Chandra Bahadur Dangi says he is 1 foot, 10 inches tall, which would make him the shortest adult human ever recorded.

Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 72, believes he is world’s shortest man at 1 foot, 10 inches

(NYDN) A 72-year-old man in Nepal claims to be the world’s shortest man, and he may prove to be the shortest adult human in Guinness World Records’ history.

Chandra Bahadur Dangi says he is 1 foot, 10 inches tall, which would make him 1.6 inches shorter than the current official record holder, Junrey Balawing of the Philippines, and one centimeter shorter than any adult human ever documented.

PHOTOS: CRAZIEST GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS

Guinness officials will travel to Dangi’s village to verify his claim. Guinness posted video of Dangi on its YouTube channel.

The shortest adult human ever, according to Guinness, was Gul Mohammed, who was 1 foot, 10.4 inches tall. He died in 1997 at the age of 40.

“We intend to travel to Mr. Dangi‘s village in Nepal to officially measure him and are currently making provisions for medical professionals to assist us in the verification,” a statement on the Guinness World Records website says.

Dangi has reportedly already become somewhat of a celebrity in southern Nepal, and the Guinness honor would almost certainly add to his notoriety. A previous record-holder, He Pingping of Mongolia, made a celebrated trip to New York City in 2008.

 WATCH:

Planned Parenthood will continue to receive grants from the Susan G. Komen foundation.

Susan G. Komen reverses stance on Planned Parenthood, will continue to fund organization

(NYDN) The Susan G. Komen breast cancer charity reversed its three-day-old decision to cut off grants to Planned Parenthood on Friday.

“We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives,” Brinker said.

“The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen.”

Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday that it would no longer be receiving about $680,000 from the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast health programs because of changes to the breast cancer charity’s grant-giving criteria.

New rules banned it from giving to groups under state, local or federal investigations, and Planned Parenthood is under congressional investigation in Florida over whether it used federal funds for abortions.

The move caused widespread controversy because the probe into Planned Parenthood was launched in Congress at the behest of anti-abortion lobbyists.

It also came after Komen hired an anti-abortion advocate as a vice president.

“We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not,” Brinker’s statement said.

“We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.”

“We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants,” she added.

When the news broke, supporters rallied around Planned Parenthood and grants poured in.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $250,000 to the organization, a family foundation in Dallas offered the same amount, and 6,000 people gave smaller donations totalling $400,000.

Pressure steadily mounted on Susan G. Komen to reverse its decision, and 26 U.S. senators in Washington signed a letter calling for the decision to be overturned.

“It would be tragic if any woman — let alone thousands of women — lost access to these potentially lifesaving screenings because of a politically motivated attack,” the senators wrote.

Planned Parenthood says its health centers have performed more than 4 million breast exams in the past five years past five years, and nearly 170,000 of those were only possible because of the grants from Susan G. Komen.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern,” Brinker said.

Read the Susan G. Komen foundation’s full statement below.

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics – anyone’s politics.

Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public’s understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.

'King' Eddie Long

Bishop Eddie Long is crowned ‘king in God’s government’ (VIDEO)

(theGRIO) Bishop Eddie Long, the subject of sexual allegations made by male members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, is making headlines again. This time it’s because video of one of his church services has gone viral.

Long has recently started performing church services again after briefly stepping down as head pastor from the church due to the sex scandal and subsequent divorce from his wife. This Sunday, however, he invited a special guest, Rabbi Ralph Messer. The church televised a very special edition of worship as the rabbi crowned the bishop as “king”.

WATCH VIDEO OF THE CEREMONY HERE:

In this 14 minute-long video clip, Messer reveals to church members a priceless 312-year-old scroll apparently recovered from Auschwitz after World War II. After introducing Long, he says, “He was brought through the slaves, raised up in a city, and God now wants to release a new anointing.”

At around the five-minute mark, Messer wraps an emotional Eddie Long in the scroll. After more prayer and being fully wrapped in the scroll, which is said to be done for kings in Israel as a Jewish ritual, four men from the church proceed to “raise him up from a commoner to a kinship.” Long is paraded around the church stage so that members are able to applaud their new king.

Analysis of Tom Brady (c.) has an unfamiliar ring as critics seem to be discounting three-time Super Bowl champ this time.

NY Giants have their hands full against Tom Brady and New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI despite what has become prevailing opinion

(NYDN) INDIANAPOLIS — You start to get the idea, at least in and around New York, that Tom Brady and the Patriots will be so afraid of what the Giants are going to do to them at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday night that they won’t want to come out of the locker room.

There will be Bill Belichick, about 6 o’clock, saying to Brady, “I know it’s the Giants, but you’ve still got to go out there, it’s a rule.”

And Brady will say, no, somebody sent him the clips from the New York papers and Eli and the Giants are now the greatest fighting machine this side of the Navy’s SEAL Team Six, and that going up against a team such as that is just a foregone conclusion. That’s where we seem to be now. The Giants smacked around Brady four years ago and will do it again. Nothing for Brady to do but stand there and take it, at least until the Giants knock him down again.

Sometimes you get the idea that it is Eli Manning who is the legend now, not Brady, despite Brady having won three Super Bowls, despite the fact that he’s trying to tie Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw at four. And you know where the legend of Eli began, in the last minutes of Super Bowl XLII, when Manning was really the one who had the ball last. Same as he did in Foxborough earlier this season when the Giants did it to the Patriots in the last minute again.

Suddenly Brady, one of the great players in the history of his sport, gets treated like the other quarterback in the big game.

It is one more reason why the Giants, the betting underdog in this game — I keep waiting for the spread to get bet down, still hasn’t happened — are treated more and more like some kind of prohibitive favorite back home. Because they got Brady once in a Super Bowl, you’re now supposed to think it will be some Namath upset if they don’t do it again. It’s as if they beat the Patriots by three touchdowns instead of three points four years ago in Super Bowl XLII.

Is this the same Brady who won those three Super Bowls? Even with more than 5,000 passing yards this season, I don’t think he is. Still: If you look at both these teams, it is hardly a stretch to say that Eli had better, more dangerous weapons in Nicks, Cruz, Manningham this season than Brady had with Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, even with Gronkowski — the healthy Gronkowski — having one of the great receiving years of all time.

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All eyes are on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, now that the social-networking giant has announced its $5 billion IPO.

Facebook announces $5 billion IPO: So how will the filing change the social network?

(NYDN) Facebook announced its $5 billion IPO late Wednesday afternoon. But what is all the hype about? What is an IPO, how does it work, and will a publicly traded Facebook affect how we use the social network on a daily basis? Here’s a quick guide.

WHAT EXACTLY IS AN IPO?

When a privately owned company makes an Initial Public Offering, it means they’re moving to be publicly traded on the stock market for the first time. That means that anyone can buy stock in the company and own a portion of it.

Going public can help a company raise significant capital if a lot of people want to buy its stock. It also means that the company has to publicly disclose details about its finances, like its earnings, that it previously kept private.

WHO DECIDES THE VALUE OF AN IPO?

An investment bank determines how much money the company can expect to make on the stock market based on a number of factors, from the health of the economy to how popular the company’s product is expected to be in the future. The initial valuation is always a bit of a gamble, since the stock has never been traded publicly before, and analysts can’t look at past behavior to figure out how it should be priced.

Morgan Stanley is expected to spearhead Facebook’s IPO filing, with Goldman Sachs playing a supporting role, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Facebook’s IPO has been pegged at $5 billion. The company itself being valued between $75 billion and $100 billion, unnamed sources familiar with the deal told the Journal.

The IPO sets a record among technology companies. Google currently holds the record for the largest tech IPO at $1.6 billion, according to the Washington Post.

HOW WILL IT CHANGE FACEBOOK?

Facebook is releasing previously private financial information, so we’ll be able to see how much the company is actually making, how much the executives earn, and what its biggest sources of revenue are, among other things.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is known for wanting to maintain creative control over his creations — he’s rejected lucrative offers from companies who wanted to acquire Facebook, including when Microsoft tried to buy it for more than $15 billion in 2007.

Now everyday investors will own part of the company, and he’ll be accountable to them.

Once a company goes public, it has to worry about turning a profit and satisfying investors, lest they start dumping its stock.

WILL IT CHANGE THE WAY I USE FACEBOOK?

There probably won’t be any noticeable changes in the short term. The Guardian predicts that with greater public pressure to be profitable, Facebook will likely get more aggressive about targeted advertising, and may try to find new ways to make money off of private user data.

WHO CAN PURCHASE SHARES IN AN IPO?

Small-fry investors don’t have much of a shot. The investment bank underwriting the deal typically gets to dole out shares at the IPO price to favored clients. In a hot IPO, the majority of those are institutional clients, and any individual investors who get in are usually frequent traders with big accounts, according to Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique.

]]> http://www.urbannewsroom.com/2012/02/01/facebook-files-5-billion-ipo-5-billion/feed/ 0 http://www.urbannewsroom.com/2012/02/01/the-tragedy-of-allen-iverson/ http://www.urbannewsroom.com/2012/02/01/the-tragedy-of-allen-iverson/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:29:40 +0000 UNR Staff http://www.urbannewsroom.com/?p=10364

Allen Iverson

He seems totally unprepared for his greatest challenge: life.

(SBNation.com) From the second the NBA left Allen Iverson, I wondered what in the world he would do without basketball. It seems “paying his bills” wasn’t on his to-do list.

The gumshoes at TMZ say Iverson’s bank account has been garnished to pay an exorbitant jewelry bill. Per American custom, that’s brought out snickers and finger wagging. Iverson made over $150 million, according to basketball-reference.com. Now, he’s 36-years-old and can’t even come up with the money to pay for bling he’s too old to wear.

People laugh when rich folks struggle. In this case, I see two levels of tragedy. There’s the predictability of it all. Even the best adjusted athletes have a million factors to fight when their careers are done, from divorces to simply trying to fill the hours of each day without practices and games. Plus, athletes, figurative lottery winners, are like the literal ones – they often find a way to blow all their cash.

The rest is the big stuff, the totality of Iverson’s nearly four decades and what they meant to a generation of fans and observers who never met him. Even those who couldn’t relate to him felt inclined to root for him, if only to spite those who despised him. He was readily associated with hip-hop, but Iverson was rock star from the same mold as all the great ones. They grew up with the Stones, but gave Iverson the same lectures on his clothes that Jagger complained about on “Satisfaction.” It was he who was immune to consultations, quite aware of what he was going through, even if those who judged him were not.

For people like me, Iverson’s complaints were also ours. His defenses of his own rap music were the same we offered our parents when they heard the words coming from our bedroom windows. We wanted to wear t-shirts and sneakers everywhere, and we couldn’t see what the big deal was, either. We were tired of being treated like criminals because of how we dressed. After being told for so long all the nonsensical compromises we would have to make to be successful, it warmed teenage hearts to see Iverson make it without doing any of those things.

It didn’t feel like he was being knocked for his undeniable flaws, or even simply for being young and black. It felt like he caught hell for refusing to believe there was something wrong with who he was, how he dressed and how he wore his hair. It wasn’t just a refusal to conform. It was a demand for his right to exist. He wasn’t analyzed as much as he was indicted by his critics, many of whom never considered how truly impressive it was for someone from his side of the tracks to be a tax-paying millionaire. So many treated him as if he were doomed, that he could never be more than he was as a jaded, immature man in his early-20s.

No matter what anyone thought he did in that bowling alley, or what they thought he deserved, he made it out. Talent alone won’t do that for anyone. That’s the sort of thing done by hook or crook, and there’s no time on the back end to worry too much about how it got done. After suffering the worst in a dying shipping town, being caught on police cameras buying drugs for his mother like it was just a run to the store, the slim chance Iverson had to be successful panned out.

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Don Cornelius presents the BET Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during the 2009 BET Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on June 28, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Don Cornelius dead: ‘Soul Train’ host reportedly commited suicide

(theGRIO) Don Cornelius, the legendary host of Soul Train, is reportedly dead this morning from what is rumored to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Cornelius created Soul Train and hosted the influential black music program from its debut in 1971 until 1993. He will forever be remembered for his impact on soul music and his classic sign off, “we wish you love, peace and soul.” He was 75 years old. TMZ reports:

Don Cornelius — who famously created “Soul Train” was found dead in his Sherman Oaks, CA home this morning … and law enforcement sources tell us it appears he committed suicide.

We’re told cops discovered the body at around 4 AM PT. Law enforcement sources tell us … Cornelius died from a gunshot wound to the head and officials believe the wound was self-inflicted.

We’re told Cornelius was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Ouch. Blake Griffin completely posterizes Kendrick Perkins on Monday night.

Video: Blake Griffin dunk over Kendrick Perkins needs to be seen to be believed

LA Clippers beat OKC Thunder 112-100 but Griffin slam is highlight

(NYDN) Blake Griffin is pretty athletic.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins learned that first-hand Monday night.

In the Clippers’ 112-100 victory over OKC, Griffin added another highlight dunk to his ever-expanding reel.

Taking a Chris Paul pass off a pick and roll, Griffin went up from just outside the paint on the left side. He went to floor 13 and left Perkins at 8.

And, by the way, he got the foul.

Twitter went crazy after ‘Blake Superior‘ threw the hammer down.

Even the King himself, LeBron James tweeted about the slam. And if you remember, James had a pretty good one Sunday night when he hurdled Bulls guard John Lucas to throw down an alley-oop.

This time, Griffin conjured up not images of great dunkers of the past like Dr. J., Dominique Wilkins or Michael Jordan, but of… well, himself.

Watch the video, it is very similar to the dunk Griffin had against then-Knicks center Timofey Mozgov a season ago. Right down to the finish where he barely touches the rim.

Griffin finished the game with 22 points.

Watch it below, but the more times you watch, you come to realize the dunk was more Serge Ibaka‘s fault on defense. But that is likely of little consolation to Perkins, who will be on the poster.

Take a look:

Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and L.A. Reid of 'The X Factor.'

Simon Cowell cleans house at ‘X Factor’: Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones reportedly won’t return

(NYDN) Simon Cowell has cleaned house at “The X Factor” – with a fire hose.

Reports in rapid succession Monday night had host Steve Jones, then judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul not returning for next fall’s second season of the Cowell-produced Fox show.

“I won’t be hosting next seasons X Factor which is a shame but I cant complain as I’ve had a great time,” Jones posted on Twitter. “Good luck to everyone on the show.”

A source in Scherzinger’s camp told E! News that the decision to leave the show was the singer’s.

The purge seems to answer the question of exactly how angry Cowell was that “The X Factor,” while quite successful in its first season last fall, fell millions of viewers short of his stated expectations.

It will also inevitably launch speculation about who could provide the spark Cowell clearly thinks the show needs.

Some of that speculation is bound to start with Mariah Carey, a longtime Cowell friend whom Cowell said last summer would have been one of the original judges if she hadn’t been pregnant at the time the show was filming.

Cowell’s house-cleaning leaves only two of the five original primary players standing: himself and fellow judge L.A. Reid, who at some point had to be looking over his shoulder.

The shocker was Abdul, Cowell’s long-time sparring partner and apparent kindred singing spirit from their years together as judges on “American Idol.”

While Scherzinger and Jones had both gotten mixed reviews for their performances, there seemed to be a consensus that Abdul was just what Cowell thought he’d hired. As a mentor and a judge, she was forced to be more decisive than her Sunny Sally persona on “Idol,” but she and Cowell were still regular partners in banter.

What the shakeup really suggests is that Cowell was far more upset than anyone was letting on over the size of “The X Factor” audience.

Before the show launched last summer, he said his goal was to top the audience for “Idol,” which averaged more than 20 million viewers in each of its first 10 seasons. The season that just started has dipped below that a bit.

Cowell, however, suggested that anything below 20 million for “The X Factor” would be disappointing.

“The X Factor” started and ended with about 12.5 million weekly viewers — not only falling well below “Idol,” but at times trailing “The Voice,” an NBC music talent show that launched last spring with a similar mentoring format and far less promotion.

Since the end of the season of “The X Factor,” Cowell has calmly said several times that his expectations were too high. He said he hadn’t decided what moves to make.

Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly went a step further to TV critics this month when he said “there will be changes,” but said they weren’t tied to ratings.

“If it did twice the rating, [Cowell] would still change it,” said Reilly. “He’s relentless in that way.”

Reilly also declared Fox loves “The X Factor.”

“I’m thrilled with the fact that the show has helped provide us with one of the strongest falls we’ve had in our history,” he said. “I love it.”

Cowell presumably loves it, too. But he clearly sees ways he could love it a whole lot more, and they don’t seem to include Steve, Nicole or Paula.

Newt Gingrich speaks at a Republican Jewish Coalition Rally on January 27th. Gingrich is trailing in the polls to fellow Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

Newt Gingrich races across Florida in bid to keep floundering campaign alive

(NYDN) TAMPA, Fla. - Newt Gingrich appears headed toward a crushing defeat in Florida Tuesday, with devastating consequences for his flailing campaign.

Gingrich raced across the Sunshine State Monday in a last-minute bid to reclaim the momentum he enjoyed just days ago after his stunning South Carolina upset victory.

“Let me be clear: we really need your help,” Gingrich pleaded with a small crowd at a Tampa rally.

A Quinnipiac poll released Monday showed the ex-speaker trailing Mitt Romney by 14 points, while a Suffolk University survey had him behind by 20 points.

And given the upcoming primary schedule, a blowout loss could send Gingrich’s White House hopes into a death spiral.

After the winner-take-all Florida primary, which awards a whopping 50 delegates, the GOP schedule thins out dramatically.

Between now and Super Tuesday, March 6, there are three lightly regarded caucuses – Nevada, Colorado and Minnesota – and Feb. 28 primaries in Arizona and Michigan, Romney’s native state, which he’s expected to win handily.

Moreover, Gingrich’s campaign has been run on a shoestring budget and, unable to blanket the airwaves like Romney, he has relied on strong debate performances to build support – and raise campaign cash.

But there is only one debate in the next month – and the negative momentum from a blowout loss in Florida could cause Gingrich’s already meager money supply to dry up.

Gingrich has refused to consider bowing out, but he acknowledged Monday that he would endorse the eventual Republican nominee – perhaps a sign he sees the writing on the wall.

The visuals for Gingrich – who also is being sued for using the song “Eye of the Tiger” at campaign events – were troubling Monday.

Joined by former rival Herman Cain and Michael Reagan, son of the late president,President, Gingrich held a rally in vote-rich Tampa – but only a few hundred people showed up at the massive airline hangar, making it look nearly empty.

Still, Gingrich kept swinging, slamming President Obama and once again complaining about the barrage of negative ads unleashed by pro-Romney forces.

“They spent $17.5 million on falsehoods,” Gingrich insisted. “What Romney is saying about me is false, and we can’t let him get away with this.”

Romney, meanwhile, basked in big crowds.

His speech at his final event in The Villages, a massive retirement community, was aimed solely at Obama – but he unloaded on Gingrich earlier in the day.

“The idea of the moon as the 51st state is not what would come to my mind as a campaign basis for here in Florida,” Romney scoffed at Gingrich’s space proposals.

The increasingly bitter rivals are the only two candidates left standing in the Sunshine State.

Ron Paul has skipped Florida to focus on the upcoming small caucus states, while Rick Santorum left over the weekend to tend to his ill daughter – returning to the trail in Missouri Monday.