The winter holidays are right around the corner. Soon, many Americans will gather around the table with family and friends to give thanks for abundant blessings and freedoms as they indulge in a surfeit of delicious traditional foods. Leftovers will last for days. In December, people of different faiths and traditions will celebrate religious or cultural holidays – enjoying more festive and plentiful food and the added indulgence of gift-giving. This season can leave many of us feeling stuffed and uncomfortable – in more ways than one. As you plan for this “season of excess,” consider a few eye-opening facts: Over Halloween, Americans spent $490 million on costumes for pets, $3.2 billion on costumes for people, and $2.6 billion on candy treats. Billions more were spent on decorations. In November and December, Americans are expected to spend $730 billion on holiday buying of gifts (often unneeded or unwanted), food, greeting cards and wrapping paper. The 2.65 … [Read more...] about On Philanthropy: Suffering from seasonal gluttony syndrome? Here’s a cure.
Annual leave how many days
The Bachelorette’s J.P. Rosenbaum says he’s battling rare disease Guillain-Barré syndrome: ‘Yeah, I had to Google that one too’
The Bachelorette's J.P. Rosenbaum said he's battling a rare disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome. The Bachelorette personality and wife Ashley Herbert, who met through the show, said in separate Instagram Stories posts that the 42-year-old reality star was currently hospitalized amid the battle. Rosenbaum said of the scarce condition, 'Yeah, I had to Google that one too.' The latest: The Bachelorette's J.P. Rosenbaum, 42, and wife Ashley Herbert, 34, said he's battling a rare disease called Guillain-Barré syndrome. In a post she left on Instagram Stories, Herbert posed with her husband of seven years in a selfie as he laid in his hospital bed In a series of clips on the social media site, Rosenbaum said his downturn in health was 'very surreal, and humbling and crazy [and] rare.' He explained some of the symptoms that led him to the unexpected diagnosis: 'Things you do every day, like picking up this phone, or buttoning buttons, tying shoelaces, putting on … [Read more...] about The Bachelorette’s J.P. Rosenbaum says he’s battling rare disease Guillain-Barré syndrome: ‘Yeah, I had to Google that one too’
Who killed the great British curry house?
No one in Oli Khan’s family had ever lived in Scotland, or anywhere near it. But when, aged 23, Khan first set eyes on Linlithgow, a modest West Lothian town near Falkirk, he saw a prize greater than home. He saw opportunity. This chilly Scottish town – whose name means “lake in the damp hollow” – was the perfect place, Khan decided, to set up a curry house: it had a decent sized population, around 9,000 people, but no Indian restaurant. With help from his brother-in-law, who was in the restaurant trade in Birmingham, he opened his curry house in 1995 and named it Kismet – destiny. Khan’s father, who arrived in Britain from Bangladesh as a waiter in 1962, had taught him that there was good money to be made in selling curry to the British, if you could adapt it to their taste for predictable sauces on a sliding scale of heat (mild korma, medium Madras, fiery vindaloo). For thousands of Bangladeshi immigrants in the 60s and 70s, working in … [Read more...] about Who killed the great British curry house?
Saigon couples might get incentives to have second kid
The Department of Population and Family Planning has proposed subsidizing or waiving hospital fees for the delivery of the second child and offering families having two children soft loans to buy or rent houses. These are meant only for official residents of the city and not migrants, the department said in the proposal, which will be submitted to the administration for drafting the population policy for 2021-25. Other recommendations include extending maternity leave from six months to one year for having the second child and giving the father a month off, increasing the number of days of annual paid leave from 12 for employees having kids under five, and subsidizing kindergarten fees at public facilities for families with two kids. In the last two decades the city's fertility rate has fallen from 1.76 children per woman to just 1.33 against the current national average of 2.1. The rate is "seriously low", and would keep falling without timely intervention, Le Van Thanh, former head … [Read more...] about Saigon couples might get incentives to have second kid
Between Olateru Olagbegi, Michael Ajasin and Obafemi Awolowo: The true story of Owo
BY FEMI KEHINDE History, being a living subject, grows, dynamically against old prejudices. No wonder, George Santayana rightly said that “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it’s failures.” Owo history and its crisis are certainly replete with conflicts among siblings of the same family, bearing different names.Thus, when the history is being retold from very shortsighted perspectives, it offends the sensibilities of those who know the authentic format and reading of history. The attempt by eminent journalist, Dare Babarinsa, to revisit this same Owo history in his piece entitled Three reigns and a new king published by The Guardian newspaper of the 19th September, 2019 is in this category. The piece, certainly, would be odious and distasteful to an emerging Owo that has been freed from the hoopla and the shenanigans of the past. The new Olowo certainly deserves a peaceful reign. Don’t politicise selection of … [Read more...] about Between Olateru Olagbegi, Michael Ajasin and Obafemi Awolowo: The true story of Owo
North Dakota county could become the first to BAN new refugees after Trump signed executive order saying people can only be resettled where local governments give consent
A North Dakota county could become the first local government to bar refugees since President Donald Trump issued an executive order making it possible. On Monday, members of a local commission are set to vote on whether Burleigh County - home to about 95,000 people and the capital city of Bismarck - will stop accepting refugees. The county postponed a vote last week when more than 100 people showed up and overflowed the commission's normal meeting space. Now the meeting will be held in a middle school cafeteria to accommodate public interest that Chairman Brian Bitner said is the most intense he's seen in more than a decade on the commission. It's believed Burleigh County would be the first county in the US to vote against accepting any new refugees since President Donald Trump's executive order earlier this fall gave states and counties the ability to do so Reuben Panchol is shown Friday at the North Dakota state capitol in Bismarck. Panchol, … [Read more...] about North Dakota county could become the first to BAN new refugees after Trump signed executive order saying people can only be resettled where local governments give consent
