Media Decoder Blog: SFX Entertainment Buys Electronic Dance Music Site

SFX Entertainment, the company led by the media executive Robert F. X. Sillerman, has agreed to buy the music download site Beatport, part of the company’s plan to build a $1 billion empire centered on the electronic dance music craze.Mr. Sillerman declined on Tuesday to reveal the price. But two people with direct knowledge of the transaction, who were not authorized to speak about it, said it was...

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Mike Piazza softens stance on Dodgers' Vin Scully

PHOENIX— ...

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Hot Trend: Tapping the Power of Cold to Lose Weight

I’m in the fetal position at the bottom of a swimming pool. Water temperature: 60 degrees Fahrenheit. In my lap there’s a 20-pound weight anchoring me in place. All I’m wearing is a Speedo, a nose plug, goggles, and a snorkel resembling an oversize asthma inhaler. The mouthpiece connects to two 4-foot hoses feeding out of the water and into a PC-sized box next to a laptop. After 20 minutes...

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Oscars telecast review: Guys, it’s not about you

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Would it shock you to learn that this year’s Oscars producers also produced “Chicago“? Not at all? OK.Self-referencing was the order of the evening Sunday at an overstuffed Oscars telecast where host Seth MacFarlane and producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron decided the ceremony was All About Them.That was the only explanation for a lengthy opening sequence centered on how MacFarlane...

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Horse Meat in European Beef Raises Questions on U.S. Exposure

The alarm in Europe over the discovery of horse meat in beef products escalated again Monday, when the Swedish furniture giant Ikea withdrew an estimated 1,670 pounds of meatballs from sale in 14 European countries. Ikea acted after authorities in the Czech Republic detected horse meat in its meatballs. The company said it had made the decision even though its tests two weeks ago did not...

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DealBook: Confirmation Hearing for Mary Jo White Said to Be Scheduled for March

Mary Jo White appears poised to face a Senate confirmation hearing next month, a crucial step for the former federal prosecutor on her path to becoming the top Wall Street regulator.Ms. White, whose nomination to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission has lingered for over a month, plans to testify in March before the Senate Banking Committee, three Congressional officials briefed on the matter...

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California GOP faces steep road back

SACRAMENTO — The Republican Party has become so pathetic in California that it can't even find a candidate to run for governor next year.Correct that. It isn't even looking. Wouldn't know where to begin.The party's in no position to recruit anyway. It has little to offer. Certainly not a brand name, not in a state where the GOP steadily has been...

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UK’s BRIT Awards slammed as celebration of bland

LONDON (Reuters) – “Sensible” and “sober” are words not normally associated with rock and roll, but they summed up how music critics viewed Wednesday night’s BRIT Awards ceremony at the London O2 Arena.Viewing figures for commercial broadcaster ITV1, which aired British pop’s biggest night live, were the highest for a decade, so organizers, advertisers and the acts who performed were unlikely to care...

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‘Bloodless’ Lung Transplants for Jehovah’s Witnesses

Eric Kayne for The New York TimesSHARING HOME AND FAITH A Houston couple hosted Gene and Rebecca Tomczak, center, in October so she could get care nearby. HOUSTON — Last April, after being told that only a transplant could save her from a fatal lung condition, Rebecca S. Tomczak began calling some of the top-ranked hospitals in the country. She started with Emory University Hospital in Atlanta,...

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Paul McIlhenny, Head of a Tabasco Empire, Dies at 68

Paul C. P. McIlhenny took joy in escorting visitors to his company’s warehouse, where wooden whiskey barrels filled with the aging pepper mash that is the main ingredient in Tabasco sauce were stacked six-high to the ceiling. William Widmer for The New York TimesPaul McIlhenny, at company headquarters in Avery Island, La. Lars Klove for The New York TimesThe...

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