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Often, the use of Mandarin provided a way to include some extremely colorful language without tripping the alarm bells of network television’s censors. Of course, cursing wasn’t the only way in which the Chinese language was incorporated. Characters also used it for slang, terms of endearment, and more, to add flavor to the setting of the show. The following phrases may be familiar to those who have binge-watched Firefly multiple times, even those who don’t speak a word of Mandarin....

Which brings us to last week’s surprising rate cut, which set off huge cheers in the two main hotbeds of Greenspan mania: Wall Street and Washington. A cut that, in my humble opinion, was widely misunderstood in both places, because people thought there had to be something more than the Fed’s explanation about wanting to bolster the economy. The unwise conventional wisdom in Wall Street and Washington–that Greenspan was riding to the rescue of the stock market and that he’s engaged in an economic turf war with the incoming Bushies–is part of the “all about me” syndrome that afflicts both places....

Iraq’s central bank has fought back by recalling all 100-dinar notes, the largest and most copied denomination. It also has altered the watermark on bills at least four times, and made counterfeiting a capital crime. For Saddam, it’s a battle for control of a lucrative monopoly, as much as a matter of national security. He and his close relatives are believed to have scored a windfall recently by driving up the dinar price on a false rumor that Iraq would soon resume oil exports....

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff on Wednesday announced that House Democrats will take their formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump public this coming week with three witnesses set to testify: State Department official George Kent and U.S. Ukraine diplomat Bill Taylor are both testifying next Wednesday, while ex-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch will appear on Friday. In discussing the upcoming hearings with MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin this weekend, Del Percio predicted that Republicans will have a hard time attempting to discredit the witnesses because they’re all very “accomplished” and credible....

The folks over at Edge are reporting that they have the first gameplay details on the as-of-yet unannounced shooter-sequel, Gears of War 3. The information leak comes from a ’trusted US publishing source.' Apparently, Gears of War developer Epic Games is looking to evolve the classic Gears combat with a number of new innovations to their highly praised and influential cover system. The juicy new details are as follows:...

Pancakes vs Waffles. Cake vs Pie. Red vs Blue. These are common debates made throughout history and in the land of video games, there is another that is greater. Who is the best girl in Final Fantasy VII? RELATED: The Final Fantasy 7 Remake On PS4: 10 Unanswered Questions We Want Resolved With DLC That is to say should Cloud have ended up with Aerith, or should it have been with Tifa?...

Final Fantasy 7 Remake does a lot of things right, but its combat system can be very difficult to grasp at first. Many players may find themselves struggling to get through certain fights, as the sheer amount of damage that Cloud and his friends are taking is just too much to manage with simple Cure Materia. This problem persists throughout the entirety of the game, and will probably remain in the second installment as well....

RELATED: 5 Reasons Final Fantasy 7 Is The Best PS1 Era Game (& 5 Why It’s Final Fantasy 9) While all characters are intelligent, some are more so than others. Read on for descriptions and explanations of all the players, arranged from least intelligent to most intelligent. 8 Eiko Carol Eiko Carol is an orphaned little girl who was raised by moogles. She grew up rough-and-tumble, fighting and stealing for survival....

RELATED: Final Fantasy 10: The 10 Craziest Things Cut From The Game The combat in Final Fantasy X is definitely one of its crowning jewels, feeling faster and more intuitive than ever before. From having a clear idea of when your characters will have their turns to the ease of switching out party members whenever they want — there are a large number of ways in which Final Fantasy X streamlines the flow of combat to make it more accessible and enjoyable for the masses....

Thanks to gameplay trailers and lots of screenshots, we know that Metal Gear Solid 5 will be just as bizarre and surreal as the last few installments in the espionage franchise. We’ve seen a recurring image of Snake covered in blood in a few of the trailers and, from what we know about the game, it sounds like the action hero is in for a pretty physically and mentally taxing adventure this time around....

The latest Fairphone 4 is even more sustainable and ethically sourced than ever, and yet it is also slimmer and way less outdated than previous efforts. In addition, it comes with a five-year warranty, has guaranteed Android updates until 2025 and (maybe) beyond, and may introduce you to the concept of fair-trade metals. In short, it’s a low-guilt phone, but can it compete with iPhones and disposable Samsung models? Perhaps, but maybe the problem isn’t you and me....

Anticipating the next quarterback to emerge from minimal media attention to become a household name name is difficult, but these 10 quarterbacks have the stage set to have a similar rise as Trubisky’s. MORE: SN’s top 25 quarterbacks for 2017 This list doesn’t include the Sam Darnolds or Lamar Jacksons of college football, but quarterbacks who could rise to their level of prestige across the college football landscape. Let’s take a look:...

The Italian side continue to pay respect to their captain, who died from natural causes that led to heart problems just hours ahead of a scheduled match against Udinese earlier this month. Fiorentina retired the number 13 jersey days before Astori was given a grand farewell at his funeral in the city, attended by a huge number of supporters as well as famous faces from across Italian football. Ahead of Fiorentina’s first game since Astori’s passing, the players warmed up in shirts showing his name and number and a banner reading “captain forever” was placed on the field while players carried one of their own reading “Ciao Davide”....

Part of why fans love Fire Emblem Heroes so much is because it is frequently updated and supported. While the swimsuit version of existing characters may seem a bit cheap to the outsider, it’s actually a common tradition within the Fire Emblem series. What’s more, sometimes these versions of the characters can have powerful skills or abilities that set them apart from the traditional variant. RELATED: Fire Emblem Heroes Adding Idol Characters...

Since Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes gameplay mechanics mirror that of Three Houses’, Shez is capable of learning every Class except for gender-specific Classes such as Pegasus Knight (female Shez only) and Brawler (male Shez only). Fortunately, Shez is as versatile as Byleth in Three Houses, so there are many ways to build Shez into a powerful unit. RELATED: Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - Best Bows (& Where to Find Them)...

Dunbar, 49, had his 9-1-1 contract terminated by studio executives in November amidst new COVID guidelines that had been implemented on set the previous month. He had played Michael before his character was written off after his departure. Michael had been one of the show’s recurring characters since the series premiered in 2017. At the time of his exit, Dunbar told Deadline he was dismissed from the show following alleged instances of discrimination because of his refusal to get the COVID-19 jab....

Brandon Mulvaney is a part of the Saginaw Fire Department that was called in to rescue the stray, now named Huntley, in August after locals heard crying from the drain. The heroic firefighter said he knew straight away he wanted the kitten to be the newest member of his family after it came straight to him during the rescue. Now, Huntley is settling into his new home with Mulvaney, his wife, their four children and dog....

Cars caught on fire, erupting in flames sparked by burning rubber. One driver had to be rescued from his charred and burning vehicle. Three drivers bumped and banged and blocked their way toward the checkered flag, their late-race battle opening the door for a fourth driver to win. Angry Brad Keselowski pointed his finger at Matt Kenseth and delivered some choice words, and then hopped onto the hood of winning teammate Joey Logano’s car....

As the Pokemon fan site Serebii reports, Junichi Masuda (a member of Game Freak’s board of directors) will be on-hand when the Pokemon Smash episode airs, and he will be showing off a little bit of gameplay from the upcoming titles. The last time Masuda appeared on Pokemon Smash he revealed Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, so he should once again be the bearer of exciting Pokemon-related news....