In this July 11, 2011 photo, Stormy Bradley, right, and her daughter Maya, 14, walk their dog Bubbles in their neighborhood in Atlanta. Maya, who is 5'4By LINDSEY TANNER - AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO (AP) - Should parents of extremely obese children lose custody for not controlling their kids' weight? A provocative commentary in one of the nation's most distinguished medical journals argues yes, and its authors are joining a quiet chorus of advocates who say the government should be allowed to intervene in extreme cases.
It has happened a few times in the U.S., and the opinion piece in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association says putting children temporarily in foster care is in some cases more ethical than obesity surgery.
Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children's Hospital Boston, said the point isn't to blame parents, but rather to act in children's best interest and get them help that for whatever reason their parents can't provide.
State intervention "ideally will support not just the child but the whole family, with the goal of reuniting child and family as soon as possible. That
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Should parents lose custody of super-obese kids?
By Associated Press | Healthy Living – Tue, Jul 12, 2011 10:40 PM EDTExtreme coupon cutters save cash, teach their ways
By Associated Press | Financially Fit – Fri, Jul 8, 2011 2:38 PM EDT
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Monica Knight, a dental hygienist and mother of two, shows her coupon binder at her home in Boise, Idaho. Knight, a used to spend spent $600 a month on groceries. Thanks to extreme couponing she's down to $100-150 a month. (AP Photo/Jessie L. Bonner)BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The women sat expectantly as Monica Knight told them she once routinely spent $600 a month on groceries for her family of four. Breaking into a broad smile, Knight says that figure has been reduced to only $100 to $150 a month.
And now the dental hygienist and mother of two is about to tell them her secret.
The women lean forward in their seats. They're the latest disciples of extreme couponing; women who carry pictures of their overflowing pantries on their cell phones; savvy shoppers who will spend hours flipping through newspaper and magazine advertisements in search of their bargains, and homemakers who have pinched pennies to put food on the table during the recession and need the extra help.
Most have watched the television series "Extreme Couponing," which debuted on TLC in April and follows shoppers whose intense devotion to finding bargains can whittle a $555.44 grocery store bill down to $5.97, to cite one extreme example.
Heather Border, a 36-year-oldWith royal visit, celeb shooters under scrutiny
By Associated Press | Work + Money – Wed, Jul 6, 2011 9:51 PM EDT
FILE - In this July 4, 2011 file photo, Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wave to the crowd as they board the plane in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The couple will arrive Friday, July 8, in California, a state that in the years since Princess Diana's death has passed three laws intended to curb paparazzi abuses. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Andrew Vaughan)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - More than a dozen years after Princess Diana's death on a Paris highway sparked an international backlash against the photographers who chased her, her son's visit to the paparazzi hotbed of Southern California has officials on high alert.Prince William and bride Kate will arrive Friday in a state that in the years since Diana's death has passed three laws intended to curb paparazzi abuses. The most recent change, inspired in part by Jennifer Aniston's experiences, raises the penalties for aggressive driving by paparazzi from mere infractions to misdemeanors punishable by up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The newlyweds are two of the world's hottest celebrities right now and law enforcement officials who have hoped for a situation to test the new laws think they may get one when the perfect storm of British and Los Angeles celebrity photographers jockey for shots of the royal couple.
"We want to make sure everybody has a safe trip," Los Angeles
Read More »from With royal visit, celeb shooters under scrutinyHigh fashion or bait? Fly ties now hair extensions
By Associated Press | Fashion – Fri, Jun 3, 2011 6:16 PM EDT
In this photo taken May 24, 2011, Kim Shanks gets feather extensions clipped into her hair at MiraBella Salon and Spa in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Jessie L. Bonner)By JESSIE L. BONNER, Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho - Fly shop manager Jim Bernstein was warned that hair stylists would come banging on his door, but he didn't listen.Sure enough, less than 24 hours later, a woman walked into the Eldredge Bros. Fly Shop in Maine and made a beeline toward a display of hackles - the long, skinny rooster feathers fishermen use to make lures.
"She brought a bunch up to the counter and asked if I could get them in pink," he said. "That's when I knew."
Fly fishing shops nationwide, he learned, are at the center of the latest hair trend: Feather extensions. Supplies at stores from the coasts of Maine to landlocked Idaho are running out and some feathers sold online are fetching hundreds of dollars more than the usual prices.
"I'm looking around the shop thinking hmmm, what else can they put in their hair?" Bernstein said.
Fly fishermen are not happy, bemoaning the trend in online message boards and sneering at so-called "feather ladies."
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