Before you dig into that Thanksgiving spread this year, take time to think about what’s in front of you. Here’s an eating guide:
First: The bird. If you’re preparing the turkey, don’t buy the “self-basting” kind, which is injected with a solution that’s supposed to help “improve” the flavor and juiciness of the meat. Those turkeys have nearly twice the fat and salt as the old-fashioned kind. And skip the skin altogether – that’s where almost all the fat is.
Next: Cranberry sauce. As long as it doesn’t come in a can, go ahead and load up! Cranberries are high in vitamin C and tannins, the heart-healthy compounds also found in red wine. Just make sure the sauce isn’t loaded with sugar, like the canned kind.
What about stuffing? To make it really healthy, use whole-wheat bread or high-fiber grains like wild rice. And cook it outside the bird, where it won’t get soaked in fatty drippings. If someone else has made the stuffing and they didn’t follow those guidelines – skip it.
And watch out for gravy, which is basically salty, flavored fat.
Finally: Sweet potatoes. One potato has nearly zero fat and only 120 calories – not bad at all. Sweet potatoes also contain an anti-oxidant that fights cancer, and reduces the risk of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Just don’t top yours with a million mini-marshmallows!
Families can be tough. And now there’s statistical proof. There’s a new book out called “The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why” by Dalton Conley, Director of Social Science Research at New York University. And in his studies, Conley found that a child’s place in the family is a strong predictor of how their life will turn out in the long run. He based his research on data from hundreds of thousands of families. So the next time you’re munching on a drumstick at Thanksgiving dinner, think about a few of these.
Those with the worst chance for financial success are middle children and children with skin darker than their siblings.
In large families, the struggle for attention from the parents creates identities that stick through adulthood. Kids from large families feel more pressure to stand out either by achieving more or by rebelling and causing trouble.
And in families with 3 or more kids, there will often be a drastic difference in the kids’ financial outcome. One sibling tends to be a lot richer than the others.
When it comes to divorce, it’s hardest on the eldest child. Especially if the eldest is a daughter, because she’ll often have to take on more housework, take care of younger siblings, and give emotional support to the single parent. That oldest daughter often gets trapped in that sacrifice role and ends up having a harder life than her younger siblings.
In families with a stay-at-home mom, brothers are more likely to get college degrees than their sisters. When the mother works outside the home, those differences disappear.
But Conley wants everyone to know that these are statistics, not the rule. So any predicted outcome can be changed.
There’s no doubt that living with two happy parents is the best thing for children, but with the divorce rate over 50%, that’s not always a reality. However – the operative word to keep in mind here is happy. Lisa Strohschein, a professor in the sociology department of the University of Alberta, says that living with unhappy parents is actually harder on kids than divorce! Here are the details, courtesy of Web MD:
Strohschein followed thousands of children for four years. They all started out living in two parent households, but about half those marriages ended in divorce.
Compared with kids whose parents remained married, the children of divorced parents exhibited more antisocial behavior, such as lying, cheating and bullying. They also were more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
The problems these kids had started while they lived with both parents. In fact, their behavior improved after the split.
Strohschein says her research shows it’s living in a dysfunctional household – not divorce – that causes a lot of bad behavior. Psychologist Judith Primavera – who’s published research on children of divorce – agrees. She says that your marital problems don’t need to be of the Jerry Springer variety. In her work, she’s found that troubled couples who don’t fight verbally stress their kids out almost as much as hot-blooded parents. That’s because when people live in the same house but don’t interact like a couple, children have more trouble in school and more difficulty socializing. This might be the most important point: Since children learn how to have adult relationships from their parents, staying in an unhappy marriage for their sake increases your child’s chances of being in a similar situation one day.
After nearly 14 years, it took less than 40 minutes in court for an L.A. County Judge to free Britney Spears today.
Judge Brenda Penny said “a conservatorship of the person and the estate of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required.”
She acknowledged there’s no reason to believe Britney lacks the capacity to make her own decisions, and pointed out all parties involved agree with termination. Each party was eventually called upon by the judge to verbally affirm that they supported termination, including Britney’s parents.
And the judge agreed to the two caveats to the termination that Britney’s attorney Mathew Rosengart outlined “in Britney Spears’ best interest”: something of a “safety net” as he referred to it, to ensure Britney has the support she needs, financially and personally, to succeed.
Prior to the hearing, a termination plan and a care plan were submitted to the court under seal; details were not discussed in the courtroom.
The temporary Conservator of the Estate, John Zabel, who was appointed six weeks ago when Britney’s father Jamie was suspended, will continue to work on Britney’s behalf in an administrative capacity. Rosengart described Zabel as becoming “a concierge service for her financial safety and well-being.”
The Conservator of Person, Jodi Montgomery, according to her attorney, will stay in Britney’s life to help her transition. Montgomery’s attorney said her client believes Britney can live a “safe, happy and fulfilling life.”
Rosengart told ABC News as he left the courtroom “I tried to keep it simple.” And he did. He repeated Britney’s own pleas to the court earlier this year, quoting her as saying, for example, “I just want my life back.”
Future court hearings were scheduled for December 8 and January 19 to tie up additional loose ends.
If you’re still not over the 10-minute-long version of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” off her newly released Red (Taylor’s Version), the singer has just released a short film to accompany the track.
As previously reported, the film was written and directed by Taylor. It stars Stranger Things’Sadie Sink and former Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien; Taylor plays an older version of Sadie’s character.
The video begins with a quote from poet Pablo Neruda: “Love is so short; forgetting is so long.” It then follows Dylan and Sadie’s unnamed characters from the dizzying heights of their new romance, through the strains on their relationship, to their devastating breakup and, finally, her acceptance.
Each scene is set off by titles like “The First Crack in the Glass,” “The Breaking Point,” “The Reeling,” and “The Remembering.” Much of the specific imagery in Taylor’s song appears in the video, from the now-infamous scarf to scenes of “dancing ’round the kitchen in the refrigerator light.”
There’s an interlude where the music stops and Dylan and Sadie’s characters argue, hurling f-bombs at each other, as she accuses him of acting like a different person around his friends, who are all “much older” than she is, while he accuses her of imagining it.
The end of the video is introduced by the title “13 Years Gone,” and we see that Sadie’s character, now older and wiser, has become an author and written a book called All Too Well. As she does a reading at a book store, a man is seeing looking at her through the window…wearing the infamous scarf.
“All Too Well,” a fan-favorite deep cut, has long been rumored to be about Taylor’s short-lived romance with actor Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010, when she was 20 and he was 29. In previously-unheard lyrics of the 10-minute version, we get a sense of what might have caused their breakup.
“You said if we had been closer in age maybe it would have been fine/And that made me want to die,” Taylor sings on the track. Another lyric goes, “And I was never good at telling jokes but the punch line goes/I’ll get older but your lovers stay my age.”
Taylor hinted that the video was full of Easter eggs, so Swifties…have at it.
The Rolling Stones have partnered with the Tommy Hilfiger fashion company’s Tommy Jeans label on a new collection of Stones-themed t-shirts and sweatshirts dubbed “Tommy Revisited: Music Edition.”
The collection, which features six styles of tees and sweatshirts boasting the band’s iconic tongue-and-lips logo, debuted today and is available at The Stones’ RS No.9 Carnaby shop in London and at the store’s website, Carnaby.TheRollingStonesShop.co.uk.
The apparel’s design was inspired by the tour merchandise The Rolling Stones and Tommy Hilfiger teamed up to create in 1999 for the band’s No Security tour.
The tees and sweatshirts are made from organic cotton and are available in unisex and female sizes.
In addition, three limited-edition items have been produced that are exclusively available at the RS No.9 Carnaby shop — a printed black t-shirt, a denim jacket and a long-sleeve sweatshirt. The latter two pieces are embroidered with multiple Stones logos.
Meanwhile, The Stones have three more concerts left on their 2021 No Filter Tour of the U.S. The shows are scheduled for this Monday, November 15, at Ford Field in Detroit; November 20 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas; and November 23 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida.
(NEW YORK) — Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice,” has agreed to end her defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.
The The joint stipulation said the case is “dismissed and discontinued.”
Zervos’ attorneys and attorneys for Trump filed a stipulation of discontinuance that offered no explanation for the decision.
“Today the parties have ended Zervos v. Trump,” Zervos’ attorney, Beth Wilkinson, said in a statement. “After five years, Ms. Zervos no longer wishes to litigate against the defendant and has secured the right to speak freely about her experience. Ms. Zervos stands by the allegations in her complaint and has accepted no compensation.”
Zervos had claimed Trump groped her in 2007 at a hotel in Beverly Hills, California, and then defamed her when he denied it during the campaign.
In a statement Friday that called the allegations “made up … for publicity or money,” Trump said: “It is so sad when things like this can happen, but so incredibly important to fight for the truth and justice. Only victory can restore one’s reputation!”
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said Friday the decision to end the case belonged to Zervos.
“She had no choice but to do so as the facts unearthed in this matter made it abundantly clear that our client did nothing wrong,” Habba said in a statement to ABC News. “It is a privilege to defend President Trump, who has been relentlessly attacked and viciously hounded by bad faith actors.”
Habba also said Trump did not pay Zervos.
The former president had recently been ordered to sit for a deposition before Christmas.
In a statement last month abut the deposition, Zervos’ attorney, Moira Penza, said: “We just don’t believe our client can be further prejudiced in delaying this litigation any longer. We do not believe there are any outstanding issues that would prohibit the parties from engaging in depositions.”
As Letitia Wright recovers at home in London from an injury suffered on the set of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, her vaccination status may determine if she can return to work in America. CDC’s new guidelines released Monday demand that “non-citizen, non-immigrant air travelers must show proof of full vaccination to fly into the United States.” Wright, who portrays Shuri, the sister of Black Panther T’Challa, who was played by the late Chadwick Boseman, is not a U.S. citizen. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the 28-year-old actress is not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Because of her injury, production on the sequel is being shut down Thanksgiving week until the early part of 2022.
Wesley Snipes is giving the thumbs-up to Mahershala Ali, who is replacing him as the star of the Blade franchise. When a person tweeted that the two-time Oscar winner is going to “have a hard time outdoing” Snipes as the MCU superhero vampire, the New Jack City star came to his defense. “He will do great,” Snipes tweeted, along with a prayer hands emoji. The 59-year-old actor played Blade in the 1998 film, as well as in sequels released in 2002 and 2004. In 2019, it was announced that Moonlight actor Ali was cast in an upcoming reboot film, which is now in pre-production.
Finally, Deadline reports that Offset‘s streetwear competition series The Hype has been renewed by HBO Max for a second season. Season one featured special guest appearances from his wife, Cardi B, as well as by A$AP Ferg, Dapper Dan and Wiz Khalifa. The winning designs from the first season were featured on the e-commerce website StockX.
In a new video interview posted at the Coda Collection website, Who frontman Roger Daltrey discusses a wide range of topics, including how he his feels about the possibility of the U.K. rock legends making another album.
Daltrey admits that he isn’t enthusiastic about a new album project because he doesn’t think it would make any money. “There’s no point in making any music if you can’t earn a living out of it. For me anyway…[W]hat’s the point,” he declares. “On the last record [2019’s WHO], it cost me money to make it. I don’t see the point in doing much of that, you know? I’m too working class for that.”
Roger continues, “I don’t know whether we will ever make any more new music, but I never say never. Let’s put it that way.”
Daltrey then comments that he only speaks to Who band mate Pete Townshend “once a year.” He adds, “I haven’t seen him for two years. I miss him, seeing him. Always enjoy seeing him. But we’re not that kind of friend. We don’t need to be. We know we’re there for each other. I’ve always been a bit of a loner anyway.”
Daltrey also shares his opinion about Paul McCartney‘s recent comment labeling The Rolling Stones “a blues cover band.”
“I know what he means, but The Stones have written some great songs,” Roger maintains. “But they are in the blues…format. It’s like comparing cheese and apples. They’re both very tasty, but the cheese does one thing and the apple does another.”
He also praises Mick Jagger, saying he’s “still the number-one rock ‘n’ roll showman.”
Check out the full Q&A at CodaCollection.co, which is the companion website for Amazon Prime’s music-themed pay streaming service, The Coda Collection.
(GLASGOW, Scotland) — Leaders from nearly every country in the world have converged upon Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference that experts are touting as the most important environmental summit in history.
The conference, delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed as the check-in for the progress countries are making after entering the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, a value that would be disastrous to exceed, according to climate scientists. More ambitious efforts aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Not one country is going into COP26 on track to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, according to experts. They will need to work together to find collective solutions that will drastically cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
“We need to move from commitments into action,” Jim Harmon, chairman of the World Resources Institute, told ABC News. “The path to a better future is still possible, but time is running out.”
All eyes will be on the biggest emitters: China, the U.S. and India. While China is responsible for about 26% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all other developed countries combined, the cumulative emissions from the U.S. over the past century are likely twice that of China’s, David Sandalow, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told ABC News.
Latest headlines:
-US, China announce joint statement addressing climate crisis
-America ‘ready to take on the challenge,’ Pelosi says
-Obama addresses COP26, endorses Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ bill
-American agriculture is ready to tackle climate change, agriculture secretary says
-US needs to ‘get in the game’ on clean energy transitions, energy secretary say
-Biden, world leaders push to conserve global forests
Here’s how the conference is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 12, 5:10 pm
Final Glasgow deal yet to come as negotiations continue on last day
Despite being the last stipulated date for the COP26, country representatives continue to work on finalizing the draft of the Glasgow deal. The negotiations are expected to continue into the night.
Countries continue to dispute who bears the financial burden of climate action and the deadlines for carbon emissions reductions. Some disagreements also took place over the semantics of the draft as representatives argued over whether “requests” or “urges” was a better fit when talking about climate goals.
The final day also witnessed walkouts and protests from climate activists around the world who claimed their voices were not being heard.
Crowds outside chanted: “Fighting for justice, and for liberation.”
Nov 11, 4:33 pm
Developing, vulnerable countries point fingers at rich countries, COP26 draft letter
Developing countries, including top emitters China and India, are asking for changes to the COP26 draft letter focusing more on reparations from established countries.
On Wednesday, Diego Pacheco Balanza, the head of Bolivia’s delegation and spokesman for the Like-Minded Developing Countries group, along with 21 other countries released an opposition to the draft agreement.
They say it is unfair for rich countries who built their economies on fossil fuels to tell developing countries what to do without recognizing that historical responsibility.
“We will never achieve the targets they are putting forward for the entire world. So we need to fight — the developing world — against this carbon colonialism,” Balanza said at a press conference Friday.
The statement comes amid rising concerns from vulnerable countries in the Global South, which claim that COP26 isn’t focusing enough on their needs.
Uganda’s Vanessa Nakate emphasized that any additional global temperature warming could lead to more suffering in her country.
“A 2.4-degree [warmer] world is a death sentence for communities like mine; 1.2 degrees is already hell for us,” Nakate told reporters Wednesday night.
Similarly, Elizabeth Wathuti from Kenya spoke about climate-related starvation in her country, urging leaders to keep those affected by it at the front of their minds.
“The big question is, are the leaders here going to step up to do what must be done to save those lives and livelihoods that are at stake?” Wathuti asked. “I come from Kenya where over 2 million Kenyans are facing climate-related starvation and I need answers when I go back to my communities to my country. What are we going to tell these people whose lives and livelihoods are at stake when we go back?”
Nov 10, 3:29 pm
US, China announce joint statement addressing climate crisis
Top carbon emitters U.S. and China have committed to working together on reducing emissions and transitioning to renewable energy over the next decade, according to U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
Kerry said it’s important that the countries work together on climate issues.
“And as I’ve said many times, the United States and China have no shortage of differences. But on climate, cooperation is the only way to get things done,” he told reporters Wednesday.
ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs
Nov 09, 1:39 pm
America ‘ready to take on the challenge,’ Pelosi says
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi focused on the domestic political success of the Build Back Better plan and its investment in climate change while speaking to reporters at COP26, continuing the message that America is back on the international climate stage.
“We come here equipped, ready to take on the challenge to meet the moment,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi said she still plans to pass the reconciliation bill the week of Nov. 15 and backed up remarks made by former President Barack Obama on Monday — that both he and President Biden could take more aggressive action on climate change if it wasn’t for near Republican control on Capitol Hill.
“Let me just say that when President Obama was president and we had majority in the first term … we did pass in the House a very strong climate bill,” she said.
“Sixty votes in the Senate is an obstacle that is very hard to overcome and is another subject for another day.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also declared that “America is back” but was more critical, saying that leaders will need to “actually deliver.”
“We’re here to say that we’re not just back, we’re different … and we are more open, I think, to questioning prior assumptions about what is politically possible and that is what is exciting about this time,” she said.
