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24 surprising athletes who have made an insane amount of money

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sam bradford cardinals

We tend to think of the best athletes in sports as the highest-paid and best-compensated.

And LeBron James, Tom Brady, and Roger Federer do rank highly in career earnings in their respective sports.

But every sport has some surprising athletes who have made a ton of money, despite not ranking as perhaps the best at what they do or sustaining greatness over a long period of time.

We went through the career earnings of major sports and found a few athletes that would surprise even hardcore fans with how much money they've made. Of course, "surprising" also depends on the sport. For instance, only one golfer (Tiger Woods) has ever made over $100 million in winnings, while it's not uncommon for MLB or NBA players to make well over $100 million in their careers.

Below are 24 surprising athletes who have made a ton of money in their sports.

Data via Spotrac, PGA Tour, ATP, and WTA.

24. Agnieszka Radwanska — $27.6 million

Sport: Tennis

Age: 29

All-time rank in sport: 6th

One thing to know: Radwanska hasn't made a major final since Wimbledon in 2012, when she lost to Serena Williams. Ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in 2012, Radwanska hasn't yet won a tournament this year.



23. Tomas Berdych — $28.9 million

Sport: Tennis

Age: 32

All-time rank in sport: 9th

One thing to know: Like many of the men in tennis, with the Big 4 dominating, Berdych hasn't completely broken through. Since losing to Rafa Nadal in the Wimbledon final in 2010, Berdych has made five major semifinals but hasn't won one yet.



22. David Ferrer — $31.2 million

Sport: Tennis

Age: 36

All-time rank in sport: 7th

One thing to know: From 2007 to 2016, Ferrer lingered mostly in the top 10, getting as high as third in the world. But since sliding out of the top 10 in May of 2016, Ferrer has fallen to 148th in the world. Still, longevity, including 27 career titles (but no majors) has helped make him one of the highest-paid players in the history of the game.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Harvard followed 800 people over the course of multiple decades and found 6 things that make people live longer, happier lives

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friends happy gen z

  • Harvard followed 800 people for their entire lives to see what actually makes people live happier, healthier, and longer.
  • One of the three samples of people — 268 Harvard graduates born around 1920 — was the longest prospective study of physical and mental health in the world.
  • A second sample was the longest prospective study of "blue collar" adult development in the world.
  • The third sample was the longest prospective study of women's development in the world.
  • The overall study found six key factors that impact happiness and longevity, including relationships, education, and generosity. 

There's a lot of good advice on how to be happier or more productive or how to have better relationships. But tips on how to improve your whole life — something that will last decades and experience countless unpredictable changes — those should be regarded with extreme skepticism.

The only way to really get some good insights would be to follow a lot of people for their entire lives and see what actually works. Luckily, somebody did ...

The Study of Adult Development combined three massive longitudinal studies — research projects that followed people from youth until old age — to figure out what makes a good life.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

The Study of Adult Development is a rarity in medicine, for quite deliberately it set out to study the lives of the well, not the sick. In so doing it has integrated three cohorts of elderly men and women — all of whom have been studied continuously for six to eight decades. First, there is a sample of 268 socially advantaged Harvard graduates born about 1920 — the longest prospective study of physical and mental health in the world. Second, there is a sample of 456 socially disadvantaged Inner City men born about 1930 — the longest prospective study of "blue collar" adult development in the world. Third, there is a sample of 90 middle-class, intellectually gifted women born about 1910 — the longest prospective study of women's development in the world ... Like the proverbial half loaf of bread, these studies are not perfect; but for the present they are, arguably, the best lifelong studies of adult development in the world.

George Vaillant is a professor at Harvard Medical School and led the study for over 30 years. His book is Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development.

With almost a century of data on nearly 1,000 people, there are plenty of insights. We'll cover 6 big ones that can get you on your path to awesomeness. (Remember: skimming my blog posts voids the warranty. If you don't read the whole thing and your life goes on to be awful, you will know why.)

Forgive me for starting with something obvious, but it had such an impact that it cannot be ignored.

SEE ALSO: 4 harsh truths about life that will make you a better person

1. Avoid smoking and alcohol

Hi, my name is Eric and it was never my intention to write after-school specials but here we go: Kids, smoking is bad.

It was the #1 predictive factor of health.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

In both male cohorts not being a heavy smoker before the age of 50 was the most important single predictive factor of healthy physical aging. Among the College men heavy smoking (more than a pack a day for thirty years) was ten times more frequent among the Prematurely Dead than among the Happy-Well. Yet if a man had stopped smoking by about age 45, the effects of smoking (as much as one pack a day for twenty years) could at 70 or 80 no longer be discerned.

And drinking too much doesn't only hurt your health. Over the long haul it makes you less happy and screws up relationships.

Some people drink because they have problems. But the study showed alcohol is also an independent cause of problems, not merely a result.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

... prospective study reveals that alcohol abuse is a cause rather than a result of increased life stress, of depression, and of downward social mobility ... Alcohol abuse — unrelated to unhappy childhood — consistently predicted unsuccessful aging, in part because alcoholism damaged future social supports.

Maintaining a healthy weight increased lifespan and regular exercise boosted both longevity and happiness. Plain and simple: those things you know you're supposed to do to stay healthy? Do them.

(To learn more about the science of a successful life, check out my bestselling book here.)

Okay, obligatory obvious stuff out of the way. You have to keep yourself healthy. But you also have to keep your brain healthy. And maybe not for the reasons you might guess.



2. Years of education = good

It's probably no surprise that, on average, the Harvard men were healthier at age 70 than the underprivileged men. But here's the twist...

If you compared only the guys from both groups who attended college, the difference vanished.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

... the physical health of the 70-year old Inner City men was as poor as that of the Harvard men at 80. But remarkably, the health of the college-educated Inner City men at 70 was as good as that of the Harvard men at 70. This was in spite of the fact that their childhood social class, their tested IQ, their income, and the prestige of their colleges and jobs were markedly inferior to those of the Harvard men. Parity of education alone was enough to produce parity in physical health.

This wasn't due to family income and it wasn't due to IQ. Pursuing more education led to better habits and healthier lives.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

The components of education that appeared to correlate with physical health in old age were self-care and perseverance — not IQ and parental income. The more education that the Inner City men obtained, the more likely they were to stop smoking, eat sensibly, and use alcohol in moderation.

(To learn the two-word morning ritual that will make you happy all day, click here.)

Okay, prepare yourself: the next one can be a little sad for some people because we can't change the past ... or can we?



3. A happy childhood

How much someone was loved as a child predicted their adult income better than knowing what social class they were brought up in.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

... for both the Inner City men and the Harvard men the best predictor of a high income was not their parents' social class but whether their mother had made them feel loved.

Many say that you can find out what someone is really made out of by seeing how they handle a really stressful situation. The Study of Adult Development found that the people who aged the best had coped well with something so horrific you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy:

Adolescence.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

Again, as I have followed the lives of the Inner City men, one of the best indicators of successful aging was how well they had adapted in junior high school. Of the 150 Inner City men with the best scores for coping in junior high school, 56 were among the Happy-Well and only 13 were among the Sad-Sick. Of the 19 Inner City men with the lowest scores for adolescent adaptation, only a single man was among the Happy-Well, and 11 men, three-fifths, were among the Sad-Sick or Prematurely Dead. Successful adolescence predicted successful old age.

Yes, all this kinda sucks for some people. Amazon doesn't sell Time Machines and me saying, "Well, you should have picked your parents better" is far from helpful. So if your childhood was less than perfect and your adolescence felt like a bad reality show, does this mean you're doomed?

No. What went right in childhood was much more predictive than what went wrong.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

A warm childhood, like a rich father, tended to inoculate the men against future pain, but a bleak childhood — such as with a poverty-stricken father — did not condemn either the Harvard or the Inner City men to misery ... Perhaps the best summary statement is, What goes right in childhood predicts the future far better than what goes wrong.

And there's even more reason for hope. Sometimes love and support come late — but that can be enough to heal old wounds.

When people found a loving spouse or trusted friends in adulthood, the damage of a tough childhood could be undone.

From Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Study of Adult Development:

It is not the bad things that happen to us that doom us; it is the good people who happen to us at any age that facilitate enjoyable old age ... For women, as well as for men, spouses could sometimes heal dysfunctional childhoods ... A good marriage at age 50 predicted positive aging at 80 ... After following disadvantaged Hawaiian youth for almost half a century, Emmy Werner explained that "the most salient turning points ... for most of these troubled individuals, however, were meeting a caring friend and marrying an accepting spouse."

We need love at every age. A warm childhood is a great blessing but, as with so many other things in life: "better late than never."

(To learn 5 secrets from neuroscience that will increase your attention span, click here.)

So if the study found one big thing you damn well better remember, what was it?



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The life and career of Oprah Winfrey, who was nominated for an Oscar and lives in a $52 million estate nicknamed 'The Promised Land'

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Oprah Winfrey

  • Oprah Winfrey is a media mogul, an actress, and a philanthropist, with an estimated net worth of about $2.9 billion.
  • She grew up poor and had a difficult childhood.
  • We've collected the highlights of her remarkable life and career, from her first job as a talk show host to the launch of her own cable channel.


Oprah Winfrey is a media mogul, philanthropist, and talented actress. Her current net worth is about $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Winfrey grew up poor, and her childhood and early adolescence were difficult. But her to drive to succeed, and to prove herself, motivated her to achieve wealth and fame.

Below, see the highlights of her life and career.

SEE ALSO: The life and career of Bethenny Frankel, a reality TV star and businesswoman who sold her company for $100 million

Oprah Winfrey, 64 years old, is a media mogul, a celebrated actress, and a philanthropist. Forbes estimates that her net worth is about $2.9 billion.

Source: Forbes



Winfrey was also ranked sixth on Forbes' list of America's richest self-made women, and is the only African-American woman on Forbes' 2018 billionaire list.

Source: Forbes, ForbesBusiness Insider



Winfrey endured a turbulent childhood. She spent her early years on her grandmother's farm, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. At age six, she went to live with her mother in Milwaukee; while her mother was away at work, Winfrey was molested multiple times by people including relatives.

Source: Academy of Achievement



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

11 financial experts share the best money advice they've ever received

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money advice

  • Money advice can come from friends, financial experts, and even your parents — who should you trust?
  • Because money advice is subjective, what works best for one person may not work best for another, but it's helpful to have some options.
  • Here, financial experts share the 11 best money advice they've ever received.

 

Over the years, you may have gotten money advice from various people, from your parents to a certified financial planner (CFP). However, until you implement that advice, it's hard to know what will work for you.

There's a lot of different financial advice out there, and too much can be overwhelming and demotivating,Andrea Woroch, a consumer expert, told Business Insider in an email. "In order to be successful in improving your financial situation, follow and apply tips that fit your current lifestyle."

For instance, she said that it may not be possible to pay off yourcredit card balance in full every month if you're on a limited income, but you may be able to consolidate your debt using a low-interest personal loan to save on interest.

Below, financial experts share 11 tips about the best money advice they've ever received. (The responses have been edited for length and clarity.)

SEE ALSO: 12 countries where men earn significantly more than women

1. Live on less than you make

One of the best pieces of money advice is to live below your means. Everyone has different income levels, savings, debt, etc., yet everyone wants to impress others and "keep up with the Joneses."

But that's a quick way to end up in a lot of debt. Instead, people should prioritize saving and investing for the future — things that can help you reach financial freedom — over upgrading your car or house just because you want to.

A lot of people have little or no savings due to overspending on unnecessary upgrades. These people can end up in trouble if they're faced with an unexpected job loss or other emergency.

Todd Kunsman, marketing and growth, Invested Wallet



2. Always use cash

"Investments are fine, but always have cash if you need it." This advice is from my late father, a child of the Great Depression. It's kept me out of major trouble in the past and is solid advice for both individuals and businesses.

— James Stefurak, CFA, founder/editor, The Invoice Factoring Guide



3. Take willpower out of your saving habits by setting up automatic transfer

When you set up an automatic transfer, you take willpower out of the equation, and it makes saving effortless and consistent.

Make it even easier using an app like STASH, which helps you save automatically by analyzing your spending and earning patterns. The app learns when you have extra cash to spare and, little by little, money is saved into your STASH account, where it earns interest until you decide to invest it or put it toward one of your goals.

— Andrea Woroch, consumer expert





See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Maseratis, cheetahs, and private jets: How the 'Rich Kids of Instagram' are spending their summers

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  • The "Rich Kids of Instagram"— now known as "Rich Kids of the Internet" (RKOI) — Instagram and blog are still going strong with addicting photo documentation of wealthy lifestyles.
  • RKOI always know how to live life to its fullest, and summertime is no different.
  • From luxury vacations to private jets, here's how they're enjoying their summer.

With five years under its belt, the "Rich Kids of Instagram" blog and Instagram— now renamed Rich Kids of the Internet — is still at it, curating photos of the lifestyles of the wealthy.

It's August and those featured on the blog are deep into their summertime celebrations — complete with private jets, luxury cars, and beach vacations.

Take a look at what the "Rich Kids" are up to during the summer so far.

Sarah Jacobs contributed to an earlier version of this post.

SEE ALSO: Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and supermodel Miranda Kerr are honeymooning on a luxurious island in Fiji

Last year, some enjoyed some R&R in Malaysia...

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...while others swung high above the jungle.

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And @balenciaganeoprene posed with a leashed cheetah in Dubai.

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See the rest of the story at Business Insider

8 foods that almost never go bad

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  • Most foods don't last very long because they contain the things microbes love, such as nutrients and water, and not much of the stuff they don't love, such as salt and acid.
  • However, foods with very little water have a long shelf-life because if bacteria try to grow on it, they will simply shrivel up. 
  • Many of the foods that last for a long time are high in sugar and salt precisely because they draw water out, preventing bacteria from growing.

The Conversation

The news that, after 106 years, Captain Scott's fruitcake was found by the Antarctic Heritage Trust and "smelled edible," raises the question: are there other foods that have similar staying power? The answer is, yes, several.

SEE ALSO: The 100 most scenic restaurants in the US

SEE ALSO: 8 things to know about Weight Watchers before you start

SEE ALSO: You can buy copycat Girl Scout Cookies all year long thanks to Aldi

1. Honey

In 2015, archaeologists reported that they'd found 3,000-year-old honey while excavating tombs in Egypt, and it was perfectly edible. This durability is thanks to the unique features of honey: it is low in water and high in sugar, so bacteria cannot grow on it. Honey also contains small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which inhibits growth of microbes. This is partly why bees produce it for the young in their hives — it is both food and protection.

Processing honey also helps as the sugars in honey are hygroscopic and tend to draw in atmospheric water, which is not ideal. However, during processing and packaging, the heat treatment first removes water and then airtight lids keeps the water out, helping it keep for longer. Although honey can go cloudy and crystallise when opened as the sugars draw in water again, this physical change can be reversed by simply warming the honey.



2. Dried pulses

As with honey, the key to a long shelf-life is processing and storage. Drying pulses increases the pulses' sugar concentration and lowers their water content, which makes it hard for bacteria and moulds to grow on them. Also, any enzymes that would naturally break down the product after harvest are put into suspended animation. If the container is airtight, they will last for years and still be a great source of protein. If you allow water in, however, then they will only last a few months.



3. Soy sauce

Soy sauce has the potential to last at least three years. The combination of its salt content and being fermented means that, if it is unopened, it should have a very long shelf life. How long it will last depends on the type of soy sauce and, once opened, the temperature it is stored at. If it does go off, it is likely to be due to mould growing around the lid.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

One player from all 32 NFL teams who can break out and dominate this season

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marlon humphrey

The NFL is back, and with it comes new opportunities for every player in the league.

Each year, new stars are born in the NFL — players who have grown from the year before, given a new chance on their team, or simply come out of nowhere.

We went through each team in the league and tried to identify players who could be set up for breakout years. In many cases, they're second- or third-year players who have a chance to improve as they get used to the league. In others cases, there are veterans who finally have a chance to shine or rookies who look to be immediate contributors to their teams.

Here are our picks for a breakout star from each NFL team:

Arizona Cardinals — Budda Baker, S

Age/Experience: 22, second season

One thing to know: Baker had a solid rookie season, starting seven games and compiling a sack, seven pass defenses, and two forced fumbles, earning a respectable 72 grade from Pro Football Focus. With Tyrann Mathieu departing this offseason, Baker should have a bigger role this year.



Atlanta Falcons — Calvin Ridley, WR

Age/Experience: 23, rookie

One thing to know: Yes, it's a bit cheap to pick rookies (spoiler: there will be others on this list), but Ridley is set to make an impact on the Falcons. Atlanta's passing attack fell off a bit last season, but Ridley joins Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu as another big, versatile target for Matt Ryan. He's impressed so far in training camp and should profit off the attention defensives give Jones.



Baltimore Ravens — Marlon Humphrey, CB

Age/Experience: 22, second season

One thing to know: The Ravens' 2017 first-round pick started the final four games of last season and is slated to start this season following the suspension of cornerback Jimmy Smith. At 6-0, 197 lb, Humphrey is a big corner who allowed a passer rating of just 46.7 last season, per Pro Football Focus.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Nike has unveiled a new way to try on sneakers at its stores without talking to anyone. Here's how it works. (NKE)

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Nike store try on

  • Nike has released a new way to try on shoes in select Los Angeles area stores.
  • It enables customers who download and use the Nike app to try on shoes without interacting with a Nike store associate.
  • I tried it on a recent visit to LA and found it works well, but its usefulness is limited to certain situations.

LOS ANGELES — Nike knows customers want to try before they buy, so it's making that a little easier to do.

The world's largest sportswear seller has debuted a new way to request shoe try-ons in stores, along with new functionality in its smartphone app.

Each shoe has a little barcode inside, which can be scanned using a feature on the app. Doing so brings up an option to try on any version of the shoe currently in stock at the store. Wait in the designated area, and a Nike employee will trot out the shoe you requested within a few minutes. There's no pressure to buy.

The feature is currently being piloted in a few West Coast stores before Nike rolls it out to the rest of its retail footprint. On a recent trip to Los Angeles for the opening of Nike's newest concept at the Nike by Melrose store, I took the opportunity to check out how the app works in practice.

One of the pilot locations is Nike's store at The Grove, a large outdoor luxury mall. In my experience, the new service worked exactly as advertised. I could definitely see it being a useful tool if you can't find an employee to help, or if you'd just rather not talk to somebody.

Scan-to-try is part of a suite of features Nike is launching on a small scale, then rolling out to the rest of its stores. Scan enables scan-to-try, Reserve allows customers to select items in advance to try on in-store, and Instant Unlocks gives access to freebies within the app.

Here's how scan-to-try works:

SEE ALSO: Nike and Whole Foods are following Walmart's lead and signaling a new era for online shopping

Nike's three-story, 31,000-square-foot store in The Grove is where I decided to test the scan-to-try feature.



A sign in the men's shoe try-on area advertised the new service, but before I could even open my phone, a helpful Nike employee asked me if I was looking for anything specific. I had to wave her off for the purpose of the test.



Each shoe has a barcode.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Sears is closing 46 more stores. Here are all of the locations shutting down where you live. (SHLD)

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  • Sears says it's closing another 46 stores.
  • The full list of closings includes 13 Kmart stores and 33 Sears stores.
  • The new list will bring Sears' total store closures this year to nearly 300.

Sears is closing even more stores.

The department-store chain was once the largest retailer in the United States but has cut its store count in half in the last five years.

The company says it's closing another 46 stores on top of the closures it announced earlier this year.

The closing locations include 13 Kmart stores and 33 Sears stores. Closing sales will begin August 30, and the stores will close by November.

The new list will bring Sears' total store closures this year to nearly 300.

"We continue to evaluate our network of stores, which is a critical component to our integrated retail transformation, and will make further adjustments as needed," the company said in a statement on the closures.

Here is the full list of closures that were just announced:

SEE ALSO: Sears lays off 200 corporate workers as sales tumble

KMART CLOSING: 935 Sweetwater Road, Spring Valley, CA



KMART CLOSING: 1075 Shaw Avenue, Clovis, CA



KMART CLOSING: 3625 East 18th Street, Antioch, CA



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The surprising story of how the former president of Mexico helped make Coca-Cola such a huge part of Mexican life that it's used in religious ceremonies and as medicine

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  • The average Mexican drinks more than 700 cups of Coca-Cola a year — nearly double what Americans drink.  
  • Coca-Cola rose to popularity in Mexico starting in the 1960s with the help of Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, who started his career driving around, making deliveries for the company. 
  • The soda has become an integral part of Mexican life, even intersecting with politics and religion in certain regions. 
  • In Business Insider's new podcast "Household Name," Fox explains how he spent his early days working his way up the ranks of Coca-Cola. To hear the full story, subscribe to the podcast for free here.

 

The average Mexican drinks more than 700 cups of Coca-Cola a year — nearly double what Americans drink. 

But Coca-Cola wasn't always such a huge part of Mexican culture. It grew slowly in popularity as one of its delivery workers — Vicente Fox — rose up the ranks to become president of Coca-Cola Mexico and eventually, president of the whole country. 

Coca-Cola had been in Mexico for decades before it started booming in popularity. In the early 1970s, an international ad campaign for the drink swept across Mexico. Around the same time, Coca-Cola sponsored the Mexico City Olympics  and the World Cup. 

Coke was so popular that in 1970, then-President Luis Echeverría tried to get the recipe and nationalize it. Though his attempt was unsuccessful, it was a testament to how closely intertwined Coca-Cola and Mexican politics had become. 

Coke is now a big part of Mexican life, not just politics. Here's how it became so popular: 

LISTEN TO THE FULL STORY: On the "Household Name" podcast. And hear from Vicente Fox himself.

SEE ALSO: 13 things you probably didn't know about '2-buck Chuck,' Trader Joe's notoriously cheap wine

The story begins in the 1960s, long before Vicente Fox became the president of Mexico. Back then, Fox was working for Coca-Cola as a salesman, delivering Coke to local businesses. Fox said he would incentivize local businesses to become exclusive to Coca-Cola, rather than Pepsi.



In 1971, an iconic Coca-Cola ad campaign caught on in Mexico. Around the same time, Coca-Cola sponsored the Mexico City Olympics and, later, the World Cup. Coca-Cola marketing was everywhere in Mexico.



After 10 years, the market share was on the side of Coca-Cola. So Fox got promoted.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

8 GOP policymakers and experts remember John McCain as 'fearless, impatient, and abrasive'

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John McCain

  • Senator John McCain "acted with a sense of purpose," even before he was diagnosed with cancer, according to Thomas G. Mahnken.
  • Daniel Twining never stopped working for McCain and served as a foreign policy advisor on his Senate staff. 
  • He says McCain was passionate about foreign and domestic causes both in the public eye and those without media attention, such as a coup in Fiji and the fate of tiny Baltic nations most Americans could not find on a map.
  • Phil Levy says McCain"believed in doing what was right, even if there was a significant political cost."

 

SEE ALSO: 10 of John McCain's best quotes on courage, happiness, and character

Will Inboden, executive director of the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for History, Strategy, and Statecraft at the University of Texas-Austin:

"There were giants in the earth in those days…" Genesis 6:4

A giant has departed from among us. With Sen. John McCain's death on Saturday, our nation has lost a war hero, a statesman, and a patriot.

As an Arizonan, I grew up under the long shadow cast over our state by McCain. He may not have been a native son, but on moving there in 1981 he quickly embraced Arizona and we embraced him in return. The state and the man were made for each other: proud, independent, stubborn, free, and on occasion as prickly as the countless saguaro cacti that adorn Arizona's southern landscape.

His first run for the House of Representatives in 1982 remains the stuff of Arizona political lore. Criticized during a primary debate for being a carpetbagger, McCain responded defiantly: "I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the first district of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi."

Even as a young conservative congressman in the vanguard of Ronald Reagan's revolution, McCain built a close friendship with fellow Arizona Rep. Mo Udall, a liberal Democrat and senior House member who graciously mentored McCain despite their political differences. Displaying the loyalty and honor that were his lifelong traits, McCain in turn never forgot Udall, to the point of visiting him regularly in the veteran's hospital even when the dying Udall was barely conscious and had been forgotten by the rest of his former colleagues.

McCain won election in 1986 to the Senate seat previously held by the iconic Barry Goldwater. McCain and Goldwater combined served 61 years in the Senate, each a pillar of the institution and each a pillar of Arizona. In particular, they wielded enormous influence on defense policy as both became chairmen of the Senate Armed Services Committee and both designed landmark defense reform measures while working tirelessly to strengthen and equip our military.

Part of McCain's greatness came from his sense of history. He venerated the past and felt a special duty to be worthy of the legacies he inherited. Whether in his own family Navy lineage as the son and grandson of admirals, in Arizona as the successor to the Goldwater Senate seat, and especially as an American who loved his country with abiding and unrelenting passion, the past captivated McCain. (Because of his devotion to history and national security leadership, we were honored to have McCain serve on the Statecraft Board of Reference for the Clements Center for National Security that I oversee at the University of Texas at Austin.)

McCain also carried forward the Reagan legacy on national security policy more than almost any other US political leader. Like Reagan, McCain was a stalwart advocate for human rights and democracy, exemplified by his longtime chairmanship of the International Republican Institute. Like Reagan, McCain stood for a strong military, free trade, loyalty to our allies, and US international leadership.

Like all giants, this treasure in an earthen vessel had his flaws. McCain could too often let political differences become personal, had a combustible temper, and was rarely guilty of excessive humility. Few Republicans, myself included, agreed with him on every policy stand he embraced. Almost all of us who served in national security roles in the George W. Bush administration found ourselves crosswise with McCain on some occasion or another.

But those past feuds and frailties now fade and give way to our mourning of his loss and our celebration of his life. Death has a way of concentrating the mind and causing us to reflect on those things that really matter. Those include the ancient virtues of duty, honor, and country that lived on in the life of McCain. To those, I would add truth. McCain's Senate colleague Ben Sasse put it well: "Our nation aches for truth-tellers. This man will be greatly missed."

A great country produces great men, and John McCain was a great one indeed. May he rest in peace but may his legacy rest not.



Daniel Twining, president of the International Republican Institute:

I started working for John McCain in 1995. I never really stopped working for him. I served on his Senate staff, including as his foreign policy advisor, a role that took me to some 40 countries with him and allowed me to witness the great man in action during some of the most consequential moments of modern American history, including the campaign for NATO enlargement, the 9/11 attacks, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I volunteered for both his presidential campaigns, doing everything from driving him to events to penning parts of his foreign policy platform. I now run an organization, the International Republican Institute, that he chaired for 25 years until reluctantly handing over its leadership in the weeks before his death. The John McCain I know is not the one in the glare of the media spotlight. The private John McCain is in fact more impressive than the public one.

The media narrative always had McCain in the center of the great public policy cause of the day: from campaign finance reform to North Korean nuclear proliferation to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Russian aggression against its neighbors. He was a leader in these and other causes, foreign and domestic. But the causes that animated him equally passionately were those with no media bandwidth whatsoever: a coup in Fiji that subverted democracy; the cause of human rights defenders in Belarus; persecution against online dissidents in Vietnam; the fate of Cambodia's opposition in the face of repeated government crackdowns; the prospects for Zimbabwe's democratic opposition; the future of Iraq's Kurds; the fate of tiny Baltic nations most Americans could not find on a map; prospects for peace in the Balkans; ethnic cleansing in Burma by the powerful against the powerless.

Sen. McCain was not selective in his belief that advancing universal values of democracy and human rights served American interests in a more peaceful, stable world. He raged against tyranny in countries such as the Maldives, population 400,000, as virulently as he fulminated against the strongmen in control of authoritarian great powers who had turned their nations into prisons for their people. He took repression personally: How did Putin get away with conning Russians into believing he was protecting their country from American encirclement even as Moscow invaded neighbors in Georgia and Ukraine in an effort to build a new empire? How did successive North Korean despots charm American presidents into negotiating closer ties when large segments of the North Korean population lived in gulags?

Sen. McCain believed deeply that America must lead internationally — and that while our country did so imperfectly and at times intemperately, it was vacuums left by the absence of American leadership that ultimately made the world more dangerous and insecure. America was a different kind of great power, he understood — one whose universalist aspirations were not simply a cloak for the covetous pursuit of territory and resources but a reflection of the belief that our founding ideals were the prerogatives not only of Americans but of all people. If Americans were endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, should that not be true for everyone else too? Those authoritarians who stood in the way of their people's natural rights to freedom and dignity were the targets of his greatest wrath.

It takes courage and commitment to care so much about the liberty of those who did not have a voice, or who could not pay Washington lobbyists to push their case. Sen. McCain could have made an equally successful career leading on popular causes that made the front pages of the newspapers and led the storylines on cable television. But he was haunted by an insight he had learned in solitary confinement in Vietnam, where he saw the best and worst of humanity.

Honor is not defined by fame and fortune; it's not determined by the choices you make when everyone is watching. "Honor is who you are in the dark," he would say, when you are alone — and when no one but yourself will know whether you did the right thing or whether you accommodated, yielding your principles in the pursuit of a narrower self-interest.

John McCain never yielded. America and the world are better for it.



Michael Green, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee:

More than any other public figure I have had the opportunity to meet, John McCain is the one I tell my own children to exemplify as they seek a life made meaningful by patriotism, integrity and service. My son was very young when I worked on the foreign policy team of the 2008 McCain campaign. At the time my wife bought him the book My Dad John McCain written by Meghan McCain to introduce the candidate to young readers. My son's collection of books has changed several times since then, but he still keeps My Dad John McCain front and center.

As Max Boot notes, John McCain was an easy Presidential candidate to support as a foreign policy advisor. In 2008 I represented the campaign in a series of proxy debates organized by think tanks and the press. The Obama team would always come armed with thick books looking like litigators in a complex anti-trust case. While I had a lot of respect and admiration for the guys on the other side of the table, it was clear that their talking points were designed to avoid alienating key Democratic constituencies as much as they were to articulate a clear foreign policy strategy. Team McCain came armed only with an understanding of our candidates' vision, principles and record. Our counterparts later joked that our clarity on human rights, alliances or trade probably didn't move any voters in swing states like Florida, but there was no doubt we had much more fun.

Like others, I have also been under the glare of Sen. McCain. As Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain authorized an external review of US basing strategy for the Pacific that I co-chaired in 2010. Always focused on the taxpayers' money and the readiness and welfare of our forces, McCain was cranky about the cost of new housing for Marines on Guam and the Rube Goldberg-like airfield the Pentagon was constructing in Okinawa to satisfy local complaints about noise and safety. After six months of intense work, our outside panel concluded that the new dispersed laydown of bases and access arrangements made good operational and strategic sense given China's growing missile arsenal and reach into the South China Sea, but that the plan would need adjustments. When I first briefed McCain, he grimaced. When I testified, he called me up afterwards and told me I would need "a bigger piece of lipstick" for this particular pig. He was not going to be convinced by ideology, party, or talking points. In the end, he supported the plan, but only after Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work personally squeezed the Navy to bring costs down almost 50% and only after we could explain with precise citation of history, geography and operations how the plan could be implemented in a way that would make our service personnel, our country and our allies safer.

John McCain was a constant reminder of American power and principle for our allies in Asia. Secretaries of defense were grateful when he led bipartisan delegations to the Shangri-La security summit every year to reinforce the administration's message of commitment and staying power in the region. In 2016, when Beijing began bullying the new government of Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, McCain added a stop in Taiwan on his way back from Singapore to buck her up and push back against the PRC. When Japan was hearing mixed messages about Chinese incursions around the Senkaku Islands, McCain pressed the Obama administration to clarify its support for Tokyo. As many tributes to this great man have emphasized, he relished nothing more than channeling his outrage to plug the gaps in our national security and the shortcomings in our sense of national purpose.

I have been asked in Tokyo, Canberra, Seoul and Taipei on recent trips who will now fill this enormous space in the Senate. I tell our friends that McCain nurtured a strong cohort of principled internationalists on the Senate Armed Services Committee, including Sentors Dan Sullivan and Joni Ernst. John McCain has left them — and all of us — a charge to keep.



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10 answers to sex questions you've been too embarrassed to ask

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Having sex is something that, by its very nature, has the potential to be a little embarrassing. Human bodies are unpredictable, so chances of something unplanned (and potentially mortifying) happening while naked and up close with another human being are pretty high.

This may never change. But however awkward sex may be, having questions about sex should never be embarrassing.

Here are some questions about sex you may have been too embarrassed to ask, answered by Dr. Alyssa Dweck, a gynecologist, and Vanessa Marin, a sex therapist and creator of Finishing School, an online course that teaches women how to orgasm.

1. I can never have an orgasm during sex. Is there something wrong with me?

Media often show women having an orgasm immediately after having penetrative sex. But for many people with vaginas, orgasms require more than just penetration.

"The vast majority of women can't orgasm during [penetrative] sex," Marin told INSIDER. "That's because most women need clitoral stimulation to reach orgasm, and intercourse typically does a pretty bad job creating clitoral stimulation."

If you find you have trouble reaching orgasm during penetrative sex, try spending more time on foreplay and direct clitoral stimulation, and maybe consider adding a vibrator into the mix.

Read more:10 things you should always do before sex if you want to have an orgasm



2. I can't have an orgasm during sex, but I know how to give one to myself. How can I direct my partner to help me orgasm?

"The best next step is to teach your partner how to help you orgasm with their hands," Marin told INSIDER. "Although their hands are going to feel different than your own, the stimulation will be similar enough to get used to with a little time and practice.

Marin also suggested masturbating in front of your partner, describing what you usually do when you masturbate, or (quite literally) giving them a hands-on approach.

"You can have them put their hand over yours as you touch yourself, so they can get a sense of what you're doing," Marin told INSIDER.

Once they have a basic understanding of what having an orgasm entails for you, it will become more intuitive during sex.



3. Why does it sound like I'm farting from my vagina during sex?

"It's not unusual to pass some gas (AKA a 'queef') from the vagina during sex, due to sucking in of air into the vagina during thrusting and then release during sex and orgasm," Dweck told INSIDER.  

If it happens all the time, it might be worth getting checked out. But for the most part, it's just a normal side effect of having sex.



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7 lessons I never forgot from the best bosses I ever had

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Boss

  • A good boss shows you the ropes of your industry and guides you to achieving your long-term goals.
  • Though you may have had both good and bad bosses, you've likely walked away with valuable lessons from a memorable boss that have stuck with you.
  • Author Natalia Lusinski had bosses that taught her meaningful lessons, like that it's OK to say 'no' and to follow her passions, that helped her get to where she is today.

 

 

Chances are, at some point in your career, you've had both good bosses and not-so-good ones. Either way, you probably walked away from the experience with valuable lessons each time.

"The relationship you have with your boss or supervisor can have an impact on your career — and life — for years to come,"Teague Simoncic, career coach with Ama La Vida, told Business Insider. "On a day-to-day basis, the way your boss handles conflict or difficulty can teach you a lot about how to handle similar situations in the future."

Simoncic said that, all in all, the best bosses are role models and sources of inspiration that may have helpful input on how you can achieve your long-term goals. "Taking time to develop a meaningful connection to your boss can help lead to lifelong career growth and opportunities," she said.

Here are seven lessons I learned from the best bosses I've ever had — lessons that continue to help me in both my work and personal life today.

SEE ALSO: 5 signs your boss doesn't like you as much as you think

1. I learned effective time management skills

I used to work as a writers' assistant and script coordinator on TV shows, doing everything from taking notes in the writers' room and keeping track of storylines to creating episode outlines and proofreading scripts.

I was usually the last person to glance over the final script and would then email it out to a crew of around 100-200 people (no pressure!).

At one of my first jobs, my supervisor was a time management superstar, fielding more than 100 phone calls and countless emails each day. I happened to sit next to him and started emulating the way he prioritized tasks.

For instance, in addition to using an online calendar and to-do list, he had a master handwritten one next to his computer, with tasks organized by most to least important. As he completed tasks, he highlighted them, color-coding them by subject — some in yellow, some in green, and so on.

Today, I still use his time management and prioritization system. Although I have a color-coded Excel chart for my writing deadlines, I still keep a master handwritten to-do list next to my laptop.



2. You can ask for help if you need it

I used to hate asking people for help — I believed that I could figure everything out myself.

But when I saw one boss asking her boss for help — I previously thought she knew everything — I realized that asking for help isn't a weakness. It's necessary and can help you complete your tasks more efficiently.



3. It's OK to say 'no' if you cannot do everything yourself

Sometimes, bosses will give you a seemingly endless number of to-dos because, in the past, you've proven that you can do it all. Why wouldn't they pile on more responsibilities? However, if you focus on quantity more than quality, the latter may suffer.

At one TV production job, I felt bad about saying no to any request, and was completely burned out as a result. When my boss learned I was the last person in the office each night, she told me to delegate tasks to a coworker if I had too many things on my plate. Saying no is critical if you want the quality of your work to speak for itself.



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New 'House of Cards' cast members Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear take the spotlight in Netflix photos from the final season

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  • Netflix released first photos of new "House of Cards" cast members Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear on Monday.
  • Lane and Kinnear play powerful siblings inspired by the Koch Brothers.
  • The final season of "House of Cards" premieres November 2.

 

"House of Cards" has finally unveiled the first look at new cast members Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear in new photos from the upcoming final season.

Netflix tweeted the photos on Monday, with the caption, "Diane Lane & Greg Kinnear play Annette & Bill Shepherd, siblings who exert a powerful behind-the-scenes force in politics. Cody Fern plays Duncan, Annette’s ambitious and devoted son, who represents the next generation of DC power players."

The Shepherds run Shepherd Unlimited, a "leading industrial conglomerate," and are inspired by the Koch Brothers, who run Koch Industries and are major influencers in politics.

Robin Wright will take center stage as Claire Underwood in the final season of "House of Cards" after her co-star Kevin Spacey was fired due to sexual misconduct allegations last year. 

The final episodes of "House of Cards" will be available on Netflix on November 2.

Check out the new photos below:

SEE ALSO: 3 TV shows to watch on Netflix this week that are definitely worth your time







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The 4 major 'Avengers 4' fan theories that have the best chance of coming true

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"Avengers: Infinity War" came to theaters in April, and four months later fans still can't stop talking about it – and theorizing about its sequel.

The untitled fourth "Avengers" movie is scheduled to hit theaters next year, and after the devastating cliffhanger ending of "Infinity War," moviegoers are desperate to learn what happened to the Avengers who vanished from the Thanos snap and whether they're coming back.

Well, of course they're coming back, or at least most of them. Marvel has numerous release dates set for yet-to-be-announced movies, and it would be hard to imagine that it would leave some of its most popular characters, such as Black Panther and Doctor Strange, as dust for good.

The bigger question is, "How?" How are these characters going to return? Plenty of theories about that and more have been floating around the internet since "Infinity War" was released. We've rounded up four of the most plausible theories for "Avengers 4" and ranked them on the likelihood of them coming true.

Below are four major "Avengers 4" theories:

SEE ALSO: Marvel is making a serious 'best picture' push for the first time to get 'Black Panther' nominated at the Oscars

4. Loki faked his death (again)

"Infinity War" opens with the shocking death of one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most popular characters, Loki, at the hands of Thanos. After Thanos retrieves the Space Stone, Loki attempts to stab him in the throat. Thanos stops Loki and chokes him to death. But a popular theory proposes that Loki, who has faked his death before, didn't actually die.

A Reddit thread theorizes that the Loki we see die is actually an illusion because he used his left hand to try to stab Thanos even though he was right-handed. The theory argues that the only other time Loki used his left hand had been when he faked his death, such as in "Thor: The Dark World."

It's an intriguing theory, and after rewatching "Infinity War" on Blu-ray, I find it more plausible. When Loki hands Thanos the Space Stone, he uses his right hand. Then the Hulk appears, and a few minutes pass between that moment and when we see Loki again. It's possible that Loki could have vanished and projected an illusion in his place in that time, and he has shown an ability to cast illusions from far away.

I have my reservations, though. It's hard to believe that Loki could have vanished without anyone noticing, even while Thanos and Hulk were fighting, and if he did, where did he go? The prospect of Loki returning in "Avengers 4" to help defeat Thanos is exciting, but isn't that what Captain Marvel is for?



3. Gamora is in the Soul Stone

The "Infinity War" directors Joe and Anthony Russo have implied that when Thanos killed Gamora, his adopted daughter, her soul entered the Soul Stone. When Thanos snaps his fingers to eliminate half of humanity, he wakes up in a dream-like place the Russos have said emulates being inside the Soul Stone. It's here that he talks to a younger version of Gamora, who asks him what it "cost." He replies, "Everything."

I never took the Russos' comments literally (plus, the comments were taken from a Reddit thread based on a high-school visit where the directors reportedly took questions from students). I read it more as her being in the Soul Stone metaphorically and Thanos waking up inside it as a visual representation of his thoughts and fears after the snap. The "Infinity War" visual-effects supervisor feels the same way and said in an interview that it was "open to interpretation."

"It just seems like an internal moment of reflection," Kelly Port told CNET earlier this year. "It's this really nice dramatic pause at basically the culmination of 10 years of storytelling, right? It's this moment where he can just have this moment to internally reflect on what he's done and the cost of that decision."

If true, though, the theory may even account for where other characters went after the Thanos snap. If Gamora is in the Soul Stone, maybe half of humanity is as well.



2. Captain America dies

Captain America/Steve Rogers' fate was questioned before "Infinity War" was released, and since he survived that, his death is even more possible in the sequel. Of all the original Avengers, Captain America's death would make the most sense.

The actor Chris Evans has implied that he is ready to retire from the role after "Avengers 4." The character died in the comic books after the events of the "Civil War" comic, so it wouldn't be a stretch for Cap to perish.

Furthermore, Cap's death would mean the MCU has come full circle. He was the "first Avenger," and his death would mark the end of this era of the MCU. Ever since he was thawed from that ice and thrust into the 21st century, Steve Rogers has been a man out of time. He clings to a stubbornness that has made him a respected hero but that may also foreshadow his end. In "Infinity War," he refused to sacrifice Vision's life to destroy the Mind Stone. "We don't trade lives," he proclaimed. But one life Captain America has shown he is willing to trade is his own.

One theory in particular gained traction recently on Twitter. It proposes that Cap will die and be reunited with his love Peggy Carter. The tweet has 19,000 retweets and 97,000 likes. In "Captain America: The First Avenger," after he is thawed out, he tells Nick Fury that he's late for a date — maybe he'll finally show up for it.



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The best men's shorts you can buy

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

best shorts

The Insider Pick:

  • Finding the perfect pair of men's shorts can be challenging, so we've sorted through a bunch of options to find the best places to shop for men's shorts and selected our favorite pairs from each brand.

  • With a trim and contemporary cut, a great variety of colors to choose from, and a crisp style that's both timeless and modern, the J. Crew Stanton shorts will easily become your favorite go-to pair for spring and summer.

It wasn't long ago that, unless you were a soldier marching through the desert, shorts were generally considered off-limits for men's daily wear. Guys in the past almost always wore full-length trousers and even full suits regardless of the climate, and one can imagine that this wasn't particularly enjoyable — especially in the years before indoor air conditioning was common.

The days when men had to wear trousers year-round are thankfully gone, and when summer rolls around and it's time to deal with the heat, then a good pair of shorts can go a long way towards helping your body keep cool. You don't have to throw out the rules of style to stay comfortable, however, and a well-fitted pair of shorts can provide a clean summer look that's as crisp as it is pleasant to wear all day.

Although shorts are very casual, there are still some rules for wearing them. In fact, the casual nature of shorts is more of a reason, not less of one, to keep your fit on point lest you start looking sloppy. The guidelines are pretty simple: Keep your shorts slim, make sure they end above the knee (with a 7-10-inch inseam being the sweet spot), and avoid cargo shorts unless you're going hiking or something.

If you're looking to ditch those long, baggy shorts and upgrade your summer style, then read on. We've smoked out the best pairs of men's shorts at our favorite stores for you to rock in the heat. We include a handful of casual workhorse pairs for daily wear along with some hybrid swim trunks and lounge shorts so you've got all your summer bases covered.

Here are the best places to buy men's shorts:

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best shorts overall

Why you'll love them: Essentially a shorter version of your favorite pair of chinos, the J. Crew Stanton shorts offer everything you need to complete your cool, comfortable, and stylish summer outfits.

Linen is great for sultry summer weather, but for your go-to pair of everyday summer shorts, cotton remains king. Cotton may not be as light and breathable as linen, but cotton shorts will still be quite cool and cotton offers a much cleaner all-day look without the wrinkles.

J. Crew has earned a top place among American menswear labels with its high quality and classic yet modern styling. The brand's excellent Stanton shorts are no exception. They're made of a durable yet soft cotton twill with a touch of elastane for stretch and feature a nice slim cut with two inseam options that are both suitably short without veering too far toward the knee or up the leg.

You've got a nice handful of color choices here, too, and they're all pretty great. For your workhorse pair, you can't beat J. Crew's classic "dusty khaki" but the gray and stone shorts are also great while light blue, pink, and salmon offer some pastel options for lighter-colored summer ensembles.

J. Crew offers these shorts with either a seven-inch or nine-inch inseam. If you're not in love with this style, J. Crew has plenty of other wonderful shorts you can check out here.

Pros: A stylish and modern trim cut, quality construction, seven- and nine-inch inseam options cover the perfect "sweet spot" in length, a variety of colors to choose from, and it's also available in lightweight chambray

Cons: Slightly pricey when not on sale, and size availability is limited in certain colors

Buy the J. Crew Stanton shorts (7-inch inseam) for $65

Buy the J. Crew Stanton shorts (9-inch inseam) for $65

Shop all J. Crew men's shorts



The best linen shorts

Why you'll love them: A stylish cut and the unbeatable breathability of 100% linen make Club Monaco's Maddox shorts the best pair to wear on those sweltering days when it's just too hot for cotton.

When the sun's beating down on you and the air feels humid enough to swim in, then there's no better fabric to have on your body than linen — wrinkles or not. As a woven cloth derived from flax fibers, linen has been used to make fabric for thousands of years and breathes better in hot weather than just about any other clothing material you're likely to wear.

Since one of the main reasons you're likely wearing shorts is to keep cool in the warmer months, it makes sense to have a pair or two that are made of linen. Our pick is the Maddox shorts from Club Monaco. The Maddox linen shorts feature a timeless trim cut, flat front, and nine-inch inseam that look great and ensure that they'll never go out of style.

Although linen is notorious for wrinkling, this is far less of an issue for shorts than it is for other clothing items. Shorts are meant to be casual and comfortable, and when you're hot, wrinkles are the least of your concerns — plus, that's part of the relaxed look of linen. The Club Monaco Maddox shorts won't leave you sweating the heat, and you shouldn't sweat a few wrinkles, either.

The Maddox linen shorts are a little pricey when not on sale, but it's worth it to have at least one pair in your stable. The unrivaled coolness and comfort of linen are a godsend on days when the mercury pushes past 90, the humidity is stifling, and even your everyday cotton shorts aren't enough to give you relief from the heat.

If you want a different style, Club Monaco has tons of great shorts on its site, which you can shop for here.

Pros: A stylish slim cut, the nine-inch inseam hits the sweet spot in length, and the 100% linen fabric is the most comfortable cloth to wear for hot weather

Cons: Fairly expensive, and size availability is limited in certain colors

Buy the Club Monaco Maddox Linen shorts for $79

Shop all Club Monaco shorts



The best lightweight cotton shorts

Why you'll love them: Seersucker is another great fabric for beating the summer heat, and the Brooks Brothers Bermuda shorts are cool and stylish.

When woven a certain way, cotton can be surprisingly cool. One common and well-known cotton fabric purpose-made for hot weather is seersucker, which was made famous in the American South and remains highly associated with Southern culture to this day (the Kentucky Derby, in particular, tends to conjure up images of mint juleps and striped seersucker suits).

But you don't need to put on your bow tie and head to the horse races to get away with wearing seersucker. While it's an iconic American suiting fabric, seersucker has grown increasingly popular for single daily wear items like trousers, jackets, and, of course, shorts. Brooks Brothers is a historic menswear brand that's as American as seersucker itself and is no stranger to this excellent fabric, as these excellent Bermuda shorts show.

Owing to its unique weave, seersucker has a distinctive "puckered" appearance and is usually paired with thin stripes that complement the fabric's distinct visual texture. There's no reason seersucker can't be worn in solid colors, however, and the Brooks Brothers Bermuda shorts are available in both the classic light blue striped pattern along with dark navy blue.

The trim cut and flat-front style give the Brooks Brothers seersucker Bermuda shorts a classic yet modern look, and while the 10-inch inseam is appropriately short, it may prove a bit long on guys with shorter legs. 

If you prefer a different look, Brooks Brothers has plenty of excellent shorts that you can check out here.

Pros: Great style and construction quality, the seersucker fabric is a cool and breathable alternative to linen, the trim cut and flat front are both timeless and modern, and it's available in the classic light blue stripe as well as solid dark navy

Cons: The ten-inch inseam might be a little long on shorter guys

Buy the Brooks Brothers seersucker Bermuda shorts for $48

Shop all Brooks Brothers shorts



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8 of the best places in Disney World to get ice cream

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I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream during the heat of the summer — especially when visiting Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney World is home to countless frozen treats but there are so many delicious options that go far beyond the famous Mickey premium ice cream bar.

Here are my top places to grab an ice cream.

Beaches & Cream is without a doubt the best.

Without a doubt, the best place to enjoy ice cream is the Beaches & Cream Soda Shop at Disney's Beach Club Resort. They are home to some of the most delicious and Instagram-worthy sundaes in all of Disney World.

Whether you are craving a simple ice cream cone, desiring a gooey hot fudge brownie sundae or interested in defeating the enormous Kitchen Sink Challenge, this delightful boardwalk-style ice cream shop is an absolute must-do on your Disney vacation and has something for everyone.

Although there is a counter service for some of the more simple orders, I highly recommend making a reservation in advance if you want to sit down and have the full experience.



Plaza Ice Cream Parlor offers old-fashioned treats.

No matter the occasion, whenever I visit the Magic Kingdom I always find myself at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street U.S.A.

This parlor is reminiscent of old-fashioned ice cream parlors and serves up some classic favorites including ice cream, fresh waffle-bowl sundaes, ice cream cookie sandwiches and even Mickey Mouse-inspired cones.

If you’re up for another frozen treat challenge, the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor is home to the Mickey’s Kitchen Sink Sundae which is ideal to share.



L'Artisan des Glaces offers macaroon ie cream sandwiches.

Venture deep into the France pavilion in EPCOT to discover L'Artisan des Glaces. This artisan French shop offers a variety of tasty ice cream flavors as well as frozen treats including an ice cream martini or a special sundae that is served with a homemade brioche.

Although grabbing a scoop of ice cream is always a good idea, I recommend trying the macaron ice cream sandwich. It comes in either chocolate or a special seasonal offering.



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Everything we think we know about new iPads that Apple could release soon (AAPL)

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The iPad doesn't sell as many units as its little brother, the iPhone, but it's still a core product for Apple, and tens of millions are sold every year.

It's been over a year since Apple released new iPad Pros, in June 2017, so it's about the right time for Apple to update its lineup.

Apple did release a new low-cost iPad this past spring, but the iPad Pro line is where the company adds new features and cutting-edge technology.

There's rumblings that Apple may release its new iPads this fall. The company usually announces new iPhones in September, and it sometimes holds a spillover event in October for other products it didn't get to during the iPhone launch.

Here's what we think we know about the new iPads Apple's been working on:

Apple is expected to reduce the size of the bezels around the iPad, enabling more screen in the same-size tablet.



That means the current 10.5-inch iPad Pro could stay the same size but sport an 11-inch screen.

Source: TF International Securities



The 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Apple's largest tablet, is likely to shrink in overall dimensions instead of getting a bigger screen. Plus, both iPad Pros are likely to get faster processors too.



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Check out these incredible photos of an Air Force F-35 stealth fighter tearing across Lake Michigan

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F 35A Over Lake Michigan (2)

Crowds of spectators recently had a rare opportunity to see America's advanced stealth fighter in action at the Chicago Air and Water Show, where the F-35 Heritage Flight Team put on an impressive show.

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, a fifth-generation stealth fighter developed by Lockheed Martin, is the most expensive weapons system ever built, but its superior capabilities supposedly make up for its soaring costs.

The supersonic, multi-mission fighter, according to the developer, features unmatched electronic warfare, air-to-surface, air-to-air, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and stealth capabilities designed to enhance the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The F-35 program has, however, faced many setbacks.

During the recent airshow in Chicago, Airman 1st Class Alexander Cook captured several stunning photos of Capt. Andrew “Dojo” Olson, F-35 Heritage Flight Team pilot and commander, performing aerial maneuvers in an F-35A. The pictures were posted online by the 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office.

Check them out below...

An F-35A Lightning II piloted by Capt. Olson can be seen ripping across Lake Michigan at the August 19 airshow in Chicago, Illinois while boaters look on.



With the largest single-engine motor ever built, the F-35A Lightning II can reach speeds up to 1,200 miles per hour, or 1.5 times the speed of sound, according to the 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office.



Capt. Olson performed aerial maneuvers for an audience of as many as, if not more than, 1.5 million people at the two-day airshow.



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12 of the most incredible dorms from around the world

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Paris GardensDuring our primary education, the end of summer means gathering basic supplies: pencils, paper, backpacks, and the like, without much need for extensive shopping. But heading off to university for the first time presents an entirely new step in back-to-school prep: getting ready to move into a college dorm.

In a new place far from the familiar, feeling at home can be difficult, but with a few soft pillows, personal photographs, and fairy lights, most students manage to make it work.

However, there is another class of collegiates who get to take "feeling at home" to the next level thanks to their schools’ beautifully-designed buildings and incredible architecture. Here’s how some of the dorm design-elite are transforming the face of university housing and creating new, innovative spaces on campus.

Spacebox in Utrecht, Netherlands is a colorful option.

This dorm at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, nicknamed Spacebox, is made up of 300 individual rooms. These type of student housing units have been installed on many campuses to create lower-cost housing.

 



The Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India rooms are probably a big step up from your freshman dorm room.

The Hostel Dorm student housing complex at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad is known for its unique architecture and large, private rooms.



The Olympic Village in Munich, Germany is now student housing.

Students at universities throughout Munich have the option to live in housing built for champions in the city’s repurposed Olympic Village.



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