by Gil Kaufman 1 min ago

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino has landed in hot water yet again — and this time the consequences could be very serious. According to NJ.com, the reality star and his older brother were due in federal court in Newark on Wednesday (September 24) after being accused of not properly paying taxes on $8.9 million in income.

Authorities indicted Mike, 32, and brother Marc on charges that they filed false income tax returns from 2010 to 2012; Mike was indicted on two counts while Marc, his manager, was indicted on three, and both were also hit with one count of conspiracy. According to the indictment, Mike allegedly failed to file a tax return in 2011, during which he made nearly $2 million in income.

“Michael and Marc Sorrentino filed false tax returns that incorrectly reported millions made from promotions and appearances,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. “The brothers allegedly also claimed costly clothes and cars as business expenses and funneled company money into personal accounts. The law is absolutely clear: telling the truth to the IRS is not optional.” They are also accused of conspiring to avoid paying federal taxes on income generated by two of their companies: MPS Entertainment, LLC and Situation Nation Inc.

In addition, the indictment says the brothers are accused of buying high-end cars and clothes for personal use and writing them off as business expenses. The charges of conspiracy and filing false returns each carry a maximum three year prison term and $250,000 fine, and The ...

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by Gil Kaufman 14 mins ago

We just got used to the difference between ISIS and ISIL and now President Obama is telling us that there’s a terrorist group that’s even worse than the Islamic State or Al Qaeda. In fact, before most of us had ever heaven heard of them, we already bombed some of their key locations as part of Tuesday’s raid on terror targets in Syria.

But what, or who, is the Khorosan Group and why are we just now hearing about a group that could pose the biggest threat to the homeland in years?

Who They Are

AFP/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI

According to reports, Khorasan is a group of veteran Al Qaeda members who’ve moved to Syria with the goal of launching attacks on the west, and, specifically, the U.S. Unlike the other Qaeda offshoot, ISIL/ISIS, which is focused on creating a caliphate in the Middle East by spreading its reign of terror across Iraq, Syria and beyond, Khorasan is reportedly looking outward for its targets. The group is believed to have been birthed from an alliance between al Qaeda operatives in Syria and some from Qaeda’s Yemen-based branch, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is home to many expert bomb makers, according to ABC News. The name refers to greater Afghanistan, parts of central Asia and a province in China and in addition to religious significance it is also shorthand for jihad.

What Were We Trying To Destroy?

AFP/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI

The early morning ...

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by Gil Kaufman 1 min ago

We’ve still got a pretty serious buzz from Charlo Greene’s amazing “f–k it” quitting video, in which the KTVA broadcast reporter resigned in the middle of a broadcast after revealing her secret identity as leader of the Alaska Cannabis Club.

It was gangster to the max and it made us think about the grand, storied history of quitting videos that have made taking that job and shoving it a shared experience. And so, we give you our 11 favorite “you can’t fire me because I quit” clips:

1. Gone, Gone Gone
Marina Shifrin is magic. Doubt it? Check her out dancing to Yeezy’s “Gone” as she records with multiple angles in her former workplace at 4 a.m. before dropping the mic forever.

2. The Big Reveal
The boom box, the dramatic music, the chair over the head. And, of course, the tearing open of the shirt. Bravo.

3. Kiss My Brass
Dude was so sick of being treated like s— by his bosses at a hotel that he hired his buddies in a marching band to help play him off.

4. Picture Perfect
Although this was a hoax, she sent all the employees at her job a series of photos that wished them well. Except Spencer, because he’s a jerk with bad breath, who called her a HOPA.

5. Later, Losers!
This guy really, really hated his warehouse job.

6. He’s On A Roll And It’s Time To Go Solo
A dope soundtrack novelty T-shirts and flashmob spectacles are always appreciated.

7. Extra Quitarroni
Seems like a put-on, but man does it look ...

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by Gil Kaufman 22 mins ago

The days of wondering whether the Earth’s climate is being seriously impacted by human actions seem to be over. Though not all of our elected officials are on board quite yet, recent surveys show that 89 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of independents and 70 percent of Republicans already believe global warming is at least partially the result of our dependence on burning fossil fuels.

But, there are still people out there who think climate change is not being caused by human action, which is just one of the reasons tens of thousands will fill Manhattan’s streets on Sunday for the People’s Climate March, expected to be one of the largest ever demonstrations of its kind. If you’re still not convinced that climate change is real, here are 7 reasons you should think again:

1. California Is Turning Into One Big Desert

Getty Images News/Justin Sullivan

The situation in the Golden State is so bad — with 60 percent facing “exceptional drought” — that California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed three bills that regulate the state’s groundwater use for the first time over. Farmers are expected to lose $800 million in crops this year and wildfires are scorching an unprecedented amount of land. If that’s not enough evidence, check out these horrifying gifs of the water crisis.

2. It Is Absolutely Getting Hotter

National Climate Assesment

Over the past 130 years, the global average ...

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by Gil Kaufman 15 mins ago

In honor of the seventh season of “The Voice” kicking off on Monday, veteran coach Blake Shelton and newcomer Gwen Stefani visited “The Tonight” show on Wednesday night. Only this time it was their turn to get judged, as they became the latest victims, we mean contestants, on the show’s famed Lip Sync Battle.

Shelton, champagne glass in hand, went old school with a cover of Dutch singer Taco’s “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” complete with a bit of impressive tap dancing. Fallon flipped the script and tackled Ellie Goulding‘s “Burn,” with some very energetic hand gestures his own illuminating prop, which was just weird. But leave it to pop royalty Stefani to up the ante with a super high-energy cover of Carly Rae Jepsen‘s “Call Me Maybe.”

What did they do for round 2? Check it out.

by Gil Kaufman 10 mins ago

We know Taylor Swift loved it when a bunch of Transylvania University frat guys recreated the “Shake It Off” video. And the kindergartener who covered it was adorable, as were these two.

But how does she feel about her newbie chart rival, Meghan Trainor, taking it on? Or a parrot? So far she’s only given the thumbs-up to the parrot, but we think Meghan nailed it.

by Gil Kaufman 4 mins ago

It’s been a trying week for Ariana Grande. We know this because she took to Twitter to vent about the haters and jerks who’ve been writing stories about her alleged backstage behavior.

And how did she handle it? Like a lady, by killing them with kindness and reminding them that you get back what you put out. Here’s her response in six elegant steps.

1. Laugh It Off

by Gil Kaufman 24 mins ago

On Monday, U.S. forces stepped up a campaign of airstrikes in Iraq, targeting a fearsome
four-letter terrorist organization that’s become synonymous with videotaped beheadings. It’s all part of a military strategy that follows President Obama’s recent pledge to “degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy.”

But you might have wondered why the commander-in-chief keeps referring to the organization as ISIL?

More to the point, is ISIL the same as ISIS, which is what almost everyone else is calling the group? Good question.

How It All Started

Moment Mobile/ Nigel Killeen

The idea for ISIS was hatched more than two decades ago by Jordanian fighter and Sunni extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi under the name Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, which was soon commonly referred to as Al-Qaeda in Iraq. By 2004, he had allied himself with Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda proper, targeting coalition forces using IEDs, suicide bombers and hostage executions.

When Things Changed

Anadolu Agency

After Al-Zarqawi’s death in 2006 during a U.S. airstrike, new leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri renamed the group the Islamic State of Iraq. When Masri was killed in 2010, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi rose to power and changed the name once again in April 2013 to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a nod to the group’s incursion into a new region: Syria. The “L” is also, of course, what’s referred to in the term ISIL.

Why ISIS?

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by Gil Kaufman 27 mins ago

August Alsina fans found out on Tuesday night that the singer would not be performing that night as scheduled at Bogart’s nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, less than 24 hours after the singer took a scary fall from the Irving Plaza stage in New York.

The show was still listed as active on Tuesday morning, but during the day its status was changed to postponed as Alsina, 22, reportedly continued receiving treatment at a New York hospital. A spokesperson for the “No Love” singer had not returned requests for comment on his condition at press time, but according to TMZ, Alsina experienced “multiple” seizures after his collapse.

An unnamed rep for Alsina told the site that August is still in the ICU at a New York hospital receiving treatment for seizures, which doctors suspect might have been brought on by exhaustion and dehydration.

At press time, a Friday date at the Old National Centre in Indianapolis is still listed as active.

by Gil Kaufman 20 mins ago

CBS Sports has benched Rihanna and Jay Z‘s “Run This Town” for the rest of the NFL season. After pulling the song last week for the season debut of Thursday Night Football on the network, a CBS Sports spokesperson confirmed for MTV News on Tuesday (September 16) that the song will not be played at all this season.

“Beginning this Thursday, we will be moving in a different direction with some elements of our Thursday Night Football open,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We will be using our newly created Thursday Night Football theme music to open our game broadcast.”

It was just two weeks ago that CBS announced that Thursday Night Football would be “accompanied by the narration of Academy Award-nominated actor Don Cheadle. Cheadle’s narration sets the scene to kick off the NFL week on Thursday nights, highlighting the division rivalry games. And, asking the question, who will ‘Run This Town’?”

But before the 16-game season on the network even kicked off, the song was pulled from last Thursday’s broadcast of a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, whose Ray Rice has been dropped from the team and indefinitely suspended by the league following the revelation of a video of the 212-pound running back punching out his then fiancee in an elevator earlier this year.

The CBS Sports spokesperson did not return requests for comment on what will replace the Jay/Rihanna song and how the opening segment will be tweaked. Rihanna, however, ...

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