Blog Posts by Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff

Protestors of the FDA crackdown handed out samples of Mimolette in New York City Saturday. Photo: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty ImagesAn FDA crackdown on the import of the French cheese mimolette has foodies crying foul, prompting one group to hold a protest in New York City over the weekend, and the Whole Foods global cheese buyer to warn fans “Grab it if you see it! We don’t know how long it will be gone.”

More on Shine: Would You Give Your Kids Raw Milk?

About 40 protesters in Greenwich Village, many dressed in orange to pay homage to the hue of the cheese, handed out bite-sized samples to folks on the street in order to raise awareness. One woman, from Texas, took part in the action with her husband and their daughter. She told The Local, "I want to support mimolette. We adore mimolette."

The Whole Foods buyer, Cathy Stranger, meanwhile, told Yahoo! Shine, “I think it’s an unfortunate situation. The product has been made for centuries, and imported into the U.S. probably since they began allowing imports.”

More on Yahoo!: Ten Foods That Have Been Banned

Still, the FDA has held up more than 1,100 pounds of the

Read More »from French Mimolette: The Hardest Cheese to Get Your Hands On

Skivvies showing? That'll be $50, please. Photo: Getty Images/Dirk AnschutzPants on the ground? Better pull ’em up fast if you’re in Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish, where a new law bans the low-slung, undies-exposing jeans look popularized by hip-hop culture.

More on Shine: Baggy Pants Ban in Florida Sparks Controversey

The ban, approved Wednesday and expected to be signed into law this week, targets the public wearing of pants—and, oddly, skirts—that hang “below the waist” and “expose the skin or undergarments.” Violators will be slapped with fines: $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second, and $100 plus 16 hours of public service for each subsequent offense.

“Hopefully, it’ll get these young men to pull up their pants,” council member Russell Hornsby told Yahoo! Shine.

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Hornsby’s colleague John Navy proposed the ordinance, and explained to Yahoo! Shine that many constituents had called upon the council to do something about what has apparently become a widespread saggy pants problem. The Read More »from Too-Saggy Pants Banned in Louisiana, Prompts Fears of Racial Profiling

Red Cross volunteer Carlos Arredondo helped victims immediately following the Boston explosions. It's not too late for you to help, too. Photo: Getty Images/Darren McCollesterWhen your heart is wide open, you’re vulnerable. It’s something scam artists know well, and they did, right on cue, begin preying on folks who wanted to help out in the wake of the Boston Marathon explosion tragedy.

More on Shine: First Reactions from the Finish Line at the Boston Marathon

According to The Domains, an industry news site about online domain names, more than 125 such names relating to the Boston Marathon explosions have been registered since Monday—many disguised to look like money-raising charities but actually created for self gain.

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“We need to watch those to make sure they are only used by licensed and regulated charities,” wrote editor Michael Berkens, referring to new sites with names like 2013bostonbombing.com, bombsinboston.com, bostonattack.com and terrorinboston.com.

“Just minutes after the reports of the explosions hit the news, domain names related to the bombings were already

Read More »from Boston Marathon Tragedy: How to Avoid Charity Scams and Help for Real

Chaos followed the explosions in Boston. Photo: Getty Images/Boston GlobeAfter a pair of deadly explosions tore through the Boston Marathon Monday, folks watching helplessly from afar were left scrambling to access information about loved ones’ safety, as well as details on ways to help (though if you’re in Boston, the best ways to be helpful, according to officials, are to remain at home and stay off your cell phone except for emergencies, instead using social media to contact family and friends). Yahoo! Shine will be updating this post with any new resources we can find as the situation unfolds.

Stay Informed
Following #BostonMarathon on Twitter is a great way to stay in the loop, as far as where to help and find help. The live blog at Boston.com will keep you up-to-date with live news coverage, tweets, video feeds and information on where to help. Also, follow Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency @MassEMA on Twitter for information on transportation closings and other logistics. Rebel Mouse has set up a Boston Marathon Explosions page, which is

Read More »from Boston Marathon Explosions: How You Can Help and Stay Informed, Right Now

This ruby-red cocktail comes with a real ruby—and a whopping price tag. Photo: Getty Images/Jonathan Kantor StudioSure, high-priced cocktails are a thing. But you might truly need a drink after hearing about this one: the Ruby Rose, a vodka-based concoction poured over a four-carat ruby gemstone.

The price tag? A cool $40,000.

Available starting June 1 at the White Barn Inn in Kennebunk, Maine, as reported by the Portland Press Herald, the Lexus RX–priced beverage was been created in honor of the swanky hotel’s 40th anniversary.

The idea of dropping an actual ruby into the red mix—of Hangar One vodka, St. Germain liqueur, fresh grapefruit juice, pomegranate and rosewater—began as a joke made by a hotel guest. But eventually it struck staffers as natural fit, since the ruby is actually the 40th anniversary gemstone.

“Rubies were always considered a very precious gem,” maitre d'hotel Matthew Swinford told the Herald, “and [founder Laurence “Laurie” Bongiorno] would always refer to the White Barn Inn as a precious gem.”

A New York jeweler is currently shopping around for the rubies, and the first—yep,

Read More »from Behold the $40,000 Cocktail

When General Hospital debuted in 1963 as a staid, doctor-centered drama, it was immediately put on life support. But producers quickly figured out the key to getting the show's ratings sky-high: non-medical hijinks, love triangles and hotties galore. What passed for hunky in the 1960s, though, didn't quite stay the same in the decades that followed. Allow us to present a mini-retrospective.--Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff

Read More »from The Hunks of General Hospital: Highlights of 50 Years

Wardlaw, left, and Zehetbauer, skiing on Mt. Hood recently. Photo courtesy of Ted Wardlaw.It’s like the ultimate buddy movie—two creative types set off on the adventure of a lifetime, indulge in frequent bouts of barbecuing and skiing, and never really have to let the party end. Because, hey, they live next door to each other in cool, hand-built, matching houses, where there’s plenty of room for girlfriends.

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That’s every-day life for Roland Zehetbauer and Ted Wardlaw, who decided to commit to their bromance when they built side-by-side contemporary houses on the same Portland, Oregon, lot, moving in last year. It was the lucky continuation of a friendship sparked when the two men were neighbors, married with children.

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Now, after each going through a divorce and simultaneously wondering what their next move would be, they are once again neighbors, this time in side-by-side, 1,500-square-foot glass-and-wood houses that they built and helped design, the Wall Street Journal

Read More »from Modern Day "Odd Couple" Lives in Side-by-Side Matching Houses

Pendant with breast-milk "bead" by MommyMilk on Etsy.I admit I was sort of a breastfeeding fanatic: I loved the process, let my now-4-year-old nurse until she was just past two (only stopping then because my milk ran out), and even once sneaked a quick nip of the stuff from a bottle when no one was looking (it was surprisingly watery).

Here’s something I never wanted to do: preserve a heart-shaped drop of my “plasticized” milk in a pendant so I could wear it around my neck and gaze at it from time to time and show it to my daughter when she was all grown up.

But hey, what do I know? Breast-milk jewelry—and even, um, soap—is all over Etsy. And it’s selling.

“I’m a perfectionist and I strive to create the most perfect keepsake that I can,” writes Allicia Mogavero on her Mommy Milk Creations Etsy site, where she’s sold more than 250 pieces. “I make your breast milk bead pendants and other keepsakes like I would want my own. I take my time doing the absolute best that I can to make your special keepsake as perfect as it can be.”

Mogavero

Read More »from Got Breast-milk Jewelry? Memento Trend Goes Beyond Baby Footprints or Locks of Hair