Lupe Lasano’s Dirty Gossip Burger

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) –

A Russian aluminum tycoon barred from the United States for years recently made two secret visits arranged by the FBI, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Oleg Deripaska, who controls UC Rusal, met with investment bankers in New York and General Motors executives in Detroit, the Journal said. Deripaska plans a public stock offering and is part of a consortium negotiating a purchase of GM’s Adam Opel AG unit.

Deripaska’s business empire is responsible for about 2 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product. He is close to Russian leaders, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who had urged U.S. officials to give him a visa.

The State Department had previously refused to allow Deripaska into the United States because of concerns about alleged ties to organized crime in Russia.

See the full post at Russian tycoon makes secret U.S. trips

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 (UPI) –

Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points Friday and Dallas led by as many as 22 in the third period on its way to a 94-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Los Angeles shot just 39 percent from the field and Kobe Bryant made only 6-of-19 shots while scoring 20 points.

The Mavericks beat the Lakers in Los Angeles for just the fourth time in 37 tries.

Dallas came back from a sluggish season-opening loss to Washington. The Lakers fell flat after receiving their championship rings and raising their 15th championship banner before beating the Los Angeles Clippers in their opener.

Shawn Marion added 18 for the Mavericks and Jason Terry had 16. The Mavericks held the Lakers to eight points over the final 5:30 of the second quarter while taking a seven-point lead at the break.

Dallas then outscored the Lakers by 11 in the third period to seize control.

See the full post at NBA: Dallas 94, LA Lakers 80

ANAHEIM, Calif., Oct. 31 (UPI) –

Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan each had two of Anaheim’s seven unanswered goals Friday, helping the Ducks roll past Vancouver 7-2.

Anaheim broke a four-game losing streak and produced its highest goal total of the season.

Vancouver, which had won seven of its previous 10, scored the game’s first two goals and then fell victim to the Anaheim onslaught.

Andrew Raycroft allowed four goals on 22 shots before being removed in favor of Cory Schneider, who surrendered three goals on just 12 shots.

Perry started the comeback with 3:29 left in the first period and he scored the last of Anaheim’s three goals in the second.

Ryan then came through twice in a span of less than 3 minutes early in the third period to continue the attack.

Jonas Hiller settled down after the two early Vancouver goals and made 36 saves.

See the full post at NHL: Anaheim 7, Vancouver 2

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 22 (UPI) –

Milan Michalek’s goal late in the second period put San Jose ahead Sunday and the Sharks went on to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1.

After a scoreless first period, Jamie McGinn got a power-play goal for San Jose and Colorado’s Scott Hannan tied it less than two minutes later.

Michalek broke the tie with 35 seconds left in the second and Devin Setoguchi got the Sharks’ final goal, an empty-netter, with 22 seconds remaining in the third.

Evgeni Nabokov turned in 31 saves for his 37th win this season. Losing goalie Andrew Raycroft blocked 25 shots.

The win was the third straight for the Pacific Division champion Sharks. San Jose has 106 points for a one-point lead over Detroit for the top spot in the Western Conference.

See the full post at NHL: San Jose 3, Colorado 1

PHOENIX, Oct. 31 (UPI) –

Steve Nash handed 20 assists for the sixth time in his career Friday and scored 18 points as well in pacing Phoenix to a 123-101 whipping of Golden State.

Nash opened the season by scoring the game-winning basket with 5.5 seconds left against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday and backed that up with a dominating floor game against the Warriors.

Leandro Barbosa scored 24 points for the Suns, Channing Frye had 22 and Amare Stoudemire 20. They all benefited from Nash’s passing ability that led to Phoenix shooting 53 percent from the floor and 54 percent from 3-point range.

The Suns built an 11-point halftime lead and steadily pulled away over the final two quarters.

Golden State, which has lost its first two games this season, was led by 19 points from Monta Ellis.

See the full post at NBA: Phoenix 123, Golden State 101

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Oct. 31 (UPI) –

Dwight Howard had a huge game Friday and Orlando, despite an injury suffered by Vince Carter, got past New Jersey 95-85.

Howard scored 20 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and blocked four shots.

Carter was also on his way to a big night in his return to New Jersey when he suffered a sprained left ankle late in the second quarter.

Carter, who spent four-plus seasons with the Nets before coming to Orlando in a summer trade, had scored 16 points before the injury.

He was driving the lane when he stepped on the foot of ex-teammate Devin Harris. Carter rolled his ankle and had to be assisted to the locker room.

Ryan Anderson, who also came to Orlando with Carter in the trade, scored 16 points. New Jersey was led by Courtney Lee with 18.

Orlando scored the first seven points of the third period to take a 13-point lead. New Jersey climbed back within six with 5:16 to go in the third, but the Magic produced the final six point…

See the full post at NBA: Orlando 95, New Jersey 85

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 31 (UPI) –

Paul Millsap scored 14 of his 23 points in the last period Friday, helping Utah break open a close game en route to a 111-98 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Utah defeated the Clippers for the 13th straight time and for the 39th time in 40 meetings. The only Los Angeles win in that stretch came in January 2003.

Deron Williams added 21 points and Carlos Boozer had 20 and 12 rebounds. Utah bounced back from a season-opening loss to Denver on Wednesday.

The Clippers were paced by Eric Gordon with 22 points. Los Angeles has dropped its first three games.

Utah trailed by a point heading into the fourth period, but scored the first 10 points of the quarter. The Jazz tacked on an 11-2 outburst later in the period to put the game away.

See the full post at NBA: Utah 111, LA Clippers 98

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) –

A report on state educational standards shows many states are setting the bar too low, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Friday.

The National Center for Education Statistics compared data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, given to samples of students across the country, and the tests required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Today’s study confirms what we’ve known for a long time: States are setting the bar too low, Duncan said. In all but a few cases, states aren’t expecting students to meet NAEP’s standard of proficiency. Far too many states are telling students that they are proficient when they actually are performing below NAEP’s basic level.

No Child Left Behind allows states to set their own standards with their own tests.

The NCES researchers found most of the difference between states on the percentage of students who show proficiency on the tests stems from how rigorous the standa…

See the full post at Duncan: States \’set bar too low\’

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 31 (UPI) –

Freshman B.J. Daniels threw a touchdown pass in each of the first three periods Friday, carrying South Florida to a 30-19 win over No. 20 West Virginia.

Daniels accounted for 336 yards of offense and Eric Schwartz added three field goals in helping the Bulls improve to 6-2 for the season. South Florida is 2-2 in the Big East Conference.

West Virginia had a four-game winning streak halted, falling to 6-2 and 2-1. The loss by the Mountaineers leaves Pittsburgh (4-0) and Cincinnati (3-0) as the only teams with unblemished league records.

Daniels hit Carlton Mitchell with a 49-yard touchdown pass in the first period to overcome a seven-point deficit and Schwartz kicked a 30-yard field goal late in the opening quarter to put the Bulls ahead for good.

A.J. Love caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Daniels early in the second and Daniels hit Sterling Griffin with a 6-yard touchdown throw in the third to make it 27-19.

Daniels did not throw…

See the full post at COL FB: South Florida 30, W. Virginia 19

With Halloween looming, it comes as no surprise that the classic Halloween song, the Monster Mash is being heavily searched for all over the internet.

This popular Halloween ditty has been around since Hector was a pup and is among one of the few recognizable songs devoted to the celebration of October 31st.

The Monster Mash Song And A Video.

Happy Halloween to all the ghouls and goblins out there!

See the full post at Monster Mash Song