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A surprising number of adults sleep with plush animals

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

Tara McFeeters sleeps in a crowded bed.There’s a dory fish; a beet named Claudia; Gordon, the shark; and an octopus called Chester.“I love, love sleeping with stuffed animals,” said McFeeters, 23, of Northeast Philadelphia, a senior studying sociology remotely at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.“As I grew, the animals made me feel safe, even though the world and all the crime in it don’t. The stuffed animals became my emotional support, like petting my dog.“Every woman in college has them — for sure, so many Gen Z people all do.”Combining whimsy with a soothing, almost therapeutic effect, stuffed animals are not just for kids. They beat back anxiety, hasten sleep, and make the world a little more tolerable for grown-ups who maintain menageries of the creatures in their beds.“It adds a little emotional texture to life,” said Max Genecov, a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania who has written about stuffed animals.“And these days, young people a...

Editorial: Progressive enmity toward Israel rises to surface

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

President Joe Biden met with the Israeli president at the White House Tuesday in an effort to bolster relations between the two longtime and vital allies. But the White House must do more to tamp down the anti-Israeli sentiment that frequently bubbles up in the party’s far-left progressive wing.The week before, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the Washington Democrat who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told a group of pro-Palestinian protesters that “Israel is a racist state.” Rep. Jayapal quickly walked back her comments. Democratic House leaders issued a tepid statement condemning her misguided assertion.But this has become a pattern in recent years. In 2021, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., compared the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. Previously, Democrats had debated whether to censure Rep. Omar for what critics called antisemitic comments. They never did — and many of her progressive colleagues defended her against condemnations from more moderate Democrats.It was...

“Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case” shines light on sensational crime

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

“Missing: The Lucie Blackman Case,” Netflix’s latest true-crime case, streaming Wednesday, brings to light an international missing person case that remains sadly relevant.On July 1, 2000, British flight attendant turned Tokyo nightclub hostess Lucie Blackman, 21, goes missing.  When her father and look-alike younger sister arrive in Japan to press the police in finding Blackman, the attractive, obviously beloved blonde quickly becomes an international media sensation.The spur to reviving this decades-old case was a book written by Shoji Takao.  For the documentary Hyoe Yamamoto, who went to high school in Massachusetts, knew there were many cultural complexities to consider.  In both Tokyo and London Lucie Blackman almost instantaneously became a tabloid headliner. Once other victims were discovered and the police realized they were chasing a sexual predator, the coverage increased.“For myself, the first if obvious challenge was whether we’re going to be able to get any acces...

Terri Nunn reunites with Berlin for ’80s icon concert

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

When the group Berlin started in the early ‘80s, audiences in Los Angeles weren’t sure what to make of them. The scene at that time was all about punk and power pop bands, not cool electronic groups with glamorous frontwomen.“We come in and people are like, ‘What the hell is this, and what’s a synthesizer? Where’s the guitars?’ recalls lead singer Terri Nunn. “But we really believed in what we were doing, and thank God we kept at it.” As for her onstage style, “We loved that film-noir kind of vibe, we never went onstage in jeans. For me the idea was to set an example that being an adult is fun, that it’s something to look forward to. For a lot of my friends, and for me with an alcoholic dad, it didn’t look like much fun getting older. And I wanted to put it out there that some really good parts were still coming to us.”Nunn has lately reunited with Berlin’s other core members, bassist and main songwriter John Crawford and synthesizer player David Diamond, and this lineup will appear...

Multilingual Henriette loves music and sports

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

Henriette, or Henny, is a teen girl who is originally from Central Africa and is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is described as an active, funny, and caring girl, who can be patient and has strong motivations to learn new skills and work on goals. Henny speaks multiple languages including English, French, and Swahili. Henny is also talented at playing piano. She has expressed an interest in karate, soccer, basketball, and all athletic games. She enjoys arts and crafts and loves to be outdoors.Henny is very inquisitive and has demonstrated significant resilience in coping with her trauma history and building relationships with people at new placements.  Henny benefits from accommodations granted by her IEP, which was put into place to support an emotional disability.  She has some strong peer relationships in school.Henny wants to be with a family who will care for her unconditionally. Her social worker is open to a warm, supportive, and trauma-experienced fam...

Does new spouse’s income affect child support?

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

Q. I am getting married in October and my fiancé just told me that he had a child when he was 18 who is now 12.  He has no relationship with the mother or the child and has been paying child support for years.  He got hurt at work and fell behind in payments when he was out before he started receiving workers compensation.  He just got notice that the mother is taking him to court for contempt because he fell behind.  We are worried that my assets and income can be at risk in the contempt case.Is there anything I can do to protect my assets? Also, once we are married, can I be ordered to pay his child support?A. I highly recommend you and your fiancé sign a pre-nuptial agreement before getting married.  This would serve to define each of your pre-marital assets, and you can make your pre-marital assets separate property so that under no circumstances could your assets come in to play as part of a contempt action against him.  You can also define how much of your respective incomes w...

Shark Week star Paul de Gelder back for ‘Blood in the Water’

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

For its 35th Annual Shark Week, Discovery has, as always, dedicated itself to all things Selachimorpha.  For Australia’s Paul de Gelder, this marks his 10th year as a Shark Week star.De Gelder gets wet and all-too-near the apex predators as he hosts Wednesday’s “Florida Shark: Blood in the Water,” a look at what’s touted as the “Shark Attack Capital of the World,” and Friday’s “Deadly Sharks of Paradise,” a shark haven 100 miles off Brazil’s coast.De Gelder stands out in any Shark Week as the survivor of a horrific 2009 bull shark attack.  He, a Navy diver, was in Sydney Harbor when he was bitten, lost his right hand and most of his right leg. Now an advocate for sharks, he isn’t afraid to talk about how scary being underwater can be with three massive sharks heading his way.“I never was provided any therapy or counseling from the military. I had to do all my own physical therapy. So I had the opportunity to learn things the way that I do like to learn them — and that’s by tri...

Dear Abby: In-laws throw budget-busting celebrations

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

Dear Abby: My daughter and son-in-law are expecting their second child. Everyone is very happy for them. The problem is the difference between her in-laws’ beliefs and mine. I was brought up in a family in which parties and celebrations were held at home. We opened our house to friends and relatives, everyone brought food and we celebrated the occasion.The in-laws are substantially more well-to-do than we are. They celebrate every occasion at a restaurant, club or venue, with many people attending. My daughter has been a part of this family for years and enjoys the big celebrations.The problem is, I am being asked to contribute half the cost of her upcoming baby shower. For the venue, bartender, fees, linens, table decorations, etc., my share comes to more than $900. Abby, I’m not in a position to do this, nor do I want to. My daughter is angry with me because I refused, although I did promise to buy anything she doesn’t receive at the shower.Am I wrong for refusin...

School board in Missouri, now controlled by conservatives, revokes anti-racism resolution

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — In the national reckoning that followed the police killing of George Floyd three years ago, about 2,000 protesters took to the streets in a St. Louis suburb and urged the mostly white Francis Howell School District to address racial discrimination. The school board responded with a resolution promising to do better.Now the board, led by new conservative board members elected since last year, has revoked that anti-racism resolution and copies of it will be removed from school buildings.The resolution passed in August 2020 “pledges to our learning community that we will speak firmly against any racism, discrimination, and senseless violence against people regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or ability.“We will promote racial healing, especially for our Black and brown students and families,” the resolution states. “We will no longer be silent.”The board’s decision follows a tren...

Democrats eye Wisconsin high court’s new liberal majority to win abortion and redistricting rulings

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 11:56:50 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Supreme Court will flip from majority conservative to liberal control in August and Democrats have high hopes the change will lead to the state’s abortion ban being overturned and its maps redrawn to weaken GOP control of the Legislature and congressional districts.Democrats in the perennial battleground state focused on abortion to elect a liberal majority to the court for the first time in 15 years. The Democratic Party spent $8 million to tilt the court’s 4-3 conservative majority by one seat with the election of Janet Protasiewicz, who spoke in favor of abortion rights and against the Republican-drawn map in a campaign. Her April victory broke national spending records for a state Supreme Court race.Still, there are no guarantees. Republicans were angered when a conservative candidate they backed in 2019 turned out to sometimes side with liberal justices. While the court is widely expected to weigh in on abortion and redistricting, li...