Ever wondered what it would be like to date in a completely gender-equal world? The answer may surprise you

Heterosexual romantic relationships have historically been all about men courting and "keeping" women. And it’s a powerful tradition. Whether it’s asking someone out, picking up the bill, or being the main breadwinner in the family, many of the ideas we have about romance are still based on men being initiators and directors and women being receivers and caretakers. Yet society is changing. Women are increasingly entering the "male domains" of high-powered jobs and sexual freedom.

So how does all this affect romance? Given that popular (mis)conceptions of feminism tend to malign feminists as man-haters or lesbians, it’s easy to see why many people view gender equality as incompatible with romance, and a hindrance to romantic relationships. But is this really the case? Let’s take a look at the evidence.

Traditionally, women’s main route to status and influence involved attracting high-status romantic partners. But while the movement for gender equality has changed things, cultural scripts about romance have curtailed women’s social roles and still continue to do so.

For example, when adolescent girls describe their first sexual experience, they frequently refer to it as something that just "happened to them", whereas boys’ accounts don’t show this lack of agency. This power imbalance also occurs in adults, with men being more likely to initiate and lead sex than women.

Yet, researchers have also noticed that heterosexual scripts of romance are becoming more egalitarian over time. Spurred by the movement for equality, women are increasingly adopting active roles in initiating romance and are displaying more dominant sexual behaviours.

For women, the pay-off is obvious. Traditional cultural views of romance thwart women’s ability to express themselves, as it requires a relinquishing of control and agency. We know this leads to dissatisfaction with sex and relationships. Conversely, greater agency and equality in a relationship has been associated with better communication, improved relationship satisfaction and a better sex life. One study found that women in relationships with feminist men reported healthier relationships – both in terms of quality and long-term stability – than those in relationships with non-feminist men.

More generally, conforming to traditional romantic ideas may also limit women’s willingness and ability to seek equality. One study found that women who associate their romantic partners with chivalry and being a "protector" – as in the ideal of a Prince Charming – were less interested in pursuing higher education and higher-status occupations.

Many men seem to believe that gender equality will cause relationship problems. But is this the case? One way of approaching this issue is to look at what happens when couples shift away from traditional family roles, with men taking on more responsibility in the home. Studies of couples who live together suggest that greater equality in earning income and sharing of household chores is associated with greater relationship stability and having sex more often.

Indeed, when husbands take on a greater role in housework, shopping and childcare, it seems to result in lower divorce rates. Likewise, when fathers take paternity leave and contribute more to homecare, it results in greater marital stability.

More broadly, one study showed that men who said they were in relationships with feminist women reported greater relationship stability and sexual satisfaction. The authors of this study concluded that, far from disrupting heterosexual relationships, greater gender equality in a relationship was healthy – for both women and men. Other research has also suggested that men who eschew traditional cultural scripts of romance tend to have more satisfying and committed relationships.

There’s also a darker side to traditional relationships. The dominant role for men in relationships is problematic for wider society because it can socialise men into a culture of violence. Research consistently shows that men who more strongly endorse traditional gender roles, including in relationships, are more likely to report a history of sexually coercive behaviours, are more likely to blame the victims of rape and are more accepting of intimate partner violence.

But why does equality make us happy? One reason might be that endorsement of traditional cultural scripts of romance places a heavy burden on men, just as it does on women. Having to "perform" according to traditional scripts limits expressions of individuality and behaviours – ultimately making it harder for two people to develop true intimacy. In fact, men are increasingly expressing frustration at relationships that force them to follow the male-initiator cultural script for precisely this reason.

It even applies to the bedroom, where it can reduce spontaneity and lower sexual satisfaction. In fact, when it comes to sex, there is evidence that both women and men experience greater sexual satisfaction when the woman doens’t feel that she has to be submissive (unless of course that’s a personal preference).

Another reason why greater gender equality may lead to more stable relationships is because it promotes more positive communication patterns. Gender equality facilitates a sharing of responsibility to resolve conflicts (as opposed to placing that burden primarily on women) and may lead to more expressive communication styles which benefit the relationship.

So does that mean that men should stop initiating romantic relationships or that women should start picking up the bill? In the short term (on a first date for example), conforming to cultural scripts may facilitate interactions, so long as both partners are on the same page. But in the longer-term, perpetuating gendered inequalities in our romantic relationships will likely cause more harm than good. Gender equality in relationships doesn’t mean that we lose the romance. If anything, it lays the basis for more satisfying and healthier relationships.

Health, Feminism, relationships, love, Health & Families, Lifestyle


Researchers find 'miracle cure' for baldness

A cure for baldness could be on the horizon after a new drug was found to restore hair growth in around four months.

The breakthrough offers hope to millions, specifically those people diagnosed with alopecia.

The autoimmune disease causes patchy and, in some cases, total hair loss.

But scientists believe they could reverse the hair loss thanks to a new treatment.

And, the discovery marks the first step towards a cure for pattern baldness, with the next stage of trials investigating the drug’s effect on the most common form of hair loss in men.

The researchers at Columbia University Medical Center found 75 percent of patients with moderate to severe alopecia showed "significant hair regrowth" after taking the drug ruxolitinib.

By the end of the treatment the average hair regrowth among patients was 92 percent..


Sofia Vergara is the highest paid TV actress, according to Forbes. The "Modern Family" star rakes in $30 million a year, out-earning the likes of Kerry Washington, Ellen Pompeo and Mindy Kaling thanks to her endorsement deals with brands such as Diet Pepsi and fashion line with Kmart.

To compile the list, Forbes looked at the earnings of celebrities between June 2012 and June 2013, counting money for completed projects and contracts during the time period. The 20 top-paid TV actresses earned $183 million combined.

"Law & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay made the list thanks to just her earnings from "SVU." The list also includes reality stars, such as the Kardashians.

Highest Paid TV Actresses: Sofia Vergara, Mariska Hargitay, Kerry Washington Make The List

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UPDATE (Dec. 16, 6:30 p.m. EST): A family spokesman says country singer Ray Price has died, according to the Associated Press. "Ray Price left for heaven at 4:43 p.m. central time. He went in perfect peace. Details later," rep Bill Mack wrote on his Facebook page. "Janie and the family so grateful for your prayers. Ray's body will be received at Restland Funeral Home in Dallas."

UPDATE (Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m. EST): Although Ray Price's son reported earlier today that his father had died, the statement was made in error. Rolling Stone spoke with Janie Price, Ray Price's wife of 45 years, and she says, "He is still with us," adding that Price's son released the statement of his passing prematurely. Price is currently surrounded by loved ones including a Pastor at home in Mount Pleasant, Texas. "It's been an honor to walk this road with him," Janie says of her husband. "It's a sad day. We are losing a great man."

Country singer Ray Price has died at the age of 87, CMT News reports. The Country Music Hall of Fame member, who was a prime hitmaker from the 1950s through the 1970s, died Sunday (Dec. 15 ) at his home in Mount Pleasant, Texas, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Price decided to end his treatments and retire to hospice care at his home earlier this week, Rolling Stone reports. The country crooner shared a farewell message with his fans, saying, "I love my fans and have devoted my life to reaching out to them. I appreciate their support all these years and I hope I haven't let them down. I am at peace. I love Jesus. I'm going to be just fine. Don't worry about me. I'll see you again one day."

Price's wife of 45 years, Janie, supported his decision to not pursue any further aggressive treatment for his cancer, explaining on Thursday (Dec. 12), "With God's blessing he has not had extreme pain. But it's with great sadness that I announce to you today that my beloved husband has entered the final stages of his cancer that he has battled for 25 months. Anyone who knows Ray is aware that he has strong convictions and great faith in God. It's his decision to leave the hospital and return home to spend his final days on his beloved ranch surrounded by the comfort of his home, family and friends."

Price was a close friend of the late Hank Williams and lived with the singer during the last year of Williams' life in Nashville. When Williams died in 1953 at the age of 29, Price began using his band, the Drifting Cowboys, before forming his own group, the Cherokee Cowboys. Over the years, the group was a revolving door of future stars including Roger Miller, Johnny Paycheck and Willie Nelson, who played bass in Price's band in the early 1960s.

Price is best known for his songs like, "Talk To Your Heart" (1952), "Crazy Arms" (1956), which featured the "Ray Price Shuffle," and "The Same Old Me" (1959). He also had three number one country music hits in the 1970s -- "I Won't Mention It Again," "She's Got To Be A Saint" and "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me."

"I just like what I've done and how it's worked out. It's been great. I haven't lost my voice, thank God for that," Price recently told Rolling Stone, adding that he just completed a new album. "I think it's one of the greatest things I've ever recorded. The whole CD is twelve fantastic great songs. When it starts, everyone claims you can't stop listening to it. Everyone goes back and starts it over. And that's a good sign."

Ray Price Dead: Country Music Hall Of Famer Dies At Age 87 (UPDATED)

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Five senior operatives of banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, were on awarded death penalty by a special NIA court here in the February 2013 Hyderabad blasts case. This is the first case that any operative of the IM has been convicted.

On December 13, the court convicted the five members, including IM co-founder Mohd Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Ajaz Shaikh, who are at present in judicial custody and lodged in the Cherlapally Central Prison here.

Eighteen people were killed and 131 injured in two deadly explosions in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded shopping area in the city, on February 21, 2013. On November 7, the final arguments had concluded in the case before the NIA special court.

Since IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal, the prime accused in the case, is absconding, the trial was split up against him. The court convicted Yasin Bhatkal and others under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

The NIA special court, after hearing the defence and prosecution's arguments, pronounced the quantum of sentence. According to NIA, Riyaz Bhatkal arranged for explosive substances and directed Asadullah Akhtar and Zia-ur-Rahman at Mangalore to receive the same.

After receiving the explosive materials and the money sent by Riyaz through hawala and money transfer channels, Asadullah Akhtar and Waqas reached Hyderabad and joined Tahseen Akhtar, who was already hiding there, it had said. Together they prepared two IEDs after procuring the other required materials as well as two cycles for mounting the IEDs from Hyderabad, the agency had said.

After preparation of the IEDs on February 21, 2013, the accused mounted two bombs on two bicycles. They had planted them in two separate places in Dilsukhnagar which resulted in powerful explosions, it had said.

Hyderabad Blasts Case: Yasin Bhatkal, 4 Other Indian Mujahideen Operatives Sentenced To Death

Indian Mujahideen, Hyderabad blasts, Yasin Bhatkal, Cherlapally Central Prison


Awesome Quotes: If You Put A Cotton Ball With VapoRub In Your Ear All Night, Here’s The Surprising Effect

Vicks VapoRub is a bit of an institution as far as over-the-counter medicine is considered, perhaps because it functions so differently from other types of nonprescription treatments. Whereas medicine these days is usually contained in pills or effervescent tablets, Vicks treats your ailments with vapors. Bridie Cavanaugh at eHow says camphor, eucalyptus oil and menthol, the three most important ingredients in Vicks, relieve congestion and coughing when breathed in. The product also works as a good topical analgesic for other issues.

All of this is fairly common knowledge, but did you know about Vicks’ other useful properties? There are plenty of home remedies out there for different kinds of issues that involve the fresh, strong-smelling ointment. Here are a few of them:

For standard headaches, AnswersVideo (in the video below) suggests applying some Vicks to your temples for quick pain relief. If you’re suffering from a sinus headache instead, Livestrong recommends putting ointment under your nose and breathing in slowly and deeply.

Massage Vicks over the muscles that are causing pain, then wrap them in a dry, warm towel for a while, according to LiveStrong.

An earache can be a symptom of an ear infection, but it can also be an effect of a common cold, states WebMD. Even while following doctor-recommended care to fight the cause, the pain can make daily activities difficult, particularly going to sleep. Home Remedies for Life lists a cotton ball with Vicks VapoRub as a simple home remedy to ease the pain. Simply rub a little on a cotton ball and place it in the ear all night or until the pain has subsided.

Infected toenails should be rubbed with VapoRub two to three times a day for as long as is needed, eHow reports. The process may take several weeks to months.

Apply Vicks to the heels and balls of your feet, then massage it into the damaged areas. Do this in the evening, then sleep with socks on. The next morning, rinse the product off with warm water and exfoliate with a pumice stone, Livestrong suggests.

AnswersVideo suggests applying light amounts of Vicks to clothing and skin to scare bugs away. If you get bitten anyway, try rubbing some ointment on that spot for itch relief.

Cats will stay away from furniture dabbed with Vicks, helping you keep your couch, doors and curtains scratch-free.

Apply a thin layer of Vicks and salt to bruises. The combination will help your blood circulate faster and dissolve the bruise mark in shorter amounts of time, according to Livestrong. AnswersVideo also suggests rubbing the ointment around small cuts to improve healing. However, eHow warns against applying the product to open wounds and damaged skin, so be careful with this one.

Apply Vicks VapoRub to the spots at night and wash it off in the morning. The camphor and eucalyptus oil will help to clear up breakouts.


The best places to retire without a car:

Traditionally, owning a car has been a given of retirement, particularly for younger retirees.  After all, the U..S. is a pretty spread-out place, and most baby boomers entering this new phase of life are already settled in the suburbs or exurbs with one or more vehicles.

But as car-less millennials have now demonstrated to their parents, there are plenty of cities where owning your own automobile is unnecessary---places where walking, biking and public transit get you most of the places you need to go on a daily basis, and new services such as Uber, Lyft,  ZipCar and Car2Go are available when four wheels are needed.

Maybe you wouldn't dream of giving up your car now. Maybe some big road trips are on your retirement bucket list, or you need a car to visit your far flung kids. But consider this: as you age, you may not be confident driving, and dependence on an auto could cramp your lifestyle.  Indeed, the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, which runs a national Eldercare Locator, reports the number one reason people call that line is they need help finding transportation. Many callers express frustration because they can't do simple things like visit the doctor, buy food or socialize with peers because the options for getting from Point A to Point B are limited,'' the study notes.

With all that in mind, Forbes offers its first-ever list of the 25 Best Places To Retire Without A Car. To review the list and a profile of each city, including housing costs and suggestions for walkable neighborhoods, click on the photo above.

To pick the top 25, Forbes first collected data on hundreds of cities. We screened for city-wide ratings on public transit availability; walkability (that is, the ability to walk to shops and other needs of daily living) and ease of biking. (We're assuming you're looking to move while you're a younger retiree eager to stay active, but you also want the buses and trains to run for longer distances and as you age.) Our data came from Walkscore.com, Bicycling Magazine and other sources.

We also took into account newer services for getting around. These include the availability of cheaper ride-share services like Uber and Lyft (no, not all cities have them), and by-the-hour car rental services like ZipCar and Car2Go.

Using FBI crime statistics, we then eliminated cities with sky-high serious crime rates. After all, who wants to be constantly looking over one's shoulder as you walk or wait for the train or bus? This had the effect of excluding from our list a number of rather walkable cities with good mass transit, including Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Milwaukee, Oakland, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington, DC.

This quintessential college town (University of Michigan) of115,000, just 30 miles west of Detroit, is easy to get around without an owned car and has a low crime rate. Ann Arbor ranks decently on Walkscore.com indexes for walkability and transit availability, and very high for bikeability. Uber and Lyft serve the area, as does rent-by-the-hour Zipcar. Median home price is $233,000. Cost of living is 11% above the national average. State tax climate for retirees is average. Air quality is good and physicians per capita is above average.  Walkable neighborhoods include Downtown and South Main.

Just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., Arlington (population 230,000)  has one-eighth the serious crime rate of its larger neighbor. The city boasts high Walkscore.com rankings for walkability, transit (including four rapid-transit lines) and biking. Bicycling Magazine ranks Arlington the country's 25th best place to bike. Uber and Lyft are there, along with rent-by-the-hour services Car2Go and Zipcar.. Median home price is a pricey $625,000, and the cost of living is 81% above the national average. Tax climate for retirees is average. Air quality is average, but physicians per capita is above the national average. Walkable neighborhoods include Clarendon/Courthouse, Ballston-Virginia Square and Lyon Village.

Home to the flagship University of California campus, Berkeley (population 117,000) is a carless retiree's dream. Walkscore.com gives high rankings for walkability, transit(including the BART rapid transit line to nearby San Francisco) and bikeability. Uber and Lyft are present, as is part-day car rental service Zipcar.  Serious crime rate is average. Median home price is a sky-high $988,000, and cost of living is 48% above national average. State tax climate for retirees is poor.. Air quality is good and physicians per capita rate is way above average. Among the interesting neighborhoods are downtown and North Berkeley.

Famed for its history, educational institutions and cultural life, Boston (population 667,000) offers inviting ditch-the-car opportunities for retirees. The city gets very high rankings for walkability, transit (including the nation's fourth busiest subway system) and bikeability. (It's the country's 17th best place to bike, according to Bicycling Magazine.) Lyft and Uber have strong presences, as does Zipcar. Serious crime rate is above the national average but not outrageous. Median home price is $505,000, and cost of living is 61% above the national average. State tax climate for retirees is poor. Air quality is good and the doctors-per-capita ratio is high. Walkable neighborhoods include North End, Beacon Hill and Back Bay.

A college town (University of Colorado) that cultivates an outdoor persona, Boulder (population 105,000) is suitable for those without a car. The city has solid ratings from Walkscore.com for walkability and bikeability (Bicycling Magazine ranks it the country's 10th best place to bike), as well as a decent public transit system. Uber, Lyft and Zipcar are present. Serious crime rate is low. Median home price is $659,000, and cost of living is 78% above the national average. State tax climate for retirees is average. Air quality is good and there are lots of docs. Appealing neighborhoods include Whittier and University Hill.

On the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, scenic Burlington (population 42,000) enjoys an above-average walkability rating from Walkscore.com and an even higher bikeability score. The local bus system is serviceable. Uber is in the market. The serious crime rate is low. Median home price is $272,000, and cost of living is 22% above the national average.  State tax climate for retirees is poor. Air quality is superior, and there is an abundance of physicians. Inviting neighborhoods include Sound End and Centennial.

To flesh out the picture, each profile on the list includes additional data such as median housing cost, cost of living, state tax burden on retirees, air quality and availability of medical care. None of these items played a role in determining whether a place made our list, but it definitely could be a big factor in your own choice.

We know that being near family and friends is often a big consideration. So our picks are spread across 16 states in five U.S. time zones. The cities are roughly divided between colder and warmer climates.

To be honest, some of our choices, such as Berkeley, Calif., New York City, San Francisco and Santa Barbara, are pretty expensive places to live. But at least you would save the considerable cost of car ownership. And some of these high-cost meccas offer a lot more than walkability --nine of them also appear on our latest list of Great Places To Follow Your Passions In Retirement.

If money is an issue, take heart. A number of our carless living picks are rather affordable. These include: Burlington, VT; Fort Lauderdale,  FL;  Madison, WI; Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN; Pittsburgh, PA; Providence, RI.: Tempe, AZ and Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, both in Michigan.

Note that our list is alphabetical and presented as such. That means that Ann Arbor is ranked no higher than Tempe. While this list is geared for retirees, which means that issues regarding local K-12 education is not taken into account, it also offers fodder for childless millennials.

New Forbes list considers walkability, public transit, availability of Uber and Lyft, as well as crime, to identify 25 top cities for carless living.


Know Anyone That Picks Off Moldy Parts Of Bread And Eats The Rest Of It? Is It Safe? Here’s The Answer.

So you’ve got a sandwich in mind and you pull out your ingredients. Some turkey, a little mayo, pepper jack cheese, maybe some mustard... Then you go to grab your bread and your heart sinks.

There, staring at your back in the fact is a small little dot of bluish mold. "Oh, come on!," you think. Then, a thought starts brewing. Do you really need to be defeated by this tiny little culture of mold? Surely, it can’t be that bad for you to just rip off the sucker and head off to sandwich town..

Wrong. The USDA now says that loaves of bread need to be chucked as soon as you see mold. Apparently, mold has tiny, roots that move through the entire loaf. If ingested, it can cause allergy and breathing problems. Some molds can even contribute to cancer.

An educator with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, Marianne H. Gravely, says that not all hope is lost. You can still cut off a piece and safely have your delicious sammy, but make sure it’s a lot bigger than you’d expect to need to do. She says, "cut away a big section surrounding the mold with a healthy margin around it to make sure you got all of it."

Still, there’s no guarantee that you’ll all of the mold in the part you tossed, so if you want to play it safe, chuck it. Also, wrap it up before doing so; the mold can produce airborne toxins. Then, wash and sanitize the area where the bread was to keep any bacteria from spreading.


Italian billionaire discovers his missing wife is still alive in the worst way

Gianluca Cervera contacted police fearing his new model wife had been snatched but the truth was quite different

An Italian businessman who thought his young model wife had been kidnapped was left heartbroken after finding out the truth on Instagram.

Gianluca Cervara contacted police fearing former Miss Ukraine Anna Zaiachkivska had been snatched.

But he soon found social media photos of his new bride posing with another man in five-star hotels hashtagged with the word ‘freedom’ just months after marrying.

The devastated billionaire is now suing Zaiachkivska for breaking their prenuptial agreement and allegedly stealing £5,000 and a mobile phone from his home.

He wrote in a comment on the social media pictures: "Your Husband in Milan And Parents say thank You for Be in New York with address Of another Man.

"Wooooow Married escape without Tell And with fake address in NewYork!!"

But Zaiachkivska claims she fled because her husband "raised his hands" against her and that she was sick of living in a "golden cage".

The 24-year-old was also furious after Cervara did not pay her enough attention when she had "headaches for a week".

The model said: "The first time when he did it I ran away to my parents’ house in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk. I did not tell them what the matter was.

"He came to get me, and I gave him a second chance, but during an argument he spat in my face, and I simply could not take it."

Furious Cervara hit back telling reporters that his wife is working as a model in New York and she is "not the person she is pretending to be".

The businessman said: "She has lots of pretty photos taken in five-star hotels, she is posing with other men. She does not look unhappy at all."

Italian Billionaire Discovers His Missing Wife Is Still Alive In The Worst Way

They say that all’s fair in love and war. We’re all guilty of some kind of infraction when it comes to the subject of struggles of the human heart. You’ve either broken them or had them broken yourself. I’ve been on the receiving end of a breakup via text message, after being with my first [...]


Why you shouldn't worry if you didn't get to the gym this week  via @LiveScience

If going to the gym during the workweek sounds daunting to you, fear not: Working out only on the weekends has health benefits too, a new study suggests.

In the study, researchers examined so-called weekend warriors, who cram a week's worth of exercise into just one or two days.

The researchers found that the weekend warriors in the study who met physical activity guidelines were less likely to die during the nine-year study period, compared with people who didn't get any exercise. Meeting those guidelines meant engaging in a total of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity over one or two days a week.

What's more, even the people who didn't meet physical activity guidelines, but did exercise one or two days a week had a lower risk of early death than people who didn't exercise.

"The present study suggests that less frequent bouts of activity, which might be more easily fit into a busy lifestyle, offer considerable health benefits," the researchers wrote in their article published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers are from the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine–East Midlands at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.

"A particularly encouraging finding was that a physical activity frequency as low as one or two sessions per week was associated with lower mortality risks," even when people didn't meet physical activity guidelines, the authors said.

The researchers analyzed information from more than 63,000 people ages 40 and older living in England and Scotland. They were followed for nine years, on average. When asked about the amount of exercise they did during their free time, nearly 40,000 people said they didn't exercise in their free time, and about 14,200 said they got some exercise, but didn't meet physical activity recommendations.

About 2,300 were weekend warriors, who did meet the guidelines but exercised on only one or two days a week, and about 7,000 met physical activity guidelines by engaging in at least three sessions of exercise per week.

During the study period, about 8,800 people in the study died, with 2,780 of those deaths coming from cardiovascular disease; 2,526 deaths from cancer; and the rest from other causes.

The weekend warriors were about 30 percent less likely to die from any cause during the study period, compared with the people who didn't exercise. They were also 40 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 20 percent less likely to die from cancer compared to those who didn't exercise.

The researchers found that people who exercised one or two days a week, but didn't meet physical activity guidelines also showed reductions in their risk of death during the study period from any cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer. These differences were similar to the reductions seen in the weekend warriors.

"These findings suggest that some physical activity in an isolated session, or low activity, is certainly better than no activity for reducing mortality risk," Hannah Arem and Loretta DiPietro, of George Washington University, wrote in a commentary accompanying the new study in the journal.

Still, Arem and DiPietro, who were not involved in the study, said that further research should continue to explore the questions of how frequently people should exercise, and how intense their activity should be, to yield maximum health benefits.

It's important to note that the new study relied on people's reports of their own physical activity levels, and it's not clear whether their reports were always accurate, the researchers said. In addition, physical activity was assessed just once, at the beginning of the study, and so the researchers don't know if people changed their exercise habits later on during the study period.

In addition, the researchers did not look at people's risk for injury in the different activity groups. If people have been inactive for a long time, they may be at risk for injuring themselves if they suddenly try to do a big burst of activity all at once, experts have said.

Why being a 'weekend warrior' is still good for your health

Don't worry if you didn't get to the gym this week.


PS VR games compatibility revealed – which games will work on a PlayStation 4?

Sony has confirmed that all Playstation VR titles will function on a standard PlayStation 4 console.

It was previously believed that some games for the virtual reality headset would only function on the PS4 Neo, or at least, perform better on the newer system.

Speaking at ACGHK 2016 (via PSU) Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that all PlayStation VR titles will be compatible with standard PS4 models.

"All the PSVR (and future) titles will be playable on (normal) PS4," said Yoshida. "We believe that everyone can enjoy the entertainment content on PSVR. Not just gamers, but a lot more people enjoy PSVR."

This is reassuring news to those worried that their launch console from 2013 may not be capable of operating Sony’s upcoming VR headset.

While all PS VR titles will seemingly work on the original PS4, some of them will require additional peripherals such as the Playstation Move.

The Playstation Camera is also needed for the headset to work, which is definitely worth keeping in mind.

Playstation VR is scheduled to launch on October 13, 2016.

Sony is yet to confirm or reveal any release details for the PS4 Neo.

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Hillary Snaps at Woman Asking About Bill & Rape... Then Dems Horrified to Learn Who She Really Is

During a campaign event in New Hampshire on Sunday, 2016 Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton repeatedly refused to answer a female audience member’s questions about Juanita Broaddrick, one of her husband’s sexual assault victims, and went so far as to accuse the woman of being "very rude."

We later learned that the woman Clinton rudely dismissed was none other than GOP State Rep. Katherine Prudhomme O’Brien, who during a post-event interview with CNN revealed exactly why Juanita Broaddrick mattered so much to her.

"Because I’m a rape survivor myself," she explained.

"I asked her how in the world she can say that Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey are lying when she has no idea who Juanita Broaddrick is," she added. "She told me this summer she doesn’t know who she is and doesn’t want to know who she is. How can she assess that they are lying, which she told someone last month?"

Yet during a campaign event in 2015, Clinton reportedly told a crowd of supporters that every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard and believed. Apparently, that rule does not apply to women who have been assaulted by her own husband, Bill Clinton, a man with a horrific track record of abuse, assault and harassment against women.

"I was a Democrat, but I became a Republican because of this, because of this stuff," O’Brien continued. "Because of what I saw happen in the Clinton years, the hypocrisy of so-called women that fight for women."

Hopefully, after seeing the way Clinton shamelessly dismissed O’Brien’s questions about sexual assault, more Democrats will follow O’Brien’s lead and switch their allegiance over to the Republican party — which, unlike the Democrat party, actually takes the time to consider the words of all sexual assault victims, regardless of who the perpetrator may be.

After this debacle, Hillary better never again dare claim that she's a champion for women's rights!


30 amazing products hairstylists actually swear by

Everything you need for a serious hair upgrade.

We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales from the links on this page.

We asked hairstylists from the BuzzFeed Community what products they recommend we should be using to keep our locks looking perfect.

Stylists unanimously agreed that you should buy salon-brand hair products when possible. However, if you can’t easily access a salon in your area, they also suggested several drugstore and big-box store brands that will still help you maintain healthy hair.

1. A Wet Brush to make detangling wet hair less of a struggle.

"Detangling wet hair with a Wet Brush is easy. Also when doing up styles, I use them to back comb because they create a sturdy tease that is easy to comb out." —Paige N

Get a set of three from Amazon for $21.99.

2. Verb Sea Spray that will help your curls stay frizz free.

"This is the only beach spray that improves my curls and keeps them from frizzing up without being crunchy." —Lindsay V

3. AG Hair Reconstruct to bring damaged hair back to life.

"Reconstruct is a miracle for anyone with overly damaged or just really dry hair. At one point, my hair was so damaged by bleaching that it wouldn’t hold a good style. I used this under heat once every couple weeks, and it helped so much." —Erin H

4. Kerastase Initialiste serum that you can use to strengthen and thicken your hair.

"Kerastase Initialiste is my must have because it promotes hair growth and actually works. It has truly been my lifesaver since having my baby and losing a lot of my hair." —Vannesac

Get it from Amazon for $39.99 or Kerastase for $61.

5. Paul Mitchell Hot Off the Press, a quick-drying thermal protectant that will keep your locks from getting fried.

"Hot Off the Press by Paul Mitchell is everything. It works great as both a working spray and thermal protectant." —Samantha K

6. Moroccan Oil Dry Shampoo, which comes in options for both light and dark hair.

"Moroccan Oil Dry Shampoo is so finely milled it makes working it through your scalp super easy. The best part is it doesn’t dry out your ends like so many dry shampoos do." —SGB

Get it from Amazon for $20.90. Available in Dark Tones and Light Tones.

7. Design Essentials Edge Control to make sure your hair stays clear of any annoying flyaways.

"I just put a little Design Essentials Edge Control in my hands and rub it together then lay the flyaways down with it. It works like hairspray, but it doesn’t leave your hair stiff." —Sydney C

8. Paul Mitchell Twirl Around, which will help your curls stay hydrated — not crunchy and dry.

"The biggest challenge for women with curly hair is the product they use becoming crunchy when it dries. But Twirl Around is a cream, not a gel or mousse. It dries soft and defines the curls." —Ashley

Get it from Amazon for $20.96 or JCPenney for $22.99.

9. Matrix Keratindose to give an extra dose of moisture to severely damaged hair.

"Keratindose makes damaged hair feel amazing. I also use it on my clients with natural hair. It makes hair so much easier to comb because hair doesn’t tangle at all when you use it." —Sydney C

10. Deva Curl No Poo, which leaves your hair soft and clean without stripping away natural oils.

"Even if you don’t have curly hair, Deva Curl No Poo works amazingly to naturally break up the oils that naturally build up at the scalp, distributing them down the hair shaft where your hair is the most dry and damaged. It’s a moisturizing, nonlathering formula with peppermint and grapeseed oil.. And it stimulates and cleans the scalp and hair without stripping away the natural oils." —Brittney T

Get it from Amazon for $6.65+. Available in three sizes.

11. A Sam Villa Sleekr flat iron, which has rounded plates to keep your hair from getting snagged.

"Sam Villa’s flat irons and wave irons are the absolute best! They are a tad pricey but totally worth the money." —Samantha K Get it from Sam Villa for $150.

12.. Redken Pillow Proof to protect your hair from the extreme heat of blow drying.

"Pillow Proof cuts your blow dry time almost in half and protects your hair from heat up to 450 degrees. It won’t weigh down the hair and doesn’t leave any residue from overspraying." —SGB

13. Olivia Garden ceramic brushes, which include a sectioning pick to assist you with thermal styling.

"I prefer Olivia Garden’s ceramic brushes for the airflow and heat conductivity. As an added bonus, they have a built-in sectioning pick at the bottom of the handle that you need only to remove, flip, and reinsert." —Xoroxstar

Get them from Amazon for $13.30+. Available in three sizes.

14. Aveda Brilliant Damage Control Spray to keep your hair clear of heat damage while styling or detangling.

"It’s weightless and protects hair from heat damage while detangling. And it works with all types of hair!" —Bourbon C

15. Unite Blonda Shampoo, which increases the vibrancy of blonde hair and the richness of darker hair.

"Blonda is a really cool shampoo. It can be used by blondes to help cancel out unwanted warm tones. It also works really well on dark hair to make it appear darker and deeper. And it smells like grapes, which is a plus!" —Katies 4 Bfae

Get it from Amazon for $21.56 or Unite for $25.

16. Redone Frizz Dismiss shampoo and conditioner that will be your first line of defense against humidity.

"My hair has literally no frizz, and humidity can’t even touch it!" —Liana G

Get the shampoo from Amazon for $23.56 or Ulta for $38.

17. Pureology Colour Fanatic 21 Spray, which plays multiple roles in protecting and hydrating your hair — including working as a color and heat protector and detangler.

"Pureology Colour Fanatic 21 Spray has a total of 21 benefits and makes your hair feel so soft." —Kelsey L

18. Alterna Overnight Hair Rescue restores protein to your locks while you sleep.

"Alterna Overnight Hair Rescue is loaded with protein and will help repair damage while you rest." —SGB

19. Living Proof Night Cap Protector increases shine and manageability overnight.

"Night Cap has transformed my hair and I recommend it to everyone. My hair has grown so much, and it has improved in strength and shine." —Lindsay V

20. A Babyliss Rapido blow dryer that delivers unbeatable power.

"I love Babyliss blow dryers! They last forever and are super lightweight. It cuts blow-dry time in half for me!" —Alyssa K

21. A Beach Waver Pro curling iron that will let you curl your locks in record time.

"The Beach Waver Pro curling iron is by far the best purchase I have ever made. It’s a little pricey, but it cut the time it takes to curl my hair in half!" —Kristen Kaya

Get it from Amazon for $199. Available in two colors.

22. Invisibobble hair ties that will leave no marks on your hair when you remove them.

"I prefer Invisibobbles because they leave no marks and dramatically reduce tension that can lead to headaches and hair loss for regular ponytail wearers." —Xoroxstar

Get a set of three from Amazon for $6.84 or Sephora for $8.

23. Unite Texturiza Spray gives your locks a wavy look with ease.

"Texturiza by Unite is awesome, especially for short hair and for when you curl it. It gives your hair that beachy, textured look!" —Katie’s 4 Bfae

24. A pack of Color Trak Croc Clips that are perfect for separating hair into sections for styling tasks.

"Color Trak’s rubberized crocodile clips are perfect for sectioning hair and coloring!" —Bourbon C

Get a set of eight from Amazon for $14.16.

25. A Bio Ionic 10x Pro Styling Iron with vibrating plates that help smooth out and straighten your hair quickly.

"I’ve been a stylist for 15 years and anything Bio Ionic is fabulous, especially their 10x Pro Styling Iron. It has embedded volcanic minerals that give superior shine and hydration in just one pass!" —Laylana Zarianl

26. Lanza Trauma Treatment and Redken CAT Protein Spray as the perfect rehab for bleached hair.

"Lanza Trauma Treatment and Redken CAT Protein Spray are the best things for all my blonde girls out there! If you’re addicted to your bleach like me, these things will save your hair for sure." —Rilo

Get the Lanza Trauma Treatment from Amazon for $17.90.

Get the Redken Cat Protein Spray from Walmart for $17.89.

27. Sedu Revolution Straightener and Wigo Straigtening Brush that will straighten your hair without having to use maximum heat.

"I just got a Sedu Revolution Straightener and am trying to figure out what my life was without it. Paired with a Wigo Straightening Brush, you will get the sleekest hair of your life while using a low heat. I have thick, curly hair, and I used to have to straighten it using over 400 degrees. But 325 degrees gives me the sleekest and smoothest hair ever." —Britt Wright

Get the flat iron from Birchbox for $130.

Get the straightening brush from Ulta for $18.99.

28. Verb Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner, which are affordable and free of damaging chemicals that can harm your hair.

"Verb is one of the lines I carry in my salon. A lot of my younger clients buy the shampoo and conditioner because they are cheaper and sulfate-, gluten-, and paraffin-free." —Terra Michelles

Get a set of shampoo and conditioner from Amazon for $24.31.

29. A YS Park Cutting Comb that can be used for styling or even flat ironing.

"YS Park Cutting Combs are heat resistant and strong. I also use them for flat ironing and back combing. I’ve even had a client steal one before!" —Lauren Of Troy

Get it from Amazon for $11.70+. Available in eight colors.

30. The Big Sexy Hair line of styling products, which offers a range of solutions for your biggest hair needs.

"I have been a stylist for about three years now, and I have come to really love the Big and Sexy line. I have almost all of their styling products, including their blow-dryer and flat iron. The line has an array of products that do different things to help my clients with their specific hair needs." —Terra Michelles

You can check out the full line of products at Ulta or Sexy Hair.

30 Amazing Products Hairstylists Actually Swear By


The Odd Grammar Rule Most English Speakers Know But Are Rarely Taught

The English language is full of all sorts of quirks that can be infuriating to non-native speakers. (Imagine learning as an adult that cough, enough, and though all make different sounds.) To those of us who speak English as our first tongue, these nonsensical grammar conventions come as second nature. Some rules are so innate that they rarely get taught in school.

Take this example recently spotted by Quartz

This passage tweeted by BBC editor Matthew Anderson comes from the book The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase. It outlines the rules of adjective order when preceding a noun. According to the text, the order goes "opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun" and any change made to that organization will make you "sound like a maniac." For instance, "big black dog" is a perfectly acceptable phrase, but saying "black big dog" just sounds awkward.

At least that’s the case for native English speakers—people learning English as a second language are tasked with committing that seemingly arbitrary sequence to memory. If they don’t, they risk getting confused stares when asking for "the green lovely rectangular French old silver whittling little knife."

You know this rule, even if you don't know you know it.


Why You Shouldn’t Wrap Your Food In Aluminum Foil Before Cooking It

If you’re baking fish, roasting vegetables or preparing a piece of meat for dinner tonight, chances are that you’ll wrap your food in aluminium foil. What you may not realise is that some of the foil will leach into your meal – and this could be bad for your health.

Research that I conducted with a group of colleagues has explored the use of aluminium for cooking and preparing food. Aluminium doesn’t just appear in foil: it is the most popular cookware material used by people in developing countries. Pots and pans are lined with it and it is found in some kitchen utensils like large serving spoons. Copper used to fulfil this role, but over time it’s been replaced by aluminium because it is cheaper to mass produce and easier to clean.

But while cooking your food in aluminium pots or pans isn’t a bad thing, placing it in foil and putting it in the oven is problematic. This is especially true with acidic or spicy food that’s prepared at high temperatures.

Human bodies can excrete small amounts of aluminium very efficiently. This means that minimal exposure to aluminium is not a problem: the World Health Organisation has established a safe daily intake of 40mg per kilogram of body weight per day. So for a person who weighs 60kg the allowable intake would be 2400 mg.

But most people are exposed to and ingest far more than this suggested safe daily intake. Aluminium is present in corn, yellow cheese, salt, herbs, spices and tea. It’s used in cooking utensils, as described above, as well as in pharmacological agents like antacids and antiperspirants. Aluminium sulfate, which is derived from aluminium, is used as a coagulant during the purification process of drinking water.

Scientists are exploring whether over-exposure to aluminium may be posing threats to human health. For instance, high concentrations of aluminium have been detected in the brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have examined the community of old people with Alzheimer’s and concluded that it is a modern disease that’s developed from altered living conditions associated with society’s industrialisation. These conditions may include high levels of aluminium in daily life.

Aluminium poses other health risks, too. Studies have suggested that high aluminium intake may be harmful to some patients with bone diseases or renal impairment. It also reduces the growth rate of human brain cells.

Given all of these proven risks, it’s important to determine the aluminium concentration when cooking. Pots and other cookware tend to be oxidised, providing an inert layer that prevents the aluminium from leaching into food. The problem is that when you scrub your pots after cooking, that layer is worn away and the aluminium can seep into your food. This is easily avoided: when you get new aluminium pots, boil water in them several times until the base becomes matt. This creates a natural oxidation that prevents leaching. They may look nicer when they’re scrubbed and shiny, but a matt base is better for your food and your health.

But cooking your food in foil is a different story. Aluminium foil is disposable and you will not be able to create that inert layer prior to using it. My research found that the migration of aluminium into food during the cooking process of food wrapped in aluminium foil is above the permissible limit set by the World Health Organisation.

Ghada Bassioni explains the research she and her colleagues conducted.

Aluminium is significantly more likely to leach into food, and at higher levels, in acidic and liquid food solutions like lemon and tomato juice than in those containing alcohol or salt. Leaching levels climb even more when spice is added to food that’s cooked in aluminium foil. Anything acidic sparks a particularly aggressive process that dissolves layers of aluminium into food.

This research suggests that aluminium foil should not be used for cooking. Instead, we’d recommend using glassware or porcelain when preparing baked dishes. It’s safe to wrap cold food in foil, though not for long stretches of time because food has a shelf life and because aluminium in the foil will begin to leach into the food depending on ingredients like spices.

Ghada Bassioni, Associated Professor and Head of the Chemistry Department, Ain Shams University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.


Why antibacterial soap isn't better than 'normal' soap

When you buy soaps and body washes, do you reach for products labeled "antibacterial" hoping they’ll keep your family safer? Do you think those products will lower your risk of getting sick, spreading germs or being infected?

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there isn’t enough science to show that over-the-counter (OTC) antibacterial soaps are better at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water. To date, the benefits of using antibacterial hand soap haven’t been proven. In addition, the wide use of these products over a long time has raised the question of potential negative effects on your health.

After studying the issue, including reviewing available literature and hosting public meetings, in 2013 the FDA issued a proposed rule requiring safety and efficacy data from manufacturers, consumers, and others if they wanted to continue marketing antibacterial products containing those ingredients, but very little information has been provided. That’s why the FDA is issuing a final rule under which OTC consumer antiseptic wash products (including liquid, foam, gel hand soaps, bar soaps, and body washes) containing the majority of the antibacterial active ingredients—including triclosan and triclocarban—will no longer be able to be marketed.

Why? Because the manufacturers haven’t proven that those ingredients are safe for daily use over a long period of time. Also, manufacturers haven’t shown that these ingredients are any more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illnesses and the spread of certain infections. Some manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products, ahead of the FDA’s final rule.

"Following simple handwashing practices is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many types of infection and illness at home, at school and elsewhere," says Theresa M. Michele, MD, of the FDA’s Division of Nonprescription Drug Products. "We can’t advise this enough. It’s simple, and it works."

The FDA’s final rule covers only consumer antibacterial soaps and body washes that are used with water. It does not apply to hand sanitizers or hand wipes. It also does not apply to antibacterial soaps that are used in health care settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes.

Antibacterial soaps (sometimes called antimicrobial or antiseptic soaps) contain certain chemicals not found in plain soaps. Those ingredients are added to many consumer products with the intent of reducing or preventing bacterial infection.

Many liquid soaps labeled antibacterial contain triclosan, an ingredient of concern to many environmental, academic and regulatory groups. Animal studies have shown that triclosan alters the way some hormones work in the body and raises potential concerns for the effects of use in humans. We don’t yet know how triclosan affects humans and more research is needed.

"There’s no data demonstrating that these drugs provide additional protection from diseases and infections. Using these products might give people a false sense of security," Michele says. "If you use these products because you think they protect you more than soap and water, that’s not correct. If you use them because of how they feel, there are many other products that have similar formulations but won’t expose your family to unnecessary chemicals. And some manufacturers have begun to revise these products to remove these ingredients."

How do you tell if a product is antibacterial? For OTC drugs, antibacterial products generally have the word "antibacterial" on the label. Also, a Drug Facts label on a soap or body wash is a sign a product contains antibacterial ingredients.

Triclosan can be found in many places today. It has been added to many consumer products—including clothing, kitchenware, furniture, and toys—to prevent bacterial contamination. Because of that, people’s long-term exposure to triclosan is higher than previously thought, raising concerns about the potential risks associated with the use of this ingredient over a lifetime.

In addition, laboratory studies have raised the possibility that triclosan contributes to making bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Some data shows this resistance may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of medical treatments, such as antibiotics.

The FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been closely collaborating on scientific and regulatory issues related to triclosan. This joint effort will help to ensure government-wide consistency in the regulation of this chemical. The two agencies are reviewing the effects of triclosan from two different perspectives.

The EPA regulates the use of triclosan as a pesticide, and is in the process of updating its assessment of the effects of triclosan when it is used in pesticides. The FDA’s focus is on the effects of triclosan when it is used by consumers on a regular basis in hand soaps and body washes. By sharing information, the two agencies will be better able to measure the exposure and effects of triclosan and how these differing uses of triclosan may affect human health.

The EPA reevaluates each pesticide active ingredient every 15 years. The EPA’s Final Work Plan for the triclosan risk assessment can be found in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0811.

The FDA’s rule doesn’t yet apply to three chemicals (benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride and chloroxylenol). Manufacturers are developing and planning to submit new safety and effectiveness data for these ingredients.

With the exception of those three ingredients that are still under study, all products that use the other 19 active ingredients will need to change their formulas or they will no longer be available to consumers. Manufacturers will have one year to comply with the rule.

This rule doesn’t apply to hand sanitizers. The FDA recently issued a final rule on OTC hand sanitizers and will continue to review the three active ingredients commonly used in hand sanitizers. To learn about the difference between consumer hand sanitizers and consumer antibacterial soaps, visit our consumer information page.

Consumers, Keep Washing with Plain Soap and Water

So what should consumers do? Wash your hands with plain soap and water. That’s still one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and to prevent spreading germs.

Antibacterial Soap? You Can Skip It, Use Plain Soap and Water


Never mind trying to outrace another vehicle when you need to escape, says Walter Farrer, a security consultant who teaches evasive-driving courses to business executives and wealthy Mexican families who want to avoid kidnappings. Disappear instead: drive a minivan, which is like an automotive duck blind, mobile camouflage for the road. "They make you hard to follow," Farrer says. A newish minivan or midsize S.U.V. in gray with no bumper stickers is ideal. "Make sure both taillights work," Farrer says. "You don’t want anything on your car that is easily identifiable." In particularly high-risk cities — kidnappings for ransom are a persistent problem in Mexico — he presses his clients to drive cars covered in dust bearing local plates.

Once behind the wheel, follow a few basic rules — what Farrer calls "habit changes" — no matter whom your pursuers are. Vary the routes you take to work, your children’s school, the gym. Predictability makes for easy surveillance, and, as Farrer tells his students, "routine movements are the riskiest." Keep the windows up and the doors locked. To facilitate speedy exits, back into parking spots. Wait for a well-lit public place before pulling over, especially if it’s for a fender bender. Never tailgate: "Give yourself space to maneuver," says Farrer, whose courses include instruction on how to ram through roadblocks, drive in reverse in a slalom pattern to dodge bullets and skid 180 degrees in what’s called a "bootlegger’s turn."

Still, the most basic evasive-driving lesson is one that could make better drivers of us all: be more keenly aware of your surroundings. Notice the quotidian. If something is off — a car is following, a strange roadblock looms ahead — early recognition will give you a few moments extra to react. "A successful criminal surprises the victim," Farrer says. "Become more alert, and you’ll be harder to catch."

Don’t try to speed away. Disappear instead.

Robberies and Thefts,Automobiles,Mexico,Farrer  Walter M,Kidnapping and Hostages,Security and Warning Systems,evasive-driving


How the Kardashians are tied to OJ Simpson's infamous murder trial

Before the Kardashian family had their own reality-TV show and fashion line, they were known for their close ties to O.J. Simpson and his slain ex-wife, Nicole Brown.

Robert Kardashian, Kris Kardashian's ex-husband and the father of Kourteny, Kim, Khloé, and Rob, was close friends with Simpson when he was arrested and tried for the murder of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman.

Robert Kardashian, who died in 2003, was an attorney and served on Simpson's legal team during his 1995 murder trial.

Kim was 13 years old and living with her father when Simpson moved in for a time and stayed in Khloe's room after the killings in Los Angeles in 1994. In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Kim said the experience was bizarre.

"It was surreal, with Johnnie Cochran and Robert Shapiro and all these guys having meetings at my dad's house," Kim said. "I definitely took my dad's side [believing in O.J. Simpson's innocence]. We just always thought my dad was the smartest person in the world, and he really believed in his friend."

As she's gotten older, she said, "It's weird. I just try not to think about it."

Khloé opened up about the experience during an episode of her show, "Kocktails with Khloé," on Wednesday.

"My sisters [Kourtney and Kim], who are older than me, they would be in the courtroom with my dad all the time," she said. "They have more information, but even if I would get pulled over the cops hated us 'cause my dad was defending O.J. Simpson.."

The sister revealed the family had bad experiences with the community in LA at the time.

"[Our] cars [would] get keyed, like, with ‘guilty’ all over it," she said. "People would not allow us to eat at their establishments ... But cops hated us. Like if they would run our plates, we would get pulled over for anything and everything."

Ryan Murphy's new FX show, "American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson," focuses on the murder trial and features David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. Actors portraying the Kardashian children have appeared in a few episodes.

In one particular episode, Robert begs Simpson not to kill himself in "Kimmy's bedroom."

According to an interview Robert did with Barbara Walters in 1996, this confrontation did occur, though Kim wasn't in the house at the time. The interview resurfaced during a 2014 interview Kris did on "The View."

How the Kardashians are tied to O.J. Simpson's infamous murder trial

O.J. Simpson considered killing himself inside Kim Kardashian's bedroom in the '90s.


DNA testing has for the first time confirmed the identity of the bacteria behind London's Great Plague.

Media caption First look at a Great Plague skeleton

The plague of 1665-1666 was the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in Britain, killing nearly a quarter of London's population.

It's taken a year to confirm initial findings from a suspected Great Plague burial pit during excavation work on the Crossrail site at Liverpool Street.

About 3,500 burials have been uncovered during excavation of the site.

Testing in Germany confirmed the presence of DNA from the Yersinia pestis bacterium - the agent that causes bubonic plague - rather than another pathogen.

Some authors have previously questioned the identity of microbes behind historical outbreaks attributed to plague.

Daniel Defoe's 18th century account of the catastrophic event in A Journal of the Plague Year described the gruesome fate of Londoners.

"The plague, as I suppose all distempers do, operated in a different manner on differing constitutions; some were immediately overwhelmed with it, and it came to violent fevers, vomitings, insufferable headaches, pains in the back, and so up to ravings and ragings with those pains," Defoe wrote.

Image copyright Hulton Archive Image caption The Great Plague killed about a quarter of the capital's population

"Others with swellings and tumours in the neck or groin, or armpits, which till they could be broke put them into insufferable agonies and torment; while others, as I have observed, were silently infected."

Evidence of the pathogen had eluded archaeologists but seemed tantalisingly close when a suspected mass grave was discovered last year during a Crossrail dig at the Bedlam burial ground, also known as the New Churchyard, in East London.

Alison Telfer from Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) showed me around the area planned for one of the downward escalators going into the future Broadgate ticket hall at Liverpool Street.

"We've found about three-and-a-half thousand burials on this site," she told the BBC's Today programme.

"We've been working here for the last five-and-half-years on and off and we're hoping we'll be able to get positive identification of the plague on a number of the individuals.

Image copyright Crossrail Image caption More than 3,500 burials have been uncovered at the site

"Because of the position of the skeletons, they'd obviously been laid in coffins & put in very respectfully, nobody was thrown in anywhere in presumably what must have been quite a traumatic event."

This revelation is somewhat at odds with Daniel Defoe's version of events: "Tis certain they died by heaps and were buried by heaps; that is to say, without account." Panic and disorder only came towards the end of The Great Plague.

Vanessa Harding, professor of London history at Birkbeck, University of London, describes the experience of Londoners at the time.

"Not many people who actually get it survive but some do. And it seems to be quite easily transferred from person to person even if we're not sure currently about the agency or way in which this actually happens," Prof Harding said.

Image copyright Hulton Archive Image caption Daniel Defoe wrote that plague victims "died by heaps and were buried by heaps"

"But there are also what we might consider public health measures which from their point of view include killing cats and dogs, getting rid of beggars in the streets, trying to cleanse the city in both moral and practical terms. The people who do best are those who get out of London."

The search for the bacteria Yersinia pestis, which causes plague, in a selection of skeletons from the dig continued last year in the osteology department at Mola where all the Liverpool Street finds were stored and examined by Michael Henderson.

"They're carefully boxed, individual elements, legs separately, arms separately, the skulls and the torsos," he explained.

"We excavated in the region of three and a half thousand skeletons, one of the largest archaeologically excavated to this date. A vast data set that can give us really meaningful information."

Image copyright Crossrail Image caption DNA from the London remains was analysed at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany

The bones are laid out in anatomical order. Teeth are removed and sent for ancient DNA analysis at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany. "The best thing to sample for DNA is the teeth; they're like an isolated time capsule," said Mr Henderson.

In Germany, molecular palaeopathologist Kirsten Bos drilled out the tooth pulp to painstakingly search for the 17th century bacteria, finally obtaining positive results from five of the 20 individuals tested from the burial pit.

"We could clearly find preserved DNA signatures in the DNA extract we made from the pulp chamber and from that we were able to determine that Yersinia pestis was circulating in that individual at the time of death," she said.

"We don't know why the Great Plague of London was the last major outbreak of plague in the UK and whether there were genetic differences in the past, those strains that were circulating in Europe to those circulating today; these are all things we're trying to address by assembling more genetic information from ancient organisms."

Image copyright Crossrail Image caption A nearby gravestone marks the passing of Mary Godfree, a plague victim

Bos and her team will now continue to sequence the full DNA genome to better understand the evolution and spread of the disease.

There was nothing to identify those found in the mass grave under the Crossrail development but located a short distance away a headstone was found inscribed with the name Mary Godfree who fell victim to the plague. Her interment is recorded in the burial register of St Giles, Cripplegate, on 2 September 1665.

To reassure anyone worried whether plague bacterium was released from the excavation work or scientific analysis, it doesn't survive in the ground.

DNA confirms cause of 1665 London's Great Plague

DNA testing has for the first time confirmed the identity of the bacteria behind the Great Plague of London.


You asked: Is running on a treadmill as good as running outside?

To dedicated runners, running outside gets all the glory. Some purists even eschew headphones (and shoes!). But when talking about whether treadmill running is "the same" as running outdoors, it helps to pinpoint what sort of sameness matters to you.

In terms of the mechanics of your stride, there’s not much difference between running on a treadmill and running on ground, says Dr. Irene Davis, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School who has studied the differences between treadmill and over-ground running . " While it feels much different to you, the leg motions and the forces experienced by your body are very similar between these conditions," Davis says.

But when it comes to your risk for injuries, there may be an important difference. "Most running injuries are overloading injuries that involve muscle, cartilage, bone or tendons wearing down over time," Davis explains. While there isn’t a lot of good research on this, Davis says those types of injuries probably occur more frequently when you repeat the exact same running motion thousands and thousands of times—as you would on a treadmill or a flat, consistent stretch of pavement.

"You strike the ground 1,000 times per foot, per mile," she says. And if you’re running on a treadmill or a flat, hard surface, the redundancy of your motion increases your risk for these overuse injuries.

On the other hand, Davis suspects that changing up your stride has a beneficial effect on your injury risk. The more you move in response to curbs, corners, hills or leashed pets, the less likely you are to overburden the same muscle or tendon. Running courses that include lots of slopes, speed changes, and impediments—especially nature trails—are probably safest when it comes to your risk for wear and tear, she hypothesizes.

But what about the effort involved in running outdoors as opposed to on a treadmill? The big factor here is "air resistance," which you’ll encounter more of outdoors than you will inside, finds a much-cited study from the University of Brighton in the UK. But there’s an easy fix for treadmill runners: By raising the grade of your belt very slightly—just 1% of added incline—you’ll mimic the effects of outdoor air resistance, the study authors conclude.

There may also be a psychological factor to the debate. Lots of research has found that time spent outside, especially in green spaces like woods or parks, offers benefits ranging from improved mood and energy levels to better sleep. And another UK study—this one from the universities of Exeter and Essex—found that runners who ran outdoors in natural environments reported greater feelings of revitalization and wellbeing, and decreases in tension, confusion, anger and depression. (Just don’t forget sun protection .)

All things considered, running outdoors and on trails makes the most sense for maximizing the benefits of running. But if the weather’s bad or a treadmill is your only option, don’t sweat it. It may be an inferior alternative, but only slightly so.

Treadmill: Is Running On A Treadmill Really The Same for Exercise?

Running outside gets all the glory. But exercising on a treadmill can come pretty close with one small tweak

Exercise/Fitness, gyms, Running, treadmill, workouts


Here’s how you can get free Pokecoins in Pokemon Go

Although Pokemon Go is a free app, there are options of spending real world money like most free to play mobile games. You can spend real life money to buy the game’s currency, PokeCoins, which can be spent on buying several items like Egg Incubators, Incense, Lucky Eggs and PokeBalls.

Using PokeCoins in Pokemon Go could really accelerate your progress in the game, but it comes at a price, unless you are smart and use this method.

However, there is a simple way to save your hard earned money and get PokeCoins for free. All you need is to be above level 5 and have one of your Pokemon assigned to a gym.

First, you’ll need to raise the prestige level at a friendly gym if there currently isn’t room to add your Pokemon to it.

Secondly, you’ll need to defeat an enemy gym if it isn’t currently owned by your team.

When you totally defeat an enemy gym, you can leave one of your Pokemon in that gym to defend it. While your Pokemon defends a gym controlled by your team, you earn free daily PokeCoins for however many gyms your Pokemon are defending. You will keep earning PokeCoins without spending any money until the gym is under your team’s control.

In order to claim the rewarded PokeCoins, go to the top right corner of your ‘shop’ screen where you’ll find a shield. The number that appears on the shield is the number of gym you have Pokemon defending. Just tap on it and claim your PokeCoins. You will receive 10 PokeCoins for each gym you are defending at the time.

Remember, this process can only be done once every 20 hours or so. It is also wise to keep as many Pokemon defending the gyms as possible to earn more coins, so gather up some teammates and raise the gym’s level to make it even stronger.

There's a way to earn free Pokecoins in Pokemon Go


The Number One Secret To Amazing Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs fall into one of two categories: the kind of dish you're great at making and cook all the time, or the kind of thing you fail at miserably and can't figure out. (If you're the former, you like to brag about how good you are at it—and you're totally weirded out by the people who can't.) I love scrambled eggs, and I'm, like, a total pro. (See what I did there?)

I was 30 before I realized what good scrambled eggs tasted like. I truly thought that they needed to be cooked to death, lest I want to die of salmonella or food poisoning. There was to be no trace of moisture in your scrambled eggs—the browner, the better.

Then I tried them at a famous restaurant owned by some famous chef—I can't remember who, and I don't remember where ... I just know that they were light, fluffy, and creamy. It was a dreamy breakfast experience that transformed the way I make eggs.

The secret, I found out, was sour cream. Many people add milk or half and half to their eggs before they put them in the pan, but sour cream offers that same creaminess, but with a little more body.

Scrambled eggs also have the tendency to be a little bland—a heavy dose of salt and pepper goes a long way—and sour cream helps with that, too. It adds a very subtle depth of flavor: I'd say it's tangy, but it's almost more of a sweet sourness. You know it's there, but you also kind of don't.

My estimation is roughly one small scoop of sour cream to each egg. Whisk the eggs in the bowl first, and then add it—it'll mix in a little bit better (the sour cream can be lumpy if the scrambling isn't started first). Then cook your eggs with plenty of butter (I use about 2 tablespoons), and pull them just before they're dry (they'll continue cooking a tiny bit before they're plated). The result: delightfully light eggs—and bragging rights.


What "Harry Potter" "Argo" and "The King's Speech" have in common

Composer Alexandre Desplat may not have the same name recognition to mainstream audiences as Hans Zimmer, but his body of work speaks for itself. The French born Desplat, a five-time Oscar nominee, has contributed scores to dozens of movies over the last decade, including "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "The King's Speech," "The Queen," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Moonrise Kingdom," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Argo," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Tree of Life," "Julie & Julia" and many more.

His latest composition is "Philomena," Stephen Frears' true-life drama about an elderly woman (Dame Judi Dench) who, along with a disgraced journalist (film co-writer Steve Coogan), searches for the son who was taken from her and put up for adoption by a group of Catholic nuns in 1952. Desplat's score, a mix of haunting waltzes and carnival melodies, is as understated as Frears' film, and never forces emotions onto the audience. "We tried to keep it restrained and elegant," Desplat explained.

With "Philomena" out in limited release now, HuffPost Entertainment spoke to Desplat about his contribution to Frears' film, as well as his other famous scores.

Desplat's first Oscar nomination came for "The Queen," which was also the first film he made with Stephen Frears.

Desplat: To be nominated is always unexpected. Nominations come or they don't come, you just try to write the best music you can. If it's not recognized, that doesn't mean you're a bad composer. Of course, though, the first nomination was huge for me. Being nominated for an Oscar is a big deal. Suddenly, you're in the gang. You belong to the family. More important, people see those films, so they hear your music. Some movies, you might think you did a great job, but the movie isn't seen. That's where people can hear your work.

Desplat scored his second Oscar nomination for 2008's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," but it was "Twilight" that brought his work to an even bigger audience. The second film in the blockbuster franchise earned $709 million worldwide.

Desplat: I had worked with director Chris Weitz before, and he's a great friend. The nature of the previous "Twilight" score was so different from what Chris wanted. There was no danger there: I could create something completely different, but it was not attached to any theme or orchestral ensemble. I wrote "New Moon" very fast -- in maybe just a few weeks.

The following year brought Desplat his fourth Oscar nomination, this time for "The King's Speech." It also provided him with his biggest film ever: "Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 1."

Desplat: Each movie has its own DNA that you have to understand and analyze. There was nothing for Geoffrey Rush in "The King's Speech"; he didn't have a theme. It was all about the king and his situation. The way the music evolves throughout the film is similar to the way the character evolves. When there's a lead character, I try to follow the trajectory of their psychological moves. I try to have something that goes from the beginning of the film to the end of the film. The music can evolve with him. Sometimes, it's the other way around. Sometimes, the music has to show right away the hidden emotions of the character. In "The King's Speech," the music starts getting a shape as the character starts getting a shape himself.

"Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2 (2010, 2011)

Combined, the final "Harry Potter" films earned over $2.2 billion worldwide.

Desplat: The first challenge was to not be overwhelmed by John Williams' presence. I have worshipped him since I was 15. He's one of the most influential composers in my life, so the first thing for me to do upon starting "Harry Potter" was to get rid of that huge shadow over me. I was lucky enough that, in the first "Deathly Hallows," director David Yates didn't want to use "Hedwig's Theme," the famous John Williams cue, because the kids were grown ups now and they were not in Hogwarts during the first episode. Funny enough, though, before I started working on the film, I didn't know that. I had played around with John Williams' theme, making different versions of it. I didn't use any of them, though, because the theme only comes two or three times in very little portions. I was enjoying the arrangements I was doing, but there was no use for them. We couldn't use it. We did, however, use the theme in the last film.

"Harry Potter" was the first time I was working on a franchise that was an object. It's a movie that has been seen everywhere in the world. That was a new challenge for me: to write music that can be understood from Alaska to Australia.

The first time Desplat worked with Anderson, on 2009's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," he received an Oscar nomination. He returned to collaborate with the director for 2012's "Moonrise Kingdom."

Desplat: There's an aesthetic to Wes Anderson movies that one can describe, so I just tried to stay within that. I worked very closely with Wes. We really sat down together at the piano in my studio and we would play around with things, just experiment together. It's a lot of fun. It's a very different process from any other director who I have worked with. Wes and I really try to play within a type of orchestral combination. He's so genuine when we're working together. He's so excited and so inventive. It's a great honor to work with Wes.

(The pair worked together again for the 2014 release "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which Desplat noted had more score than either of his previous collaborations with Anderson.)

Desplat's fifth Oscar nomination came for Ben Affleck's "Argo," one of his two 2012 CIA movies (the other being Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty").

Desplat: The great thing about these movies is that they're classic in the writing, but with very modern directing. I always try to grab the deepest core of the film and the dramaturge. That is what drives me, even more than the images. By figuring that out, I was able to find two different voices. That's what I did.

This was my first film with Ben, and my first time with Kathryn. The first time was always difficult. You have to build bridges and try to reassure the directors that you are not there to have your music playing loud, where it overwhelms the film. There's always this fear from directors that the composer wants to be the director. You learn through the years to approach that from a different angle. In a few months apart, I was able to work with two directors who had actually not used a lot of scores in their previous films, and where the scores were also not really predominant. These two films, though, it was necessary that the music was present, and I guess that's why it turned out so well.

"Philomena" marks the fifth time Desplat and Frears have partnered for a film. Their relationship continues to flourish as a sixth feature, Frears' untitled Lance Armstrong biography, is in the offing as well. "He's been one of my idols since I started composing, so I cherish the moments with him," Desplat said.

Desplat: On "Philomena," as I just said, it's called "Philomena." It's about her and what she suffered through for 50 years. She's over 70 years old, a simple woman, and the music had to reflect that in the most delicate way. That's something my European sensitivity most likely takes me toward. I could have almost said that we don't need any music. The characters and the directing is so beautiful already. You can't overwhelm a story with a loud score or a melody that could be too romantic or pushy. The emotions are so strong already that you just have to push a little bit and it goes as far as you can go. If you push more, it becomes cheesy.

'Philomena' Composer Alexandre Desplat Probably Wrote One Of Your Favorite Film Scores

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Animal trackers make rare unexpected discovery

On the trail of the pig-like creatures in Brazil, researchers made an unexpected and rare discovery: cave drawings showing armadillos, birds and reptiles, etched into stone thousands of years ago.

Researchers surveying pig-like animals called peccaries in Brazil inadvertently discovered ancient drawings of animals, like the reptile shown here.

Archaeologists who examined the rock art say hunter-gatherers likely created the drawings between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago. [Photos of Amazing Cave Art]

Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) made the find while surveying white-lipped peccaries in Brazil's Cerrado plateau, a vast savanna region, in 2009. The animals, which travel long distances, are considered environmental indicators of healthy forests.

"Since we often work in remote locations, we sometimes make surprising discoveries, in this case, one that appears to be important for our understanding of human cultural history in the region," Alexine Keuroghlian, a researcher with WCS's Brazil program, said in a statement.

The researchers encountered a series of sandstone formations with caves containing the artwork while tracking the peccaries near the remote city of Corguinho, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Archaeologists say the style of the drawings is more diverse than expected. While some resemble ancient art from the central Brazilian plateau, others, surprisingly, seem etched in the artistic tradition of northeastern Brazil, the researchers said. In addition to human figures and geometric shapes, many different kinds of animals were represented, from big cats and armadillos to birds and reptiles, but alas, no peccaries..

The cave art is described (in Portuguese) in the journal Revista Clio Arqueológica.

"These discoveries of cave drawings emphasize the importance of protecting the Cerrado and Pantanal ecosystems, both for their cultural and natural heritage," Julie Kunen, director of WCS's Latin America and the Caribbean program, said in a statement. "We hope to partner with local landowners to protect these cave sites, as well as the forests that surround them, so that the cultural heritage and wildlife depicted in the drawings are preserved for future generations."

A wide array of animals were depicted in the cave drawings found in Brazil's Cerrado plateau.

The white-lipped peccary, whose scientific name is Tayassu pecari, is listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's main authority for the conservation status of wildlife. The animal's range extends from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.. It faces threats in the wild, including deforestation and hunting.

Ancient Cave Drawings Found In Brazil Depict Armadillos, Other Animals (PHOTOS)

White-lipped peccaries may not be glamorous-looking, but like their truffle-sniffing cousins, they sometimes turn up treasure.  On the trail o...

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So THAT'S Why There's A Tiny Pocket In Your Jeans

Ever wonder why there's a teeny-tiny pocket above the regular ones in the front of your jeans? Or, more likely, have you ever gotten your thumb stuck in there due to its teeny-tiny smallness? Well, wonder no longer.

It's a watch pocket, originally for men who wore pocket watches and needed a protective place to store them. Though, as Levi's points out, the pocket has also served many other purposes over time, from condom storage to coin hoarding.

The burning question arose this week after curious minds re-discovered a Quora thread in which users have discussed this mysterious fifth pocket for years.

The Levi Strauss blog confirms their conclusion: "The first blue jeans had four pockets—only one in back and, in the front, two plus the small, watch pocket. This extra pouch has served many functions.... condom pocket, coin pocket, match pocket and ticket pocket, to name a few."

The pocket appears on the oldest pair of jeans in the Levi's archives, which date to about 1879, Levi's historian Tracey Panek told HuffPost.

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Police chief of violent city says more residents should have guns

Gun violence isn't particular to any one city. But in Detroit, frequent shootings, lawlessness and distrust in the police department's ability to stop crimes (or even show up to them) have bred mistrust and fear. The city's already been unfavorably compared to the Wild West.

Under a new police chief, the bankrupt city's beleaguered cops are finally driving down crime, including a 7 percent drop in violent crime in 2013, the police department said. But Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Detroit would be even more safe if it had -- wait for it -- more guns.

Crime rates in the Motor City are still staggeringly high. Detroit recorded 333 criminal homicides last year, along with 1,161 non-fatal shootings and 14,252 violent offenses. The Motor City logged the same number of murders as New York, despite having less than a tenth of the population.

It could seem like what Detroit actually needs is fewer guns and fewer people using them, but Detroit's police chief disagrees. During a recent interview on Detroit radio station WJR's "The Paul W. Smith Show," host Paul Smith asked Craig whether he knew of any instances of the "Knockout Game," a reported violent game of sucker-punching strangers, in Detroit.

"I think folks, the people who would engage in that foolishness, probably know that there's a number of CPL (Concealed Pistol License) holders running round the streets of in Detroit," Craig said. "Probably not a real good idea."

The police chief, who formerly served as the head of the Portland, Maine police department, said he believes that legal gun owners actually stop violent crime.

"I think it's a deterrent," he added. "Good Americans with CPLs translates into crime reduction, too. I learned that very quickly in the state of Maine. A lot of CPL holders."

Host Paul W. Smith laughed and replied, "At the bitter end, the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," echoing an argument made by the National Rifle Association.

At a press conference Thursday, the Detroit News reported, Craig reiterated his belief that arming more Detroiters would make the city safer.

"Maine is one of the safest places in America,' he said. "Clearly, suspects knew that good Americans were armed."

Proponents of stricter gun control measures have refuted the idea that more guns can result in less crime. A peer-reviewed study published in November that studied gun ownership in all 50 states over 29 years found that higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.

Although Craig supports having more legal gun owners, he has also emphasized confiscating illegal weapons. On Thursday, he said that in Detroit, each time they take an illegal gun off the street, they've likely prevented a robbery or shooting down the line. He also supports banning assault weapons, regulating magazines and ammunition and enforcing tighter background checks at gun shows, according to the Detroit News.

Wayne County, where the city of Detroit is located, had approved nearly 80,000 total concealed carry permits as of last month.

Police Chief James Craig Says What Detroit Needs Is More Guns

Gun violence isn't particular to any one city. But in Detroit, frequent shootings, lawlessness and distrust in the police department's ability to stop cr...

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One thing that five recent mass shootings have in common

Not only were four of these shootings carried out using AR-15-style assault rifles (the Umpqua shooter brought an AR-15 variation to campus but fired handguns )—the rifles legally .* It is extremely easy to obtain, no hoop-jumping required, a machine designed to kill many living things in a short amount of time. In Florida, it’s easier to buy an assault rifle than a handgun. Unless that changes, there’s no reason to think the frequency of shootings involving these deadly weapons will continue in any direction other than up

The Orlando shooting involved yet another AR-15-style assault rifle.

Many details about mass shootings, like Sunday morning's in Orlando, Florida, remain mysterious. But one known fact has shown up again and again: Not o ...

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And the top-rated restaurant in America according to Yelp is...

If you ask the professionals, the best restaurants in America are fancy-pants establishments like Alinea in Chicago, the French Laundry in Napa Valley, and Le Bernardin in New York, where a meal will set you back hundreds of dollars per person. But if you ask the foodies on the customer-reviews site Yelp.com, you’ll get a very different answer—and, in many ways, a better one.

Will Oremus Will Oremus is Slate’s senior technology writer. Email him at will.oremus@slate.com or follow him on Twitter.

For the first time, Yelp has released its own list of the 100 best places to eat in America, based on reviews from millions of diners who use the site. To arrive at the rankings, Yelp’s data mining engineers looked at both the average star rating for each restaurant and the total number of reviews it received. The resulting list is a delightfully unsnooty antidote to the Michelin Guide.

Yelpers are suitably impressed by haute cuisine, and the site’s top 100 does in fact include Alinea (No.7), the French Laundry (No. 34), and Le Bernardin (No. 45). But they care just as much about traits like charm, authenticity, and value for the money—traits that tend to fall by the wayside when the pros draw up their best-of lists. And so those white-tablecloth critical darlings must elbow for room at the table alongside Yelpers’ favorite barbecue joints, taco stands, and pho spots, many of which are beloved as much for their cheap prices and homey service as their delicious fare.

But the top restaurant of all on Yelp’s list is one that probably flies even further below the average food critic’s radar. It’s a tiny seafood haunt wedged into a condominium complex in Kona, on Hawaii’s Big Island. It’s called Da Poke Shack, and in Yelpers’ eyes it’s pretty much perfect: an average of five stars on 612 customer reviews.

Aficionados swoon for its poke bowls—salads that combine Japanese-inflected spices and greens like seaweed or kimchi with generous chunks of still-floppingly fresh, raw Ahi tuna. (This picture should give you a pretty good idea of the place’s primary ingredient.) They run about $8 a bowl, depending on market prices, and you can round out your meal with some garlic edamame and a can of Hawaiian beer and be out the door for about $15. A few caveats: Da Poke Shack is "wildly popular," reviewers note, so if you come at peak lunch hour you should expect to wait in line for a bit. And there’s hardly any seating, so you might be best off grabbing your food to go—one Yelper suggests taking it out to the sea wall and watching the waves crash as you dine. Oh, and don’t go expecting dinner, because it closes at 6 p.m.

It’s safe to say that even Da Poke Shack is surprised to find itself atop a national best-restaurants list. When I called the restaurant to ask if they’d heard that they had garnered Yelp.com’s top overall rating, the on-duty manager replied, "Oh, cool. You mean best on our island, right?" No, I said. Best in the country. The line went silent for a few moments. "Oh," he said again. "Wow."

Are Yelp’s rankings definitive? Of course not. They’re shaped by the demographics of the site’s users, who skew young, middle-class, and tech-savvy. And while the sample size is large, there’s some selection bias at work. Da Poke Shack, for instance, seems more likely to be visited and reviewed by someone who already knows she loves poke than, say, a steak-lover with an aversion to raw seafood. Yelpers, by and large, tend to evaluate establishments on their own terms, which means that their top picks won’t necessarily appeal to the least common denominator.

That said, every restaurant-rating system worth its salt is highly subjective. And I’d argue that, in comparison to its buttoned-down brethren, Yelp’s list makes for a far better reflection of the glorious smorgasbord of cuisines and dining styles that you can find in America today. We live in a golden age of food, from $200 prix fixe feasts to divine $1.75 adobada tacos, and this list proves it. See below for Yelp’s top 20 picks, or click here for the full list.

You’ll Never Guess the Top-Rated Restaurant in America on Yelp. Don’t Even Try.

If you ask the professionals, the best restaurants in America are fancy-pants establishments like Alinea in Chicago, the French Laundry in Napa Valley, ...

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YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT THIS BEER PONG TABLE CAN DO

YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT THIS BEER PONG TABLE CAN DO

Man college kids get all the cool stuff. What am I talking about i’m not in college and I still want one of these tables. The future is here, well at least the beer pong future. Jeff Nybo is the mastermind behind these interactive beer pong tables that will take your party to the next level. After some years of failed designs Nybo was able to create the BPT X5 beer pong table kit. The table can detect when a cup is removed, display the score, color changing cup detection, and it wouldn’t be complete without a automatic air bath for your balls. See more of the features in the video below and you can also donate HERE.