Blog Posts by Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff

You Angel has arrived. Photo: Facebook

Just who is Ahmed Angel, the mysteriously bright-eyed, shiny-haired, self-loving poser trending online everywhere from Reddit to Kotaku to BuzzFeed? We're not certain, honestly. But here's what we've gathered so far:

1. He is planet. And in a loving tribute to himself, he shows us all what that means.

2. He rocks acid-washed jeans. And not only that—he can look equally divine in shades of mustard, turquoise, taupe, cherry-red, yellow, chartreuse, pink, and white.

3. He’s accomplished, yet still learning. Angel is both a doctor and a student. (It all depends which Facebook account you’re referring to—the regular page, on which he’s a student, or the “official” page, on which he’s a doctor, and which is the only page “liked” by the regular one.)

Photo: Facebook

4. His FB fans are gushers. They tell him, “You make my life complete,” and, “You are a wonderful creature,” and call him “mega-inspirational,” “amazing,” “the best forever,” “more beautiful than the sun and the moon combined,” and, simply,

Read More »from Ahmed Angel: Everything We Know About The Internet's Favorite Male Model (Except if He's Real)

Dzhokhar Tsarvaev. Photo: AFP/Getty ImagesThe face of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to the majority of Americans, churns up feelings of hatred, anger, and unspeakable grief. But it’s fueling something else for a surprising number of young women: puppy love.

More on Shine: Boston Bombers' Parents Defend Their Kids: Can We Blame Them?

Since his arrest in April, 19-year-old Tsarnaev has grown into a bit of an online heartthrob, with supporters setting up special Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr pages in his honor, using the hashtag #freejahar. The fans declare his innocence, refer to him by his nickname of Jahar, write about how they wish they could get in touch with him (and, in one case, “curl up and take a nap” in his soft hair), publicize items like hand beaded “Free Jahar” bracelets, and note that he’s “beautiful,” “hot” and “too pretty to be guilty.” One Kansas teen even told the New York Post that she was going to get a Tsarnaev quote tattooed onto her arm, though she soon after changed her mind.

More on

Read More »from Boston Bombing Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Disturbing Female Fan Club

Photo: Todor Tsvetkov/Getty ImagesWhen it comes to bouts of teenage rage, there are tantrums—and then there are tantrums. Diagnosable ones.

More on Shine: How Will the New Definition of Autism in DSM-5 Affect Children? Parents, Advocates Anxious Over Changes.

Many kids prone to explosive anger, in fact, are labeled bipolar. It’s part of the reason that, in the past decade alone, diagnoses of the disorder in children have soared by a staggering 40 percent, with some estimates putting the prevalence rate as high as 3 percent in adolescents. And that’s particularly noteworthy considering that, before the mid-1990s, almost no one diagnosed bipolar disorder in kids.

What’s happened between then and now has been the fascinating evolution of a pediatric disorder, driven by major psychiatric studies changing the way symptoms of the condition are seen in kids, and culminating, for now at least, with this month’s controversial release of the DSM-5, the official bible of American mental illness.

More on Yahoo!: Catherine Zeta-Jones

Read More »from Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder in Kids: Here's the DSM-5's Controversial New Update

Presenting the old and new Merida. Photo: Disney/PixarSo it turns out that Merida, the rebellious redhead star of Disney’s Pixar film “Brave,” is true princess material after all, and Disney is coronating her as its 11th official princess on Saturday at Walt Disney World to prove it. But wait, there’s a catch.

More from Shine: Animated Disney Characters who were Based on Real Actors

Turns out that Merida’s only joining the royal lineup after a corporate makeover that’s rendered her skinnier, sexier, and more glamorous than her original spunky, tomboyish self—stripping her, at least in some images, of her trusty bow and arrow, and putting her into the very dress that her character detested in “Brave.” It’s sparked outrage among thousands of mothers for whom Merida offered, finally, an empowering Disney role model for their girls.

“Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for—a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready,” reads a Change.org

Read More »from Disney Princess Makeover Sparks Outrage: Merida Petition Goes Viral

Knox with Cuomo. Photo: CNNCNN's interview with Amanda Knox, which aired Tuesday night, is getting some unexpected attention from critics. Wednesday, Gawker likened Chris Cuomo's sit-down with Knox to sexual harassment, calling his aggressive line of questioning about what he repeatedly called her "freaky" personal sex life. (You can watch an excerpt of the interview here or watch it in its entirety when it's rebroadcast on Saturday night.)

On Thursday, after a barrage of negative viewer feedback on Twitter, a CNN spokesperson defended the interview, telling Yahoo! Shine, “In this interview, Cuomo wanted to give Knox the opportunity to speak to the prosecution’s theories. He asked tough questions that reflected those of the prosecution, not his own ideas or beliefs. We encourage people to read the full transcript and watch the entire interview for full context.”

But an inside source at Harper Collins, where Knox's book was published, had a very different take. Apparently, some folks involved with the book felt the

Read More »from Amanda Knox's CNN Interview was 'Intense,' says Her Publicist. Others Call it Bullying.

It’s been said that being trusted is a greater compliment than being loved, and if that’s true, then Sandra Bullock must be feeling pretty pleased with herself. She beat out totally beloved women including Michele Obama, Robin Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Oprah Winfrey and Julia Roberts (and men including both President Obama and Clint Eastwood) in Readers Digest’s “100 Most Trusted People in America” list, released Tuesday. Bullock ranked No. 2 overall, just behind Tom Hanks (no surprise there) and miles ahead of Kristen Stewart, who had the dubious distinction of topping the Least Trusted list. 

The Reader’s Digest results came from an online poll of more than 1,000 Americans who based trustworthiness on “integrity and character, exceptional talent, drive to personal excellence, internal moral compass, message, honesty and leadership.”

So what’s Bullock got over K-Stew and the others? “It comes down to sincerity, which is a sorely lacking trait in celebrity-land these days,” longtime

Read More »from Why is Sandra Bullock the Most Trusted Woman in America?

Ashley Summer, who would be 19, in an age-progression image. Photo: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children/Daily NewsWhile the family members of recovered kidnapping victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are rejoicing this week, the kin of another Cleveland woman, Ashley Summers, are struggling to keep hope alive under the heavy weight of disappointment.

More from Shine: Kidnapping Survivors: What Happens What They Go Home

Summers went missing in 2007 at the age of 14, and on Monday, before third woman Michelle Knight was identified, her aunt Debra initially thought she was among them.

“I called my mom, I called my sisters, I called everybody,” she told CNN, standing in front of her house with tears in her eyes, agreeing that she was crushed when Ashley was not one of the saved women. “I was upset, but I was happy at the same time that they found the third girl,” she said. “We’re hoping that it’s connected, and they knew where she was. We’re hoping for a miracle.”

More from Yahoo!: Questions Mount on how Ohio Women's Captivity Went Undetected

Debra was at work when Shine reached out to

Read More »from Ashley Summers, Fourth Missing Cleveland Girl: Is She Connected to Kidnapping Case?

photo by AP images

When news broke Monday that three women who vanished a decade ago had been found in downtown Cleveland, few people could claim to have any idea what was going through the minds of Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry, and Michelle Knight. But Jaycee Dugard—the California woman who was kidnapped and held for 18 years, sharing her experience in a 2011 memoir, “A Stolen Life”—is among a handful of people who can.

More on Shine: Jaycee Dugard: Healing Without Rage and Why

“These individuals need the opportunity to heal and connect back into the world,” she said Tuesday in a media statement about the new case. “This isn’t who they are. It is only what happened to them.” It’s only what happened to Dugard, too, along with others like Elizabeth Smart and Natascha Kampusch, whose stories of resilience have been followed by the public for years. What they’ve managed to do with their lives since being rescued, though, is oftentimes just as incredible.

Dugard. Photo: Charles Isherman/Getty ImagesJaycee Dugard
Dugard was just 11 years old when, on her Read More »from Kidnapping Survivors: What Happens When They Go Home