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Showing posts from October, 2018

Supreme Court Weighs Google Settlement That Paid Class Members Nothing

Theodore H. Frank filed an objection to the settlement, saying it provided members of the class with “no money, no alteration of the defendant’s allegedly injurious conduct, not even coupons.” Mr. Frank argued his own case on Wednesday, a rarity in the Supreme Court, and he exhibited comprehensive knowledge of the law and an only occasionally halting style. Much of the argument concerned whether paying the plaintiffs was practicable. A divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, upheld the settlement, with all three judges agreeing that trying to pay compensation to the class would be inefficient, as the individual payouts would be about 4 cents. Mr. Frank said few people submit claims in class-action settlements. Using typical response rates, he said, members of the class could have received $5 to $10 each. Even a lottery, Mr. Frank said, would have been a better way to compensate the class. Justice Kavanaugh seemed to...

No Easy Ride for U.S.-India Trade as Trump Focuses on Harley

The items targeted influential industries such as almond growers, who last year shipped $651 million of the nuts to India, their largest market. But India deferred the start of the tariffs from June to September and then to Nov. 2. The government may well delay the tariffs again, Mr. Chaulia said, to assess the outcome of Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States and what effect that would have on the American negotiating position. India, for its part, wants the United States to reduce tariffs on its exports of clothing and textiles, for which it pays higher duties than neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Modi administration is also adamant about maintaining its hefty subsidies for homegrown agricultural products to court Indian farmers, who are a key voting bloc. Looming over everything are geopolitical concerns. In addition to continuing oil purchases from Iran, Mr. Modi signed a deal with Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, on Oct. 5 to buy Russian ...

Did this little girl just win Halloween?

This is downright frightening. A little girl in the Philippines is going viral for her spectacularly spooky Halloween costume. The 2-year-old, named Maya, from Southbay Village, went trick-or-treating dressed up in a flowered dress carrying her own bloodied severed head on a plate. Maya’s mom, Krystal Hwang, shared images and a video of her daughter in the custom-made costume she designed. She even shared a peek at the process of making the elaborate look. “For those who are asking…Yes, I did make her headless costume. Maya has been excited and super game with everything even when I had to wrap her with strips and strips of duct tape to form the fake body. What a trooper!” Hwang wrote. She told Coconuts Manila she involved her daughter in the process of creating the scary look, so she was not frightened since she knows it’s all fake. Hwang did say the costume was a head-turner. “People gave second looks when they saw it. They were amazed how it was even possible, but in the end,...

#MeToo Voices From North Korea: ‘They Consider Us Toys’

“Market guards or police officials would ask me to follow them to an empty room outside the market, or some other place they’d pick,” said a former trader in her 40s. “They consider us toys. We are at the mercy of men.” “Sometimes,” she said of the psychological torment from such abuse, “out of nowhere, you cry at night and don’t know why.” The women interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they seldom reported the crimes for fear of reprisal, and because of widespread stigma attached to rape victims. The coerced sex has become so common that the men don’t think their actions are wrong, and the women have come to accept such behavior, some said. “Corruption is so rampant that anybody without power has no choice,” said the husband of the trader in her 40s. “Traders like my wife have to accept that sexual coercion is part of social and market dynamics. It is the only way to survive.” “I know what I know,” he said. “But we don’t talk about it.” Also vulnerable are women who enter Chin...

I didn’t know what it was, and my kid’s an albino!

A teacher in Iowa who was photographed in blackface at a Halloween party claims she never heard of the offensive practice or its controversial history – and claims she never meant to offend anyone. Megan Luloff, a first-grade teacher at Walcott Elementary, was photographed on Oct. 19 at a party at the Walcott American Legion as part of a group of people dressed as characters from the 2004 movie “Napoleon Dynamite.” Luloff, who is white, dressed as Lafawnduh, Kip Dynamite’s wife. The photo of Luloff led district officials to launch an investigation after they were made aware of it on Oct. 22, district spokeswoman Dawn Saul confirmed to The Post. An attorney for Luloff released a statement Wednesday, saying the disgraced teacher was “completely unaware” of what blackface represented in American culture. “At no point during her preparation for the party, or her participation at the event, did Megan ever intend to mock the character’s ethnicity or take any action intended to be offens...

The View From Flooded Venice

Venice experienced its highest flooding in a decade, leaving much of the city under water. Credit: Source link The post The View From Flooded Venice appeared first on Newsa Latest News Headlines . source https://newsa.co.network/the-view-from-flooded-venice/

Willie McCovey, 80, Dies; Was Hall of Fame Slugger With the Giants

McCovey hit a pair of homers in the 1971 N.L. Championship Series, in which the Giants were defeated by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but by then age and injuries were beginning to take their toll. He was traded to the San Diego Padres after the 1973 season and played with them until late in 1976, when he was purchased by the Oakland A’s and appeared in 11 games as a designated hitter and pinch-hitter. He rejoined the Giants the next season at age 39 after declaring himself a free agent and played for them through 1980, retiring as a four-decade player. Playing mostly at first base, he had a .270 career batting average, 2,211 hits and 1,555 R.B.I. to go with his 521 home runs, 18 of them grand slams, all hit in the N.L. He is in a three-way tie for 20th place on the career homers list, along with Ted Williams and Frank Thomas. “People ask me how I’d like to be remembered,” McCovey once told The Associated Press. “I tell them I’d like to be remembered as the guy who hit the line drive ove...

Over 1,500 at Google Plan Walkout to Protest Handling of Sexual Harassment

The meeting did little to quell the anger. On Friday, Ms. Stapleton said, she created an internal mailing list to organize a walkout. More than 200 employees joined over the weekend, she said, and the numbers have since grown to more than 1,500. On Tuesday, Richard DeVaul, one of the Alphabet executives who The Times revealed was accused of harassment, resigned from the company. He did not receive an exit package, according to a company spokeswoman. That same day, Mr. Pichai sent an apologetic email to employees saying he would support this week’s protest. He said that some workers had already raised constructive ideas of how to improve policies around harassment and that he hoped to “turn these ideas into action,” according to the email, which was obtained by The Times. Employees organizing the walkout have called on Google to end the practice of private arbitration — which requires people to waive their right to sue and often includes confidentiality agreements — in cases of sexu...

‘Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ ruins a classic story

Thinking of shaking up your holiday tradition this year and heading to the “Nutcracker” movie instead of the ballet? Don’t tear up those Tchaikovsky tickets just yet, because Disney’s new riff sleighs the beloved tale. “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” warps little Clara’s (Mackenzie Foy) journey to the magical land of sugar plum fairies and royal mice into a dark political allegory — exactly what audiences are craving! — filled with propaganda and smear campaigns. Some of the powerful characters you thought were good are evil and vice versa. It’s like “Wicked,” but wretched. The revamp starts off in a particularly dreary Victorian London. There’s so much soot and shadow there, you’ll wish Jack the Ripper would show up to lighten the mood. Clara, her father and siblings are riding to Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) house for his annual blowout. But everybody is mopey because Clara’s mom has recently died. Don’t hold your breath for moments of happiness or uplift. There aren’t any...

Twizzlers candy allegedly gave man heart disease: lawsuit

A Manhattan man’s weekly black licorice fix gave him heart disease, the sweet-toothed 73-year-old claims in a new lawsuit that blames the Hershey Company for making the irresistible treats. David Goldberg is a “healthy individual who is not obese” and “has never had any heart conditions,” he says in Manhattan Supreme Court papers. But he’s got a weakness for black licorice-flavored Twizzlers, “consuming at least one standard size bag per week” of the twisty-chewy ropes for “years,” he admits in in the suit. The one-pound bags contained no warnings “that consumption of the black licorice product can lead to heart conditions” so Goldberg munched away. But in October 2017 the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that glycyrrhizin — which occurs naturally in black licorice — could prompt heart problems for adults over 40. “Defendant knew for years that its black licorice candy posed a health threat,” yet didn’t warn consumers, suit says. Last year Goldberg was diagnosed wit...

Studies Warn Against Minimally Invasive Surgery for Cervical Cancer

In that case, the F.D.A. did step in and recommend that the devices not be used “in the vast majority of women” undergoing fibroid surgery. Their use fell off sharply. Morcellation is not used in surgery for cervical cancer. When minimally invasive surgery is performed, the uterus is removed intact through the vagina. The study included 631 women and 33 hospitals in the United States, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Italy, China, Australia and Mexico. The results affect a relatively small number of women in the United States, where screening has reduced the incidence of cervical cancer to about 13,000 cases a year, with about 4,000 deaths. But worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most common malignancy and cause of cancer death in women, with 570,000 cases a year and 270,000 deaths. The disease is caused in nearly all cases by the human papillomavirus, HPV, an extremely common, sexually transmitted virus. In most people, the immune system clears the virus and they never knew they were...

Are anti-anxiety meds making your life worse?

Lena Dunham isn’t alone in going overboard on benzos. Many fans felt her pain on Monday when the 32-year-old “Girls” creator revealed on a podcast that she’s newly clean after a harrowing period of misusing the prescription sedatives, which are commonly prescribed to treat panic disorders and insomnia. “It stopped being, ‘I take one when I fly,’ and it started being like, ‘I take one when I’m awake,’” Dunham said of her Klonopin habit on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. The star said she initially took the meds for “extreme anxiety” and post-traumatic stress disorder. The number of US adults downing benzodiazepines, a class of drugs that includes Xanax and Valium in addition to the Klonopin, soared by 67 percent — to 13.5 million — between 1996 and 2013, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year. “Many prescribers don’t realize that benzodiazepines can be addictive and when taken daily can worsen anxiety, contribute to persiste...

Millennials are taking over the mortuary business

What’s one industry millennials aren’t killing? Death. Young morticians are infiltrating funeral parlors, bringing fresh energy, perspective and technology to the world of embalming and bereavement. “I have an old soul,” Lauren J. Bowser, a 32-year-old funeral director in Piscataway, NJ, tells The Post. As a licensed mortuary practitioner, she works with both the living and the dead, embalming and preparing bodies for their caskets, while also preparing families for the funeral process. Unlike many of her peers, Bowser didn’t inherit her mortuary career from a parent. Instead, she says, her path was guided by a funeral she attended as a child — and her love of classic horror movies, such as “Night of the Living Dead.” “Once I realized that I was not scared of the dead and that I could take care of them, I [knew I] was just meant to do it,” says Bowser, who landed her first funeral-home gig at 16 through a high-school job fair. The signs were also there for Alanna Henry, a 29-year-...

‘I thought my only value was sex’

In “Unlovable,” out Friday on video-on-demand, a young woman suffers one humiliating affair after another until she realizes she’s addicted to love and sex. Charlene deGuzman, the actress who plays her, knows the territory: In co-writing “Unlovable,” which co-stars John Hawkes and won the “gamechanger” award at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, the 34-year-old drew on her own addictions. The California native tells Barbara Hoffman about the compulsions that nearly destroyed her — and what finally drove her to seek treatment. There’s a scene in the movie where my character, Joy, wakes up in a strange bed with a naked stranger on top of her. She walks out, past other naked men, and someone hands her some cash. That didn’t happen to me exactly, but it was a reflection of a lot of the experiences I’ve had during my addiction. For nearly 20 years, I wanted so badly for someone to love me, I’d do just about anything. When I told someone I loved him, what I really meant was, “Do you love me?”...

Brain implants are reportedly prone to hacking

Brain implants used to treat Parkinson’s disease and depression could be hacked — and used to spy on and control people’s memories, scientists warn in a new report. An analysis of the implantable pulse generators — or neurostimulators — being used to treat people with these disorders showed they’re potentially vulnerable to “brain jackers,” according to the researchers from the Oxford University Functional Neurosurgery Group and cybersecurity software company Kaspersky. The devices are implanted in patients’ brains so doctors can help treat movement and neuropsychiatric disorders by remotely sending electrical impulses to stimulate specific parts of their gray matter. But if the wireless connection is not secure, cyber attackers could access a patient’s personal data, tamper with their device or even seize control of it entirely for the purposes of extortion, the report warns. “For example, you could manipulate the impulse settings of a neurostimulator implant inside a patient wit...

Period underwear company Thinx drops pumpkin spice pee-proof panties

First came the period-proof underwear. Up now is the pee-proof underwear. Minds boggle at visions of what the women from Thinx Inc. will devise next. On Halloween morning, they were in Union Square Park, on the edge of the farmer’s market, hyping their seasonally appropriate, limited-edition pumpkin-spice colored undies for women dealing with involuntary urination. Their pee-proof panties — branded under the name Icon and aimed at the one in three women who supposedly experience bladder leaks (often while sneezing, coughing, laughing or running) — dovetail nicely with the company’s initial offering to be worn while menstruating. “Our mission is to dismantle stigmas and taboos around the common and natural functions of women’s bodies,” Kejal Macdonald, vice president of brand marketing for Icon, tells The Post. It’s a strategy embraced by the company’s target market. Upon seeing Thinx Inc. staffers grouped together with their logo-emblazoned sweatshirts, a woman strolls over, raise...

This is why you’re still single

They say you can’t love someone else until you learn to love yourself — and a new survey of singletons seems to reinforce that. The poll, conducted by online medical service BodyLogicMD, asked 1,300 single adults about why they’re still flying solo — and found that the participants were completely beating themselves up. A whopping 65 percent of respondents said that they blame themselves for being uncoupled. Several also feared they were too flabby for love: 37 percent of women thought they were too fat to attract a partner, while 34 percent of men thought their lack of chiseled abs was at fault. Other concerns included being too sexually conservative, too boring, too nerdy, too bald, too risk-averse or — the catchall — having too low self-esteem to be in a relationship. Manhattan-based matchmaker Bonnie Winston said she’s surprised that these singles have such low confidence and encourages people to present themselves “in the best light” possible. “People come to me because … th...

Same-sex couple pregnant at same time give birth 2 days apart

A same-sex couple who were pregnant at the same time both got to experience the gift of childbirth when they each gave birth just two days apart. Married couple Renee and Anna McInarnay, who used in vitro fertilization (IVF), welcomed two baby girls in a two-day period in Mississippi. Renee, 36, welcomed their first child, Emma Reese McInarnay, in Hattiesburg on Oct. 13. Two days later, her wife, Anna, gave birth to their second child, Avonlea Grace McInarnay. “I held my breath until Avonlea was born,” Renee told People. “I was so thankful and so in love with Emma when she came — Anna and I both were. She was really our rock when Anna was giving birth. I kept holding Emma up and she was our champion. Until I heard Avonlea cry for the first time, I couldn’t really let go. Then there was this relief of having our family safe.” As their story went viral on social media, Anna said they’ve been flustered trying to keep up with two newborns. “It’s been really overwhelming trying to get...

‘This Is Us’ made a tearful tribute to victims of synagogue shooting

NBC tear-jerker “This is Us” posted a tribute to the victims of Saturday’s horrific synagogue shooting. “Our hearts are broken. We stand with our television hometown of Pittsburgh,” read a title card displayed at the end of Tuesday night’s episode. Portions of the show are set in the Steel City. Series creator Dan Fogelman posted an image of the title card to Twitter after the episode aired. The card also directed viewers to a gun-control advocacy group. “To learn more about ending gun violence visit everytown.org,” the card said, referring to the Everytown for Gun Safety group largely financed by former mayor Michael Bloomberg. Naturally, the call to action did not sit well with the gun lobby. “I don’t know where some get the idea that depriving the innocent of self-defense solves anti-semitism (sic), but it sure wasn’t learned from history,” NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch tweeted late Tuesday night. Credit: Source link The post ‘This Is Us’ made a tearful tribute to victims...

It’s impossible to avoid the grossest place on airplanes

Flight attendants always remind passengers of the plane’s safety features when boarding — but maybe they should start warning travelers against resting their heads or reaching into the seatback pockets. A new study of aircraft cleanliness suggests the seats’ headrests may be the germiest surfaces on the plane, with some testing positive for E. coli bacteria, according to an analysis done by “Marketplace,” a CBC consumer news series. The study’s researchers swabbed five different areas of the aircraft – the headrest, seatback pocket, restroom handle, seatbelt and tray table – on 18 short-haul flights spread across three Canadian airlines: WestJet, Porter and Air Canada. The samples were then analyzed for traces of mold, yeast, E. coli bacteria and other germs. “I was really amazed about how much [bacteria] we actually recovered from them,” microbiologist Keith Warriner of the University of Guelph told Marketplace. “Some of them more scary than others.” Nearly hal...

What You Need to Know About the Strike Against Marriott Hotels

Negotiations at the hotels involved in the walkout are continuing, and there are no plans to hold strike authorization votes at the 17 other properties before year-end, said Rachel Gumpert, a spokeswoman for Unite Here, the union that represents the striking workers. The union has a full list of the hotels involved on its strike website. What’s at stake? The workers want wages that keep up with the cost of living in the cities where the strikes are being held, said Ms. Gumpert. Pay varies by city, as do the proposed settlements, but a housekeeper at Ms. Garcia’s hotel, the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, makes about $22 an hour, Ms. Gumpert said. If the housekeeper worked 40-hours per week for the year, the $45,760 total is only $4,900 above the “very low income” limit set by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development for Honolulu County, a measure that considers housing costs. Although some people tip housekeepers, most don’t, Ms. Gumpert said. The union is also concerned with job loss b...

Construction workers find 1,000 human teeth hidden inside wall

Construction workers renovating an older building in Valdosta, Georgia, braced themselves last week after cracking open a wall to discover an estimated 1,000 human teeth inside. The workers, who are renovating the Converse building in the city’s downtown area, found the teeth after knocking out a wall on the building’s second floor, Donald Davis, the executive director for the Lowndes County Historical Society and Museum, told Fox News. While it’s unclear why the teeth were inside the wall, Harry Evans, a researcher for the Lowndes County Historical Society and Museum, told the Valdosta Daily Times the building was once occupied by a dentist named Clarence Whittington in 1900. The building was then occupied by a different dentist — Dr. Lester G. Youmans — until at least 1930, the newspaper reported, citing a 1928 receipt for a tooth extraction as proof. “We’re trying to put puzzle pieces together, so what we’re thinking is that the dentist that was above the drug store wa...

Oxford Roiled by Invitation to Far Right Politician

With Ms. Weidel’s appearance at Oxford still a week away, some influential members of the Oxford community have come to the Union’s defense. “I take the classic liberal position that it’s better to have the open debate, have them be challenged, and then often that ends up demolishing and exposing their position much more effectively than anything else,” said Timothy Garton Ash, a European historian at St. Antony’s and one of the world’s leading public intellectuals. The hourlong event will include a brief speech by Ms. Weidel, 20 minutes of questioning by the Oxford Union’s president, Stephen Horvath, and 20 minutes of questioning by the audience. The Union has already contracted additional security for the event, Mr. Horvath said, and will consider canceling the event only if Ms. Weidel herself decides to withdraw or if the police instruct the Union to do so for security reasons. Mr. Garton Ash added that just as he supports hosting Ms. Weidel so long as she is “challenged rigorou...

Once Paralyzed, Three Men Take Steps Again With Spinal Implant

The treatment of the men began with surgery. Doctors implanted a small patch of electrodes on the surface of the spinal cord in the lower back, below where each injury had occurred. The patch was connected to a pacemaker device, which was placed in the abdomen. The implanted device, when turned on, delivered bursts of stimulation to individual muscles as they were called into use. The intention to lift a knee generated a certain pattern of nerve firing; stepping forward generated a different one. In effect, the device provided the pattern of stimulation that the body delivered before the injury occurred. Over time — with intensive physical therapy, on a treadmill with hand supports — the stimulation appeared to engage the brain’s motor cortex through nerves that were spared from injury, Dr. Courtine said. “In the animal studies, the reorganization in the brain was really massive,” Dr. Courtine said. “There were a lot of new connections from the motor cortex to brain stem.” The same ...

Blake Griffin Isn’t Bitter. Detroit Has Made Him Better.

Such sentiments will undoubtedly hearten the Pistons owner Tom Gores, who authorized the high-priced gamble on Griffin that the former Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy had hoped would save his job. The combination of Griffin’s injury history and the Clippers’ lack of financial flexibility spawned the widespread perception that Los Angeles “won” the deal simply by virtue of shedding his mammoth contract. The Pistons, by contrast, reasoned that they were unlikely to otherwise attract a player of Griffin’s caliber after just one playoff berth since 2009 and their poor reputation as a free-agent destination. But they also needed Griffin to find sustained health and return to something closer to his peak form of 2013-14, when he finished third in Most Valuable Player Award voting. Despite establishing himself as a credible 3-point shooter last season, Griffin also sank to career lows in shooting percentage and player efficiency rating. But his early pace this season has him on a course for c...

Student terrorizes college with Halloween costume prank

Though many college students traditionally use Halloween as an excuse to let loose, one freshman in Nebraska got in the spirit of the holiday by playing a practical joke on her fellow students in a classically terrifying costume. Footage of her scary stunt has since gone viral on Twitter. On Oct. 25, Makayla Rose Martinez, a freshman at York College, shared footage of her silly stunt to social media, where it has since been viewed over 2.15 million times, winning over 177,000 likes and hundreds of comments. In the footage, Martinez sports a silver-colored, skeletal bodysuit — complete with a spooky mask and extra-long fingers — that zips to conceal her entire frame, as she prances around and scares passersby in the lobby of an apartment building at her college, Time magazine reports. “Best $40 I ever spent,” Martinez wrote of her eerie outfit, which she later tweeted is the “Rake Skin” costume from the Spirit Store. Jumping out from behind walls to spook her fellow studen...

Civil War POWs’ trauma shortened their sons’ lifespans

Civil War-era data suggest that trauma experienced by POWs shortened the lifespans of their male children, according to a startling UCLA research study. UCLA economics professor Dora Costa analyzed records in the National Archives to track the lifespans of children of Union soldiers captured by the Confederacy. The study examined data on male and females born after 1866 who lived to at least 45 years of age. The records were compared to data on the children of Union soldiers who survived the war but were never prisoners of war. A key factor in the research was when the POWs were held by the Confederacy. During the early stages of the conflict, prisoner exchanges occurred frequently, although this was less common from 1864 to 1865 when the terms of exchange became contentious. During that time, camps were often overcrowded and conditions such as scurvy and malnutrition were much more common than at the start of the war. At Andersonville prison in Georgia, for example, 13,000 of the...

5 ‘Game of Thrones’ characters Naomi Watts could play in the prequel

And now our Watts has ended. The first casting news for HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel pilot on Tuesday boiled down to two main words: Naomi Watts. Details are scarce, but according to Variety, her character is “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret.” The prequel, which author George R.R. Martin said is called “The Long Night,” comes from Martin and showrunner Jane Goldman (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) and is set 8,000 years before the events of “Game of Thrones.” HBO has described the premise as “the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour . . . From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East, to the Starks of legend — it’s not the story we think we know.” In other words, don’t expect Jon Snow (Kit Harington) to pop up. But that doesn’t mean Watts will play a totally unknown character. Put on your nerd hats — here are the most likely possibilities. 1. A Lannister ancestor ...

Taking a 30-day break from weed does wonders for your memory

Here’s something pot-using teens should remember: Swearing off marijuana for a month may improve memory. A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital offers “convincing evidence” that adolescents and young adults who abstain from marijuana for 30 days are better at acquiring and storing new information compared to their counterparts who persist in the pot-puffing. The memory improvements — specifically the capacity to absorb new information and access it at a later date — could be seen as early as a week into abstinence, researchers said in the findings, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. More US states have legalized marijuana The study comes as fully legalized marijuana use is taking root in some parts of the US and nationwide in Canada. Recreational marijuana use is legal for ages 21 and up in the District of Columbia and nine states, including Massachusetts. Other states, including New Jersey, are eyeing full legalization. Medical marijuana is l...

Gayle King Has the Spotlight All to Herself

Slightly Rich and Slightly Famous In 1992, when Ms. King’s son Will was 6 and she was an “Eyewitness News” anchor in Connecticut, he told his mom, “You know, I wouldn’t want you to be Auntie O famous. I like you how you are now, slightly rich and slightly famous.’” And that is how Ms. King still sees herself, slightly rich and slightly famous. Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., Ms. King spent much of her childhood attending an American school in Turkey, where her father worked as an engineer for the United States government. She had a swimming pool and a housekeeper, luxuries that were unheard-of in Ms. Winfrey’s childhood in rural Mississippi, where her teenage mother worked as a maid. “She was the first black person I’d ever met who wasn’t hit by her parents,” Ms. Winfrey said. The two met in their early 20s at a Baltimore TV station, where Ms. Winfrey was an anchor and Ms. King a production assistant. A snowstorm hit the area and Ms. Winfrey let Ms. King, who couldn’t get home, crash a...

American insurer wants to send patients to Mexico to buy drugs

A Utah insurer is looking at a controversial solution to an increasingly American problem — sending patients across the border to Mexico to get cheaper prescription drugs, according to reports. KUTV reported the “pharmacy tourism” through PEHP Health and Benefits, which provides insurance to 170,000 of Utah’s public employees, will send patients to San Diego and drive them across the border to Tijuana to get the drugs. Utah residents who make the trip would also get a $500 cash-back incentive, and 100 people are so far eligible for the program. “We’re trying to be part of the solution in health care,” Chet Loftis, managing director of PEHP, told KUTV. KUTV reported that the drugs cost insurers roughly half the American price when purchased south of the border. “It’s cheaper for us to pay for the drug down there, send them down there and then give them $500 than it is for us to do it here,” Loftis added. Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, who sponsored the “Health In...

Heathen eats soup directly from supermarket hot bar

A grocery store shopper has gone viral for his less than appetizing — and unhygienic — way of eating soup. The man was recorded by a fellow shopper at an unnamed grocery store taking a sample of soup from the hot bar straight from the ladle. “Something to think about the next time you eat at the salad bar,” Twitter account @wtfvids_ wrote of the footage. The unidentified man, who is holding a bag of what appears to be produce to purchase, is seen taking the ladle out of the soup pot and sipping from it. The video, which appears to have originated on Reddit, has gathered over 1 million views across social media and received swift reactions from Twitter users — most of whom called the video “the scariest” and “disgusting.” As expected, there were a few “Seinfeld” soup references. The Reddit user who claimed to have captured the footage added that the video shows the man’s second attempt to covertly eat from the hot bar. The witness claims to have notified security right after ...