoreson also says FBI agents are doing interviews with witnesses. ||||| (Updated: FBI identifies man involved in deadly incident at NSA security gate) The overnight tryst began in Baltimore, with three men, two dressed as women. It continued at a motel on U.S. 1, and when one of the men woke up Monday morning, his two cross-dressing companions, and his Ford Escape, were gone. The dark-colored Escape was headed south on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Its driver, in what authorities believe could have been a mistake, took a restricted exit leading to a security post at the sprawling campus of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md. An NSA statement said the driver ignored police commands to stop and instead accelerated toward a police vehicle as at least one officer opened fire. The stolen SUV crashed into the cruiser. One man died at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital for treatment. An NSA officer also was injured, though officials did not say how. What had first appeared to be an attempt to breach security at the listening post that eavesdrops on communications throughout the world now appears to be a wrong turn by two men who police believe had robbed their companion of his vehicle and perhaps didn’t stop because there were drugs inside. 1 of 8 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × 1 person fatally shot after car rams gate at NSA View Photos Officers at the agency’s headquarters in Maryland fired on the two people in the vehicle. At least one other person was injured in the incident, which officials said does not appear to be an act of terrorism. Caption Officers at the agency’s headquarters in Maryland fired on the two people in the vehicle. At least one other person was injured. March 30, 2015 Officers are seen at the gate to Fort Meade in Maryland. Authorities released no details of what happened, but law officials said police officers with the National Security Agency shot at the two people in the vehicle. One of them was killed, the officials said. WJLA-TV via AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. A spokeswoman for the Baltimore office of the FBI, Amy J. Thoreson, said early in the investigation that authorities “do not believe [the incident] is related to terrorism.” A law enforcement official said: “This was not a deliberate attempt to breach the security of NSA. This was not a planned attack.” Police have not released the identities of the people involved, or the conditions of the man who survived the incident and the injured NSA officer. The NSA statement did not say whether either person in the car was struck by gunfire or was injured as a result of the crash. Details about how the incident began were pieced together with information from several law enforcement officials and others familiar with the case, who spoke on the condition they not be named in order to discuss a pending case. A Howard County police spokeswoman confirmed that the men involved stayed at a Jessup motel and that the owner of the SUV called police Monday morning to report it stolen. Police officials said late Monday afternoon that they were still trying to piece together the sequence of events and locations. One official said it appears that the owner of the SUV picked up the other two men in Baltimore, though the official said detectives had not confirmed that account entirely. The police officials said the three men checked into the motel room and stayed the night. Mary Phelan, a spokeswoman for the Howard police, confirmed that the SUV stolen from the motel was the vehicle that ended up at the NSA checkpoint. Officials said they are trying to sort through the vehicle owner’s statement; it was unclear whether the person injured in the incident could be interviewed at the hospital. The encounter at the NSA occurred shortly before 9 a.m., when the vehicle entered the NSA complex in Anne Arundel County and “failed to obey an NSA police officer’s routine instructions for safely exiting the secure campus.” The statement said security barriers were raised. One official said the vehicle struck a security officer and the security barrier. The NSA statement said that the “vehicle accelerated toward an NSA police vehicle blocking the road” and that police “fired at the vehicle.” It then crashed into the police vehicle. Local television cameras showed two vehicles that were damaged near a gate at the military base. Dozens of news media people descended on the NSA campus Monday morning eager for details, but when they arrived, the journalists and their news trucks were corralled to a parking lot blocks away from NSA headquarters with no view of the scene. A line of cameras sat on a hill facing away from the NSA building into the evening because NSA officials told the media they could not take video or photos of the campus. News helicopters buzzed overhead most of the day. Crews from the FBI’s evidence response team were processing the scene, and agents were interviewing witnesses. Deputy White House press secretary Eric Schultz said President Obama was briefed on the incident. Fort Meade has about 11,000 military personnel and an additional 29,000 civilian employees, according to its Web site. The facility sits near Odenton and Laurel and is the third-largest employer in Maryland. It houses other federal agencies in addition to the NSA, including the Defense Information School, the U.S. Army Cyber Command and various military intelligence offices. A parkway sign that points to the exit says “NSA” and below, in black letters on a white background, says, “Restricted Entrance.” Monday’s shooting comes after other incidents in which authorities said people either accidentally or intentionally tried to breach security at area government buildings. This month, a Beltsville man was arrested in a string of shootings at public buildings around suburban Maryland, including one shooting at an NSA building just east of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. A former prison guard was arrested and named a suspect in the shootings and has told investigators that he was “hearing voices” that told him to fire the shots. In September, a man with a knife was able to jump a fence, get past the U.S. Secret Service and enter an unlocked door of the White House before he was caught. That incident and others prompted a review of security procedures as well as staff changes at the top of the agency. And in October 2013, a woman with her 1-year-old daughter in her car rammed a gate outside the White House, then sped to the U.S. Capitol, where police twice opened fire on her car. She was killed after getting past a security barrier on the Capitol grounds. Her family has said she suffered from mental issues and panicked when she saw police with guns and had not meant to breach the security barriers. Lynh Bui, Dana Hedgpeth and Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.

– More pieces of the puzzle are coming together as to why two men reportedly dressed as women rammed an NSA gate yesterday morning, resulting in gunfire and the death of one of the suspects. Police are now speculating that the driver of the stolen Ford Escape may have made a wrong turn and taken a restricted exit to the agency, then panicked because there were drugs inside the car, the Washington Post reports. An NSA officer gave the men instructions on how to get off the campus, an NSA spokesman says, but the driver didn't listen, so barriers were erected, the AP reports; at least one NSA officer started shooting when the car revved up to crash into a police vehicle, the agency adds. It's not uncommon for drivers to think the off-ramp leading to the NSA security post is just a regular Fort Meade exit, an ex-intel officer tells the Daily Beast. In fact, the source notes, "a large number of immigration law violations" have been culled from the accidental trespassers who couldn't come up with the proper ID once they were stopped by NSA agents. The FBI confirms to the Post it doesn't believe this was a terrorist incident, while an unnamed law enforcement source tells the paper, "This was not a deliberate attempt to breach the security of NSA. This was not a planned attack." (Meanwhile, the White House is having issues in putting up a jumper-proof fence.)

ANALYSIS/OPINION: ANALYSIS/OPINION: “I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs Act. There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans — including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything. (Applause.)” That’s what President Obama told lawmakers Sept. 8 in a hastily called joint session of Congress. But it was — and is — a flat-out lie, and Mr. Obama knows it. He has since then traveled the country to pitch the plan, exclusively to partisan Democratic crowds that whoop and cheer at the brilliance of it all. He even got wealthy donors to chant “pass this bill!” even though it substantially raises taxes. Now, however, we are beginning to see the truth behind the fiction. Not only is the president’s job bill not “the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans,” it’s not even the kind of proposal that Democrats can currently support. On Monday, senators passed a bill to keep the government open into the next fiscal year and then headed out on vacation for the rest of the week. Majority Leader Harry Reid said when they return they’ll get back to work — not on the jobs bill, but on a measure to punish China over its currency valuation. Mr. Reid said that bill is a bigger priority right now. There’s a story making the rounds in Washington that explains Mr. Reid’s dyspeptic countenance. On a secret meeting at the White House after the debt-ceiling deal collapsed (mainly because Mr. Obama doubled the amount of taxes he wanted), the president sat with the top Republican and Democrat from both the House and Senate. They offered a deal, one that all four agreed on and that all four vowed could get through the two chambers. Mr. Obama nixed it. In one version of the story, a peeved Mr. Reid said, “I’m not going to do anything for that [expletive] again.” By the end of the week, Democrats were in open revolt. Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, asked whether his party had the votes to pass the president’s bill, said flatly: “Not at the moment, I don’t think we do, but, uh, we can work on it.” He added: “We’re not going to have 100 percent of Democratic senators [support the bill], that’s why it needs to be bipartisan.” The reason is simple: Democrats in the House and Senate stand for re-election in just 13 months, and their campaigns will be difficult enough without raising taxes just before voters go to the polls. Said a blunt Mr. Durbin: “There are some senators who are up for election who say ‘I’m never gonna vote for a tax increase while I’m up for election, even on the wealthiest people.’” Makes sense. It’s a hard sell for lawmakers if they pass the bill, which would raise taxes by $467 billion on wealthier Americans and corporations. And Mr. Obama knew that when he delivered his big speech last month. His strategy is clear (if simple-minded): blame Congress for the mess America’s in. But in so doing, he has caught up his fellow Democrats who, pressed to the wall, are fully prepared to bail on him and save their own skins. They want no part of the amateurish strategy to try to blame Congress, half-controlled by Democrats. In fact, even some of the most rabidly liberal Democrats are planning to abandon the president because they see he’s only interested in saving his job, not theirs. More, Mr. Obama is throwing his former Senate colleagues under the bus as he scrambles to win another term. So, this jobs bill is dead. And no matter how many times Mr. Obama repeats the lie that his “is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans,” it will be House Republicans who write a bill that can actually pass the Senate. • Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at [email protected] Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. ||||| The president’s friends (and foes) on what prompted his lurch to the left—and whether it will work. Plus, Michael Tomasky on Obama's new centrist battle plan . Editor's Note: An earlier version of the story included a comment erroneously attributed to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, criticizing the White House’s efforts at political messaging. Newsweek and The Daily Beast regret the error. The populist reincarnation of President Obama since Labor Day—with his stinging attacks on tax-coddled millionaires, corporate-jet owners, and oil companies—emerged from a moment of reflection during a summer of discontent. For months after the Democrats’ “shellacking” last November, Obama resisted bashing corporate America and the GOP as he had done so effectively as the “hope and change” orator in 2008 and as a young president who pushed through Congress an $800 billion stimulus, a universal-health-care law, and sweeping Wall Street reform. But by the end of June, with the nation teetering near the brink of default and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor walking away from negotiations over a debt deal, the president summoned his top aides for a frank assessment of how to get back on track. Senior adviser David Plouffe told Obama it was time to “draw some lines in the sand” by launching an aggressive assault on tax breaks for corporate high fliers and hedge-fund managers. The president was energized, saying such loopholes were “indefensible” while spending was being slashed and that “this is a public argument we can and should win.” He tested the message with reporters soon afterward. President Obama holds his American Jobs Act as he speaks in Denver on September 27, 2011. (Mandel Ngan / AFP-Getty Images) Thus began a full-throated return to Obama’s populism, which had been muffled by frustrating attempts at bipartisanship and a stop-and-start effort with Republicans and the business community that one adviser says had become a “road wreck.” At a meeting with his staff to draw up a new jobs bill, Obama warned against playing small ball. “I do not want the first filter to be whether it can get the support of House Republicans,” he told his staff. Obama’s revised strategy came into full focus in a fiery speech last month in which he laid out a $450 billion plan clearly aimed at generating middle-class jobs while targeting millionaires and big business for tax hikes. That strategy may do little to break the political paralysis gripping Washington or solve the riddle of joblessness, but it has returned the president to a message and style that fits more comfortably than his long, and often awkward, courtship of corporate America and its Republican allies in Congress. At first Obama interpreted the midterm election losses as a call from voters to engage the business world and compromise with Republicans. The election results made clear that voters—especially independents—were angry with Obama for failing to deliver the jobs he had promised. The administration responded by looking for new ways to stimulate demand and ease regulatory burdens that business executives claim are keeping them from reinvesting stockpiles of cash and hiring more workers. Obama met privately with CEOs at Blair House—across the street from the White House—in December 2010. He was told bluntly but politely that big business wanted fewer regulations, new tax incentives, and the resurrection of long-delayed trade agreements. Obama soon trekked across the street again to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to make amends with a pro-business lobby that had been the object of many Democratic attacks. “Maybe we would have gotten off on a better foot if I had brought over a fruitcake when we first moved in,” Obama quipped. By February, the president was reaching out to Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs in a private dinner that reaffirmed the disconnect between Obama’s approach and what business titans believed was necessary for a lasting recovery. At a white-clothed table in the California dining room of venture capitalist John Doerr, Obama dined with a dozen gurus from Silicon Valley’s hottest companies. Flanked by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg on his right and Apple’s Steve Jobs on his left, Obama was among friendly faces—Oracle’s Larry Ellison across from him, along with the chieftains of Google, Yahoo, Netflix, and Cisco—eager to offer advice on solving the maddening riddle of joblessness and economic decline. The guests urged Obama to offer major companies that have kept overseas profits offshore a one-time tax holiday to repatriate their earnings and pay a rate well below the normal 35 percent corporate tax. The payoff, the executives argued, would come in reinvestment in capital projects, R&D, and new hiring, as well as new distributions to stockholders and investors—essentially a stimulus of private money that also would fill the U.S. Treasury with elusive tax dollars. (The firms represented in the room held more than $100 billion offshore, with Apple alone sitting on $47.6 billion.) The president politely listened, then edged toward an objection. “He starts to say, ‘Here are a few of the concerns I’ve heard. It didn’t create many jobs last time,’?” says one person familiar with the event, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the event was closed to the press. (Congress and the Bush administration tried a similar tax incentive in 2005.) “It wasn’t a hard sell and it wasn’t a pushback. It was a gentle discussion of each side’s talking points.” The tone was far different from Obama’s more bombastic approach toward business in 2009. “The one time I saw him visibly angry, it was over the bank bonuses during all the bailouts,” says former White House economist Jared Bernstein. “It really rankled him.” Bringing on former JPMorgan Chase executive Bill Daley as chief of staff last January didn’t hurt his relations with business. But one challenge remained: Obama’s Chicago confidant Valerie Jarrett had been acting as a liaison to the business community from the beginning—with few positive results. “She tells us whatever she thinks you want to hear and then there is no follow-up,” claims one business executive with frequent contact with Jarrett. “There is lots of happy talk ... but then nothing comes of it.” AOL founder Steve Case counters that Jarrett has been “very responsive” to executives, often emailing back within minutes, but concedes progress has been slow. “The first two years the business community felt the White House team didn’t really engage in business and not enough people on the team had the kind of experience we really needed. We thought they were tone deaf,” he says. Even some of Obama’s staunchest supporters acknowledge a perceived gap between promise and performance. They see a president who underestimated the challenge of the economic recovery and whose background as a law professor lacking real-life business experience left him unprepared to improvise on policy in a productive way. Jason Reed, Reuters / Landov Also in Newsweek The Search for Bold Leadership It fell to top environmental adviser Carol Browner, for instance, to tell the president-elect early on why he couldn’t spend much more than $3 billion building a high-tech electrical grid. Browner knew all the obstacles, that local laws would have to be circumvented and permits obtained. You can’t just build power wires where you want, she explained to a frustrated Obama. Andy Stern, who as the longtime head of the powerful SEIU union in 2008 relentlessly fought for Obama’s candidacy, sees a president who until recently tried to solve economic problems with abstract ideas rather than pragmatic solutions. “The administration has suffered from the large macroeconomic theories of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner that look more at formula and financing than day-to-day job creation,” says Stern, an advocate of the repatriation holiday. “They thought they had done what they needed to do, and they were wrong.” Democrats in Congress add to the indictment, charging that the president failed to sell his successes more aggressively, letting the opposition define them. In response to such criticism, former White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee says the president is contending with adversaries who are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to ensure his failure. “Some of his opponents didn’t seem to care whether what they were advocating seemed to do grievous harm to the economy if they could get some political win out of it,” Goolsbee says. Other defenders note that Obama inherited a financial disaster after the Wall Street meltdown. “A lot of things were done right, and we avoided an economic calamity,” says Peter Orszag, Obama’s former budget director. “One of the mistakes was to put much too little weight on the hard slog that typically follows financial slumps.” But officials concede the administration’s frequent mantra—things could’ve been worse—isn’t exactly bumper-sticker material. “When people see really dark clouds, no matter how good a line in a speech is, you’re not going to convince them the sky is blue,” Plouffe says. Press Secretary Jay Carney also downplays the importance of spin, saying that the president wields “the biggest megaphone there is in politics, but it doesn’t have the reach it once had” in a media world flooded with information and quickly consumed by the next crisis. White House officials insist Obama’s agenda hasn’t changed. But he is done playing nice with the Republicans as he rallies the troops for 2012. Plouffe contends the corporate community backs Obama on some issues, and “there are a lot of business leaders who are Republicans who don’t identify with this brand of Tea Party Republicanism.” Campaign adviser David Axelrod says Republicans have done “diabolically well” at creating “a dysfunctional political system” and blaming it on Obama. Still, the return to a harder line against big business and the wealthy could have repercussions as Democrats try to raise the money they need to win next year. Washington sports-team owner Ted Leonsis, an Obama donor in 2008, says he now cringes at the latest “class warfare” language: “Someone needs to talk our president down off of this rhetoric about good vs. evil,” he says. The larger question is whether the fired-up president can persuade a country that is losing patience with him and ease the only number that may matter on Election Day: 14 million unemployed.

– Is President Obama facing a revolt from his Democratic generals? Nancy Pelosi certainly doesn’t seem happy. She offered a surprisingly blunt critique of the president and his team recently, buried within this Howard Kurtz Newsweek piece on Obama’s newfound populist punch. “I think you need to talk about how poorly they do on message,” Pelosi grouses. “They can’t see around corners; they anticipate nothing." Rumor has it that Harry Reid isn’t happy, either. Take this one with a grain of salt, but conservative Washington Times columnist Joseph Curl writes today that there’s a “story making the rounds in Washington” that Reid and Obama have been on the outs ever since Obama, in a secret meeting, nixed a debt ceiling deal that both the House and Senate thought could pass. “I’m not going to do anything for that [expletive] again,” Reid is rumored to have declared afterward. Curl does not cite any sources.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state made preparations on Wednesday to use a never-tried lethal drug combination to put a man to death for the slaying of a pregnant woman that went unsolved until he inadvertently helped authorities, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block the execution. FILE-In this undated file photo provided by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction shows Dennis McGuire. A condemned Ohio killer facing a never-tried lethal injection method has arrived... (Associated Press) Dennis McGuire, jailed on an unrelated assault charge, told investigators he had information about the woman's Feb. 12, 1989, death. His attempts to blame the crime on his brother-in-law quickly unraveled, and soon he was accused of being Joy Stewart's killer, prosecutors said. More than a decade later, DNA evidence confirmed McGuire's guilt, and he acknowledged that he was responsible in a letter to Gov. John Kasich last month. The state planned to execute McGuire on Thursday with a new process adopted after supplies of its previous drug dried up when the manufacturer put it off limits for capital punishment. The two-drug combination has never been used in a U.S. execution. The state opposed McGuire's last-minute appeal, in which he claimed a jury never heard the full extent of his chaotic and abusive childhood. "One can scarcely conceive of a sequence of crimes more shocking to the conscience or to moral sensibilities than the senseless kidnapping and rape of a young, pregnant woman followed by her murder," Preble County prosecutors said in a filing with the state parole board last month. McGuire, 53, was moved from death row in Chillicothe on Wednesday morning to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, where executions are carried out. He was calm and cooperative and requested a last meal that included roast beef and fried chicken, prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said. McGuire spent part of Wednesday visiting with his son, daughter and other family members, Smith said. His attorneys argue he was mentally, physically and sexually abused as a child and has impaired brain function that makes him prone to act impulsively. "Dennis was at risk from the moment he was born," the lawyers said in a parole board filing. "The lack of proper nutrition, chaotic home environment, abuse, lack of positive supervision and lack of positive role models all affected Dennis' brain development." The U.S. Supreme Court gave no explanation in rejecting McGuire's appeal and denying a stay of execution. The state says similar challenges have failed several times over the decades since Stewart's death. Documents obtained by The Associated Press show McGuire unsuccessfully sought a reprieve in recent weeks to try to become an organ donor. In November, Kasich, a Republican, granted a death row inmate an eight-month reprieve to let the prison system study his request to donate a kidney to his sister and his heart to his mother. Kasich said McGuire couldn't identify a family member who would receive his organs, as required under prison policy. Ohio officials planned to use intravenous doses of two drugs, the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone, to put McGuire to death. The method has been on the books as the backup method since 2009 but never had to be used. McGuire's attorneys say he is at substantial risk of a medical phenomenon known as air hunger, which will cause him to experience terror as he strains to catch his breath. The state presented evidence disputing the air hunger scenario and saying McGuire waited far too long to file the appeal, which came this month. A federal judge sided with the state and said the execution can proceed. At the request of McGuire's lawyers, Judge Gregory Frost on Wednesday ordered the state to photograph and then preserve the drugs' packaging boxes and vials and the syringes used in the execution. ___ Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus. ||||| (CNN) -- An Ohio man is set to be put to death Thursday by a two-drug cocktail never before used in a U.S. execution. Dennis McGuire was convicted in 1994 of the aggravated murder of Joy Stewart in Preble County, according to the state's governor, who has denied a request for clemency. Like many states, Ohio has been forced to find new drug protocols after European-based manufacturers banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions -- among them, Danish-based Lundbeck, which manufactures pentobarbital. Ohio ran out of pentobarbital in September, according to JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. In response to that shortage, the department amended its execution policy to allow for the use of midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a painkiller, she said. Death penalty states scramble for lethal injection drugs The combination has never before been used in a U.S. execution. "Lawyers for McGuire contend that he will suffocate to death in agony and terror. The state disagrees. But the truth is that no one knows exactly how McGuire will die, how long it will take or what he will experience in the process," Elisabeth A. Semel, clinic professor of law and director of the Death Penalty Clinic at U.C. Berkeley School of Law, wrote in an opinion piece for CNN this week. The state was set to execute Ron Phillips using the two-drug cocktail last year, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich granted the convicted killer a stay of execution pending a review of possible organ donation to his family members. Unless there is court action or a reprieve, McGuire will be executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. There are currently 139 men and one woman on death row in Ohio, according to the corrections department website. Death penalty in the U.S. gradually declining Serial killer Joseph Franklin executed after hours of delay A death row interview CNN's Ross Levitt and Deborah Feyerick contributed to this report. ||||| LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio inmate condemned to die appeared to gasp several times during his prolonged execution Thursday with the first use of a lethal injection process never before tried in the U.S. Death row inmate Dennis McGuire made several loud snorting or snoring sounds during the more than 15 minutes it appeared to take him to die. It was one of the longest executions since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999. Ohio officials used intravenous doses of two drugs, the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone, to put McGuire to death. The method has been part of Ohio's execution process since 2009, though was never used. McGuire's adult children sobbed a few feet away in a witness room as they watched him die at the state death house in Lucasville in southern Ohio. "I'm going to heaven, I'll see you there when you come," McGuire said. He opened and shut his left hand several times before the drugs took effect, appearing to wave to his children. McGuire's attorneys argued he would experience "agony and terror" as he struggled to breathe, while state attorneys disputed that scenario. A federal judge sided with the state but acknowledged the new method was an experiment. At the request of McGuire's lawyers, Judge Gregory Frost ordered the state to photograph and then preserve the drugs' packaging boxes and vials and the syringes used in the execution. McGuire, 53, was sentenced to death for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of Joy Stewart in Preble County in western Ohio. The newly married Stewart was eight months pregnant at the time. Stewart's slaying went unsolved for 10 months until McGuire, jailed on an unrelated assault and hoping to improve his legal situation, told investigators he had information about the woman's Feb. 12, 1989, death. His attempts to blame the crime on his brother-in-law quickly unraveled and soon he was accused of being the Joy Stewart's killer, according to prosecutors. More than a decade later, DNA evidence confirmed McGuire's guilt, and he acknowledged that he was responsible in a letter to Gov. John Kasich last month. "One can scarcely conceive of a sequence of crimes more shocking to the conscience or to moral sensibilities than the senseless kidnapping and rape of a young, pregnant woman followed by her murder," Preble County prosecutors said in a filing with the state parole board last month. His attorneys argued McGuire was mentally, physically and sexually abused as a child and has impaired brain function that makes him prone to act impulsively. "Dennis was at risk from the moment he was born," the lawyers said in a parole board filing. "The lack of proper nutrition, chaotic home environment, abuse, lack of positive supervision and lack of positive role models all affected Dennis' brain development." Documents obtained by The Associated Press show McGuire unsuccessfully sought a reprieve in recent weeks to try to become an organ donor. In November, Kasich granted a death row inmate an eight-month reprieve to let the prison system study his request to donate a kidney to his sister and his heart to his mother. Kasich said McGuire couldn't identify a family member who would receive his organs, as required under prison policy. ___ Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus ||||| AP Photo/Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Undated photo of Dennis McGuire. A convicted killer scheduled to be executed Thursday with an untested drug cocktail tried to delay his date with death by offering to become an organ donor after another condemned prisoner won a temporary reprieve with the same request. But Ohio Gov. John Kasich turned down two requests from Dennis McGuire because the inmate could not identify a family member that would benefit from his organs, according to documents originally obtained by the Associated Press. Kasich earlier granted an eight-month delay to child-murderer Ronald Phillips, who wants to donate a kidney to his mother and his heart to his sister. The state is studying the feasibility. Before the governor's reprieve, Phillips, 40, was slated to be the first person in the state executed under a new drug protocol: a combination of the sedative midozolam and the painkiller hydropmorphone. But with Phillips awaiting word on possible organ donation, McGuire is now set to become the first to die by the never-tried method, which was adopted after the manufacturer of the primary drug, pentobarbital, stopped selling it to prisons. McGuire's lawyers had argued the execution should be scrapped because it could cause a painful and terrifying phenomenon called "air hunger" before death, but a federal judge ruled against them earlier this week. McGuire, 53, who was convicted of raping and stabbing to death a pregnant woman in 1989, was moved to Ohio's death house at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and was scheduled to meet with family and friends. "Following the visits he will be given his special meal (roast beef, toasted bagel with cream cheese and onion, butter pecan ice cream, fried chicken, potato salad, fried potatoes with onion and Coca-Cola)," according to a statement from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The execution process is slated to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday.

– Dennis McGuire was put to death today with a two-drug combination previously untested in the US, and at more than 15 minutes, it was one of the longest executions in Ohio since the state resumed capital punishment in 1999. McGuire, whose lawyers had attempted to delay his execution by arguing that he would likely feel "terror" following the lethal injection, appeared to gasp a few times as he died, making several loud snorting or snoring sounds, the AP reports. Before his execution, he told his sobbing adult children, "I'm going to heaven, I'll see you there when you come." McGuire had sought a reprieve by offering to become an organ donor, but was rejected because he couldn't identify a family member who would receive his organs, according to documents obtained by the AP. McGuire, who raped and murdered a pregnant woman in 1989, was executed with the untested combination of the sedative midozolam and the painkiller hydropmorphone because of a shortage of the execution drug pentobarbital, NBC reports. His lawyers had contended "that he will suffocate to death in agony and terror. The state disagrees," the director of UC Berkeley's Death Penalty Clinic told CNN before the execution. (One Wyoming state senator, concerned about the shortage of execution drugs, is trying to bring back firing squads as an alternative.)

I'm sure you remember having staring contests with your friends as a kid. For whatever reason, our nine-year-old selves thought it was great fun to lock eyes with other kids for long stretches of time and just sit there. Silently. The first person to break eye contact lost the game, which meant it was so tempting to look in every other direction. What if you missed something major while staring at that weird kid from your science class? Like an ice cream truck? Or a new episode of SpongeBob SquarePants ? Or Santa Claus coming to your house IRL and hand-delivering your presents? All these thoughts ran through your mind during staring contests, but you stuck to your guns and emerged victorious. (Unless you were me, of course. I lost staring contests every time.) Gigi Hadid , on the other hand, is a staring champ. She is a top model after all; "smizing" is kind of a requirement for the gig. If you don't believe me, though, behold this video of Hadid literally staring into a camera for four consecutive minutes. It'll shake your fourth grade self to the core. Hadid truly is the queen of eye contact. And she's also one of Glamour 's 2017 Women of the Year ; she joins an impressive class that includes Nicole Kidman, Solange Knowles, Patty Jenkins, and Maxine Waters. Be sure to watch the live stream of the Women of the Year Summit, which takes place on November 13, to learn more. Related Stories: Gigi Hadid Just Revealed What's in Her New Maybelline Collection ||||| Published on Nov 1, 2017 See your past, present, and future in Gigi Hadid's eyes. The supermodel was named one of Glamour's Women of the Year for 2017. Executive Video Producer/Director: Chiara Clemente, Sarah Lash, Tanya Selvaratnam Director of Photography: Lisa Rinzler Glamour Woman of the Year Gigi Hadid: http://bit.ly/2h0JrGH Gigi Hadid hasn’t just taken off—she’s taken over. At only 22, she’s racked up both commercial success (Victoria’s Secret, Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue, a collection with Maybelline New York) and industry cred (the cover of Vogue, walking the Tom Ford show). Ask anyone who knows her, and they will quickly praise Hadid for her incredible work ethic—and most of all her kindness. And while a previous generation of models typically kept quiet, Hadid, who studied criminal psychology for two years at New York City’s The New School before pursuing modeling full-time, understands the power of the audience she’s built and has spoken out about issues from gun control to human rights to women’s personal safety. “I want to be the person who always uses my platform to share what I’m passionate about,” she says. Her followers—36 million and counting on Instagram—are listening. Still haven’t subscribed to Glamour on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/2gYlQqe Gigi Hadid Stares at You For 4 Minutes | Glamour ||||| Glamour There’s a lot of talk in media these days about “pivoting to video,” the corporate-jargon catchphrase for what happens when a digital media organization lays off a bunch of journalists because it decides video is the future of web content and/or cheaper than paying writers. Glamour and parent company Condé Nast are no strangers to the attendant dilemma of figuring out how to adapt a business model that once worked well for print publications to a digital-first marketplace. In its latest salvo in the war for clicks, eyeballs, and engagement, Glamour appears to have skipped pivoting to video and invented a new tactic: pivoting to performance art. Now that longtime editor Cindi Leive is out the door, why aspire to be a fashion magazine when you can be a Marina Ambramović installation instead? The magazine posted a video to its website on Wednesday of Gigi Hadid staring into the camera for four minutes. If you’re thinking that surely there’s more to the video than that, let me stop you right there: There’s not. It is just Gigi, looking straight ahead, sometimes blinking and smiling, for a full four minutes. (And if you don’t know who Gigi Hadid is, in brief: She’s a model, member of Taylor Swift’s #squad, older sister to Bella “If Homeboy Comes Through in These …” Hadid, and a member of the Extended Kardashian Universe.) Advertisement Glamour touted the video as “weirdly mesmerizing,” adding that it slowed it down to heighten the eerie quality. “People should be putting this on their giant TVs during holiday parties instead of fireplace b-roll,” said Lauren Lumsden, executive producer at the magazine, in a statement. While I would love to attend a holiday party where a video of Gigi Hadid, or indeed any member of the Hadid family, plays in the background on an endless loop, I can’t echo the magazine’s contention that the video inspires any relaxing feelings or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. The blog post that accompanies the video calls Gigi Hadid a “staring champ,” but she doesn’t strike me as particularly talented at staring. For one thing, she blinks a bunch, so she’s not going to win any staring contests. There’s not much to read into her blank expression, though the woozy mood music playing over the video fills in some emotion. There’s not even a wind machine to change up how her hair is falling. The most exciting part of the video is a little over halfway through, when you think she’s going to open her mouth. She doesn’t. Classic fake-out. (Spoiler: At three minutes in, she really does open it, though! Nice!) I can name about 50 celebrities I would rather watch stare at the camera for four minutes, and in each of those cases, I would rather still watch the celebrity actually do something. Sorry, hypothetical Oscar Isaac video: We’re going to need some dialogue. The Gigi video is probably the result of some enterprising video editor pulling the footage out from a photo shoot and turning it into an inside joke among staffers, but it’s just as fun to imagine that the editors at Glamour were so devoid of ideas that they asked Hadid to sit there and do nothing for a while on camera. It’s a good representation of how clueless many magazines are about how to produce good videos for the web and how equally baffled they are by nontraditional stars like Hadid, who, though a model, has become stratospherically famous for “doing nothing,” and therefore need not—and perhaps cannot—entertain audiences with more conventional talents and charms. This is how backward our world is, now: A video of a Hadid doing nothing makes a weird sort of sense. Of course! Brilliant!

– "Watching Gigi Hadid stare at you for four minutes is weirdly mesmerizing." That's the conclusion Glamour comes to, at least, upon the release of a video it produced that features Hadid. Staring, and occasionally blinking, in slow motion. For four minutes and nine seconds. And that's it (though she does laugh near the end, prompting one person to comment on YouTube, "3:53 melted my heart and make my eyes wet?"). At Slate, Heather Schwedel looks at where this fits in to the buzzy "pivot to video" that's underway in the media world, with more and more publications dumping journalists and shifting their resources to producing video. Her conclusion: "This is how backward our world is, now: A video of a Hadid doing nothing makes a weird sort of sense. Of course! Brilliant!" Schwedel speculates that this started out as an inside joke born from photo-shoot footage, but writes, "It’s just as fun to imagine that the editors at Glamour were so devoid of ideas that they asked Hadid to sit there and do nothing for a while on camera." And she sees the whole thing as reflective of "how clueless many magazines are about how to produce good videos for the web." But, she concedes, maybe this is a "step up," at least compared with the "glorified slideshows" that have become a popular approach to creating cheap videos. At Man Repeller, Amelia Diamond writes that she did get sucked in by the video, but the credit may not go to Hadid. "Could you have watched anyone for this long with the right song? I think maybe I could have. It’s strangely voyeuristic."

BERNALILLO, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico middle school teacher is facing charges that allege he threatened a student with a knife for talking during a pop quiz, police said Monday. Bernalillo Police Chief Tom Romero said Benjamin Nagurski was arrested Friday after school officials took him out of the classroom following the bizarre exchange. According to a criminal complaint, the 63-year-old math teacher threatened a student with the knife and told him to stop talking to another student. "Students interviewed later by officers all corroborated the story," said Romero, whose town is 16 miles north of Albuquerque. The criminal complaint said that when the student confronted Nagurski about the knife, the teacher allegedly told him, "Maybe next time I'll pull a machete on you." The complaint said Nagurski told investigators he only shook the knife in his hand and then apologized. Nagurksi faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of an unlawful weapon. The school principal told police Nagurksi had a rounded steak knife, and another knife with a sharp tip and a wooden handle. Nagurski was jailed on $10,000 bail. It wasn't known if he has an attorney. Bernalillo Public Schools Superintendent Allan Tapia didn't immediately return a message seeking comment. ||||| A middle school math teacher faces felony charges after threatening a student with a knife, according to police. "Very serious, both charges are felonies, so there are some serious consequences if found guilty," said Bernalillo Police Chief Tom Romero. The incident allegedly occurred during pop quiz at Bernalillo Middle School. Some students in class were chatting during the exam, police said. "One of the teachers there allegedly turned around, had a knife in his hand and pointed it towards some students," said Romero. The teacher, Benjamin Nagurski, was only about four feet away from the students, according to the police report. The knife had a wooden handle and a pointed tip. The principal called police. "He said he was simply removing staples from a bulletin board, and when he turned around to talk to the kids and tell them to stop talking he had the knife in his hand," said Romero. “That certainly wouldn't be the best method to remove staples.” Mobile users: Tap for video Nagurski was arrested and booked into jail. He faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a weapon onto school grounds. He bailed out of jail Monday morning with a $5,000 cash/surety bond.

– Teachers don't like it when students talk during exams—but one teacher in New Mexico apparently really doesn't like it. Police say Benjamin Nagurski was arrested Friday after allegedly pulling a knife as kids chatted during a pop quiz in his math class at Bernalillo Middle School, and the police chief says the charges he faces are "very serious." Nagurski was booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a weapon onto school grounds, both felonies; he's currently out on bail, KOAT reports. "One of the teachers there allegedly turned around, had a knife in his hand, and pointed it toward some students" about 4 feet away, the police chief says. Students told police that Nagurski was upset with one boy in particular, telling him, "Maybe next time I'll pull a machete on you," the AP reports. But Nagurski, 63, claims he was using the knife to remove staples from a bulletin board and just happened to have it in his hand when he turned around to scold the students, the chief says, adding, "That certainly wouldn't be the best method to remove staples." The school's principal called the cops, though it's not clear how he learned of the incident.

There’s no doubt the public outcry over the News of the World’s illegal hacking of mobile phones and payments to police officials is serious. Rupert Murdoch doesn’t close profitable newspapers willingly. (Heck, he doesn’t even like to close massively unprofitable papers.) But is it so serious that a top News Corp. executive — perhaps even Murdoch himself — could end up being convicted on criminal charges? Andreas Whittam Smith thinks so. He cites the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act of 2000, the law used to imprison News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who teamed up to invade the voicemail accounts of various celebrities. Smith notes that the law, as worded, has remarkably broad scope: Where an offence under any provision of this Act… is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. “If you have presided over an organisation that has conducted criminal activities, either you gave the orders, or you gave permission, or you connived, but if you did none of these things, then you were neglectful,” writes Smith. “That is the trap, that is the box in which the directors of News International will find themselves.” I ran this reading by Jonathan P. Armstrong, a partner at the law firm Duane Morris who specializes in corporate law with a concentration in technology and compliance. “My view is that might be a stretch,” he says. That’s because the application of the “attributable to any neglect” clause isn’t quite as broad as it sounds. “That sort of clause exists because it’s lifted out of health and safety legislation,” he says. “Say you had an airplane and you never changed the tires. I don’t think, in the U.K., something like failure to have a policy preventing hacking — that wouldn’t be a big enough neglect to get by a jury.” Where the neglect cause could conceivably apply is to Rebekah Brooks, News International’s CEO. Brooks has denied having any knowledge of the illegal hacking, but she was editor of the NotW at the time it published stories that cited voice mail messages obtained that way, and it was Brooks who first hired the private investigator who hacked the voicemail of murdered teenager Milly Dowler. In Brooks’s case, therefore, it’s possible to argue that the only way she wouldn’t have known about the hacking was by making it clear she didn’t want to know. “The quaint old English saying for that we have is ‘Nelsonian ignorance,’” says Armstrong. The phrase refers to Lord Nelson, the famed admiral who was blind in one eye. Already, police are reportedly planning to arrest Andy Coulson, who succeeded Brooks as editor, either on similar grounds or because they have evidence that he did, in fact, condone the hacking. But don’t expect the arrests to rise to the very top of the News Corp. food chain — to Rupert Murdoch, or even to his son, James — unless evidence tying them directly to the illegal hacks comes to light. “The reality is cases that are that much of a stretch normally don’t run in the U.K.,” says Armstrong. “We don’t have the same system you have in the U.S. of an attorney general who might see a lot of merit, politically, in seeing this go ahead. Generally speaking, prosecutions will only run where the prosecutors are convinced they’ll be able to persuade the jury beyond all reasonable doubt that the guy had his hands all over this.” ||||| The 168-year-old News of the World, the widest-read paper in the English-speaking world, has acknowledged that it hired “investigators” who hacked into the phone accounts of politicians, celebrities and ordinary Britons in an attempt to develop stories. The targets of the paper’s hacking apparently included the families of British troops killed in Afghanistan, victims of the 2005 London transit bombings and a 13-year-old missing girl who was later found dead. Murdoch, 80, has weathered criticism and crises before, most notably the near-bankruptcy of News Corp. in 1990. But the phone-hacking scandal is easily the most dire public-relations debacle of the Australian-turned-American’s storied business career. Public outrage over the phone tapping has led to rare condemnation of Murdoch in the British Parliament and even from Prime Minister David Cameron, who has enjoyed Murdoch’s political support. Because of his outsize role in the U.K. media, Murdoch has been among the most powerful and influential forces in British politics for many years. Although there is no evidence that Murdoch was aware of the News of the World’s illegal behavior, the scandal has shaken his dominant role in the British media establishment and has tarnished his stewardship of an empire that includes such U.S. properties as the Fox TV network, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and the 20th Century Fox movie studio. The scandal has also threatened to derail News Corp.’s bid to gain control of British Sky Broadcasting, the largest pay TV provider in the United Kingdom. News Corp. owns 39 percent of the satellite company and is trying to gobble up the balance in a deal worth about $12 billion. Regulatory approval of its bid is pending, and the outcome could be an indicator of public sentiment toward the newspaper’s behavior. Some observers suggested Thursday that the scandal could affect who succeeds Murdoch at the top of his company, which he built into a colossus after inheriting two small Australian papers from his father 58 years ago. Murdoch’s heir apparent, son James, oversees the company’s British newspaper division and announced the tabloid’s demise in its London newsroom. Many here are calling for the dismissal of Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World editor who is chief executive of its immediate parent company, News International. Brooks was editor of the paper in 2002 when a private detective working on its behalf allegedly hacked into the voice-mail of slain teenager Milly Dowling and erased one of the messages. But both Rupert and James Murdoch have remained loyal to Brooks. “I am satisfied that Rebekah — her leadership and her standard of ethics and her standard of conduct — is very good,” the younger Murdoch told BBC News in an interview. ||||| I am going to describe how action should be swiftly taken to curb Rupert Murdoch and his newspapers now that supposition and dark suspicion have become proven fact. News International, a large and powerful media organisation, Mr Murdoch's company, systematically invades people's privacy through phone hacking, corrupts the police by making large payments to individual officers, and compromises fair trials as a result of publishing reports that are likely to prejudice juries. It operates without restraint and has no sense of right or wrong. It doesn't yet represent the same threat to British society as the Italian mafia does to Italy. But there are sufficient similarities to tell us that if we don't act now, worse will follow. For unchecked, News International's illegal practices would grow ever more far reaching, more police officers would be suborned, more trials ruined. And more politicians would be bent to Mr Murdoch's will. For, just as Italian politicians have courted the mafia, so British politicians have fawned over News International executives and editors. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, even brought a former editor into Downing Street who, it is now alleged, authorised the payments of bribes to the police. Well meaning though large advertisers may be in withdrawing their business from the News of the World, that won't curb Mr Murdoch. And although I have willingly signed up to the campaign that calls for a public inquiry ( hackinginquiry.org/), that would only be a staging post. In fact, the mechanisms to bring the directors of News International to book already exist. They are part of the law of the land. The most important step is to make use of the powers contained in what is known as The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. It was under Section 1 of this Act that the News of the World phone hackers were convicted and imprisoned. So far as the directors and executives of News International in their personal capacities are concerned, the crucial passage in the legislation comes towards the end of the Act. It is Section 79. Forgive me for now penetrating deeply into the thickets of the law, but eventually, in the growing scandal of the News of the World's behaviour, everything will turn on Section 79. I hope charges will be brought under this section. It is entitled the "Criminal liability of directors etc". (I like the "etc"). It states that "Where an offence under any provision of this Act... is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly." To see how Section 79 might work, start with the smaller fry, say Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International. In a letter to staff published earlier this week, Ms Brooks, following the revelations that her reporters had hacked into the mobile phone of the murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, when she was editor of the News of the World, attempted to exculpate herself. "We were all appalled and shocked when we heard about these allegations yesterday... At the moment we only know what we have read... I hope that you all realise it is inconceivable that I knew or worse, sanctioned these appalling allegations." In other words, Ms Brooks is claiming that she was unaware of the criminal invasion of privacy that had the effect of vainly raising the hopes of the parents that their daughter was still alive and that at the same impeded the police operation. But go back to the Act. To avoid criminal proceedings, having not initiated or consented to the Dowler phone hacking won't do as a defence because there are other tests. Let us go to these. Connived? That would require an examination of how Ms Brooks habitually conducted herself as editor. "Connived", for instance, might be warmly congratulating reporters who produced stories that could only have been acquired illegally. But perhaps there was no connivance. Even so, Ms Brooks would not be home safe and dry. "Where an offence is... attributable to any neglect", states the Act. This is the catch-all section of the Act. If you have presided over an organisation that has conducted criminal activities, either you gave the orders, or you gave permission, or you connived, but if you did none of these things, then you were neglectful. That is the trap, that is the box in which the directors of News International will find themselves. It is also the bit that Ms Brooks would find hard to understand. For, as she indicated earlier this week, she isn't going to resign."I am aware of the speculation about my position. Therefore it is important you all know that as chief executive, I am determined to lead the company to ensure we do the right thing and resolve these serious issues." This comes straight out of the dishonorable, cowardly, defensive, mind-your-back school of management that says that if I didn't know, I cannot be blamed. It doesn't recognise neglect. Instead it substitutes the self-serving, conceited thesis that "only I, who was at the helm during the disaster, can steer us to safety". But what about Mr Murdoch? Would he be touched by Section 79? Only a lawyer could give an authoritative opinion. But I note these words in the Act. It bears on a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or "any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity" (my italics). Whether Mr Murdoch falls under this rubric would be for a court to decide. But I have no doubt that Mr Murdoch does act as if he were a director or a manager. For although technically News International is part of a public company, for all intents and purposes it is conducted as if it were a court with Mr Murdoch as its sovereign. One reason why Ms Brooks isn't resigning is that she is a courtier. Courtiers don't resign. They stay or go at the monarch's pleasure. And while it may be difficult for company lawyers to understand a monarchical organisation, judges should do so – for they are, after all, "Her Majesty's Judges". Rupert Murdoch has owned the News of the World for nearly 42 years. When he arrived in England as an unknown Australian newspaper proprietor to bid for the News of the World in 1969 in opposition to Robert Maxwell, I went to meet him at Heathrow Airport and travelled into town with him. I was a young financial journalist. When we got to the Savoy Hotel, he went up to reception to sign in. As soon as he was given his room number, he demanded that he be given a different room. I asked him why. You see, he said, I fear that my room will have been bugged. Even then phone hacking and electronic eavesdropping obsessed him. Now they will be his undoing and Section 79 could be his final reckoning. a.whittamsmith@independent.co.uk

– Rupert Murdoch, who yesterday shut down the 168-year-old News of the World, faces the worst PR crisis of his six-decade career, reports the Washington Post. So far, the scandal is threatening to derail Murdoch's $12 billion bid for British Sky Broadcasting. It could even force Murdoch to testify before the British Parliament under oath. But as bad as things are, could Murdoch himself end up in jail? One analyst, writing in the Independent, thinks so. Andreas Whittam Smith explains that phone hackers were convicted under Britain's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, and he points readers to Section 79 of the act, which states that when a corporate body commits "an offense under any provision of this act ... with the consent or connivance of ... a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer, he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of that offense and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly." Perhaps Murdoch is a stretch, but observers think Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International and former editor at News of the World, could be in danger of criminal charges. Just like this former editor.

The first time Otto Warmbier's parents saw their son after he was flown back from North Korea in June, they were confronted with the sound of inhuman howling so terrifying Otto's mom ran off the plane. As they waited for the plane bringing him back to Ohio, Otto’s parents, Fred and Cindy, had held on to hope that with medical care in the United States, he would eventually get better. That optimism didn't last long. They instead saw the reality of torture at the hands of Kim Jong Un's brutal regime: their son was now blind and deaf, with mangled teeth, jerking violently and moaning on a stretcher with a feeding tube coming out of his nose. NEWLY EXPOSED VIDEO REVEALS BRUTAL TACTICS OF OTTO WARMBIER'S SADISTIC TORTURERS That's how he would spend his final days before dying at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on June 19. President Trump, who has previously talked about Warmbier's treatment in stark terms, tweeted about the interview with Fred and Cindy: "Great interview on @foxandfriends with the parents of Otto Warmbier: 1994 - 2017. Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea." Cindy told "Fox & Friends" she and her husband had been informed that Otto, who had been imprisoned for more than a year for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster from his North Korean hotel, was brain damaged. “So what we pictured, because we’re optimists, is that Otto would be asleep and maybe in a medically induced coma and then when our doctors here would work with him and he’d get the best care and love that he would come out of it," she said during the first interview the couple had given since their 22-year-old son died. The reality of Otto’s injuries were much worse than the Warmbiers could ever imagine. “We walked over to the plane, the engines are still humming, they had just landed…when we got halfway up the steps we heard this howling, involuntary, inhuman sound,” Fred said. “We weren’t really certain what it was.” NORTH KOREA DENIES TORTURING AMERICAN DETAINEE OTTO WARMBIER When they spotted their son, they found Otto on a stretcher, jerking violently, producing the terrifying cries. “Otto had a shaved head, he had a feeding tube coming out of his nose, he was staring blankly into space, jerking violently,” Fred said. “He was blind. He was deaf. As we looked at him and tried to comfort him it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth.” He added: “North Korea is not a victim, they are terrorists. They purposefully and intentionally injured Otto.” North Korea has denied it cruelly treated or tortured Otto, saying he was dealt with according to domestic law and international standards. Warmbier's parents said the country’s actions are “inexcusable” and it should be listed as a state sponsor of terror. COLLEGE PROF WHO SAID OTTO WARMBIER 'GOT WHAT HE DESERVED' WILL NOT RETURN TO SCHOOL “We see North Korea claiming to be a victim and the world is picking on them, and we’re here to tell you North Korea is not a victim,” Fred said. “They are terrorists. They kidnapped Otto, they tortured him, [and] they intentionally injured him." He added: “It was astounding to Cindy and I to discover that North Korea is not listed as a state sponsor of terror. We owe it to the world to list it to North Korea as a state sponsor of terror.” ||||| The parents of a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea for nearly a year and a half, then died just days after he returned home in a coma, lashed out at Pyongyang in their first television interview since their son’s death and called on North Korea to be listed as a state sponsor of terror. Fred and Cindy Warmbier appeared Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” saying they’d had time to do some healing in the three months since they buried their 22-year-old son, Otto. “But now we see North Korea claiming to be a victim and that the world is picking on them, and we’re here to tell you: North Korea is not a victim,” Fred Warmbier said. “They’re terrorists. They kidnapped Otto. They tortured him. They intentionally injured him. They are not victims.” Warmbier was arrested in January 2016 at the end of a brief tourist visit to the isolated country. This past June, he was medically evacuated and was being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center when he died. “Unfortunately, the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” the Warmbiers said in a written statement after his death. North Korea denied that Warmbier had been tortured and tried to cast his death as a “mystery.” [Otto Warmbier dies days after release from North Korean detention] “The fact that Warmbier died suddenly in less than a week after his return to the U.S. in his normal state of health indicators is a mystery to us as well,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency in June. “To make it clear, we are the biggest victim of this incident.” North Korea claimed Warmbier slipped into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill and that he was provided proper medical care. On Tuesday, the Warmbiers vehemently pushed back against North Korea’s claims, sharing the utter shock and grief they felt meeting their comatose son at the airport. “We walked over to the plane; the engines are still humming,” Fred Warmbier said. “When we got halfway up the steps, we heard this howling, involuntary, inhuman sound. We weren’t really certain what it was. … Otto was on the stretcher across in the plane, and he was jerking violently, making these inhuman sounds.” Fred Warmbier on @foxandfriends: “North Korea is not a victim. They’re terrorist. They kidnapped Otto. They tortured him.” pic.twitter.com/NyzSMn0nIW — Fox News (@FoxNews) September 26, 2017 Fred Warmbier said his wife and daughter ran off the plane, while he and his other son walked over to the stretcher. Otto Warmbier now had a shaved head, a feeding tube emerging from his nose, and was blind and deaf. “As we looked at him and tried to comfort him, it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth,” Fred Warmbier said. “They destroyed him,” Cindy Warmbier added, shaking her head. Within two days, their son’s fever spiked to 104 degrees; there was a large scar on his right foot, they added. “Our image of Otto, as you know, was of someone just wonderful, beautiful inside and out. And to see how he came home was too much for us,” Cindy Warmbier said, her voice breaking. “I almost passed out, but I got it together, and I rode in the ambulance with him, because I did not want him to be alone anymore. “He’d been alone for way too long. And we stayed with him and loved him as best as we could.” In late 2015, Warmbier traveled with a tour group to North Korea on his way to a study-abroad program in Hong Kong but was not allowed to leave the country. After a sham trial in 2016, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what North Korea called “hostile acts against the state.” Shortly after that, apparently, Warmbier was injured. He was denied consular visits, and his family had no word of him after March 2016, until they were told this June that he had been in a coma for more than a year. He was medically evacuated and arrived back in Cincinnati for treatment June 13. Doctors said Warmbier had suffered extensive loss of brain tissue, consistent with cardiopulmonary arrest, and was in a state of unresponsive wakefulness. They were unsure what had caused the brain damage: He did not show any obvious indications of trauma, nor evidence of either acute or healing fractures. However, they also were not aware of anything from his previous medical history, before his time in North Korea, that might have caused cardiopulmonary arrest. Warmbier died less than a week later, on June 19. [What happened to Otto Warmbier? When the unthinkable is unknowable.] “We weren’t prepared for what we had, and then when we saw Otto the way he was, we loved him, we’re proud of him — but no mother, no parent should ever have gone through what we went through,” Cindy Warmbier said Tuesday on Fox News. “And the fact that Otto was alone, all that time, with no one to comfort him, is inexcusable. Whatever happened — I mean, why would you do this?” She added that she felt he had only been sent home because he was about to die. Fred Warmbier reiterated that North Korea should be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. “It was astounding to Cindy and I to discover that North Korea is not listed,” he said. “ … We owe it to the world to list North Korea as a state sponsor of terror.” The State Department “strongly warns” U.S. citizens not to travel to North Korea, “due to the serious and mounting risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. citizens.” A State Department official told The Washington Post the department holds North Korea accountable for Otto Warmbier’s “unjust imprisonment” and extended condolences to his family. The review of intelligence from North Korea was an “ongoing process,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under State Department rules for briefing reporters. “As a matter of law, in order for any country to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, the Secretary of State must determine that the government of that country has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. These designations are made after careful review of all available evidence to determine if a country meets the statutory criteria for designation,” the official said. “The Department of State will take immediate action if credible evidence supports North Korea’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism under the statutory criteria.” North Korea used to be on the department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, placed there in 1988 for selling weapons to terrorist groups and its involvement in the 1987 bombing of a Korean Air flight over the Andaman Sea. But North Korea’s designation was removed in 2008 by President George W. Bush for meeting all the requirements for nuclear inspections. There have since been growing calls for the Trump administration to re-list it. Shortly after the “Fox & Friends” interview aired, President Trump made it clear he had been watching by tweeting his approval of the segment. Great interview on @foxandfriends with the parents of Otto Warmbier: 1994 - 2017. Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017 Carol Morello contributed to this report. Read more: North Korea calls Otto Warmbier’s death a ‘mystery,’ casts itself as ‘biggest victim’ ‘Let’s bring it in’: Otto Warmbier’s family and friends celebrate his life at memorial Otto Warmbier’s North Korea roommate speaks out Fred Hiatt: Why I can’t stop thinking about Otto Warmbier

– If anyone is feeling sympathetic toward North Korea as its war of words with the US ramps up, Otto Warmbier's family has a message: "North Korea is not a victim. They're terrorists." In their first lengthy comments since Warmbier's death days after the 22-year-old University of Virginia student was released by North Korea in June, Fred and Cindy Warmbier lashed out at the North Korean regime in an interview with Fox & Friends on Tuesday. They described their first sight of Warmbier on a stretcher inside the plane that brought him to the US. He was blind, deaf, and "jerking violently, making these inhuman sounds," said Fred, who also said "it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth." There were other injuries, too, including a large scar on his right foot, the couple says. Warmbier—whom doctors believe suffered brain damage consistent with cardiopulmonary arrest—died less than a week later, per the Washington Post. A North Korean Foreign Ministry rep at the time said only that Warmbier had fallen into a coma linked to botulism during his 17-month imprisonment for subversion, but that his death was "a mystery." In reality, "they kidnapped Otto. They tortured him" and "they destroyed him," his parents told Fox & Friends, asking that North Korea be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. President Trump referred to the "great" interview in a tweet Tuesday, noting "Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The NFL said Tuesday that Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah should not have been penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct when he dropped to his knees in prayer after an interception. In this Sept. 29, 2014, photo, Kansas City Chiefs free safety Husain Abdullah, left, gets up in the end zone after dropping to his knees in prayer as New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman,... (Associated Press) Kansas City Chiefs free safety Husain Abdullah carries the ball after intercepting a pass and running it back 39 yards for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New... (Associated Press) In this Sept. 29, 2014, photo, Kansas City Chiefs free safety Husain Abdullah prays after intercepting a pass and running it back for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against... (Associated Press) The league's rule book prohibits players from celebrating while on the ground, but spokesman Michael Signora wrote in an email Tuesday that the "officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result, there should have been no penalty on the play." The flag thrown in the fourth quarter of Kansas City's 41-14 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night led to criticism on social media, with many wondering how it was different from players such as former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow dropping to one knee in Christian prayer. Abdullah is a devout Muslim who took a year off from football to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. He said after Monday's game that he knew before he even reached the end zone he would drop to his knees in thankful prayer after intercepting Tom Brady. After he slid to the grass in Arrowhead Stadium, yellow flags came flying from the officials. "I don't think it was because of the actual prostration that I got the penalty," Abdullah told The Associated Press afterward. "I think it was because of the slide." And that's precisely the explanation that Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he received from the game officials. They had no issue with the prayer, Reid said, only the celebratory slide. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties and advocacy organization, issued a statement early Tuesday asking that the NFL take steps in response to the penalty. "To prevent the appearance of a double standard, we urge league officials to clarify the policy on prayer and recognize that the official made a mistake in this case," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said. Reid didn't agree with the penalty, but he also didn't make much of it. "When you go to Mecca," he said, referring to the end zone, "you should have the privilege to slide anywhere you want to slide. We have two priests in here. I think they will vouch for me." Indeed, there were two pastors sitting in Reid's postgame news conference. Abdullah is in his second year with the Chiefs after spending an entire season away from the game. He decided that, in the prime of his career, he would join his brother Hamza — who also was playing in the NFL at the time — to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Fifth Pillar of Islam is The Hajj, the pilgrimage that all Muslims are supposed to make once in their lifetime. Abdullah, who also fasts during Ramadan, told the AP in an interview last year the brothers wanted to make sure they did the pilgrimage while they still had the health and means to go. In the case of Hamza, it proved costly. He never got a shot to return to the NFL. Husain Abdullah said he didn't expect any repercussions from his penalty Monday night, least of all from his coach. After all, it was Reid who gave him an opportunity to work his way back into the league after he had stepped away. "I'm pretty sure he understands who I am, what my faith is," he said. "And again, I think the prostration is all right. It's the slide. Come to a full stop, get down, make the prostration, get up and get out." ___ Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ||||| Husain Abdullah is a devout Muslim. He’s also a safety for the Chiefs, and he made a promise to himself if he ever did find himself in the end zone. “If I get a pick, I’m going to prostrate before God in the end zone,” Abdullah said. Early in the fourth quarter, Abdullah dropped deep in a zone coverage, read Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s eyes and broke hard, intercepting his pass. Abdullah then dashed 39 yards to the end zone, slid on his knees and bowed in prayer. SIGN UP Help us deliver journalism that makes a difference in our community. Our journalism takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work to produce. If you read and enjoy our journalism, please consider subscribing today. SUBSCRIBE TODAY His celebration drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but the NFL said Tuesday that Abdullah should not have been penalized. The league’s rule book prohibits players from celebrating while on the ground, but spokesman Michael Signora wrote in an email Tuesday that “the officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result, there should have been no penalty on the play.” There are exceptions made for religious expressions, such as Tim Tebow’s prayer while kneeling. But Abdullah may have drawn the flag by sliding with both knees into the prayer. “For me, I just got a little too excited,” Abdullah said. “I think it was for the slide.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties and advocacy organization, issued a statement early Tuesday asking that the NFL take steps in response to the penalty. “To prevent the appearance of a double standard, we urge league officials to clarify the policy on prayer and recognize that the official made a mistake in this case,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said. Game officials didn’t say anything to Abdullah after the play, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid did when Abdullah came to the sideline. “He said, ‘You can’t slide,’” Abdullah said. Although Reid isn’t sure that should be the case. “When you go to Mecca, you should be able to slide wherever you want,” Reid said after the game. “We’ve got two priests in here. They’d probably vouch for me.” The interception — the sixth of Abdullah’s career — was still a special moment despite the penalty, which sparked controversy on social media. If the NFL tries to fine @HAbdullah39 for his TD celebration there's going to be some problems. — CJ LaBoy (@CJLaBoy) September 30, 2014 Abdullah has a special place in mind for the football he intercepted from Brady, a future Hall of Famer. “That’s nice,” Abdullah said. “That’s definitely going up in the house. That’s a ball that’s definitely going up in the game room area, so it was amazing.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

– The NFL is getting quicker with its mea culpas: Amid another growing controversy, the league admitted its mistake today in penalizing a player over a Muslim prayer on the field last night, reports the Kansas City Star. In the game, referees flagged Chiefs player Husain Abdullah, a devout Muslim, after he slid to his knees for a prayer after scoring a touchdown. Immediately, the league began taking flak: If, say, Tim Tebow, can pray in the end zone and not be penalized, why not a Muslim player? Earlier today, the Council on American-Islamic Relations urged the NFL to clarify its rules to "prevent the appearance of a double-standard," reports AP. Hours later, the NFL said the penalty was, in fact, a blown call. While league rules prevent players from celebrating while on the ground, there is an exception: The "officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result, there should have been no penalty on the play," says an NFL spokesperson. Abdullah, for his part, wasn't making a big deal of it. (The NFL lost a legal fight today with the FCC over game blackouts.)

Belgium's Queen Fabiola poses with jury members of the Queen Elisabeth music competition at the Laeken castle in Brussels May 28, 2013. BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's royal family will start paying taxes for the first time and will lose some state allowances, the government said, bringing them into line with some other monarchies at a time of belt-tightening around Europe. The Belgian government has been under pressure to reform the system of royal allowances after national media said Queen Fabiola, the widow of King Baudouin, had planned to pass on an estate in Spain by using a trust to avoid paying tax. The plan drew criticism from Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. Under the new system, approved by the Belgian government late on Wednesday, only the monarch, the heir and his or her spouse and also the widow or widower of a deceased monarch will continue to receive money from the state. A monarch who abdicated would also receive an allowance. The royal family will also lose its exemptions from paying income and value-added tax. In the Netherlands, Belgium's northern neighbor, only King Willem-Alexander, his wife Queen Maxima and former queen Beatrix receive a state allowance and also enjoy some tax exemptions. In Britain, several members of the royal household receive annual allowances but these are paid by Queen Elizabeth herself, who in turn receives an income approved by parliament. She pays tax on the income. Under the Belgian reform, Queen Fabiola, 84, will see her annual allowance cut sharply to about 450,000 euros ($588,900) from 1.3 million euros. Her husband Baodouin died in 1993 and his brother Albert is Belgium's current king. Crown Prince Philippe's siblings, Laurent and Astrid, will continue to receive allowances set at a level of about half the amount received by their older brother. Future siblings of the next in line to the throne will not receive any state support under the changes. ($1 = 0.7642 euros) (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek, additional reporting by Gilbert Kreijger in Amsterdam,; Editing by Gareth Jones) ||||| Belgium's royals set to begin paying taxes, a 1st since 1830 BRUSSELS -- It's set to be a royal moment: for the first time since Belgium declared independence in 1830, members of the royal household will now have to pay taxes. Backed up by two parties in the opposition, the ruling coalition on Wednesday approved the reform. King Albert II, who turns 79 on Thursday and who enjoys an annual tax-free allowance of 11.5 million euros (US$15 million), will be exempt however, because the constitution does not allow changing rules for the reigning royal. Instead, it is the king's children and the widow of king Baudouin, Queen Fabiola, who will be affected by the new rules. Under the current system, 53-year-old throne-heir Prince Philippe receives around 923,000 euros a year, but from now on he will instead receive a gross salary of 180,000 euros, subject to taxes. Money earmarked for staff and expenses related to carrying out his job will be taken from the initial stipend and will not be taxed, but those costs will be closely scrutinized. His siblings, Princess Astrid and Prince Laurent, will receive gross wages of 90,000 euros. Queen Fabiola, whose annual allowance was this year slashed from 1.4 million euros to 923,000 euros, recently faced an unprecedented attack from the media, the public and politicians after deciding at the age of 84 to set up a private foundation to provide funds for her nephews and for Catholic charities on her death. Critics accused the Baudouin's widow of planning to funnel the funds to Spanish relatives via the foundation, thus avoiding Belgium's 70 percent death duties. From now on, the surviving spouse of a sovereign will have funds cut to two-thirds of that of an heir for 10 years, and to just half of it beyond that period. In the future, only the heir of the throne will receive an allowance.

– Belgium is taking after the monarchies of Britain and the Netherlands and trimming the royal purse strings. Reigning King Albert II is exempt, but other royals are going to pay income taxes for the first time and get smaller allowances, reports Reuters. For instance, in the case of Queen Fabiola—she is the widow of the previous king—her annual allowance is shrinking to $600,000 from $1.7 million. The king's kids are taking similar cuts, reports AFP. Much of this stems from an outrage that ensued earlier this year when Fabiola was accused of trying to skirt the system by setting up a trust to shield her fortune from estate taxes.

Washington County prosecutors allege a Cottage Grove man spent months plotting his wife’s murder rather than divorce her and jeopardize his esteemed role with a local church, but his defense attorney said the state’s evidence has been fraught with “distractions” and “red herrings.” Opening arguments in the jury trial of Stephen Allwine began Tuesday in Stillwater. Allwine initially was charged with second-degree murder in January 2017. That charge was raised to first-degree premeditated murder after a grand jury indicted Allwine in March. Cottage Grove police arrested Allwine, 43, after a two-month investigation into the death of wife, Amy Allwine. Authorities responding to a 911 call from Stephen Allwine found Amy Allwine dead in her Cottage Grove home in November 2016. She was dead, with a gunshot wound to the head. A medical examination later revealed excessive doses of scopolamine, a drug used to treat nausea, in Amy Allwine’s body. She did not have a prescription for that drug. Prosecutors allege Stephen Allwine accessed the “dark web,” a hidden portion of the internet associated with crime, to hire a hit man to kill his wife. After several plans fell through, prosecutors say, Stephen Allwine poisoned his wife and shot her with the family’s 9mm gun. Defense attorney Kevin Devore said the timeline leading up to Amy Allwine’s death would have made it impossible for Stephen Allwine to have killed her. The state, Devore said, built a case on “theories with gaps” and used speculation to “bridge those gaps.” MARRIAGE COUNSELOR, MARITAL AFFAIRS Assistant Washington County Attorney Jamie Kreuser described Amy Allwine as a loving mother, dog lover, business owner and a woman of faith — not the type of person who would die by suicide. “Who would want to do this?” Kreuser said of the woman’s alleged murder. “Someone who didn’t want to be married to her anymore.” Stephen Allwine wrote sermons and counseled married couples at a Newport Church where he served as a deacon and later a church elder. Through those capacities, Kreuser said, Stephen learned about Ashley Madison, a dating website catering to married people seeking affairs. Investigators, according to the criminal complaint, identified at least two women Stephen Allwine met through the website. Devore acknowledged Stephen Allwine’s relationships with other women, but said having affairs doesn’t mean he killed his wife “or even didn’t love his wife.” Kreuser said Stephen Allwine’s role as an elder and longtime congregant at the church could have kept him from divorcing his wife, despite wishes to end the marriage. Officials with the FBI had been in contact with the family since, about anonymous emails Amy Allwine received in July 2016 graphically threatening to harm her family if she did not commit suicide. Investigators who searched Stephen Allwine’s computer, according to the complaint, found searches for the names of his wife’s family members. The emails were sent through a Tor, or an anonymous router used to access the dark web. DARK WEB FBI officials contacted Cottage Grove police in early 2016 about someone accessing the dark web and soliciting Amy Allwine’s murder under the username “dogdaygod” on “Besa Mafia,” a website associated with hired murders and assaults. The user, prosecutors say, provided Besa Mafia with Amy Allwine’s description and whereabouts. The user discussed two possible attempts to kill Amy Allwine, neither of which transpired. Several months later, the same user inquired on a different dark web site about buying scopolamine, the drug found in Amy Allwines’s body, using a virtual currency called bitcoin. In the search of the Allwine home following Amy Allwine’s death, detectives found a document backup on Stephen Allwine’s computer from his phone containing a bitcoin code, a sequence Kreuser said would have been “virtually impossible to replicate.” Investigators found the same code posted to the Besa Mafia website by user “dogdaygod.” Devore questioned the credibility of the computer analyst who performed forensic examinations on Stephen Allwine’s computers and said the investigation of the home had been “contaminated.” Police officers, Devore said, removed the gun found near Amy Allwine’s body to remove bullets and take photos before returning it to its original position. Related Articles Minneapolis man convicted of killing grandmother caught in gang gunfire Minneapolis man sentenced to 5 years in St. Paul sexual assault case Driver sought after hit-and-run that killed Mankato man, 88 Grand jury convened in Minneapolis police killing of Justine Damond Vadnais Heights student with ’emotional deficiencies’ avoids jail over racist and harassing comments to school staff Devore pointed to at least three neighbors who reported seeing Amy Allwine outside her home the night of her death and reported hearing two vehicles “racing” out of the neighborhood around then. He also said authorities failed to follow up on an unknown user who remotely accessed Stephen Allwine’s computer the day of Amy Allwine’s death. “It sounds like an amazing story,” Devore said, but he said the narrative was more akin to a movie. ||||| Stephen Carl Allwine shot and killed his wife in their Cottage Grove house after would-be hit men he tried to hire on the dark web bilked him out of his money, jurors were told Tuesday as his trial began in Stillwater. Washington County prosecutor Jamie Kreuser said Allwine was having extramarital affairs, didn't want to stay married and killed his wife in November 2016 to end their relationship. "He was seeing other women but he didn't want to divorce her because of his position in the church," said Kreuser, referring to the defendant's role as an elder in the United Church of God. But defense attorney Kevin DeVore refuted those allegations, telling the jury that the affairs were "red herrings and distractions" and that the prosecution had no evidence Allwine committed a crime. "Just because he had an affair doesn't mean he killed his wife," DeVore said, adding that evidence at the death scene was "contaminated" because police officers removed a 9-millimeter handgun to unload it before photographs were taken. Allwine, who is being held at the county jail, was charged with second-degree murder before a grand jury indicted him with first-degree premeditated murder in March. The penalty for a first-degree murder conviction is mandatory life in prison. Allwine In November 2016, police were summoned to the family's house on S. 110th Street in Cottage Grove after Stephen Allwine called 911 and told the dispatcher his wife had shot herself. A recording of the call, played in court, included the voice of the couple's 9-year-old son who was heard asking, "Why did she do that?" Allwine, an IT specialist who was then 43, replied, "I don't know, bud, I don't know." As the courtroom audience listened to the recording, Allwine sat with his head down. The dispatcher who took that call, Victoria Herrmann, testified that Allwine's demeanor ranged "from calm to hysterical" before officers arrived at the house. "He never asked if responders were en route," she said. Two Cottage Grove police officers found Amy Allwine, 43, on her back in the bedroom, a large pool of blood surrounding her head. She was the owner of Active Dog Sports Training, a business that closed after her death. 'Not a TV show' Kreuser, in her opening statement, told jurors that months before the death of his wife, Stephen Allwine was having affairs with women he had met through the Ashley Madison website, which he had learned about while counseling married couples at his church. He began exploring the dark web, the portion of the internet that search engines don't index. It was there that Allwine, using the nickname "dogdaygod," looked for someone to kill his wife, Kreuser said. A website known as Besa Mafia, where people solicit murders and assaults for hire, bilked Allwine out of thousands of dollars, she said. So, Kreuser said, Allwine figured out an elaborate plot to disguise his wife's murder as a suicide, which included having their son leave the house that afternoon and then bringing him back to discover her body. Allwine drugged his wife and then shot her in the right ear, Kreuser said. He dragged her body from the hallway into the bedroom to stage a suicide, Kreuser said; police found the gun resting on her left forearm. Investigators, using a special chemical, found a large bloodstain in the hallway that had been wiped away, she said. When DeVore took his turn speaking to the jury, he said the prosecution lacked "traditional evidence" of a crime. Prosecutors would instead try to sway the jury through the findings of a forensic computer analyst, he said. "It sounds like an amazing story, but it's not a TV show or a movie but real life," DeVore said. The prosecution would try to convict Allwine with theories, he said, but "that's not good enough in this courtroom." Amy Allwine had gunshot residue on her hands, he said, and police ruined the shooting scene when an officer removed the weapon to unload it. An officer put it back on her body before crime photos were taken. Two police officers who testified Tuesday said no photos were taken beforehand. DeVore also said witnesses saw two cars accelerating rapidly and leaving the neighborhood before Stephen Allwine reported his wife dead. That happened when Allwine had gone to Woodbury to get his son from his father-in-law's house, DeVore said. Allwine and the boy entered the house together and the boy saw his mother's body. The trial continues this week in District Judge B. William Ekstrum's court in Washington County.

– Stephen Allwine allegedly had no moral objection to sleeping with women other than his wife, but he was opposed to divorce—or, at least, his church was. It's for that reason that he tried to arrange his wife's murder through the dark web and finally killed her himself when no other killer appeared, prosecutors allege. At the start of Allwine's murder trial in Minnesota this week, prosecutors claimed the United Church of God elder began having affairs through the Ashley Madison website, which he learned about while counseling married couples at church, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Since his church views marriage as a lifelong commitment, per the Washington Post, prosecutors believe the then-43-year-old Allwine decided his wife should be killed and paid $6,000 in bitcoin to dark web site Besa Mafia, which claimed a link to organized crime. Though law enforcement officials now suspect Besa Mafia was a scam, they warned the couple that user "Dogdaygod" was plotting Amy Allwine's death. Stephen Allwine then bought a gun, which was found next to his wife's body in the couple's Cottage Grove home three months later on Nov. 13, 2016. Prosecutors say Allwine drugged Amy, 43, with scopolamine, shot her in the head, and staged the scene to look like a suicide—failing to erase gun residue from his hand and traces of blood leading from the scene. A computer search also linked him to "Dogdaygod," prosecutors say. Allwine's defense attorney, on the other hand, says the prosecution has only theories and alleges police contaminated the scene by moving the gun before photos were taken, per the Pioneer Press. "Just because he had an affair doesn't mean he killed his wife," he says of his client, per the Post.

Photo: Travelgame/Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Image 1 of 17 No, this is not the Texas flag. Click through to see what one Houston rapper's own emoji set looks like... No, this is not the Texas flag. Click through to see what one Houston rapper's own emoji set looks like... Photo: Travelgame/Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images Image 2 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 3 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 4 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 5 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 6 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 7 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 8 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 9 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 10 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 11 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 12 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 13 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 14 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 15 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame Image 16 of 17 Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Houston rapper Trae Tha Truth is immortalized in a set of emojis that reflect him and Houston's hip-hop culture. Photo: Emoji Fame ||||| A Texas House representative from Cypress has introduced a resolution urging Texans to quit using the Chilean flag emoji as a stand-in for the Lone Star. HCR 75, filed Thursday, urges "Texans not to use the flag emoji of the Republic of Chile when referring to the Texas flag." ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– The Chilean flag is annoyingly similar to Texas' state flag, but that doesn't mean Lone Star Staters should appropriate Chile's flag emoji when they feel like expressing Texas pride. That's the gist of what one state lawmaker is trying to push through via Texas House Concurrent Resolution 75, which takes it upon itself to "urge" residents not to use the Chilean icon online as a substitute for the non-existent Texas flag emoji, the Houston Chronicle reports. In what the Dallas Morning News says belongs under the "yes, it's a real bill" umbrella, Cypress' conservative Rep. Tom Oliverson filed the resolution, noting, "Just as our flag could never fully embody the country of Chile, neither can the Chilean flag inspire feelings of pride and passion in the heart of a true Texan." He points out that although both flags feature a similar red, white, and blue layout capped by that lone star, which often causes emoji-users to confuse Chile's flag for Texas' flag, Chile's colors are meant to symbolize "sky, snow, and blood spilled while fighting for freedom," while Texas' hues are meant to represent "loyalty, purity, and bravery." He also notes that the blue in his state's flag extends all the way down to the bottom, while Chile's is cut off into a square about halfway down (he even wants to get the #TheBlueGoesAllTheWayDown hashtag to pick up steam). That said, Oliverson concedes this bill isn't "the most pressing issue" the Legislature has on its plate at the moment, per the Morning News. (The White House rejected a Texas secession petition a few years back.)

Copies of the New York Daily News are for sale at a news stand in New York, Monday, July 23, 2018, after the paper told employees that the newspaper is reducing its editorial staff by 50 percent. (AP... (Associated Press) Copies of the New York Daily News are for sale at a news stand in New York, Monday, July 23, 2018, after the paper told employees that the newspaper is reducing its editorial staff by 50 percent. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) (Associated Press) Copies of the New York Daily News are for sale at a news stand in New York, Monday, July 23, 2018, after the paper told employees that the newspaper is reducing its editorial staff by 50 percent. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) (Associated Press) Copies of the New York Daily News are for sale at a news stand in New York, Monday, July 23, 2018, after the paper told employees that the newspaper is reducing its editorial staff by 50 percent. (AP... (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — The New York tabloid Daily News will cut half of its newsroom staff, saying it wants to focus more on digital news. The paper was sold to tronc Inc. last year for $1, with the owner of the Chicago Tribune assuming liabilities and debt. In an email sent to staff Monday, tronc said staff at the Daily News will focus on breaking news involving "crime, civil justice and public responsibility." Revenue and print circulation have been sliding at the newspaper for years, even as it provided critical coverage of health issues in public housing and for first responders after the Sept. 11 attacks. Revenue slid 22 percent between 2014 and 2016, and the paper had already been letting people go. "Since the year began, we've worked hard to transform the New York Daily News into a truly digitally-focused enterprise - one that creates meaningful journalism, delivers it more quickly and more frequently, and develops new approaches to engage our readers," an email sent to staff said. "We've gained a deeper understanding of our readership. We've redefined our structures. But we have not gone far enough." Editor-in-chief Jim Rich and Managing Editor Kristen Lee are both included in the layoffs. Robert York, editor of Tronc-owned The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, will take over as editor of The Daily News. Tronc Inc., based in Chicago, owns the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, the Orlando Sentinel, and other media operations. ||||| Ambitious projects like the series on New York Police Department’s abuse of eviction rules — for which The News shared a Pulitzer Prize with ProPublica in 2017 — would seem difficult to pull off with an even smaller staff. Sarah Ryley, the reporter on the series, who left The News last year, said it had taken three years to complete because she and the rest of the staff were stretched thin after the layoffs under Mr. Zuckerman. “You used to go into the office and feel the energy,” said Frank Isola, a sports columnist at The News for nearly 25 years, who was among those laid off on Monday. “I’ve probably been in the office, I would say, maybe three times in the last three years. People tell me: ‘Don’t come in. It’s depressing.’” Since Tronc bought the ailing tabloid from Mr. Zuckerman in September 2017 — for a reported $1; yes, one dollar — the company has been working to transform The News into something more digital. “But we have not gone far enough,” the company said in a memo to the staff that announced its decision to reduce “the size of the editorial team by approximately 50 percent” and to shift its focus to breaking news. Some News employees started packing last week, after the media newsletter Study Hall reported that the company planned to lay off a large portion of the staff. Although daily print circulation had sunk to roughly 200,000, Mr. Rich breathed new life into the paper. During two stints as editor — a 13-month run that ended in 2016, and an encore that began in January — he regularly published front pages that captured the staccato energy of social media. He was typically combative in a Twitter post on Monday: “If you hate democracy and think local governments should operate unchecked and in the dark, then today is a good day for you,” he wrote. Mr. Rich also dropped the Daily News affiliation from his Twitter bio. “Just a guy sitting at home watching journalism being choked into extinction,” it reads. ||||| Tronc Slashes 'New York Daily News' Staff By Half Enlarge this image toggle caption Drew Angerer/Getty Images Drew Angerer/Getty Images The newspaper publishing company Tronc has moved to slash the New York Daily News newsroom, announcing cuts of 50 percent to the paper's editorial staff, according to an internal memo obtained by NPR and other news outlets. The staff learned of the cuts Monday morning from a memo emailed from the paper's "talent engagement" account. It said the moves were necessary to seize the opportunities of digital news and financial challenges ahead. A Tronc spokeswoman confirmed the veracity of the memo. Tronc said in the memo that the Daily News would be "re-focusing much of our talent on breaking news — especially in areas of crime, civil justice and public responsibility." Tronc purchased the famed New York City tabloid last fall for $1 in a reunion of sorts; the paper was founded by Tronc's corporate predecessor, the Tribune Co., in 1919 and sold off in 1991. The Daily News endured waves of cuts under subsequent owners and declining paid circulation in recent years though it has remained on most lists of top 10 circulation papers in the U.S. Tronc is the owner of other papers in Chicago, Baltimore, Hartford, Florida, and Virginia, among others. Tronc's continuing cuts and shift in emphasizing quick-turn pieces for digital audiences led to successful unionization drives at both the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, then its two largest papers, earlier this year. Tronc subsequently sold the LA Times. Last fall, the Chicago Tribune called Tronc's acquisition of the Daily News "a stunning and bold bet on the future of newspapers." Tronc's CEO (and now chairman) Justin Dearborn said at the time, "We expect it to benefit greatly from becoming part of the Tronc ecosystem." The move now to gut the Daily News's newsroom will be a blow to local watchdog journalism in the nation's largest city. It has retained a punch in local news at a time when the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have retreated from metro coverage. The Daily News won a Pulitzer Prize last year, its 11th, with ProPublica, for its exposure of how the New York Police Department used an obscure civil enforcement law to evict hundreds of poor people from their homes without their being able to challenge the move first. The paper has also made a meal of the Donald Trump presidency from the populist left, depicting the New York-based real estate developer, long familiar to readers of its gossip pages, as a malevolent, autocratic and cartoonish figure. Former Daily News editor-in-chief Jim Rich was rehired as the tabloid's editor after Tronc acquired it last September. Rich and Managing Editor Kristen Lee are out as part of the cuts. Rich made his anger toward the cuts known on Twitter, first by tweeting early Monday morning: "If you hate democracy and think local governments should operate unchecked and in the dark, then today is a good day for you." He subsequently changed his Twitter bio to this: "Just a guy sitting at home watching journalism being choked into extinction." Tronc has appointed a new editor-in-chief, Robert York, previously editor and publisher of the smaller Tronc sister paper, the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call. Below is the Tronc memo: ||||| To put a twist on one of the most famous front pages in history: “Tronc to New York Daily News: Drop Dead!” That’s what it feels like today in the wake of the publisher’s decision to lay off half the editorial staff at the storied tabloid, leaving a skeleton crew to run a newspaper that covers national news, issues, and events impacting the biggest city in the country. The rumors started circulating last week, and on Sunday, Tronc sent an email to staffers prepping them for “an important message from Grant Whitmore,” Tronc’s eastern region general manager. This morning, the axe dropped: “We are fundamentally restructuring the Daily News,” says an email from Tronc to staff. “We are reducing today the size of the editorial team by approximately 50 percent and re-focusing much of our talent on breaking news — especially in areas of crime, civil justice and public responsibility.” The realignment of the priorities of the paper, which has a largely working-class readership and a history of uncovering municipal corruption and City Hall scandal, aroused outrage from many commenters, including former News reporter Tom Robbins: Just some of the stories broken by the @NYDailyNews in past few weeks: –A mini race-riot among FDNY members in the Bronx; –NYPD failure to discipline officers despite blatant evidence; –NYPD move to charge Pantaleo in Garner death; –Non-stop exclusives re NYCHA scandal. — Tom Robbins (@tommy_robb) July 23, 2018 It’s just the latest round of cuts at the financially struggling Daily News, which Tronc bought last summer for $1, promptly terminating some roles at the paper and moving some functions to the publisher’s Chicago headquarters.

– The New York Daily News will this week become half of what it once was, at least in terms of staff. Parent company Tronc, which acquired the paper in September for $1, on Monday announced in a memo that it would be cutting its editorial staff by roughly 50% to focus more on digital news and "address the significant financial challenges we have faced for years." The AP reports revenues sank 22% between 2014 and 2016, and prior cuts had taken place. Those ousted include editor-in-chief Jim Rich, who NPR reports communicated his displeasure on Twitter, where he changed his bio to "Just a guy sitting at home watching journalism being choked into extinction." The New York Times, which reports the newsroom staff had numbered 75 to 100, notes he tweeted the following at 1:40am Monday, "If you hate democracy and think local governments should operate unchecked and in the dark, then today is a good day for you." Robert York, editor of the Tronc-owned Morning Call in Allentown, Pa., will fill the slot. The memo says editorial efforts will be refocused around breaking news, "especially in areas of crime, civil justice and public responsibility. ... We will, of course, continue to cover local news, sports and other events, but our approach will evolve as we adapt to our current environment." Those given the boot will receive 90 days of severance. Marcus Baram worked for the paper in the late '90s and reports on how low morale was prior to these cuts in a piece for Fast Company.

Photo Many teenagers who never would have smoked cigarettes are now “vaping” with flavored e-cigarettes, leading to a new generation using nicotine at rates not seen since the 1990s, a new study suggests. The study, released Monday in the journal Pediatrics, tracked the use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes among 5,490 California high school seniors who graduated between 1995 and 2014. E-cigarettes do not burn tobacco, but are battery-operated inhalers that heat up and vaporize liquid containing flavors and nicotine, a practice known as vaping. The liquids used in vaping range in taste from traditional tobacco and menthol flavors to fruity and sweet combinations like gummi bear, banana bread and cotton candy. When e-cigarettes came on the market in 2007, some public health experts hoped that they would serve as a substitute for traditional tobacco products and lead to declines in tobacco use. But the data from the latest study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, tell a different story. E-cigarettes do not appear to have made a dent in regular cigarette use — the number of high school seniors who reported smoking tobacco in the past 30 days has largely plateaued. In 2004, the number of 12th graders who reported smoking tobacco in the past 30 days was 9 percent; in 2014 that number was just under 8 percent. But the rate of teenagers using nicotine — either through tobacco cigarettes or e-cigarettes — is on the rise. About 14 percent of Southern California high school seniors in 2014 said they had smoked or vaped in the last 30 days. Researchers say they have not seen similar levels of nicotine use among teenagers since 1995, when 12th-grade smoking rates were 19 percent. The numbers suggest that rather than prompting teenagers to replace cigarette smoking with vaping, e-cigarettes instead have enticed an entirely new group of teenagers to use nicotine. While the study focused on California teenagers, researchers say the numbers are consistent with national trends. “Kids are not just using e-cigarettes instead of cigarettes. That is what we were frankly hoping to find,” said Jessica Barrington-Trimis, the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar research associate in the department of preventive medicine at the U.S.C. Keck School of Medicine. All of the teenagers that were expected to be using cigarettes in 2014 are using them, she said, “and then there is a whole group of kids using e-cigarettes on top of that.” The amount of nicotine in the liquids used with e-cigarettes — often called “vape juice” — varies, and users can purchase liquid with no nicotine or nicotine content ranging from 3 milligrams per milliliter to 18 milligrams per milliliter or even higher. While earlier studies have suggested that some teens are using nicotine-free vaping liquids, researchers say the majority of teens appear to be using nicotine-infused liquid in their e-cigarettes. Dr. Jonathan Winickoff, professor of pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and Harvard Medical School, who wrote an accompanying paper in Pediatrics, said this is the first study of e-cigarette use in adolescents to show such a strong longitudinal sample with such a drastic effect. “We had a trend of decreasing nicotine use,” said Dr. Winickoff. “What the e-cigarette has done is halted that decrease in its tracks…. We don’t want a fifth of our high school students graduating with nicotine addiction.” While e-cigarettes do appear to be safer than smoking tobacco, they are not risk free. Nicotine disrupts neurotransmitter activity and is highly addictive, particularly in a developing brain. And the liquids contain solvents, formaldehyde and other ingredients that pose health risks when inhaled. While it’s true that there are nicotine-free vaping liquids, the e-cigarette industry is not regulated, which makes it hard to know what ingredients are actually in any given product. Though the Food and Drug Administration recently took jurisdiction over e-cigarettes, it will be years before any regulations are put into effect. Currently, many products continue to be made in China with little — if any — oversight by the United States. “The F.D.A. has done tests on these vaping products that supposedly do and do not contain nicotine, and what is advertised is really not what’s in the product,” Dr. Winickoff said. “When the product is labeled as no nicotine, they’ve found nicotine. So kids don’t know what they’re getting, and as a pediatrician it really scares me.” Not everyone agrees that e-cigarettes pose a significant risk to teenagers. Dr. Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, countered that many teenagers say they are using e-cigarettes that contain only flavorings and no nicotine, and therefore are not getting addicted. “E-cigarette use among teenagers is a largely social phenomenon,” he said. “The fact that you tend to see teenagers doing this in groups, not out in the cold vaping alone, suggests that e-cigarettes are not addictive.” But there is a growing body of research showing that e-cigarettes do serve as a gateway to traditional tobacco products. Last month, the U.S.C. researchers also reported in Pediatrics that adolescents who vape are six times more likely to smoke cigarettes in early adulthood as nonusers. “Once kids get hooked on e-cigarettes, they are more likely to go on to become cigarette smokers,” said Stanton A. Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. ||||| Abstract BACKGROUND: Adolescent e-cigarette use has increased rapidly in recent years, but it is unclear whether e-cigarettes are merely substituting for cigarettes or whether e-cigarettes are being used by those who would not otherwise have smoked. To understand the role of e-cigarettes in overall tobacco product use, we examine prevalence rates from Southern California adolescents over 2 decades. METHODS: The Children’s Health Study is a longitudinal study of cohorts reaching 12th grade in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2014. Cohorts were enrolled from entire classrooms in schools in selected communities and followed prospectively through completion of secondary school. Analyses used data from grades 11 and 12 of each cohort (N = 5490). RESULTS: Among 12th-grade students, the combined adjusted prevalence of current cigarette or e-cigarette use in 2014 was 13.7%. This was substantially greater than the 9.0% adjusted prevalence of current cigarette use in 2004, before e-cigarettes were available (P = .003) and only slightly less than the 14.7% adjusted prevalence of smoking in 2001 (P = .54). Similar patterns were observed for prevalence rates in 11th grade, for rates of ever use, and among both male and female adolescents and both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Smoking prevalence among Southern California adolescents has declined over 2 decades, but the high prevalence of combined e-cigarette or cigarette use in 2014, compared with historical Southern California smoking prevalence, suggests that e-cigarettes are not merely substituting for cigarettes and indicates that e-cigarette use is occurring in adolescents who would not otherwise have used tobacco products. What’s Known on This Subject: E-cigarette use has increased rapidly in recent years among adolescents. It is unknown whether e-cigarettes are merely substituting for cigarettes or whether e-cigarettes are increasing total adolescent tobacco product use via initiation by those who would not otherwise have smoked. What This Study Adds: The high prevalence of combined e-cigarette or cigarette use in 2014, compared with historical Southern California smoking prevalence, suggests that e-cigarette use is occurring in adolescents who would not otherwise have used tobacco products. Since the introduction of electronic cigarettes into the US market in 2007,1 adolescent use has increased rapidly, particularly in the past several years. Data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of adolescents in the United States, show that current (past 30-day) use of e-cigarettes increased exponentially from 1.1% in 2011 to 16.0% in 2015 among high school students.2–6 While the prevalence of e-cigarette use is increasing, cigarette use is generally declining among adolescents; in the NYTS, current cigarette use among high school students fell from 15.8% in 2011 to 9.2% in 2014,2,3,5,6 continuing the decline in prevalence of cigarette use among adolescents from its most recent peak in the mid-1990s when the prevalence of current smoking reached 35%.7 Of note, the prevalence of cigarette smoking did not continue to decline from 2014 (9.2%) to 2015 (9.3%).6 In 2014, current use of e-cigarettes surpassed current cigarette use for the first time in several national studies (including the NYTS2 and the Monitoring the Future Study8), as well as in a number of local and state-level studies,9–11 including our study of Southern California adolescents.12 There are multiple interpretations of recent trends in e-cigarette and cigarette use among adolescents. Adolescents who otherwise would have smoked may be using e-cigarettes instead of cigarettes. Alternatively, e-cigarettes may be recruiting new users who otherwise would not have initiated cigarette use (or perhaps any other tobacco product) if e-cigarettes were not available. Recent data from the 2015 NYTS found a small, nonsignificant increase in the use of any tobacco product from 2013 to 2015 (from 22.9% to 25.3%).2,6 The increase in overall tobacco product use appears to be largely driven by increases in e-cigarette and hookah use in 2013 and 2014, and continued increases in e-cigarette use in 2015, along with no decline in cigarette smoking from 2014 to 2015.2,3 Although these data provide insight into trends over the preceding 3 years, adolescent tobacco use has declined for >20 years.7 The impact of e-cigarettes on adolescent tobacco use trends that have evolved over longer periods is unknown. We analyzed data from the Southern California Children’s Health Study (CHS), a prospective study of 5 cohorts reaching 12th grade in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2014, to describe patterns of smoking among adolescents across these years. On the basis of historical data on smoking initiation over the course of adolescence in these cohorts, we compared the rate of total e-cigarette or cigarette use in 2014 to the rate of cigarette use in 2004 before e-cigarettes were available; we hypothesized that an increase from this benchmark may indicate that e-cigarettes are currently being used by adolescents who would not otherwise have smoked if e-cigarettes were not available. Methods Study Sample The CHS is a prospective cohort study (1993–present), originally designed to study the effects of childhood air pollution exposure.13–15 It comprises 5 cohorts of adolescents (Cohorts A–E) who were recruited and followed through 12th grade (Table 1). Recruitment methods and data collection procedures have been described previously.12–15 Briefly, participants were enrolled from entire classrooms in schools in selected communities in Southern California12,14 in 10th grade (Cohort A, 1993), seventh grade (Cohort B, 1993), fourth grade (Cohort C, 1993 and Cohort D, 1996), kindergarten (Cohort E1, 2003), or first grade (Cohort E2, 2003). The current analysis uses available data from grades 11 and 12 of each cohort from participants who answered questions about tobacco product use (N = 5490; 11th grade: mean age [SD] = 16.9 [0.4]; 12th grade: mean age [SD] = 17.9 [0.4]. In Cohorts A through D, history of cigarette use was collected by in-person interview every year at schools as they were followed over time.15,16 Among participants in Cohorts A through D with data available from 11th or 12th grade, 85.7% of the sample provided information on smoking history in both 11th and 12th grades and therefore contributed to prevalence estimates in both years; 10.6% contributed to 11th grade analyses only and 3.7% contributed to 12th grade analyses only. In Cohorts E1 and E2, who were separated by 1 grade, smoking history was collected every other year, so both 11th- and 12th-grade subjects were included in the 2014 survey. In 2014, smoking history in Cohorts E1 and E2 was collected by self-administered questionnaires under study staff supervision. Cohort A through D subjects were all recruited from the same 12 communities; Cohorts E1 and E2 were recruited from 13 communities, of which 12 participated in the 2014 data collection and 8 were the same as Cohorts A through D. TABLE 1 Grade of Adolescents Included in Each Cohort in Each Year of the CHS, 1994–2014 Ethics Statement The study was approved by the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board. Written informed consent was obtained before data collection. Cigarette and E-Cigarette Use In all CHS cohorts, participants were asked the number of cigarettes or packs of cigarettes that they had smoked in the past 24 hours, past week, past month, past year, and in their lifetime. In each year, participants were classified as current users if they reported smoking ≥1 cigarettes in the past 24 hours, past week, or past month; participants were classified as ever users if they reported either (1) use in the past year or in their lifetime or (2) listed an age at which they had first smoked. This classification was used for all prevalence estimates of cigarette use alone, across all cohorts. In 2014, smoking history was assessed in Cohort E participants (in grades 11 and 12) using the same question as in Cohorts A through D, along with 2 additional questions that asked about the age at which each participant had first used a cigarette (“even 1 or 2 puffs”) and the number of days smoked in the past 30 days. In addition, use of e-cigarettes was assessed for the first time using the new questions. Adolescents who had used cigarettes or e-cigarettes on at least 1 of the past 30 days were classified as “current users” of that product. “Ever users” were adolescents who reported having ever tried a product. Analyses evaluating combined product use of cigarettes or e-cigarettes in Cohorts E1 and E2 were based on responses to the new questions. The prevalence rates both for current and ever cigarette use were quite similar using either set of questions, differing by 0.1% for current use and 1.6% for prevalence of ever smoking, and the results of analyses were not substantively different using either set of questions. Therefore, in Cohort E we used the prevalence rates derived from the new questions about cigarette use, which we have reported previously12 and which were common to those used to assess e-cigarette prevalence rates. Statistical Analysis Prevalence estimates for ever and current cigarette use were calculated by cohort and grade, using the questionnaire items assessed across all cohorts. In Cohort E (in 2014), we calculated the combined prevalence of cigarette or e-cigarette use (ever or current), which included adolescents who reported use of either product or dual use of both products. Logistic regression models were used to estimate smoking prevalence for each cohort by grade, with adjustment for self-reported sex, ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, or other), and parental education (less than high school education, high school graduate, some college, college degree, some graduate school or higher, unknown/missing). Adjusted models were used to account for the different distribution across cohorts of socioeconomic factors known to be associated with cigarette use. These models were applied separately to current smoking and ever smoking. The distributions of sex, ethnicity, and parental education in Cohort E were used as the reference for calculating the adjusted prevalence estimates from the logistic model. Logistic regression models were also used to evaluate trends in the prevalence of cigarette use (ever or current) over calendar time, by including year of data collection as a continuous predictor variable in separate analyses by grade. Logistic regression models with an interaction term were used to evaluate whether the pattern of cigarette use across cohorts varied by ethnicity or sex. In analyses to assess the sensitivity of results to the participation of different Southern California communities in different cohorts, we additionally restricted analyses to the 8 communities common to all years of all cohorts and adjusted for community. The Statistical Analysis System (SAS, version 9.4) was used for analyses, and figures were created using Stata, version 13.1. All hypothesis testing was conducted assuming a .05 significance level. Results Demographic characteristics for each cohort are shown in Table 2. The earlier cohorts (A–D) included a greater proportion of non-Hispanic white adolescents (54%–59%), whereas Cohorts E1 and E2 included more Hispanic adolescents (49%–53%). The distributions of the highest level of parental education differed among the cohorts. TABLE 2 Demographic Characteristics of Participants Enrolled in the CHS, by Cohort, 1994–2014, N = 5490 The adjusted prevalence of current smoking among high school students decreased over time from 1995 to 2014 in both 11th and 12th grades (P trend < .0001; Fig 1 A and B). Among 12th-grade students in Cohort A (1995), the adjusted prevalence of current smoking was 19.1%; prevalence of use decreased to 17.1% in Cohort B (1998), 14.7% in Cohort C (2001), 9.0% in Cohort D (2004), and 7.8% in Cohort E (2014). Although the prevalence of current cigarette use was lowest among students in both grades in 2014, the combined prevalence of current cigarette and/or e-cigarette use was similar to or greater than that for cigarette use alone 10 to 15 years ago, before e-cigarettes were available (Fig 1 A and B). For example, among 12th-grade students, the adjusted prevalence of combined use of either product in 2014 was 13.7% (3.8% dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, 3.9% cigarette only users, and 6.0% e-cigarette only users), which was similar to the 14.7% prevalence of cigarette use in 2001 (P = .54), and nearly 5 percentage points higher than the adjusted prevalence of current cigarette use in 2004 (9.0%; P = .003). FIGURE 1 Adjusted prevalence estimates among adolescents in the CHS by cohort for current cigarette use (all cohorts), and current cigarette or e-cigarette use (Cohort E) in (A) grade 11 and (B) grade 12 and for ever cigarette use (all cohorts) and ever cigarette or e-cigarette use (Cohort E) in (C) grade 11 and (D) grade 12, 1994–2014. The prevalence of ever cigarette use followed similar patterns of an overall decrease over time across Cohort A (1994–1995) to Cohort E (2014) for both 11th- and 12th-grade students (P trend < .0001; Fig 1 C and D). However, the 11th- and 12th-grade prevalence rates for ever cigarette use in 2014 were not statistically significantly lower than the prevalence in Cohort D 10 years earlier in 2003–2004 (P = .59, 0.56, respectively). The prevalence of combined ever use of cigarettes or e-cigarettes also surpassed rates of ever cigarette use more than a decade ago. Among 12th-grade students, the adjusted prevalence of ever use of either cigarettes or e-cigarettes in 2014 was 32.1%, substantially higher than the adjusted prevalence of ever cigarette use in 2004 (20.4%; P < .0001), and slightly higher than the adjusted prevalence in 2001 (30.2%; P = .41). Among both male and female adolescents, the prevalence of cigarette or e-cigarette use (ever or current) in both 11th and 12th grades in 2014 was higher than the prevalence of smoking in 2003–2004 and was generally similar to the prevalence of smoking in 2000–2001 (Fig 2 A–D). There was no difference between sexes in these patterns of decline in smoking over time (interaction P > .05). The prevalence of current and ever use of cigarettes within cohorts was higher among male than among female adolescents, with more pronounced differences observed among 12th-grade students; combined rates of e-cigarette or cigarette use in 2014 were also larger in male than female adolescents. FIGURE 2 Prevalence estimates among adolescents in the CHS by cohort and sex for current cigarette use (all cohorts) and current cigarette or e-cigarette use (Cohort E) in (A) grade 11 and (B) grade 12 and for ever cigarette use (all cohorts) and ever cigarette or e-cigarette use (Cohort E) in (C) grade 11 and (D) grade 12, 1994–2014. The prevalence of current and ever smoking also decreased over time from 1994 to 2014 among both non-Hispanic white adolescents and Hispanic adolescents (P < .0001; Fig 3 A–D; interaction P for ethnicity >.05). In both ethnic groups, the combined prevalence of current cigarette or e-cigarette use in 2014 exceeded the rate of current cigarette use in 2003 (11th grade) or 2004 (12th grade). For example, among non-Hispanic white 12th-grade students, the combined rate of current cigarette or e-cigarette use in 2014 in Cohort E was identical to the rate of smoking in 2001 (17.2%; 5.0% dual use, 4.4% cigarette only use, 7.8% e-cigarette only use); the rate of combined use among Hispanic white adolescents in 2014 (12.0%; 2.9% dual use, 5.0% cigarette only use, 4.1% e-cigarette only use) was >3 percentage points higher than the rate of smoking in 2004 (8.8%) and only slightly less than the rate of smoking in 2001 (13.8%). Similar patterns were observed for ever use in both ethnicities; the combined rate of cigarette or e-cigarette use in 2014 in 11th- and 12th-grade students was higher than the rates of smoking 10 years earlier in both ethnic groups. We did observe differences in rates of smoking within cohorts between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white study participants. Current smoking prevalence was consistently higher among non-Hispanic white adolescents than among Hispanic white adolescents (Fig 3 A and B), but ever use was generally similar or modestly higher among Hispanic white adolescents than among non-Hispanic white adolescents (Fig 3 C and D). In 2014 the combined prevalence of e-cigarette or cigarette use (both current and ever) was greater in Hispanic whites than non-Hispanic whites in 11th grade, which appears to result from higher prevalence of cigarette only use (dual and e-cigarette only use was similar across both groups). In 12th grade, the combined prevalence of e-cigarette or cigarette use was greater in non-Hispanic whites than Hispanic white youth, largely resulting from greater levels of e-cigarette and dual product use. FIGURE 3 Prevalence estimates among adolescents in the CHS by cohort and by ethnicity for current cigarette use (all cohorts), and current cigarette or e-cigarette use (Cohort E) in (A) grade 11 and (B) grade 12 and for ever cigarette use (all cohorts) and ever cigarette or e-cigarette use (Cohort E) in (C) grade 11 and (D) grade 12, 1994–2014. HW, Hispanic white; NHW, non-Hispanic white. In analyses restricted to the 8 communities with data available across all cohorts, trends in prevalence across cohorts and across grades within cohorts, as well as the ethnic- and sex-specific patterns, were similar to those observed in the entire sample (data not shown). Discussion These Southern California communities have experienced a marked decrease in adolescent cigarette use over the past 2 decades. However, among both 11th- and 12th-grade students, the combined prevalence of current cigarette or e-cigarette use in 2014 was substantially greater than the prevalence of smoking in 2004 (among 12th graders, eg, 13.7% and 9.0%, respectively) and was almost as high as the prevalence of smoking in 2001 (14.7% for 12th graders). This substantially increased combined prevalence of cigarette smoking or e-cigarette use in 2014, compared with smoking rates a decade earlier, when e-cigarettes were not available, suggests that e-cigarettes are not used only by adolescents who would otherwise be smoking cigarettes. If, for example, the current rates of smoking would not have changed from 2004 to 2014 in the absence of e-cigarettes, then 1.2% of adolescents in Southern California, the difference between the 7.8% adjusted prevalence of cigarette use in 2014 and 9.0% in 2004, may be substituting e-cigarettes for cigarettes. An additional 4.7% of e-cigarette users, the difference between the 13.7% combined prevalence of e-cigarette or cigarette use in 2014 and the 9.0% prevalence of cigarette use in 2004 likely would not have used cigarettes if e-cigarettes were not available, under the assumption that the rate of smoking from 2004 to 2014 would not have changed. The assumption that smoking rates would not have decreased in the absence of e-cigarettes likely makes this estimate of the proportion of e-cigarette users who would not otherwise have used cigarettes conservative. The general prevalence patterns and the findings compared with the 2004 data were similar among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white participants and in male and female participants; thus, tobacco control interventions geared toward youth are equally needed for youth of both sexes and ethnicities. The prevalence of cigarette use or combined use (Cohort E only) did differ by gender and ethnicity within each cohort. Hispanic adolescents were less likely to report cigarette use in each cohort among both 11th- and 12th-grade students but as likely to report ever use, a pattern consistent with historically reported ethnic comparisons.3,7,17,18 Male respondents were generally more likely to report use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or combined use of cigarettes or e-cigarettes, which is also consistent with previous literature.2,7,12,19 A major strength of this study is the use of >20 years of data collected across 5 cohorts drawn from the same CHS communities to assess patterns of change in cigarette use in Southern California. Because all results were adjusted for the Cohort E distribution of race/ethnicity, sex, and parental education, it is unlikely that differences across cohorts were influenced by changes in sociodemographic characteristics of the population over time. The study is also subject to some limitations. Data on use of tobacco products other than cigarettes were not collected from earlier cohorts. Thus, the contribution of hookah, cigar/cigarillo, pipe, or smokeless tobacco use to the prevalence of all tobacco product use in earlier cohorts is not known. Data from the NYTS have shown relatively stable prevalence of use of cigars and smokeless tobacco from 2000 to 2012,20 followed by a decrease in cigar and pipe use and in smokeless tobacco use from 2011 to 2014.2 Although national results may not be generalizable to Southern California (and vice versa), we cannot exclude the possibility that e-cigarette use is substituting for these combustible tobacco products. No data are available on trends in hookah use across the periods of interest in this study, but prevalence of hookah use increased in the NYTS from 2011 to 2014,2 so it seems unlikely that the increase in prevalence of e-cigarette use during this period reflects substitution of e-cigarettes for hookah use among participants who otherwise would have smoked hookah use in previous cohorts. Analyses were restricted to Hispanic youth (historically an underrepresented population in tobacco regulatory science research) and non-Hispanic white youth, who comprise the majority of the Southern California population; the prevalence estimates were imprecise in other racial/ethnic groups in our study, which made up <20% of the sample. Additional research is needed to determine whether similar patterns of product use over time occurred in other racial groups and in other geographic regions. E-cigarettes have gained popularity in recent years, in part because of availability in a wide variety of flavorings21 that may be appealing to adolescents and young adults,22 the perception that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking,23 absence or poor enforcement of regulations on indoor use,24 and the recent popularity of product-specific venues that encourage use of these products in social situations, such as vape shops.25 Such characteristics of e-cigarettes may be recruiting new users who are deterred from initiating cigarettes because of concerns about the health hazards of smoking and social stigmatization of cigarette use.7 There is concern that the increasing prevalence of e-cigarette use could even lead to initiation of smoking among previously nonsmoking adolescent e-cigarette users in what has been described as a “gateway effect,” either as a result of social normalization of alternative product use and smoking behaviors more generally, leading to renormalization of smoking or by directly increasing use of cigarettes through establishment of reward seeking behaviors (eg, nicotine dependence).26–30 Although our results demonstrated a decline in cigarette use in the past decade, we also have observed a markedly increased likelihood of intention to use cigarettes31 among e-cigarette users in the CHS in 2014 who had never smoked, results which are consistent with 2 recent studies examining the association of e-cigarette use with susceptibility to smoking,28,30 and recent longitudinal studies that have found that never-smoking e-cigarette users were more likely to report use of cigarettes a year later than never e-cigarette users.32–34 The use of e-cigarettes by nonsmoking adolescents poses several potential public health problems. First, use of e-cigarettes containing nicotine may directly contribute to nicotine dependence in late adolescence or early adulthood, putting adolescents at risk for lifelong nicotine dependence.35,36 Use of e-cigarettes, even without nicotine, may normalize tobacco product use behaviors more generally, which could then lead to increased rates of addiction via use of other nicotine-containing products, including cigarettes and other harmful combustible tobacco products.35–37 Second, in addition to lifelong problems associated with nicotine dependence, exposure to nicotine in adolescence adversely affects cognitive function and development.19 There is also evidence that e-cigarettes may generate aldehydes and other toxic chemicals and that flavoring additives may induce adverse respiratory health effects in e-cigarette users.38 Although the adverse health effects of e-cigarettes may be less than those of cigarettes, the long-term consequences of e-cigarette use are not known because these products have been on the market for less than a decade. Conclusions Longitudinal data on emerging adolescent tobacco and alternative tobacco product use, including detailed information on topography of e-cigarette use and dose of nicotine, are needed to understand the role of e-cigarettes in nicotine addiction and whether e-cigarette users who have not used combustible cigarettes will, in the future, continue using e-cigarettes only, quit using tobacco products altogether, or progress to combustible cigarette users or dual users of both products. However, the high combined prevalence of e-cigarette use or cigarette use in 2014, compared with historical Southern California smoking prevalence, suggests that adolescents are not merely substituting e-cigarettes for cigarettes but that e-cigarettes are instead recruiting a new group of users who would not likely have initiated combustible tobacco product use in the absence of e-cigarettes, which poses a potential threat to the public health of adolescent populations. ||||| E-Cigarettes 101 WebMD Feature By R. Morgan Griffin WebMD Feature Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD WebMD Feature Archive Electronic cigarettes: Are they safer than tobacco? Or are they a high-tech way to hook a new generation on a bad nicotine habit? Nobody knows yet. Research into the effects of e-cigarettes lags behind their popularity. But ready or not, the era of e-cigarettes is here. It’s a booming, billion-dollar industry -- on track to outsell tobacco products within a decade. The number of teens and tweens using these products doubled between 2011 and 2012. The time to get informed about these products is now. How E-Cigarettes Work They look like the real thing. The end glows as you inhale. As you exhale, you puff out a cloud of what looks like smoke. It's vapor, similar to the fog you might see at rock shows, says M. Brad Drummond, MD. He's an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. All e-cigarettes work basically the same way. Inside, there's a battery, a heating element, and a cartridge that holds nicotine and other liquids and flavorings. Features and costs vary. Some are disposable. Others have a rechargeable battery and refillable cartridges. Using an e-cigarette is called "vaping." Are They Safe? The nicotine inside the cartridges is addictive. When you stop using it, you can get withdrawal symptoms including feeling irritable, depressed, restless and anxious. It can be dangerous for people with heart problems. It may also harm your arteries over time. So far, evidence suggests that e-cigarettes may be safer than regular cigarettes. The biggest danger from tobacco is the smoke, and e-cigarettes don't burn. Tests show the levels of dangerous chemicals they give off are a fraction of what you'd get from a real cigarette. But what's in them can vary. "E-cigarettes may be less harmful than cigarettes," Drummond says. "But we still don't know enough about their long-term risks or the effects of secondhand exposure." Pro and Con E-cigarettes have triggered a fierce debate among health experts who share the same goal -- reducing the disease and death caused by tobacco. But they disagree about whether e-cigarettes make the problem better or worse. ||||| Nicotine experimentation could become nicotine addiction for youth who never used any other tobacco products, USC study suggests A new USC study debunks the popular belief that electronic cigarettes are merely a substitute for cigarettes among teens. Instead, the study suggests that some teens who never would have smoked cigarettes are now vaping. E-cigarettes, which entered the U.S. market in 2007, vaporize liquids that may or may not contain nicotine. In 2011, about 1.5 percent of high schoolers had vaped in the past 30 days, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey. Four years later, that number skyrocketed to 16 percent. A USC study of 5,490 high school juniors and seniors shows tobacco use among teens in Southern California is on the rise. In 2014, about 14 percent of 12th-graders said they had either smoked or vaped in the previous 30 days. A decade earlier -- before e-cigarettes were sold in the United States -- 9 percent of surveyed teens in this age group reported that they had smoked, said Jessica Barrington-Trimis, lead author and a postdoctoral scholar research associate in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "If teenagers who vape are using e-cigarettes instead of cigarettes, we would have expected to see the decline in smoking rates continue through 2014," Barrington-Trimis said. "But what we've seen is a downward trend in cigarette use from 1995 to 2004 but no further decrease in cigarette smoking rates in 2014. The combined e-cigarette and cigarette use in 2014 far exceeded what we would have expected if teens were simply substituting cigarettes with e-cigarettes. The data suggest that at least some of the teens who are vaping would not have smoked cigarettes." The study, published on July 11 in the journal Pediatrics, followed five groups of high schoolers who graduated in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2014. Researchers collected the history of tobacco use in an individually administered questionnaire. Cigarette use is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control. "An important question in the rapidly evolving landscape of youth tobacco product use is whether e-cigarettes are replacing cigarettes," said Rob McConnell, the study's senior author and professor of preventive medicine at Keck Medicine of USC. "However, use of e-cigarettes by youth who would not otherwise have smoked results in exposure to the hazards of inhaled vaporized liquids and flavorings in e-cigarettes and may result in exposure to nicotine that can damage the adolescent brain." USC is one of 14 U.S. research institutions that received National Institutes of Health funding to establish the Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science. What the numbers suggest The National Youth Tobacco Survey has reported a long-term decline in teen smoking rates followed by a leveling off between 2014 and 2015. The USC study found that the number of 12th-graders in Southern California who had smoked in the past 30 days dropped from 19 percent in 1995 to about 9 percent in 2004 and then leveled off, with the rate of smoking just under 8 percent in 2014. But when cigarettes and e-cigarettes were combined, some 14 percent of high school seniors in 2014 said they had smoked or vaped in the last 30 days. "Because e-cigarettes are perceived as less harmful and less dangerous than combustible cigarettes, another concern is that teens may be introduced to nicotine use via e-cigarettes," Barrington-Trimis said. "In California, where smoking rates are among the lowest in the country, the increase in vaping, possibly followed by increases in smoking, could erode the progress that has been made over the last several decades in tobacco control." A perilous experiment In fact, older teens who experiment with electronic cigarettes are six times more likely to try regular cigarettes within about a year when compared to those who have never vaped, reported Barrington-Trimis and her USC colleagues in a study published last month in Pediatrics. Although some e-liquid providers say their products do not contain nicotine, this industry has not been regulated until just recently. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to regulate all tobacco products -- including e-cigarettes, cigars and hookah tobacco -- in May. Last month, California became the second state, behind Hawaii, to raise the age of tobacco purchase -- including e-cigarettes -- from 18 to 21. "E-cigarettes may be recruiting a new group of kids to tobacco use," Barrington-Trimis said. "E-cigarettes may be safer than regular cigarettes for adults who are transitioning from smoking to vaping, but for youth who have never used any other tobacco products, nicotine experimentation could become nicotine addiction." ### The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute and the Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products (P50CA180905). ||||| Abstract BACKGROUND: There has been little research examining whether e-cigarette use increases the risk of cigarette initiation among adolescents in the transition to adulthood when the sale of cigarettes becomes legal. METHODS: The Children’s Health Study is a prospectively followed cohort in Southern California. Data on e-cigarette use were collected in 11th and 12th grade (mean age = 17.4); follow-up data on tobacco product use were collected an average of 16 months later from never-smoking e-cigarette users at initial evaluation (n = 146) and from a sample of never-smoking, never e-cigarette users (n = 152) frequency matched to e-cigarette users on gender, ethnicity, and grade. RESULTS: Cigarette initiation during follow-up was reported by 40.4% of e-cigarette users (n = 59) and 10.5% of never users (n = 16). E-cigarette users had 6.17 times (95% confidence interval: 3.30–11.6) the odds of initiating cigarettes as never e-cigarette users. Results were robust to adjustment for potential confounders and in analyses restricted to never users of any combustible tobacco product. Associations were stronger in adolescents with no intention of smoking at initial evaluation. E-cigarette users were also more likely to initiate use of any combustible product (odds ratio = 4.98; 95% confidence interval: 2.37–10.4), including hookah, cigars, or pipes. CONCLUSIONS: E-cigarette use in never-smoking youth may increase risk of subsequent initiation of cigarettes and other combustible products during the transition to adulthood when the purchase of tobacco products becomes legal. Stronger associations in participants with no intention of smoking suggests that e-cigarette use was not simply a marker for individuals who would have gone on to smoke regardless of e-cigarette use. What’s Known on This Subject: Three studies have found associations between e-cigarette use and subsequent cigarette use in adolescents. However, the risk of initiation of cigarettes as adolescents reach an age at which the purchase of tobacco products becomes legal is unknown. What This Study Adds: Adolescents who reported e-cigarette use had more than six times the odds of initiating cigarette use as never e-cigarette users. These findings suggest e-cigarette use may increase the risk of smoking during the transition to adulthood. Adolescent use of e-cigarettes has increased rapidly in recent years,1 with several studies reporting higher rates of e-cigarette use than combustible cigarette use among high school students in 2014.1–6 Among high school students in the National Youth Tobacco Survey, 13.4% of adolescents reported past 30-day use of e-cigarettes in 2014, compared with 9.2% of adolescents who reported past 30-day use of cigarettes.1 Among high school students participating in the Southern California Children’s Health Study (CHS), we found that 24.0% had ever tried e-cigarettes (including 9.6% who reported use in the past 30 days), compared with 18.7% who had tried cigarettes (5.7% in the past 30 days); >40% of e-cigarette users had never smoked a combustible cigarette.6 A critical question is whether e-cigarette use in adolescents who have never smoked cigarettes will lead to subsequent initiation of cigarette or other combustible product use. The initial data addressing this question came from several cross-sectional studies that examined the association between e-cigarette use and self-reported intention to use cigarettes among adolescents with no previous history of cigarette use, using validated survey measures.7–13 E-cigarette users, representing several age groups and geographic locations, had 2 to 4 times the odds of indicating an intention to use cigarettes as never users,7,8 results consistent with those we reported in the CHS.9 To date there have been 3 reports from prospective cohort studies examining the relationship between e-cigarette use and subsequent initiation of combustible cigarette use in adolescence, including a study of 9th-grade students (mean age 14.1),14 a second study of 9th and 10th-grade students (mean age 14.7),15 and another small study of 16- to 26-year-olds, with few never-smoking e-cigarette users at baseline that was not able to examine associations within specific developmental periods in this age range.16 All studies found that e-cigarette use was associated with elevated risk of initiation of combustible cigarettes. However, the risk of initiation of combustible cigarettes is likely to vary by age17; the developmental context of the end of high school is unique, because those turning 18 face particular challenges associated with the transition to adulthood, including postsecondary education or employment seeking, which co-occur at the age (18 years) at which the purchase of tobacco products becomes legal. We examined whether e-cigarette use among older adolescents in the transition to adulthood leads to greater likelihood of initiation of cigarettes as they reach the legal age to purchase cigarettes. We used prospective data from the CHS, a population-based cohort of adolescents from whom data on e-cigarette use were first collected in grades 11 or 12 (mean age 17.4) in spring of 2014, to examine risk of initiation of combustible tobacco products at follow-up (median 15.6 months later). We hypothesized that never-smoking e-cigarette users in this critical age range would be more likely than never-smoking never e-cigarette users to begin using combustible cigarettes during the subsequent year. Methods Study Design and Sample Participants enrolled in the CHS completed the initial evaluation questionnaire in school classrooms when they were in 11th or 12th grade. Questionnaires were completed with study staff supervision between January 2014 and June 2014, when use of e-cigarettes was first assessed in the cohort.6,18 To maximize efficiency in the design of the prospective follow-up study to evaluate the risk of cigarette and other combustible tobacco product initiation associated with e-cigarette use, we used an exposure frequency-matched cohort study design in which we contacted never-smoking e-cigarette users and a sample of never-smoking never e-cigarette users to complete a follow-up questionnaire (Fig 1). We attempted to contact all never-smoking e-cigarette users (n = 213) and a randomly selected frequency matched sample of never-smoking, never e-cigarette users (n = 213) from among all never-smoking never e-cigarette users in the cohort at initial evaluation; never-users were frequency matched to e-cigarette users by gender, ethnicity, and grade (11 or 12). Participants completed an online follow-up questionnaire between February 2015 and March 2016. Follow-up questionnaires were completed by 149 (70.0%) e-cigarette users and 154 (72.3%) never e-cigarette users; 146 e-cigarette users and 152 never users provided complete data on their use of cigarettes between initial evaluation and follow-up and were included in analyses. All participants were 18 years of age or older at follow-up. Participants turning 18 were sent a link to the follow-up online survey by e-mail (using e-mail address provided at the 11th- and 12th-grade data collection); additional attempts to contact participants were made by text message and telephone calls. Those not responding or who had not provided other contact information were sent letters soliciting participation to the last known residential address or were contacted through parents or other contacts previously provided by participants. FIGURE 1 Selection of participants for assessment of the association between e-cigarette use and subsequent initiation of combustible cigarettes. Ethics Statement The study was approved by the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board. Participants aged 18 or older provided written informed consent. Written parental informed consent and student assent were obtained for all CHS participants before data collection in 2014. Measures Tobacco and Alternative Tobacco Product Use At each survey, participants were asked whether they had ever tried e-cigarettes, cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or hookah and the number of days each product was used in the past 30 days.6 Participants who had “never tried” a product (not “even 1 or 2 puffs”) were classified as “never users.” Those reporting an age at first use of each tobacco product were classified as “ever users” of that product. All analyses were restricted to never cigarette smokers at initial evaluation. Sociodemographic Characteristics Self-administered questionnaires completed by parents of participants18 were used to assess gender, ethnicity (Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, other), and parental education (highest level of education of either parent; <12th grade, high school diploma or general equivalency diploma, some college, college degree, some graduate school or higher). Susceptibility to Cigarette Use Susceptibility to tobacco product use has been defined as the absence of a firm commitment not to smoke.10,11,13 In the current study, susceptibility to future cigarette use was assessed using validated measures (see Supplemental Material). Adolescents were classified as having no susceptibility if they responded “definitely not” to questions about intention to initiate use of cigarettes in the future.10 Social Environment The cigarette social environment was evaluated based on the following questions: (1) “How many of your 4 closest friends use [cigarettes]?” (0–4 friends); (2) “How would your best friends act toward you if you used [cigarettes]?” (very unfriendly, unfriendly, friendly, or very friendly); and (3) “Does anyone who lives with you now use [cigarettes]?” (yes/no). These factors have been strongly associated with cigarette use17 and more recently have been associated with e-cigarette use in the CHS.6 Statistical Analysis On the basis of prospectively collected data, we used unconditional logistic regression models to evaluate the association between e-cigarette use at initial evaluation and subsequent cigarette use at follow-up. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the odds of smoking initiation. All models were adjusted for gender, ethnicity, grade and highest parental education, factors that have been associated both with e-cigarette use and cigarette use in previous studies.17,19 Potential confounding by history of combustible tobacco use other than cigarettes at initial evaluation, social environment characteristics, age at initial evaluation, age at follow-up, and time from initial evaluation to follow-up (in months) was evaluated on the basis of a change in effect estimate of >10% with inclusion of any of these variables. A missing indicator category was included where appropriate. Formal tests of interaction were used to evaluate whether effect estimates differed by gender, ethnicity (Hispanic white, non-Hispanic white, other), grade (11 or 12), ever use of hookah (a combustible product that has been previously associated with e-cigarette use,20 yes versus no), or susceptibility to smoking at initial evaluation (yes vs no). Additional analyses evaluated the risk of initiation of any combustible tobacco product (cigarettes, cigars, hookah, or pipes) associated with e-cigarette use at initial evaluation. Polytomous regression models were used to evaluate the risk of initiation of cigarette use (but no use in the past 30 days) and the risk of past 30-day cigarette use, relative to participants not initiating use of cigarettes. In sensitivity analyses, models evaluating the risk of initiation of cigarettes were restricted to nonusers of any combustible tobacco product at initial evaluation (cigarettes, cigars, hookah, pipes). All statistical analyses were based on 2-sided hypotheses tested at a .05 level of significance. Analyses were performed using SAS 9.4. Role of the Funding Source The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Results E-cigarette users and never users were similar on matching factors (gender, ethnicity, grade) and parental education. In adjusted models males were more likely to initiate cigarette use (OR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1.04–3.26; Table 1). Adolescents who were classified as susceptible to cigarette use were more likely to report e-cigarette use at initial evaluation (OR = 2.48; 95% CI: 1.44–4.27) and to report cigarette use at follow-up (OR = 3.03; 95% CI: 1.71–5.39). Having one or more friends who smoked combustible tobacco products also increased the likelihood of e-cigarette use at initial evaluation (OR = 2.61; 95% CI: 1.35–5.06) and cigarette use at follow-up (OR = 2.58; 95% CI: 1.30–5.09); having friends who were friendly to cigarette use was associated with e-cigarette use at initial evaluation (OR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.24–3.65) but not with cigarette use at follow-up. The median age of participants at initial evaluation was 17.4 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 16.8–17.9); median age at follow-up was 18.6 years (IQR: 18.3–19.0 years); median time from initial evaluation to follow-up was 15.6 months (IQR: 12.6–18.2 months). TABLE 1 Demographic Characteristics of Participants by E-Cigarette Use at Initial Assessment and by Cigarette Use at Follow-up, N = 298 To assess the potential for selection bias, we compared sociodemographic characteristics of study participants for whom follow-up data were obtained with those lost to follow-up. Participants from whom follow-up data were collected were more likely to have a parent with at least a college education (Supplemental Table 5). No notable differences in gender, ethnicity, grade, or susceptibility to cigarette use were observed between retained participants and those lost to follow up. Among never e-cigarette users at initial evaluation, 16 (10.5%) reported use of cigarettes at follow-up; among ever e-cigarette users at the initial evaluation, 59 (40.4%) reported use of cigarettes at follow-up (Table 2). The adjusted OR for the association of e-cigarette use with subsequent smoking of combustible cigarettes was 6.17 (95% CI: 3.30–11.6). After further adjustment for cigar, pipe, or hookah use at initial evaluation, the association of e-cigarette use with subsequent smoking was slightly attenuated but still statistically significant (OR = 5.48; 95% CI: 2.69–11.2). Results did not differ appreciably after additional adjustment for social environment characteristics at initial evaluation (whether others in the home smoked, number of friends who smoked, friends’ attitudes toward smoking), age at initial evaluation, age at follow-up, or time in months from initial evaluation to follow-up (results not shown). E-cigarette users had 5.49 times (95% CI: 2.68–11.2) the odds of initiating cigarette smoking but not having smoked in the past 30 days, and 7.50 times (95% CI: 2.41–23.4) the odds of reporting use of cigarettes in the past 30 days at follow-up compared with never e-cigarette users. Estimates were based on 39 (27.1%) initiators and 18 (12.5%) past 30-day cigarette users among e-cigarette users at baseline, compared with 12 (7.9%) initiators and 4 (2.6%) past 30-day cigarette users among never e-cigarette users at baseline; 2 participants reported initiation of smoking but did not report the number of days smoked in the past 30 days (results not tabulated). TABLE 2 Association Between E-Cigarette Use at Initial Assessment in 2014 and Subsequent Cigarette Use at Follow-up in 2015 Among adolescents who were not classified as susceptible to cigarette use at initial evaluation, 36.2% (n = 34) of e-cigarette users and 5.7% (n = 7) of never e-cigarette users reported initiation of cigarettes at follow up (OR not susceptible = 9.69; 95% CI: 4.02–23.4; Table 3). In contrast, among those who were classified as susceptible to smoking at initial evaluation, e-cigarette users were only slightly more likely to initiate cigarette use at follow-up (47.1% v. 32.1%; OR susceptible = 2.12; 95% CI: 0.79, 5.74; interaction P = .03). We also examined interactions of e-cigarette use at initial evaluation with gender, ethnicity, grade level, time from initial contact to completion of follow-up questionnaire, and use of hookah at initial evaluation. The risk of initiation of cigarette use associated with e-cigarettes did not differ by these characteristics. TABLE 3 Association Between E-Cigarette Use at Initial Assessment in 2014 and Subsequent Cigarette Use at Follow-up in 2015 by Indication of Susceptibility to Smoking at Initial Evaluation In an analysis restricted to those who reported no use of any combustible tobacco product at initial evaluation, e-cigarette users were also more likely to initiate use of any combustible tobacco product at follow-up (OR = 4.98; 95% CI: 2.37–10.4; Table 4) and to initiate use of cigarettes (OR = 4.29; 95% CI: 1.84–10.0), hookah (OR = 2.86; 95% CI: 1.21–6.78), cigars (OR = 4.39; 95% CI: 1.72–11.2), and pipes (OR = 8.21; 95% CI: 1.20–56.2). TABLE 4 Association Between E-Cigarette Use at Initial Assessment in 2014 and Subsequent Cigarette Use at Follow-up in 2015, Restricted to Never Users of Any Combustible Tobacco Product Discussion We prospectively evaluated the risk of smoking initiation associated with e-cigarette use in the transition to adulthood when it becomes legal to purchase cigarettes. In this sample of never cigarette users at initial evaluation, >40% of e-cigarette users initiated cigarette use during the 16-month (average) follow-up. Those who reported e-cigarette use had >6 times the odds of initiating cigarette use as never e-cigarette users. The associations remained statistically significant after adjustment for use of other combustible tobacco products at study entry and for social environmental factors. The increased risk of smoking initiation associated with previous e-cigarette use was also observed in sensitivity analyses restricted to never-users of any combustible tobacco product at initial evaluation; moreover, risk of subsequent initiation of any combustible tobacco product was also increased. Notably, the association of e-cigarettes with initiation of cigarette use was much stronger among those classified as not susceptible to becoming smokers. These findings suggest that e-cigarette use may promote smoking during the transition to adulthood, even in those considered to be at lower risk because of personal or environmental factors. Three studies on the longitudinal association between e-cigarette use and subsequent cigarette use among adolescents have been published.14–16 In the first, among ninth-grade students (mean age 14.1 years) with no history of combustible tobacco product use at initial evaluation, those who reported ever use of e-cigarettes had 1.75 (95% CI: 1.10–2.77) times the odds as never users of reporting subsequent use of cigarettes 12 months later, and 2.73 (95% CI: 2.00–3.73) times the odds of reporting use of any combustible tobacco product after adjustment for ever use of nonnicotine or tobacco substances, smoking expectancies (whether adolescents think they will enjoy smoking, or feel bad from smoking), and other potentially confounding characteristics at study entry.14 The second study was also among younger youth in grades 9 and 10 at baseline (mean age 14.7 years) and found similar results: e-cigarette users had 2.87 (95% CI: 2.03–4.05) times the odds of initiating combustible cigarette use between baseline and follow-up 1 year later as never users, after adjustment for age, gender, ethnicity, parental education, parental support, and rebelliousness.15 The third study found similar prospective associations in adolescents and young adults 16 to 26 years of age who reported being nonsusceptible to smoking at baseline, but the estimates were based on only 16 never-smoking e-cigarette users at initial evaluation.16 The current results extend the literature by showing that these associations generalize to the period at the end of high school. Our findings, together with those from the other prospective studies of youth and young adult populations, suggest that e-cigarette use is a clear and consistent indicator of likelihood of subsequent initiation of cigarette and other combustible tobacco product use at ages spanning from early adolescence through emerging adulthood. It is possible in principle that e-cigarette use among never smoking adolescents is a marker for those who would have begun to smoke even if e-cigarettes were not available. In these adolescents, the availability of e-cigarettes use may have delayed the initiation of smoking among those who would have gone on to smoke anyway. However, the risk of smoking associated with e-cigarette use was even higher among participants who reported no intention to smoke at initial assessment than among the group of adolescents who indicated they were likely to begin smoking. Among nonsusceptible individuals, 36% of e-cigarette users initiated cigarette use, compared with only 6% of nonusers (Table 3). Another recent study found that e-cigarette users had different psychological profiles than cigarette users.21,22 Together, these findings suggest that e-cigarettes are not merely a marker for individuals who would have gone on to smoke combustible cigarettes, regardless of the availability of e-cigarettes, but that e-cigarette use is likely introducing new youth to tobacco products and is increasing the likelihood of future smoking among the low-risk group who expressed confidence that they would not do so. It is also possible that e-cigarette users who initiated smoking were more likely to be experimenting with cigarettes and less likely than other initiators to progress to regular cigarette use and nicotine dependence. The duration of follow-up and small sample size (particularly among never e-cigarette users who began smoking) was insufficient to fully address this question. However, the prospective association of e-cigarette use with cigarette use in the past 30 days was similar to that for initiation but no use in the past 30 days. These results provide no evidence that e-cigarette users who initiate smoking are any less likely to progress to regular use of cigarettes than youth who did not begin tobacco use with e-cigarettes. There are some uncertainties to the conclusions from this study. Participants who were lost to follow-up were less likely to have a parent with at least a college education. However, in analyses examining whether the risk of initiation of smoking associated with e-cigarette use differed by education, no interaction was observed, nor were the estimates of effect of e-cigarette use on cigarette initiation confounded by education; thus, differential loss to follow-up in the cohort seems unlikely to be an explanation for the observed results. We did not collect information on type of e-cigarette used or nicotine content of e-cigarette at initial evaluation, factors that may increase the likelihood of transition from e-cigarette to cigarette or other combustible tobacco use. Although the study addresses a potentially vulnerable age range, results may not be generalizable to older populations or to other geographic regions. Finally, because the rate of initiation of cigarette use in never e-cigarette users was low in our Southern California population (10.5% based on 16 new users), the odds ratio associated with e-cigarette use was not precisely estimated. However, the associations were large and highly statistically significant. There are several plausible mechanisms through which e-cigarette use in adolescence may lead to subsequent initiation of cigarettes or other combustible tobacco products.17,23,24 E-cigarettes may lead to initiation of use of other combustible products because flavorings desensitize users’ lungs to the harsh and aversive effects of nicotine inhalation, providing a more gradual transition from never smoking to use of combustible cigarettes or other combustible products. Flavorings, in combination with devices appealing to youth in this technological age (eg, “techie” e-devices with programmable settings) may act to promote smoking initiation among adolescents and may also play a role in product use maintenance or progression to greater levels of use. Regular use of nicotine, and the development of nicotine dependence, may also lead adolescents to seek other forms of nicotine. Adolescents first introduced to nicotine via e-cigarettes may develop a dependence on nicotine and may then move on to other forms of nicotine, including cigarettes or other combustible products. Individuals genetically susceptible to the addictive properties of nicotine may be at particularly high risk. Finally, rapid increases in e-cigarette use in adolescent populations have already begun to contribute to the normalization of e-cigarette use, which indirectly functions to normalize “smoking-like” behaviors more generally (eg, clouds of smoke/vapor in public places become normative). The normalization of these social behaviors may facilitate initiation of cigarette smoking if society becomes more accepting of alternative tobacco product use. Future work exploring these and other mechanisms through which e-cigarette use in adolescence may influence willingness to initiate cigarette smoking is warranted. Regardless of the mechanisms underlying the associations of e-cigarettes with cigarette use, this research adds much needed data to the emerging evidence that e-cigarettes are associated with increased risk of smoking among adolescents. Because e-cigarette use is common in adolescents and young adults, further prospective follow-up of this and other cohorts is needed to determine whether e-cigarette use will increase population rates of cigarette and other combustible tobacco products and their associated burden of disease. Footnotes Accepted April 7, 2016. April 7, 2016. Address correspondence to Jessica Barrington-Trimis, PhD, 2001 N. Soto St, 230-D, Los Angeles, CA 90089. E-mail: jtrimis{at}usc.edu FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. FUNDING: Research reported in this publication was supported by grant P50CA180905 from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products. The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

– With the debut of vaping in the US in 2007, there was hope that teens who smoked would replace old-school cigarettes with e-cigarettes, curbing tobacco use. But a new USC study in the journal Pediatrics has found teens who never would have smoked regular cigarettes are experimenting with vaping. Another USC study finds older teens who try vaping are six times more likely to try a tobacco-filled cigarette than non-vapers, per a press release. "E-cigarettes may be recruiting a new group of kids to tobacco use," says Jessica Barrington-Trimis, lead author of both studies. While e-cigs may seem safer than tobacco, if they come pumped with nicotine (some don't), kids can get addicted. The New York Times notes chemicals in the vaping liquid may be harmful; WebMD adds long-term effects are unknown. Using participants from USC's Children's Health Study, scientists followed 5,490 teens who graduated high school in select years between 1995 and 2015, asking them via questionnaire about their tobacco use. It's true that rates among Southern California teens who said they had smoked over the past 30 days fell significantly from 1995 to 2004 (19% to 9%), and slightly more in the decade after that (a bit less than 8% by 2014). But when teens were asked to include e-cigarettes in their assessments, the smoking rate jumped back up to 14% in 2014. And that's got scientists worried, especially with the prevalence of e-cigarettes that come in kid-friendly flavors such as cotton candy. "E-cigarettes may be safer than regular cigarettes for adults who are transitioning from smoking to vaping, but for youth who have never used any other tobacco products, nicotine experimentation could become nicotine addiction," Barrington-Trimis says.

Tim Tebow cancels appearance at church of controversial pastor Lisa W. Buser/USA TODAY Sports Tim Tebow has canceled a scheduled appearance at the Dallas megachurch of Robert Jeffress, the controversial pastor whose views on other religions and homosexuality have drawn outrage in recent years. The New York Jets backup, who likely will be traded or released soon, was scheduled to deliver two sermons on April 28 at the new, $130 million building at First Baptist Dallas Church. The church boasts more than 11,000 congregants. On Thursday, he tweeted that he would no longer honor the commitment. He didn't specifically say why he was canceling but alluded to the controversy surrounding his appearance: While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my upcoming appearance. I will continue to use the platform God has blessed me with to bring Faith, Hope and Love to all those needing a brighter day. Thank you for all of your love and support. God Bless! First Baptist Church responded to Tebow's cancellation in a statement. "Mr. Tebow called Dr. Jeffress Wednesday evening saying that for personal and professional reasons he needed to avoid controversy at this time, but would like to come to First Baptist Dallas to speak at a future date," the statement read. Jeffress has made news for his critiques of other religions and lifestyles. The pastor said Muslims practice a religion that came from the depths of hell and "promote pedophilia." In his eyes, Mormonism is a cult that should have disqualified Mitt Romney from the 2012 election. The pastor's also very much against homosexuality. "[It] is perverse, it represents a degradation of a person's mind," Jeffress has said. "As a Christian pastor, Dr. Jeffress takes a biblical approach to moral and social issues, closely following his duty to preach 'the whole counsel of God,' and not just address issues that are politically correct," First Baptist's statement said. Tebow's planned visit had drawn intense criticism. Rick Chandler of Off the Bench suggests Tebow's appearance is a tacit endorsement of Jeffress' beliefs. Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel said Tebow risked losing his credibility if he appeared at the church. To his credit, Tebow seems to have responded to the uproar with a principled stand against Jeffress and he did so without creating more controversy. Some might say his polite cancellation didn't go far enough. He could have bailed on the pastor and issued a strong statement against his beliefs. But that's not Tebow's way. This simple gesture is an effective rebuke of intolerance. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/VysGPg ||||| First Baptist Church Tim Tebow Was 'Pressured' to Cancel Speech EXCLUSIVE was unjustly pressured by the media to back out of his speaking appearance at the controversialin Dallas ... at least according to the church.A rep for the church tells TMZ, "We are saddened that Mr. Tebow felt pressure to back out of his long-planned commitment from numerous New York and national sports and news media who grossly misrepresented past comments made by our pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress, specifically related to issues of homosexuality and AIDS, as well as Judaism."Rev. Jeffress has been quoted as saying, "70 percent of the gay population" has AIDS -- and has described Judaism, Islam and Mormonism as religions from the "pit of hell."According to the church, Tebow called Dr. Jeffress Wednesday evening to say that for "personal and professional reasons he needed to avoid controversy" ... and would be canceling the appearance which was scheduled for April 28.The church says Tebow told Rev. Jeffress he'd still like to come speak at First Baptist Dallas sometime in the future -- and adds, "Dr. Jeffress shares a message of hope, not hate."

– Up until last night, Tim Tebow was scheduled to appear at Pastor Robert Jeffress' Dallas megachurch in April, but he announced today that he canceled the appearance after "new information" was brought to his attention. Jeffress is a controversial figure who has called Mormonism a "cult," gays "perverse," and Islam a religion that "promote[s] pedophilia," USA Today reports. Tebow's statement doesn't mention anything about rescheduling, but a rep for First Baptist Church says that when the football star called to cancel last night, he said he wanted to "speak at a future date." Tebow had been criticized for the planned visit, at which he was to deliver two sermons. A rep for the church tells TMZ that Tebow backed out because of "pressure ... from numerous New York and national sports and news media who grossly misrepresented past comments made by our pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress, specifically related to issues of homosexuality and AIDS, as well as Judaism." The rep adds that Tebow told Jeffress he "needed to avoid controversy."

President Obama called for action in his inaugural address but how much of his agenda will get through a politically-charged Washington? How will the upcoming budget fights affect his second term? Plus, after a facing tough questions on Capitol Hill about what happened in Benghazi, what lies ahead for Hillary Clinton as she departs? Our roundtable weighs in: Incoming President of the Heritage Foundation, former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC); President and CEO of the NAACP Ben Jealous; Washington Post Associate Editor Bob Woodward; NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell; and NBC News Special Correspondent Ted Koppel. ||||| [There was a video here] What is Michele Bachmann running for, again? "I'm running for the presidency of the United States," the Iowa straw poll winner helpfully clarified to Meet the Press host David Gregory on Sunday morning. "I'm not running to be anyone's judge." Except for, apparently, gay couples with kids, whom the congresswoman refused to describe as "families." But stop asking Michele Bachmann about that! This isn't "what people are concerned about right now"! Even though it is, according to Michele Bachmann, "the defining political issue of our time."

– Another tidbit from Michele Bachmann’s media victory lap today: On Meet the Press, Gawker notes, Bachmann dodged (and dodged again… and again…) David Gregory’s repeated attempts to get her to address her 2004 comments that being gay is “personal enslavement.” Instead, she consistently said, “I am running for the presidency of the United States,” and insisted she doesn’t judge gay people. She also would not call a gay couple with adopted children a “family,” instead insisting that such questions “aren’t what people are concerned about right now.” Though, Gregory noted, she once called such issues “defining political issues.”

A damaged OGA Charters bus is hauled away after a fatal rollover on Saturday, May 14, 2016, south of the Dimmit-Webb County line on U.S. 83 North in Texas. (Laredo Texas, Nuevo Laredo Mexico out, Mandatory... (Associated Press) A damaged OGA Charters bus is hauled away after a fatal rollover on Saturday, May 14, 2016, south of the Dimmit-Webb County line on U.S. 83 North in Texas. (Laredo Texas, Nuevo Laredo Mexico out, Mandatory credit Danny Zaragoza | Laredo Morning Times.) (Associated Press) LAREDO, Texas (AP) — A charter bus headed to a casino crashed in far South Texas on Saturday, killing eight people and injuring 44 others in a one-vehicle rollover, officials said. Seven people died at the scene on U.S. Highway 83 about 46 miles north of Laredo and another died later at a Laredo hospital, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Conrad Hein said. "The driver of the bus lost control and rolled over," he said. "Everything's real preliminary right now." Hein said the driver was among the survivors. His name and the names of passengers were not immediately available, Hein said. The trooper said it was raining Saturday morning but it was uncertain if that was a factor in the crash that occurred just before 11:30 a.m. He said no other vehicles were in the area at the time. "Our troopers are going to look into what happened but it's going to take us some time," he said of the investigation. "We just know the driver lost control." The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday night it was sending a team to also investigate the wreck. They were expected to arrive Sunday. Webb County Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ricardo Rangel told the Laredo Morning Times the bus belonged to OGA Charters was headed to a casino in Eagle Pass, about 125 miles northwest of Laredo. The bus company is based in San Juan, in Hidalgo County in Texas' Rio Grande Valley. A message left at the bus company Saturday was not immediately returned. Hein said 23 people were taken to Doctors Hospital in Laredo, where the eighth victim died. Fifteen were taken to Laredo Medical Center. Seven were taken to a Dimmit County hospital in Carrizo Springs. Priscilla Salinas, a spokeswoman for Laredo Medical Center, said bus passengers being treated there were in stable condition. She said she could share no additional information. The highway at the accident scene was reopened by early evening. Laredo about 150 miles southwest of San Antonio. The crash is one of the deadliest bus accidents in Texas in the last several years. In January 2015, two state corrections officers and eight inmates were killed after their Texas Department of Criminal Justice bus struck a piece of displaced highway guardrail west of Odessa. The bus fell about 20 feet before striking a Union Pacific freight train that happened to be passing beneath the highway. Last Thursday, the NTSB concluded that the wreck was caused by the bus hitting the guardrail piece. Seventeen passengers died in 2008 near Sherman when their bus plunged over a highway bridge on their way to a religious retreat in Missouri. The NTSB blamed that crash on a retreaded tire on the right front axle that was punctured by an unknown object. Although the retread itself wasn't the cause, the panel noted that the tire was affixed to the front axle illegally, the bus company didn't have the authority to leave Texas after failing an inspection three months earlier, and the company that inspected the bus wasn't equipped to judge whether it was roadworthy. The owner of the Houston bus company was charged with making false statements but avoided prison in 2014 after a federal judge sentenced him to three years of probation in a plea agreement. ___ Information from: Laredo Morning Times, http://www.lmtonline.com ||||| Updated material from The Associated Press: The small South Texas bus company involved in a rollover crash that killed eight people and injured 44 others had been ordered twice by Louisiana state inspectors in 2015 to take one of its buses off the road to fix brake and emergency exit problems. Records posted online by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration show that regulators ordered OGA Charters to sideline the bus in May 2015 because of brake problems and again in August of last year when they were getting worse. It was not immediately clear Sunday whether that was same charter bus that crashed Saturday about 45 miles north of Laredo or what steps the company took to fix the problems with its sidelined bus between inspections. The Laredo Morning Times identified the victims as Altagracia Torres, 61; Maria de Jesus Musquiz, 52; Dora Nelly Gonzalez, 68; Frances Guerrero, 52; Marisela Lopez, 60; Adelfa Garza, 63; Jaime Navarro, 60; and Emma Rodriguez Zamudio, 81. A Webb County official retracted a statement Sunday that a ninth person had died from injuries from the crash. National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived Sunday in Laredo to try to determine a cause of the crash. Spokesman Keith Holloway said the agency will look at the operations of the company as part of its investigation but declined further comment. According to federal online records, OGA Charters has two buses and the Motor Carrier Safety Administration had it listed with a “satisfactory” rating in May 2014. Records noted that the company had reported no crashes in the last two years prior to Saturday. But six driver and vehicle inspections since 2014 found 15 total violations, ranging from driver records and hours they were on the road, to vehicle maintenance problems. The May 2015 inspection in Louisiana reported brake connections with leaks, problems with the automatic brake adjustment system and a discolored windshield. The bus was put out of service because 20 percent or more of its brakes were defective. The records don’t name the Louisiana community where the inspection occurred. Another Louisiana inspection just four months later found “general” brake problems, citing some of the same problems, and the emergency exit issue. Details of the emergency exit problem were not immediately available. The report also noted the discolored windshield problem and again ordered the bus out of service. That the same bus, whether it was the one involved in the deadly crash or not, continued to have brake problems a few months after its initial inspection is a concern, said Shaun Kildare, director of research for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a Washington, D.C.-based group that tracks bus crashes and federal highway safety regulations. “We know this carrier had the vehicle violation problems,” Kildare said. “They apparently didn’t do anything. … When they have vehicle problems they don’t fix, that’s a question.” The rate of violations for hours of service was marked as a problem area by federal regulators. Officials at OGA Charters, based in San Juan, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment. Seven people died at the scene of Saturday’s crash and another died at a hospital, Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Conrad Hein said Saturday. “The driver of the bus lost control and rolled over,” he said. “Everything’s real preliminary right now.” Hein said the driver was among the survivors. Hein did not release the identity of the driver or any passengers. The trooper said it was raining Saturday morning but it was uncertain if that was a factor in the crash that occurred just before 11:30 a.m. He said no other vehicles were in the area at the time. “Our troopers are going to look into what happened but it’s going to take us some time,” he said of the investigation. “We just know the driver lost control.” Department of Public Safety officials did not immediately return phone messages Sunday. Webb County Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ricardo Rangel told the Laredo Morning Times the bus was heading to a casino in Eagle Pass, about 125 miles northwest of Laredo. The injured were taken to hospitals in Laredo, Carrizo Springs and San Antonio.

– A charter bus headed to a casino crashed in far South Texas on Saturday, killing nine people and injuring 43 others in a one-vehicle rollover, officials tell the AP. Seven people died at the scene on US Highway 83 about 46 miles north of Laredo and two died later at a Laredo hospital, per Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Conrad Hein. "The driver of the bus lost control and rolled over," he says. "Everything's real preliminary right now." Hein says the driver was among the survivors. His name and the names of passengers were not immediately available, the Dallas Morning News reports. The trooper says it was raining Saturday morning but it's uncertain if that was a factor in the crash that occurred just before 11:30am. A family member who had three aunts on board, one of whom was killed, says a trooper told her the bus rolled over three times, the Laredo Morning Times reports. Fighting back tears, she says some passengers were trapped inside and others flew out windows. Hein says no other vehicles were in the area at the time. "Our troopers are going to look into what happened but it's going to take us some time," he says of the investigation. "We just know the driver lost control." The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday night it was sending a team to also investigate the wreck. They were expected to arrive Sunday. The crash is one of the deadliest bus accidents in Texas in the last several years.

Credit: Stanimir G.Stoev/Shutterstock View full size image Although marijuana may have a reputation as a relatively harmless drug, a new case report links it to the deaths of two young men in Germany. Toxicological examinations concluded that the men were under the influence of cannabis before they died, and traces of THC — the main active ingredient in marijuana — were found in the men's blood and brain tissue, the researchers wrote in the report. In both cases, the deaths were related to cardiovascular complications. In one of the deaths, a 23-year-old man without a history of health problems suddenly collapsed while using public transportation, and died after 40 minutes of unsuccessful resuscitation efforts, according to the case report based on postmortem investigations. The man had a small amount of marijuana in his pockets when he was found, according to the researchers at the Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf in Germany, who reported the case. In the second case described in the report, a 28-year-old man was found dead at home by his girlfriend. An ashtray, rolling paper and a sealable plastic bag containing remnants of marijuana were found next to the body. The man had occasionally used cannabis, the researchers wrote. He had also abused alcohol and drugs, such as amphetamines and cocaine until about two years before his death, they wrote. [5 Bad Habits You Should Still Quit] "After exclusion of other causes of death, we assume that the young men died from cardiovascular complications evoked by smoking cannabis," the researchers wrote. "We assume the deaths of these two young men occurred due to arrhythmias evoked by smoking cannabis," but this assumption does not rule out that the men were predisposed to cardiovascular risks, they wrote. Nikolas P. Lemos, the chief forensic toxicologist for the San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office, said there have been confirmed cases in which marijuana has had harmful effects on the heart. "The potential cardiotoxicity of cannabis has been reported in peer-reviewed abstracts as well as scientific proceedings before, including by my team," Lemos said. "This case report adds two more cases from Germany, but since late last year, we have known and reported on this drug's potential cardiotoxic effects in some parts of the general population," he said. The researchers in Germany who reported the deaths declined an interview request from Live Science, citing an overwhelming media response to the paper and "some quite unpleasant reactions from individuals." Following the online publication of the paper, Jost Leune, the head of the German Association for Drugs and Addiction in Hannover, Germany, criticized the report in an interview with the website TheLocal.de, saying, "Cannabis does not paralyze the breathing or the heart." "Deaths due to cannabis use are usually accidents that are not caused by the substance, but to the circumstances of use," Leune said. However, other recent research also has linked marijuana use with cardiovascular complications in young and middle-age adults. In a study published in April in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers examined data on health complications following marijuana use, gathered from 2006 to 2010 by the French Addictovigilance Network. They found that among the 2,000 cases of reported complications, 35 cases involved heart problems. Among those were 20 people who had heart attacks, including nine who died. "There is now compelling evidence on the growing risk of marijuana-associated adverse cardiovascular effects, especially in young people," study author Émilie Jouanjus, a medical faculty member at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse in France, said in a statement at the time. "It is, therefore, important that doctors, including cardiologists, be aware of this, and consider marijuana use as one of the potential causes in patients with cardiovascular disorders." "It is important that people realize that any drug can have harmful effects," Iain M. McIntyre, a director and chief toxicologist at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office, told Live Science. Some people who are predisposed to cardiac events may be particularly vulnerable to potential harmful effects of marijuana use, and the new report shows this, McIntyre said. One limitation of the report, however, was that it did not specify for how long the two men had been using marijuana, he said. The researchers who wrote the report stressed that the risk of cardiovascular effects of marijuana use in the general population is low, but it is higher in people who have cardiovascular issues. "Persons who are at high risk for cardiovascular diseases are even recommended to avoid the use of cannabis," they wrote. Lemos said he hopes the report will raise awareness of the potential health complications of marijuana use. "I am delighted to see this additional work in hope that medical examiners, coroners and physicians will realize that they need to collect specimens, test for cannabis in post-mortem fluids and consider the contributions of cannabis in the death investigations. "We simply cannot, any longer, adhere to the old mentality that 'marijuana does not kill," Lemos told Live Science. "We are now seeing evidence from my office and elsewhere that it just might." The case report was published in the April issue of the journal Forensic Science International. Follow Agata Blaszczak-Boxe on Twitter. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on Live Science. ||||| Study Highlights Marijuana use may result in heart-related complications in young and middle-aged adults. Nearly 2 percent of the health complications from marijuana use reported were cardiovascular related. A quarter of these complications resulted in death, according to a French study. Embargoed until 3 p.m. CT / 4 p.m. ET WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014 DALLAS, April 23, 2014 — Marijuana use may result in cardiovascular-related complications — even death — among young and middle-aged adults, according to a French study reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “In prior research, we identified several remarkable cases of cardiovascular complications as the reasons for hospital admission of young marijuana users,” said Émilie Jouanjus, Pharm.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and a medical faculty member at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse in Toulouse, France. “This unexpected finding deserved to be further analyzed, especially given that the medicinal use of marijuana has become more prevalent and some governments are legalizing its use.” Researchers analyzed serious cardiovascular-related complications following marijuana use that was reported to the French Addictovigilance Network in 2006-10. They identified 35 cases of cardiovascular and vascular conditions related to the heart, brain and limbs. Among their findings: Most of the patients were male, average age 34.3 years. Nearly 2 percent (35 of the 1,979) marijuana-related complications were cardiovascular complications. Of the 35 cases, 22 were heart-related, including 20 heart attacks; 10 were peripheral with diseases related to arteries in the limbs; and three were related to the brain’s arteries. The percentage of reported cardiovascular complications more than tripled from 2006 to 2010. Nine patients, or 25.6 percent, died. Researchers note that marijuana use and any resulting health complications are likely underreported. There are 1.2 million regular users in France, and thus potentially a large amount of complications that are not detected by the French Addictovigilance System. “The general public thinks marijuana is harmless, but information revealing the potential health dangers of marijuana use needs to be disseminated to the public, policymakers and healthcare providers,” Jouanjus said. People with pre-existing cardiovascular weaknesses appear to be more prone to the harmful effects of marijuana. “There is now compelling evidence on the growing risk of marijuana-associated adverse cardiovascular effects, especially in young people,” Jouanjus said. “It is therefore important that doctors, including cardiologists, be aware of this, and consider marijuana use as one of the potential causes in patients with cardiovascular disorders.” Surveillance of marijuana-related reports of cardiovascular disorders should continue and more research needs to look at how marijuana use might trigger cardiovascular events, she said. Co-authors are Maryse Lapeyre-Mestre, M.D., Ph.D., and Joelle Micallef, M.D., Ph.D. There are no author disclosures. The study was funded by French InterMinisterial mission for the fight against drugs and addiction, MILDT (Mission interministérielle de lutte contre les drogues et toxicomanies) and the French drug agency ANSM (Agence Nationale de Sécurité des Médicaments). Additional Resources: For more information on this subject view the AHA Heart Blog post: States move forward with marijuana legalization despite lack of research . . infographic available on the right column of the release link http://newsroom.heart.org/news/marijuana-use-may-increase-heart-complications-in-young-middle-aged-adults?preview=b7b428026ac982ed55d512c1ad0f62fe. Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews. ###

– Marijuana has a reputation for being a safe drug, but some researchers say there is mounting evidence that the drug is associated with adverse heart complications. In two new case studies, two young men in Germany—ages 23 and 28—with no drugs other than THC in their systems and no known health issues (though the 28-year-old had used other drugs up until a few years ago), both died due to complications from abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmias. "After exclusion of other causes of death, we assume that the young men died from cardiovascular complications evoked by smoking cannabis," the researchers conclude. They added that the two men may have also been predisposed to cardiovascular risks. Though the researchers tell LiveScience there have been some "quite unpleasant reactions from individuals" following their report, and while some researchers say there isn't a strong enough link to implicate marijuana, there is mounting evidence that there are "marijuana-associated adverse cardiovascular effects, especially in young people," an author of a similar study said in an American Heart Association statement. Either way, one toxicologist says people should proceed with caution: "Some people who are predisposed to cardiac events may be particularly vulnerable to potential harmful effects of marijuana use, and the new report shows this." (Berkeley, meanwhile, recently voted to give free medical marijuana to the poor.)

The subtitle for Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild is “From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail”. For those not familiar with the story, Strayed finds herself on a course of self-destructive behavior which she attempts to redirect by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. The not-too-subtle implication here is that for those whose have made poor life decisions and whose are on a path of recklessness, then just go hike a long distance trail and everything will work out. In Cheryl Strayed’s case, it seems to have. She overcame arriving underprepared, with a lack of any real wilderness experience, and a seriously overloaded pack to hike over 1000 miles. Then Strayed wrote a remarkably candid book about the events leading up to her hike. The success of her story has made her a respected author and a wealthy woman. However for others that follow her strategy of deliberate ineptitude, things might not turn out so well. Some enthusiasts of the trail fear that in the coming years, the PCT will become crowded with so many other ‘lost souls’, seeking some answer to their troubles by hiking 30 miles a day. While the trail is certainly open to all who wish to tackle its challenges, those that choose to arrive unprepared can quickly find themselves in situations on the trail that begin to negatively affect others, as well as the trail environment. In the backcountry, hikers expect each other to be mostly self-reliant and follow a standard of leave-no-trace. In town, the actions of one hiker can affect the standing of all hikers who pass through the community. An influx of inexperienced, and often careless wanderers may invariably add strain to the fragile natural and human resources on which hikers rely. Likewise even some experienced hikers are often responsible for inappropriate behavior and the resulting often sour reputation of salty hiker trash. It is important for all hikers to recognize their impact on campsites, restaurants, laundromats, stores and post offices and remember to act as ambassadors of the trail. Hiking for Salvation The Latin phrase solvitur ambulando is occasionally invoked by thru-hikers. It means “it is solved by walking”, and the concept recognizes that many of life’s previously big issues can melt away when we focus simply on hiking every day. By extension, it is understandable how a multi-month thru-hike can be viewed as a life-changing, often cathartic experience. All hikers certainly finish a big a hike changed person. Hiking is an experience that affects us for life. However hikers desperate to ‘find themselves’ often embark on such a challenging journey from a mindset of ineptitude, rather than competence. This mentality of deliberate helplessness often leads to on-trail actions that can serve to endanger themselves and the trail environment, and negatively affect the experience of other hikers with whom they share the trail. While the trail is certainly a place to learn and grow, setting out on a long hike deliberately unprepared, while hoping to find some ultimate redemption is an undertaking for the foolhardy. Our advice to would-be hikers: Grow a spine first. Then get out there and hike the PCT. ||||| More hikers are expected on the Pacific Crest Trail this year thanks to the movie "Wild," according to the Pacific Crest Trail Association, which preserves and promotes the trail. The book "Wild," which has been a best-seller for nearly two years, led to a small increase in inquiries about the trail, "but the movie seems to have had a much bigger effect," said Jack Haskel, trail information specialist for the Pacific Crest Trail Association. "This past December, compared to last year, our website traffic went up 300 percent." Requests have also increased for permits for long-distance hikes on the trail. The PCT starts near Campo, California, outside San Diego at the Mexican border, and stretches 2,650 miles (4,264 kilometers) through California, Oregon and Washington. It ends in Washington's remote Pasayten Wilderness at the Canadian border. Since the 1950s, only 3,346 people have reported hiking the entire length of the trail, but that number has been rising each year — even before the book and movie brought more attention to the trail. When Haskel through-hiked the PCT in 2006, 300 people set off to walk the entire route, and about 120 completed it. In 2014, more than 1,000 hikers attempted a through-hike, and about half made it. Cheryl Strayed, author of "Wild," hiked 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) of the trail as she recovered from drug abuse, divorce and her mother's death. Reese Witherspoon received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her portrayal of Strayed. Laura Dern was nominated for best supporting actress as Strayed's loving, free-spirit mother. "'Wild' is the largest media event ever for the PCT and millions are hearing about it now and are being inspired," Haskel said. Both the book and film offer a realistic look at the challenges and rewards of the trek. Strayed ran out of drinking water, slogged through snow and rain, and bloodied her feet in hiking boots a size too small. She had a few frightening encounters with people she met along the way, but also experienced kinship and kindness. Ultimately the trail's serenity and natural beauty helped heal her damaged soul. There are no comprehensive statistics on female PCT hikers, but anecdotal observations suggest more women are hitting the trail, too, from fewer than 10 percent of hikers in past years to 30 percent now, Haskel said. "There are definitely more women out hiking," Haskel said. "I hear from women who are inspired by 'Wild.' And who knows what this season will bring." Hikers hoping to do the whole trail typically start in April or May and end in September, walking more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) a day for five months, with a day off now and then to recuperate and re-supply. Timing is critical: Start too early in the spring and you face flooded creeks and snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains. End too late in the season and you'll hit snow in the Northern Cascade mountains. In addition to endurance and careful planning, long-distance hikers also need to think about money. A through-hike can easily cost $6,000, including the flight to San Diego, food for five months and gear like maps, backpack, sleeping bag and tent. "People who head out with $3,000 often find they're running out of money," Haskel said. Through-hikers also typically wear out four or five pairs of trail-running shoes, which are the preferred footgear these days, rather than the boots that caused Strayed agony when she hiked the PCT in 1995. But you don't have to hike long distances to enjoy the PCT. You can go for a few hours, a day or an overnight. The PCTA website recommends many popular, accessible options, including Mount Baden Powell near Los Angeles; Mount Rainier and Goat Rocks near Seattle; and the Cascade Locks and Bridge of the Gods near Portland, Oregon, where a scene in the movie was shot. The PCTA has also launched a campaign, with Strayed's support, using the hashtag #responsiblywild to promote safety and "leave no trace" practices. Those include protecting water quality, burying human waste, packing out trash and building safe campfires. "There are a whole lot of people that are going to be inspired to hit the PCT because of 'Wild' and we really care about making sure that people are traveling safely," Haskel said. And stay tuned for Hollywood's next hiking movie when "A Walk in the Woods" comes out later this year starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. If "Wild" touched your heart, this one may tickle your funny bone: It's based on Bill Bryson's entertaining book about two middle-aged, out-of-shape buddies attempting to walk the 2,189-mile (3,522-kilometer) Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. ||||| Does the PCT have an overcrowding problem? Photo: Pete Brook Hiking the PCT: 2016 I set out in April on a six-month trek north along the 2,650-mile trail. I'll be filing dispatches every two weeks. Follow my journey here. You can’t talk about the Pacific Crest Trail without mentioning the crowds. For the first 55 years on record, starting in 1952, the most thru-hikers to attempt the full trail, starting at the Mexican border, where I started, was 300, in 2006. But in the past decade—and particularly the last four years, since the release of Cheryl Strayed's Wild—the numbers have spiked. So far, in 2016, more than 4,000 long-distance hiking permits have been issued. Not all of them are for hikers who plan to walk fully from Mexico-Canada. A few hundred of the permits will be for section-hikers taking on a 500-mile-plus trek. A few hundred more are for hikers heading out at other times of the calendar year. Still, if you look at the permit sign-up page on the Pacific Crest Trail Association’s (PCTA) website, you’ll see that throughout the eight-week-ish window (approximately mid-March to mid-May) the full quota of 50 permits per day are taken. So there’s 3,000 people attempting the Northbound thru-hike. Furthermore, a few hundred hikers will be heading Southbound between July and November. (The tougher, so-called "SoBo" itinerary is becoming more and more popular in the face of the hordes hiking north.) While the PCTA has issued permits for many years, the current permit system—with its 50 permits per day cap—was only introduced in 2015. As a direct response to the spike in numbers, the main aim of the quota system is to spread the number of hikers out and mitigate wear on the trail and environmental damage. This is especially important in the desert environments that dominate the first 700 miles. “Deserts are fragile ecosystems. They’re more susceptible to damage and when damage occurs, it lasts longer,” says U.S. Forest Service volunteer Jules Fijolek. “If damage became significant, we’d think about putting in shelters like on the Appalachian Trail. We’re actually trying to avoid that, but the idea is not off the table.” In addition to the environmental impact—degraded vegetation, establishment of new camp spots, human waste, etc—there are also real financial costs to essential services. More hikers means more helicopter evacuations and searches. Fijolek says there had already been 20 rescues by April 26. All were in the first 50 miles. It’s tough to put a number on exactly how many hikers use the trail during any given period. According to the PCTA, the maximum number of allowable hikers of 50 per day headed out from the Mexican border during the high season in 2015, and 2,800 long-distance permits were issued that year. Of those, approximately 1,200 made it to Canada, Fijolek says. BF1T7M0neXB Numbers for this year aren’t available yet—“We’re still in a data collection phase,” says Fijolek—but judging by logbooks and my own observations, we’re close to the 50-hiker-per-day capacity again. So far as I can tell, the desired dispersal is working. But it may not hold up as more and more thru-hikers pile on and the only thing delineating when a permitted hiker may hit the trail is the honor system. For a long time, the hiker community, trail angels, and the PCTA were reluctant to adopt a formalized sign-up for what is essentially a wild experience. Stretching back to at least 2004, according to trail angel Donna Saufley, the trail community has been discussing increased numbers, pressures, bottlenecks, and community-led management. But sheer numbers eventually forced the adoption of the current top-down administration of permits. No one wants to envision a day when hikers are denied the opportunity to walk. The PCT is a crucible of challenge, change, reconnection, and reinvention. It’s an endeavor open to everyone: it’s call has never come with caveat or exemptions. So even the smallest of restrictions on numbers would be a blow to the spirit of the trail. In Warner Springs (mile 110) I met Rusty, 71, who did the thru-hike in 2003. Every year since, he has departed from the Southern Terminus with the plan to hike as far as feels good. Sometimes Rusty makes it 100 miles, sometimes 1,000. In any case, he misses the quieter days. “Sometimes, “ he said, “I’d like to hike without seeing a line of ants all the way to Canada.”

– Hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail can expect to encounter harsh-but-beautiful landscapes, extreme fatigue, and—these days, at least—traffic. "You can’t talk about the Pacific Crest Trail without mentioning the crowds," Pete Brook writes for Outside. He should know: Brook currently is trekking the 2,650-mile PCT, which runs from the Mexican border through California, Oregon, and Washington to the border with Canada. But don't take his word for it: The Pacific Crest Trail Association so far this year has issued more than 4,000 permits to people planning on tackling at least 500 miles of the trail. To put things in perspective: 300 people attempted to complete the entire PCT in 2006, according to the AP, with about 120 of those making it. In 2014, 1,000 people set off and about half completed the trail. More traffic means more stress on the land, more improperly disposed of poop, and more inexperienced hikers requiring rescue. So what's with the increase in traffic over the past few years? You can thank Cheryl Strayed and her enormously popular memoir-turned-major-motion-picture Wild. After the book came out in 2012, there was a small increase in interest in the trail, the PCTA's Jack Haskel told the AP in 2015. But after the movie, starring Reese Witherspoon, was released in 2014, interest in the PCT exploded. "Millions are hearing about it now and are being inspired," Haskel said. Strayed, more or less unprepared for the journey, hiked 1,100 miles of the trail as a form of therapy as she grappled with personal demons. "However for others that follow her strategy of deliberate ineptitude, things might not turn out so well," writes DontHikeLikeWild.org. "Our advice to would-be hikers: Grow a spine first. Then get out there and hike the PCT." (This female hiker is the "biggest badass you've never heard of.")

× Company will pay you $12,000 to travel the world and drink beer for four months Talk about the chance of a lifetime! If you’ve ever dreamed of making thousands of dollars traveling the world and drinking copious amounts of beer… a new internship will let you do just that. Oh, and you’ll get paid for it. World of Beer is looking for three interns to spend four months this summer visiting breweries across the country and overseas tasting beer, going to beer festivals, and writing about their booze-filled adventures. The internship will pay $12,000 and cover travel expenses including food and lodging. Anyone can apply for this job as long as they’re 21. Applications are due by March 26. To apply – follow the instructions here. Cheers! ||||| World of Beer—the Tampa, Florida-based chain of taverns with 77 locations nationwide—is offering what could be the best internship ever offered in the godforsaken history of internships. WOB says they are hiring three interns this summer to go drink beer and report back on their experiences. Plus, the internship pays $12,000 and covers all travel, meals, and lodging expenses. Did you stuff envelopes and pay parking tickets for a series of cranky middle-aged bureaucrats as an unpaid intern? Sucker! You could have been drinking beer for a summer instead. WOB says on their website: “We’re inviting a team of interns to travel the world, hopping from brewery to brewery, WOB tavern to WOB tavern to explore beer for themselves and share their stories with WOB drinkers across the country.” Can this possibly be for real? Alyssa Ahern, a WOB representative, told us that World of Beer came up with the internship—which is being offered this year for the first time ever—because the company is all about providing a global experience. “Our mantra is ‘drink it in,’ and so ‘drink it intern’ was just a natural extension of what WOB stands for,” she said. Ahern informed us that interviews are taking place now and that prospective interns can apply in one of two ways. People can either apply online by submitting a video—apparently someone already submitted their resume on a beer label—or there will be eight different in-tavern interviews where people can come in and interview in front of a live judging panel. Unfortunately, you’ve already missed half of the live interviews, which already took place in the DC area; Orlando; Columbus, Ohio; and the Chicago area. But never fear—there are four more to come soon—another in Orlando, and ones in Tempe, Arizona; College Station, Texas; and Tampa, Florida. Ahern wants you to know that this is really a social media internship, so WOB is looking for strong writers and people with a large social following. The successful interns will have their work published work in Draft Magazine. Sometime in the first week of April, the top ten applications will be notified and then they will have Skype interviews with WOB corporate, who will pick the lucky three. And after that, it’s a summer of beer-drinking hysteria! There’s got to be a catch here somewhere. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites.

– Want to get paid to travel and drink beer all summer? Of course you do—and World of Beer could make it happen. The tavern chain based in Tampa, Fla., is looking for three interns to send around the world for four months "to explore beer for themselves and share their stories with WOB drinkers across the country." The gig even comes with an impressive salary: $12,000 plus travel, food, and lodging expenses, reports Fox6. In other words, this might be "the best internship ever offered in the godforsaken history of internships," per Vice. World of Beer is particularly looking for strong writers—the interns' work will be published in Draft Magazine—and people with large followings on social media, a rep says. Even beer novices will be considered, per the company website. To apply, drop by one of three locations—in Tempe, Ariz.; College Station, Texas; and Tampa, Fla.—for a live interview or submit a one-minute video online. But make it snappy: Applications will only be accepted until Saturday, and 10 finalists will be chosen the first week of April. The three interns will be selected after Skype interviews.

In a diplomatic shift, President Obama said today his administration now formally recognizes the newly-formed, leading coalition of Syrian rebels who are fighting to topple Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad. "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime," Obama said. The announcement, made during an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, grants new legitimacy to the rebel group and marks a new phase in U.S. efforts to isolate the Assad regime. "It's a big step," Obama said of the decision. The United States follows Britain and the European Union, both of which last month recognized the Syrian opposition group. The diplomatic designation will allow the United States to more closely support rebel efforts, including the organization of a future post-Assad government, administration officials said. "Obviously, with that recognition comes responsibilities," Obama said of the young coalition. "To make sure that they organize themselves effectively, that they are representative of all the parties, [and] that they commit themselves to a political transition that respects women's rights and minority rights." The move does not include the provision of weapons, but it opens the door for that possibility in the future. "Providing arms has to be done in a way that helps promote a political solution," one senior Obama administration official said today. "And until we understand how these arms promote a political solution, we do not see how provision of arms is a good idea." But the official added, "the president has never ruled out in the future providing arms." Obama expressed caution today about some Syrian factions involved with the coalition, warning that the United States will not support extremist elements. "Not everybody who's participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people who we are comfortable with," Obama told Walters. "There are some who, I think, have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda, and we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements." The president specifically singled out the group Jabhat al-Nusrah for its alleged affiliation with Al Qaeda in Iraq. The State Department says the jihadist group is responsible for nearly 600 violent attacks in major Syrian cities in the past year. "Through these attacks, al-Nusrah has sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition while it is, in fact, an attempt by [Al Qaeda in Iraq] to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. The Obama administration blacklisted al-Nusrah earlier this week, imposing economic sanctions and branding it a terrorist organization. Recognition of the Syrian rebel group has been expected. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to formally announce the new relations with the United States during a meeting of international allies supporting Syria's rebels in Marrakech, Morocco, on Wednesday. She has since cancelled her trip because of an illness. Her deputy, Bill Burns, will attend in her place. President Obama also discussed the looming "fiscal cliff" and suggested a new flexibility on cuts to entitlement spending. Read that report here. ABC News' Martha Raddatz contributed to this report. ||||| “Not everybody who is participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people that we are comfortable with,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on the ABC program “20/20.” “There are some who I think have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story But Mr. Obama praised the opposition, known formally as the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, for what he said was its inclusiveness, its openness to various ethnic and religious groups, and its ties to local councils involved in the fighting against Mr. Assad’s security forces. “At this point we have a well-organized-enough coalition — opposition coalition that is representative — that we can recognize them as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people,” he said. Photo For some experts on Syria, however, the question was whether Mr. Obama’s move was too little, too late. Britain, France, Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council have previously recognized the Syrian opposition. And the move does nothing to change the military equation inside Syria, where Mr. Assad has clung to power despite gains by rebel fighters. Mr. Obama notably did not commit himself to providing arms to the rebels he is recognizing or to supporting them militarily with airstrikes or the establishment of a no-fly zone, a stance that has led to a rise of anti-American sentiment among many of the rebels. The United States has played an active role behind the scenes in shaping the opposition, insisting that it be broadened and made more inclusive. But until Mr. Obama's announcement on Tuesday, the United States had held off on formally recognizing the opposition coalition, asserting that it wanted to use the lure of recognition to encourage the rebel leaders to flesh out their political structure and fill important posts. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. In recent weeks, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has been in the process of developing a series of committees on humanitarian assistance, education, health, judicial matters and security issues. Mr. Obama’s statement was an acknowledgment that the opposition had made sufficient progress to merit recognition. The American hope is that the opposition, in conjunction with local councils that are being formed in Syria, could help govern areas that have been wrested from Mr. Assad's control, provide public services like law enforcement and utilities, and perhaps even channel humanitarian assistance. Alluding to this role, Mr. Obama said that the opposition would “have some responsibilities to carry out.” But Mr. Obama's move does not go so far as to confer on the opposition the legal authority of a state. It does not, for example, recognize the opposition's right to gain access to Syrian government money, take over the Syrian Embassy in Washington or enter into binding diplomatic commitments. It is also unclear to what extent the move might influence the situation inside Syria, where the pace of the fighting appears to have intensified. A senior American official who is attending the meeting in Morocco said on Tuesday that none of the rebel military commanders from the Free Syrian Army would be attending the meeting on Wednesday. “There are people here who definitely coordinate with armed groups, with the Free Syrian Army,” he said. “That is not to say they are giving instructions to it; they do not. It is not to say that they are telling it what to do or what to say in the international field; they are not. In a sense, the Free Syrian Army is a separate organization.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Andrew J. Tabler, a senior fellow and a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said: “The recognition is designed as a political shot in the arm for the opposition. But it’s happening in the context of resentment among the Syrian opposition, especially armed elements, of the White House’s lack of assistance during the Syrian people’s hour of need. This is especially true among armed groups.”

– The US will formally recognize Syria's opposition as the country's legitimate representative, Barack Obama announced today in an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC. "It's a big step," Obama said. "We've made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population" to be recognized. The move allows the US to work more closely with the rebels, and opens up the possibility of sending them weapons—though one official said that wasn't in the cards yet. "Not everybody who is participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people that we are comfortable with," Obama added. "There are some who I think have adopted an extremist agenda." The announcement comes just ahead of a meeting of Syrian opposition leaders and their supporters in Morocco, the New York Times observes. It also notes that the move doesn't fully confer the legal authority of a state; the opposition can't, for example, access Syrian government money or take over the regime's Washington embassy.

The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team Tue Dec 3, 2013 10:48 PM Two skydivers were killed and one was injured following a mid-air collision late Tuesday afternoon in Eloy, officials said. The collision occurred about 200 feet from the ground and caused the skydivers’ parachutes to collapse as they fell, according to Eloy Police Sgt. Brian Jerome. One person died at the scene and another died at a nearby hospital. A third was flown to Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix for treatment. Jerome said the deceased were not American, but he declined to name their countries of origin. Investigators are still trying to determine how the collision occurred and plan to interview witnesses throughout the night, Jerome added. Officials said the skydivers had been part of a 200-member group participating in a week-long event at Skydive Arizona, which operates near Eloy Municipal Airport. The group had been working to create “as many new ‘official’ world sequential records as we can” by Friday, according to a website promoting Square1 World Sequential Series ‘13. Eloy is about 15 miles southeast of Casa Grande. ||||| ELOY, AZ - Two skydivers were killed Tuesday night after colliding in the air over Eloy. Eloy police Sgt. Brian Jerome said the accident happened around 4:51 p.m.at Skydive Arizona. Jerome said one person was dead when authorities arrived on scene and a second died at a local hospital. According to Jerome, witnesses told investigators that both skydivers had open canopies when they ran into each other about 200 to 300 feet above the ground. After they collided, their canopies collapsed and they fell to the ground. A third skydiver was injured but police say that skydiver was not involved in the collision and the injuries are not believed to be serious. The cause of the collision is under investigation. Police have not yet released names of any of the people involved. The collision occurred at Skydive Arizona, a training facility that operates out of the Eloy Municipal Airport, about 60 miles south of Phoenix. Its website says it's the largest drop zone in the world, for skydivers of all skill levels. Dozens of women gathered at the site Saturday to break the world record for an all-female mass-formation jump. Stay with ABC15 for updates.

– Two skydivers were killed and another injured last night in a midair collision involving members of a group trying to smash formation skydiving records in Arizona. Witnesses say the skydivers were 200 to 300 feet above the ground when they collided, causing them to fall to the ground as their canopies collapsed, a police spokesman tells ABC15. Officials say the two people killed were not American but they have not disclosed their nationalities. The skydivers were part of a 200- to 250-member group taking part in a week-long effort to break as many records as possible, reports the Arizona Republic. The collision happened at the Skydive Arizona facility where the world record for an all-female mass-formation jump was broken just a few days ago.

As U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter's short-lived presidential run fizzled last year, the Livonia Republican turned to another aspiration: writing a TV show. "Bumper Sticker: Made On Motown" starred McCotter hosting a crude variety show cast with characters bearing the nicknames of his congressional staffers, his brother and a drunk, perverted "Black Santa." They take pot shots about McCotter's ill-fated bid for the White House while spewing banter about drinking, sex, race, flatulence, puking and women's anatomy. It features a cartoon intro and closing snippet with an Oldsmobile careening through Detroit and knocking over the city's landmarks. The double-finned car has a Michigan license plate reading: "Made on MoTown." The News obtained a copy of the script from a former staffer who offered it as evidence of what the five-term congressman was pitching while in elected office and the tawdry humor unbecoming of a public official who had become disinterested in serving the 11th Congressional District. McCotter told The News the work was unfinished and was given to a reporter without his permission. He said the show was a "cathartic" creative outlet that helped him through the humiliation of the presidential campaign flop. "Bumper Sticker" brought to life a possibility of something that could be worse than his political failure — being trapped in a bad TV show that takes away "any shard of dignity left," he told The Detroit News. McCotter maintains he didn't write the show on the taxpayers' time: "Most of my writing is done in my garage … where I can smoke." He circulated the idea to at least one filmmaker and shared the script with some staffers, he said. Some congressional staffers included in his 42-minute pilot episode dated Oct. 17, 2011, were the same longtime employees who handled the collection of petition signatures that botched his chances of getting on the Aug. 7 primary ballot. The character named "Wardo," the nickname others acknowledge is used for District Director Paul Seewald, dresses in a matador costume, gets drunk on a whisky-laced Slurpee and runs off stage after puking. "Chowsers," the nickname for Deputy District Director Don Yowchuang, leers at women's body parts and snaps cell phone pictures of them, goes "cougar hunting" and repeats the line "I'm Thai." Seewald and Yowchuang received substantial pay increases in the first quarter of this year — 19 percent and 32 percent, respectively, compared with previous quarters, according to records from Legistorm. McCotter was bounced from the ballot when 87 percent of his collected signatures were deemed invalid. The Michigan attorney general's office is investigating. McCotter maintains he did nothing differently than in the past by trusting the same longtime staffers to handle the petitions and has welcomed the probe. Asked who would find the humor in the script funny, McCotter said he wasn't trying to reach a broader audience. He said the show was "deliberately designed to be a train wreck" to further assault the dignity of the central character — McCotter the host, who is already humiliated from the presidential run. "The very fact that people wouldn't find that funny and the suffering of the protagonist of having to be involved in it was what was funny," McCotter said. "It's really a one set piece," he said of the show, inspired by the 1977 show "Fernwood Tonight," starring comedian Martin Mull. "Because once he's humiliated, it's kind of it. How can you do that five nights a week?" "Bumper Sticker" is not McCotter's first foray into media. He was a regular on Fox News' overnight Red Eye show, a commentator on Breitbart.com and a guest political insider on a Washington, D.C., local morning show. He also published a book in February 2011 called "Seize Freedom! American Truths and Renewal in a Chaotic Age." But it didn't gain any traction. But the creative musings he drummed up for a television pilot reveal a different side of the mind of the congressman. McCotter had been planning to leave Congress in 2014, he told The News, so he was preparing a career outside elected office and making connections with Hollywood conservatives. Other creative endeavors McCotter, who has played in a congressional band and cited rock lyrics in House floor speeches, formalized his pursuit of creative endeavors in 2010 when he started a registered corporation with the state of Michigan, Screaming Lemur Productions. McCotter said forming the company was necessary so he could join the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and register a piece he and Jon Kahn, a musician and screenwriter, had done for Andrew Breitbart, the late conservative commentator and publisher. Screaming Lemurs is the name of the band he plays in with his brother, Dennis, a school teacher in Livonia. According to former congressional staffers, McCotter was also pitching a script for a movie with the working title, "Think Dink," starring a character played by his brother, Dinky McSweeny, running for a Senate seat. McCotter says he first wrote the idea in novel form when he was a Wayne County commissioner before being elected to Congress, inspired by the idea of what would happen if a political candidate said whatever he wanted. Asked if he had pitched the movie idea to Kahn, McCotter said they discussed if anybody was ever interested, he'd have to give away rights to the work and someone else could write it while he was in Congress. Reached by e-mail, Kahn says he "dig(s) McCotter … creative guy." He wasn't available for a phone interview. Local Republicans have castigated McCotter for fouling up the most basic political task of getting on the ballot, and critics say he has been disengaged from his job of serving his constituents in Wayne and Oakland counties. McCotter rejects the notion his writing hindered his job performance. Some politicians play golf, but creating things — writing, music, painting — is his outlet to deal with the "destructive" environment in Washington. A train wreck of a show In "Bumper Sticker," conservative commentator S.E. Cupp is cast as guest on the pilot. Cupp, a regular guest on cable political shows, also has appeared on "Red Eye" and co-hosts MSNBC's "The Cycle." McCotter tries to ask serious questions of the columnist, while his sidekicks chime in by asking how she "keeps that great stripper bod?" and whether "D-Cupp" is dating anyone. In the script, Cupp is disgusted by the "train wreck" of the show. It's unclear whether Cupp knew of her role in the pilot. Reached by e-mail, she didn't want to talk about McCotter. McCotter also casts Stephen K. Bannon, the conservative filmmaker, as the reluctant producer of "Bumper Sticker." In the show, Bannon is not amused McCotter doesn't have a second guest lined up and McCotter has to interview Bannon instead. Reached by phone, Bannon, who now runs Breitbart's media enterprise, said he didn't realize McCotter cast him in the script. He recalls McCotter emailing him an earlier version, but he chalked it up to "musings" McCotter would send periodically to Breitbart and himself after his presidential run failed. As a filmmaker who reads plenty of professional work, Bannon said he didn't take McCotter's scripts seriously, but rather as cathartic musings to burn off the anger and hurt from his book and presidential campaign flopping. Presidential run not a lark McCotter, he said, is a serious man with serious policy ideas in a town — Washington D.C. — filled with unserious people. Bannon said he and Breitbart told McCotter they didn't think a presidential run was a good idea. While some may have thought McCotter's run was a lark, to him it "wasn't a lark at all. He made a very serious attempt," Bannon said. When he was shut out of debates and not embraced by conservatives, McCotter took it as a rejection of his ideas that were worthy to be part of the national debate. "I think he took that a lot harder than what people think," Bannon said. "Thaddeus McCotter was a serious voice and I hope he remains a serious voice somehow," said Bannon, who calls McCotter one of the smartest people on Capitol Hill. Any future in hosting a variety show? "God, no," he says. mschultz@detnews.com (313) 222-2310 ||||| Rep. Thaddeus McCotter failed to gin up much interest in his short-lived presidential campaign. Then the Republican failed to get on the ballot in Michigan so he had to drop his bid for re-election to Congress. His political career flailing, McCotter now hopes to succeed in the arts. He has written a TV pilot, according to The Detroit News. Mayberry it isn't, according to the News, which describes McCotter's creative endeavor as chock full of "banter about drinking, sex, race, flatulence, puking and women's anatomy." If any congressman is qualified to make the jump from politics to screenwriting, it might be McCotter, 46, who is one of the quirkiest lawmakers in Washington. He's the lead guitarist in a congressional rock band. He makes campaign videos brimming with cringe-worthy fruit puns. And he quotes John Lennon in House floor speeches. To his friends, at least, McCotter's latest foray into coarse screenwriting is "no surprise." "Whatever Thad chooses to do will be outside the norm," said former Rep. Kenny Hulshof, who plays drums with McCotter in their bipartisan band, The Second Amendments. "Everybody has a unique personality and Thad's is especially unique. "There's very little that Thaddeus could do that would surprise me," Hulshof, a Missouri Republican, said, noting that "if any retiring member [of Congress] could make it [in Hollywood] Thaddeus could." McCotter did not return ABC News' request for comment. His script for the 42-minute pilot episode of "Bumper Sticker: Made On Motown" was leaked to the Detroit News by a disgruntled former member of McCotter's congressional staff. The episode stars McCotter as the host of an off-color fictional talk show in which he banters with an array of characters based off his congressional staffers and his brother. The guests lewdly chide McCotter for his failed presidential bid and for botching a petition drive to qualify for re-election. McCotter, who will vacate his House seat at the end of his term, told the Detroit News that creating the show was "cathartic" because it proved there were worse things in life than his congressional and presidential failures, like being trapped in a bad TV show that takes away "any shard of dignity left." Hulshof said McCotter was "genuinely disappointed" that his presidential bid fizzled nearly as soon as it started. McCotter never met the polling threshold of 1 percent support to appear in a national presidential debate. "That was something I think he was hoping for or counting on not necessarily to propel him as a front-runner but to give his candidacy a little more legitimacy," Hulshof said. While Hulshof has not seen the script, he said, the show seemed fitting because McCotter's sense of humor has always been "self-depreciating" and "outside the norm." "In a matter of words, he can be humorous and rip you to shreds," Hulshof told ABC News. McCotter told the Detroit News that the show was "deliberately designed to be a train wreck" in order to further humiliate the main character, aka himself. "The very fact that people wouldn't find that funny and the suffering of the protagonist of having to be involved in it was what was funny," McCotter said. The script is not McCotter's first foray into writing. He published a book, "Seize Freedom!" in 2011. And was "fairly prolific on the song-writing front," Hulshof said. Whether it's writing rock 'n' roll songs or quixotic screenplays, Hulshof said, McCotter would likely be doing something "nontraditional" after he leaves Congress in January. "I don't know where he goes," Hulshof said. "Who knows, maybe he could be the new 'Sham Wow' guy. I don't know."

– There are bad months, and then there are months like the one Rep. Thaddeus McCotter has had. The Michigan representative today announced he's resigning, and issued a statement that seems straight out of a soap opera. In it, he called the last month and a half "nightmarish" and wrote of "calumnies, indignities, and deceits [that] have weighed most heavily upon my family." ABC News explains that bad things have come in threes for the five-term Republican: His bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination failed miserably, his staff didn't collect enough valid petition signatures to get him on the Aug. 7 primary ballot, and a "racy TV pilot" he wrote was handed to the press by an ex-staffer this week. And his statement sounds pretty glum: "I do not leave for an existing job and face diminishing prospects (and am both unwilling and ill-suited to lobby)." Still, he closes by saying this to Michigan’s 11th Congressional District: "Thank you for the privilege of having worked for you." Click to read more about the "tawdry" pilot, which featured a "drunk, perverted Black Santa."

U. S. President Donald Trump gestures toward the meeting site with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Associated Press) SINGAPORE (AP) — The Latest on the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in Singapore (all times local): 9:55 a.m. President Donald Trump says that his one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "very, very good" and that the two have an "excellent relationship." Trump and Kim met for about 40 minutes Tuesday one-on-one, joined only by interpreters. Trump made the comments as he and Kim walked together along balcony as they headed to a larger meeting with aides. Trump was flanked in the larger meeting by chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. They sat across the table from Kim and his team. ___ 9:20 a.m. President Donald Trump is predicting that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have "a terrific relationship" as they meet face to face for the first time. Trump said Tuesday after meeting Kim that he's feeling "really great." He says, "We're going to have a great discussion and a terrific relationship." Kim says through an interpreter that it "was not easy to get here" and that there "were obstacles but we overcame them to be here." The two men are expected to meet on their own for the better part of an hour, with only a pair of interpreters in the room. That decision has raised concerns about the risk of holding such a monumental meeting with barely anyone to bear witness. ___ 9:05 a.m. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are sharing a historic handshake as they meet for the first time. The two clasped hands for a long while Tuesday as they posed for photos in front of a row of U.S. and North Korean flags. Trump then directed Kim to walk down a hallway, where they briefly spoke. It's the first ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader. Trump and Kim arrived not long ago on Singapore's Sentosa Island, the site of their unprecedented summit. It's aimed at settling a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal. The two will huddle alone for roughly 45 minutes before being joined by aides for a larger meeting and working lunch. Trump has said he'll know within minutes whether a deal can be made. ___ 8:35 a.m. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived at Singapore's Sentosa Island, where he'll be meeting shortly face-to-face with President Donald Trump. The two men are expected to share a handshake before they meet alone with a pair of interpreters for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby. After the intimate huddle, they're scheduled to hold a larger meeting and working lunch. Trump's chief of staff, national security adviser and secretary of state are among those expected to join. The meeting is the first sit-down between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader and is meant to settle a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program. Trump earlier defended his decision to meet with Kim, tweeting that North Korea has already released three detainees and that missile tests have halted. ___ 8:20 a.m. President Donald Trump has arrived on Singapore's Sentosa Island for his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump's motorcade pulled into the grounds of the Capella Hotel at 8:13 a.m. Tuesday local time. He is scheduled to meet Kim for the first time at 9 a.m. Kim is also en route to Sentosa Island for the meeting to discuss the fate of his country's nuclear weapons arsenal. ___ 8:15 a.m. Kim Jong Un's entourage has left for the luxury Singapore island resort where the North Korean leader will meet with President Donald Trump. Kim's black armored limousine with two large North Korean flags was surrounded Tuesday by police vehicles, their lights flashing, and other black cars. There's excitement surrounding the summit but also skepticism that the North will relinquish a nuclear weapons program it spent decades building despite crushing sanctions. Kim and Trump are scheduled to meet alone, with their interpreters, after greeting each other at the resort. ___ 7:50 a.m. North Korea's state media has reported on Kim Jong Un's late-night tour of Singapore with unusual speed. Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday filled its front page with photos of his visits to Singapore's landmarks, including the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay Sands resort. The North's Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying that Singapore is "clean and beautiful and every building is stylish" and that he will learn "a lot from the good knowledge and experience of Singapore in various fields in the future." It's rare that security-obsessed North Korea reports on Kim's activities within hours. When Kim visited China for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in March and May, state media didn't report on the trips until after he returned home. Some experts say North Korea is trying to keep up with the speed of the Western media in Singapore. ___ 7:05 a.m. President Donald Trump is sitting down with Fox News host Sean Hannity after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Fox News says the interview will take place Tuesday at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore. Trump and Kim are set to meet on Sentosa Island on Tuesday morning for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby. The interview is set to air on Fox's "Hannity" at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the U.S. East Coast, which is 9 a.m. Wednesday in Singapore. Fox News says Trump will talk about the meeting with Kim and future relations between the two countries. Hannity is a friend and confidant of the president and speaks out in support of Trump on his show. ___ 6:20 a.m. President Donald Trump says the "haters & losers" are complaining that his meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un is a "major loss," but he notes that the U.S. has gotten its three captives returned and that the North's nuclear missile launches have stopped. Trump tweeted early Tuesday from Singapore, just hours before his face-to-face with Kim. He says, "The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers." But he says "our hostages" are back home and testing, research and launches have stopped. He says, "These pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say!" Critics have argued that Kim has notched a win by getting a sit-down with the U.S. president. ___ 5:30 a.m. President Donald Trump says "we will all know soon" whether he can reach a deal with North Korea's Kim Jong Un to end its nuclear program. Trump is tweeting hours before the leaders' historic face-to-face that, "Meetings between staffs and representatives are going well and quickly." But he says that, "in the end, that doesn't matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!" Before leaving Washington for Singapore, Trump said his gut instincts will guide him when he gets into the room with Kim. He told reporters he'll know almost immediately whether a deal can be made, saying: "I will know, just my touch, my feel. That's what I do." Their meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Singapore time. ___ 4 a.m. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the U.S. has picked up no indications that North Korea's military is in a heightened state of alert in the run-up to the Singapore summit. Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday that "All's quiet" in North Korea. Mattis is declining to discuss his expectations for President Donald Trump's meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He says he does not expect it to include a negotiation over reducing the number of U.S. troops in South Korea — currently about 28,000. He says that, at least initially, this is a matter between Washington and Seoul. ___ 1:45 a.m. For better part of an hour, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will square off one on one, alone but for a pair of translators. That's raising concerns about the risk of holding such a monumental meeting with barely anyone to bear witness. Trump and Kim will meet on Singapore's Sentosa Island for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby. The huddle will come before a larger meeting and a working lunch attended by top advisers to the president and their North Korean counterparts. Word of the private meeting unleashed a torrent of criticism on social media from national security veterans who worry the lack of a transcript will create a he-said-he-said showdown that could turn into a major headache for Trump. ___ 12:40 a.m. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has arrived in Singapore, hours before President Donald Trump is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first time. Rodman emerged from the baggage claim area at Changi airport around midnight Monday. He told reporters he wasn't sure if he would meet Kim in Singapore. Last week, Rodman said he would "give whatever support is needed" to his "friends" Trump and Kim. White House officials have said Rodman will play no official role in the diplomatic negotiations. Trump said last week that Rodman had not been invited to the summit. He is one of the few westerners to have met the North Korean leader on visits to the capital city Pyongyang. ___ 11:30 p.m. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to seize the opportunity "to support a peaceful, prosperous, secure and verifiably denuclearized Korean Peninsula." The U.N. chief is commending the two leaders for pursuing a diplomatic solution and "seeking to break out of the dangerous cycle that created so much concern last year." Guterres told reporters Monday ahead of the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore that "peace and verifiable denuclearization must remain the clear and shared goal." The secretary-general says he wrote to both leaders last month saying "the road ahead will require cooperation, compromise and a common cause." He says the U.N. system "stands ready to support this process in every way, including verification if requested by both parties." ___ 11:15 p.m. Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is warning that if President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fail to reach a deal at their Singapore summit, there's an increased danger for a "catastrophic" military solution. Perry says, "If it falls apart, it's probably worse than as if we ever started." Perry says he's hopeful the two leaders will discuss normalization of ties as well as denuclearization to improve the prospect for long-term success of any deal. He spoke Monday to The Associated Press at a Luxembourg Forum Conference on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe event in Geneva. Perry also served as President Bill Clinton's special envoy to North Korea and traveled there in 1999 to discuss its nuclear and missile programs. ___ 11 p.m. The White House says President Donald Trump plans to visit U.S. military bases in Guam and Hawaii on the return from his historic summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. Trump is expected to depart Singapore on Tuesday night after his meeting with Kim on Sentosa Island. Before leaving Singapore, the president is scheduled to address the media. The White House says the president will stop at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Tuesday and also travel to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii later in the day. The president visited the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor last November on his way to Asia. Trump is expected to return to the White House on Wednesday morning. ___ 10:30 p.m. France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (le dree-AHN) says he will be the first one to applaud U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un if they reach a deal on nuclear weapons disarmament of the Korean Peninsula. Le Drian says that "everything that has to do with disarmament is positive." The French foreign minister met Monday with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom in Stockholm. Le Drian cautions "we have been enthusiastic before and it has led to failures." Wallstrom hosted talks in March with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Stockholm. She says one should be prepared for both "a fruitful meeting and a failure." ___ 9:55 p.m. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is out of his luxurious hotel for a late-night city tour hours ahead of his summit with President Donald Trump. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (Bal-a-krish-nan) says Kim went to the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore on Monday night. The foreign minister posted a photo showing him with Kim at the place on Facebook. South Korean media says Kim went there with his sister Kim Yo Jong and other top deputies. Kim is meeting Trump on Tuesday for a historic summit aimed at discussing the future of his nuclear program. It would be the first summit between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. ___ 8:20 p.m. The White House says in a statement ahead of President Donald Trump's historic summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un that the talks with North Korea are moving "more quickly than expected." The White House says Trump now plans to depart Singapore on Tuesday evening ahead of schedule. The White House says Trump will address the media on Tuesday following his summit with Kim and depart Singapore at approximately 8 p.m. local time for the United States. The president had been expected to leave Singapore on Wednesday morning. Trump is set to meet with Kim in Singapore on Tuesday morning. ___ 7:30 p.m. Seoul says President Donald Trump talked with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN') about his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expressed optimism for a diplomatic breakthrough. South Korea's presidential office says Trump filled Moon on the details of the pre-summit negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. The Blue House didn't elaborate on what Moon was told during the 40 minute telephone call. The Blue House says Moon told him South Koreans will be praying for a "miraculous result." Moon said earlier he hopes the summit will be a "historic milestone" for peace but it will only be the first step in a complex and lengthy process. Moon says the hostility "cannot be solved at once by a single meeting between the leaders." ___ 6:25 p.m. Iran says North Korea should be wary of negotiating with President Donald Trump following his withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Monday that North Korea should approach this week's summit with Trump with "awareness." He says Iran views Trump and the United States with "great pessimism," saying they are known for "quitting treaties and violating their commitments." Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the Obama administration had reached with Iran, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. The agreement required Iran to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from international sanctions. Trump has announced the restoration of U.S. sanctions, while European leaders are trying to preserve the deal. The U.S. president is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday. ___ 6:15 p.m. President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation to return to Singapore for a state visit this fall. That's according to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Trump is expected to travel to Asia in November in conjunction with a pair of regional summits. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the president's fall plans. A White House read-out of Trump's meetings with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng) Monday did not include mention of a state visit. Singapore will be hosting Trump's summit Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. ___ 6 p.m. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is prepared to take actions to provide North Korea with "sufficient certainty" that denuclearization "is not something that ends badly for them." Pompeo is briefing reporters in Singapore ahead of President Donald Trump's summit Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He says the U.S. is prepared to show North Korea that rather than denuclearization posing a threat to North Korea, it's "the opposite." Pompeo won't say whether Trump would consider withdrawing U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula. Pompeo says that U.S. sanctions on the North will remain in place until the North denuclearizes. But he says if diplomacy fails to move in the right direction, the sanctions "will increase." ___ 5:50 p.m. President Donald Trump called the leaders of South Korea and Japan Monday ahead of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That's according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is briefing reporters in Singapore. He says Trump spoke by phone with the two U.S. allies as preparatory talks continue between American and North Korean officials ahead of the leader sit-down Tuesday morning. Pompeo says there is "enormous potential" for the summit, but lowered expectations that the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will happen after one meeting. He says: "We are hopeful the summit will have set the conditions for future productive talks." Pompeo also says Tuesday's meeting presents a test of Kim's willingness to agree to deal his nuclear weapons away for "protections" from the United States. ||||| CLOSE President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands as they meet for the first time in Singapore. USA TODAY North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump exchanged signed documents at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island in Singapore. (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP) SINGAPORE — After more than a half-century of hostility between their two countries, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a document Tuesday pledging "to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," but provided few details of how that might work. “We’re starting that process very quickly," Trump said during a brief signing ceremony, again providing few specifics following a day of ceremony and bonhomie with his former rival Kim. The statement of renewed U.S.-North Korean cooperation capped a four-hour-plus summit in which Trump and Kim had nothing but nice things to say about each other as they finally came face-to-face. The summit comes less than a year after the pair threatened each other with nuclear annihilation. Throughout the day, Kim refused to answer questions about whether he would be willing to give up nuclear weapons in exchange for economic assistance. Still, Trump claimed success by saying that "we had a really fantastic meeting" at a resort hotel that went "better than anybody could have expected, top of the line, really good." The summit provided extraordinary pictures and surreal moments involving old enemies. Trump said that he and the North Korea leader he once denounced as "Little Rocket Man" had "developed a very special bond." For his part, Kim said he and Trump have "decided to leave the past behind." The joint statement said that Trump "committed to provide security guarantees" to the North Korean government, while Kim "reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." It did not define "security guarantees," nor what "complete denuclearization" entails. In the past, North Korea has said it would include a withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea and a pullback of the U.S. nuclear umbrella that covers the Korean region. Similar agreements in the past have not lasted. The statement also pledged new U.S.-North Korean relations "in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity," and joint efforts to recover POW/MIA remains from the Korean War of more than six decades ago. Throughout the day, Trump and Kim staged frequent photo opportunities that showed them getting along. At one point during a post-lunch stroll on the hotel grounds, Trump showed Kim the interior of the presidential limousine known as "The Beast." Trump also said he would "absolutely" invite Kim to the White House. Critics said all the pomp and ceremony — American and North Korean flags stood side-by-side to form the backdrops for many of the photo opps — lent too much prestige to Kim, a dictator who imprisons and murders his opponents, all while pursuing long-range nuclear weapons. At the start of the summit, the two leaders shook hands on a red carpet in front of the island resort hotel chosen for the meeting. At one point, reporters overheard a translator, apparently interpreting Kim's words, as saying that "many people in the world will think of this as a ... form of fantasy ... from a science fiction movie.” It was a day of pleasantries, but little public substance. After an initial one-on-one meeting with the North Korean leader, Trump said that things were "very, very good — excellent relationship." Later, at a bilateral meeting with aides from both sides, Trump said, "Mr. Chairman, it's a great honor to be with you, and I know that we will have tremendous success together." Trump also took a familiar jab at the press during the summit. As reporters yelled questions during the photo op, Trump told Kim, "The press, they never stop." Later, during a working lunch, Trump asked photographers for good pictures "so we look nice and handsome and thin." CLOSE President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are chatting over a lunch of beef short ribs, sweet and sour crispy pork, and braised codfish. (June 12) AP Trump and Kim chatted amiably out of earshot as they walked into the building for the private meeting that preceded a full bilateral conference that included aides and advisers. During a pre-summit tweet storm, Trump denounced "haters & losers" who said he should not have granted Kim — an autocrat accused of having political rivals killed — the prestige of a presidential meeting without more North Korean concessions. Citing the return of American hostages and a suspension of North Korean nuclear testing, Trump said that "these pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say! We will be fine!" While on his way to meet Kim, Trump also tweeted that White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow had suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized outside Washington, D.C. Some critics questioned the pomp surrounding the Singapore summit, saying it unduly elevated North Korea's rogue regime. President Trump shakes hands with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island in Singapore. (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP) David Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, likened the event to Trump's old reality television show. "But," he added, "'The Apprentice' had more likable characters, more credible plots, and didn't involve the enslavement of 25 million people or prospect of nuclear war." Michael McFaul, an ambassador to Russia during the Barack Obama administration, called the summit a victory for North Korea diplomacy. "Tomorrow, the entire world will be treating Kim Jong un as a global leader, on stage with the leader of the most powerful country in the world," McFaul tweeted. "Human rights, assassinations abroad, etc. will unlikely be mentioned. That is a tremendous achievement for North Korean diplomacy." Trump and aides said they did not expect the summit to generate a comprehensive nuclear deal; they instead looked to set up a process to negotiate an agreement in which North Korea gives up nuclear weapons in exchange for economic assistance from the United States and other countries. The two leaders began the meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Singapore time — prime time Monday back in the USA. The summit took place at a resort hotel on Sentosa island, just off the Singapore mainland. Meetings between staffs and representatives are going well and quickly....but in the end, that doesn’t matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2018 The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers. We have our hostages, testing, research and all missle launches have stoped, and these pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say! We will be fine! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2018 Previously, Trump had pledged to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea if it continued to make nuclear threats. This week, the president said he looked forward to getting to know his new negotiating partner. Kim and his government are developing missiles that can carry nuclear weapons to the USA and have denounced Trump as a blustery "dotard." More: Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un to meet alone at Singapore summit Also: Donald Trump thinks G-7 flap will help with Kim Jong Un; others aren't so sure Related: Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un: Still fighting the Korean War Described by his critics as a mini-Stalin, Kim was on something of a charm offensive in Singapore after arriving Sunday. On Monday night, he strolled the downtown area of this trade and finance capital, taking in the sights and posing for selfies with local citizens. Many analysts are skeptical that Kim will agree to fully give up nuclear weapons because he sees them as essential to his nation's security and self-identity. Although many still predicted that the initial Trump-Kim summit could at least yield an agreement to keep negotiating. "Depends on how you define success," said James Goldgeier, a visiting senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. "Both leaders will want to trumpet it as a success, but it seems like this will largely be a photo op both can use for their domestic purposes." More: Dennis Rodman on CNN: 'I got so many death threats' after trip to North Korea Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2sQkwbz

– The big moment arrived: President Trump and Kim Jong Un—two leaders who were exchanging military threats and personal insults not too long ago—met face-to-face and shook hands, then had a private meeting of about 40 minutes in Singapore that left Trump predicting big progress on the nuclear issue. "By working together, we will get it taken care of," he said. The initial greeting was a friendly one, with Trump grasping the arm of his fellow world leader during the handshake. (See the video.) "We will have a terrific relationship," Trump told reporters shortly after the greeting, reports USA Today. Kim, for his part, said "it has not been easy to get here," adding that "the old prejudices and practices worked as obstacles, but we have overcome them and we are here today," per the Guardian. After the ceremonial introduction, the two men met with only their interpreters in tow, then walked together along a balcony as they headed to a larger meeting with aides. Trump told reporters from the balcony that the meeting was "very, very good" and predicted he and Kim "will solve a big problem, a big dilemma," reports the AP. It was difficult to hear the two men, but the AP adds that Kim appeared to agree with the optimism. White House officials have been downplaying the idea that a major breakthrough will result from the historic meeting on Sentosa Island. Instead, the big hope is that the summit will lead to a blueprint for negotiators from both countries to follow that would lead to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. In return, North Korea wants a guarantee from the US that it won't try to overthrow the regime.

Nearly a year before Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired senior FBI official Andrew McCabe for what Sessions called a "lack of candor," McCabe oversaw a federal criminal investigation into whether Sessions lacked candor when testifying before Congress about contacts with Russian operatives, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Interested in Trump Administration? Add Trump Administration as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Trump Administration news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly accused Sessions of misleading them in congressional testimony and called on federal authorities to investigate, but McCabe's previously-unreported decision to actually put the attorney general in the crosshairs of an FBI probe was an exceptional move. One source told ABC News that Sessions was not aware of the investigation when he decided to fire McCabe last Friday less than 48 hours before McCabe, a former FBI deputy director, was due to retire from government and obtain a full pension, but an attorney representing Sessions declined to confirm that. Last year, several top Republican and Democratic lawmakers were informed of the probe during a closed-door briefing with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and McCabe, ABC News was told. By then, Sessions had recused himself from the FBI’s probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, giving Rosenstein oversight of the growing effort. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Within weeks, Rosenstein appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to take over the investigation and related inquiries, including the Sessions matter. Two months ago, Sessions was interviewed by Mueller's team, and the federal inquiry related to his candor during his confirmation process has since been shuttered, according to a lawyer representing Sessions. "The Special Counsel's office has informed me that after interviewing the attorney general and conducting additional investigation, the attorney general is not under investigation for false statements or perjury in his confirmation hearing testimony and related written submissions to Congress," attorney Chuck Cooper told ABC News on Wednesday. According to the sources, McCabe authorized the criminal inquiry after a top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and then-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., wrote a letter in March 2017 to the FBI urging agents to investigate "all contacts" Sessions may have had with Russians, and "whether any laws were broken in the course of those contacts or in any subsequent discussion of whether they occurred." It's unclear how actively federal authorities pursued the matter in the months before Sessions' interview with Mueller’s investigators. It's also unclear whether the special counsel may still be pursuing other matters related to Sessions and statements he has made to Congress – or others – since his confirmation. During his confirmation in January 2017, Sessions told the Senate committee that he had not been in contact with anyone connected to the Russian government about the 2016 election. He also said he was "not aware" of anyone else affiliated with the Trump campaign communicating with the Russian government ahead of the election. Two months later, after a Washington Post report disputed what Sessions told Congress, the attorney general acknowledged he had met the Russian ambassador twice during the presidential campaign, but insisted none of those interactions were "to discuss issues of the campaign." Sessions "made no attempt to correct his misleading testimony until The Washington Post revealed that, in fact, he had at least two meetings with the Russian ambassador," Leahy and Franken said in a statement at the time. "We know he would not tolerate dishonesty if he were in our shoes." Sessions called any suggestions that he misled lawmakers "false." Nevertheless, charges subsequently brought by Mueller raised more questions over Sessions' testimony to Congress. In November, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos admitted to federal authorities that during the campaign he was in frequent contact with Russian operatives about setting up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Papadopoulos pitched the idea to Sessions and Trump at a meeting of the then-candidate's foreign policy team in March 2016. Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images Sessions later told lawmakers he "always told the truth," insisting he didn’t recall the March 2016 meeting when first testifying to Congress. He later remembered the meeting after reading news reports about it, he said. "We are concerned by Attorney General Sessions' lack of candor to the Committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury," Leahy and Franken said in their March 2017 letter to then-FBI director James Comey, who was fired by Trump two months later. It is a federal crime for anyone to knowingly provide false information to Congress – or to a federal law enforcement agency. No charges have been announced against McCabe, and there’s no indication that the FBI has recommended he be charged. McCabe was fired Friday after the Justice Department's inspector general concluded that McCabe misled investigators looking into how Justice Department and FBI officials handled matters associated with the 2016 presidential election. In October 2016, hoping to push back on a series of news reports questioning whether he might be trying to protect Hillary Clinton, McCabe authorized two FBI officials to speak with a reporter about his efforts to boost the FBI's investigation of the Clinton Foundation. When he was questioned later about that decision, McCabe "lacked candor – including under oath – on multiple occasions," Sessions said in a statement announcing McCabe's firing. "The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability," Sessions said. "As the [FBI's ethics office] stated, 'all FBI employees know that lacking candor under oath results in dismissal and that our integrity is our brand.'" McCabe vehemently denies misleading investigators, saying in his own statement that he is "being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey." For more than a year, Trump and other Republicans have questioned whether McCabe harbored a political bias when making law enforcement decisions as deputy director. McCabe's critics point to his ties to Democrats, particularly his wife's failed Democratic run for state senate in Virginia nearly three years ago. But in an interview with ABC News, McCabe insisted politics was "absolutely not" a factor in any of the decisions he made, noting he has considered himself a Republican all his life. A representative for McCabe declined to comment for this article. Franken, one of the two senators who pushed the FBI to investigate Sessions, resigned from Congress in December amid several claims of sexual misconduct. --ABC News' Trish Turner and Matt Mosk contributed to this report ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. WASHINGTON — Andrew McCabe, as the FBI's deputy director, authorized an investigation into whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied to Congress, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The investigation ended without criminal charges, according to Sessions’s lawyer, and was not known to Sessions last week when he made the decision to fire McCabe, according to a Justice Department official. ABC News was first to report that McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told lawmakers about the probe in a closed-door meeting last year. The inquiry eventually went to special counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Sessions’s lawyer, Chuck Cooper, said in a statement to NBC News: "The special counsel's Office has informed me that after interviewing the attorney general and conducting additional investigation, the attorney general is not under investigation for false statements or perjury in his confirmation hearing testimony and related written submissions to Congress." Sessions testified during his congressional confirmation hearing in January 2017 that he had not met with Russians during his time as a Trump campaign surrogate. It later surfaced that Sessions met with the then-Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, several times during the campaign, prompting Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and then-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to refer a perjury inquiry to the FBI, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News. After media reports about the meetings, Sessions testified before Congress that his meetings were in his capacity as a senator, or were too insignificant to remember. Perjury referrals to the FBI from political parties who feel aggrieved by a witness are common, but rarely end in prosecution because they are difficult to prove, said one of the sources. Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation after media reports about his meetings with Kislyak, a move he said was a result of his work on the campaign and not because of the reports. Rosenstein took over the investigation and later appointed Mueller as special counsel after James Comey was fired as FBI director. Trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election. ||||| WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. investigated Attorney General Jeff Sessions for possible perjury last year over congressional testimony in which he said he had no contacts with Russians, according to three people familiar with the case. In fact, Mr. Sessions later acknowledged, he had personally met the Russian ambassador to the United States during the campaign and was aware that George Papadopoulos, a campaign adviser, had developed Russian ties, too. F.B.I. agents were aware of both inaccuracies in real time. And last March, when Congress asked the F.B.I. to investigate the attorney general, agents began doing so, two of the people said. Andrew G. McCabe, the F.B.I.’s deputy director at the time, authorized the investigation, the two people said. Mr. McCabe himself was recently fired for showing “lack of candor” in an internal investigation. Mr. Sessions rejected Mr. McCabe’s appeal and fired him hours before his retirement was to take effect, jeopardizing his pension. The investigation into Mr. Sessions began before Robert S. Mueller III was appointed special counsel to investigate Russia-related matters. Mr. Sessions’s lawyer, Chuck Cooper, said no investigation is being conducted now.

– Long before he was fired by Jeff Sessions for an alleged "lack of candor" under oath, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe authorized a criminal investigation of the attorney general for allegedly lying to Congress about his Russia contacts, sources tell ABC and NBC. The sources say Sessions was unaware of the federal perjury investigation when he decided to fire McCabe two days before his scheduled retirement date. Then-Sen. Al Franken was among those who called for a perjury investigation last year after it emerged that Sessions had failed to disclose talks with Russia's ambassador during his confirmation hearings. Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation because of the talks. In November, Sessions told a House panel that he hadn't lied about a meeting in which a Trump aide boasted about Russian contacts—he had only forgotten about it. The Sessions investigation was eventually handed over to special counsel Robert Mueller, who interviewed the attorney general earlier this year. Sessions' lawyer says the FBI investigation ended without criminal charges and Sessions is no longer being investigated. "The special counsel’s office has informed me that after interviewing the attorney general and conducting additional investigation, the attorney general is not under investigation for false statements or perjury in his confirmation hearing testimony and related written submissions to Congress," attorney Chuck Cooper said in a statement to the New York Times.

McDonald's has joined the fight against plastic pollution by switching to paper straws at its restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The change, which will begin to take effect in September, follows trials of paper straws at select locations. The US fast food chain said a majority of its customers supported the move away from plastic. "Reflecting the broader public debate, our customers told us they wanted to see a move on straws but to do so without compromising their overall experience when visiting our restaurants," said Paul Pomroy, CEO of McDonald's UK and Ireland. McDonald's (MCD) uses 1.8 million straws each day at its 1,361 restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company said the changeover would be complete in 2019. Plastic straws are the sixth most common type of litter globally, according to Litterati, an app that identifies and maps trash. Only 1% are recycled, largely because they are made of a mixture of polypropylene and polystyrene. According to the UK government, 1 million birds and more than 100,000 sea mammals die every year from eating or getting tangled in plastic waste. And research shows there will be more plastic than fish by weight in the world's oceans by 2050. UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove called on other companies to follow the example of McDonald's. "McDonald's has made a significant investment in UK manufacturing to produce an alternative to plastic, showing British businesses are taking a global lead," he said in a statement. Several large UK restaurant chains such as Pizza Express and Wagamama have already stopped using plastic straws. And a group of more than 40 companies including Coca-Cola (KO), Nestle (NSRGF), Unilever (UL) and Procter & Gamble (PG) pledged earlier this year to slash the amount of plastic they use and throw away in the United Kingdom. The flurry of commitments comes as efforts to eliminate single-use plastic intensify. The European Union moved last month to ban 10 items -- including plastic cutlery, straws and cotton swabs -- by 2030 in a bid to clean up the oceans. But it could take years to come into effect. Related: Europe plans ban on plastic cutlery, straws and more In April, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced the United Kingdom would look to ban plastic-stemmed cotton swabs, stirrers and straws. She urged Commonwealth countries to commit to the fight against plastic waste at a meeting in London. McDonald's said that plastic straws would still be available "for those that require it," but they will be kept behind the counter. Some manufacturers have previously argued against the removal of plastic straws because they are needed by some people with disabilities, children and the elderly. -- Laura Smith-Spark and Jacopo Prisco contributed to this report. ||||| Image copyright PA Image caption Paper straws will replace the plastic ones McDonald's will replace plastic straws with paper ones in all its UK and Ireland restaurants, starting from September. It is the latest company to opt out of some single-use plastic products which can take hundreds of years to decompose if not recycled. The restaurant chain uses 1.8 million straws a day in the UK. "Reflecting the broader public debate, our customers told us they wanted to see a move on straws," the firm said. This decision follows a successful trial in selected restaurants earlier this year. The move to paper straws will be completed next year. Environment Secretary Michael Gove called it a "significant contribution" to helping the environment, adding that it was "a fine example to other large businesses". The ban does not yet extend to the rest of the chain's global empire, but trials will begin in selected restaurants in the US, France and Norway. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Will McCallum on ten ways to cut down on plastics In some other countries, straws are being offered on request only. In April, the government proposed a ban on plastic straws and cotton buds in England. But many businesses, including Waitrose, Costa Coffee, and Wagamama, have already started to take action. All JD Wetherspoon pubs stopped using plastic straws at the beginning of the year. Pizza Express said it would replace all plastic straws with biodegradable ones by summer 2018. And more than 60 independent British festivals - including Boardmasters and Bestival - have banned plastic straws as part of a pledge to rid their sites of single-use plastic by 2021. Most straws are made from plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene, which unless recycled take hundreds of years to decompose. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Rich Horner filmed himself swimming through rubbish off the island of Nusa Penida near Bali Many end up in landfill and the oceans, and the BBC's Blue Planet II highlighted the damage plastic can cause to marine wildlife. But not everyone thinks total bans are the answer. Plastic straws enable many disabled people to drink independently, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said. She said paper alternatives were not always suitable or safe. And Tetra Pak - the food packaging company - has said plastic straws serve a "vital" function in cartons and should not be banned. It argues that straws can be recycled together with cartons if they are pushed back into the box. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Plastic pollution is killing animals in the Arctic Transcend Packaging in Wales, and Huhtamaki in Belfast, will supply the straws for all 1,361 McDonald's restaurants. The straws will use paper from certified sustainable sources, the company said. "The government's ambitious plans, combined with strong customer opinion, has helped to accelerate the move away from plastic and I'm proud that we've been able to play our part," said Paul Pomroy, chief executive of McDonald's UK and Ireland. ||||| Fast food giant McDonald's is to move away from using plastic straws in its U.K. and Ireland restaurants. In an announcement Friday, the business said it would commence a phased rollout of paper straws in all 1,361 of its sites in the two countries. The transition is set to start in September and will be completed by 2019. "McDonald's is committed to using our scale for good and working to find sustainable solutions for plastic straws globally," Francesca DeBiase, McDonald's executive vice president of global supply chain and sustainability, said in a statement. The business has also started to test alternatives to plastic straws in Belgium. It will do the same later this year in a number of restaurants in the U.S., France, Australia, Norway and Sweden. Tests will also take place in a number of markets, including Malaysia, to offer straws only when they are requested by customers. "We hope this work will support industry wide change and bring sustainable solutions to scale," DeBiase added. The issue of plastic waste is a serious one. Europeans produce 25 million tons of plastic waste per year, according to the European Commission. Less than 30 percent of this is collected for recycling. McDonald's joins a growing number of major companies looking to reduce their use of plastic. In January, U.K. supermarket Iceland, which specializes in frozen food, made a commitment to eliminate plastic packaging from its own brand products by 2023. The same month, bottled water brand Evian said it would produce all its plastic bottles from 100 percent recycled plastic by the year 2025.

– "A move on straws" is afoot across the pond, and McDonald's is driving the push. The fast-food chain is nixing plastic straws and moving to paper in all of its Ireland and United Kingdom restaurants in what the UK's environment secretary calls a "significant contribution" to going green, the BBC reports. Those locations currently use 1.8 million plastic straws per day. The straw switchover will start in September and be fully in place by 2019. The initiative comes after a trial run there, and new paper-straw trials are set for some McDonald's locations in France, Norway, Sweden, Australia, and the US, CNBC notes. CNNMoney notes that, per trash-mapping app Litterati, plastic straws are the sixth most common type of litter in the world. Only about 1% of plastic straws are recycled, and, because of their combination polypropylene-polystyrene makeup, they can take hundreds of years to decompose. Some advocates say plastic straws are safer for certain customers with disabilities, but McDonald's says the plastic versions will still be available upon request "for those that require it."

McKenzie Anderson, before and after she came down with a mysterious disease called acute flaccid myelitis, which is a lot like polio. (Family photos) Before dinner on July 29, 3-year-old Carter Roberts of Chesterfield, Va., seemed perfectly healthy. That evening, he vomited. When he woke up the next morning with a slight fever of 99 degrees, his mother, Robin Roberts, figured that he was coming down with a cold. The next morning, she found him collapsed on his bedroom floor. “Mommy,” she recalls him saying. “Help me, help me.” Carter could barely stand when she picked him up, and his neck was arched backward. “What was most alarming,” she said, “is he had no control over his right arm whatsoever.” In the hospital, Carter lost control of his right arm, then over his legs and other muscles within a few days. He now can only wiggle a toe and move the left side of his face. He has been diagnosed with a mysterious, polio-like illness called acute flaccid myelitis, a condition that seems to be surging this year. Through July, 32 new cases of AFM have been confirmed across the United States this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a sharp rise compared with last year, when just seven cases had been confirmed by that month. The numbers have risen steadily since April. In past years, most cases have occurred between August and December, with a peak in October. [Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s $3 billion scientific effort aims to rid world of major diseases by end of century] Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Among the many unanswered questions about the condition are what causes it, how best to treat it and how long the paralysis lasts. Although most cases occur in children, AFM occasionally affects adults. The CDC official who leads the surveillance efforts said that confirmed numbers for August will not be available until the end of this month, but the number of reports she is receiving from doctors around the country continues to rise. “CDC is looking at these trends very carefully,” Manisha Patel said. “We have sent out several health alerts to states to let them know we are seeing an increase in reporting and to encourage them to communicate with doctors to report these cases in a timely fashion.” The CDC began tracking AFM in 2014, when 121 cases were confirmed. That year, the CDC counted only children affected by the disease. Their average age was 7. Most had a fever or a respiratory illness a few days before developing paralysis. Many had to be placed on respirators. Although 85 percent of the children recovered partially, only three of them recovered fully. Five-year-old Braden Scott sits up unassisted at a rehab facility two months after he was struck with acute flaccid myelitis. It's a major improvement for someone with this polio-like illness. (Facebook/Team Braden Luke) Health officials and physicians around the country said they are concerned that the rising number of cases through July could foretell a repeat of 2014. “You hate to be an alarmist, but there’s reason to have some concern,” said Avindra Nath, chief of the section of infections of the nervous system at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. “What we don't know is where are these cases. Are they clustered? Do they all look alike? Getting more information on these cases would be helpful.” Beyond saying that confirmed cases have been reported in 17 states through July, Patel declined to reveal which states have been involved. But conversations and emails with physicians around the country indicate that at least four cases have occurred in California and at least three in Massachusetts, and that others have been seen in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as Virginia. “We are definitely hearing of cases from our colleagues across the country,” said Teri Schreiner, a neurologist at the University of Colorado and Children's Hospital Colorado. “It’s a trend that’s worrisome … what I'm hearing from others seems to be coming at a tempo similar to what happened in 2014.” Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., said that doctors on a U.S. email list for pediatric neurologists reported five new cases of AFM in just the past few days. “There is definitely an explosion of cases,” Le Pichon said. No treatment other than physical therapy has yet been shown to markedly improve outcomes, although some doctors have reported that treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), used to treat some other viral infectious diseases afflicting the nervous system, might help. It’s also been suggested that Prozac could prove beneficial. The degree of paralysis in the first month has generally improved only slightly over the course of a year. “After about a year or so, what you’ve got is what you’ve got,” said Max Wiznitzer, a pediatric neurologist at Case Western Reverse University in Cleveland. Most perplexing is what causes the disease. The 2014 outbreak of AFM occurred at the same time as a far larger outbreak of enterovirus D68 across the United States. The vast majority of patients infected with the virus developed only a respiratory illness. Some physicians were convinced that EV-D68 was the cause, not only because both outbreaks occurred at the same time but also because of a study that identified a particular strain of EV-D68 in the airways of children with AFM. But officials at the CDC and some doctors, including Wiznitzer, insist that the cause remains unproved. So far this year, no similarly widespread outbreak of EV-D68 respiratory infections has been reported, although cases of it and other enteroviruses have been seen in some areas. On Friday, Le Pichon, in Kansas City, said, “I just got confirmation that we have an epidemic of enterovirus breaking out here and at least a few cases [of enterovirus] have typed positive for EV-D68.” Carol Glaser, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., said: “If the theory is right that it’s caused by EV-D68, which some of us believe more than others, this would be the time of year we start seeing it. It’s an enterovirus, and they tend to peak in late summer and early fall.” Because the CDC’s surveillance of AFM is less than two years old, it remains unclear if some of this year’s apparent rise in confirmed cases is due simply to more doctors sending in case reports, Patel said. And Wiznitzer emphasized that with just 32 confirmed cases across the United States so far, AFM remains extremely rare Glaser, however, said she is convinced that the condition is new. She worked at the California Department of Public Health when, in 2012, some of the first reports of AFM anywhere in the country came in from physicians there. “I was there for 15 years and talked to neurologists every single day,” she said. “It wasn’t until the fall of 2012 when the first physician called in and wanted a test for polio on one of his patients. One of my colleagues in the office chuckled and said to me, ‘We don't have polio in the United States.’ But in the next two weeks, I got two very similar phone calls. We had never had a report like that. I do think there was something new going on. Fortunately, it’s still rare.” If EV-D68 does somehow cause AFM, studying the virus may lead to prevention or treatment. One glimmer of good news came from Kenneth Tyler, chair of neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He and his colleagues have been conducting experiments to infect mice with EV-D68 and have them develop loss of muscle control like that seen in AFM. He says he has submitted a paper to a peer-reviewed medical journal describing his success in doing so. The goal, he said, is to use mice to study how EV-D68 causes harm to the spinal cord and muscles, and to test potential therapies, such as IVIG. “It looks like we’re seeing protection with IVIG in the mouse model,” he said. Robin Roberts said she wishes more was known about the condition that has harmed her son. “In this day and age to not have information about something like this is very frustrating. There needs to be more done about it, and for more parents and doctors to know about it,” she said. Angie Andersen said that her daughter McKenzie was sent home from the hospital twice in the first two weeks of her illness because doctors did not understand the severity of what was happening. Finally her pediatrician told Andersen to bring McKenzie to another hospital. McKenzie was 6 years old when she developed sniffles in December 2014. “Within 12 days,” Andersen said, “she was paralyzed from the neck down, on a ventilator to breathe for her. She was left with her left hand and her feet and toes that move.” “You know you could understand the bad that comes from a car wreck, or if she got cancer,” Andersen said. “How do you ever wrap your brain around the fact that she got a cold, and now she’s a quadriplegic on a ventilator? It’s a nightmare you never wake up from.” Still, she said, McKenzie can now speak and even sing softly despite having a tracheotomy. “She has a lot of spunk, and that is helping her through,” Andersen said. Correction: This article originally misnamed Robin Roberts as Robin Carter. 1 of 26 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The case files: Medical mysteries View Photos From a daily afternoon fever to a debilitating reaction to chemotherapy, here’s a look at perplexing medical mystery cases. Caption From a daily afternoon fever to a debilitating reaction to chemotherapy, here’s a look at perplexing medical mystery cases. Doctors were stumped by this 2-year-old boy’s symptoms. He had swollen thumbs, bleeding gums and anemia. He cried whenever anyone touched his legs. Doctors were running out of time. Read the case Cam Cottrill/For The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. Read more: Doctors are stumped by toddler's painful legs, rash and bleeding gums Lifelong care, heartaches ahead for babies born with Zika in the U.S. Odd teeth: A mother's Internet sleuthing led to her daughter's troubling diagnosis ||||| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning against a polio-like illness that is causing paralysis among an increasing number of Americans. From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2016, the CDC reported 50 people in 24 U.S. states had been diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), compared with only 21 people in 2015 in 16 U.S. states. From August to December 2014, 120 people, mostly patients 21 and younger, in 34 U.S. states, were diagnosed with the condition. AFM affects the nervous system, specifically the spinal cord, according to the CDC. The cause is unknown, but it has been linked to viral infections like polio and non-polio enteroviruses, adenoviruses, and the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. Enteroviruses can cause neurologic illness such as meningitis, but more serious disease like encephalitis and AFM are less common. Symptoms of AFM include pain in the arms and legs, an inability to pass urine, and, most severely, respiratory failure that can occur when muscles involved in breathing become weak. The latter symptom can require urgent ventilator support, according to the CDC. There is no specific treatment for AFM, but rather neurologists may prescribe therapy on a case-by-case basis. Although the AFM outbreak in 2014 coincided with an outbreak of enterovirus D68, the CDC did not detect traces of the severe respiratory virus in the AFM specimens collected that year. Among the people with AFM in 2015, the CDC also did not detect the virus in the specimens collected, and only limited sporadic cases of the virus have been detected in the United States in 2016. As health officials investigate the current rise of AFM cases, to prevent illness, they are advising people wash their hands with soap and water, avoid close contact with sick people, and clean surfaces with a disinfectant, especially those that a sick person has touched. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. / Updated By Lauren Dunn and Parminder Deo Little Carter Roberts, of Chesterfield, Virginia, was a typical 3-year-old — playful, healthy, and active. But over the course of a weekend Carter went from his happy-go-lucky self to a paralyzed patient unable to move his arms or legs. “He needed a tube to help him breath,” says his mother Robin Roberts. “Doctors were working really hard to try and figure out what was going on.” At the hospital, the Roberts family was left with more questions than answers. Doctors considered a list of diagnoses from Guillain-Barré Syndrome to various other auto-immune diseases. Finally, after an MRI scan and hours of waiting, Carter was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) — a mysterious muscle weakness, similar to polio — that appears to be on the rise this year. Carter Roberts and his two sisters before he was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis. Robin Roberts On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, as of August 2016, there have been 50 cases of confirmed AFM across 24 states. That's nearly double over 2015, when 21 cases for the whole year were reported. AFM has been linked to a strain of enterovirus that's now circulating again. Some doctors are warning this could be the same mysterious, polio-like illness detected in 2014 that paralyzed 120 children. Related: CDC Develops Faster New Test For Enterovirus D68 Enteroviruses are common and typically cause milder illnesses in children, such as respiratory infections or even summer colds. However, when enteroviruses get into the central nervous system they can cause more serious illnesses like inflammation of the brain. “August to October is typically when enteroviruses circulate,” says Dr. Kevin Messacar, pediatric infectious disease physician at Children's Hospital Colorado. “We see more acute flaccid myelitis during that season and we do seem to be seeing an increase in the cases that have been reported.” “Acute flaccid myelitis is a very rare complication of an illness,” says Messacar. “I think it's important that we take it seriously because the effects of this condition appear to be long term and are disabling. Related: New Strain of Enterovirus May Have Caused Mystery Paralysis There are no vaccines for this strain of enterovirus, so doctors urge good hygiene as the best defense: Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze Don’t go to work or school when you’re sick Remain vigilant about hand washing Carter, who was diagnosed in July, can now only move the left side of his face and wiggle a toe. He sticks his tongue out and blinks his eyes to certain questions. According to researchers, unfortunately there are still no proven effective therapies for this condition. However, speech therapy has given his mother hope. Related: 6 Things to Know about Enterovirus “I got to hear him talk and he said just a handful of words and as a mom, it was the sweetest sound ever,” says Robin. “I wake up and am hopeful every day that he's going to make some progress. It's hard not a feel a little bit robbed because this happened so quickly, but it was just a virus.” ||||| Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter / Source: TODAY By A. Pawlowski A mystery illness that leaves children barely able to move is on the rise again, two years after an outbreak alarmed doctors and parents. There have been 50 cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) reported across 24 states so far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. Though the syndrome is still rare, that's more than double compared to 2015, when 21 cases were confirmed for the whole year. AFM can be caused by a variety of germs, such as enteroviruses, which are common and typically cause milder illnesses in children such as respiratory infections. However, when enteroviruses get into the central nervous system, they can cause more serious illnesses like inflammation of the brain. AFM affects the spinal cord, but the exact trigger is often elusive and there’s no specific treatment, according to the CDC. Symptoms include: limb weakness facial droop difficulty breathing or swallowing, or slurred speech The best prevention is to wash your hands, stay up-to-date on vaccinations and protect yourself from mosquitoes — since the mosquito-borne West Nile virus is linked to AFM — the CDC advises. The illness seemed to peak in 2014, with 120 cases reported between August and December — all children. The average age for children stricken with AFM is 7 and many had to be placed on respirators. Although 85 percent of the children recovered partially, only three have fully recovered, according to the CDC. Related: New strain of enterovirus may have caused mystery paralysis Laura Carson was a healthy, active 4-year-old before she suddenly developed acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in 2014. Courtesy Sara Carson Sara Carson was among the families thrust into the medical mystery when her daughter Laura suddenly developed the polio-like paralysis. “Every new case you see, the pit of your stomach drops out again,�? Carson, who lives in suburban Chicago, told TODAY. “You flash back to that moment in time where you’re sitting in the hospital room thinking you don’t know where the next day is going to take you, or the next hour or the next minute.�? Related: What parents need to know about enterovirus D68 Laura spent 25 days in the hospital. At her worst, she could only move parts of her left arm and left leg. Courtesy Sara Carson In August 2014, Laura — then 4 — was playing at home when she suddenly developed a headache. When the little girl woke up the next morning with rapid shallow breathing, Carson took her to her pediatrician, but was told everything was fine. Over the next few days, Carson noticed Laura was fatigued, lethargic and developed a tremor. The left side of Laura's face looked a little weaker. Another alarming symptom showed up soon after. “When she woke up, she asked me why the pillows were stacking themselves and why there were two of me, and at that point, I realized she was having double vision,�? Carson recalled. The family rushed Laura to an emergency room, only to be told again that everything was fine. Once home, Laura’s head started to fall to the right and she could no longer lift her right arm, so the Carsons took her to a different hospital, where she was finally admitted. By the next morning, Laura was like a limp rag doll, her mom said. When she tried to help the little girl out of bed, her head dropped back and her arms fell to the side. Laura spent the next 25 days in the hospital, bedridden and unable to walk. At her worst, she could only move parts of her left arm and left leg. “I kept looking at the doctors and saying, ‘She’s going to be OK, right?’ They would look at me and they couldn’t answer that question,�? Carson said. “Nobody had a clue what was going on. … It’s fear because you don’t know: at some point, is this going to stop or are we looking at losing our daughter?�? As she began to recover, Laura had to use a wheelchair. Courtesy Sara Carson An MRI revealed lesions on Laura’s spine, a frequent finding in AFM cases. She was given steroids and made “teeny, tiny little gains,�? her mom said. Laura was released from the hospital just as a cluster of AFM cases among children in Colorado was coming to light. Laura’s neurologist said her case looked like an exact match, Carson noted. Some, but not all, of the children with AFM were diagnosed with enterovirus. Laura tested negative for it. Meanwhile, the family tried to adjust to a new reality. “If she wanted to play with her dolls, you’d have to literally hold her arm and lift it out for her and grasp it. It was all consuming to help her to try to be a kid again,�? she recalled. An MRI revealed lesions on Laura's spine, a frequent finding in AFM cases. Courtesy Sara Carson Months of rehabilitation followed, with Laura receiving intensive physical, speech and occupational therapy. She also took part in aquatic therapy and muscle stimulation; visited an acupuncturist and a homeopath; took various supplements and received chiropractic adjustments. Two years later, Laura is doing much better. She still has weakness on the right side of her body, but she’s able to run, play and go to school. Today, 6-year-old Laura is active again and continues to improve. Courtesy Sara Carson “We’re very blessed. We’re one of the ‘lucky’ families in terms of how much return [to normal] we’ve received,�? Carson said. “You just have to take it a day at a time and be thankful for every little blessing that you’re given and every little gain that you make.�? Follow A. Pawlowski on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ||||| Notes from the Field: Acute Flaccid Myelitis Among Persons Aged ≤21 Years — United States, August 1–November 13, 2014 Division of Viral Diseases, National Centers for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC; Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC; Children's Hospital Colorado; Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists In August 2014, physicians at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado, noted a cluster of cases of acute limb weakness among children (1). Most patients were found to have distinctive abnormalities of the central spinal cord (i.e., gray matter) on magnetic resonance imaging, and most reported a respiratory or febrile illness preceding the onset of neurologic symptoms. On September 12, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment alerted CDC about this cluster. These cases coincided with a national outbreak of severe respiratory disease among children caused by enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) (2). On September 26, CDC issued a health advisory requesting state and local health departments to report cases and send specimens to CDC for testing (3). A case was defined as acute onset of focal limb weakness occurring on or after August 1, 2014, and a magnetic resonance image showing a spinal cord lesion largely restricted to gray matter in a patient aged ≤21 years. As of November 13, CDC had verified reports of 88 cases in 32 states (Figure). The median age of patients was 7.6 years (range = 5 months–20 years), and 54 (61%) were males. Limb weakness was asymmetrical in most patients. Cranial nerve motor dysfunction was reported in 30 (34%) cases. Six (7%) patients had altered mental status, and three (3%) had seizures. Most patients reported a respiratory illness (81%), a febrile illness (68%), or both, occurring before neurologic symptom onset; 8% had neither condition. Among 86 patients for whom past medical history was reported, 65 (76%) were previously healthy, and 21 (24%) had underlying illnesses, most commonly asthma (nine [10%]). All but one patient was hospitalized because of neurologic illness, and 17 (19%) required ventilator support. Among 80 patients from whom cerebrospinal fluid was obtained, 68 (85%) showed a moderate pleocytosis and normal or mildly elevated protein. Information regarding current clinical status was reported for 77 patients (median follow-up = 19 days). Of those, 49 (64%) reported some symptom improvement, and 28 (36%) showed no improvement; none were fully recovered. No deaths were reported. Among 71 patients with cerebrospinal fluid testing performed by their health care providers, state and local public health departments, or CDC, no enteroviruses or other pathogens have been confirmed to date. Among 41 patients whose upper respiratory tract samples were available for enterovirus/rhinovirus testing at CDC, 17 (41%) tested positive: eight (20%) for EV-D68 and nine (22%) for eight other enterovirus/rhinovirus types. Of the 19 patients whose upper respiratory tract samples were obtained <14 days from respiratory illness onset, 10 (53%) were positive: seven (37%) for EV-D68 and three (16%) for rhinoviruses. Laboratory testing for other pathogens is ongoing. On November 7, CDC published interim clinical management considerations, summarizing expert opinion based on current evidence on management and care of children with acute flaccid myelitis (4). CDC continues to collaborate with partners nationally to investigate reported cases, risk factors, and possible etiologies of this condition. Although the specific causes of this illness are still under investigation, and causal relationship to EV-D68 has not yet been substantiated, being up to date on all recommended vaccinations is essential to prevent a number of severe diseases. Vaccine-preventable diseases include poliomyelitis, which is caused by poliovirus; infection with this enterovirus can present with acute flaccid paralysis. There are also numerous other vaccine-preventable diseases that can result in severe illness. Prevention of viral infections includes general hygienic measures, such as frequent hand washing with soap and water, avoiding close contact with sick persons, and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces. Additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/habits/index.htm. If a child appears to have a sudden onset of weakness in arms or legs, caregivers should contact a health care provider to have the child assessed for possible neurologic illness. Health care providers are encouraged to report patients meeting the case definition to their state or local health department. Health departments should report patients with illness meeting the case definition to CDC using a brief patient summary form* and may contact CDC by e-mail to arrange further laboratory testing (limbweakness@cdc.gov). Additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncird/investigation/viral/sep2014.html. (Corresponding author: Eyal Leshem, eleshem@cdc.gov, 404-639-7251) References

– At first, it seemed like 4-year-old Laura Carson was suffering from a simple headache. Then came rapid shallow breathing, a tremor, double vision. Within days in August 2014, she was "a limp rag doll," reports Today—but it took doctors some time to diagnose her with acute flaccid myelitis, a rare disease the CDC warns is becoming increasingly more common. Not much is known about the polio-like disease that plagues mostly children, including what causes it. What is known is that AFM affects the spinal cord and causes weak limbs or paralysis, drooping in the face, and slurred speech or difficulty breathing. About 200 kids have been diagnosed since 2014, and this year's figures are especially troubling. The CDC reports 121 cases of AFM were confirmed in 2014, but that was followed by just 21 cases in 2015, reports Fox News. From January to August of this year, however, there were 50 confirmed cases in 24 states. Among that first spike of cases in 2014, the Washington Post reports that 85% of kids recovered partially, but only three recovered fully. A CDC study found 68% of patients had a fever and 81% had a respiratory illness before AFM symptoms appeared. Some had been diagnosed with the West Nile virus, and others with an enterovirus. "August to October is typically when enteroviruses circulate" and "we see more acute flaccid myelitis during that season," a doctor tells NBC News. Washing your hands and covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing are among the ways suggested to help. (Four siblings suffer from a mysterious disease.)

Play Facebook Twitter Embed Wife of Keith Scott Had Filed for a Protective Order, Documents Show 1:48 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog The 9-year-old Charlotte girl whose tearful testimony on racism and policing Monday captured attention around the world said her decision to address City Council was a last-minute one. "I was a little nervous, so I decided to just go up there and tell them how I feel," Zianna Oliphant, told NBC News Tuesday. "I was just feeling like what the police are doing to us, just because of our skin, is not right,” the fourth-grader said. Zianna and her brother, Marquis, both spoke at a City Council meeting in which members of the city’s black community called for changes after police fatally shot an African-American man, Keith Lamont Scott, last week. Related: Bomb Scare Shuts Down Charlotte Police Headquarters Play Facebook Twitter Embed Zianna Oliphant Explains Tearful Plea to Charlotte Leaders 1:01 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog Police say Scott was armed. The shooting death and questions over the use of deadly police force against people of color sparked protests that roiled the city. "We are black people and we shouldn't have to feel like this. We shouldn't have to protest because y'all are treating us wrong," the girl said Monday. “We do this because we need to and have rights.” Tuesday, Zianna said she watched coverage of the police shooting and the protests on the news with her mother, Precious Oliphant "I was kind of emotional, because, like, the things that I said is like powerful to me. So that’s why I started crying," Zianna said. Related: Why Charlotte Police Chief Was "Least Likely' to Go Into Force Play Facebook Twitter Embed Tearful Girl to Charlotte Council: 'We Shouldn't Have to Feel Like This' 0:39 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog Zianna’s mother said she was proud of her daughter. "I was also emotional — because I shouldn’t have to enlighten my kids on discrimination and racism," Precious Oliphant said. She brought the children to the meeting, but it had not been planned for them to speak, she said. She noted that Zianna and her brother are actually involved in a police youth league and the children are frequently around officers who do great things for them. "They are being a valuable aspect in their lives and being role models, they are teaching them responsibility, dedication and commitment," Oliphant said. Zianna Oliphant is consoled after addressing the Charlotte City Council during time for public comments, mainly concerning last week's Scott shooting, at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. David T. Foster III / The Charlotte Observer via AP But she said that growing up in Charlotte, she has been pulled over for what she suspects were trivial issues, like the way she wore her hair or was otherwise perceived — and she worries that her children will be discriminated against as well. Related: Charlotte Police Release Video From Keith Scott Shooting Some at the council meeting called on Charlotte Police Chief Kerry Putney and the city’s mayor to resign over their handling of Scott’s death. "It’s not hate. We don’t hate the police," Oliphant said. “We hate how we are treated by the police, how we are targeted by the police.” Zianna said she wants to grow up to be a doctor, because she likes helping people. In the meantime, she doesn’t appear afraid to speak her mind. "Kids, they’re, like, shy. But I’m not shy to tell them how I feel about it," she said. ||||| Photo: Courtesy of YouTube/Sapphire “I come here today to talk about how I feel,” began Zianna Oliphant at a Charlotte citizens’ forum on Monday. The young girl was one of many who attended the gathering hosted by Charlotte’s City Council. In the week since the death of Keith Lamont Scott, a black man who was shot by police in Charlotte, the city has been embroiled in protests. Newly released video appears to support claims that Scott was not behaving in a threatening manner in the moments leading up to his death. Through tears, Oliphant continued her speech saying: “We are black people and we shouldn’t have to feel like this.” Adding: “It’s a shame that our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t even see them anymore. It’s a shame that we have to go to their graveyard and bury them. We have tears and we shouldn’t have tears. We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side.” As her time on the podium drew to a close, the room erupted in applause and some chanted: “No justice, no peace.”

– The shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott last week hit hard in Charlotte, NC. But someone who's feeling particular distress over it is young Zianna Oliphant, who spoke at a Charlotte City Council meeting Monday evening, addressing a hushed room with tears streaming down her cheeks as she spoke of the black experience and police brutality, New York reports. "I come here today to talk about how I feel," Zianna started off. "I feel like … we are treated differently than other people. … We are black people and we shouldn't have to feel like this." What especially drew the crowd's attention, in addition to Zianna's words and how emotional she was: the fact that she's a 9-year-old fourth-grader who spontaneously took the podium, per NBC News. "I decided to just go up there and tell them how I feel," she says. "I've been born and raised in Charlotte and I never felt this way till now," she said, breaking down. "And I can't stand how we're treated. … It's a shame that our fathers and mothers are killed and we can't even see them anymore. … We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side." Her mom, Precious Oliphant, tells NBC both Zianna and her brother, who also spoke at the meeting, are involved in a police youth league with cops who serve as "role models," showing them the ropes of "responsibility, dedication, and commitment." But Oliphant adds she's been pulled over by police for what she thinks were trivial things, and she doesn't want her kids to have that same experience, or to face danger. As for Zianna, she's not afraid to forge her own path for the future. "I'm not shy to tell them how I feel about it," she says.

(CNN) A self-described "email prankster" in the UK fooled a number of White House officials into thinking he was other officials, including an episode where he convinced the White House official tasked with cyber security that he was Jared Kushner and received that official's private email address unsolicited. "Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soirée towards the end of August," the fake Jared Kushner on an Outlook account wrote to the official White House email account of Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. "It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality to that which we ate in Iraq. Should be a great evening." Bossert wrote back: "Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that, I can't refuse. Also, if you ever need it, my personal email is" (redacted). Bossert did not respond to CNN's request for comment; the email prankster said he was surprised Bossert responded given his expertise. The emails were shared with CNN by the email prankster. White House officials acknowledged the incidents and said they were taking the matter seriously. "We take all cyber related issues very seriously and are looking into these incidents further," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN. Cyber experts consulted by CNN say the incidents are illustrative of how vulnerable Americans -- even those in the highest reaches of power -- remain to the potential threat of spear-phishing, the process through which officials are duped by hackers, and expose government computers and systems to various cyber threats. No one in any of these situations clicked any links making them vulnerable, and the prankster appears motivated by mischief not anything more malignant, so the severity of these White House pranks should not be overstated. But spear-phishers often begin the process by falsely posing as a friend or associate before asking the victim to take further action. "This shows how susceptible government officials are to spear-phishing in general," Adam Malone, a former cyber specialist and special agent for the FBI, told CNN. "Spear-phishing is the most common technique used by hackers to gain access to their victims. This information shines a light on how easy it is for people to build trust with unverified individuals." Former Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta infamously fell victim to such a trap, though the person who preyed on him had more nefarious intentions than mockery. "I try and keep it on the humorous side of things," the email prankster told CNN. "I'm not trying to get the keys to the vault or anything like that." One such exchange appears to have possibly played a role in the tensions between then- White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who resigned from his job earlier today, and since-fired White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Masquerading as Priebus, the prankster emailed Scaramucci's official account using a mail.com account on Saturday, the day after Priebus' resignation was announced. "I had promised myself I would leave my hands mud free," wrote the fake Priebus, "but after reading your tweet today which stated how; 'soon we will learn who in the media who has class, and who hasn't', has pushed me to this. That tweet was breathtakingly hypocritical, even for you. At no stage have you acted in a way that's even remotely classy, yet you believe that's the standard by which everyone should behave towards you? General Kelly will do a fine job. I'll even admit he will do a better job than me. But the way in which that transition has come about has been diabolical. And hurtful. I don't expect a reply." The very real Scaramucci responded: "You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize." Fake Priebus wrote back: "I can't believe you are questioning my ethics! The so called 'Mooch', who can't even manage his first week in the White House without leaving upset in his wake. I have nothing to apologize for." Actual Scaramucci responded: "Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello. You are right there. My family is fine by the way and will thrive. I know what you did. No more replies from me." In another exchange, Scaramucci was hoodwinked by the same prankster pretending to be Ambassador to Russia-designate Jon Huntsman Jr. "Who's (sic) head should roll first?" the bogus Huntsman asked from a Gmail account on Friday, before the Priebus termination had been announced. "Maybe I can help things along somewhat." "Both of them," responded the real Scaramucci, in an apparent reference to both Priebus and White House Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, about whom Scaramucci has been quite critical. After a few other nice messages of support from faux Huntsman, Scaramucci wrote, "Are you in Moscow now? If not please visit." Huntsman himself was also tricked, with the prankster pretending to be Eric Trump, the President's son. "Thanks for the thoughtful note," the ambassador-designate wrote to fake Eric Trump. "Russia will be a challenging but no doubt rewarding assignment." The fake Eric Trump responded with this suggestion: "Maybe we could have Dad sat (sic) on a horse, top off, giving the full Putin! He's in better shape than his suits suggest." Eric Trump, too, was similarly hoodwinked by the prankster emailing as his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., but he soon caught on and responded, "I have sent this to law enforcement who will handle from here." Neither Huntsman nor Trump would comment on the record. The email prankster told CNN he never heard from anyone in law enforcement about his email to Eric Trump. ||||| Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Tuilleadh eolais Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Tuilleadh eolais Níorbh fhéidir an freastalaí a theagmháil. An dtriailfidh tú arís é? Cuirtear an bun-Tweet san áireamh Bíodh meáin mar chuid de Trí ábhar Twitter a leabú i do láithreán gréasáin nó aip, tá tú ag aontú le Comhaontú an Fhorbróra agus Polasaí an Fhorbróra. Réamhamharc ||||| A suspected British prankster appears to have conned White House officials including Anthony Scaramucci into replying to him after pretending in email correspondence to be several different members of the Trump team. The man, who goes by the Twitter handle @SINON_REBORN, posed as Jared Kushner well enough to convince homeland security adviser Tom Bossert to reply to him, according to CNN. Bossert included his personal email address in the exchange. The man also fooled Scaramucci, the White House communications director who was fired on Monday, by pretending to be Reince Priebus, the former Trump administration chief of staff with whom he was believed to be in open warfare. In a series of emails, the man posing as Priebus baited Scaramucci, accusing him of being “breathtakingly hypocritical” and saying “at no stage have you acted in a way that is remotely classy”. Scaramucci responded: “You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize.” The heated exchange continued, with the prankster writing: “I can’t believe you are questioning my ethics! The so called ‘Mooch’, who can’t even manage his first week in the White House without leaving upset in his wake. I have nothing to apologize for.” Scaramucci replied: “Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello. You are right there. My family is fine by the way and will thrive. I know what you did. No more replies from me.” The White House has confirmed it is looking into the matter. “We take all cyber related issues very seriously and are looking into these incidents further,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN. EMAIL PRANKSTER (@SINON_REBORN) Reince (me) giving @Scaramucci something to think about. He never replied haha pic.twitter.com/hutjACmogR EMAIL PRANKSTER (@SINON_REBORN) An excerpt of what I emailed to @Scaramucci whilst playing the part of Jon Huntsman Jr. Apparently this didn't seem out of the ordinary?! 😂🤡 pic.twitter.com/6INHJi3KCD US energy secretary Rick Perry duped by Russian pranksters to talk about pig manure Read more The man, who described himself as a “lazy anarchist” on his Twitter profile, told CNN that his actions were meant to be “humorous” not malicious. “I’m not trying to get the keys to the vault or anything like that.” He has previously convinced Scaramucci that he was the ambassador to Russia-designate Jon Hunstman and tricked Hunstman himself into believing he was the president’s son Eric Trump. He also fleetingly convinced Eric Trump he was his brother, Donald Jr.

– Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci wasn't on the job for long—but it was long enough to be taken in by an email prankster who impersonated other officials. In emails to Scaramucci, the prankster pretended to be Reince Priebus and may have escalated tensions between the two men, the Guardian reports. After Priebus was fired as White House chief of staff, his impersonator told Scaramucci: "General Kelly will do a fine job. I'll even admit he will do a better job than me. But the way in which that transition has come about has been diabolical. And hurtful." Scaramucci replied: "You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize." "I can't believe you are questioning my ethics! The so called 'Mooch,' who can’t even manage his first week in the White House without leaving upset in his wake," the fake Priebus wrote. The real Scaramucci replied: "Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello ... I know what you did. No more replies from me." In other emails, the prankster—who describes himself as a "lazy anarchist" and uses the Twitter handle @SINON_REBORN—convinces Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert he is Jared Kushner, convinces Scaramucci that he is Ambassador to Russia-designate Jon Huntsman Jr., and convinces Huntsman that he is Eric Trump, CNN reports. The White House says it is investigating.

(CNN) A police officer who claimed she killed a Dallas man in his own apartment in the mistaken belief that he was in her home was indicted Friday on a murder charge, authorities said. The indictment of Amber Guyger comes more than two months after she was arrested in the shooting death of Botham Shem Jean at the Dallas apartment complex where both lived -- a killing that sparked days of protests. Guyger was arrested after the September shooting and charged with manslaughter by the Texas Rangers, the lead investigative agency, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at a news conference. When asked why the grand jury indicted Guyger on the more serious offense of murder, Johnson replied, "We presented the evidence and we explained the law." Johnson said murder constitutes someone "intentionally and knowingly" committing a crime, whereas manslaughter involves "recklessly doing something." "At the moment of the shooting it was a knowing ... offense," Johnson said. The court records Friday showed both a manslaughter and murder charge entered in Guyger's file, but a clerk of court clerk confirmed that the murder charge is the one prosecutors are moving forward on. Robert Rogers, Guyger's attorney, was disappointed but not surprised by the indictment, given what he called an "outpouring of vindictive emotion" in a statement late Friday. "This is a terrible tragedy that resulted from a true mistake," he said. "We are confident that a dispassionate jury in a fair forum will objectively apply the law to the facts and find Amber not guilty." Guyger had already been arrested again and released on bond, Johnson said at the news conference. Dallas Police Chief U. Reneè Hall said in a statement everyone in the department "continues to feel anguish about this difficult and tragic event." "We recognize and understand the national discord regarding the relationship between law enforcement and the communities we serve," Hall said. She also added that the department has "developed a framework for policy change" by restructuring the Citizen Review Board, revamping implicit bias training and seeking input from employee advisory and community advisory boards. "We have more work to do and we remain committed to improving our relationships throughout the city," Hall said. The indictment is a "step toward justice" for Jean's family, said Sharon Watkins Jones, ACLU of Texas Director of Political Strategies. "The Jean family's loss cannot be restored to them, but we will continue to work to ensure that police officers are held to the same standards as everyone else in the Dallas community and across the state of Texas," she said. 'He didn't deserve it," Jean's mother says Botham Jean's mother, Allison Jean, said during a news conference that she's satisfied with the murder indictment. Guyger "inflicted tremendous evil on my son," Allison Jean said. "He didn't deserve it. He was seated in his own apartment. He felt safe and he was violated by her coming in and murdering him," she said. Allison said she hopes a proper penalty will cause Guyger to reflect on what she has allegedly done and the pain she has caused. Family attorney S. Lee Merritt said the grand jury decision is "groundbreaking, but it is also just a start." Officer thought she was in her own apartment, warrant says Guyger, who is white, was off-duty when she encountered Jean , an 26-year-old unarmed black man, in his apartment on September 6, police said. Still in her uniform, Guyger parked her car in the complex and walked to what she believed was her apartment, according to an arrest warrant affidavit The door was slightly ajar as she tried to use her key, which has an electronic chip. When she opened the door, she saw the interior was almost completely dark, according to the affidavit. She described seeing a large silhouette and, believing there was an intruder in her apartment, drew her firearm. Amber Guyger is charged with killing Botham Shem Jean on September 6. She issued verbal commands, but Jean, being in his own home, did not heed them, and Guyger fired two shots, hitting him once in the torso, the affidavit said. Guyger, a four-year veteran, then entered the apartment, called 911 and started administering first aid to Jean. She turned on the lights while on the phone with 911, and only when asked for her address did she realize she was in the wrong apartment, she told police. Jean died at a hospital. Guyger was arrested September 9 on suspicion on manslaughter, and was released from the Kaufman County Jail after posting a $300,000 bond. The Dallas Police Department fired Guyger during a hearing September 24, the police chief said. Johnson will not prosecute the case. She was defeated in the November election by John Creuzo t, who will take office in January. JUST WATCHED CNN was granted access to Botham Jean's apartment Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH CNN was granted access to Botham Jean's apartment 03:30 The shooting sparked days of protest . Police deployed pepper balls on demonstrators a week after the shooting. Protesters angry with the lack of public information in the case interrupted a City Council meeting to demand accountability and more police oversight in general. Jean's parents filed a lawsuit in federal court against Guyger and the city last month, alleging Guyger used excessive force. Correction: An earlier version of this article said that Guyger was indicted on a charge of manslaughter. The officer has been indicted on a murder charge. The headline and article have been updated to reflect this change. ||||| A former Dallas police officer who walked into an unarmed man’s apartment on Sept. 6 and shot him while wearing her police uniform has been indicted on a charge of murder. The Dallas County grand jury began hearing the case against Amber Guyger, 30, on Monday. Guyger was originally charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of 26-year-old Botham Shem Jean. She was released from jail on a $300,000 bond about an hour after turning herself in. District Attorney Faith Johnson said that by 3 p.m., Guyger had turned herself back in on the murder charge. Her bond was transferred and she has been released. Asked why the grand jury indicted Guyger on a murder charge, Johnson said, “We presented the evidence and explained the law.” She added that the law prohibits her from talking about the evidence presented to the grand jury. Premium content for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. She said her office had a “very spirited conversation” with the Texas Rangers, the lead investigators in the case, back in September. “They chose to file this case as manslaughter,” she said. “We did our own investigation.” She said that prosecutors talked to more than 300 witnesses. Guyger has said she mistook Jean’s apartment at the South Side Flats for hers that night after getting off a long work shift, Dallas police said. Court documents have varied on the story of how Guyger got Jean’s door open. FILE - This file photo provided by the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office shows Amber Guyger. A grand jury began hearing evidence Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, in the case of Guyger, a former Dallas police officer who fatally shot her unarmed black neighbor in his own apartment after she said she mistook it for hers on Sept. 6, 2018. (Kaufman County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office via AP, File) AP Johnson said that at the moment of the shooting, the action was intentional. She was not able to speak about what Guyger was thinking or doing before the shooting. For a charge of murder, prosecutors have to prove without a reasonable doubt that Guyger intended to kill Jean. Court documents have said that Guyger says she believed Jean was an intruder in her own apartment. The Star-Telegram, along with several other media outlets, have requested copies of the 911 call Guyger made after the shooting, along with body camera footage worn by the officers who responded. The Dallas Police Department has declined to release that information and sent the open records requests to the attorney general for final determination. Guyger was not wearing a body camera. The department said officers leave their body cameras at work after their shift. Johnson, who was voted out of office in the Nov. 6 election, will not see the case through to a trial and said Friday that she “trusts the DA-elect will continue to represent this family (and all of Dallas County) as he seeks justice for victims.” Johnson also spoke about why it took her office two months to bring the case in front of a grand jury. She said she wanted to make sure the jurors had everything they needed to “make the right choice.” “We thought it was murder all along,” she said. “But we didn’t file this case ... we did what we had to to get this case ready for the grand jury. Justice is never too long.” Moving forward, it could be more than a year before Guyger sits in front of a judge and jury. It took 16 months, Johnson said, for the case against Roy Oliver to go to trial. Oliver shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards while on duty as a Balch Springs police officer. He was found guilty of murder. Guyger was fired from the Dallas Police Department on Sept. 24. On Friday, Police Chief U. Renee Hall released a statement saying every person in the department continues to “feel anguish about this difficult and tragic event that occurred.” “We have developed the framework for policy change, have supported the restructuring of the Citizen Review Board, pushed to exceed the basic requirements of implicit bias training, and have relied on input from our employee advisory and community advisory boards,” she said. “We have more work to do and we remain committed to improving our relationships throughout the city.” The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said the indictment is an “important reminder that police derive their authority from the people and it is the people, functioning as members of grand juries, who must insist that police authority be exercised in a lawful manner and who must hold police accountable when they fail to do so.” Jean was a native of the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. After graduating from college in Arkansas, he moved to Dallas to work for PriceWaterHouseCoopers. Jean’s family filed a lawsuit against the City of Dallas and its police department in late October. Jean’s family says in the suit that Guyger had a history of violence and used excessive force against Jean that fateful night in September, resulting in his wrongful death. The family also says the Dallas Police Department “has a pattern, practice, history, and custom of using excessive force against minorities,” and accuses it of not providing proper training or discipline for Guyger in the use of deadly force. “By simply following proper police procedures and the best police practices and not the protocol of the DPD to ‘shoot first and ask questions later,’ Defendant Guyger would have not shot Jean,” the lawsuit states. “Essentially, Officer Guyger was ill-trained, and as a result, defaulted to the defective DPD policy: to use deadly force even when there exists no immediate threat of harm to themselves or others.” SHARE COPY LINK The parents of Botham Jean — Allison and Bertrum Jean — sat down with the Star-Telegram on Oct. 17 to talk about their son, who was killed by an off-duty, uniformed Dallas police officer on Sept. 6.

– In September, Amber Guyger, at that time a Dallas police officer, walked into the apartment of Botham Shem Jean and shot the 26-year-old to death. Guyger lived in the same building as Jean and claimed that she thought she was entering her own unit and believed he was an intruder. On Friday, a grand jury indicted Guyger on a murder charge, CNN reports. Texas Rangers had initially arrested Guyger on a manslaughter charge. But Dallas County DA Faith Johnson said at a news conference, the grand jury settled on the more serious charge after “we presented the evidence and we explained the law.” The Texas Rangers “chose to file this case as manslaughter,” she said, per the Star-Telegram. “We did our own investigation. We thought it was murder all along.” Johnson said that murder involves causing a death “intentionally and knowingly,” as opposed to manslaughter, which results from recklessness. “At the moment of the shooting it was a knowing … offense,” she said per CNN. Jean, who was a native of St. Lucia in the Caribbean, went to college in Arkansas before moving to Dallas to work for PriceWaterHouseCoopers. His family filed a lawsuit against the city and police department in October. (This officer was fired for not shooting someone.)

“We’re in and out of there every other day. We’re shopping for parties. You pop in when you go to the laundromat,” he said. “On the day when my daughter was born, 24 years ago, after the C-section was successful, I ran over here to get some food and some beer. All the employees had been asking after my wife because she was overdue, and they were so happy to hear everyone was safe.” ||||| In this photo provided by Christian Monterrosa, a Trader Joe's employee is distraught as he recounts his experience just outside the Trader Joe's supermarket where a man held dozens of people hostage... (Associated Press) In this photo provided by Christian Monterrosa, a Trader Joe's employee is distraught as he recounts his experience just outside the Trader Joe's supermarket where a man held dozens of people hostage before surrendering to police, Saturday, July 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Christian Monterrosa via AP) (Associated Press) LOS ANGELES (AP) — A gunman who got into a deadly shootout with police, then took dozens of people hostage at a Los Angeles supermarket has been arrested on suspicion of murder, authorities said Sunday. Gene Evin Atkins, 28, was being held Sunday morning on $2 million bail, according to Officer Drake Madison, a Los Angeles police spokesman. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney and a message left at a number listed for Atkins in public records wasn't immediately returned. A woman was shot and killed when Atkins ran into the Trader Joe's supermarket in Los Angeles' Silver Lake section on Saturday, but no hostages were seriously hurt before the man handcuffed himself and surrendered about three hours later, police said. Coroner's officials identified the woman Sunday as 27-year-old Melyda Corado. Her brother, Albert Corado, said on Twitter that she worked at Trader Joe's. "I'm sad to say she didn't make it. My baby sister. My world," he tweeted. Atkins' grandmother was hospitalized in critical condition after the shooting and police had no update on her condition Sunday. Authorities said Atkins shot his grandmother seven times and wounded another woman, whom he forced into a car, at a South Los Angeles home around 1:30 p.m., police said. Officers tracked the car, gave chase and exchanged gunfire with the man, who crashed into a pole outside the supermarket and then ran inside, they said. The unidentified woman, who suffered a graze wound earlier, was taken out of the car by police. Frightened customers and workers dove for cover as police bullets fired at the man shattered the store's glass doors. Some people inside the supermarket climbed out windows, and others barricaded themselves in rooms as scores of police officers and firefighters and 18 ambulances converged on the scene and prepared for mass casualties. Heavily armed officers in riot gear stood along the side of the store and used mirrors to look inside as hostage negotiators tried to coax the man into freeing his 40 to 50 hostages and surrendering. At around 6:30 p.m., Atkins agreed to handcuff himself and walked out the front door, surrounded by four of the hostages. He was immediately taken into custody. Mayor Eric Garcetti congratulated police and firefighters for their work and mourned the loss of life at the Trader Joe's, where he and his wife regularly shopped when they lived in the neighborhood. "The heroism that was shown today was second to none, and the teams that were able to respond, secure the perimeter and engage in conversation with the suspect no doubt saved lives today," he said. Among those who survived the harrowing afternoon was 91-year-old Don Kohles, who lives in the neighborhood and was walking into the supermarket when he saw "two police cars coming like a bat out of hell" and the man crashed into the pole. The driver got out, and police started firing at him as he ran toward the supermarket. Kohles hurried inside, and he and others took cover as the man ran in. "Those bullets went right over the back of me as he was running right down the main aisle," Kohles said. Christian Dunlop, a real estate agent and actor who lives nearby and frequents Trader Joe's, was on a corner near the store when he saw four people run out. One person, an employee, was dragging an injured woman by the hands. "She appeared lifeless," Dunlop said. He then saw five employees hang out a second-floor window and drop to the ground and around 15 others run to safety from the back of the store. Among them was a police officer carrying a small child, he said. Police Chief Michel Moore said the gunman made a "series of demands" during the standoff but crisis negotiators believed they could persuade him to surrender peacefully. Officers had tracked the car using a stolen-vehicle tracking system and tried to stop the man in Hollywood, but he refused to pull over, Moore said. During the chase, the man fired at officers, shooting out the back window of his car. Outside the store, the man exchanged gunfire with police again and that's when Corado was shot and killed, Moore said. It was unclear if she died from police gunfire or was killed by the gunman. Fire officials said six people, ranging in age from 12 to 81, were taken to the hospital. None had been shot, and all were in fair condition. ___ Associated Press writer Terry Tang in Phoenix contributed to this report.

– A 28-year-old man has been named by authorities in Los Angeles as the gunman in a shootout and kidnapping that ended with an hours-long grocery store stand-off and the death of an employee. Per the LA Times, the LAPD named Gene Atkins as the suspect. Officer Drake Madison told the paper Atkins is being held in lieu of $2 million bail on suspicion of murder. Authorities say Atkins shot his grandmother multiple times and took another woman hostage before driving away in what became a police pursuit and shootout when police located his vehicle hours later. After he's accused of exchanging fire with police, Atkins allegedly drove away before crashing into a pole in front of a Trader Joe's in the Silver Lake neighborhood. Witnesses reportedly said the suspect exchanged fire with police as he ran into the store. Per the AP, a woman was shot and killed when Atkins was entering the store and it remained unclear Sunday evening whether she was hit by police fire or shot by Atkins. The victim has been identified as 27-year-old Melyda Corado. "I'm sad to say she didn't make it. My baby sister. My world," Corado's brother, Albert Corado, has since tweeted. None of the hostages were seriously hurt before cops say Atkins handcuffed himself and surrendered after a 3-hour standoff. A statement from Trader Joe's said the location will be closed for the foreseeable future in order give employees time to personally come to terms with the tragedy.

WOBURN, Mass. (AP) — The highly-anticipated opening of a time capsule that been hidden in the head of a lion statue atop a historical landmark for more than a century yielded at least one surprise Thursday: a hardcover book. FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2014 file photo, a lion statue is removed from atop the Old State House on Washington Street in Boston. The Bostonian Society on Thursday Oct. 9, 2014 hopes to delicately remove... (Associated Press) The Bostonian Society had expected the time capsule to include letters, newspaper clippings and other items from 1901, the year it was placed in the statue on the Old State House. Papers were found, along with the red book inside the copper box roughly the size of a modern shoebox. The book had no visible markings, and nothing was taken out of the box because of the items' fragile condition. So, the contents of the book remain a mystery, for now. The inside of the box and its contents — there was no mold or water damage — thrilled society President Brian LeMay. LeMay said he was "absolutely delighted" with the conditions inside the box. The time capsule was sealed inside the lion's head since 1901 and then forgotten — until recently. Rumors of its existence were confirmed last month when the statue was taken down from the Old State House for refurbishing. The delicate removal of the box took place at a sculpting studio in suburban Woburn. Robert Shure, owner of Skylight Studio, first removed a crown atop the copper and gold-leaf lion's head, cut cables holding the box in place inside the head, and removed the rectangular box, which weighed between five and 10 pounds and measured 8-by-12 inches in length and about 6 inches deep, according to Shure. The society, which manages the Old State House, first learned about the possible existence of the time capsule years ago from the great-great-granddaughter of Samuel Rogers, a craftsman who had worked on building renovations and was believed to have placed the time capsule in the lion's head and catalogued its contents. A 1901 article from The Boston Globe surfaced later, alluding to contents of a copper box "which will prove interesting when the box is opened many years hence." Elizabeth Roscio, the Boston Society's archivist, said the box will be brought to an environmentally-controlled setting where the contents can be carefully removed and studied. They will be put on public display at a later date. One of Boston's most popular tourist attractions, the Old State House has a storied history. It was once the seat of English rule in the northern colonies, and the original lion statue and an accompanying unicorn statue symbolized the unification of England and Scotland. It was just outside the building that British regulars opened fire on a crowd of protesters in 1770, killing five people in what would become known as the Boston Massacre. In the summer of 1776, the newly-signed Declaration of Independence was read for the first time to Bostonians from a balcony of the building, which would later serve as the first seat of Massachusetts government. The plan is to put a new time capsule in the lion's head, this one made of titanium. The society is currently soliciting suggestions of what to put in it, but said one item will be a medal from the ill-fated 2013 Boston Marathon. ||||| Updated October 9, 2014, 4:30 pm Onlookers were rapt this morning, as a century-old time capsule that sat inside the lion statue on top of the Old State House was opened during a ceremony in Woburn. The Bostonian Society, the nonprofit that maintains the Old State House in Boston, said in tweets that their archivist was surprised by the great condition of the items inside, and, in a slightly anticlimactic end to the ceremony, that they would go through the contents later in a “controlled environment.” (We’ll update when we know more about the contents.) We do, however, know what to expect. A Boston Globe report from 1901 provided details as to what was placed inside — photographs and autographs from top government officials, a population map, a letter from local reporters assigned to cover City Hall, old newspapers, and William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt campaign buttons. But the Bostonian Society said on Twitter that a red book was also found, which was not expected. They did not explain further. The lion and another statue, of a unicorn, both dating back to 1901, were removed from their perches on top of the Old State House at the corner of Washington and State streets for repairs last month. To gain access to the time capsule, artist Bob Shure of Skylight Studios, who is tasked with refurbishing the statues, removed the lion’s crown and cut the copper bands that were holding the capsule in place inside the lion’s head. The Bostonian Society is asking the public to suggest what should be left inside a new time capsule using the hashtag #lionandunicorn on social media. Suggestions so far range from Fenway Park dirt, the new iPhone and a miniature version of the “Make Way for Ducklings” sculpture, to unpaid city parking tickets and Big Dig architectural renderings. Brian LeMay, the president of the Bostonian Society, told WBUR the organization is already planning to include a Boston Marathon medal, as well as images and documents from the present day. LaMay says no matter what else ends up going into the new time capsule, his organization has one requirement: “I think one thing we are going to do is make it a little bit easier to get the time capsule out than the one that is in there now.” Story continues below Most Popular Expand ||||| Back in 1901, the Superintendent of Boston’s Public Buildings commissioned Samuel D. Rogers, a carpenter, to complete repairs and alterations on the Old State House. In the midst of that job, Rogers also became involved in organizing the contents of the time capsule placed in the head of the building’s lion statue. This Thursday, Oct. 9, Skylight Studios will remove the capsule from the lion’s head, providing a snapshot of what life was like in turn-of-the-previous-century Boston—and, for one Idaho woman, offering some insight into her own family history. Heidi Rogers Grundhauser, of Chubbuck, Idaho, is Rogers’s great-great granddaughter and a self-proclaimed “genealogy addict”; she learned about the time capsule when her own father passed along Rogers family heirlooms to her, including Samuel’s letters about the capsule. In 2011, Grundhauser reached out to the Bostonian Society to see if it had ever been opened. Up until last week, however, the existence of a capsule in the lion’s head was disputed. The Freedom Trail Foundation wasn’t convinced it was there. But for the Bostonian Society, the letters written by Samuel Rogers were all the confirmation they needed. Elizabeth Roscio, the Library and Archives Manager of the Bostonian Society, said that in his letters, Rogers details the newspapers, photographs and autographs that he added to the capsule. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below “Samuel left a complete list of what was added but I am hoping there will be a few surprises even for myself,” Grundhauser said. “What I’m most looking forward to seeing is the life sketch Samuel placed in the box as well as the 200-year history of the Rogers family. I love the detective work, I love piecing together the triumphs and the heartache of my ancestors from the pieces of information left behind.” Grundhauser’s detective work has already paid off. Her research discovered that Samuel Rodgers was born in 1840, had four children from two wives, served as the superintendent of construction projects ranging from schoolhouses to prisons and served twice in the Civil War. Grundhauser hopes that some of the remaining missing links in her family history will be connected when her great-great grandfather’s capsule contributions are revealed. (Courtesy of Rogers/Grundhauser family) Grundhauser hopes to attend the opening ceremony of the time capsule with her daughter and father, but traveling to Boston from her home in Idaho may prove expensive and difficult. That won’t stop her from enjoying all this moment in time has to offer for her family. “I have great pride in my family,” Grundhauser said. “I stand on their shoulders and benefit from their hard work. I love all of the stories and Samuel’s war time history. I think that Matt Damon needs to produce a movie about them.” Note: Due to an editing error, an incomplete draft version of this story was published prematurely. ||||| Historians opened the 113-year-old time capsule inside the Old State House’s golden lion statue Thursday, and were surprised by what they found: a mystery red book resting on top of the box’s contents. Onlookers at a press-only unveiling gasped when the sealed box was pryed open. Library and Archives Manager at the Bostonian Society Elizabeth Roscio had every intention of assessing each content in the box, but decided not to remove the items once she noticed the box was so tightly packed. Items won't be removed. But all seems in "remarkably good condition." No mold, no yellowing of paper. pic.twitter.com/3xPFZXpmmt — Lara Salahi (@BostonLara) October 9, 2014 Advertisement - Continue Reading Below As much of the contents of the box we'll be seeing today... (Mystery red book!) pic.twitter.com/fr3noPhQkb — Lara Salahi (@BostonLara) October 9, 2014 Instead, the items will be sorted in a clean and controlled environment, Roscio said. A 1901 Boston Daily Globe article listed the many items that were placed in the box, including photographs of political leaders, letters, and newspapers of the time. But a red book was not mentioned. Roscio speculated that the book could be the family history of Samuel Rogers. Indeed, the 1901 Globe article says a “History of the Rogers and Fernald families, deposited by S. D. Rogers, who did the alteration work on the old state house, 1901” was placed in the capsule, but does not say the color of the book. Bob Shure, the president of Skylight Studios in Woburn, where the statue is undergoing repairs, took off the crown of the lion statue and took the shoebox-sized time capsule out of its head. A new time capsule with modern day items will replace the extracted box, the historians said. Some items the public has suggested to the society include an iPhone 6, a photo of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and a Mike’s Pastry cannoli, Roscio said. Brian LeMay, president of the Bostonian Society, told Boston.com he would like to see photos of items from the opened time capsule put into the new one that will be created, which the society plans to do.

– New York City opened an old time capsule today that turned out to be ... kind of boring. Boston, on the other hand, has itself a mysterious red book, reports WBUR. Historians today removed a copper box that was placed inside the lion atop the Old State House back in 1901 and were surprised to find the hard-cover book on top, apparently in great condition. The curious will have to wait a little longer, however, because officials didn't open the book or anything beneath it inside the box—they'll do that later in a controlled environment to make sure nothing gets ruined. Expect old photos, letters, newspapers, and similar memorabilia. But as for the book, no mention of it was made in a newspaper article of the time about the time capsule. An official with the Bostonian Society guesses that it might be a family history of a carpenter named Samuel Rogers, reports the Boston Globe. Rogers worked on the building and helped prepare the time capsule, notes a separate Globe story. And while he did reportedly pop a family history inside, there's no account of it being in a red book. Eventually, all the items will go on public display, and a new time capsule will go back inside the lion. One thing for sure that will be included: a medal from the 2013 Boston Marathon, the one hit by bombs, reports AP. (Click for more on a time capsule that was opened 40 years late.)

× Two arrested after fight over crab legs at Manchester buffet MANCHESTER — Police said two people were arrested after a fight over crab legs in a buffet line. The fight happened Saturday at around 8 p.m. at the Royal Buffet at 410 West Middle Turnpike, according to police. A situation escalated into a physical altercation, during which a 21-year-old man suffered a cut lip and broken front tooth after being punched in the face. His mother used pepper spray on his assailant in an attempt to keep her son from being assaulted further and wasn’t facing any charges because it was self-defense. Clifford Knight, 46, and Lataya Knight, 38, were arrested. Clifford Knight is facing third-degree assault and disorderly conduct. Lataya Knight is charged with disorderly conduct and threatening. Lataya Knight was released on $2,500 bail and was given a court date of Thursday, April 14. Clifford Knight was released on $5,000 bail and was also given a court date of Thursday, April 14 The Manchester Fire Department responded to vent the restaurant and the Health Department closed it down to check out the air, due to the use of pepper spray. ||||| Police arrested Clifford Knight, 45, and Latoya Knight, 38, both of Windsor. Clifford Knight is charged with third-degree assault and disorder conduct. Latoya Knight is charged with disorderly conduct and threatening. Police said the suspects are husband and wife. Police in Manchester, Connecticut arrested a husband and wife after an argument at Royal Buffet got out of hand on Saturday night. Manchester police say they were called to 410 West Middle Turnpike for a dispute that started as an argument over crab legs at the buffet table and escalated into a physical confrontation. During the scuffle, a 21-year-old man was punched in the face and lost a tooth. That man's mother jumped in and used pepper spray on her son's attackers. Her actions were in self-defense and she is not facing any charges, according to police. Police arrested Clifford Knight, 45, and Latoya Knight, 38, both of Windsor. Clifford Knight is charged with third-degree assault and disorder conduct. Latoya Knight is charged with disorderly conduct and threatening. Police said the suspects are husband and wife. Clifford Knight was released on a $5,000 non-surety bond and Lataya Knight was released on a $2,500 non-surety bond. They are both expected in court on April 14. The Manchester Fire Department responded to vent out the restaurant after the pepper spray was deployed. The restaurant had to close while the health department assessed the air quality, but the restaurant said they opened for business at the usual time Sunday. Editor’s note: Police previously thought the injured victim was a juvenile but have since determined the victim was a young adult. This story has been updated to reflect this.

– It's not a good Saturday night buffet until someone loses a tooth and the pepper spray gets used—all in an argument over crab legs. This was the case at the Royal Buffet in Manchester, Conn., on Saturday when a fight broke out and a 21-year-old man lost the aforementioned tooth, his mother pepper-sprayed his attackers, and a married couple was arrested, NBC Connecticut reports. Clifford Knight, 46, was arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, FOX 61 reports, while his wife, 38-year-old Lataya Knight, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and threatening. Released on $5,000 and $2,500 bail, respectively, both are due in court April 14. The woman who used the pepper spray wasn't charged, because police say she acted in self-defense. But firefighters did respond to vent the restaurant from the pepper spray fumes, and the health department temporarily closed the restaurant to assess the air quality. However, the Royal Buffet tells NBC they were open for business as usual by Sunday. Details of the argument were unclear.

David Steele, 42, a veteran race car driver who won several sprint car series championships and competed in some IndyCar and NASCAR races, was killed in a wreck during a sprint car race Saturday night at Desoto Speedway, according to multiple sources. Steele, a multiple United States Auto Club national champion and two-time winner of the Little 500, was competing in the Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series race at the 3/8-mile asphalt track on State Road 64 East in east Bradenton. His death quickly brought stunned reactions across social media. “Tonight I am stunned to hear that Dave Steele has been killed in a sprint car,” wrote Andy Cobb, a professional dirt sprint car driver, on Facebook late Saturday. “Dave has been one of my closest racing friends for a long time. I can’t believe this.” Never miss a local story. Sign up today for unlimited digital access to our website, apps, the digital newspaper and more. SUBSCRIBE NOW On Twitter, Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman wrote: “Man, I love open wheel racing, but something has to change. RIP Dave Steele. One of the best pavement sprint car and midget guys ever.” Steele, a native of Indianapolis who resided in Tampa, made starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the Verizon IndyCar Series in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but he returned to his short-track roots. His racing background included Silver Crown (USAC), sprint car and midget racing. Steele, who was the USAC Silver Crown champion in 2004, won more USAC races than Al Unser, had more sprint car victories on asphalt than Tony Stewart and more midget wins than Jeff Gordon, according to multiple websites affiliated with Steele. Tony Stewart Racing was one of the first to react on social media: “Our prayers go out to the family of Dave Steele, our former teammate, he was one of the best open-wheel drivers of this era.” Steele was no stranger to success at the Desoto Speedway track: He won four southern Sprint Car Series events at the track last year. On Saturday, he was seeking his 100th career sprint car victory just in the state of Florida. He was already a multiple-time winner this year, with victories at 4-17 Southern Speedway in Punta Gorda in February and at Showtime Speedway in Pinellas Park. The field, which was turning speeds of more than 100 mph during the qualifying heats and warmups according to a source in attendance, had just taken the green flag to start the 35-lap main event, which capped Saturday night’s race card, and was not yet up to race speed at the time of the incident. Steele, who was starting near the rear of the 16-car field, got a good jump at the start and tried to pass a vehicle in front of him on the outside heading into Turn 1. Steele’s car and the car he was passing got together and hooked wheels, sending Steele’s vehicle flipping airborne. The Southern Sprint Car Series vehicles are open-wheel winged cars with the driver enclosed in a steel roll cage. In the winged configuration, the cars have a small wing over the nose (two vertical panels separated by a flat horizontal panel spanning the width of the nose). A larger, similarly configured wing is over the driver’s compartment. Steele’s vehicle hit the outside retaining wall in Turn 1 and then spun perpendicular to the track before coming to rest. According to the source, his car was not hit by another vehicle after it struck the wall and the visible damage to the car was consistent with a vehicle hitting the outside wall flush on the left side. According to multiple sources, the race was immediately red flagged and track emergency personnel were at the vehicle in seconds. According to a source affiliated with the track who was not authorized to speak on the record, the track has multiple fully-trained medics, EMTs and firefighters at the track for each race card. That was the case Saturday night as well. Despite the rapid response, Steele was pronounced dead on the track. Track personnel, emergency personnel and local authorities called to the track after the incident were still on the track at the crash scene near midnight. Track personnel, race officials and other witnesses were waiting to be cleared to leave the facility. Early Sunday morning, Desoto Speedway released an official statement on its Facebook page: “Desoto Speedway owners and staff are saddened by tonight’s passing of David Steele in the Sprint car feature. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends who were all in attendance, to see him try to win his 100th florida(sic) race.” The source affiliated with the track said the track planned to have no other statement Saturday night or Sunday. The racing related fatality is the first at the speedway in many years. Driver Butch Lindley sustained fatal injuries in an accident in 1985 during a late model sportsman race. However, he lingered in a coma for five years, without regaining consciousness, before dying in 1990. Steele’s death is the first in the Southern Sprint Car Series, which is only in its second season. Steele was the defending series champion. Joey “The Ace” Aguilar narrowly escaped death in a fiery wreck in 2013 at the facility, then known as Full Throttle Speedway. The driver suffered burns all over his body, but was cleared to return to racing a little more than a month later. According to the source affiliated with the track, racing weather and track conditions were good at the time of the crash and there had been no incidents in the heats leading up to the main event involving Steele’s car or any other car. Steele, who would have turned 43 on May 7, is survived by his wife, Lynn Bunn Steele, and three young children. The Herald was unable to confirm whether Steele’s entire family was at the track Saturday. ||||| BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Sprint car veteran David Steele has died during a race in Florida. Desoto Speedway officials said in a Facebook post on Saturday night that track owners and staff were saddened by the crash. The statement says Steele was trying to win his 100th race in Florida. A Manatee County Sheriff's Office report says Steele was driving a sprint car when his vehicle's left front wheel struck the right rear wheel of another car, causing Steele's vehicle to go up in the air, spin 180 degrees and hit the retaining wall. Medics attempted to treat him but he was pronounced dead. He was 42. NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne tweeted that Steele was "one of the best and such a good guy to hang out and have a beer with." ___ This story has been corrected to fix dateline to Bradenton, Fla., not Desoto, Fla.

– Sprint car veteran David Steele has died during a race in Florida, reports the AP, after he locked wheels with another car, went airborne, spun 180 degrees, and hit a retaining wall. Medics attempted to treat him but he was pronounced dead. He was 42. "Desoto Speedway owners and staff are saddened by tonight’s passing of David Steele in the Sprint car feature," per a track statement. "Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends who were all in attendance," as he tried for his 100th win in Florida, reports the Bradenton Herald. NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne tweeted that Steele was "one of the best and such a good guy to hang out and have a beer with," while Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman wrote: "Man, I love open wheel racing, but something has to change."

JOURNALISM Public service: Los Angeles Times Breaking news reporting: No award Investigative reporting: Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Explanatory reporting: Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar and Alison Sherwood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Local reporting: Frank Main, Mark Konkol and John J. Kim of the Chicago Sun-Times National reporting: Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica International reporting: Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry of The New York Times Feature writing: Amy Ellis Nutt of The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey. Commentary: David Leonhardt of The New York Times Criticism: Sebastian Smee of The Boston Globe Editorial writing: Joseph Rago of The Wall Street Journal Editorial cartooning: Mike Keefe of The Denver Post Breaking news photography: Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn and Ricky Carioti of The Washington Post Feature photography: Barbara Davidson of the Los Angeles Times ___ ARTS Fiction: "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf) Drama: "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris History: "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery" by Eric Foner (W.W. Norton & Co.) Biography: "Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press) Poetry: "The Best of It: New and Selected Poems" by Kay Ryan (Grove Press) General nonfiction: "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner) Music: "Madame White Snake" by Zhou Long, premiered Feb. 26, 2010, by the Boston Opera at the Cutler Majestic Theatre ||||| The Los Angeles Times was awarded the Pulitzer Prize gold medal for public service for revealing official corruption in Bell and the feature photography award for Barbara Davidson's images of victims struggling to recover in the aftermath of gang violence.In a series of articles beginning last summer, a team of 20 reporters and editors, led by staff writers Jeff Gottlieb and Ruben Vives, revealed that Bell officials secretly enriched themselves with extravagant salaries and benefits while illegally raising taxes on the city's residents, who are among the poorest in Los Angeles County.As a result, criminal charges were filed against former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, who received an $800,000 salary and hundreds of thousands of dollars more in perks. He and seven other former city officials have been charged with multiple felonies. The revelations also led to millions of dollars in rebates of illegal taxes for Bell residents and tough new disclosure laws for cities and counties in California."The Bell coverage was a classic exercise in gang tackling executed by a newsroom that does this better than anybody," said Times Editor Russ Stanton after the awards were announced Monday.Davidson spent two years photographing victims of violent crime in South Los Angeles, Compton and Watts. Her work, the judges said, told an "intimate story of innocent victims trapped in the city's crossfire of deadly gang violence." Her images — including a uniformed mother visiting the gravesite of her son who was killed while she served in Iraq — illustrated the human cost of crime, even at a time when the violent crime rate is dropping.The Bell coverage also received the Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting from USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the American Society of News Editors' distinguished writing award for local accountability reporting, the Investigative Reporters and Editors' top honor and the George Polk Award for local reporting."The real victors in this are the people of Bell who were able to get rid of — the only way to describe it — a repressive regime and have a real City Council," said Gottlieb, who took a swig from a bottle of champagne as his newsroom colleagues celebrated around him. In March, citizens in the southeast Los Angeles County city voted in a new City Council.Gottlieb, 57, recounted the moment he and Vives discovered Rizzo's inflated salary. They were sitting in a community room in Bell's Little Bear Park, with Rizzo and nine other Bell officials."I said to Rizzo, 'So how much money do you make?' And he coughed out, '$700,000.' And I wasn't sure I heard him right, and I said, 'How much?' And he said, '$700,000.' And Ruben goes, 'Jesus Christ!' "Vives, 32, who has been a reporter for three years, added: "At a time when people say that newspapers are dying, this is a day that I think we can say, no not really. I mean, we gave a small town … the opportunity to speak out. And that's what newspapers do."Davidson, 36, said she was "totally stunned." She thanked the families she photographed "for sharing their private pain and sorrow," and said she was "humbled by the honor" and hoped it would "raise awareness of the issue of gang violence and its impact on innocent victims."The Times has won 41 Pulitzer Prizes. Six of those are public service medals, more than any other newspaper. The New York Times also won two prizes this year. Ellen Barry and Clifford J. Levy won in international reporting for what the Pulitzer judges called their "dogged reporting that put a human face on the faltering justice system in Russia." Economics columnist David Leonhardt won the commentary prize for his "graceful penetration of America's complicated economic questions." The Washington Post was awarded the prize for breaking news photography for its Haiti earthquake coverage. Times photographer Carolyn Cole, a Pulitzer winner in 2004, was a finalist for her "often haunting images" of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.The nonprofit investigative news site ProPublica earned the national reporting prize for coverage of the nation's economic meltdown by reporters Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein. It was the first Pulitzer given for reporting that appeared only online, not in print.The Boston Globe's art critic, Sebastian Smee, won the criticism prize for what the judges called his "vivid and exuberant writing about art." Jonathan Gold of the LA Weekly, who won the category in 2007 for his eclectic restaurant reviews, was a finalist.Joseph Rago of the Wall Street Journal earned the editorial writing prize for his "well-crafted, against-the-grain" editorials challenging President Obama's healthcare reform legislation. It was the first Pulitzer Prize for the Journal since it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp. in 2007.Several newspapers had multiple finalists. The New York Times had five, and the Wall Street Journal and Chicago Tribune each had four.The Pulitzer board did not give an award in the breaking news category."After serious consideration, no entry received the necessary majority [of votes] required for the prize," said prize administrator Sig Gissler, who announced the awards at Columbia University In the letters, drama and music categories, Jennifer Egan's "A Visit from the Goon Squad" won for fiction. Siddhartha Mukherjee won in general nonfiction for "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer." Eric Foner won for history for "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery." Ron Chernow won for biography for "Washington: A Life." Kay Ryan won for poetry for "The Best of It: New and Selected Poems." Bruce Norris' "Clybourne Park" won for drama. Zhou Long won in the music category for "Madame White Snake." ||||| Judge rejects former Bell police chief's bid to double pension Randy Adams was seeking a pension of $510,000 a year. The judge says the Bell City Council never approved his $457,000 annual salary. Former Bell police chief takes the Fifth 20 times Randy Adams, who is asking the state retirement system to double his pension to reflect his huge salary in Bell, was on the witness stand at a hearing on the request. Judge questions why Bell's former police chief isn't facing corruption charges Deputy district attorney says his office could not build a case against Randy Adams, whose pay is an issue in the case against Rizzo and others. Calpers Cutting Top-end Pension Benefits The Bell scandal has prompted the state retirement system to look again at some officials' payouts. Robert Rizzo, aide accused of conspiracy in Bell corruption scandal Former city administrator and his assistant conducted an elaborate plan to conceal benefits and bypass state law by hiding their true pensions, an indictment says. Money missing after deal in Bell The city paid top dollar for property but got back $425,000 from escrow that is now unaccounted for. Bell voters cast out the old and opt for the new Residents of the scandal-racked city recall four council members and elect five. Bell City Council candidate dies Miguel Sanchez, 34, a special-ed teacher's aide, had flu-like symptoms last week and was admitted to the hospital early Friday morning. Fellow activists said the campaign had been causing him great stress. Bell's voters have a real choice this time, thanks to the scandal On March 8 the city's voters will have something they haven't had in years: candidates not hand-picked by former City Administrator Robert Rizzo ¿ 18 of them. How Bell hit bottom Robert Rizzo seemed right for the town -- until he became an 'unaccountable czar.' Audits of Bell were 'rubber-stamp,' state controller says Chiang's office finds that an accounting firm that gave Bell clean audits failed to comply with auditing standards. Bell collected hefty fines in numerous code-enforcement cases Legal experts point to a lack of due process and judicial oversight in hundreds of 'civil compromises,' in which plumbers, carpet cleaners and bottle-gatherers paid up to $1,000 for alleged code violations. Bell demanded extra fees from some businesses The city collected tens of thousands of dollars annually. Some of the revenue helped pay unusually high municipal salaries. Experts say the practice may be illegal. Bell councilman an accidental hero by staying clear of corruption scandal Lorenzo Velez knows he owes the acclaim mostly to serendipity. He never got his colleagues' $100,000 salary because it wasn't offered. Former Bell police chief had a lucrative tax angle for retirement Randy Adams had himself declared disabled even as he was hired for the job, a move that could make him millions in tax-free pension income when he retires, according to records and interviews. Bell doubled public service taxes and funneled $1 million to Rizzo, audit finds The doubling of sewer, trash and other service taxes occurred without voter approval. State auditors have spent weeks reviewing the city's financial records. Bell leaders hauled off in cuffs Eight are held in scandal the D.A. calls 'corruption on steroids' Audit finds Rizzo got Bell funds Draft report alleges that $95,000 in city money was put in Robert Rizzo's retirement accounts to repay loans he had made to himself. An expert says the allegations could amount to federal wire fraud. Bell's Rizzo hid true salary Ex-Bell official said his pay was lower than it was. Some experts say his actions could invalidate his contracts and require that he repay money he earned. Federal probe targets possible civil rights violations in Bell The Justice Department is looking into whether the city violated the civil rights of Latino residents by aggressively towing cars and charging people exorbitant fees to get them back. Auditors find 3rd instance of illegal Bell taxes Business license taxes were illegally raised over the last decade, bringing to $5.6 million the amount owed back to taxpayers -- more than a third of the city's general fund. Impounded cars boost Bell's coffers Police say they were pushed to find cars to tow. Authorities say the practice discourages gangs but will be changed. Bell assessed illegal sewer fees Property owners overpaid $621,737 in levies that were raised in 2007, California controller says. The finding comes several weeks after auditors found taxpayers were overcharged $2.9 million for a 'retirement tax.' Bell council was paid for boards that seldom met Records show one panel hasn't convened since early 2005, yet members were each paid $1,575 per month Rizzo's horse had come in Some who worked with him in Bell and elsewhere over the years came to know him as a calculating risk-taker. City of Bell lent employees, elected officials nearly $900,000 Former assistant city manager received at least $200,000. Experts say such a city loan program for employees is unusual. Benefits push Bell ex-manager's compensation to more than $1.5 million Robert Rizzo's vacation and sick time totaled more than 28 weeks a year, the city discloses. Bell salaries raise more concerns about CalPERS The state's embattled pension system did not act four years ago when it learned about the city's runaway salaries. The state attorney general and auditors express shock that nothing was done. Voters in Bell tell of possible fraud Several residents report incidents involving absentee ballots to D.A., who is probing city elections. Other cities stuck with the tab for Bell officials' massive pensions Under the state's arcane, convoluted public pension system, Bell will pay a fraction of the city manager and police chief's pensions. Former employers and other cities will bear the brunt of the cost. Bell's business ties to officials probed L.A. County D.A. examines the city's $4.6-million purchase tied to a former politician. Bell property tax rate second-highest in L.A. County Homes of the same value in richer cities are taxed at a much lower rate, county tax records show. Residents are already angry about excessive salaries paid to officials. As top Bell officials earned massive salaries, city workers were laid off The city cut more than $800,000 from public safety and community services the same year that it gave City Manager Robert Rizzo an $82,000 raise. Bell council used little-noticed ballot measure to skirt state salary limits The city asked voters to back conversion to charter status in 2005, the year the California Legislature limited the pay of council members statewide. Only 400 people in a city of 40,000 voted on the measure. Bell scandal may spur a civic shift In nearby cities, residents rose up to oust corrupt officials with mixed results. Is a city manager worth $800,000? Bell isn't a big town, or a wealthy one. But some of its top officials are paid double or triple the salaries of their counterparts elsewhere. D.A. investigating why Bell council members get nearly $100,000 a year for a part-time job The district attorney's review of city records finds that each member in the working-class community of slightly less than 40,000 people gets $8,083 per month. A $400 monthly stipend was expected.

– The Los Angeles Times took home the coveted public service Pulitzer Prize this afternoon for its exposé of widepsread corruption in the city of Bell, Calif. The piece eventually led to the arrests of eight city officials, including the city administrator, who was pulling down $800,000 a year. The Times took home a second Pulizter for feature photography. A look at some of the other winners: Investigative reporting: Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Explanatory reporting: Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar, and Alison Sherwood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel National reporting: Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica International reporting: Clifford J. Levy and Ellen Barry of the New York Times Commentary: David Leonhardt of the New York Times Criticism: Sebastian Smee of the Boston Globe Editorial writing: Joseph Rago of the Wall Street Journal Editorial cartooning: Mike Keefe of the Denver Post Breaking news photography: Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn, and Ricky Carioti of the Washington Post Look through the gallery for more winners, or click for the complete list of Pulitzer Prize winners.

In August, the Federal Way Mirror in Washington State said of their close 30th District state house election, "this race may be the most interesting to watch. Two good, smart candidates who know the issues and will run a very clean race." It was a race to watch, but not for the reason they predicted. The incumbent Democratic state Rep. Roger Freeman — one of two black representatives in the state legislature — died at the end of October at the age of 48. Around 15 percent of the district's voters had already mailed in their ballots, and at the end of Election night he had a six-point-lead over his Republican opponent, Jack Dovey. The death was so recent that most voters were simply unaware that it had happened, and voted for the incumbent or on a party line. Local news station KVAL spoke to one such person on Tuesday night. Voter Steven Hinz cast a ballot for Freeman because he didn't know the candidate had died. "I did not know that," he said. "When did he pass away?" Since Freeman would not be able to effectively serve his terms, the two counties that make up the 30th district will select a temporary legislator from three possibilities offered by local Democrats. A special election would then be held next year. Voters elect people whose hearts no longer thump to the beat of democracy more than you'd think. Last year, Oregon voters elected a man to the Aberdeen City Council five months after he died. Missouri elected a dead man who was running unopposed to serve as county commissioner in 2010. Three weeks before the 2000 election, Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan died in a plane crash. When he won a Senate race against John Ashcroft, his widow was appointed to take his place. Hackensack High School Principal Joseph DeFalco died after the polls had opened in 2005, and was elected to the city council for a four-year term he could not complete, or even start. In 1998, a dead woman, Jacquelyn Morrow Lewis Ledgerwood, made it to a run-off in the Oklahoma Senate's Democratic primary. The New York Times reported at the time, ||||| November 4, 2014 at 11:00 PM Roger Freeman, a Democratic state representative from Federal Way, appeared headed for victory Tuesday despite dying six days ago. Tuesday’s ballot results put Freeman, a first-term incumbent for the 30th legislative district that spans parts of King and Pierce Counties, ahead by six percentage points over his Republican challenger, Jack Dovey. Freeman’s apparent victory leaves a decision for filling the vacant House seat to the King and Pierce County Councils, which must jointly appoint a Democrat to replace Freeman for one year. Freeman’s replacement will be chosen from three nominees put forward by Democratic Party officials in the 30th District. A special election would be set next year for voters to decide on a candidate to fill out the final year of the two-year House term. Freeman, 48, a public defender and former Federal Way City Council member, died Wednesday morning after a long battle with colon cancer. He is survived by a wife and two children. ||||| UPDATE: Roger Freeman, who died last week, is leading his race for a seat in the state House of Representatives. Early results show Freeman is taking 53 percent of the vote. FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- There's an unusual twist in the race for state house in the 30th district of Federal Way. The democratic incumbent died from cancer last week, but Rep. Roger Freeman's name is still on the ballot -- and he's still getting votes. Freeman was battling to retain his seat in the state legislature. He was also battling colon cancer that spread to his liver and lungs. He lost that battle last Wednesday "It's a day to remember Roger Freeman. It's a day to remember how he made us feel," said Freeman's legislative director, Martin Moore. Jack Dovey is Freeman's Republican challenger. "It's a tragic thing that happened," Dovey said. Freeman's name is still on the ballot and is still getting support. Voter Steven Hinz cast a ballot for Freeman because he didn't know the candidate had died. "I did not know that," he said. "When did he pass away?" Even though word of Freeman's death spread throughout the community last week, obviously not everyone knows about it. "I voted for Freeman,"said Robert Zielie, who also didn't realize Freeman was dead. But Freeman's supporters still want folks to vote for him, because if he wins he'd be replaced by a democrat. The democratic precinct leaders would offer three potential replacements to the county councils of King and Pierce counties who would select one. If no agreement is reached, the governor gets to choose. Dovey says he'd rather see Freeman waving signs with him. "It's a lot easier running against the person than the party," he said. So Freeman's campaign says vote for Roger even though he's no longer with us. "I think that's something that he would personally want," Moore said. ||||| 5 things to know about Washington state's election Share this story print email SEATTLE (AP) - Washington voters won't be electing a governor or U.S. senator this election, but they will weigh in on issues like gun background checks and class sizes. And voters in central Washington will see a first for the state - two members of the same party on the fall ballot in a congressional race. Here's a look at 5 things to know about the general election: GUN MEASURES: Voters will decide the fate of two competing gun background check initiatives. One, Initiative 594, seeks universal background checks on all sales and transfers, including private transactions and many loans and gifts. The other, Initiative 591, would prevent the state from expanding checks beyond the national standard. Like federal law, Washington law currently requires checks for sales or transfers by licensed dealers but not for purchases from private sellers, like those who sell at gun shows or to friends. No other state has a gun-related measure on the ballot this year, and millions of dollars have been pouring into the state, mostly in support of expanding background checks. I-591 also would prohibit the confiscation of firearms without due process. REPUBLICAN VERSUS REPUBLICAN: The most interesting congressional race in the state is also the one where one party is guaranteed to have the winner. Washington's 4th Congressional District features two Republicans on the fall ballot - the first time that's happened in a federal race under the state's 'Top 2' primary system. Tea party favorite Clint Didier is in a tight contest against Dan Newhouse, backed by the Republican mainstream. Newhouse has said he would focus on central Washington priorities such as water conservation and cleaning up the giant Hanford Nuclear Reservation, while Didier ran largely against the political establishment in the nation's capital, including some fellow Republicans, who he terms "RINOs," Republicans in name only. SENATE CONTROL: For the last two legislative sessions, Republicans have controlled state Senate with the help of two Democrats who left their party to caucus with the GOP. Republicans hope to gain outright control of the upper chamber following Tuesday's election. Currently, the state Senate is split 26-23, technically with the majority lying with Democrats. But in 2012, two Democrats joined the Republicans to form a mostly GOP-controlled coalition, sending Democrats to the minority. The Democrats need to win two or more seats to regain control of the Senate, but Republicans had strong showings in the primary. Unlike the Senate, the House has not changed majority in more than a decade. This election is not expected to be different. The Democrats in that chamber currently hold a 55-43 majority. CLASS SIZE: Voters in Washington state will vote yet again on class sizes. Education advocates are pushing a measure limiting class sizes, but opponents say Initiative 1351 could make a bad budget situation worse as lawmakers scramble to pay for court-ordered reforms. State financial experts believe the initiative would eventually cost the state about $2 billion a year to pay for thousands more teachers and other school staff. Washington voters overwhelmingly approved another class size reduction initiative in 2000, and 14 years later, lawmakers are just starting to pay that bill. This initiative is different, in both its scope and the way it was written. Initiative 1351 would set lower class sizes at every grade level. The previous initiative focused on the youngest grades. VOTE BY MAIL: Washington, like Oregon, is an all vote-by-mail state. But unlike Oregon - where ballots have to be received by Election Day - in Washington, ballots just have to be postmarked no later than Election Day or placed in an official ballot drop box by 8 p.m. Tuesday. That means that in some of the more competitive races, results may not be known for days as most counties will update vote counts only once a day. ||||| SEATTLE — An incumbent Democratic state representative in Washington was headed for a decisive re-election victory on Wednesday even though he died last week, results indicate. Roger Freeman, a first-term representative from Federal Way, a city between Seattle and Tacoma, had about 53 percent of the vote, compared to about 47 percent for his Republican challenger, Jack Dovey. Freeman, 48, died last week after a battle with cancer. His death came after ballots were mailed to Washington voters, where all voting is done by mail. "This is extremely rare," said Brian Zylstra, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office. "But there are protocols in place." Once all ballots are finalized in coming weeks, if Freeman wins the vote, Democrats still will hold on to his seat in the state House of Representatives, Zylstra said. Democrats in Freeman's district, which spans two counties, will select three names for a temporary replacement and the King and Pierce County councils will vote to appoint one of those candidates to the seat for one year, according to state election rules. The seat would be on the ballot in 2015 to fill out the remainder of the two-year term, the rules say. Should the Republican candidate win, he will take the seat in Olympia at the start of the next legislative session. Roger Freeman a Democratic state representative in Washington, is seen in an undated photo from the U.S. House of Representatives. HANDOUT / Reuters IN-DEPTH — Reuters

– Election results are still trickling in in Washington state (it's a vote-by-mail-only state, KOMO News reports), but it looks like voters are giving Democratic Rep. Roger Freeman of Federal Way a second term with about 53% of the vote, NBC News notes. There's just one problem: The 48-year-old Freeman died last week after a long battle with colon cancer, the Seattle Times reports. Many voters either didn't know Freeman had died or had already sent in their ballots, the Washington Post reports. "I did not know that. When did he pass away?" one voter told KVAL. "This is extremely rare," a spokesman for Washington's secretary of state tells NBC. "But there are protocols in place." Those protocols would be much simpler if voters had simply elected the very much alive Republican candidate, Jack Dovey. However, since Freeman is apparently the victor, Democrats in the district will pick three names to serve as his temporary replacement; the county councils will then vote one of those candidates in to serve for one year, with a special election next year to pick someone for the final year of the two-year term, NBC notes. Dovey, now known as the challenger beat by a deceased candidate, simply tells KVAL, "It's a tragic thing that happened." (This county candidate dropped out of the race after his dead friend supposedly voted for him.)

This undated image made available by the Oregon Health & Science University in May 2013 shows a stem cell colony developed from cloned human embryos. Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from... (Associated Press) Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes. A prominent expert called the work a landmark, but noted that a different, simpler technique now under development may prove more useful. Stem cells can turn into any cell of the body, so scientists are interested in using them to create tissue for treating disease. Transplanting brain tissue might treat Parkinson's disorder, for example, and pancreatic tissue might be used for diabetes. But transplants run the risk of rejection, so more than a decade ago, researchers proposed a way around that: Create tissue from stem cells that bear the patient's own DNA, obtained with a process called therapeutic cloning. If DNA from a patient is put into a human egg, which is then grown into an early embryo, the stem cells from that embryo would provide a virtual genetic match. So in theory, tissues created from them would not be rejected by the patient. That idea was met with some ethical objections because harvesting the stem cells involved destroying human embryos. Scientists have tried to get stem cells from cloned human embryos for about a decade, but they've failed. Generally, that's because the embryos stopped developing before producing the cells. In 2004, a South Korean scientist claimed to have gotten stem cells from cloned human embryos, but that turned out to be a fraud. In Wednesday's edition of the journal Cell, however, scientists in Oregon report harvesting stem cells from six embryos created from donated eggs. Two embryos had been given DNA from skin cells of a child with a genetic disorder, and the others had DNA from fetal skin cells. Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health & Science University, who led the research, said the success came not from a single technical innovation, but from revising a series of steps in the process. He noted it had taken six years to reach the goal after doing it with monkey embryos. Mitalipov also said that based on monkey work, he believes human embryos made with the technique could not develop into cloned babies, and he has no interest in trying to do that. Scientists have cloned more than a dozen kinds of mammals, starting with Dolly the sheep. The new work was financed by the university and the Leducq Foundation in Paris. Dr. George Daley, a stem cell expert at Children's Hospital Boston who didn't participate in the work, called the new results "one landmark step in a very long journey" toward creating DNA-matched transplant tissue. Now, Daley said, scientists must compare the embryo-cloning approach with another technology that reprograms blood or skin cells directly into substitutes for embryonic stem cells. This reprogramming approach is technically simpler and doesn't involve embryos or require the donation of human eggs, and it was widely acclaimed when it was reported in 2007. Its Japanese developer shared a Nobel Prize last year. But these substitute cells show some molecular differences compared to embryonic ones, which has led to questions about whether they can safely be used for treating patients. So it's essential to compare the cells from the two methods, Daley said. The new results mean "we have another tool," he said. "We have to learn more about this tool." Daley said he believed scientists will prefer using the reprogramming approach unless it can be proven "beyond a shadow of a doubt" that embryo cloning produces better cells for treating patients. Mitalipov said he believed his technique would present a particular advantage for treating patients with a certain type of rare diseases. These are caused by mutations in genes of the mitochondria, the power plants of cells. He noted his technique, unlike the cell-reprogramming approach, would supply tissue with new mitochondrial genes that could replace defective ones. Those new genes would come from the egg. The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for National Catholic Bioethics Center, an independent think tank in Philadelphia, reiterated his opposition to embryo cloning, calling the approach unethical. "It involves the decision to utilize early human beings as repositories for obtaining desired cells," he said. "You're creating them only to destroy them." Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, California, said she was glad that Mitalipov doubted the embryos could be used to clone babies. She said the report still provides a good opportunity for the federal government to ban the use of cloning for reproduction. ||||| OHSU Photos It was hailed some 15 years ago as the great hope for a biomedical revolution: the use of cloning techniques to create perfectly matched tissues that would someday cure ailments ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease. Since then, the approach has been enveloped in ethical debate, tainted by fraud and, in recent years, overshadowed by a competing technology. Most groups gave up long ago on the finicky core method — production of patient-specific embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from cloning. A quieter debate followed: do we still need ‘therapeutic’ cloning? A paper published this week1 by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a reproductive biology specialist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Beaverton, and his colleagues is sure to rekindle that debate. Mitalipov and his team have finally created patient-specific ESCs through cloning, and they are keen to prove that the technology is worth pursuing. Therapeutic cloning, or somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), begins with the same process used to create Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, in 1996. A donor cell from a body tissue such as skin is fused with an unfertilized egg from which the nucleus has been removed. The egg ‘reprograms’ the DNA in the donor cell to an embryonic state and divides until it has reached the early, blastocyst stage. The cells are then harvested and cultured to create a stable cell line that is genetically matched to the donor and that can become almost any cell type in the human body. Many scientists have tried to create human SCNT cell lines; none had succeeded until now. Most infamously, Woo Suk Hwang of Seoul National University in South Korea used hundreds of human eggs to report two successes, in 2004 and 2005. Both turned out to be fabricated. Other researchers made some headway. Mitalipov created SCNT lines in monkeys2 in 2007. And Dieter Egli, a regenerative medicine specialist at the New York Stem Cell Foundation, successfully produced human SCNT lines3, but only when the egg’s nucleus was left in the cell. As a result, the cells had abnormal numbers of chromosomes, limiting their use. Monkeying around Mitalipov and his group began work on their new study last September, using eggs from young donors recruited through a university advertising campaign. In December, after some false starts, cells from four cloned embryos that Mitalipov had engineered began to grow. “It looks like colonies, it looks like colonies,” he kept thinking. Masahito Tachibana, a fertility specialist from Sendai, Japan, who is finishing a 5-year stint in Mitalipov’s laboratory, nervously sectioned the 1-millimetre-wide clumps of cells and transferred them to new culture plates, where they continued to grow — evidence of success. Mitalipov cancelled his holiday plans. “I was happy to spend Christmas culturing cells,” he says. “My family understood.” The success came through minor technical tweaks. The researchers used inactivated Sendai virus (known to induce fusion of cells) to unite the egg and body cells, and an electric jolt to activate embryo development. When their first attempts produced six blastocysts but no stable cell lines, they added caffeine, which protects the egg from premature activation. None of these techniques is new, but the researchers tested them in various combinations in more than 1,000 monkey eggs before moving on to human cells. “They made the right improvements to the protocol,” says Egli. “It’s big news. It’s convincing. I believe it.” The experiments took only a few months, Mitalipov says. “People say, you did it in monkeys in 2007. Why did it take six years in humans?” Most of the time, he says, was spent navigating US regulations on embryo research. The researchers carried out a battery of tests to prove that their SCNT cells could form various cell types, including heart cells that are able to contract spontaneously. Their first cell lines were created using fetal skin cells; others were derived using donor cells from an 8-month-old patient with a rare metabolic disorder called Leigh syndrome, to prove that ESCs could be made from more mature donor cells. The technique does not require prohibitive numbers of eggs: it took 15 from one donor to produce one cell line and 5 from a different donor to make another. “The efficiency was the most impressive thing,” says George Daley, a stem-cell expert at Children’s Hospital Boston in Massachusetts. Such improvements might be necessary to convince people that SCNT research is still worthwhile. Egg donors for the experiment received US$3,000–7,000 in compensation. This is expensive and, according to some bioethicists, risks creating an organ trade that preys on the poor. Because the technique requires the destruction of embryos, funds from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) cannot be used to make or study SCNT-derived cell lines, hampering further clinical research. (Mitalipov maintains a separate laboratory for NIH-funded research.) Public fears that the technology might be used to create human clones are another sticking point. The research might spark “cloning hysteria” that opponents of stem-cell research could capitalize on, says Bernard Siegel, executive director of the Genetics Policy Institute in Palm Beach, Florida. But Mitalipov has tried without success for more than a decade to produce a monkey by cloning. Tachibana says that an upcoming publication will explain why reproductive cloning of humans is not possible using their SCNT technique. Still, Daley and most other stem-cell researchers have shifted to another method for creating genetically matched, patient-specific cell lines: reprogramming adult cells to an embryonic state to produce induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. First reported in 2006, the technique does not involve eggs, cloning or destruction of embryos4. “Honestly, the most surprising thing [about this paper] is that somebody is still doing human [SCNT] in the era of iPS cells,” says Miodrag Stojkovic, who studies iPS cells for regenerative medicine and runs a fertility clinic in Leskovac, Serbia. But Stojkovic, like others, awaits the results of head-to-head comparisons between iPS and SCNT cells. Some research has shown that iPS cells are not completely reprogrammed and that stem cells derived from SCNT are more like embryonic stem cells derived from in vitro fertilization. Mitalipov and Tachibana are now conducting a study to compare iPS cells and SCNT cells derived from the same donor cell. “These results,” says Daley, “will be fascinating.”

– Scientists have made a long-sought—and controversial—breakthrough: They created stem cells from cloned human embryos for the first time, reports AP. In theory, the development by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University means that doctors might someday be able to grow tissue from an ailing patient's own DNA, thus reducing the chance of rejection in a transplant. Commonly cited examples are growing brain tissue to help a patient with Parkinson's disease, or pancreatic tissue to help diabetics. It's "one landmark step in a very long journey," says an expert at Children's Hospital Boston who wasn't involved with the work. The Oregon scientists say they don't think the embryos used in their process could develop into babies, reports NBC News, but the procedure is nonetheless controversial because it requires that the embryos be destroyed. Nature notes that competing technology in the last decade has made the push toward embryonic stem cells less intensive, but adds that the new paper in Cell is sure to reignite the debate. The scientists used eggs from donors, and it took six years to replicate the success they had with monkey embryos. They chalked it up to a series of small revisions over the years instead of a single aha! moment.

BEIJING — The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies, two largest consumers of energy, and two largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Together we account for about 40 percent of the world’s emissions. We need to solve this problem together because neither one of us can solve it alone. Even if the United States somehow eliminated all of our domestic greenhouse gas emissions, it still wouldn’t be enough to counteract the carbon pollution coming from China and the rest of the world. Likewise, even if China went down to zero emissions, it wouldn’t make enough of a difference if the United States and the rest of the world didn’t change direction. That’s the reality of what we’re up against. That’s why it matters that the world’s most consequential relationship has just produced something of great consequence in the fight against climate change. Today, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are jointly announcing targets to reduce carbon emissions in the post-2020 period. By doing this – together, and well before the deadline established by the international community – we are encouraging other countries to put forward their own ambitious emissions reduction targets soon and to overcome traditional divisions so we can conclude a strong global climate agreement in 2015. Our announcement can inject momentum into the global climate negotiations, which resume in less than three weeks in Lima, Peru, and culminate next year in Paris. The commitment of both presidents to take ambitious action in our own countries, and work closely to remove obstacles on the road to Paris, sends an important signal that we must get this agreement done, that we can get it done, and that we will get it done. Advertisement Continue reading the main story This is also a milestone in the United States-China relationship, the outcome of a concerted effort that began last year in Beijing, when State Councilor Yang Jiechi and I started the United States-China Climate Change Working Group. It was an effort inspired not just by our shared concern about the impact of climate change, but by our belief that the world’s largest economies, energy consumers and carbon emitters have a responsibility to lead. The targets themselves are also important. Ambitious action by our countries together is the foundation to build the low-carbon global economy needed to combat climate change. The United States intends to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 – a target that is both ambitious and feasible. It roughly doubles the pace of carbon reductions in the period from 2020 to 2025 as compared to the period from 2005 to 2020. It puts us on a path to transform our economy, with emissions reductions on the order of 80 percent by 2050. It is grounded in an extensive analysis of the potential to reduce emissions in all sectors of our economy, with significant added benefits for health, clean air, and energy security. Our target builds on the ambitious goal President Obama set in 2009 to cut emissions in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. We are on track to meet that goal, while creating jobs and growing the economy, with the help of a burgeoning clean energy sector. Since the president took office, wind energy production has tripled and solar energy has increased by a factor of ten. This summer, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first carbon pollution standards for existing power plants, which account for a third of United States carbon pollution. The Chinese targets also represent a major advance. For the first time China is announcing a peak year for its carbon emissions – around 2030 – along with a commitment to try to reach the peak earlier. That matters because over the past 15 years, China has accounted for roughly 60 percent of the growth in carbon dioxide emissions world-wide. We are confident that China can and will reach peak emissions before 2030, in light of President Xi’s commitments to restructure the economy, dramatically reduce air pollution and stimulate an energy revolution. China is also announcing today that it would expand the share of total energy consumption coming from zero-emission sources (renewable and nuclear energy) to around 20 percent by 2030, sending a powerful signal to investors and energy markets around the world and helping accelerate the global transition to clean-energy economies. To meet its goal, China will need to deploy an additional 800 to 1,000 gigawatts of nuclear, wind, solar and other renewable generation capacity by 2030 – an enormous amount, about the same as all the coal-fired power plants in China today, and nearly as much as the total electricity generation capacity of the United States. There is no question that all of us will need to do more to push toward the de-carbonization of the global economy. But in climate diplomacy, as in life, you have to start at the beginning, and this breakthrough marks a fresh beginning. Two countries regarded for 20 years as the leaders of opposing camps in climate negotiations have come together to find common ground, determined to make lasting progress on an unprecedented global challenge. Let’s ensure that this is the first step toward a world that is more prosperous and more secure. ||||| The United States and China are pledging to move faster to reduce or limit emissions of heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. China and the U.S. are the world's two largest polluters, and by taking action together, leaders from both countries hope to spur other nations to be equally aggressive as they work to finalize a worldwide climate treaty next year. What both countries are announcing, according to the White House: UNITED STATES —Reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent by the year 2025, compared to what the U.S. was emitting in 2005. Previously, Obama had committed to cutting emissions by 17 percent by 2020 compared to 2005 levels, and officials say the U.S. is on track to meet that goal. —Double the rate at which the U.S. is reducing its emissions per year. Between 2005 and 2020, the U.S. on average must cut emissions 1.2 percent per year to meet Obama's overall goal of 17 percent. Over the five years between 2020 and 2025, the U.S. aims to reduce emissions and average of 2.3 percent to 2.8 percent per year. —Submit the new 2025 emissions reduction target by the end of the first quarter of 2015 as the intended U.S. contribution to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the treaty that nations hope to finalize later in 2015 in Paris. CHINA —Set a target for carbon dioxide emissions to peak by around 2030, with the goal of topping out earlier if possible. —Expand the share of China's energy consumption derived from zero-emission sources to about 20 percent by 2030. The U.S. says that would require China to develop up to 1,000 gigawatts of new power from sources like nuclear, wind and solar.

– The US and China rank as the world's two largest polluters, but a surprise deal is turning them into the world's two largest pollution fighters: The nations announced that they'll be working in tandem on long-term greenhouse-gas controls that would cut emissions by nearly a third over the next 15 years or so, CNN reports. "As the world's two largest economies, energy consumers, and emitters of greenhouse gases, we have a special responsibility to lead the global effort against climate change," President Obama said in a joint press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping today at the end of the APEC summit. The move, which was months in the making, came as a surprise to experts expecting a much more limited scope, the Wall Street Journal reports. Calling it a "game changer," Mother Jones notes that it could heavily influence next year's climate talks in Paris. Key mandates include the US reducing emissions by 26% to 28% by the year 2025 (compared to the year 2005), as well as doubling the rate of emissions reduction each year between 2020 and 2025 to an average 2.3% to 2.8%, the AP reports. China is pledging to stop increasing emissions by 2030 (even earlier, if possible), as well as increase energy from zero-emission sources such as wind, solar, and nuclear to 20% by 2030. Although some worry about recent GOP gains in government as a possible roadblock, a senior administration official tells CNN that "we believe we can proceed with the authority we already have." Secretary of State John Kerry writes in a New York Times op-ed that "this is … a milestone in the United States-China relationship," a "fresh beginning," and "the first step toward a world that is more prosperous and more secure."

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon will not be signed by Fox News or by CNN following his ouster from Breitbart News on Tuesday, according to the networks. “Fox News will not be hiring Steve Bannon Stephen (Steve) Kevin BannonIt’s time for conservatives to retire the term �?alt-right’ Kurtz sees media forfeiting credibility in war with Trump Bannon wanted Trump to keep Yellen as Fed chair: report MORE,” a network spokesperson confirmed to The Hill. A CNN spokesman also confirmed to The Hill that they are not interested in hiring Bannon. The decision by the networks comes after SiriusXM also said Tuesday that the former White House chief strategist will no longer host a radio show after it was announced he was stepping down. "Breitbart News has decided to end its relationship with Stephen K. Bannon, therefore he will no longer host on SiriusXM since our programming agreement is with Breitbart News," SiriusXM said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT Bannon, 64, had rejoined Breitbart News's SiriusXM radio show as host in December. He departed from the White House in August in what President Trump Donald John TrumpAccuser says Trump should be afraid of the truth Woman behind pro-Trump Facebook page denies being influenced by Russians Shulkin says he has White House approval to root out 'subversion' at VA MORE has since characterized as a firing. Bannon announced he was leaving Breitbart News on Tuesday after making controversial remarks about Trump's family to Michael Wolff, the author of the book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," which has dominated headlines since being released last week. The populist firebrand became executive chairman of Breitbart News in 2012 following the sudden death of founder Andrew Breitbart, who died of a heart attack at age 43. Bannon's career has been in flux since the publication of Wolff’s book. In the book, which immediately became a best-seller, Bannon was quoted as calling Donald Trump Jr. Donald (Don) John TrumpTrump Jr. praises 'spirit' of poverty-stricken Indians: 'Still a smile on a face' State Dept. says it did not coordinate with Trump Jr. on India speech The Hill's 12:30 Report MORE “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” for meeting with a Russian lawyer during his father’s presidential campaign. Trump slammed Bannon in a statement by claiming that the former Goldman Sachs investment banker had “lost his mind” after the comments on Trump Jr. first came to light. In Wolff's book, Bannon said, "They're [the special counsel's team] going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV." Bannon has since apologized for the comments, but the White House has rejected the overture. “When you go after somebody’s family in the [manner] which he did, two of the president’s children are serving this nation, sacrificing in their service, it is repugnant, it is grotesque and I challenge anybody to go and talk about somebody’s family and see if that person doesn’t come back and comes back hard,” said White House spokesman Hogan Gidley. In August, following Sean Spicer Sean Michael SpicerSpicer: Behar's comments about Pence's faith 'despicable' Report: Turnover rate in Trump White House highest in decades White House still doesn't have Spanish-language website year into admin MORE's departure from the White House, all three cable news networks indicated they would not hire the former press secretary. The Hill has also reached out to MSNBC for comment on the possibility of opening talks with Bannon. - Updated at 11:30 a.m. ||||| Steve Bannon, who resigned as executive chairman of Breitbart yesterday, won’t be joining America’s leading media network for conservative thought. “Fox News will not be hiring Steve Bannon,” a network spokesperson said. However, he could turn up as a guest on the network, but we haven’t heard of any pending bookings for FNC, CNN or MSNBC. There’s a reason Fox is quick to distance itself from Bannon, as revealed in Michael Wolff‘s Trump tell-all Fire and Fury. Bannon has no love for Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, and, since the departure of Roger Ailes in 2016, chairman of Fox News Channel. Wolff writes: Bannon collected enemies. Few fueled his savagery and rancor toward the standard-issue Republican world as much as Rupert Murdoch–not least because Murdoch had Donald Trump’s ear. It was one of the key elements of Bannon’s understanding of Trump: the last person Trump spoke to ended up with enormous influence. “He doesn’t know anything about American politics; and has no feel for the American people,” said Bannon to Trump, always eager to point out that Murdoch wasn’t an American. Murdoch, born in Australia, has been living in the U.S. since 1973. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1985. Bannon had been executive chairman of Breitbart since 2012. He left the publication to join the Trump campaign and became the president’s chief strategist. He was fired 6 months into that job and returned to Breitbart. But after his comments to Wolff about the president’s mental fitness, revealed in Fire and Fury, Breitbart began to distance itself from Bannon leading to his resignation Tuesday. Comments ||||| Over time, Bannon’s influence waned over rising tensions with the president, and his association with controversial figures like former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, fired after video emerged of comments he made seeming to endorse pedophilia, and Roy Moore, the Alabama Republican who lost a Senate race after being accused of preying on teenage girls. During Bannon's tenure, Breitbart had become increasingly devoted to promoting him, welcoming him back as a "populist hero" after he returned following his ouster from the White House. Bannon left the White House in August 2017, in the aftermath of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, and after giving an unfettered interview bashing colleagues to the liberal American Prospect. In a statement on Tuesday, Sirius XM announced that Bannon would no longer host Breitbart's radio show: "Breitbart News has decided to end its relationship with Stephen K. Bannon, therefore he will no longer host on SiriusXM since our programming agreement is with Breitbart News.” Bannon’s position leading Breitbart became untenable after the release of Wolff’s book Fire and Fury, an inside-the-White-House tell-all in which Bannon was evidently a key source and which features him making a number of harsh comments about Trump’s family. The most controversial of these was Bannon’s comment to Wolff that Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in 2016, in which Trump Jr. sought damaging information on Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, was “treasonous.” Federal investigators are currently trying to determine whether the Trump campaign aided what U.S. intelligence agencies have described as an effort to boost Trump’s candidacy in the 2016 election. Bannon’s comments enraged Trump, with whom Bannon had occasionally spoken after Bannon was forced out of the White House in August. In a statement last week, Trump said Bannon had “lost his mind” and accused him of being a leaker. Though Bannon’s circle pushed him to release a statement smoothing over the incident last week, Trump’s came out first, making Bannon’s position in Trumpworld clear. Then, in a rare public statement, Bannon’s wealthy conservative patron Rebekah Mercer said she was cutting ties with him and that her family was no longer supporting his political projects. Mercer had been unhappy with Bannon for some time; according to a source with direct knowledge of her comments, Mercer told people over six weeks ago that she was finished with Bannon. Breitbart’s board, meanwhile, reportedly debated firing Bannon. According to disclosures the company made while trying to obtain congressional press credentials last year, Breitbart is owned by Solov, company founder Andrew Breitbart’s widow Susie, and the Mercer family with a minority stake. ||||| (CNN) Donald Trump made Steve Bannon. And, on Tuesday, he unmade him. Bannon, who served as Trump's senior White House strategist until he was fired in August 2017 , left as the head of Breitbart News -- roughly one week after quotes critical of Trump and his family went public in Michael Wolff's blockbuster book, "Fire and Fury." Bannon's allegations -- that the July 2016 meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. and several Russians who had promised dirt on Hillary Clinton was "treasonous," for one -- set the President off. Trump took a flamethrower to Bannon , whom he suggested had lost his mind. He even gave Bannon a much dreaded nickname -- "Sloppy Steve" -- presumably in reference to Bannon's unshaved appearance and penchant for wearing three (or more) collared shirts layered on top of one another. By the time Bannon realized just how badly he had screwed up, it was too late. His groveling apology to Trump didn't move the needle. And his longtime financial patron, Rebekah Mercer, abandoned Bannon too. Read More

– Now that he's out of the White House, lost his main financial backer, and been ousted from Breitbart News, what comes next for Steve Bannon? That remained very much unclear on Wednesday, although one thing was clarified: "Fox News will not be hiring Steve Bannon," a network spokesperson tells the Hill. That's not a huge surprise, notes Adweek, which points out a passage in the new book by Michael Wolff (a co-founder of Newser) that makes clear Bannon and Fox honcho Rupert Murdoch are not on great terms—"not least because Murdoch had Donald Trump's ear." Bannon reportedly doesn't think Murdoch understands US politics and told Trump as much. More on the Bannon fallout: The midterms: Bannon had vowed to lead a slate of anti-establishment candidates into office this year, "but it's unclear—and unlikely—that Bannon could continue to be a player in politics during this year's midterms without major donors behind him and after being disavowed by the president, writes Rosie Gray at the Atlantic. What's more, Bannon also has lost his radio show on SiriusXM, because the company's contract was with Breitbart, not Bannon. His mistake: At CNN, Chris Cillizza thinks Bannon made one huge mistake in regard to Trump, who brought him from the political fringe to the White House. "Somewhere along the way, Bannon forgot that Trump was the boss and he was the underling," writes Cillizza. "Everything that happened after that was sadly predictable."

Footage and photos captured inside Grandview Aquarium, located inside a mall in Guangzhou, China, reveals a sad tableau. Animals, including bears, wolves, beluga whales and walruses, were seen trapped in barren, dimly-lit enclosures as people clamored to take their picture, sometimes banging loudly on the glass to attract the animals’ attention. “One bear paced back and forth in a small enclosure, displaying behavior that experts say reflects stress and possible psychological problems. Wolves lay listlessly in a small room while walrus calves and belugas swam back and forth in confined spaces,” described The Washington Post earlier this year. The facility was dubbed the “saddest zoo in the world.” It was also described as a “prison.” Animals Asia One video released by Animals Asia, a Hong Kong-based animal charity, showed a bear at the zoo, believed to be polar-brown bear hybrid, lying limply on the ground of an enclosure. The bear “suffers for selfies,” the animal welfare group wrote. “Trapped in the middle of a shopping center in China ― his white fur contrasting against the unnaturally blue display he is an unwilling part of ― this sad polar bear has no escape,” wrote the group. “Nowhere to hide from people taking photos ― banging on the windows and shouting. Nothing natural, no attempt to create an environment that would meet the needs of any living bear ― never mind this vast magnificent animal. Grandview Aquarium, also known as Grandview Mall Ocean World, first caught the world’s attention earlier this year when Animals Asia launched a petition calling for the zoo’s closure. The petition has been signed by more than 270,000 people. “Taking animals from their natural environments can never be defended, but when they’re rehomed in conditions like we’re seeing at the Grandview Aquarium, it’s the worst possible situation,” said the group. “We all need to continue to publicly object to such facilities.” The onslaught of public criticism reportedly had an impact on the zoo, according to an update last week by Animals Asia. However, the facility remains open. “Animal lovers may be boycotting the facility, but those less well aware of the issues are not. Commercially, any impact is not hurting,” wrote Dave Neale, the charity’s animal welfare director. Animals Asia Still, Neale stressed that public pressure was helping to move the needle on the issue. Management at the facility had been “genuinely shocked by the international outrage,” he said, and invited the group to advise them on how to better care for the animals. “It is difficult for me to work with people that have chosen to house animals such as this bear in such poor conditions, but they were very open,” Neale wrote, adding that the zoo had already implemented some of his group’s recommendations, including providing piles of snow for its two polar bear hybrids. Neale said he doesn’t believe the zoo will shutter its doors anytime soon, but hopes that continued pressure will lead to “significant changes.” “Make no mistake. Keeping animals in this way is not acceptable. We’ll keep helping, we’ll keep pushing for change,” he said. “If our experience has taught us anything ― first you open doors, then you open cages.” Earlier this year, a manager at Grandview Aquarium was quoted in local media as saying the facility provided adequate living space for the animals, and that its aim was to “popularize science and nurture marine life.” The aquarium did not respond to The Huffington Post’s requests for comment. ||||| Former Circus Bear Can't Believe It When He Sees His Sprawling New Home - Duration: 4:40. You Should Know ? 687,435 views ||||| Two polar-brown bear hybrids, six young beluga whales and five walrus calves are among the animals housed in horrifying conditions in a Chinese mall in Guangzhou. The poor state of the animals and limited space has already come under fire from Chinese netizens, with a WeChat post on the shocking situation going viral. This zoo in a shopping centre is the brainchild of the largest Chinese operator of ocean parks, Haichang Holdings. Opened on January 9, 2016, the Grandview Aquarium has already drawn accusations of neglect in care. In addition, critics have accused the aquarium of keeping beluga whales and walrus calves in spaces too small for them to express their natural behaviours, and keeping their bears in conditions that threaten the animals’ long-term wellbeing. Along with the China Cetacean Alliance, Animals Asia has contacted Haichang Holdings to outline the numerous animal welfare issues – including limited space and animal performances. There has been no response to date. Animals Asia’s Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said: “Taking animals from their natural environments can never be defended, but when they’re rehomed in conditions like we’re seeing at the Grandview Aquarium it’s the worst possible situation. While those behind this may claim this as education, it’s clear the motivation here is bottom line profit. As long as businesses are allowed to use animals in this manner, wealth will always be put ahead of welfare. “What is clear is that a significant section of Chinese society will not accept this, and the negativity surrounding the Grandview Aquarium is the only thing that will challenge developments like this. “We all need to continue to publicly object to such facilities – and for those living locally, we say, ‘So long as animals are suffering, choose somewhere else to shop. Don’t reward cruelty.’” Animals Asia and the China Cetacean Alliance will continue to monitor the situation and push for an end to this cruelty. You can see the conditions in this video, made by Wemedia01 (Vine videos excerpted courtesy of Wemedia01). For a more humane business model, this mall needs looks no further than Chengdu, China. Last year, Animals Asia worked with a mall in Chengdu that was determined to buck the trend of using animals to sell their products. ||||| Hearts all over the internet are breaking for a captive polar bear living in a mall in China. An online petition was filed back in March by non-profit group Animals Asia, appealing for a white polar bear that's being kept in Guangzhou, China, to be freed. The makeshift zoo enclosure is also home to another polar bear, six belugas, five walrus calves and a wolf. SEE ALSO: Elephant dies a month after being rescued from Thai tourism camp These animals are being locked up in the Grandview Shopping Centre in an attraction called the Grandview Aquarium for visitors to take selfies with. The white polar bear has become the centre of the controversy, after online videos and pictures, meant to draw attention to what's going on at the mall, went viral. The once magnificent creature is reportedly looking miserable and dejected as visitors consistently knock on its glass cage to get its attention for pictures. Animals Asia animal welfare director Dave Neale said in a statement: “There is no excuse for any animal to be trapped this way." Animal rights activists are angered that these animals are being taken out of their natural habitats and caution that it will have detrimental effects on the animals' health. Neale added: "'Taking animals from their natural environments can never be defended, but when they're re-homed in conditions like we're seeing at the Grandview Aquarium it's the worst possible situation." Animals Asia's online petition for the closure and boycott of Grandview Aquarium has gathered over 150,000 signatures since it went up in March. Just two weeks ago, another captive polar bear at the Argentine zoo died. Dubbed "the world's saddest polar bear," Arturo had been living alone for four years since experts say he developed depression-like symptoms after his partner passed away from cancer. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. ||||| The Grandview Aquarium in Guangzhou, China, opened the doors to its animal prison on January 9, 2016, and has already been called "one of the saddest zoos in the world" because the animals there suffer from neglect, poor care, lack of stimulation, and lack of natural light. The zoo is located in a shopping mall. The aquarium displays 500 species—including two polar bears, five walrus calves, six young beluga whales, and two Arctic wolves—in barren enclosures that are too small for them to engage in natural behavior. Spectators have reported that animals display symptoms of zoochosis. The walrus calves and beluga whales have been observed swimming in circles in their small tanks, and the bears, Arctic wolves, and foxes pace back and forth excessively and scratch at the walls. Many captive animals develop such neurotic and abnormal behavior as the result of literally being driven crazy by their confinement. Captive marine animals often die years earlier than their natural life spans from a wide variety of causes, including living in contaminated water, which might have caused the death of a grouper who was found dead inside a tank. The Grandview Aquarium, like all aquariums, is part of a billion-dollar industry built on the suffering of intelligent, social beings who are denied everything that is natural and important to them. Many Chinese citizens have spoken out against the animals' living conditions at the zoo, and a WeChat post about the appalling facility has gone viral. However, we need to raise more awareness to help put a stop to this cruel "attraction." Your help is urgently needed! Please sign our petition asking Cui Tiankai, ambassador of China to the U.S., to use his influence to close the Grandview Aquarium and ensure the welfare of the animals who are imprisoned there. ||||| Grandview has opened its doors again to Animals Asia and promises a better life for its animals – but its refusal to release them leaves us with a moral question, writes Dave Neale. See also: This Chinese mall has become a prison for animals Pressure increases on “World’s Saddest Zoo” after Animals Asia report The tragic polar bear that suffers for selfies "World's saddest zoo" bosses invite Animals Asia to discuss concerns Here’s the problem that we face every single day in working with captive animals in Asia. Threatening frequently changes little – while walking away changes nothing. Staying and talking and working together means there’s an on-going chance for positive change. But who wants to make talk and work with people who manage animals in ways that cause them to suffer? The answer is, we do. For many years Hanoi Zoo was a tragic place and was showing no signs of improvement and the truth is it is still far from acceptable with more needing to be done to improve the welfare of the animals. But by listening and talking and understanding attitudes and limited resources, we’ve helped. We talked them into unchaining elephants so they could walk around their enclosure. We built structures for bears and tigers to climb and rest on. We slowly converted concrete pits to spaces that at least had some appeal to the animals. We’ve made the animals’ lives worth living. And – after gaining their confidence over an extended period – they quietly told us they had listened and they would be closing their animal circus. We had talked them into doing it but we didn’t make them do it. That’s the context in which we met the bosses of Grandview – it is difficult for me to work with people that have chosen to house animals such as this bear in such poor conditions, but they were very open. This was our second meeting and this time I saw their facilities from top to bottom. There was no attempt to hide anything from me. We also spoke to more junior staff who actually look after the animals. And now I know that our concerns are theirs too. The day after our visit, following our basic recommendations, the bear keeper provided piles of snow for the bears and is now starting a programme of enrichment. We’re going to input into that for the bears and for the other animals too. Because the sad truth is, in this instance, we can’t immediately shut down Grandview. And they are unlikely to free this bear, or any of the other animals they house, at least not in the short-term. The pressure has been relentless. Even since I visited, the issue has reached wider media attention being reported here, here and here. And our petition has reached over 500,000 signatures. But while negative media coverage has upset them – that was why I was invited – unfortunately it hasn’t appeared to limit visitor numbers. Animal lovers may be boycotting the facility, but those less well aware of the issues are not. Commercially, any impact is not hurting. But please know that you are being heard and it is directly contributing to the opportunity to make these lives better. Of course, however, we run the risk by advising Grandview, of being seen as legitimising such conditions – but we can’t walk away. By continuing to talk and advise we can help make significant changes. Longer term we can keep talking in the right ears. There are animal lovers among the staff as distraught as we are about what we are seeing not just in Grandview but across China. They want to help. We want them to work with us and fight for what we believe in – and we have much to learn from each other. Not least about the wider captive animal industry in China of which this is just the tip of the iceberg. We hope one day that all of these animals can live in more natural surroundings – but in the meantime we won’t leave them to suffer. They have friends – millions of them, across the world. Make no mistake. Keeping animals in this way is not acceptable. We’ll keep helping, we’ll keep pushing for change. We do appreciate being listened to. We appreciate doors and minds being opened. If our experience has taught us anything – first you open doors, then you open cages. Dave Neale is Animals Asia’s Animal Welfare Director

– His name is Pizza and he lives in a Chinese mall where visitors pose for selfies next to his glass enclosure and knock loudly to get his attention. Such is life when you're the "world's saddest polar bear," per the Daily Express. Pizza, a polar bear hybrid, is one of 500 animals living at Grandview Aquarium inside a Guangzhou shopping center, where critics say animals are housed in dimly lit rooms with few if any natural surroundings. PETA calls it "the saddest zoo in the world," asserting that animals "suffer from neglect, poor care, lack of stimulation, and lack of natural light." Foxes and wolves have been spotted pacing in their enclosures and scratching at walls, the group says. Animals Asia first drew international attention to the zoo earlier this year when it started a petition calling for the facility to be closed, reports Mashable and the Huffington Post. More than 270,000 people have added their signatures, leading zoo officials to adopt some of the group's recommendations, including putting snow in the polar bear enclosures, per a release. But more "significant changes" are needed, says Animals Asia's animal welfare director, Dave Neale. "Keeping animals in this way is not acceptable." Neale, who recently toured the facility and says Animals Asia has been asked to advise it, notes, "It is difficult for me to work with people that have chosen to house animals such as this bear in such poor conditions." But "if our experience has taught us anything—first you open doors, then you open cages." (A much-maligned zoo in Buenos Aires is shutting its doors.)

DID YOU KNOW? The SS United States is 990 feet long – about five city blocks! If you stood her on end, she’d rise nearly as high as New York’s Chrysler Building or Philadelphia’s Comcast Center. You think the Titanic was huge? The SS United States is over 100 feet longer. More aluminum was used in the SS United States than for any previous construction project in history. Why? To reduce her weight and make her the fastest ocean liner of all time. The SS United States was designed to be just wide enough (101 feet) so it could pass through the locks of the Panama Canal with two feet of clearance on either side. ||||| PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A historic ocean liner moored in Philadelphia has been spared from the scrap heap, at least temporarily. (Click Prev or Next to continue viewing images.) ADVERTISEMENT (Click Prev or Next to continue viewing images.) FILE - in this Nov. 22, 2013 file photo, the SS United States sits moored in Philadelphia. The historic ocean liner has been spared from the scrap heap, at least temporarily. The SS United States Conservancy... (Associated Press) The SS United States Conservancy announced Monday that it raised more than $100,000 from supporters around the world. The board will meet this week to discuss the ship's future. The SS United States was once the world's fastest ocean liner. It launched in 1952 after a secret Cold War project to build the world's fastest ship. The conservancy had planned to repurpose it as a museum and mixed-use destination. The nonprofit had sent a virtual SOS to supporters last month saying expenses had become unsustainable. It even retained a broker to explore selling the ship to a metals recycler. The conservancy needs more than $60,000 per month to keep the rehabilitation project afloat. ||||| The SS United States is a true American champion, and I’m proud to support the Conservancy’s efforts on this historic and patriotic project. Jim Nantz, CBS Sports Broadcaster I won my Olympic medal 66 years ago, four years before the SS United States won her own prize for breaking the transatlantic speed record. There are many great Olympic champions, but there is only one great American ocean liner still with us: the SS United States. We must save her! Herb Douglas, Olympian and Philanthropist, Philadelphia PA The SS United States is… a symbol of our country’s industry and accomplishment… the destruction of the United States would be tantamount to destroying other national monuments like the Liberty Bell or the Statue of Liberty… we must maintain what is good and constant in our past if we are to imagine a better future. President William Jefferson Clinton, March 2010 letter provided by the SS United States Trust For me, the United States is hallowed ground. She is the crowning achievement of American maritime ingenuity and resolve. She has sat idle for over 40 years against all odds, and it would be a crime on many levels to see her disposed of. She wears her rust and peeling paint like scars from an ongoing battle against the elements, one that she has thus far endured. Peter Knego, Moorpark, CA You can’t set her on fire, you can’t sink her, and you can’t catch her. William Francis Gibbs, Designer of the SS United States (1886-1967) The SS United States is a tribute to the wonderful days of ocean liners. Some of us were fortunate to have lived them. Those who were not so lucky deserve a place to experience what it was like. Fay Smith, Aberdeen, WA As a teenager, the closest I’ve ever been able to come to living the golden era of the passenger ships is reading about them in library books Saving the United States must be accomplished at whatever the cost. If this great flagship of flagships were to be lost, then so too would we lose part of the pride of the name it carried. Hendrick Stoops, Mansfield, OH This is a crime against shipbuilding – a crime against history … [to] let such a ship die such a miserable death. Walter Cronkite, Former CBS News Anchor, (1916-2009) William Francis Gibbs is known as one of our greatest American geniuses. The SS United States was his greatest work. To save her is to save a great piece of American character. Richard Leach, Queensbury, NY The SS United States represents the ultimate of modern trans-Atlantic liners and an important part of US history and the history of the great era of Atlantic crossings by ship. She represents America at its best – leading the world in technology and ingenuity. I pray we Americans can rise to the occasion to save her for a new life and the beautiful icon/trophy that she is. Richard Steininger, Indianapolis, IN After the loud and fantastic claims made in advance for the liner United States, it comes as something of a disappointment to find them all true. Punch Magazine, (UK, 1952) The ship can be saved if we all do our part. Every little donation counts and will help bring long term jobs to whichever port she claims as home. Join, Donate, Help! As a US Citizen she is my ship. I am a patriot! Russell Parmerter, Savannah, GA I have only seen the SS United States in photographs, and videos, but to lose her would be our Nation’s greatest crime. As someone who can only give a little to save our ship, I shall do everything I can. Our nation needs to rediscover its’ pride. Saving this ship will help reclaim that pride. Robert Beckwith, Dover, MA The best marine engineering of the 20th century was built into the Big U. With determined action and commitment, she can and will be brought back to life as a viable expression of our national pride, inventiveness, and will of purpose. D Kurt Pelkey, Old Orchard Beach, ME Attempting to save her has been a long, uphill battle for a lot of people over the years. With her legacy and her position in the National Registry of Historic Places, the SS United States should be preserved at all costs. Jim Palmer, Greenfield, WI She was built at a time when ‘made in America’ really meant something and that is a legacy that cannot be lost. H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, Inaugural Chair, SS United States Conservancy Blue Riband Council It’s about time for this country to honor our maritime past, and preserving the United States would send a strong message that we can! Erik Johnson, Lombard, IL The Big U must be saved. Not only she is an engineering marvel, she also represents a piece of US history and an achievement unsurpassed to this date. Leopold Brandenburg, Sr., Baltimore, MD The SS United States is such a beautiful ship and truly an American original. Let’s save this “Speed Queen of the Seas.” Kristin Stockslager, Camp Hill, PA This ship reflects the best of America while its decay represents the worst. Let’s hope the conservation efforts succeed and allows our country to shine. Bruce Linick, Havre de Grace, MD This ship represents the can do spirit and other qualities that helped build the great nation whose name she bears on her hull. The SS United States is the embodiment of this country and must be preserved. Christopher Argeson, Wayne, NJ Truly one of the greatest ships in the world. One day she will yet again plow the waves of the seven seas. Svein Georg Rygg, Norway (On behalf of Norwegian Ships Historical Society) It is important that a great ship like this… should not be lost to the scrapyard – a fate suffered by so many great ocean liners that are now forever lost. We must conserve our history for future generations. I wish her luck! Daniel Steel, Glasgow, UK The story of the SS United States is inseparable from the story of America. This great ship is a marvel of American engineering and capacity. It needs to be saved… David Dubczak, Indianola, IA The effort to save the SS United States will help preserve some of the history of this great country for future generations and I am proud to do what I can to help. James Mitchell, Mystic, CT I am honored to be able to help save our Nation’s Flagship. We will continue to fight to save her, no matter what it takes! Dawn Hegeman, Claymont, DE I will do whatever I can to help make sure that she is restored and preserved as a major symbol of the pride and determination of those who designed her and served on her. She ranks amongst the very greatest technical achievements of the men and women who embodied the ideals of United States of America. She will continue her role as a shining reminder of what can be done when creativity and need come together in one great endeavor. Robert Nixon, Oshkosh, WI Wrought in steel and aluminum, the SS United States is the product of many hands and many hopes. The magnificent ship is more than a superlative achievement of American engineering. She stands for dreaming big (literally!) and perseverance and for the human ability to accomplish. Margaret Stack, Philadelphia, PA

– If you've recently spotted the hashtag #savetheunitedstates, it's not an offshoot of Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign: It's a last-ditch effort to keep the SS United States—once the fastest ocean liner on Earth—afloat instead of becoming scrap metal, the AP reports. And it looks like the Cold War-era ship is indeed getting a temporary stay, with the nonprofit conservancy that oversees it announcing Monday it's raised $100,000 from supporters around the world determined to keep the ship, currently moored in Philly, out of the hands of a metal recycler. Even this new cash influx, though, can't maintain the ship forever; the conservancy's board will be meeting later this week to talk about what comes next. "The destruction of the United States would be tantamount to destroying other national monuments like the Liberty Bell or the Statue of Liberty … we must maintain what is good and constant in our past if we are to imagine a better future," says one writer on the ship's testimonials page. That writer's name: President William Jefferson Clinton.

“They’ve been promising it for years. They’ve been promising it ever since Obamacare which is failed,” President Donald Trump said of Republicans. | AP Photo Trump: I'll be 'very angry' if the GOP health care bill fails President Donald Trump lamented that he'll be "very angry" if the Republican effort to repeal Obamaca collapses. “I will be very angry about it and a lot of people will be very upset,” Trump said on the possibility of the bill to repeal Obamacare failing, adding, “but I’m sitting waiting for that bill to come to my desk. I hope they do it.” Story Continued Below Trump’s comments were excepts from an interview with televangelist Pat Robertson of CBN News out Wednesday. The full interview is set to air on the 700 Club Thursday. His comments to Robertson stand in contrast to his earlier statement in late June on the GOP's bill, when he noted that "if we don’t get it done, it’s just going to be something that we’re not going to like, and that’s okay." Trump noted how often Republicans have touted repealing the landmark 2010 health care bill. “They’ve been promising it for years. They’ve been promising it ever since Obamacare which is failed,” Trump said. “It’s a failed experiment. It is totally gone. It’s out of business and we have to get this done.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to win support from several moderate Republicans and key conservatives in the coming days. He announced Tuesday that the Senate would stay in session through the first two weeks of August, shortening the summer recess considerably. “He’s got to pull it off. Mitch has to pull it off,” Trump said of the Kentucky Republican. “He’s working very hard. He’s got to pull it off." ||||| Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump tells McConnell to let Senate vote on criminal justice reform The Hill's Morning Report — Presented by T-Mobile — The political currents that will drive the shutdown showdown Senate edges closer to rebuking Trump on Saudi Arabia MORE (R-Ky.) is ramping up pressure on Senate Republicans to allow healthcare reform legislation to move forward, but old antagonist Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzStrategist behind Warren's political rise to meet with O'Rourke: report Trump tells McConnell to let Senate vote on criminal justice reform Sanders to Colbert: 'You will be my vice presidential candidate!' MORE (R-Texas) is an obstacle. McConnell on Wednesday urged colleagues to drop procedural objections to the bill, a sign that his patience is wearing thin — and that he is uncertain he can win the day. “If we sit on our hands, families will continue to suffer. And if we let this opportunity to move beyond ObamaCare pass us by, what other options will there be?” he said in remarks from the Senate floor. McConnell argued that if senators blocked the bill, there would be no opportunity to debate their ideas in public. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn John CornynSenate edges closer to rebuking Trump on Saudi Arabia Texas lawmakers introduce legislation aimed at helping border counties identify missing migrants US markets plunge after arrest of Chinese tech executive MORE (R-Texas) said his colleagues have an obligation to allow the debate to proceed and would break Senate traditions by blocking it. “The only time I’m aware of around here that people don’t vote yes on a motion to proceed is if they don’t have an opportunity to offer amendments and get votes on them,” he said. Their pleas, however, failed to move some members of the GOP conference. Cruz, the runner-up in last year’s Republican presidential primary, declined to say Wednesday whether he would vote to allow the healthcare debate to begin next week. “Depends what’s in the bill,” Cruz told reporters before heading into a lunch where lawmakers discussed the outline of the legislation. Cruz and fellow conservative Sen. Mike Lee Michael (Mike) Shumway LeeSenate edges closer to rebuking Trump on Saudi Arabia Overnight Defense: GOP senators rip Saudi prince after CIA briefing | Top general says Afghan war at a stalemate | Mattis extends border mission through January | Pompeo gives Russia deadline on nuclear arms treaty Trump-GOP rift grows over Saudis MORE (R-Utah) are insisting on an amendment that would allow insurance companies to sell any kind of health plan they want as long as they offer at least one that complies with federal regulations. Cruz was summoned to Cornyn’s office late Wednesday afternoon but a spokesman for Cornyn said it was to discuss judicial vacancies, not Cruz's concerns with the legislation. Critics say the Cruz-Lee amendment would lead healthier people to flock to cheap, bare-bones plans, sending premiums for older and sicker people soaring. In a document circulated on Capitol Hill, the main insurer trade group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, warned the Cruz-Lee amendment could lead to higher costs for those with pre-existing conditions. Such individuals could “potentially lose access to comprehensive coverage and/or have plans that were far more expensive, as premiums in the Exchange market would rise much faster,” it said. McConnell can afford only two defections if he is to still pass the bill, as Republicans control 52 seats. Vice President Pence would break a 50-50 tie. Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulMeadows says 'too early to tell' if special House election should be held in North Carolina Kobach ‘very concerned’ voter fraud may have happened in North Carolina Sen. Paul must release his hold on Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act MORE (R-Ky.) is expected to oppose the bill, and many observers also believe it will be impossible to win support from Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsSenators want assurances from attorney general pick on fate of Mueller probe 5 themes to watch for in 2020 fight for House Judd Gregg: The last woman standing MORE (R-Maine). Despite the tough odds, one GOP lawmaker who attended Wednesday’s lunch said there’s generally a “more positive feeling” that the motion to proceed to the bill will pass next week but conceded “no one stood up and said they changed their minds” to express support for the bill. But several Republican senators left the lunch voicing frustration with McConnell’s strategy of keeping the details of the bill secret until the last minute in order to keep critics from picking it apart. “People have asked, ‘Has [the bill] addressed concerns that you have in Alaska?’ I have no idea, so I’m not going to make any commitment to anybody that I’m going to vote for a motion to proceed,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiSenate advances Trump energy pick after Manchin flips The Senate must reject Bernard McNamee’s nomination for FERC Overnight Defense: Congress pauses to mourn George H.W. Bush | Haspel to brief senators on Khashoggi killing | Soldier is fourth to die from Afghan IED blast MORE (R-Alaska), who remains undecided. In a bid to entice moderates, Cornyn promised “a substantial” increase to a $62 billion state fund designed to help low-income people with high healthcare costs afford insurance. McConnell has scheduled a special meeting of the conference at 11:30 a.m. Thursday to discuss the detailed contents of the legislation. GOP leaders say the bill will be posted publicly sometime Thursday morning. McConnell used this same playbook when he rolled out the first version of the Senate bill repealing and replacing major parts of ObamaCare on June 22. But even when he unveiled the legislation in a morning meeting late last month, the discussion was limited to the bill’s broad goals and lawmakers were not given paper with detailed language. GOP lawmakers said the leadership’s tactic of limiting information was designed to keep complaints and objections to a minimum. Republican senators and senior aides have differing opinions on how much support there is for the Cruz-Lee proposal, but they agree it cannot pass as drafted. One GOP lawmaker predicted it would get 47 votes. A senior aide familiar with negotiations last week said it would only get 15. Cornyn said no final decision has been made on the Cruz-Lee provision. “The base bill will be released tomorrow morning. There’s going to be a lot of information released but I can’t speak to the exact format,” Cornyn said. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) are negotiating with Cruz and Lee to modify their amendment so that it could gather at least 50 votes on the floor. Rounds, a former insurance executive, has proposed setting a ratio for how much insurers could charge people for plans meeting federal requirements versus the lower charge for cheaper, simpler plans. He said that Cassidy has been in touch with Cruz on a “slightly different approach, but a similar concept.” A spokesman for Cassidy did not comment. Cruz declined to say late Wednesday whether he would accept their suggested modifications. “We continue to have productive conversations,” he said. Correction: This report was updated on July 13 at 7:10 a.m. after a spokesman for Cornyn said the senator met with Cruz on Wednesday to discuss judicial vacancies.

– President Trump has warned senators that he will be "very angry" if they fail to repeal ObamaCare as promised. In an interview with televangelist Pat Robertson, the president said "a lot of people will be very upset" if Senate Republicans don't pass the legislation this summer, Politico reports. "I am sitting in the Oval Office with a pen in hand, waiting for our senators to give it to me," Trump said. "It has to get passed. They have to do it. They have to get together and get it done." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is expected to present a revised version of the bill to senators Thursday morning, "has to pull it off," Trump said. "He's working very hard. He's got to pull it off." McConnell urged senators Wednesday to drop procedural objections to the bill and let a vote move forward, saying, "If we sit on our hands, families will continue to suffer," the Hill reports. McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes, and Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday that he can't support the revised bill because it is "the same as the old bill, except it leaves in place more taxes," the Washington Post reports. McConnell also faces opposition from moderate senators and conservatives including Sen. Ted Cruz, who's pushing for an amendment that would allow insurance companies to sell plans that don't meet federal coverage requirements. (McConnell has cut the Senate recess by two weeks.)

On paper, Miss America 2015 Kira Kazantsev reads like a forward-thinking person's dream of what a beauty queen could be. She's a trilingual honors student who's publicly passionate about women's health and down to clown with Jimmy Kimmel; she's got a squeaky-clean image and a squeaky-clean resume. But it's missing one unflattering detail. In late April 2013, Jezebel has learned, Kazantsev and a friend were both kicked out of the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra University on Long Island after hazing pledges. At the time, Kazantsev was serving as the sorority's head of recruitment. Kazantsev is well-spoken, quick on her feet, and perky. She's the third consecutive Miss New York to win the title of Miss America, and she did with the added handicap of a hammy Anna Kendrick impression. In the days since she earned the crown, Kazantsev has diplomatically but firmly addressed the loud-mouthed buffoons who have taken issue with her past internship at Planned Parenthood, telling Cosmopolitan, "It was close to my university and I care about women's health. It's really important that teens know what resources are available to them and learn to be respectful of their bodies and other peoples' bodies." Kazantsev's Miss New York press kit describes a daughter of Russian immigrants who is fluent in Spanish and Russian and maintained a 3.6 GPA while triple majoring in Political Science, Geography, and Global Studies at Hofstra. And under "leadership roles," listed right under a platform called "Love Shouldn't Hurt"—a timely and important advocacy push against domestic violence—you'll learn that Kazantsev served as "Alpha Phi Sorority New Member Educator and Recruitment Committee President." Advertisement After Kazantsev's win last week, neither the national Alpha Phi organization nor the Hofstra branch of Alpha Phi (Theta Mu) publicly acknowledged that one of their own had just won the most prestigious beauty pageant in the world; nor did the local chapter and national organization recognize Kazantsev's considerable achievement. The organization's affiliated foundation was also silent, despite the fact that pictures of Kazantsev participating in Alpha Phi events are all over Facebook. Advertisement According to a tipster close to Kazantsev, those omissions were no accident. After returning from her fall 2012 study abroad semester in Spain, Kazantsev began her term as Alpha Phi's Recruitment Committee President for the incoming pledges. Kazantsev and her best friend (another Alpha Phi sister who was also her roommate), our source says, were exceptionally harsh toward the pledges. (In the tipster's words, they made the recruits' lives "a living hell.") Under Kira's supervision, according to the source, pledges in the incoming class were called names, berated for their perceived physical flaws and imperfections, and made to perform physical tasks to the point of bruising and exhaustion—standard sorority pledge stuff paid forward by a person who our source says was herself brutally hazed upon entry into Alpha Phi. Hofstra's attempts to control hazing predate Kazantsev's time in Alpha Phi. In an attempt to cull the campus's headline-making abuse (and the ensuing student health and PR nightmares that followed in its wake), Hofstra has been quick to act decisively in response to hazing. According to the University's code of conduct, hazing includes: Any action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers mental or physical health or involves the forced consumption of liquor or drugs for the purpose of initiation into or affiliation with any organization. Any other act or series of acts that cause or are likely to cause mental or physical harm or danger. Mistreatment by playing stunts or practicing abusive, humiliating or ridiculous tricks that subject an individual to personal indignity, humiliation or ridicule. Harassment by exacting unnecessary, disagreeable, or difficult work or harassment by banter, ridicule or criticism. Some examples of such prohibited activities are: Abnormal or unusual dress holding the wearer up to ridicule, e.g., extraordinary headwear, costumes, underwear, body painting, etc. Performing unusual or abnormal acts, e.g., dancing on tables, standing at attention, standing on windowsills, blindfolding, etc. Excessive or unusual physical activities, e.g., crawling, duckwalk, push-ups, sit-ups, skipping, hopping, squatting, etc. Verbal or written harassment or abuse, e.g., yelling, making demeaning remarks, etc. Advertisement Student leaders are told in no uncertain terms that if they're caught hazing, the entire frat or sorority risks being tossed off campus. But just because rules exist doesn't mean they're followed, and socially-enforced silence among fraternity and sorority members has allowed remnants of a particularly nasty culture to flourish underground. A recent graduate who attended Hofstra at the same time as Kazantsev told Jezebel that the final two steps of pledging in one (unnamed) sorority involved making all of the pledges remove their underwear and sit on newspapers while the older members forced them to watch lesbian porn. Anyone whose newspaper stuck to them at the end of the video, the former student said, was branded a dyke, ridiculed, and tossed out. The remaining girls were then forced to perform oral sex on their sorority "big sisters." Other Greeks required pledges to sit in circles around bowls of cat food and other various inedibles. They'd take turns eating and as soon as someone threw up, they had to eat the puke. Another sorority would wrap completely naked pledges in tinfoil, take them to bars, and instruct them to dance until last call. Patrons would pull pieces of foil off, and pledges were considered sexually up for grabs. These, of course, are extreme examples, and not necessarily attributed to Kazantsev's sorority. Students can be suspended from Greek life or removed from campus for much less, and for much more. In the last decade, more than a dozen college students have died while participating in the pledging process, and uncounted thousands have been hospitalized due to alcohol abuse encouraged as a routine part of many Greeks' hazing processes. But it's impossible for university officials to know what's going on if everyone keeps quiet. Advertisement When someone reported Kazantsev and her friend for "dirty pledging," Hofstra didn't turn a blind eye. After a months-long investigation into their actions, our source says, the pair was expelled from Alpha Phi in late 2013 and told they could no longer participate in any sorority activities, including the end-of-year formal. Kira and her bestie attended the formal, anyway, but had to sneak in with their dates. FERPA rules prohibit university officials from discussing details of disciplinary cases publicly or divulging details of what specific behavior got Kazantsev booted, but when I called Hofstra University to look into allegations I described as relating to "a high-profile individual who was expelled from her sorority in late April 2013," the representative who spoke with me responded, "Was this person, by chance, in Atlantic City last Sunday night?" She then assured me that she'd tell me what she could, which amounted to very little, aside from that damningly leading hypothetical. Additional Hofstra students who were on campus at the same time as Kazantsev corroborated the story that Miss America had been kicked out of her sorority for behavior her University characterizes as abusive. The Miss America organization was more forthcoming. When I reached out to them last week to ask them if they were aware of Kazantsev's hazing history, a kind and personable representative who seemed taken aback by the allegations told me that they'd get back to me with a statement. Hours later, a spokeswoman from the organization sent this statement: Kira has been fully transparent with the MissAmerica Organization about her termination from the Alpha Phi sorority. It's unfortunate that this incident has been exploited to create a storyline that distracts from what we should be focusing on: Kira's impressive academic achievements at Hofstra University, including earning a triple major from the Honors College and her commitment to serving her community. Kira is an exceptional ambassador for the MissAmerica Organization, and we are excited to be a part of her journey as a force for good across our nation, promoting education and service and working to empower young women. Advertisement The Miss America and Miss New York organizations weren't exactly as "transparent" with the viewing public as they say Kazantsev was with them. This news shouldn't serve to take down Kazantsev; if anything, it might even be an opportunity for her. Good people sometimes do bad things, and discussing how they happened, how they developed, and how to keep other good people from doing the same bad things could make some kind of dent in a collegiate culture of hazing abuse. Because—to adapt a quote from Kira Kazantsev's platform—sisterly love shouldn't hurt. ||||| (Read more from Tuesday morning: Miss America goes on Good Morning America to deny hazing abuse) Miss America, Kira Kazantsev, poses for photographers during the traditional toe dip in the Atlantic Ocean the morning after she was crowned. (Julio Cortez/AP) (Updated Monday night with statement from Kazantsev below saying the allegations of hazing are not true.) Beauty pageants are frequently a source of controversy after the fact, and Miss America is no exception. Barely a week after Miss New York Kira Kazantsev won the crown, pageant officials acknowledged that she had been kicked out of her college sorority last year. Why? They would not discuss the matter, but their statement appeared to confirm a new report that she was involved in hazing pledges. Yes, in case you’re wondering, this is the new Miss America whose social cause is protecting women against domestic violence. Jezebel broke the story on Monday afternoon and cited an anonymous source who detailed acts of hazing during Kazantsev’s reign as recruitment committee president in the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra University: Under Kira’s supervision, according to the source, pledges in the incoming class were called names, berated for their perceived physical flaws and imperfections, and made to perform physical tasks to the point of bruising and exhaustion — standard sorority pledge stuff paid forward by a person who our source says was herself brutally hazed upon entry into Alpha Phi. Kazantsev — who made headlines during the pageant with her quirky talent singing “Happy” while playing a beat on a red plastic cup— was kicked out of Alpha Phi after someone reported these incidents and there was an investigation, Jezebel said. Pageant officials released a statement to the site, saying that “Kira has been fully transparent with the Miss America Organization about her termination from the Alpha Phi sorority.” “It’s unfortunate that this incident has been exploited to create a storyline that distracts from what we should be focusing on: Kira’s impressive academic achievements at Hofstra University, including earning a triple major from the Honors College and her commitment to serving her community,” they added, going on to praise Kazantsev as a worthy ambassador of the crown. When contacted by The Post, a pageant spokesperson didn’t answer specific questions about when and how Kazantsev was “transparent” about the incident — it certainly didn’t come up during the live broadcast on Sept. 14. The spokesperson sent us the same statement as it had to Jezebel, though instead of the phrase “fully transparent,” they said Kazantsev “has been very open and candid about her termination from the Alpha Phi sorority.” “Kira is an exceptional ambassador for the Miss America Organization, and we are excited to be a part of her journey as a force for good across our nation, promoting education and service and working to empower young women,” the statement said. UPDATE, Monday night A pageant spokesperson said that Kazantsev will appear on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday morning to address the allegations of hazing, which she says are not true. Monday night, Kazantsev also posted a long entry describing the incident on her Web site, explaining that she was kicked out of the sorority because of a hazing joke in an e-mail chain that was taken out of context. When she didn’t show up for her disciplinary hearing about the issue (it was the end of her senior year and she was focused on graduation) her membership was terminated. Kazantsev said when she was pledging, there was some “so-called hazing” in Alpha Phi, the worst of which involved “standing in a line reciting information, a few sleepless nights, and crafting.” (The sorority was later reprimanded by Hofstra and the national chapter.) Kazantsev admitted that when she became the new member educator, she was in charge of similar events, but that was unrelated to her termination. “I was never involved with any name-calling or use of profanity toward a girl during my time with the sorority. I was never involved in any physical hazing or any degradation of physical appearance of any kind,” she wrote. “This has all been immensely taken out of context and manipulated purposefully because I am now in a public position.” “The nameless source that is saying these things is doing exactly what it is that I was wrongfully accused of,” she added. For the record, this is the second PR crisis the Miss America organization had to deal with on Monday. John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” took the pageant to task for claiming to “provide” $45 million in scholarships. He fact-checked the numbers and found it’s actually the amount technically available for theoretical contestants — but a much higher figure than the amount doled out in reality. Obviously, the video went viral:

– Kira Kazantsev was kicked out of the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra University last year, and it wasn't for banging plastic cups around, a source tells Jezebel. According to the source, the future Miss America and a friend were expelled from the sorority for hazing pledges, who were "called names, berated for their perceived physical flaws and imperfections, and made to perform physical tasks to the point of bruising and exhaustion." Kazantsev, the president of the sorority's recruitment committee at the time, was banned from all sorority-related activities after an investigation, the source says, but sneaked into the end-of-year formal anyway. Pageant officials, however, say Kazantsev has been "fully transparent with the Miss America Organization about her termination from the Alpha Phi sorority" and the "incident has been exploited" to distract from her impressive achievements at the Long Island university, reports the Washington Post. On her website, the beauty queen says she never bullied anybody and the worst hazing she witnessed involved "reciting information, a few sleepless nights, and crafting." She says she was expelled from the sorority after an email in which she joked about hazing was forwarded to the national organization—and says the "nameless source that is saying these things is doing exactly what it is that I was wrongfully accused of." (Click for more about Kazantsev's controversial talent performance.)

List of nominees for the 89th annual Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Best Picture: "Arrival," ''Fences," ''Hacksaw Ridge," ''Hell or High Water," ''Hidden Figures," ''La La Land," ''Lion," ''Manchester by the Sea", "Moonlight." Actor: Casey Affleck, "Manchester by the Sea"; Denzel Washington, "Fences"; Ryan Gosling, "La La Land;" Viggo Mortensen, "Captain Fantastic"; Andrew Garfield, "Hacksaw Ridge"; Tom Hanks, "Sully." Actress: Isabelle Huppert, "Elle"; Ruth Negga, "Loving"; Natalie Portman, "Jackie"; Emma Stone, "La La Land"; Meryl Streep, "Florence Foster Jenkins." Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Hell or High Water"; Mahershala Ali, "Moonlight"; Dev Patel, "Lion"; Michael Shannon, "Nocturnal Animals." Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, "Fences"; Naomie Harris, "Moonlight"; Nicole Kidman, "Lion"; Octavia Spencer, "Hidden Figures"; Michelle Williams, "Manchester by the Sea." Directing: "Arrival," Denis Villeneuve; "Hacksaw Ridge" Mel Gibson; "La La Land" Damien Chazelle; "Manchester by the Sea," Kenneth Lonergan; "Moonlight" Barry Jenkins. Foreign Language Film: "Land of Mine," Denmark; "A Man Called Ove," Sweden; "The Salesman," Iran; "Tanna," Australia; "Toni Erdmann," Germany. Adapted Screenplay: "Moonlight," ''Lion," ''Arrival," ''Fences," ''Hidden Figures." Original Screenplay: "Hell or High Water," ''La La Land," ''The Lobster," ''Manchester by the Sea," ''20th Century Women." Animated Feature Film: "Kubo and the Two Strings," Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner; "Moana," John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer; "My Life as a Zucchini," Claude Barras and Max Karli;"The Red Turtle," Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki; "Zootopia" Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer. Production Design: "Arrival" Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Paul Hotte; "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock; "Hail, Caesar!" Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh;"La La Land" Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco; "Passengers" Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena. Cinematography: "Arrival," Bradford Young; "La La Land," Linus Sandgren; "Lion," Greg Fraser; "Moonlight," James Laxton; "Silence," Rodrigo Prieto. Sound Mixing: "Arrival," Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye; "Hacksaw Ridge," Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace; "La La Land," Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow; "Rogue One," David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson; "13 Hours," Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth. Sound Editing: "Arrival," Sylvain Bellemare;"Deepwater Horizon," Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli;"Hacksaw Ridge" Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright;"La La Land," Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan;"Sully," Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman. Original Score: "Jackie," Mica Levi; "La La Land," Justin Hurwitz; "Lion," Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka;"Moonlight," Nicholas Britell; "Passengers," Thomas Newman. Original Song: "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)," from "La La Land"; "Can't Stop the Feeling!" from "Trolls"; "City of Stars" from "La La Land"; "The Empty Chair" from "Jim: The James Foley Story"; "How Far I'll Go" from "Moana." Costume Design: "Allied," Joanna Johnston; "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" Colleen Atwood; "Florence Foster Jenkins," Consolata Boyle; "Jackie," Madeline Fontaine; "La La Land," Mary Zophres. Documentary Feature: "Fire at Sea," Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo; "I am Not Your Negro," Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert Peck; "Life Animated," Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman; "OJ: Made in America," Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow; "13th," Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish. Documentary (short subject): "Extremis," Dan Krauss; "4.1 Miles" Daphne Matziaraki;"Joe's Violin," Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen; "Watani: My Homeland," Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis; "The White Helmets" Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara Film Editing: "Arrival," Joe Walker; "Hacksaw Ridge" John Gilbert; "Hell or High Water," Jake Roberts; "La La Land," Tom Cross; "Moonlight," Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon. Makeup and Hairstyling: "A Man Called One," Eva von Bahr and Love Larson; "Star Trek Beyond," Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo; "Suicide Squad," Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson. Animated Short Film: "Blind Vaysha," Theodore Ushev;"Borrowed Time," Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj;"Pear Cider and Cigarettes," Robert Valley and Cara Speller;"Pearl" Patrick Osborne;"Piper" Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer. Live Action Short Film: "Ennemis Interieurs," Selim Azzazi;"La Femme et le TGV," Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff; "Silent Nights," Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson; "Sing" Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy; "Timecode" Juanjo Gimenez. Visual Effects: "Deepwater Horizon," Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton;"Doctor Strange" Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould; "The Jungle Book" Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon;"Kubo and the Two Strings" Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff; "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould. ||||| FILE - This Oct. 26, 2016 file photo shows director Mel Gibson posing to promote his film, "Hacksaw Ridge," at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans. Gibson was nominated for an Oscar for best directing on... (Associated Press) FILE - This Oct. 26, 2016 file photo shows director Mel Gibson posing to promote his film, "Hacksaw Ridge," at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans. Gibson was nominated for an Oscar for best directing on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017, for his work on the film. The 89th Academy Awards will take place on Feb. 26.... (Associated Press) The candy-colored love letter to musicals "La La Land" has landed a record-tying 14 Academy Awards nominations, matching it with "Titanic" and "All About Eve" for most nominations ever. "La La Land" has earned nods for best picture, its stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, its songs and its 32-year-old writer-director, Damien Chazelle. The other nominees for best picture are: "Moonlight," ''Arrival," ''Manchester by the Sea," ''Hell or High Water," ''Lion," ''Fences," ''Hidden Figures" and "Hacksaw Ridge." Following two years of "OscarsSoWhite" furor, the Academy of Motion Pictures fielded a notably more diverse field of nominees, led by Barry Jenkins' luminous coming-of-age portrait "Moonlight," Denzel Washington's "Fences" and Theodore Melfi's "Hidden Figures." "Moonlight" tied with Denis Villeneuve's cerebral science fiction thriller "Arrival" for second most nominees with eight each. The biggest surprise of the morning was the strong boost of support for Mel Gibson, who had long been shunned in Hollywood. Not only did his World War II drama "Hacksaw Ridge" land a best picture nod, but Gibson scored an unexpected best director nomination. The nominees for best actor are: Casey Affleck ("Manchester by the Sea"), Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge"), Ryan Gosling ("La La Land"), Viggo Mortensen ("Captain Fantastic"), Denzel Washington ("Fences"). The nominees for best supporting actor are: Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea") and Dev Patel ("Lion"). Whether fairly or not, the nominations were seen as a test for the revamped film academy. It will be the first Oscars voted on since academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs ushered in new membership rules and added 683 new members as a way to diversify a predominantly white, male and elderly group, which now numbers 6,687. The Oscars also rejiggered its nominations format. Instead of announcing nominees live in Los Angeles, pre-produced videos of previous winners introduced each category on Tuesday morning. Though "La La Land" and other best-picture nominees such as "Arrival" and (less certainly) "Hidden Figures" are knocking on the door of $100 million at the North American box office, none of the best picture nominees has yet grossed more than $100 million. After an unlikely awards season run, the smart-aleck superhero "Deadpool" ($363.1 million) didn't managed to crash the party, making this year's best picture nominees one of the lowest grossing bunch ever. The regular business of today's corporate-driven Hollywood is increasingly set apart from the industry's awards season, where smaller, critically adored films like "12 Years a Slave," ''Birdman," ''Boyhood" and "Spotlight" have recently dominated. Only one major studio — Paramount, which distributed "Arrival" and "Fences" scored a best picture nomination. Amazon, however, landed its first best picture nomination for Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea," which the streaming retailer partnered with Roadside Attractions to distribute. The dearth of blockbusters will pose a test for host Jimmy Kimmel, who'll be presiding over the Feb. 26 Oscarcast for the first time. While the Academy Awards are still among the most-watched TV programs of the year, ratings have been in decline the last two years. Last year's broadcast, hosted by Chris Rock, drew 34.4 million viewers, an eight-year-low. Rock's show, which he introduced as "the White People's Choice Awards," was rife with Hollywood's diversity debate. This year's — where politics may take over the spotlight — will surely be seen as an improvement. But many have always held that the industry's inclusivity problems are rooted not in its award shows but in its power brokers: executives, agents and producers. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

– The Oscar nominations are out, with La La Land leading the way with a record-tying 14 nominations, reports the AP. (It ties Titanic and All About Eve.) Some highlights: Best movie: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, and Moonlight. Best actress: Natalie Portman, Jackie; Emma Stone, La La Land; Isabelle Huppert, Elle; Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins; Ruth Negga, Loving. Best actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea; Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge; Ryan Gosling, La La Land; Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic; Denzel Washington, Fences. Best director: Damien Chazelle, La La Land; Barry Jenkins, Moonlight; Denis Villeneuve, Arrival; Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea; Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge. Supporting actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight; Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water; Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea; Dev Patel, Lion; Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals. Supporting actress: Viola Davis, Fences; Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea; Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures; Naomie Harris, Moonlight; Nicole Kidman, Lion. Animated feature: Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, The Red Turtle, and Zootopia. Original screenplay: Hell or High Water, La La Land, The Lobster, Manchester by the Sea, 20th Century Women. Full list: See a complete list of nominations here. Check out this year's Razzie nominations.

President Donald Trump said that it’s a “scary time” for young men in America since they can face sexual assault allegations even when they may be innocent. Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding a flight Tuesday, Trump said that the political climate in America today makes it hard to refute allegations, referencing claims of sexual misconduct by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. “It is a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of,” he told reporters. “This is a very difficult time. What’s happening here has much more to do than even the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. You can be somebody that was perfect your entire life and somebody can accuse you of something. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a woman. But somebody can accuse you of something.” Trump said that the current situation meant that some men are “guilty until proven innocent.” Asked if he had a message for young women, Trump said it’s a “great time for women.” California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified to Congress last week that as a teenager Kavanaugh held her down, put his hand over her mouth and tried to remove her clothes. A second woman, Deborah Ramirez, said that as a college student he exposed himself to her during a party. A third woman, Julie Swetnick, alleges that she was gang raped at a party that Kavanaugh attended. Kavanaugh denies all of the allegations. During the 2016 campaign, Trump faced allegations of sexual misconduct from 18 women ranging from walking through women’s dressing rooms to unwanted kissing to touching their genitals without their consent. Trump denied all the allegations, calling the women “horrible, horrible liars.” He’s currently facing a defamation lawsuit from one of the women, former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos. The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also said in an interview this week that he’s “scared most” for his sons, rather than his daughters. ||||| President Trump Donald John TrumpGiuliani says he confirmed Trump ‘never’ spoke with Cohen about congressional testimony Russian pop star linked to Trump Tower meeting cancels US tour Harris after announcing presidential run says her 'highest priority' is protecting Mueller probe MORE said Tuesday the controversy surrounding Brett Kavaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court shows it is a “scary time for young men.” "It is a very scary time for young men in America, when you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn before leaving the White House. Trump said Kavanaugh has been treated unfairly as multiple women have come forward to accuse the federal judge of sexual misconduct. The FBI is investigating the allegations, delaying a Senate confirmation vote. ADVERTISEMENT "It's a very scary situation where you're guilty until proven innocent," the president said. "That is a very, very difficult standard." Trump's comments are likely to fuel the firestorm surrounding Kavanaugh's nomination and renew questions about his attitude toward the "Me Too" movement. Nineteen women have accused the president of sexual misconduct or said they’ve had an extramarital affair with him. Trump has denied all of the allegations. Asked if he had a message for young women, Trump replied, “Women are doing great.” The president said he hopes for a “positive” vote in the Senate this week for Kavanaugh, but it will "be dependent on what comes back from the FBI.” The sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh stem from his time in high school and college in the 1980s. His first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, delivered dramatic testimony last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which she said Kavanaugh pinned her down and tried to rip off her clothes while drunk at a house party with other high school students. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the allegations during his own testimony, which pleased Trump and his other Republican supporters. Two other women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct while drinking excessively during his years in high school and college. The president warned Democrats that they risk turning Kavanaugh into a martyr on the right if they block his nomination, a move he said would energize conservatives ahead of the midterm elections. "They are so in favor of Judge Kavanaugh. It’s like a rallying cry for the Republicans," Trump said. But several GOP senators, led by Sen. Jeff Flake Jeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeSchumer recruiting top-notch candidate for McCain Senate seat The Hill's Morning Report — Trump eyes wall money options as shutdown hits 21 days Poll: Sanders most popular senator, Flake least MORE (Ariz.), are withholding their support for Kavanaugh until the FBI investigation concludes. The White House agreed to allow the FBI expand its investigation after senators accused the administration of limiting it too narrowly, according to reports on Monday. Several key senators have indicated they would be uncomfortable voting for Kavanaugh if the inquiry was seen as perfunctory. But top Republicans have said they plan to move ahead with Kavanaugh's confirmation vote this week, wary a further delay could possibly derail his nomination. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellDACA recipient claims Trump is holding ‘immigrant youth hostage’ amid quest for wall Former House Republican: Trump will lose the presidency if he backs away from border security Pence quotes MLK in pitch for Trump's immigration proposal MORE (R-Ky.) mocked a new story about the judge getting into a bar fight during his years at Yale University and reaffirmed his plans to hold a vote this week. "Senators will have the opportunity to vote. We’ll have the opportunity to vote 'no' on the politics of personal destruction. We’ll have the opportunity to vote 'yes' on this fine nominee," McConnell said on the Senate floor. ||||| Published on Oct 2, 2018 (2 Oct 2018) President Donald Trump says he wants to "see what happens" with the FBI investigation into his embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Trump also said it was "a scary time for young men" who could become subject of false accusations. (Oct. 2) Subscribe for more Breaking News: http://smarturl.it/AssociatedPress Website: https://apnews.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP Facebook: https://facebook.com/APNews Google+: https://plus.google.com/1158922418018... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ ​ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you... ||||| Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he believes the reaction to the allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh makes it "a very scary time for young men in America." "It is a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of," Trump said. "This is a very, very -- this is a very difficult time. What's happening here has much more to do than even the appointment of a Supreme Court justice." The allegations against Kavanaugh -- including sexual assault and exposing himself to a young woman in college -- have sparked the latest reckoning in America about sexual assault and men's treatment of women, bringing the #MeToo movement back to the fore. And while Trump has called Christine Blasey Ford, who testified to Congress that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school, "credible" and "compelling," he has continued to support Kavanaugh's confirmation and emphatically defend his character. Trump's comments on Tuesday were just the latest instance of the President expressing concern about the public outcry resulting from the allegations against Kavanaugh and the impact on other men. "It's a very scary situation where you're guilty until proven innocent. My whole life I've heard you're innocent until proven guilty, but now you're guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. "You could be somebody that was perfect your entire life and somebody could accuse you of something." Read More

– As President Trump exited the White House for a flight Tuesday, he spoke with reporters on the South Lawn about the topic you'd expect: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the allegations against him. Some standout lines, per Time, the AP, and the Hill: "You can be an exemplary person for 35 years and then somebody comes and they say 'you did this or that,' and they give three witnesses, and the three witnesses at this point do not corroborate what she was saying. It's a very scary situation where you're guilty until proven innocent. ... That is a very, very difficult standard." "It is a very scary time for young men in America, when you can be guilty of something you're not guilty of." "What's happening here has much more to do than even the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. ... You could be somebody that was perfect your entire life, and somebody could accuse you of something. Doesn't necessarily have to be a woman ... but somebody could accuse you of something and you're automatically guilty, but in this realm you are truly guilty until proven innocent. That's one of the very, very bad things that's taking place right now." As for what kind of a time it is for women, "Women are doing great," he replied when asked if he had a message for them. CNN sees parallels between Trump's statements and comments Donald Trump Jr. made in a Monday interview with the Daily Mail in which he said that, in light of the Kavanaugh allegations, he is more afraid for his sons. "I mean, right now, I'd say my sons. I've got boys, and I've got girls. And when I see what's going on right now, it's scary."

CLOSE On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its 2017 nominees. And, that means there were some snubs! Time Director/writer Martin Scorsese and Andrew Garfield on the set of 'Silence.' (Photo: Kerry Brown) La La Land and diversity were major winners in Tuesday's Oscar nominations, but not everyone woke up to an avalanche of excited texts. Among the most surprising omissions from this year's crop: Silence. Despite its muted box office ($5.2 million since late December) and shutout at the Golden Globes, we still figured Martin Scorsese’s passion project might have a shot with the Academy, given the director’s prodigious 12 Oscar nods (and one win) to date. But the religious epic ultimately fell on deaf ears, eking out just one nomination for best cinematography. Amy Adams. Once considered an on-the-bubble contender, the five-time Oscar nominee gained momentum in the past month thanks to Arrival's strong showing with industry and critics' groups. But the overdue actress' understated performance as a linguistics expert may not have been flashy enough for voters, who otherwise greeted the sci-fi drama with eight nominations including best picture. Finding Dory. Stellar reviews and more than $1 billion at the global box office couldn't help the Disney/Pixar blockbuster swim to a nomination for best animated feature — a category its predecessor, Finding Nemo, dominated in 2004. Denzel Washington. The dynamic Fences star earned his seventh acting Oscar nod for his acclaimed August Wilson adaptation with Viola Davis, but was edged out of best director by comeback kid Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge) and first-time nominee Denis Villeneuve (Arrival). Annette Bening. Not only is she a four-time Oscar nominee, but the 20th Century Women star is also a member of the Academy's Board of Governors as a representative for the Actors Branch. So how did she miss out on Nomination No. 5? Blame it on a crowded field of other well-respected actresses including Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins) and French icon Isabelle Huppert (Elle), both of whom have showier roles than Bening's '70s matriarch. Deadpool. For a second there, it looked like the Merc with a Mouth might actually score a nomination for best picture, given the underdog's surprising inclusion in Golden Globes and guild nominations. But even with the boost of Ryan Reynolds' delightfully unconventional awards campaign, the R-rated superhero couldn't go the distance. Aaron Taylor-Johnson. After picking up best supporting actor at the Golden Globes, Johnson was passed over for his creepy Nocturnal Animals turn in favor of his wry co-star, Michael Shannon. Tom Ford's stylish second feature was otherwise missing from the nominations, despite recent love from the BAFTA Awards and the Writers Guild of America. Taraji P. Henson. Arriving at the tail end of awards season, Hidden Figures blasted off at the box office with $83.7 million (and counting) since late December and four nominations including best picture and best supporting actress (Octavia Spencer). But the Empire star couldn't manage a best-actress nod for her powerful turn as NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, nor could her other well-reviewed co-stars Janelle Monáe and Kevin Costner in supporting categories. Sully. Clint Eastwood's workmanlike take on the Miracle on the Hudson hasn't been a major awards player in months, despite its inclusion on the National Board of Review's top 10 films of the year list. Still, its shutout in major categories is surprising given its stellar box office ($125.1 million) and likable star in Tom Hanks, who was once again overlooked for best actor after recent high-profile snubs for Bridge of Spies and Captain Phillips. CLOSE Here are the best picture nominees for the 89th Academy Awards. USA TODAY NETWORK Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2koQDbA ||||| The Oscars certainly knows how to keep us on our toes. While movies like La La Land and Manchester by the Sea are up for awards in several categories, as expected, this year’s Academy Award nominations were full of many notable snubs and surprises. While actors Taraji P. Henson, Amy Adams and Hugh Grant were overlooked, Viggo Mortensen managed to snag a spot in the Best Actor category. And at yet another awards show, Finding Dory couldn’t make it despite its pledge to “just keep swimming.” Keep reading for a breakdown of the biggest shocks from this morning’s announcement leading up to the biggest night in films. Snub: Taraji P. Henson The math just doesn’t add up. Despite Hidden Figures receiving such positive reviews, lead actress Henson failed to score a nomination for her portrayal of Katherine Johnson, the African-American mathematician who helped send the first American astronauts into space. Janelle Monáe was also sidelined despite a solid performance. The musician and producer was nominated for a Golden Globe for best original score for Hidden Figures. However, his work was overlooked in the Oscars’ Original Score and Best Original Song categories. The awards show wasn’t a total miss for Hidden Figures, though: After Henson’s snub, the film — which nabbed a nomination for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture at for Screen Actors Guild Awards — pulled through with a spot in the Best Picture category. In addition, Octavia Spencer received a mention in the Best Supporting Actress category. Snub: Amy Adams Despite a critically acclaimed performance in Arrival, the five-time Oscar nominee won’t have another shot at taking home the statue this year. In a tight Best Actress category that included Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman and Emma Stone, Adams failed to make an appearance. Emily Blunt, who received recognition for the SAG Awards, also didn’t make the cut — although that would have been a bigger shock. Snub: Annette Bening The four-time Oscar nominee was another overlooked contender in the packed Best Actress division. Her acclaimed film 20th Century Women also came up short across the board, failing to secure any Oscar nods. It’s been 21 years since Gibson, who welcomed his ninth child last week, won Best Picture and Best Director for Braveheart. Despite a series of controversies in the early 2000s, nominations for Best Director and Best Picture for Hacksaw Ridge (Gibson’s first directorial effort since 2006’s Apocalypto) have solidified his comeback to Hollywood. “What could be more exciting than listening to the nominations being announced while holding my newborn son! This is a truly wonderful honor,” Gibson said in a statement. Snub: Hugh Grant The Florence Foster Jenkins actor will have to wait a bit longer for his first Oscar nomination. Despite SAG and BAFTA nominations for best supporting actor and a Golden Globes lead actor spot, Grant failed to secure a slot. Instead, Michael Shannon snagged the final opening in the best Best Supporting Actor category for his role in Nocturnal Animals. (Shannon’s costar in that film, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, won the category at the Golden Globes but did not make the cut for the Academy Awards.) RELATED VIDEO: La La Land Leads! Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone Musical Nabs Record-Tying 14 Oscar Nominations Surprise: Viggo Mortensen Mortensen said it best himself: “It’s the little movie that could.” After the Captain Fantastic actor scored a Golden Globe nomination for his role as the patriarch of a family who is forced to reintegrate into society after living in isolation for a decade, the Screen Actors Guild also honored Mortensen with a nod for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for the summer comedy. Mortensen can now add “Oscar nominee” to his resume. Snub: Finding Dory The Pixar sequel fans waited 13 years for the sequel, but it just couldn’t swim its way into awards season. The forgetful yet lovable fish voiced by Ellen DeGeneres scored with reviewers and at the box office (it’s earned over $1 billion worldwide), but was edged out in a year full of strong contenders in the best animated feature film category, including Disney’s Moana and Zootopia. Awards season gave no love for Sully. After being left out of both the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards, fans hoped that the Miracle on the Hudson movie would be able to nab a couple nominations at the Oscars, but there was no such luck. Neither director (and Academy golden boy) Clint Eastwood nor Hanks, a two-time Best Actor winner, were recognized. ||||| Story highlights There was more diversity this year #OscarsLessWhite became a popular hashtag (CNN) Is it time for a new hashtag? This year's Oscar nominations have thrust the conversation about diversity back into the limelight, but this time in a more positive context. Seven actors of color were nominated Tuesday -- Denzel Washington and Viola Davis for "Fences," Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris for "Moonlight," Ruth Negga for "Loving," Dev Patel for "Lion" and Octavia Spencer for "Hidden Figures." Davis is now a three-time Oscar nominee, a first for an African American woman. ||||| Nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced this morning in L.A., and if you are La La Land, Moonlight‘s Mahershala Ali or Elle‘s Isabelle Huppert, you’re probably feeling a mountain high — just like most of the Hollywood film industry now attending the Sundance Film Festival. However, for others including Silence director Martin Scorsese, Hidden Figures star Taraji P. Henson and Arrival‘s Amy Adams, their Oscars hopes just got buried. Here are some of the most significant people and projects snubbed this year for the Oscars, which will be held February 26 on ABC and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Tell us who you think we might have missed. Martin Scorsese – Denied a Golden Globe nomination and a DGA Awards nom, the silence is deafening on the Silence director this morning. Has the faith been lost? Sully – The heroic story of pilot Chesley Sullenberger’s 2009 emergency landing of a US Airways flight on the Hudson River, and everyone on board escaping safely, was borderline miraculous. The fact that star and multiple Oscar winner Tom Hanks, director and multiple Oscar winner Clint Eastwood, and the film’s box office success were overlooked in the major categories is nothing short of a sin. Michael Keaton – The past nominee deserved a break today for his performance as McDonald’s mogul Ray Kroc in The Founder. But no Happy Meal there. Taraji P. Henson – The math just didn’t add up with Academy members for the Empire star’s performance as NASA human computer Katherine Johnson. Her Hidden Figures character helped get John Glenn into space and back home safely and received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, but not even a chance at a reward for past nominee Henson. Congrats to co-star and previous Oscar winner Octavia Spencer on her Best Supporting Actress nom though. The King’s Choice – Norway’s big Oscar hope for Best Foreign Language Film tells the true tale of the monarch who resisted Hitler and the Nazis in some of the darkest days of WWII. History should never forget King Haakon VII, but Oscar voters sure did. Amy Adams – Strangely there won’t be an Academy arrival this year for the Arrival actress even though the Denis Villeneuve-helmed movie picked up Best Picture and Best Director noms among six others. Matthew McConaughey – The actor radically transformed himself for Gold, but this past Best Actor winner did not find Oscar paydirt today. Annette Bening – The previous Best Supporting Actress nominee didn’t see any 21st century appreciation this year for 20th Century Women. Kevin Costner – The Dances With Wolves winner was the hidden weapon of Hidden Figures but didn’t take flight for his role in the NASA civil rights pic. Trolls – Academy members really know just how to stop the Animated Feature feeling, don’t they? And don’t tell me that Original Song nomination was all this DreamWorks Animation flick deserved. Adam Driver – The Star Wars alum put on a forceful campaign for his poetic New Jersey bus driver lead in Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson, but Oscar wasn’t along for the ride. Tom Ford – The Nocturnal Animals helmer saw his well-appointed film win the Grand Jury Prize at Venice and score Golden Globe nominations (including for Ford himself) and nine BAFTA noms. But the designer and director won’t be wearing Oscar gold. Eye In The Sky – Maybe it’s because the last film appearance of Alan Rickman was released in March, or maybe it was the topic of drone warfare, but the Helen Mirren-starring pic didn’t fly with voters. Hugh Grant – The Florence Foster Jenkins star landed SAG and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globes Lead Actor nom, but it was an Oscar funeral for Grant today. “I See A Victory” – The Hidden Figures tune from 2014 nominee Pharrell Williams is a foot tapper and a musical window into the film’s subject of equality. Still, no one ever accused Oscar voters of having too much introspection or swing at the same time, and they proved it again with this snub. Deadpool – Yes, he comes out of the superheroes of the Marvel Universe, but you know in your heart that the merc with a mouth deserved to see the genre barrier broken with a Best Picture nomination. Almost never made, the witty and unconventional Fox pic was a real Hollywood success story for star Ryan Reynolds and director Tim Miller. Blockbusters are movies too, AMPAS members. Aaron Taylor Johnson – A Golden Globes win for the Nocturnal Animals actor and a BAFTA nomination, but nothing from Oscar. The Birth Of A Nation – Just one day short of a year ago, the pic starring and directed by Nate Parker about the 1831 Nat Turner-led slave rebellion debuted at Sundance and was garlanded with Oscar hopes. A record-breaking pickup by Fox Searchlight followed and then Audience and Grand Jury Sundance awards, and it looked like TBOAN was a contender. Then a 1999 sexual assault allegation against Parker resurfaced, plus box office disappointment. And even with a first-time feature directing nom from the DGA, Birth was ignored by Academy members.

– From #OscarsSoWhite to #OscarsLessWhite: The 2017 Academy Awards nominations included seven actors of color plus diverse nominees in other categories, CNN reports. That's not to say there weren't any snubs, as rounded up by People, Deadline, and USA Today. Some of the big ones: Taraji P. Henson: Hidden Figures was nominated for Best Picture, but lead actress Henson failed to snag a nomination. Janelle Monáe wasn't nominated either; Octavia Spencer was. Pharrell Williams: His Hidden Figures score was nominated for a Golden Globe, but not an Oscar. The Birth of a Nation: Nate Parker's movie about the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner debuted with Oscar dreams, and Academy Award nominations looked likely at first. But, likely thanks in part to sexual assault allegations against Parker that resurfaced, it was shut out by the Oscars. Denzel Washington. He got an acting nod for Fences, but not a directing one. Amy Adams: The Arrival actress didn't make it into the Best Actress race. Hugh Grant: He received SAG, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations for his role in Florence Foster Jenkins, but wasn't able to score his first Oscar nomination. Finding Dory: Despite a massive box office haul and positive reviews, the Pixar flick didn't make it into the Best Animated Feature Film category. Sully: Another movie with a huge box office take and great reviews, the Clint Eastwood flick failed to snag a Best Picture nod. One surprise nominee? Mel Gibson.

Ryan Seacrest began E!’s red carpet coverage with the announcement that “it promises to be a very special evening.” But the burning question was: would it be a lonely one for him? Though there was speculation that the stars – especially the female ones – would snub Seacrest in light of allegations that he sexually harassed a former stylist, the E! host wasn’t left holding the mic. Nominees Allison Janney and Mary J. Blige stopped to chat with Seacrest, who kept the attention focused on their projects and not what they were wearing. The only times things got personal was when presenter Taraji P. Henson grabbed his chin to say “the universe has a way of taking care of the good people” as she was waxing on about Blige while Baby Driver’s Eiza Gonzalez told Seacrest to “be good” at the end of her interview. There were compliments, too: Kelly and Ryan co-host Kelly Ripa stopped to tell him how good he was doing and Tiffany Haddish said she was proud of him. And he was never truly alone with the E! coverage: Giuliana Rancic and other network hosts towed a lot of the line from the nearby Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Seacrest has denied the sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him by former E! stylist Suzie Hardy, claiming his accuser asked him for money on multiple occasions. Here’s who stopped to talk to him on the carpet: Diane Warren, nominee for original song Miguel Gael García Bernal Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos Allison Janney, nominee for I, Tonya Christopher Plummer, nominee for All the Money in the World Andy Serkis Richard Jenkins, nominee for The Shape of Water Bradley Whitford, Lil Rel Howery, Betty Gabriel from Best Picture nominee Get Out Donald Sutherland, honorary Oscar winner Rita Moreno, presenter Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver) Mary J. Blige, nominated for Mudbound Andra Day and Common, nominated for original song from Marshall Taraji P. Henson, presenter Whoopi Goldberg Tiffany Haddish Around 4:54 p.m. PT, he joined Rancic and the others at the Roosevelt Hotel. ||||| Tweet with a location You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| There's a sexual misconduct elephant in the room on E!'s Oscars Live From the Red Carpet, and his name is Ryan Seacrest. After Variety recently published a report detailing ex-E! stylist Suzie Hardy's serious harassment and assault allegations against Seacrest, the network doubled down, stating their long-time anchor would still fulfill his duties on Sunday. Awkwardness ensued, as the #MeToo and Time's Up continued to be a central topic of discussion. The night's major stars responded to E!'s stance with a cold shoulder, simply avoiding interviews with Seacrest. Earlier in the week, actresses like Jennifer Lawrence expressed doubts about interviewing with him. And indeed, the most talked-about celebrities of the evening were conspicuously absent from his list of interviewees. Out of the twenty people Seacrest interviewed, only two were actual Oscar nominees, with Allison Janney up for supporting actress and Christopher Plummer up for supporting actor. But the spectre of allegations hung even over those interviews. Seacrest asked Christopher Plummer about the difficulty of only having nine days to shoot his part in Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. Though it was on everyone's mind, neither of the men addressed the fact that Plummer was on a time crunch because his scenes were reshoots to replace accused predator Kevin Spacey. Holy shit Taraji just put a curse on Ryan Seacrest 😂 pic.twitter.com/GSknn3NozF — Sara Jean Hughes (@sarajeanhughes) March 5, 2018 Empire's Taraji P Henson gave him a very pointed smile and message, saying, "You know what, the universe has a way of taking care of the good people, you know what I mean?" Seacrest paused, before replying with a meager, "I agree." But mostly, E! filled up time with cuts to co-anchor Gulianna Rancic's roundtable discussion, while Seacrest took what he could get. Certainly, the #MeToo discussions on the Oscars red carpet were much more tame than at previous carpets this awards season. During the Golden Globes red carpet, Debra Messing called out E! during her E! interview about its Catt Sadler pay gap controversy. Reportedly, this is by design. Hollywood Reporter published an article with unnamed sources claiming that E! was planning to run the red carpet live broadcast on a 30-second delay, in order to avoid those kind of ambushes again. These reports made it extra awkward when Rancic boasted that, "The unexpected moments happen quickly on this red carpet and you'll see them live only on E!" ||||| All five women competing in this year’s Oscar race for Best Actress avoided what is typically the “must do” interview of the red carpet — a chat with Ryan Seacrest. Amidst accusations of sexual misconduct against the busy E! News host — which he vehemently denies — his traffic at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater was noticeably lighter this year, especially when it came to stars nominated in key awards categories. Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”), Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”), Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”) and Meryl Streep (“The Post”) all skipped the E! spot on the Oscar carpet. Also Read: Oscars: Adam Rippon's Bondage Tux Has Social Media Swooning Seacrest also declined to walk the red carpet before he began his hosting duties, breaking with his tradition of several years. He did land interviews with nominees like Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”) and Richard Jenkins (“The Shape of Water”) as well as high-profile presenters and attendees like Tiffany Haddish. During his segments on the broadcast, cohosted by Giuliana Rancic, Seacrest avoided any talk of the sweeping #MeToo and #TimesUp movements that have blanketed awards-season conversation since the Harvey Weinstein scandal erupted. Hours before the carpet commenced, Deadline reported that Seacrest would be afforded a 30- second delay from the network in case he was rejected live by talent, or in the event that anyone confronted him about the accusation on the air. The network denied it, saying no such measures would be taken and the show would be “business as usual.” Less than a week ago, Seacrest’s accuser, former stylist Suzie Hardy, came forward with the specifics of a harassment claim she raised with E! owner NBCUniversal last November — including accusations that Seacrest groped her genitals and pressed his erection against her. A formal investigation from the network said Seacrest was innocent of any wrongdoing. His lawyer also said Hardy sought $15 million in exchange for her silence. Hardy hit back and said Seacrest was pushing a “false narrative.” ||||| Taraji P. Henson appeared to throw more salt in Ryan Seacrest‘s wounds Sunday night. While chatting with E!’s embattled host about best supporting actress nominee Mary J. Blige, the “Hidden Figures” actress had a few choice words for Seacrest, 43, who was accused of sexual misconduct by former stylist Suzy Hardy. “The universe has a way of taking care of taking care of good people,” Henson, 47, said, touching his chin. “Know what I mean?” Henson immediately doubled down on the Seacrest shade as she moved on to her next interview. “I’m great now that I’m in your company,” Vulture’s Mark Harris tweeted as Henson spoke with ABC’s Wendi Mclendon-Covey. Seacrest was first accused of misconduct by Hardy in November, alleging he grabbed her crotch multiple times. E! concluded its investigation last month, noting they had found “insufficient evidence to support the claims against Seacrest.” The “American Idol” host has vehemently denied the claims against him. “I have no choice but to again deny the claims against me, remind people that I was recused of any wrongdoing, and put the matter to rest,” Seacrest said in a statement. The show did go on for Seacrest Sunday night, amid speculation he would be snubbed by A-listers on the red carpet. He found an ally Blige, 47, who said he is “fighting for his life right now.” This article originally appeared in the New York Post's Page Six. ||||| As Ryan Seacrest took to the red carpet tonight at the Oscars, observers wondered whether time would be up for the TV personality who is confronting a renewed allegation of sexual misconduct. Speculation swirled about whether E!’s red carpet host would endure snubs after his former stylist, Suzie Hardy, went public with her allegations against Seacrest — charges he has repeatedly denied. There were no awkward #MeToo moments Sunday, but in a sign of the network’s nervousness, it mulled implementing a 30-second delay in the live broadcast from the Dolby Theatre. The network released a statement saying, in effect, nothing to see here. “It’s business as usual,” said an E! spokesperson. “As always, we tape multiple sources of content simultaneously to deliver the best possible show, and there are often brief delays between interviews.” Seacrest did snag interviews with Oscar nominees Allison Janney and Mary J. Blige, who kept the conversation focused on their film projects (as opposed to who they were wearing). Presenter Taraji P. Henson made things a bit more pointed when she remarked to Seacrest, “The universe has a way of taking care of good people — do you know what I mean?” LIVE With Kelly and Ryan’s Kelly Ripa even extended her co-host an arms-length hug from the red carpet and complimented his performance. A number of musicians dropped by to share the mike, including Common and Oscar-nominated songwriters Diane Warren and Mary J. Blige. Still, E!’s Oscar coverage leaned heavily on co-host Giuliana Rancic’s interviews with celebrities from The Roosevelt Hotel. Those A-listers who didn’t stop by to chat with Seacrest from the red carpet turned up in fashion commentary from celebrity stylist Jason Bolden, and Elaine Welteroth, former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue.

– Amid allegations that he groped a stylist, E! host Ryan Seacrest was sure to have an awkward time attempting to interview celebrities at Sunday night's Academy Awards. Mashable says "practically no celebrities" talked to him and the Kansas City Star, which rounds up social media reactions to Seacrest's evening, says E!'s coverage "flopped." None of the five actresses nominated for Best Actress spoke to him, the Wrap notes. Still, Deadline reports Seacrest was "not exactly snubbed"; he did score interviews with 21 people—and Entertainment Weekly has a list of names. Among them was Taraji P. Henson, who, Fox News reports, appeared to slam Seacrest to his face during their interview. "The universe has a way of taking care of taking care of good people," she said, while reaching out to touch Seacrest's chin. "Know what I mean?" She reportedly told the next person who interviewed her, "I'm great now that I'm in your company."

Donald Trump is "a wrecking ball" that's threatening to dismantle the Republican Party, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT Graham, a GOP presidential contender, said Trump's recent condemnation of most immigrants as criminals — and the embrace of that message by many conservatives — represents "a defining moment" for the party that Republicans should soundly reject. "I'm very worried where we're headed as a party. I don't think this is the way to get the Latino vote," he said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "If we don't reject this way of thinking — clearly, without any ambiguity — we'll have lost our way, [and] we'll have lost the moral authority, in my view, to govern this great nation." Trump churned countless headlines recently when he characterized most immigrants crossing the southern border as criminals and rapists. He then doubled down on those comments in the wake of this month's killing of a woman in San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant felon. "This is merely one of thousands of similar incidents throughout the United States," Trump said. "[T]remendous infectious disease is pouring across the border." The remarks have stirred concerns among national Republican leaders, who are trying to woo Latino voters who could prove crucial in a number of battleground states in 2016. Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, has privately urged Trump to tone down the rhetoric. Graham said the comments "are not only offensive at every level, [but] you're telling the Hispanic community who are friends, neighbors and relatives of the illegal immigrant population exactly what we think of you." "I'm not going to be part of that," he said. Graham has been on the front lines of the immigration reform debate for years, joining the bipartisan coalition that spearheaded a sweeping reform bill in the last Congress. That proposal was approved by the Senate, but House GOP leaders rejected it, and it was never considered in the lower chamber. Graham on Sunday acknowledged the problems at the southern border, vowing to double the number of border patrol agents, triple the number of drones and tackle the problem of visa overstays. But he also warned that the Republicans who embrace Trump's message are digging their own political graves. "For us to win a national election we have to do better with Hispanics. And for us to have the moral authority as a party to govern a great nation we have to reject this demagoguery. If we don't we will lose, and we will deserve to lose," he said. "This is a defining moment for the Republican Party." ||||| Former Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) said on Sunday that Donald Trump is cheapening the 2016 presidential campaign with his abrasive immigration remarks. ADVERTISEMENT The Democratic White House hopeful said that Trump’s campaign rhetoric reflects poorly on the GOP’s presidential field. “This kind of divisive, inflammatory rhetoric from people who want to be commander in chief is not helpful,” Webb told host Bret Baier on “Fox News Sunday.” “Don’t be throwing these bombs,” he added. Trump has repeatedly attacked Hispanic illegal immigrants and Mexico since launching his 2016 campaign last month. Webb argued on Sunday that a liberal equivalent exists in the recent push to remove all Confederate symbols from government grounds. “We’ve seen it on the liberal side too with Southern white culture,” he said of insensitivity towards Southern culture. Webb launched his 2016 Oval Office bid on July 2. He said on Sunday that he offers a needed alternative to Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for his party’s nomination. “You’re right — the Democratic Party has moved way to the left,” Webb told Baier when asked about the emergence of progressive politics into Democratic ideology. “That’s not my Democratic Party,” he said. “I believe that we can bring a different tone to the Democratic Party.” Webb charged on Sunday that his campaign could find success with America’s working class. “These are people who have not been forgotten by both parties,” he said of blue-collar voters. “I think they need a voice.”

– There is a gaggle of Americans currently seeking the 2016 presidential nomination, and a fair number of them are using today to talk about Donald Trump. Lindsey Graham led the charge, calling Trump out on his anti-Latino rhetoric and labeling the mogul "a wrecking ball" that could take apart the GOP as it seeks to bring Hispanic voters into the fold in what Graham terms "a defining moment" for the party, reports the Hill. "If we don't reject this way of thinking—clearly, without any ambiguity—we'll have lost our way, [and] we'll have lost the moral authority, in my view, to govern this great nation." Calling Trump's comments "offensive," Graham said, "I'm not going to be part of that." Carly Fiorina was considerably more amenable, saying that Trump was "tapping into an anger I hear everyday ... that a commonsense thing like securing the border or ending sanctuary cities is somehow considered extreme." Democrat Jim Webb, meanwhile, told Fox News, via the Hill, that Trump shouldn't "be throwing these bombs" and that such "divisive, inflammatory rhetoric from people who want to be commander in chief is" less than helpful. (Trump, meanwhile, is showing no signs of letting up.)

To use this website, cookies must be enabled in your browser. To enable cookies, follow the instructions for your browser below.Facebook App: Open links in External Browser There is a specific issue with the Facebook in-app browser intermittently making requests to websites without cookies that had previously been set. This appears to be a defect in the browser which should be addressed soon. The simplest approach to avoid this problem is to continue to use the Facebook app but not use the in-app browser. This can be done through the following steps: Open the settings menu by clicking the hamburger menu in the top right Choose “App Settings” from the menu Turn on the option “Links Open Externally” (This will use the device’s default browser) Enabling Cookies in Internet Explorer 7, 8 & 9 Open the Internet Browser Click Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > Advanced Check Override automatic cookie handling For First-party Cookies and Third-party Cookies click Accept Click OK and OK Enabling Cookies in Firefox Open the Firefox browser Click Tools > Options > Privacy > Use custom settings for history Check Accept cookies from sites Check Accept third party cookies Select Keep until: they expire Click OK Enabling Cookies in Google Chrome Open the Google Chrome browser Click Tools > Options > Privacy Options > Under the Hood > Content Settings Check Allow local data to be set Uncheck Block third-party cookies from being set Uncheck Clear cookies Close all Enabling Cookies in Mobile Safari (iPhone, iPad) ||||| A cafe is serving up the coffee to rival all others and it looks almost fatal. The suitably-named Ass Kicker is being served at Viscous Cafe in Adelaide, Australia and it contains the caffeine equivalent of 80 standard cups-o-joe. Legend has it, the first incarnation of the beverage was made for an emergency department nurse who needed to stay awake. The drink was consumed over a period of two days and kept the nurse up for three days in total. Since then, Viscous Cafe owner Steve Benington has "toned it down a little" for general sale but the drink it still comes with a warning that it is not for the faint of heart. The drink apparently tastes more like toffee than coffee and is designed to be consumed over a long period of time, with Benington telling Mashable his creation aims to "lift you up and keep you there instead of peaking through the roof and dumping you hard later." For those chasing an instant hit, be warned; not all the caffeine in the drink is released immediately. "Combining the minimum drinking time and the slow release of cold drip-imparted caffeine is how we achieve the sustained uptime" Benington said. Some pointed out that while the beverage packs a serious punch, some say it could also pose a serious risk to health, if consumed too quickly or by those with high blood pressure. A fatal dose of caffeine for a healthy adult is considered to be roughly 18 grams of caffeine consumed over a one to two hour period. A large Ass Kicker has five grams of caffeine and is recommended to to be consumed over a three to four hour period. As Bebington said "some people love it and some are broken by it, but it’s all in the name of fun." ||||| (CNN) How many cups of coffee does it take to get you going in the morning? If the answer is many, the invention of a turbo-powered superbrew that is so strong it comes with a health warning might put your habit into perspective. A cafe in Adelaide, Australia, is serving the "Asskicker," a concoction of four espresso shots, two different strengths of cold drip and milk that its inventor says contains 80 times the amount of caffeine of a standard shot. The drink, designed to be sipped slowly over three to four hours, promises to keep coffee lovers buzzing for up to 18 hours. Turbo coffee Steve Benington, owner of Viscous Coffee , developed the drink for a local emergency room nurse who needed something to keep her going during unexpected night shifts. "We had to tone it down a bit because it kept her up for a total of three days," said Benington, adding that the nurse sipped it over two days. Friday fuel to get us to the weekend // Buzzing // #cupofjoe #coffee #siphonthat A photo posted by Alpha Box & Dice (@alphaboxdice) on Mar 26, 2015 at 2:38pm PDT The barista, who opened his cafe a year and a half ago after a career in the Australian Navy, said the turbo coffee has become very popular in recent weeks. However, he actively discourages customers interested only in a gimmick, and advertises it with a warning for those with high blood pressure or heart conditions. "I have a quite detailed talk with people before they actually purchase one. If I can talk someone out of it, they're not ready for the drink," said Benington. Warning signs of coffee overdose include shakes and sweats, dilated pupils, stammering over your words, vertigo and nausea. "If you keep going, those symptoms will get worse," said the coffee-loving business owner. "If you stay within the guidelines, you're fine." The Asskicker experience will set you back around $12 ($16 AUD) for a 16 ounce cup. World's favorite drug Occurring naturally in coffee beans, tea leaves and cacao, caffeine is the most commonly used drug in the world. The average amount of caffeine consumed by adults is 300 milligrams per day, according to a 2012 FDA report (PDF). Caffeine is a bitter white alkaloid that stimulates the central nervous system -- the brain, spinal cord and nerves -- to make us feel more awake. While studies have not proven (PDF) that caffeine produces significant life-threatening health risks such as cancer or heart disease, excess consumption can lead to increased blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems and raised cholesterol. Though rare, there have been some deaths linked to caffeine. A 14-year-old with a heart condition died after drinking two energy drinks in 24 hours. A 19-year-old overdosed on a dozen caffeine pills, and in another case, a high school wrestler from Ohio died after consuming powdered caffeine -- a highly concentrated form that the FDA has issued strong warnings about Withdrawal symptoms People with pre-existing heart conditions, as well as children and pregnant women, are advised to drink less caffeine -- but how much is too much varies significantly from person to person, according to Maggie Sweeney, a Johns Hopkins University researcher who studies caffeine. "That's certainly an awful lot of caffeine," Sweeney said of the brew's 5 grams. "With much lower doses of caffeine you see the effects of caffeine intoxication. Depending on an individual's sensitivity and tolerance, you would expect they might experience some negative side effects upwards of 250 milligrams." While differing levels of tolerance make it difficult to name a lethal dose, Sweeney said she believes "about 10 grams" could kill someone, twice the caffeine content of the Asskicker. Sweeney's program works with people whose caffeine dependencies are interfering with their day to day life, most of whom consume "less than 1,000 milligrams a day." Symptoms can range from restlessness and insomnia to irregular heartbeat in severe cases. "We've seen people who have missed work because of the severity of their caffeine withdrawal, people who have gotten into arguments with friends and family about their caffeine use," she said. The researcher said she believes genetics play a role in the rate at which our bodies process the stimulant, a factor still being investigated. "Caffeine isn't necessarily a bad thing; there's some evidence it can have health benefits, such as protection from Parkinson's disease," said Sweeney. "But for a subset of individuals -- and we're trying to determine exactly how many -- their dependence on caffeine has a negative impact." A couple of cups a day Other experts on the drug are convinced of its health benefits. Harvard Medical School's Dr. Sanjiv Chopra's book, " The Big 5 ," lists drinking coffee as one of five things you can do to live a longer and healthier life. Join the conversation See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. "People who drink coffee have a lower risk of five cancers: liver, prostate, colon, endometrial and skin cancer. It protects against cirrhosis (liver disease), Parkinson's, cognitive decline, Type II diabetes," said Chopra. A 2012 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that men and women who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had a 10% lower risk of death from heart disease, respiratory illness, stroke, injuries or accidents, diabetes and infections. But even the coffee evangelist believes the Asskicker is a dose too far. "I would be very wary of consuming it," said Chopra. "That's a huge caffeine load." "What I recommend is two to four cups [a day]. If you can drink them regularly it's better for the liver."

– One cafe owner in Adelaide, Australia, is playing around with the world's most popular drug, and experts aren't feeling terribly perky about it. Steve Benington, owner of Viscous Coffee, has created the Asskicker, a drink consisting of four shots of espresso, four 48-hour brewer cold drip ice cubes (each containing a bit more caffeine than is found in two shots of espresso), 120ml of 10-day brewed cold drip, and another four of those cold drip ice cubes to finish it off, reports Adelaide Now. All told, it has 5 grams of caffeine, about 80 times as a typical espresso, and it provides 18 hours of "sustained up time," as Benington puts it. "Some people love it and some are broken by it, but it’s all in the name of fun," he says. Benington developed the drink after an emergency room nurse asked for something that would get her through a long shift. It comes with a warning for people with heart or blood pressure issues, and he has "quite a detailed talk" with anyone who orders it because "if I can talk them out of it, they're not ready," he tells CNN. One area dietitian is not amused. "Caffeine is a drug, not a game or a toy," she says. The author of a book espousing the benefits of caffeine also chimes in that this drink goes too far. "I would be very wary of consuming it." Mashable notes that Benington does suggest people sip the drink over three to four hours to "lift you up and keep you there." It also notes that a fatal dose of caffeine is generally considered to be 18 grams over one or two hours. (There is such a thing as fatal caffeine intoxication.)

Teen's family wants criminal charges in shooting Man accused of shooting boy caught in his daughter's room Photo: Courtesy Of Johran McCormick's F Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Image 1 of 9 Johran McCormick, 17, was fatally shot after being found in a teenage girl's bedroom. Johran McCormick, 17, was fatally shot after being found in a teenage girl's bedroom. Photo: Courtesy Of Johran McCormick's F Image 2 of 9 Shawn Curley sits on the bed of his son, Johran, on Friday. Shawn Curley sits on the bed of his son, Johran, on Friday. Photo: Cody Duty, Staff Image 3 of 9 Friends and classmates light candles during a vigil for McCormick at his neighborhood's Dove Meadows Park in Spring on Friday. Friends and classmates light candles during a vigil for McCormick at his neighborhood's Dove Meadows Park in Spring on Friday. Photo: Tony Bullard, For The Chronicle Image 4 of 9 Parents Zakia McCormick and Shawn Curley grieve with pastor Ginny Brown Daniel during the vigil. Parents Zakia McCormick and Shawn Curley grieve with pastor Ginny Brown Daniel during the vigil. Photo: Tony Bullard, For The Chronicle Image 5 of 9 Classmates at the vigil. Classmates at the vigil. Photo: Tony Bullard, For The Chronicle Image 6 of 9 Mourners include Natalie Portillo 17, left; Jennifer Sosa, 16; Beyra Avila, 17; Grace Germon, 17; and Alysia Grimm, 17. Mourners include Natalie Portillo 17, left; Jennifer Sosa, 16; Beyra Avila, 17; Grace Germon, 17; and Alysia Grimm, 17. Photo: © Tony Bullard 2014, Tony Bullard Image 7 of 9 Mourner Carol Villalva, 18 Mourner Carol Villalva, 18 Photo: Tony Bullard, For The Chronicle Image 8 of 9 Friends and classmates light candles Friends and classmates light candles Photo: Tony Bullard, For The Chronicle Image 9 of 9 Teen's family wants criminal charges in shooting 1 / 9 Back to Gallery Johran McCormick's mother slowly shook her head Friday as she stared at the floor of her modest Spring home and cried. She couldn't believe her 17-year-old son was killed while sneaking around with the 16-year-old girl he was apparently dating. She didn't know why he had secretly returned from New Orleans, where he was supposed to be enjoying spring break with friends for the rest of the week. And she couldn't understand why the man accused of firing the fatal shot Thursday is not behind bars. "If you take a life, you give your life," Zakia McCormick said behind tears. "We're suffering. Why isn't he suffering, too?" The Harris County Sheriff's Office has said the investigation continues and, when complete, will be forwarded to a grand jury to determine if charges should be filed. Experts said getting an indictment for murder, much less a conviction, is unlikely based on the story that has emerged. "If it's perceived that there is a 'stranger' in his home, there could be a viable claim of self-defense or defense of others," said Todd Dupont, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. The grand jurors will have to look at what the father believed at the time of the shooting, Dupont said. Law enforcement agencies on Friday would not answer questions about the investigation. Late-night visitor The girl's father and his family did not respond to requests for an interview. On Thursday, Harris County investigators said the girl let the boy into the house, in the 22000 block of Bridgestone Ridge. The father told investigators he heard noises coming from her bedroom about 2:30 a.m. He went to investigate and found Johran McCormick in the room. An altercation broke out, officials said, and then the boy was shot once. Zakia McCormick and the teen's father, Shawn Curley, said they believe he was in bed with the girl when her father came into her bedroom with a gun. The boy's family said they were told by authorities and others that the girl denied she knew the young man in her bedroom - sparking a deadly confrontation. They said they were also told that when Johran McCormick reached down for something, the girl's father thought he was going for a weapon and shot him in the head. It was a tragic outcome that could have been avoided, they said. "I wish the father could have asked more questions, he could have picked up the phone," Curley said. "And for her to say she didn't know who he was, that was most hurtful." 'Wasn't an accident' Both said they want the 55-year-old father charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison. He has not been arrested or charged with a crime. "It wasn't an accident," Curley said. "You don't shoot someone in the head on accident." The day of the shooting, McCormick and Curley thought their son was still in New Orleans for spring break and was not due home until Sunday. They believe he caught an early ride back and arrived in Houston late Wednesday. Once back in the neighborhood, they said, he arranged to sneak into the girl's home, adding that they didn't know the two were dating. "For him to be in someone else's house at 2:30 in the morning is shocking to us," Curley said. He said he warned his son often to be wary. Tried to be realistic "Every day one of us would tell him, 'Don't go by no little girl's house if her parents don't know you,' " Curley said. The couple said they've tried to teach their children to be cautious about the world but tried to be realistic about raising a teenager. "I was a teenager once too," McCormick said. "And I know what teen­agers do." They said the Klein Collins junior was a typical teen who loved to skateboard, play video games and make music on his computer. Full of energy and excited about making his way in the world, Johran McCormick was considering enlisting in the U.S. Air Force, his mother said. He was also looking at a career as a mechanic. Typical big brother "He just had big dreams," his mother said. His sister, 14-year-old Diamond, said he was all the things a big brother should be - kind, cruel and always comedic. She was looking forward to being a high school freshman next year while he would be a senior. "He told me he was going to drive to school," she said, "but I would still have to ride the bus." Later Friday, about 50-60 people gathered at a community park near the boy's home. Justin Gil was friends with Johran McCormick for a decade. "He opened his heart when I first came here. I'll never forget him," Gil said. "I'm feeling heartbroken." Chronicle reporters Mike Glenn and Anita Hassan contributed to this report. ||||| Family of teen boy killed after sneaking into girlfriend’s bedroom wants girl charged HOUSTON – Family, friends and supporters of Johran McCormick, the teen who was shot and killed by his girlfriend’s father, want the girlfriend to be held accountable for her role in his death. Led by Community Activist Quanell X, the group rallied Wednesday morning with the victim’s mother, Zakia McCormick, in front of the home where he was killed. The 17-year-old boy was shot inside the Spring-area home on Bridgestone Lakes subdivision off FM 2920 on March 13. Investigators said the father accused in the shooting woke up to find Johran in his 16-year-old daughter’s bedroom around 2:30 a.m. According to detectives, the daughter snuck Johran in, but told her dad a different story when confronted. Her younger brother went to say good night and saw two feet sticking out from underneath the bed, detectives said. He then went to get his father. The father walked in and asked questions, but his daughter claimed to not know McCormick. The father then called 911, but an argument ensued with the teenage boy. The father told deputies that Johran dropped his hands as if to grab something, so he opened fire. Johran was shot in the head and died at the scene. The Harris County Grand Jury will decide if the father is to face charges, but many think the teen girl is also at fault. Johran’s family and supporters demand that Houston District Attorney Devon Anderson motion to file either one to two counts of accessory to murder, or involuntary manslaughter against the young girl who they say intentionally lied to her father, which led to Johran’s death.

– The family of the 17-year-old Texas boy who was shot and killed after sneaking into his girlfriend's bedroom says the girlfriend should be charged in his death. The 16-year-old girl has not been identified, but a grand jury is deciding whether her father should face any charges for shooting the teen after finding him in his daughter's bedroom. However, the family of victim Johran McCormick says the DA should also take action against his daughter, because she allegedly lied to her father and said she didn't know Johran—which arguably led to his death. Their idea: The girl could be charged with accessory to murder or even involuntary manslaughter, KHOU reports. Activists including Johran's mom, Zakia McCormick, rallied yesterday in front of the home where he died. But earlier this month, experts told the Houston Chronicle that an indictment for murder against the father would be unlikely. Says one, "If it's perceived that there is a 'stranger' in his home, there could be a viable claim of self-defense or defense of others."