American Red Cross & Dunkin’ Donuts to Launch “Give A Pint, Get A Pound” Campaign

From The Red Cross:

To celebrate National Blood Donor Month and help increase awareness about the need for blood, Dunkin’ Donuts and the American Red Cross are teaming up for the fourth annual “Give a Pint, Get a Pound” campaign, which provides a coupon for a free pound of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee* to all presenting donors at Red Cross blood drives in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont during the month of January. Also, at participating Dunkin’ Donuts in New York, all presenting donors in January are eligible to win coffee for a year.** Four winners will be selected.

In addition, participating local Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants are hosting blood drives throughout the month to collect blood for patients in need. To donate blood during the month of January call 1-800-RED CROSS or visit redcrossblood.org.

Dunkin’ Donuts and the Red Cross are thanking donors who support the community blood supply by rolling up their sleeves to give the gift of life. Patients in area hospitals need blood every day and one donation may help save three lives. Because winter is often a challenging time for blood collections due to severe weather and flu season, the “Give a Pint, Get a Pound” campaign helps boost blood collections when patients need it most. The campaign achieved great success last year, helping the Red Cross exceed blood collection goals with more than 90,000 pints donated. Over the past three years, Dunkin’ Donuts has provided more than 300,000 pounds of coffee to presenting donors.

“The ‘Give a Pint, Get a Pound’ campaign helps the Red Cross increase blood collections so that we can meet the daily needs of patients in area hospitals during the winter months,” said Donna M. Morrissey, Director of Communications for the American Red Cross Blood Services – Northeast Division. “The program reflects Dunkin’ Donuts’ commitment to the communities they serve, and we are very appreciative of Dunkin’ Donuts for its ongoing dedication to our lifesaving mission.”

“Dunkin’ Donuts is proud to partner with the American Red Cross once again to provide our coffee as a gift to those who give blood,” said Karen Raskopf, Senior Vice President of Communications at Dunkin’ Brands and Co-Chair of the Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation. “We encourage all eligible blood donors to give blood and help those in need in our communities.”

*Coupons are redeemable at participating Dunkin’ Donuts locations. Coupons are non-transferrable and not redeemable for cash.

**Selected winners will receive 48 pounds of regular ground coffee.

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Craigslist Killer Movie to Premiere Tonight [VIDEO TRAILER]

Twitter is buzzing tonight about the premiere of the TV movie “The Craigslist Killer“. If you remember, this is a story of a handsome medical student named Phillip Markoff. He had a very promising future and engaged to be married. However, he was charged on the murder of Julissa Brisman, a masseuse whom he met through the popular online ad site “Craigslist”

His fiancee initially stood by him but later broke off the engagement. Markoff was found dead in his cell back in August after committing suicide.

Watch a preview of the The Craigslist Killer, which airs on Lifetime at 9 p.m. ET/PT and 8 p.m. CT, below:

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What Happens to Megan McAllister?

Philip Markoff decided to end his life by his own hand on August 14, 2010. He left his fiancee, Megan McAllister, who never suspected that her beloved fiance was a serial killer. Actually, they were arranged to be married when Philip Markoff was arrested by the police. And now their life is depicted in a TV feature entitled The Craiglist Killer. Jake McDorman is starring Philip Markoff, while Agnes Bruckner is starring Megan McAllister in this new Lifetime that will be featured tonight.

Megan probably will never watch the TV while her life is being portrayed on the screen. She will experience a traumatic event for sure. Philip and Megan were supposed to be married on August 14, 2009. They first met in 2005 at Boston University and decided to be engaged three years after the first meeting. Soon after that, it was very dramatic to find that Philip Markoff turned out to be a serial killer and then he decided to kill himself.

Megan always loved Markoff in any circumstances. After Markoff was arrested, she stated, “To me and my family, he is a loving and caring person and in the eyes of the law and constitution, he is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

In fact, she always thought that they were still can be together. She said, “We expect to marry in August and share and wonderful, meaningful life together.” But unfortunately, she couldn’t fulfill the expectation.

However, there was some information that Megan McAllister paid Markoff a visit in jail to break their relationship before he committed suicide. He wrote Megan’s name on the wall of the jail by using his own blood immediately before he died.

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USS Enterprise Video Scandal: Racy Clips Raise Questions About Navy Culture

NORFOLK, Va. — Raunchy comedy videos made by a high-ranking Navy commander and shown to the crew of an aircraft carrier three or four years ago have suddenly proved an embarrassment to the Pentagon that could blight the officer's career.

The videos, released Sunday by a newspaper in this Navy port city, feature Capt. Owen Honors using gay slurs, pantomiming masturbation and staging suggestive shower scenes. They were played on the shipwide television system during weekly movie night when Honors was executive officer, or second in command, of the USS Enterprise. Honors has since become commander of the ship.

Over the weekend, the Navy at first downplayed the videos as "humorous skits," then called them "not acceptable" and said they are under investigation.

Navy sources told NBC News that Honors "will be temporarily relieved of his command as early as Tuesday" while the investigation is taking place.

The videos' existence was not news to Navy higher-ups. In a statement to the Virginian-Pilot on Friday, the Navy said its leadership had put a stop to videos with "inappropriate content" on the Enterprise about four years ago.

The videos' existence was not news to Navy higher-ups. In a statement to the Virginian-Pilot on Friday, the Navy said its leadership had put a stop to videos with "inappropriate content" on the Enterprise about four years ago.

"They were probably hoping it would all go away, and it didn't and now they have to say something," said Michael Corgan, a career Navy officer who now teaches at Boston University.

Corgan said Honors was guilty not only of an error in judgment but of failing to recognize a changing Navy culture. "Standards shift, of course, and trimming your sails is something you have to do if you're going to command people in the Navy," Corgan said. "This guy showed poor judgment."

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Orange Bowl Final Score: Stanford Pummels Virginia Tech 40-12 In Andrew Luck, Jim Harbaugh's Final Game (?)

With coach Jim Harbaugh (likely) off to Michigan and QB Andrew Luck (probably) headed for the NFC South, the Stanford Cardinal left no doubt by dusting the Virginia Tech Hokies 40-12 in the most lopsided Orange Bowl since 2005. Stanford outgained VPI by 243 yards, with Stepfan Taylor running for 113 yards, Jeremy Stewart adding 99 on the ground, and Luck good for 302 total yards plus four touchdowns.

The Stanford D bottled up Virginia Tech’s entire offense, save QB Tyrod Taylor. In his final game the ACC Player of the Year accounted for all but 45 of the Hokies’ yards and made one of the wildest plays bowl season has seen yet

The ACC’s BCS futility continues, with the conference now 1-5 in its marquee bowl since it became a conference championship tie-in. A loss by Boston College to Nevada would also give the ACC a losing bowl season record. No pressure, Eagles.

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Pakistani governor Salman Taseer assassinated; suspected gunman cites opposition to blasphemy laws

Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province, is shot and killed in Islamabad. Police say the gunman, one of Taseer's guards, killed the outspoken official because of his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Pakistan's Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, said Taseer's killer had confessed to killing the governor because of his opposition to Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws, which have been denounced by international human-rights groups. The laws have been under particular scrutiny of late after a Pakistani Christian woman was condemned to death for allegedly defaming Islam.

The ruling People's Party, which in recent days has been struggling to cope with the defection of a major coalition partner and keep the government afloat, was plunged into mourning. Many of its senior members likened Taseer — a popular and charismatic figure who commanded a large following on Twitter — to the assassinated Bhutto, who also ran afoul of religious extremists.

Malik said it was not known whether the killer acted on his own or in concert with others. The blasphemy policy — which Taseer had called a "black law" — is strongly supported by Islamist parties. Taseer was the target of angry protests by Islamists after he called for the pardon of the condemned woman.

Pakistan's latest political crisis erupted Sunday, when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, or MQM, announced it was quitting the ruling coalition and going over to the opposition, a move that could bring down the government and trigger early elections. Zardari and his top associates have been courting the main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, but so far without success.

Special correspondent Khan reported from Islamabad and Los Angeles Times staff writer King reported from Kabul. n's blasphemy laws.

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