All Posts Tagged as 'Choices'

When the coronavirus first hit, Miranda Wilt knew a grocery store run could be fatal to her children.

Both 10-year-old Aiden and 8-year-old Rosie are on the autism spectrum and legally disabled. Wilt, a 35-year-old single mom, said she's too scared to leave the house herself, let alone go outside with her kids, who can't wear face masks.

She turned to online grocery shopping to stay safe, but her monthly SNAP allotment of $55 barely covers the family's essential needs, and that's before the tip and delivery fee.

"I have no other choice. I have a child who has a disease that has no treatment and no cure," Wilt said.

The federal government has said Americans should stay home and buy groceries online, leading to a 300% explosion in online food shopping. But a majority of Americans who depend on food stamps have no choice but to shop in person because the federal government allows online shopping with SNAP benefits only in limited circumstances in 47 states. For those who are able to shop on the web, the costs can be shocking for families who barely have enough to eat in part because SNAP benefits cannot be used to pay for delivery fees or tips.

Angela Deem is a reality star, a newly married woman, and a 55-year-old grandmother.

Over the years, she has made questionable choices both on and off camera.

Some of the people closest to her have made much, much worse choices.

One man in her orbit has now been arrested on a number of charges, including murder.

There, he was known as "DJ Doug," where he appeared on Angela Deem's storyline.

He was featured as an "events coordinator" at one of the potential venues that Angela investigated -- when, at the time, she had hoped to bring Michael over on a K-1 visa and marry him in Georgia.

Interestingly, it has been rumored that Dougie Doug and Angela were actually closer than any of the viewing audience was led to believe.

Lucie noted that the public was 'enthusiastically commenting on the choice of casting that was not exactly announced, but sort of leaked the other day through the press. And you know, it’s a done deal but the contracts aren’t actually signed, which is why I haven’t said anything publicly about it.'

She laughed and added: 'But I felt I should just at least try to calm the waters here. There seems to be a lot of discussion about Nicole Kidman."“It should be Debra Messing!" “It should be Carole Cook!" I don’t know.'

She stated: 'It’s the story of Lucille Ball, my actual mother, not Lucy Ricardo, and her husband Desi Arnaz, my dad, not Ricky Ricardo. There will be humor in the film but it is a story of the two of them, and how they met, and what went right with finding the show, what went wrong – their relationship, their love affair.'

Mike and Carol Bruno did everything right to avoid Covid-19. They refrained from hosting the big, traditional family gatherings they were used to. They stuck to phone calls and video conferences with family even though they didn't live far away.

But a simple family visit to get a haircut claimed both of their lives.

The Brunos were married nearly six decades before they passed away from the virus, their son Joseph Bruno told CNN. The Chicago couple, who died 10 days apart, are now among the more than 337,000 people who have died from coronavirus in the US.

Bruno hopes his family's grief serves as an important reminder of how easy it can be to contract Covid-19, no matter how safe you are.

At the start of the pandemic, stores quickly sold out of disinfectant sprays and wipes. People were advised to wipe down their packages and the cans they bought at the grocery store.

But scientists have learned a lot this year about the coronavirus and how it's transmitted, and it turns out all that scrubbing and disinfecting might not be necessary.

If a person infected with the coronavirus sneezes, coughs or talks loudly, droplets containing particles of the virus can travel through the air and eventually land on nearby surfaces. But the risk of getting infected from touching a surface contaminated by the virus is low, says Emanuel Goldman, a microbiologist at Rutgers University.

In retrospect, Marr says that was "overkill." Today, she says, "all the evidence points toward breathing in the virus from the air as being the most important route of transmission."

Scientists now know that the early surface studies were done in pristine lab conditions using much larger amounts of virus than would be found in a real-life scenario.

Even so, many of us continue to attack door handles, packages and groceries with disinfectant wipes, and workers across the U.S. spend hours disinfecting surfaces in public areas like airports, buildings and subways.

There's no scientific data to justify this, says Dr. Kevin Fennelly, a respiratory infection specialist with the National Institutes of Health.

Jesse Martinez became upset when the 82-year-old man sharing his hospital room started praying, according to Los Angeles police.

Mr Martinez then allegedly grabbed an oxygen tank and bludgeoned the elderly patient.

The victim died the following day.

The pair, who police say did not know each other, were receiving treatment for coronavirus in a two-person room in Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster in southern California.

Baron Li should not have survived.

The morning of July 10, the devoted father's life changed forever as he stepped out his front door, into a hail of bullets. The target of an alleged hit, Li was shot nine times, and police in Washington State allege the teenage gunman had been hired by Li's ex-wife.

Li tells PEOPLE he was shot in both arms, both legs, his left hip, and chest. Today, after months of intense physical rehabilitation, Li is back on his feet. But he's only able to walk a maximum of 30 minutes before requiring a break.

"This was nothing I deserved, and nothing my children deserved, either," the father of three says.

Men find that platonic friendships with other men 'emotionally rival' their romantic relationships with women, according to a study in Men and Masculinities.

Those surveyed said 'the lack of boundaries and judgment' in their friendships with other men resulted in 'elevated emotional stability, enhanced emotional disclosure, social fulfilment, and better conflict resolution, compared to the emotional lives they shared with girlfriends'.

Most of the participants answers to the survey also made reference to the fact they felt more like they could be their real self with their bros.

As one respondent said: "Tim knows I love listening to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, but I keep that quiet [around my girlfriend] because she would judge me. I feel like I have to be more manly around her."

Michael Alig — the infamous nightlife legend, “King of the Club Kids,” and convicted murderer — has died by apparent overdose in his Upper Manhattan home on Christmas Day, the New York Daily News reports from official sources. He was 54.

According to reports, Alig was doing heroin shortly before he lost consciousness around 3 a.m., his boyfriend told police, and medics found him dead at the scene.

Dear Prudence,

My wife is beautiful, smart, fun, and we complement each other in a lot of ways. But we cannot for the life of us figure out how to stick to a compromise. When we disagree, we’ll talk about it and come to an agreement, then a few days later, she’ll bring it up again, saying I “need to work with [her] and move to the middle.” For example, when her family would want to visit in pre-COVID days, we’d always have to discuss how long they’d stay in advance, otherwise they’d show up with no departure date in mind. She’d want them to stay for two weeks. I’d want a few days. We’d agree on a week, and then she’d get on the phone with them and say, “OK, you can stay for 12 days.” When I protest, she says I need to be more flexible.

This kind of moving-the-goal-post thing happens constantly, with things both big and small, and I’m not sure how to handle it, especially with the big stuff. I’ve half-jokingly told her I’m going to have her sign contracts when we agree on something and put in the fridge so she doesn’t forget. Short of drafting fake legal documents, what can we do?

—Where’s the Middle?

Q. I accidentally made everyone hate me: I’m a first-year teacher at an urban Title I middle school. As is common for many teachers in my position, I’m using my personal paycheck to cover the gaps that classroom funding doesn’t. After I realized at the beginning of the year that many of my students were having trouble concentrating, I started keeping a stash of healthy snacks near my desk. The students know they can come take a snack when they need one. The costs add up quickly, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if it helps my kids focus.

Not long after I started keeping the food in my room, I began noticing it disappearing dramatically between the time I left each afternoon and the time I clocked in the next morning. The only staff who have a key to my room are the custodians and the administrators—both of whom are fed a meal by the cafeteria if they work nights. Because I rarely stay late enough to see the night staff in person, I started leaving notes on the snacks, stating that they were for students. When that didn’t work, I eventually hid them in my desk or closet (neither of which lock). They were still being taken. I weighed my options and realized I was either going to have to stop buying food for the kids or tell someone, so I mentioned what was happening to our head of facilities. Unbeknownst to me, our head of security hid a camera in the classroom, caught the custodian who was stealing, and promptly fired him.

My students’ food is no longer disappearing, but now I have another problem: All my co-workers hate me! The administrative assistant told anyone who would listen what happened, and now everyone is angry that I caused someone to lose his job. Some of the other teachers had also grumbled in the teachers’ lounge about food going missing from their rooms, so I know I’m not the only one who was upset, but apparently I broke some unspoken rule about tolerating food theft. Was I wrong to report it? I’m seriously considering quitting because so many people are suddenly being hostile and treating me like an entitled Karen.

Joe Biden will nominate Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary, the president-elect said in a statement on Tuesday, elevating the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to a top post in the federal government.

Buttigieg would be the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ Cabinet secretary should his nomination make it through the chamber.

"Mayor Pete Buttigieg is a patriot and a problem-solver who speaks to the best of who we are as a nation," Biden said. "I am nominating him for Secretary of Transportation because this position stands at the nexus of so many of the interlocking challenges and opportunities ahead of us."

Biden added that he sees the Department of Transportation as the "site of some of our most ambitious plans to build back better" and that he trusts "Mayor Pete to lead this work with focus, decency, and a bold vision."

Hig Roberts, an American former World Cup alpine ski racer who skyrocketed to the top as a member of the U.S. National team, has come out as gay.

Roberts, who is the first U.S. Alpine Ski Team member and the first male World Cup alpine skier in the world to come out, opens up in an interview with Out about struggling with his sexual identity, how he felt “muted” by the Olympics organization, his evolution toward accepting himself, and what he believes needs to change in the world of sports to create a more inclusive environment for players.

"[Being in the closet] took away a lot of the experience and the joy I could have experienced during this life and that’s a shame,” Roberts tells Out. “I had moments of standing on the podium with national titles and still feeling depressed. I was almost in a daze because of the mental anguish I would feel. I had sleepless nights. I had anxiety attacks. I had big bouts of depression. I had to closet all of that from my teammates and my coaches.”

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on Monday morning that people still had to wear masks and socially distance once they are vaccinated against COVID-19 because they can still pass on the virus.

While it has been proven to be 94% effective in preventing severe illness from the virus, it has not yet been proven to be a full proof means of preventing infection.

More study needs to be done before that can be known for certain, Adams said.

Intensive care nurse Sandra Lindsay received the first Pfizer shot in the U.S. at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens just before 9.30am this morning during a livestream with New York Gov Andrew Cuomo.

The vaccine will be rolled out gradually until around February and March, when it'll become widely available to the general public.

But even then, millions are skeptical about taking it. It means the virus could still circulate for months after millions of Americans become immunized against it.