Category: Life Style

GivingTuesday estimates $3.6B was donated this year, an increase from 2023

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Volunteer Victoria Vasquez, 70, of Providence, R.I., center, supervises one-and-a-half year olds Scarlett Thomas, left, and Liam Echevarria Gaytan, right, in an early childcare program at Federal Hill House, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

By THALIA BEATY Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. donors gave $3.6 billion on Tuesday, an increase from the past two years, according to estimates from the nonprofit GivingTuesday.

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, now known as GivingTuesday, has become a major day for nonprofits to fundraise and otherwise engage their supporters each year, since the 92nd St Y in New York started it as a hashtag in 2012. GivingTuesday has since become an independent nonprofit that connects a worldwide network of leaders and organizations who promote giving in their communities.

“This just really shows the generosity, the willingness of American citizens to show up, particularly collectively,” said Asha Curran, CEO of the nonprofit GivingTuesday. “We are just seeing the power of collective action and particularly collective giving over and over and over again.” Continue reading

Libraries are offering free health and wellness classes across the US

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Chef Sharrie Agee helps Yareni Orduna-Herrera slice tomatoes for a margherita pizza as part of the Milwaukee Public Library Snack Hack, an after school nutrition program that teaches kids how to make healthy meals at home, Nov. 19, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Devi Shastri)

By DEVI SHASTRI AP Health Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Aurora Health Care Mobile Medical Clinic team waited patiently at a table in the main hallway of the Milwaukee Public Library’s sprawling downtown branch, a blood pressure cuff and mental health questionnaire at the ready as they called out to patrons who paused: “Do you have any questions about your health?”

On this Tuesday afternoon, one man did. His joints were bothering him, he told Carolyn McCarthy, the team’s nurse practitioner. And he knew his bones need calcium to stay strong, so he stopped taking his blood pressure medication, a calcium channel blocker.

McCarthy talked with him at length in simple and specific terms about how the medication worked on his cells, why it was important to take and how it doesn’t affect calcium storage in his bones.

“Hopefully, he walked away a little bit more informed,” McCarthy said. Continue reading

Over Half of White Collar Workers Prefer Working From Home, Even With One-Third Experiencing Isolation

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BY Jon Dulin | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Remote work has gone from a necessity to a must-have for many workers. A recent USA Today study shows most workers prefer to work from home, ideally at least three days a week.

While workers cite benefits, including increased productivity, this “new normal” also brings challenges like managing work-life balance and feeling isolated from colleagues. Even with some companies pushing back with return-to-office requests, experts project the number of remote workers to increase in the coming years. As businesses and employees adapt, the conversation around remote work evolves, revealing opportunities and hurdles for the future workforce. Continue reading

As China cracks down on bookstores at home, Chinese-language booksellers are flourishing overseas

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Yu Miao, right, owner of JF Books, looks at his phone as customers browse the books in his bookstore in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

By FU TING Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Yu Miao smiles as he stands among the 10,000 books crowded on rows of bamboo shelves in his newly reopened bookstore. It’s in Washington’s vibrant Dupont Circle neighborhood, far from its last location in Shanghai, where the Chinese government forced him out of business six years ago.

“There is no pressure from the authorities here,” said Yu, the owner of JF Books, Washington’s only Chinese bookseller. “I want to live without fear.”

Independent bookstores have become a new battleground in China, swept up in the ruling Communist Party’s crackdown on dissent and free expression. The Associated Press found that at least a dozen bookstores in the world’s second-largest economy have been shuttered or targeted for closure in the last few months alone, squeezing the already tight space for press freedom. One bookstore owner was arrested over four months ago. Continue reading

Care for a sweet treat during Mexico’s Day of the Dead? Have a bite of ‘pan de muerto’

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Pan de muerto, or “bread of the dead,” traditional for Mexico’s Day of the Dead, sits for sale at a bakery in the San Rafael neighborhood of Mexico City, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first bite is an assault to the senses. A sugary, citric, fluffy delight.

“Pan de muerto” or “bread of the dead” is baked in Mexico every year, from early October to mid-November, amid Day of the Dead celebrations.

Shaped like a bun, decorated with bone-like bread pieces and sugar on top, pan de muerto can be seen at coffee shops, dinner tables or home-made altars, which Mexicans build to remember their deceased loved ones and welcome them back for a night on Nov. 2.

Its date of origin can’t be specified, but pan de muerto can be thought of as a fusion of Mesoamerican and Spanish traditions, said Andrés Medina, a researcher at the Anthropological Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Continue reading

King Charles III’s visit rekindles Australia’s debate on ending ties to the British monarchy

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The Sydney Opera House sails show photos of Britain’s King Charles and Queen camilla soon after their arrival in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Sydney on Friday for the first Australian visit by a reigning monarch in more than a decade, a trip that has restarted debate about the nation’s constitutional links to Britain.

The Sydney Opera House’s iconic sails were illuminated with images of previous royal visits to welcome the couple, whose six-day trip will be brief by royal standards. Charles, 75, is being treated for cancer, which led to the reduced itinerary.

Charles and Camilla were welcomed in light rain at Sydney Airport by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns and the king’s representative in Australia, Governor-General Sam Mostyln.

Charles is only the second reigning British monarch to visit Australia. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first 70 years ago.

While the welcome has been warm, Australia’s national and state leaders want the royals removed from their constitution. Continue reading

‘Kindness’ influencers on TikTok give money to strangers. Why is that controversial?

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Influencer Jimmy Darts poses for a portrait, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Southern California. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

By KAITLYN HUAMANI Associated Press

Every Christmas growing up in Minnesota, Jimmy Darts’ parents gave him $200 in cash: $100 for himself and $100 for a stranger. Now, with over 12 million followers on TikTok and several million more on other platforms, philanthropy is his full-time job.

Darts, whose real surname is Kellogg, is one of the biggest creators of “kindness content,” a subset of social media videos devoted to helping strangers in need, often with cash amassed through GoFundMe and other crowdfunding methods. A growing number of creators like Kellogg give away thousands of dollars – sometimes even more – on camera as they also encourage their large followings to donate.

“The internet is a pretty crazy, pretty nasty place, but there’s still good things happening on there,” Kellogg told The Associated Press.

Not everyone likes these videos, though, with some viewers deeming them, at their best, performative, and at their worst, exploitative. Continue reading

In Senegal, the bastion of the region’s Francophonie, French is giving way to local languages

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A man sits outside a stationary store with French signs in Dakar, Senegal, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

By MONIKA PRONCZUK Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — For decades Senegal, a former French colony in West Africa, has been touted as the bastion of the French language in the region. Leopold Sedar Senghor, the country’s first president and a poet, is considered one of the founding fathers of the concept of Francophonie, a global alliance of French-speaking countries.

But many say a shift is underway. While French remains the country’s official language, inscribed into its constitution, its influence is waning. It is giving way to Wolof, the most widely spoken local language — and not just on the street, where the latter has always been dominant, but in the halls of power: government offices, university corridors and mainstream media. Continue reading

Can a Good Cup of Coffee Turn a Bad Day Around?

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Michael Dinich | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Over half of Americans claim a good cup of coffee can be “so powerful,” it can turn their worst days around into good ones.

On the flip side, in a poll of 2,000 American coffee drinkers, 31% said their entire day can be ruined if their coffee isn’t right. Some are so in-tune with their coffee, they can tell when they’ve received the incorrect order based on if it doesn’t taste right (25%) or doesn’t look right (9%).

Commissioned by La Colombe and Chobani and conducted by Talker Research, the study revealed how both hot coffee and iced coffee drinkers prefer their brews. Continue reading

As theaters struggle, many independent cinemas in Los Angeles are finding their audience

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Cinephile Miles Villalon, left, stands underneath the marquee of the New Beverly Cinema revival theater, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

By KRYSTA FAURIA Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — On a hot summer evening, Miles Villalon lined up outside the New Beverly Cinema, hours before showtime.

The 36-year-old already had tickets to the Watergate-themed double feature of 1976’s “All the President’s Men” and 1999’s “Dick.” But Villalon braved Los Angeles’ infamous rush-hour traffic to snag front-row seats at Quentin Tarantino’s historic theater.

This level of dedication is routine for the Starbucks barista and aspiring filmmaker, who typically sees up to six movies a week in theaters, and almost exclusively in independently owned theaters in and around Los Angeles.

“I always say it feels like church,” he said. “When I go to AMC, I just sit there. And I can’t really experience that communal thing that we have here, where we’re all just worshipping at the altar of celluloid.” Continue reading