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Coping with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Jackie Warner
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Only if you have suffered from seasonal affective disorder will you probably know what it is. Maybe some of us have suffered from this malady without even knowing that it could have been a seasonal affective disorder. So let’s look at it in a little depth, and you will soon see if you might have been a sufferer once and how to cope with it better should it come your way again.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a kind of depression, related to the changing seasons, beginning and ending more or less the same time each year. And if you are like a lot of other people, you will be aware that your symptoms would have started sometime around the fall and then would have continued into winter, kind of eating away at your energy and making you feel lethargic, moody, and shall we say – SAD. SAD is noted to start disappearing at the start of spring and early summer. If you have suffered from the “winter blues,” it could well have been SAD, and the best medicine is to try your best to keep your motivation and mood up during these times, because when you are feeling down, sometimes other maladies sneak in.

seasonal affective disorder sad infographic images

There is, however, a difference between having the winter blues and SAD – apparently between September and March, a lot of people do experience symptoms of having the ‘winter blues’ which means they don’t enjoy or like the darker mornings, the shorter days, eating more and getting up in the dark to go to work etc. – many find it difficult, even an uphill struggle. But when you have SAD, the feelings mentioned above are actually heightened, and even additional symptoms can be experienced. Many times the treatment for this condition, SAD, will include some light therapy such as phototherapy, some psychotherapy, and some medications.

attractive young man suffering from season affective disorder sad

How is SAD diagnosed?

There aren’t really any medical tests which help a doctor outright to diagnose you with SAD. It is diagnosed on the basis of examining carefully your history of depression and maybe some medical tests. If the SAD symptoms are severe, doctors might prescribe antidepressants such as Paxil, or Zoloft, or Prozac. Some doctors will even recommend you start taking these prescribed drugs before SAD sets in and then continuing with it until around the time when symptoms normally disappear or ease up, such as in the spring and summer months. That means a diagnosis won’t yet be made until you have, say, 2 or 3 seasons in a run with the same symptoms.

The health professionals will figure out that you have had depression that starts at the same seasonal time every year and that you don’t have any other episodes of depression during other seasons. SAD is a bit tricky in that often, you kind of have to suffer through two winters of depression to actually diagnose it, which is not great if you are suffering and you want to feel better. But luckily, you can do something about it yourself from natural sources and ones that are prescription free.young woman suffereing from season affective disorder sad depression

Symptoms to look out for

If you have suffered from SAD, you will probably know exactly what the symptoms are – a bit of depression, feelings of sadness, feeling tired, irritable, very little energy, battling to sleep, and not being able to concentrate. If your symptoms were more severe, you might even have felt a feeling of helplessness, worthlessness, no hope – your weight might have changed and worse and not to be excluded, sometimes even feelings of suicide might have come your way.

Remember, there different types of depression as well such as clinical depression, major depression, bipolar disorder and then this one, seasonal affective disorder as well. Symptoms and levels of intensity can vary from person to person.

Who is likely to get SAD?

  • It has been said too, that the closer a person lives to the equator, the less likely you will develop SAD. So a person living in places like California or Florida might not have symptoms and then start experiencing SAD symptoms when they move
    away to places that are not so temperate. One in every ten people are said to develop this SAD pattern during their lifetime. It affects 9.5% of people living in northern Finland and 9.9% of people in Alaska, but only affects 1.4% in sunny Florida, researchers say. This year’s winter in Moscow, people enjoyed just 6 minutes of sunshine in December compared to the 18 hours that they normally enjoy.
  • Research shows that women are actually four times more likely to have this problem over men.
  • The rates of SAD are also high for those who do night time and evening shift over those who do it during the day. Those people who work for extended periods without the sun in their lives like miners or those in submarines; are more likely to feel the effects of SAD.
  • Sometimes alcohol abusers or people with mood disorders are also at greater risk of developing SAD.
  • Strangely enough, there is a fascinating difference between people who are classified as having traditional depressive symptoms and those who have SAD symptoms when it comes to eating. Those with SAD are known to want to eat more, and they are inclined to gain weight with increased cravings for sweets and carbohydrates, whereas those who suffer from depressive symptoms usually have decreased appetite.

woman getting light for seasonal affective disorder sad

  • Research has taken place from the National Institute of Mental Health which believes that SAD occurs because people don’t have enough light. This led to the development of phototherapy, or light therapy, which has been shown to be very successful in treating those with SAD, 80% of whom noted that many of their symptoms were less after they were succumbed to as little as 4 days of full-on light therapy for just 2 hours a day. In hardware stores, you can find these full spectrum light bulbs with strengths of a minimum of 2500 lux.
  • Light therapy appears also to help people to reduce their appetite by reducing their cravings for food.
  • Light therapy was also known to elevate the moods of people with SAD and to improve their sleeping habits. It is unfortunate though, that those who have to stop using the light therapy after a couple of days start experiencing the same symptoms again. It is proven that consistency is needed to get relief from the symptoms. People need to make a point of being outside to expose themselves to natural sunlight when it is available in the winter months.
  • If you have SAD in winter you will probably feel like oversleeping; your appetite will change, with cravings for food with high carbs. You can possibly gain weight, and you will probably feel tired with low energy all the time. SAD in summer, sometimes known as “summer depression” could include trouble with sleeping, a poor appetite, anxiety, and weight loss.

young woman in snow feeling sad symptoms

It is still not known what really causes SAD

Unfortunately, specific causes of seasonal affective disorder still are not fully known, but there are some factors that might be of importance, such as:

  1. When your biological clock (circadian rhythm) is disrupted. With reduced levels of sunlight, particularly in the fall and winter, SAD can “set in.” This is because decreased sunlight can disrupt the internal clock.
  2. Serotonin levels drop off: The neurotransmitters of your brain drop, and this can affect your mood and play a role in bringing on SAD. Reduced sunlight is known to cause a drop in serotonin which can trigger off depression.
  3. Melatonin levels are known to change: Changes in the seasons can disrupt the balance of the body’s levels of melatonin, and this can play a role in mood and sleeping patterns.

woman looking down from bridge with sad symtoms

Are there risk factors to SAD?

As mentioned above, SAD is noticed more in women than in men. It also appears to manifest itself more in younger people than in older people. Take a look at some factors that might increase the risks of SAD:

  • You have a family history: People with SAD might well have family who has experienced SAD or other types of depression.
  • You have either had bipolar disorder or major depression. SAD can get worse if you have had any of these conditions.
  • You live far from the equator. SAD seems to be more prevalent in people who live far north or south of the equator, and it could be due to decreased sunlight during the winter and days that are longer in the summertime.

When any person suffers from SAD, it is not something just to take lightly. Look at other types of depression. Unless they are dealt with, they can get worse and SAD is no exception. Look at these problems that can come your way if you allow it to carry on:

  • You withdraw from the social scene.
  • You suffer from problems at school, college, or work.
  • There is substance abuse.
  • You can suffer from further mental issues like anxiety or eating disorders.
  • Your behavior could be suicidal or you have suicidal thoughts.

Fortunately, there are treatments which can prevent complications, and it needs to be nipped in the bud before symptoms deteriorate.

avocado salads on wooden server health fitness

You are what you eat

Some governments recommend that everyone takes Vitamin D supplements. It is believed that there is a link between the benefits of vitamin D and SAD (which can prepare you for the onset of winter and the varying changes in the seasons). Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with anxiety and depression, poor immunity and depression during winter. Governments reckon that people aren’t getting enough of this vitamin through their diets alone.

A diet should be rich in protein and low in refined carbohydrates, which helps to sustain energy levels, helping you to feel satisfied and sustained. Nutrient dense foods could be nuts, oil, fish, avocado and even something like spirulina – all supply essential fatty acids which support the brain tissue and your hormonal levels. Apart from the high level of fats, insoluble and soluble fibers are needed, as well as probiotics, because they help to support toxin removal through the digestive tract. Building up a healthy gut is your first line of defense in winter.

The best solutions

  • Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids will help to support the nervous system, cognitive function, and hormonal balance.
  • Plenty of the B vitamins to help the nervous system function at its best and to produce healthy hormones.
  • Probiotics for healthy gut flora, as mentioned above.
    It is imperative that you follow a well-balanced diet such as an anti-inflammatory diet.
  • Restorative restful sleep is completely necessary if you are searching for health and happiness.
  • Don’t stop with your exercises: For some people, it’s not easy to go to the gym even when you feel good and even worse when you feel under par. if you want to be healthy, happy, and mentally fit, exercise is very vital. Exercises are actually proven to help with all the traditional types of depression and SAD is no exception. When you are active, you increase the chemicals in the brain that make you feel good, easing up on the depressive feelings and also brain fog. Just walking 30 minutes on a treadmill for 10 days in a row can significantly reduce your feelings of depression. Research shows too, that it’s the consistency of doing exercises regularly that is more beneficial for you than the length of your exercise routine or the intensity of it – when you get the most positive results – remember to keep moving.
  • Get outside. When you see the rays of sunshine, try and sleep with your curtains open to get the sunshine in. Your body and brain will thank you for this natural tonic, and it will be even better if you can do your exercises outside as well.

cognitive behavorial therapy to fight sad symptoms infographic

Another treatment is CBT

CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, is a crucial part of psychology today, formulated to treat depression. There is even renewed interest in it for SAD. Recent studies published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, claim that CBT could actually be more beneficial to SAD patients than what light box therapy is in the long run. In a study, 177 people suffering from SAD, were either given light therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. They were checked on over the following 2 winters to see how they had coped.

It was found that in the first winter season, the light therapy as well as the CBT both benefited equally in reducing their depression symptoms. But by the time the second winter had come past, the CBT patients proved to be in the lead. Only 27.3% of CBT patients claimed their depression came back the next winter against 45.6% of those who had received the light therapy. One of the authors of the study, Kelly Rohan, put it down to the fact that the CBT patients learned coping and skill mechanisms which they could use at any time while the people using the light therapy, even though being in the light, were not in control of their emotions.

woman using lightbox to fight sad seasonal affective disorder

The Lightbox

If you see that your outdoor hours are not long and are actually limited, then a light box is worth having. Those with SAD say they saw a 60-80% improvement in their disposition, and that as far as they were concerned, this was the best treatment for their SAD. What is a lightbox – well, the light therapy gives you exposure to artificial light that is bright enough for you to enjoy during the winter months. SAD patients can use light therapy every day, from the start of their symptoms until the spring when more often than not, the SAD resolves.

Most SAD patients need around 15-30 minutes of this light therapy every day and notice an improvement in the way they feel after 2-4 days already, with big improvements being felt within 2 weeks. It is recommended that patients stay consistent with their treatment during the winter months, in fact, it is crucial. It is often recommended that the lightbox treatments occur in the morning because if it used in the evening, people might find it difficult to fall asleep. You can get light therapy boxes without prescription. Unfortunately, they are noted to come with side effects such as eye strain and headaches. This is because of the UV exposure. It might be important for you to see a light therapy specialist so that you know that you are getting the right amounts of light and also so you can filter out dangerous unwanted UV rays.

NOTE: Even those not suffering from SAD can find this helpful in winter, especially when there are those stretches of long gray days.

lynn zubernis jared padalecki for attitudes in reverse
Photo: Lynn Zubernis

Helpful Resources:

If you find yourself suffering from season affective disorder or depression, contact one of these great organizations as they’ll be able to help.

Nami – Helpline: 800-950-6264

Attitudes in Reverse

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

National Hopeline Network: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)

National Youth Crisis Hotline: 1-800-448-4663

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

talking a walk out in the wintertime to fight sad symptoms

Conclusion

Depression, no matter which type we have mentioned, can make a person feel pretty isolated and when people are able to receive support from friends and family who reach out to them, it helps to ease the burden. If you are a person who thinks that you could be at risk of seasonal affective disorder, and you might not be close to family and friends to reach out to, it is nevertheless important that you do reach out to a health professional. They might not be able to diagnose you in your first season, but if you believe that SAD could be “taking hold of you,” you can discuss it with him and try out the many wonderful natural solutions until you can get diagnosed the following season.

A study done in 2013 showed that by using light boxes beginning 30 minutes before waking up was able to improve people’s cognitive performance and mood for the rest of the day thereafter. And British rowing, swimming, and cycling teams use these dawn simulators on their athletes to help them in their early morning training sessions. Today, light therapy boxes or other devices aren’t seen as strange voodoo science says Ruth Jackson from Lumie, a company that one of the first in line to make sunrise alarms. When it gets dark, the body produces more melatonin, preparing it to sleep.

The dawn light suppresses the melatonin, waking people up and giving them a boost for their day ahead. It’s called the circadian rhythm – it’s our internal body clock. And it’s often why experts believe that the blue light produced on our smartphones interfere with our sleeping patterns if we use them a lot before we go to bed. Red light, however, helps us to relax. Today you can get an app that works like a smart light bulb and which changes the colors. Bedside lamps, too, are now being turned into sunrise alarms which turn red for night time going to bed.

Certainly no one is claiming that light alone cures clinical depression and other types of depression and we also know that manufacturers love to make overblown claims on their products, so that they can sell them, but yes, there is starting to be growing evidence that if we manage our lighting, we can improve our sleep patterns and also put some vigor into your step. It’s time to see the light and banish those winter blues.

Fake News: Obama’s banned Nativity scene and injured Border Patrol picture

Shanka Cheryl
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Fake News: Obama’s banned Nativity scene and injured Border Patrol picture

Our weekly roundup of the most popular but completely untrue stories and images/videos of the week. None of these stories are remotely true, but they were believed by many and shared widely on social media. We gave them a closer look, and here are the real facts behind these fake news stories:

THE CLAIM: As part of this year’s “Christmas Traditions” display at the White House, first lady Melania Trump is bringing back a Nativity scene banned by the Obamas.

THE FACTS: The Nativity scene was not banned by the Obamas. It is on display in the East Room “for the 51st year,” according to a White House news release about the decorations. The theme of this year’s holiday decor, revealed by the first lady this week, is “American Treasures,” media outlets reported. It is not “Christmas Traditions,” as claimed in a social media post.

border agent bloody injury after rock thrown on mexican border fake

THE CLAIM: Photo is said to show a U.S. Border Patrol agent injured recently after being hit by a rock thrown across the U.S.-Mexico border in California.

THE FACTS: The photo of the agent with a bloodied face is being misrepresented. It has been circulating on social media to suggest that a Border Patrol agent was injured by a rock during a confrontation Sunday with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Rod Kise, a public affairs officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told media outlets that the photo was actually taken in 2010 after an agent was assaulted along the border in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. He identified the agent as Randy De Leon, and said he was hit with a rock after he came across 10 to 15 people trying to bring drugs over the border. The photo was taken by the agency, Kise said, which is customary following an assault at the border. The AP reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said four agents hit with rocks during clashes at the border over the weekend were not hurt because they were wearing protective gear.

migrant woman fleeing with two children not fake news

THE CLAIM: A photo of a migrant woman and two children fleeing tear gas near the Mexican border with the U.S. was staged.

THE FACTS: Reuters photographer Kim Kyung-Hoon said in a story published Tuesday by the news agency that he took the photo in Tijuana after tear gas was lobbed into a group of migrants near the border fence on Nov. 25, 2018. Kim identified the woman as Honduran mother Maria Meza, and her 5-year-old twin daughters as Cheili and Saira. The photo shows Meza running from the tear gas, pulling her children along with her. “Some social media users have called the photo ‘staged,’ which absolutely is not the case,” Kim said in the story. “At Reuters, we have strict photo guidelines. We are not allowed here to mislead the viewer by making material alterations or staging scenes.” Kim said that when the tear gas canister hit the ground he could smell the gas and could see children crying. He said at that point he too started running to get away from the gas. Media outlets also reported the use of tear gas at the border Sunday.

1952 mccarran walter act fake news on muslims not holding office

THE CLAIM: The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 bans Muslims from holding office in the United States.

THE FACTS: The act did not ban Muslims, or any other religious groups from public office; it upheld a quota system limiting immigration by country. While the 1952 act did discriminate by race and ethnicity, it placed no religious restrictions on who could hold elected office, Hiroshi Motomura, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles, and immigration expert, told media outlets. The act upheld the race-based “national origins quota system” from the 1920s, which regulated how many immigrants could enter the U.S. from each country. In addition, Article VI of the Constitution states: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States,” meaning that a person can hold office no matter their faith. The erroneous claim circulated widely following the election this month of two women who are Muslim to the U.S. House of Representatives: Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, and Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan.

Two Minneapolis police officers on paid leave after racist Christmas tree display

Shanka Cheryl
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Two Minneapolis police officers on paid leave after racist Christmas tree display

While there has been plenty of outrage over a controversial racist Christmas tree incident at the Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis, MN, the two police officers involved might be on leave, but they are still getting paid. While May Jacob Frey promised that the officer involved in this incident would be fired on Friday, he has backtracked to state that a ‘process’ in now going on to investigate the matter further.

Two Minneapolis police officers were placed on paid leave Friday after their apparent involvement in Christmas tree decorations that the city’s mayor called “despicable.”

The Christmas tree at a precinct station on the city’s North Side was decorated with items such as Newport cigarettes, police crime tape, a can of malt liquor, a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen cup, and other things that Mayor Jacob Frey said amounted to a “racist display.” A picture of the tree circulated online before the items were removed.

Frey initially called for the officer involved to be fired by day’s end, but later recognized that a process has to be followed. Instead, two officers were placed on paid leave while the department investigates.

“This behavior is racist, despicable, and is well beneath the standards of any person who serves the city of Minneapolis,” Frey said in a statement early Friday. “Shifting the culture of the police department requires swift and decisive action. Termination is necessary — both to discipline the officer and to send a clear message: Chief (Medaria) Arradondo and I will not tolerate conduct that departs from our values.”

Arradondo called the display “racially insensitive” and said it was removed. He said he has started a full investigation into the incident.

“I am ashamed and appalled by the behavior of those who would feel comfortable to act in such a manner that goes against our core department values of trust, accountability, and professional service,” Arradondo said in a statement.

The head of the police officer’s union did not immediately return a message.

The tree is in the police station on the city’s North Side, which has a fractured relationship with police. The precinct was the site of more than two weeks of protests after the 2015 fatal police shooting of Jamar Clark, a black man. While Arradondo said the police department has made positive changes, “this recent incident shows we still have much work ahead.”

minneapolis police racist christmas tree

The photo comes at a time when Minneapolis officials are working to repair community perceptions of police. The tension is particularly acute in the Fourth Precinct, where activists recently mourned the third anniversary of a police officer’s shooting of Clark, an unarmed black man. That 2015 shooting revived longstanding tension between some north Minneapolis residents and the police tasked with protecting them, and launched an 18-day activist demonstration at the police station.

Jeremiah Ellison, who is now a City Council member, was among the leaders of the 2015 precinct protests. On Friday, Ellison was at a loss for words to describe his reaction to the photo of the tree.

“Man, every way I could put it would understate it,” said Ellison. “It’s disappointing, but also I think deeply disturbing to wake up to something like that. Not just for myself, but for my neighbors.”

He said “the police precinct as a whole needs to address it further.”

Longtime civil rights activist Ron Edwards told the Star Tribune, that the items on the tree were a “wink wink” to racial stereotypes against black people.

“It’s a modern day version of a dog whistle, tainted with racism, specifically against the African-American community,” he said.

The Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar, a group formed after Clark’s shooting, sent out a statement saying they were “outraged and disgusted” by the display. The group also called for the immediate termination of those involved.

Also Friday, the Minneapolis City Council voted to reduce the mayor’s proposed police budget for 2019 by more than $1 million.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arrandondo released a written statement:

It was reported to me recently that a racially insensitive display that was put up in the 4th precinct lobby. As soon as it was realized what the display was, it was removed.

As was stated by many members of the community during the public hearing in front of the Public Safety Committee on Thursday, the culture of the Minneapolis Police Department has undergone positive change, however as this recent incident shows we still have much work ahead. Every day I work to bridge the divide between the police department and the community, as do so many others in our department. We will not stop our efforts of treating all those that we serve with fairness, dignity and respect. That manner of treatment is non-negotiable.

I am ashamed and appalled by the behavior of those who would feel comfortable to act in such a manner that goes against our core department values of Trust, Accountability and Professional Service. I have initiated a full investigation and will make information public when possible in accordance with Minnesota State Statute.

Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ a hit and Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks out

Jackie Warner
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Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ a hit and Neil deGrasse Tyson speaks out

Michelle Obama has a big hit on her hands with “Becoming,” and here tour dates are more like rock concerts. Neil de Grasse Tyson is cooperating into the allegation of sexual misconduct brought against him, and Casey Kasem’s death has finally been put to rest.

Michelle Obama’s Becoming A Hit

Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” is selling at a pace rarely seen for a political memoir, or any nonfiction book.

Combined hardcover, e-book and audio sales in the U.S. and Canada topped 2 million copies in the first 15 days, Crown Publishing announced Friday. By comparison, former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s memoir “Living History” needed a month to sell 1 million copies. Former President George W. Bush’s “Decision Points” took several weeks to reach 2 million. Former President Bill Clinton’s “My Life” quickly sold 1 million copies but took far longer to hit 2 million.

“Becoming,” which came out Nov. 13, now has 3.4 million hardcover copies in print. The former first lady is in the midst of a promotional tour, with guests including Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama took to the stage in Brooklyn on Saturday to promote her book, and dazzled the crowd with anecdotes about her life and marriage to the first African-American president.

Although billed as “An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama,” the energy at the former First Lady’s book tour stop in New York City was more akin to a rock concert, with roughly 19,000 fans packed into Brooklyn’s Barclays Center to hear Obama speak about her new memoir “Becoming.” In barely a week, the book claimed the title of best-selling book of the year with over 2 million copies sold.

Saturday’s stop on the 10-city tour was completely sold out. The day before the event, tickets on resale site StubHub ranged from $130 for the upper level to $3,700 for a front row seat.

Neil deGrasse Tyson fights sexual misconduct allegationsNeil deGrasse Tyson Has His Say

Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says he will cooperate fully with an “impartial investigation” into allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled against him.

Patheos.com recently published accounts from two women who say that Tyson behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner toward them. Tyson was the host of “Cosmos: Possible Worlds” on Fox in 2014 and a new edition of the series was to air on National Geographic next year.

In a Facebook post Saturday, Tyson denied an accusation that he groped a woman and he denied that he made sexual advances toward a production assistant when he invited her to share wine and cheese at his home. He apologized for making the production assistant feel uncomfortable.

Fox and National Geographic Networks have said they will conduct a thorough investigation.

casey kasem death shows no misconduct jeanCasey Kasem Death Update

Police found no evidence of wrongdoing after investigating allegations that relatives of radio personality Casey Kasem were responsible for his 2014 death but will now turn the matter over to prosecutors, officials in Washington state said Friday.

The administrative investigation didn’t find evidence of a crime, said Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey. He said he would forward the case to Pierce County prosecutors for review.

The longtime “American Top 40” host had a form of dementia and a severe bedsore when died at age 82 at a hospital in Gig Harbor, southwest of Seattle.

Gig Harbor police opened their investigation last month after Kasem’s wife, former actress Jean Kasem, submitted a private investigator’s report claiming three of Casey Kasem’s children from a previous marriage were responsible for the radio host’s death.

Jean Kasem has not commented.

It’s the latest development in years of legal wrangling between Jean Kasem and her three stepchildren. The groups fought over visitation access to Casey Kasem before his death, with his daughter Kerri Kasem assuming control of his medical care.

Jean Kasem, who appeared on “Cheers,” was married to the announcer for more than 30 years but was stripped of control over his medical care in the final days of his life. He died in June 2014 in Gig Harbor, where his wife had taken him after checking him out of a Los Angeles-area medical facility where he was receiving round-the-clock care.

Jean Kasem, 64, has contended her decision to move her husband to Washington state was made to protect his privacy.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles County in 2015 declined to charge Jean Kasem with elder abuse. That year, three of Casey Kasem’s children and his brother filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing their stepmother of elder abuse.

That lawsuit against Jean Kasem is still pending, as well as a countersuit she filed in response, KOMO-TV reported.

The administrative investigation released this week by Gig Harbor Police found that Casey Kasem received appropriate care and that any medical decisions were made by family authorized to act on his behalf, Busey said.

There was also no evidence of collusion between the family members and doctors “that would construe any part of this incident to be considered a homicide,” the department said in a statement.

Kasem’s two daughters told KOMO they feel vindicated by the police findings.

“We’re very grateful to the police department for conducting this investigation and concluding there is no evidence to support Jean’s wildly ridiculous claims,” Julie Kasem told the TV station.

‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ holds box office top while ‘The Favourite’ shines

George Cando
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‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ holds box office top while ‘The Favourite’ shines

Moviegoers appeared to still be in either a Thanksgiving turkey stupor or resting after Black Friday Cyber Monday, but the only shining star at the box office was Emma Stones “The Favorite.” As expected, Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” remained in the top spot with $25.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The “Wreck-It Ralph” sequel dropped steeply (54 percent) after nearly setting a Thanksgiving record last weekend. But with only one new film in wide release, nothing came close to “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” which sends John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman’s video-game characters into cyberspace. In 11 days of release, the $175 million film has cleared $207 million worldwide.

Still going strong in its fourth week of release, Universal’s “The Grinch” came in second with $17.7 million in ticket sales. “The Grinch,” the Illumination animated production with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Christmas curmudgeon, surpassed $200 million domestically and edged in front of last week’s No. 2 film, the “Rocky” sequel “Creed II.”

Like “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” MGM’s boxing drama also slid sizably after a big holiday opening, declining 53 percent. “Creed II,” with Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, took in $16.8 million in its second weekend. It has thus far grossed $81.2 million on a $50 million budget.

The week’s lone new wide release, the Sony Screen Gems horror film “The Possession of Hannah Grace,” opened modestly with $6.5 million. Orion Picture’s “Anna and the Apocalypse,” a well-reviewed indie mash-up — your standard zombie-comedy-musical — debuted in five theaters, with about $50,000 in ticket sales.

“Crazy Rich Asians,” Warner Bros.′ breakout summer hit, was a dud in China. Warner Bros. said the acclaimed romantic comedy, which earned $173 million domestically, debuted in China with just $1.2 million. John M. Chu’s Singapore-set film, which opened Aug. 14 in the U.S., took months to secure a release date in China, a delay some have attributed to the film’s depiction of extremely wealthy Chinese Singaporeans.

“Crazy Rich Asians” was a hit at the Singapore box office, but, like most comedies, it hasn’t been as much a sensation abroad as it was in the U.S.; it’s earned $64 million overseas. The film’s performance in China, though, is potentially worrisome for Warner Bros. Its planned sequel, “China Rich Girlfriend,” aims to better capitalize on the world’s second largest film market.

One film that didn’t dip much on the weekend was Universal’s “Green Book,” which grossed $3.9 million on 1,065 screens, dropping 29 percent. The uplifting 1962 road trip drama, starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, has struggled to match Oscar buzz with the box office. But last week, “Green Book” was named best film of the year by the National Board of Review, and Universal is hoping it holds strongly in the coming weeks. Positive word of mouth may be kicking in to make this a surprise sweeper with upcoming awards.

“Free Solo” became the year’s fourth documentary to cross $10 million. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary about Alex Honnold’s ropeless ascent of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan rock face, has joined the most lucrative batch of documentaries ever released in a year: “Three Identical Strangers,” ″RBG” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

It has been a frustrating fall at the box office for films made with the Academy Awards in mind. Damien Chazelle’s “First Man” is officially a flop. “The Front Runner,” starring Hugh Jackman, played to empty theaters. Lower-cost prestige films like “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” starring Melissa McCarthy, and “Boy Erased,” about the horrors of gay conversion therapy, have struggled to get noticed beyond art houses.

But things seem to be clicking for “The Favourite,” a sharp-edged comedic drama directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and heralded by critics for tour-de-force performances by “A younger audience is finding ‘The Favourite’ along with older cinephiles,” Frank Rodriguez, the head of distribution for Fox Searchlight, said by phone on Sunday. “It’s performing really well in art houses but also in hipper, cooler houses like the Alamos and the Regal Union Square.”

Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz. “The Favourite” took in roughly $1.1 million from only 34 theaters over the weekend, for a per-screen average of $32,500. That figure is in line with early results for “Lady Bird” (A24), which went on to collect $79 million worldwide last year, and surpasses the initial ticket sales for “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight), which took in nearly $200 million worldwide and won the 2018 Oscar for best picture.

Next weekend, “The Favourite” will seek to capitalize on hoped-for Golden Globe nominations — set to be announced on Thursday — by expanding into 100 theaters.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

North American Box Office

Ralph Breaks the Internet, Creed 2, The Possession of Hannah Grace, The Grinch, Fantastic Beasts
  1. “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” $25.8 million ($33.7 million international).
  2. “The Grinch,” $17.7 million ($27.1 million international).
  3. “Creed II,” $16.8 million ($10 million international).
  4. “Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald,” $11.2 million ($40.2 million international).
  5. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” $8.1 million ($37 million international).
  6. “Instant Family,” $7.2 million ($3.4 million international).
  7. “Possession of Hannah Grace,” $6.5 million ($4.1 million international).
  8. “Robin Hood,” $4.7 million ($15.1 million international).
  9. “Widows,” $4.4 million. ($5.5 million international).
  10. “Green Book,” $3.9 million.

International Box Office

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Comscore:

  1. “Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald,” $40.2 million.
  2. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” $37 million.
  3. “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” $33.7 million.
  4. “The Grinch,” $27.1 million.
  5. “A Cool Fish,” $25.5 million.
  6. “Robin Hood,” $15.1 million.
  7. “Venom,” $13 million.
  8. “Creed II,” $10 million.
  9. “Default,” $9.5 million.
  10. “The Nutcracker And The Four Realms,” $6.1 million.

Three Men and A Nephilim – ‘Supernatural’ Unhuman Nature not a favorite

Lynn Zubernis
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Three Men and A Nephilim – ‘Supernatural’ Unhuman Nature not a favorite

Drive by review since I’m traveling with the family, so thematic instead of scene by scene for a change. I watched last week’s Supernatural in an Air BnB in DC whose television set was large and impressive looking but weirdly distorted the picture so that the most beautiful cast in the world did not look like their beautiful selves. Boo.

While this won’t go down in history as one of my favorite episodes, there were some things I enjoyed, and the episode got me all thinky which I also enjoy.  On the other hand, there were also some things I didn’t like. While I was overjoyed to have Ruth Connell back on the show, I was totally confused that Rowena didn’t seem to know that Jack was Lucifer’s son. What?? She goaded Lucifer with that when she was holding the portal open, saying that his three dads were more fathers to Jack that Lucifer himself. So why did she seem shocked when Sam told her about Jack’s father? I realize she didn’t actually know Jack, but she knew about him. Those kinds of things throw me out of the story, and I don’t like that – I like to be immersed and engrossed when I watch my favorite show.

I also got thrown out of the story by almost everything about Sergei the Shaman, who seemed like such an over the top villainous untrustworthy guy that I didn’t believe a word he said and didn’t expect Castiel to believe him either. Why did he? Cas has been oddly gullible recently, and that seems weird. I get that we all get a little gullible in desperate times, so I’m chalking it up to that. But, I mean, ‘He seemed honest.’ Did he?? Also Sergei had an accent that sounded just like Misha Collins when he’s doing his Indio-Russia thing, so I also half expected Cas to start talking the same way, which was neither here nor there but made me giggle when that wasn’t what the show was going for.

castiel in ring of fire with sergei spn 1407
Caps by kayb625

Do we even believe that the grace he gave Cas was from Gabriel? (Was there a reason to take this at face value? Has Ketch’s word become reason enough?) Or was it really Michael’s grace, and the whole thing an elaborate plot to get Michael’s influence into Jack in the same way he’s been trying to influence other “monsters”? (Was that why Dean’s vision blurred out and his mind went a bit offline a few times there? Was that Michael coming to the fore to see how his plan is going or has he left something behind that allows him to do so?)  That did give us some nice close ups of Dean blinking those long eyelashes.

Now THAT is chilling, the idea that Jack might be being corrupted in some way. I don’t worry that Jack will die, because they clearly need him as a key player so other key players won’t be overburdened, but that doesn’t mean he will stay the innocent well-intentioned nougat loving son that he has been this season. And that does worry me.

I wasn’t thrown out of the show by this, but I was wishing I wasn’t engrossed during several of the Nick scenes. I realize this is a violent show, but the violence in this episode was the kind that really disturbs me. It’s easy to dismiss violence that involves “monsters” because it’s inherently unreal, but this was a fucked up human doing horrible things to other humans – and that hits too close to reality.  Nick being conflicted about it and yet so drawn to it simultaneously, which was a good twist, just makes it even more disturbing. I knew that poor guy tied to the chair was gonna die, but god, it was hard to watch. I actually took a phone call in the middle of it because I couldn’t keep watching – and I would usually never answer the phone during Supernatural! Mark Pellegrino did a bang up job and made Nick’s conflict and agony and fucked-up-ness thoroughly believable, but I was left anxious and vaguely nauseous, and that wasn’t pleasant. And there was simply a lot of Nick sans Winchesters or Cas in this episode, which didn’t leave as much time for Team Free Will as I would have liked.

Nick’s eventual breakdown and pleading for Lucifer to re-possess him left me feeling about the same. I’ve been afraid all season that Nick was back because Lucifer would be back, and I don’t think that’s something most viewers wanted. All that build up to Lucifer’s death last season that made his death feel so satisfying, just to be undone in the first third of the next season? And just because a messed up human begged?? It seems to negate all that satisfaction.

mark pellegrino nick begging for lucifer to repossess him spn 1407

Maybe that’s the point, because honestly, the Winchesters do NOT get breaks and life just keeps throwing them one horror after the other, but this one is hard to stomach. Once again, Pellegrino totally sells it. But from a plot standpoint, I feel like there’s more interest in Michael as a new villain than in the return of Lucifer as a long-time villain who I’m not as interested in anymore. And that scene of The Empty (I assume) and Lucifer being reconstituted out of the blackness? I mostly just kept saying nonononononono during it, but by the last frames I was just staring, because what?

My timeline: OMG it’s…. the Terminator??

the terminator comes to supernatural 1407

Also, is it suddenly that easy to leave The Empty?

I assume we’re supposed to take from Nick’s fall into madness and violence that possession leaves its mark and changes the person in ways that can’t be fought against – and we’re supposed to apply that to Dean and his possession. Sam and Castiel have also been possessed though, with very different results, so it isn’t a done deal that Dean will react the same way Nick did, and Nick was possessed for a VERY long time, after all. Showrunners and writers and cast have been saying all along that we’ll see some sort of aftermath of Dean’s possession, so I’m still guardedly hopeful that brings some in-depth examination of Dean’s psychological state, and the impact of his trauma beyond oh he’s messed up just like Nick was.

Nick storyline was story arc number two, though it took up a lot of the episode; the rest of the episode was about Jack’s survival. This gave Sam, Dean, and Cas a chance to worry about him and us a chance to see the depth of the bond that all three father figures have formed with Jack at this point. Because we get less exploration of the main characters than we used to, alas, I ended up doing my own pondering about the theme of fatherhood and how it plays out for Jack’s three dads. I found myself wondering why they have all come to feel so strongly about a young man they’ve only known for a year and whose father is their arch enemy Lucifer.

I was surprised in previous seasons by Castiel’s wholesale acceptance of Kelly Kline and his determination to protect her and her unborn child, to the extent of leaving Sam and Dean unconscious on the ground somewhere to do so. That never fit perfectly for me, but if we accept that he did feel that strongly and he was convinced that Jack would be a force for good in the world, then I think his bond with Jack began even before he was born. Cas was the one protecting mother and baby, and that could instill some fatherly feelings in an angel (they do seem to feel paternal and maternal and fraternal feelings in Supernatural’s version of angels, as we’ve seen several times).

spn 1407 castiel with trenchcoat

Castiel protectively draping his trademark trenchcoat over Jack’s shoulders as he left the hospital was a tender moment (and gave us a few moments of Misha Collins in a nicely fitted suit!)

Side note: While canon Cas seemed to be oddly copacetic with Kelly Kline, Sam and Dean were not – and didn’t have any reason to be. She was not a particularly good person either before or after her tryst with the devil, so why does Sam portray her that way? Just to convince Rowena to help Jack? Head scratch.

Anyway, Sam has had more chance than any of the three to bond with Jack, and was open to believing the best about him from the start. That’s in keeping with Sam’s tremendous capacity for empathy, and I also think he could relate to Jack’s feeling of being “contaminated” by blood you don’t want, just as Sam spent his childhood feeling contaminated and eventually found out he had demon blood in him. Sam too has been called “monstrous” and his character judged by what’s in his blood, and he’s also had to struggle against the impact of powers he didn’t ask for and couldn’t entirely control. I think Sam came down squarely on the side of nurture, not nature, when judging Jack, partly because of his own experience. He was there for Jack from the start, giving him the benefit of the doubt and his support even when he was afraid of Jack’s power and his relationship to Lucifer. So their bond makes perfect sense to me, and I liked seeing how emotional Sam became at the prospect of losing him.

Dean’s journey with Jack is the most complicated, and that informed this episode and brought a lot of the emotional impact. Dean’s default setting is not empathy for outsiders – it’s protectiveness. He’s skeptical and tends to not blindly believe the best about people, not because he’s a jerk but simply because he knows that might put people he cares about in danger if he lets his guard down. Sam was traumatized by Lucifer, but Dean was too – he was traumatized by not being able to protect Sam and by seeing the heartbreaking effects of Lucifer’s torment of Sam. That history only serves to increase his mistrust of Lucifer’s son, and I think that’s understandable considering who Dean is and how much of his identity is tied up with being the protector. However, he listens to his brother – more every season. Eventually, Sam, and Cas, and Jack’s own uncontrived innocence, convinces Dean that Jack is sincere in his desire to be good. Once Dean believes that, he opens himself up to Jack, and then – because he’s Dean Winchester – he feels terribly guilty about all the cruel things he said to the boy when he was sure Jack was going to turn out to be evil. I think that guilt and desire to make up for it has left Dean vulnerable to really feeling for Jack.

But that’s not the only psychological motivation at play for Dean when it comes to Jack. Dean is not just protective; he’s parental. He was a parent to Sam as well as brother, and that nurturing side comes naturally to Dean. He makes Jack a sandwich just like he’s often done for Sam when he’s ailing. You can see how easily and comfortably he falls back into that role when he tosses Jack the keys and invites him to drive – I could almost flash back and see a younger Dean tossing the keys to Sam, and Sam’s awe and joy the first time his big brother trusted him to drive his beloved Impala. It’s the same with Jack, and as soon as Dean sees the joy he’s caused, his own face breaks into a smile of such happiness that it hit me like a punch in the stomach, so hard it was almost painful. We so rarely see Dean truly happy, and there is nothing that makes him happier than being able to make someone he cares about happy. I grinned the entire way through that scene, the Impala speeding along the backroads and the vintage rock playing and both Dean and Jack looking, for the moment, carefree and happy.

supernatural jack driving dean jensen acles in baby 1407
sam dean winchester in baby impala spn 1407

Lastly, for all three of Team Free Will, the concept of family is one that is an organizing force. It’s no coincidence that we all refer to the cast and fans as the SPNFamily or that the book the actors wrote about how the show and fandom have changed their lives is called Family Don’t End With Blood (which you can still get right here). That valuing of family started with Sam and Dean, born out of their father’s mistrust of anyone who was not family. To Sam and Dean, being family is the highest compliment, the most significant description they can bestow on someone. That’s why Cas is family. Cas, who already had his own emotional connection to his angel family, also understands the significance of the term and uses it the same way now to apply to people who are not his angelic relatives. Including Jack.

The Winchesters often tend to define as family younger people who they mentor in some way. That’s why Kevin felt like family, and why Charlie felt like family, and Jody’s girls felt like family. The Winchesters instinctively look for young people to mentor and bring them into the fold to keep them safe. They have never had a chance to do that so profoundly as with Jack, who came to them essentially an infant. He had to learn everything, and they were there to teach him. That sense of generativity that all humans long for is compelling. For the Winchesters, that drive plays out in their concern for leaving a legacy. Not biological children, but people who will carry on what they’re trying to do for the world. Jack, I think, feels like part of that legacy, as much as the initials carved into the Men of Letters table.

When Cas rightly points out to Sam that despite all their losses in the past, nothing feels as hard as losing a child – a son — we all know just how right he is. The look on Sam’s face as those words sink in (and all the kudos to Jared Padalecki for how much he showed us of Sam’s emotions) made me tear up. Jack is, for all intents and purposes, their son. All three of them will be devastated if he dies.

I liked all of Sam and Castiel’s conversation in this episode, with both Misha Collins and Jared really bringing the emotional understanding. Sam explains to Cas that Dean is taking Jack’s sickness hard because he was so rough with Jack in the beginning and hasn’t forgiven himself, and I love knowing that Sam knows this about his brother. I love the reminder that they understand each other deeply, and that Sam is paying close attention to how his brother is doing and how he’s feeling, always. Dean is similarly tuned into Sam, and it’s one of the unique things about their relationship that makes it constantly interesting.

Jared, in one of the 300th episode red carpet mini-interviews, confirmed that Sam is aware of the things that Dean is dealing with post possession. I hope we’ll see more of that as time goes on, as we’re now starting to see Dean have some symptoms that tell us (and him) that everything is not all right. Of course, Dean being Dean, hasn’t mentioned it to anyone and is trying to ignore it – but I’m hoping that Sam knows.

Castiel is worried about Dean too, and he also understands just why Jack’s illness is hitting all of them so hard.

Cas: This feels different. Losing a…. a son… feels different.

Misha nailed that line, with the little break in Castiel’s voice. Kudos to Collins and Padalecki both for breaking my heart with that conversation.

Jack’s story in this episode, other than the detour on the road with Dean, is mostly tragic and heartbreaking. Cas tries and fails to cure him, while the Winchesters wait in the bunker hallway looking like male models.

castiel holds jacks hand in er spn 1407
sam dean winchester at hospital with jack and dad 1407

That results in a hospital visit and a few humorous moments, which I appreciated in such a dark and sad episode. I was a bit surprised that Jack’s dads brought him to the ER, but I guess without his grace, he’s closer to human than angel. And we did get some of the very few humorous moments of the episode in the hospital, as the harried front desk nurse tries to get information out of the Winchesters and Cas and instead gets a whole lot of attitude and some very confusing facts.

How did his father die?

Castiel: He was stabbed…and then he exploded.

When the nurse is incredulous, Dean just repeats those rather unusual details as though it’s the most normal explanation ever, insisting that they don’t have time for this.

I laughed – and then felt kinda bad about laughing.

Jack collapses, and off he goes for treatment, his three dads assuring him they’ll be there, then hovering and watching with worried faces through the odd glass ER panel.

sam dean winchester with castiel watching jack in er spn 1407

Meanwhile, we spend a lot of time on Nick, first with a hapless priest he tortured and killed (played by stunt coordinator Kirk Jacques with aplomb), then tracking down the cop who was in his house the day his family was killed, and along the way being tempted to kill other innocents too. It’s all very disturbing, and takes up a lot of time and makes me feel all kinds of queasy.

kirk jacques supernatural 1407

Back to Jack. Of course, the hospital can’t help, so the threesome break Jack out AMA, Cas taking off his trenchcoat to cover Jack’s backside – which is a rare moment indeed! Sam and Dean, who rarely need words to communicate, both decide to ask Rowena for help, because desperate times.

I was happy to see Rowena back – she’s one recurring character I truly enjoy. I was sorry the writing made me scratch my head over her not knowing about Jack’s father, but other than that, I really enjoyed Ruth’s scenes. Rowena and Sam together are always lovely, and I particularly loved that Sam told her that it was Dean who was dying so that she’d be sure to come. She has a soft spot for both the Winchesters, and who can blame her? She even brought the precious Book of the Damned to save him!  I loved Smart!Sam taking advantage of that soft spot. Everything about Jared and Ruth together in a scene is almost invariably wonderful.

sam winchester with rowena supernatural 1407

I also loved how Jack’s innocent expression of gratitude and especially his testimony about Sam and Dean’s gratitude (or his fabulous instincts about how to get Rowena on his side) immediately hooked Rowena in. Rowena is such a fascinating character, so hard and seemingly uncaring on the outside and so easily swayed by someone saying nice things about her on the inside. Hearing her “Oh bollocks” as she knows she’s giving in makes me smile every time, and then wince because I will forever miss Mark Sheppard and Crowley.

Ruth also gets all the kudos for her delivery of “stay close, watch over him….as he dies” at the end of the episode because oh my heart. You can hear the tenderness that she likes to disavow come through, and I wonder if we’ll ever get a wee bit more backstory about Rowena’s long history and the children she’s lost, blood and otherwise. She doesn’t want anyone to think so, but she clearly understands a lot about the complexity of parental emotions.

That said, I’m not actually feeling any terror that Jack will die or that Alex is going anywhere, because that would make no sense. To reduce workload, the other characters are needed to fill in the gaps, and Jack is the most popular character to join the show since Castiel. I should be a lot more worried than I am, unfortunately. Still, I teared up a few times – and that’s thanks to the tremendous acting talent of all these actors. And I’m also more than a little worried that while Jack won’t die, he might not remain the innocent, earnest sweet young man he is right now – and I do not want that!!!!  Jack’s earnestness and openness is a wonderful juxtaposition to the Winchesters’ often closed off communication style, and I enjoy what that contrast brings out in them and Cas.

I was also happy to have some scenes with Sam and Dean in the same room after that last 100% separated episode, though once again we get a lot more of each of TFW on their own instead of together. It’s like the show is saying well we only have each of these guys for X days, so let’s space it out so it will make a whole episode. And that….doesn’t work. So Cas goes off on his own to meet with the Shaman, Sam stays behind to – I don’t know, keep researching? — and Dean takes Alex on a bucket list trip in the Impala. Why didn’t he take poor Sam with them, who has been so much a father figure to Jack? I guess I’ll go with Sam understanding that Dean feels he needs to make amends, and trying to give his brother the room to do that.

But why didn’t Cas take Sam with him to find the Shaman, when he clearly could have needed backup? I was especially disappointed because the official promo proclaimed that “Cas and Sam track down a shaman.” And then Cas went alone!  I guess we’re supposed to assume that Sam was needed to keep doing research, but this is the second episode in a row where Sam has felt a bit sidelined, and that always nags at me.

That said, I really did enjoy Dean and Jack’s road trip. At first, I thought that Dean was uncharacteristically patient with Jack – until I realized that probably wasn’t uncharacteristic at all. I imagine that’s what Dean was like with young Sam, and how he taught Sam to drive that same way. Jack imitates Dean, right down to hanging his arm out the window in the same way, and I have no doubt that young Sam did the same. (Btw, how incredible would a brief flashback scene have been here? Just saying, Show)

Jack, in his uninhibited way, tells Dean right out that he looks up to him and wants to be like him, and I suddenly remember one of my favorite scenes from the show’s early years, as Sam bursts out at a dying Dean “I’ve been watching you my whole life, looking up to you, trying to be just like my big brother”.  I have no doubt that Dean remembers that too, and being able to repeat some of those pivotal moments with Jack must bring back all those times with Sam. (But again, I’m filling in the blanks myself when it would be nice to have some of them filled in by the Show)

It’s a gift to Jack, spending time with Dean, being trusted to drive the car, being able to emulate a father figure he respects and loves. But it’s a gift to Dean too, in so many ways. Jack is more open with his feelings than either Winchester has ever been, so Dean actually gets to hear some of the things that I think he knows Sam has also felt but hasn’t often articulated. The fishing scene could easily have been over the top with Jack’s dialogue, but Alex and Jensen Acklestogether managed to pull it off and make it poignant instead.

As always, Ackles amazes me with how much he can say with just his facial expressions. As Jack tells him right out how important this time is to him – how important Dean is to him – you can see Dean struggle even to take it in, and then to make sense of it. But he does hear it, miraculously, letting his guard down just enough for a little healing to take place. God, I loved that moment. Dean, always mired in guilt and an overwhelming sense of responsibility, able to hear that he’s been GOOD for someone. Someone he cares about.

dean winchester feeling guilty for jack spn 1407
jack and dean winchester on rocks at river spn 1407

The scene is also a nice call back to Dean’s own childhood and his idolization of his own father, at least when he was younger. How many times did John Winchester take his boys fishing? Probably not many, from what we’ve heard about the boys’ childhood. In fact, even once is surprising. Not sure if that’s a canon fail or if it was just an anomaly and thus a treasured memory, which is why Jack correctly heard the importance of that one time that Dean told him about. I guess I’ll go with that, but it did strike me as not very John Winchester, remembering how shocked Dean was that their father took Adam to a baseball game.

At any rate, Dean may not be a father, but he is a son, and being a son has been a major force shaping his life. So Jack looking up to him and wanting to spend time with him is meaningful.

Dean: Who would’ve thought hanging around with me would make you sentimental?

It’s a very Dean Winchester way of trying to shrug off something emotional, but he doesn’t reject what Jack is saying to him – and that’s a big thing.

I had asked Jensen a while back about those scenes that have a lot of improv, and how they often end up being my favorites, and he said there were some coming up that he was able to really have fun with, and that they weren’t Dean with Sam, but with another character. Pretty sure those were these scenes with Alex, especially the car scenes. Jensen allowed, in one of the 300th episode mini-interviews, that he was a little nervous about letting Alex drive “my car,” but that Alex (like Jack) asked a lot of questions and was eager to follow Jensen’s lead. I think some of that reality bled through and made those scenes pretty magical.

Also? Bowlegs!

jack with dean winchester bow legs 1407 spn

Here’s the thing. I enjoyed a lot of this, but I’m also having to do a lot of the fill in the blanks myself these days to increase my enjoyment and make it seem more like my Show because we sometimes get precious little interaction between Sam and Dean – or between any of the three TFW characters. I want the story to revolve around them! We got a little bit of meaningful interaction between Sam and Cas, but I would have traded off some of the Nick scenes for more Sam and Cas exploration. With screen time often spooled out with only one main character at a time, the interactions which are my reason to watch are less frequent recently, and that makes the show less compelling sometimes.

We end with Jack ingesting the grace and Rowena reading the spell.

supernatural rowena reads 1407 spell while jack drinks up deans grace
supernatural jack ingesting grace 1407

There’s a brief moment when everyone thinks it’s worked and actually look happy, which is always heartstopping on Supernatural…

supernatural jack is up with rowena 1407
sam dean winchester castiel thinks spell saves jack but doesn't

And then the inevitable failure and Jack getting worse. Cas calls Sergei, who says this was an experiment (hmmm….like Michael was doing experiments?).

supernatural castiel calls sergei about jack experiment

Cas threatens him on the phone, and the three dads wait once again worried while Rowena checks on Jack.

sam dean winchester with castiel watching jack die 1407 spn

The news is not good, and Rowena looks as devastated as they do when she breaks it to them.

Boys: What can we do?

Rowena: Watch over him, stay by his side… As he dies.

rowean about jack watch over him as he dies to sam dean supernatural 1407
supernatural unnatural human jack lay dying for sam dean winchester
sam winchester reacts to jacks dying with rowena supernatural 1407
dean winchester reacts to jacks dying with rowena supernatural

Whoa. Way to nail that line, Ruth Connell! Ouch.

(We did get a lovely behind the scenes glimpse of the utter hilarity of  the filming of this scene with the newly released Shaving People Punting Things video to cheer us up, thankfully)

As much as I’ve been frustrated with this season in some ways, I’m really looking forward to next week’s episode – it’s the one that I chatted with director Eduardo Sanchez about, and it’s written by Meredith Glynn, AND I get to watch it live with my bud Alana King while we video our reactions (and invariably I make a fool of myself) so YAY!

See you then for Supernatural 1408 Byzantium, and don’t forget to check out all of Lynn’s books right here.

One correction has been made to this article since publishing. Book of the Dead was actually Book of the Damned. Thank you Stacey for correcting us.

7 Tips on Surviving the Holidays with In-Laws

Jackie Warner
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7 Tips on Surviving the Holidays with In-Laws

Many families of all ages feel intense stress as they approach the holiday season. They know someone’s feelings will inevitably be hurt. They are stretched to spend time with both sides of their family or end up feeling guilty they can’t be everywhere. Then there’s the stress of spending time with someone you don’t necessarily get along with.

Some families use every combination possible to make their extended family happy. Christmas morning at home, Lunch at noon at her mom’s house, late evening at his dad’s house. Then throw in divorced and blended family dynamics and the day became even fuller. It can often mean spending only a few minutes at any one place.

The holiday season is the perfect time to reconsider how you want to be with extended family, particularly your in-laws. The holiday season is a time for creating your own traditions while setting boundaries with your in-laws. It’s a time to determine what you want and how you want to spend your holiday.

Don’t forget to check out our Coping With Family Holiday Stress article.

py holiday dinner with family inlaws african americas

Give these 7 tips a try and see how your family gathering becomes memorable instead of wretched:

Communicate

It’s important to communicate your wishes in a way that doesn’t make them feel like you don’t care. Communicate in advance what you want. Ask them what their preferences are as well. Then work on creating a plan that works for all of you.

Find neutral ground

If the stress comes from going to one family’s house instead of the other’s home, invite everyone to a beach house, rented cabin or someplace you can all enjoy that no one owns the space.

Get them involved

Invite them to join in what’s happening throughout the day. Include your mother-in-law in the meal prep or your daughter-in-law in the gift wrapping. Have your father-in-law read the Christmas story or another family favorite story.  Try to make them feel comfortable and welcome. If you’re going to their house, ask if you can help them in some way. Give your mother-in-law compliments, talk to your father-in-law about topics that mean something to him.

It’s not personal

Often the tension we feel from out in-laws at this time of year comes from their being stressed as well. This type of stress can make that seemingly harmless bad behavior to become even more exaggerated. It’s more about their insecurities than it is about you, so try to leave the defensive mode at home.

Look on the humorous side

It’s much easier to laugh at what your in-law says or does than to spend the holidays tense and on edge. Search hard to find the humor in situations that might otherwise make you feel criticized or left out. Humor helps you stay calm at them time and keeps some of the tension from exploding into a full-blown breakdown.

Plan an exit strategy

When you visit your in-law’s house, have an agreed amount of time you will stay. If it’s a matter of one of you wanting to stay longer, you may have to arrive in two cars. Let the family know one of you need to leave at a certain time for whatever reason.

Have some downtime

Find a quiet time for yourself during the hectic holiday season. You need to re-energize. Or if you are staying at your in-laws, you may need to find a little quiet time to catch your breath or get away from them.

End Goals On Relieving Holiday Stress

The goal is to make progress on having a less stressed holiday with your in-laws. There won’t be perfection. It’s a matter of building a relationship with family that will grow with time. With a little effort on your part, and hopefully, theirs too, you could end up having one of the calmest holidays you’ve ever had.

Mariott Hacked, U.S. Army goes HoloLens and Instagram closes friend circle

Jeffrey Lang
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Mariott Hacked, U.S. Army goes HoloLens and Instagram closes friend circle

Mariott International Inc is investigating one of their biggest security hacks ever of its guest reservation database. The news led to their shares slumping nearly 6.9 percent.

A security breach inside Marriott’s worldwide hotel empire has compromised the information of as many as 500 million guests, exposing in some cases credit card numbers, passport numbers and birthdates, the company said Friday.

Alarming security analysts, Marriott said that unauthorized access to data within its Starwood network has been taking place since 2014 in what may be among the largest data breaches on record.

Marriott acquired Starwood in 2016, and the process of merging its computer system with Starwood computers has been marred by technical glitches.

The company said credit card numbers and expiration dates of some guests might have been taken. For as many as two-thirds of those affected, data exposed could include mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date and communication preferences. For some guests, the information was limited to name and sometimes other data such as mailing address, email address or other information.

“We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves,” CEO Arne Sorenson said in a prepared statement. “We are doing everything we can to support our guests, and using lessons learned to be better moving forward.”

Email notifications to those who may have been affected will begin rolling out Friday.

While the breach affected “approximately 500 million guests” who made a reservation at a Starwood hotel, some of those records could include a single person who booked multiple stays.

The company manages more than 6,700 properties across the globe.

While the first impulse for those potentially affected by the breach could be to check credit cards, security experts say other information in the database could be more damaging.

“The names, addresses, passport numbers and other sensitive personal information that was exposed is of greater concern than the payment info, which was encrypted,” said analyst Ted Rossman of CreditCards.com. “People should be concerned that criminals could use this info to open fraudulent accounts in their names.”

When the merger was announced in 2015, Marriott had 54 million members of its loyalty program, and Starwood had 21 million. Many people were members of both programs.

Asked for more details on the 500 million number, Marriott spokesman Jeff Flaherty said Friday that the company has not finished identifying duplicate information in the database.

An internal security tool signaled a potential breach in early September, but the company was unable to decrypt the information that would define what data had potentially been exposed until last week.

Marriott, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said in a regulatory filing that it’s premature to estimate what financial impact the data breach will have on the company. It noted that it does have cyber insurance, and is working with its insurance carriers to assess coverage.

The Starwood breach stands out among even the largest security hacks on record. Hilton had two separate data breaches that exposed more than 350,000 credit card numbers. One breach began in November 2014 and another in April 2015. Yahoo had a data breaches in 2013 and 2014 that impacted about 3 billion of its accounts. Target also had an incident in 2013 that affected more than 41 million customer payment card accounts and exposed contact information for more than 60 million customers. Last year, Equifax disclosed a data breach that affected more than 145 million people.

The former Starwood brands now under the Marriott umbrella include W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton and Design Hotels. Starwood branded timeshare properties are also included.

Marriott has had a rocky process of merging its computer system with Starwood computers. Members of both loyalty programs have complained about missing points, glitches with stays crediting to their accounts and problems with free nights earned from credit cards not appearing.

Sorenson said that Marriott is still trying to phase out Starwood systems.

Marriott has set up a website and call center for anyone who thinks that they are at risk.

Shares of Marriott tumbled 5 percent at the opening bell.

us army contract with microsoft hololens for deployment

VR Hits U.S. Army For HoloLens Microsoft Contract

Virtual- and augmented-reality headsets haven’t had much traction in the consumer market, but they’re finding a place on the battlefield.

The U.S. Army said Thursday that it had awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract to supply its HoloLens headsets to soldiers. This lucrative contract could triple the number of headsets in the market.

The head-mounted displays use augmented reality, which means viewers can see virtual imagery superimposed over the real-world scenery in front of them. Microsoft says the technology will provide troops with better information to make decisions.

The Redmond, Washington, company says the new work extends its longstanding relationship with the Department of Defense.

“Augmented reality technology will provide troops with more and better information to make decisions. This new work extends our longstanding, trusted relationship with the Department of Defense to this new area,” Microsoft told Bloomberg in a statement.

Military bidding documents say the technology will be used for both training and fighting, bringing more situational awareness to troops to help them become more lethal and mobile.

instagram stories closes out strangers

Instagram Closing The Friends Circle

Keep your friends close … and your close friends closer?

Instagram is adding a feature to make it easier to share photos and videos with fewer folks.

Called Close Friends, the new feature lets users share Stories — photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours — with people they put on a special list. The idea is people may feel more comfortable sharing some things with just close friends, rather than all followers.

Regular posts would still appear to everyone, though users have the option of pre-approving followers. Facebook already lets people narrow audiences for individual posts, but the Facebook-owned Instagram hasn’t.

Social-media companies are quickly learning that bigger audience sizes for users can mean a reluctance to share more personal stuff. So, they are adding ways to communicate with smaller groups. This is why Facebook is beefing up its Groups feature, and why messaging apps are so popular.

Robby Stein, product director at Instagram, said the feature took more than a year to complete. It starts rolling out to users Friday.

To use it, first create a list of close friends by going to your profile and tapping the icon with three horizontal lines. Instagram will suggest people to add based on how often you interact with them, or you can pick your own.

Once that’s done, you can create a story just for those people. Friends aren’t notified when you add them to the list, or if you remove them later, and they can’t request to be added. But they’ll eventually know: Stories they get this way will have a green circle around them, rather than the usual pink.

You can create just one Close Friends group, though, rather than separate ones for families, friends and other circles, as you can on the main Facebook service. Stein said Instagram wanted to keep things simple and observed that when there are multiple lists, people don’t tend to use them.

Instagram copied the Stories feature from Snapchat years ago and now has more than 400 million people using the feature each day. That’s more than twice the number using Snapchat — not just its Stories feature — each day.

Hottest Sports Fitness and Tech Gift Ideas Holiday Guide 2018

Jackie Warner
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Hottest Sports Fitness and Tech Gift Ideas Holiday Guide 2018

Christmas is just around the corner and many of us are thinking about what we are going to give to the people in our lives. And it depends too, on what those people love that will drive us to look for particular gifts. There might be a person on your Christmas list that is a keen fitness enthusiast who seems to spend hours in the gym or talk about health, fitness, and lifestyle all the time! Well don’t worry, there are heaps of holiday gifts for fitness enthusiasts for 2018 that will appeal to them. Whatever tickles their fancy, be it yoga, snowboarding, hiking, walking – there is something for them that will keep them busy in the holidays. Let’s take a peek at top irresistible gifts that will appeal to men and women from the top prices to the lowest prices!

Check Out All of our Holiday Gift Guides Here.

Hottest Sports Fitness and Tech Gift Ideas For Any Holiday Or Reason

ua perpetual gore tex images hot holiday gifts

  • UA Storm Perpetual Gore-Tex

The UA Perpetual Series which includes the Gore-Tex were designed to keep their form to perfection whilst athletes work. It stretches and moves in just the way the athlete does, helping to improve the way the body works out. It comes immune to all the elements because it is so sturdy, yet breathable, allowing the air to flow. Looking good and feeling good. $400.

apple watch series 4 hot fitness tech geek holiday gifts

Who can resist these watches? The Apple Watch Series 4 is way more than just a sports watch. It will put all the metrics that you need right there on your wrist from the starting line to the end. The Workout app is ideal for whatever exercises you do – whether it’s setting your own goals, measuring how many calories you burn, and much more. It even has health features. $399.

go pro camera hero lcd hd video hot holiday fitness tech gifts

Now you can capture your adventures whatever you are doing and wherever you go. This camera comes in full HD with the Hero+, you just press ‘record’ and off you go. There is built-in Wi-Fi which allows you to connect to and control the camera remotely. $299.85

  Nadi X Smart Yoga Pants hottest fitness tech gift ideas holiday

  • Nadi X Smart Yoga Pants

The Nadi X Smart yoga pants are designed with the latest technology woven in so that you get the ultimate yoga experience from these pants. They come with the wearable X gift box with a USB cord for charging and a chargeable battery which attaches to the pants and then connects to your phone. The app takes a person through all the poses, instructing and guiding. Can be tumble-dried after hand-washing. $250

Ultimate Ears MegaBoom 3 waterproof hot holiday fitness tech gifts 2018

You can really party up with the Megaboom 3. It’s waterproof and shockproof and dustproof too. It comes in at a range of 150 feet and pairs up with earlier generations of Megaboom speakers. $200.

Yeti Hopper portable Cooler hot holiday fitness gift ideas

For any active people who want to take their exercises and fun time during the festive season outdoors, this very durable cooler will be the perfect companion. Whether it’s out camping and hiking this cooler will keep anyone refreshed with cool water or fresh snacks. A great companion for chilled days on the beach or wherever the holidays take you! $200

Nike Vision Tailwind Shades hot holiday fitness gifts

  • Nike Vision Tailwind Shades

These slick shades will more than do their job at keeping anyone who wears them protected from sun damage to their eyes, but also because they look so cool. They come from Nike Vision and are the ultimate balance of being functional yet very stylish and chic – they will take you anywhere – looking good! $145.

Jaybird X4 wireless headphones hottest holiday fitness gifts

These are suitable for anyone – everyone will love owning these headphones because they are sweatproof and waterproof, offering 8 fantastic hours of play time before recharging is necessary, suitable for any weather conditions. Fits over the ears for a sport-specific, secure fit or even underneath when in more relaxed situations. They offer superb sound quality, compatible with the Jaybird app so sound can be customized. $130.

  • Lululemon High Times Pant Full On Luon 7/8 Yoga Pants

Many people find that when it comes to pants fitting, it’s almost impossible to find something that fits perfectly. Yet the Lululemon yoga pants, with their great high-rise fit, keep you covered as you bend, twist, and turn, offering outstanding support and cover. The fantastic Lycra fiber twists and turns with you, keeping in great shape. Whoever you buy them for will greatly appreciate them. $128-$148

North Face Unisex Big Shot Backpack hottest fitness camping holiday gifts

  • The North Face Unisex Big Shot Backpack

You will feel like a big shot with this stunning backpack on your back, because of the comfort of the fit, particularly when carrying heavy loads. It features, among other top features, a North Face’s FlexVent so you don’t get all sweaty underneath the backpack and it’s got loads of space inside as well. Well worth it, $126.57

Brooks Sideline jacket hottest fitness gift holiday

  • Brooks Sideline jacket

Not only does this jacket look like a just-have-to-have jacket, it does a fantastic job of keeping the wind out, as well as the rain – keeping you nice and dry. And it doesn’t weigh you down either, as it’s so lightweight and breathable. It also has zipper pockets so that phones and keys, for instance, are kept safe and out the way while a person is out hitting the streets or travailing hiking trails somewhere. $100.

  • Battle Ropes

Anybody who is into working out and getting their body in shape will love the high tensile strength of battle ropes because they offer a great cardio workout that adds strength to the shoulders, legs, arms, and abs. This gear can go anywhere and all you need is a sturdy place like a tree or a pole and an anchor strap although many come in a kit. $89.99.

  • Linksoul Polo

Whether he is a golfer, spending a day on the beat, whatever his beat, this golfing shirt from Linksoul is highly stylish. He won’t just want to wear it for sport though! $80.

  • Bonobos LA Fleece Sweatpants

When a heavy sweat session is over, these sweatpants are comfortable to the highest degree, really cozy and super-soft and if the weather is cold, the lightweight fleece sweatpants will be exactly what any person will take comfort in after a heavy workout. $68.

FitBit Flex Wireless Activity hottest fitness tech geek gifts

  • FitBit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband, Black

This must surely be the most popular activity tracker that one can wear in the world, this is the FitBit, very affordable and syncs with iPhone and Android. They are water and sweat resistant too. $69.95

  • Tigra Sport Mountcase 2 Bike Kit

For cyclist lovers who are always spending their weekends on their bikes – they will love this phone mountcase for their special bike. It comes dust free, rain-free and dirt-proof and it is also great for off-road biking as well because it has been designed and built to resist the vibrations and shocks of the terrain. $60.

Alchemy Goods Haversack Messenger Bag hottest gift guides

  • Alchemy Goods Haversack Messenger Bag

This sturdy bag is not only water-resistant, but it’s made from recycled bike tubes and recycled seatbelts. Isn’t that cool! For a keen cyclist, its ideal, but apart from that, it has enough room even to fit a laptop, a camera, gym gear, and even more. $65.

Brooks Chariot Heritage Sneaker hottest fitness gift guides

  • Brooks Chariot Heritage Sneaker

These are so attractive that anyone might want to wear them even when not doing exercises, and they are great for people who love vintage stuff. This shoe was inspired in the 80s after the brands most worn looking running shoe. $65.

Spikeball 3 Ball Game Set 2018 hot holiday gift sets

  • Spikeball 3 Ball Game Set

This game was made extremely popular in the television show, Shark Tank, and it’s a game you can take on holiday with you – kind of addictive. It comes with collapsible legs, 3 balls, and an adjustable net. A great, highly entertaining game that the whole family will love in the holidays. $60

New Balance Fresh Foam Arishi shoes for men hotteswt fitness gift guides

  • New Balance Fresh Foam Arishi shoes for men

He will love these whether he is in interested in running races or not; just because they are so comfortable. They are so light to wear too, he will hardly be aware he is wearing them – just sheer versatility. Selling for around $59.99.

Ringside Apex Flash Sparring Gloves sexy mma hottest fitness gift guides

  • Ringside Apex Flash Sparring Gloves

What these sparring gloves do, is give anyone a multifaceted workout when they are short of time. You get intense cardio strength and coordination benefits. They have adjustable fit provision, mesh palms with antibacterial inner lining, and are available in different colors. $51.

TriggerPoint GRID Foam Roller hottest fitness gift guides holiday

  • TriggerPoint GRID Foam Roller

TriggerPoint foam rollers are loved by people whether they are fitness enthusiasts or not. You can massage your muscles, actually a kind of cheap way of giving yourself a deep-tissue massage. You slowly roll over the roller, as it helps to break up scar tissue and adhesions. And after a workout, it just speeds up the recovery process. They come in different colors too and some of them come with instructional videos so you can see how to target the different muscle groups. $45.

outdoor sleeping bag camping holiday gift guide ideas

Coleman’s North Rim sleeping bag is top of the range because it is super comfortable and warm as well as being windproof and rain proof. Getting such a gift over Christmas will make anyone just want to get out there and go hiking or camping $43.89

Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer Making Kit hot holiday mens gifts

  • Brooklyn Brew Shop Beer Making Kit

Guys simply love this – this kit comes with everything a guy needs to make his own beer. This kit is equipped with hops, grains, yeast, and a fermenter and all the other necessary tools which can be reused after the first gallon of homebrew has been downed. There are different beer styles to choose from as well. $42.

SKLZ Accelerator Pro Indoor Putting Green hot sports gift guides

  • SKLZ Accelerator Pro Indoor Putting Green

With this exciting gift, you can practice your golfing skills even through the cold winter months. And it has a continuous-return play which means you can practice and putt continuously without having to fetch any balls. $40.

If a beer making kit won’t do the trick, then this Espro Coffee Travel Press flask will do it for the fitness enthusiast big time. It’s got a mug that is leak-resistant and designed so that it fits easily and seamlessly into a cup holder or a bag or even the water bottle holder on a bike. $35.

Fjällräven Ovik Melange Beanie sexy man hottest fitness sports gift guides

With this beanie as a gift, there is no excuse not to get out in the winter weather, whether on a bike, a hike or running and walking; whatever. No icy winds battering at the head and it’s made of a certain wool and acrylic, yet does not make your head feel too hot. $35.

total upper body workout bar hottest fitness gift holiday guides

  • The total upper body workout bar

This is a very versatile piece of working out equipment, enabling anyone to get a good workout in their own space, be it at the office, home, or whilst traveling overseas. Plenty of options. No excuse for not keeping fit! $25.

Gaiam Print Premium Yoga Mats hottest fitness gift guides mttg

The Gaiam yoga mats are noted to rank as some of the best worldwide. They don’t tear easily and they are ultra-soft under-feet. The mats come in beautiful designs to appeal to everyone. From $25.00

Cold Weather LS Tee hottest fitness sports gift guides

  • Cold Weather LS Tee

Along with the fabulous sweatpants mentioned, you could also add this useful addition, the cold weather LS Tee, for chillier days. With its compression fabric, it will keep any guy’s body nice and dry and warm from the cold. $19.

  • Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD Pocket Knife

This is the original and what is considered the all-time best Victorinox Swiss Army Classic pocket knife, which is built to last, whoever owns it, for a lifetime. It the ideal gift to give someone who adores spending their time outside and doing stuff, like Bear Grylls! $15.95

Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee with Lion’s Mane & Chaga hottest fitness gift ideasWhat about a gift pack of health products?

Soylent will meet anyone’s basic nutritional needs, this ready-to-drink health food drink. $39

This ranks as one of the most intriguing health food startups in the last years – Sigmatic mushroom coffee has a slightly fruity, earthy, flavor, and said to offer amazing health benefits, which includes protection against cancer. It is also noted to provide an energy boost. Maybe if mushroom coffee doesn’t do it for you, consider what many people rank as the world’s best coffee, Jamaica blue mountain coffee. $16.57

  • Health Warrior Chia Bars, Coconut/Acai Berry/Mango Variety Pack

Chia seeds have plenty of omega fatty acids and protein for muscle and brain power. The colorful bars make an excellent extra in the Christmas stocking and are excellent alternatives to chocolates and other Christmas unhealthy delights. $15.52

  • BSN SYNTHA-6 Protein Powder – Chocolate Milkshake

Builds lean muscle. Can be used anytime. Packed with amino acids. $28.49

  • BSN SYNTHA-6 Protein Powder.

Not all protein powders are the same, but this delicious one tastes like real chocolate. Plenty of ultra-pure protein in this one and heaps of essential amino acids. $38.04

These cricket flour protein bars are made from cricket flour – the Exo group partnered with a chef from Michelin Star to create these bars – and they saw to it that the bars have plenty of protein in them. $35.15.winter exercise hot holiday gift ideas

To benefit from these superb gifts, some important tips

  • Actually, keeping up with a regular exercise program over the holiday period is still essential, particularly over Christmas time when delicious and tempting foods and drinks are available over the entire period!
  • Still being physically active over the holiday season will keep your weight in check, improve your body strength and keep you psychologically healthy as well. Those who exercise regularly are generally happier people, less stressed, and the benefits of exercise are felt throughout the body.
  • Once the festive season arrives it is easy to decide to give up your regular 30 minutes run for that extra festive drink at the bar. Sure, there is no harm in letting down your hair for a couple of days – it’s not likely to affect your health or your fitness regime much. But when the partying with no exercising starts at the start of the Christmas season right into the New Year, it can become a problem.
  • Getting out of your regular habits make it rather hard to get back into the strict health routine when the holidays are over. Studies show that people can gain as much as 500% during the Christmas break compared with non-holiday days. It just simply highlights the importance of being aware of how much you eat and what you eat – really try to continue with your 30 minutes of exercise a day over the holiday period.
  • Don’t forget about the ‘merry-Christmas-coronary’ and ‘happy New Year heart-attack’ phenomena either. These words were coined for a reason after an analysis completed found that cardiac problems were raised and observed during the festive season and overindulgence and stress were responsible. It is important to combat stress, depression, and over-indulgence over the festive season and exercising is known to have “antidepressant” qualities.
  • It is not an unusual thing to arrive at the end of the year and believe you need a break from all the hard work and exercises you’ve been doing over the past year. During the holiday season, it isn’t a bad idea to include some fun activities that you can enjoy with family and friends seeing it is the season for being with family and friends.

sexy man laying on beach sandTry and buy gifts that are usable

To choose a great holiday gift fit for a fitness enthusiast, remember to buy something that you know someone will use. Choosing something that matches the person’s interests is a good start, not forgetting to remember that when choosing gifts for the fitness enthusiasts, remember not all of them love to work out in the same way. A person who enjoys their yoga workouts won’t really enjoy getting compression running socks for Christmas, will they?

There has never been a more exciting time for gifts than what the world offers today – more than you could ever imagine! And the thing is, the wearable technology around today is simply mind-blowing – people are just spending more and more time in gym clothes, whether they are fond of the gym or not – these ‘fashletic’ clothes are insane – the options today on the market are endless and amazing and it will be really difficult deciding what not to buy!

sexy man woman on beach fitness gifts

And if you are going away to the beach, and you want to stay active, fit and have some real fun, then of course you will never go wrong with this snorkeling gear – only problem is, buying it will lead you on to want to buy a more expensive gift so that you can enjoy snorkeling and other fun activities at the sea big time in the future, like that little cottage by the sea!

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You can also download this entire Sports Fitness and Tech Gift Idea Guide above to save for later or share.

Donald Trump chooses his wisdom over National Climate Assessment

Shanka Cheryl
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Donald Trump chooses his wisdom over National Climate Assessment

When asked about the Fourth National Climate Assessment report that was quietly put out on Black Friday, Donald Trump admitted to looking at it, but he said he doesn’t believe any of it.

Trump has rejected a central conclusion of a dire report on the economic costs of climate change released by his own administration, but economists said the warning of hundreds of billions of dollars a year in global warming costs is pretty much on the money.

Just look at last year with Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma, they said. Those three 2017 storms caused at least $265 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The National Climate Assessment report, quietly unveiled Friday, warned that natural disasters are worsening in the United States because of global warming.

It said warming-charged extremes “have already become more frequent, intense, widespread or of long duration.” The report noted the last few years have smashed U.S. records for damaging weather, costing nearly $400 billion since 2015.

“The potential for losses in some sectors could reach hundreds of billions of dollars per year by the end of this century,” the report said. It added that if emissions of heat-trapping gases continue at current levels, labor costs in outdoor industries during heat waves could cost $155 billion in lost wages per year by 2090.

The president said he read some of the report “and it’s fine” but not the part about the devastating economic impact.

“I don’t believe it,” Trump said, adding that if “every other place on Earth is dirty, that’s not so good.”

Nearly every country in the world in 2015 pledged to reduce or slow the growth of carbon dioxide emissions, the chief greenhouse gas.

“We’re already there,” said Wesleyan University economist Gary Yohe, who was a reviewer of the national report, which was produced by 13 federal agencies and outside scientists. “Climate change is making a noticeable impact on our economy right now: Harvey, Florence, Michael, Maria.”

Yohe said, “It is devastating at particular locations, but for the entire country? No.”

Economist Ray Kopp, a vice president at the think tank Resources For the Future and who wasn’t part of the assessment, said the economics and the science in the report were absolutely credible.

“I believe this is going to be a devastating loss without any other action-taking place,” Kopp said Monday. “This is certainly something you would want to avoid.”

Earlier, the White House had played down the report. Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in an emailed statement that the report “is largely based on the most extreme scenario, which contradicts long-established trends by assuming that, despite strong economic growth that would increase greenhouse gas emissions, there would be limited technology and innovation, and a rapidly expanding population. ”

Throughout the 29-chapter report, scientists provide three scenarios that the United Nations’ climate assessments use. One is the business-as-usual scenario, which scientists say is closest to the current situation. That is the worst case of the three scenarios. Another would envision modest reductions in heat-trapping gases, and the third would involve severe cuts in carbon dioxide pollution.

For example, the $155 billion a year in extra labor costs at the end of the century is under the business-as-usual scenario. Modest reductions in carbon pollution would cut that to $75 billion a year, the report said.

The report talks of hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses in several spots. In one graphic, it shows the worst-case business-as-usual scenario of economic costs reaching 10 percent of gross domestic product when Earth is about a dozen degrees warmer than now with no specific date.

Yohe said it was unfortunate that some media jumped on that 10 percent number because that was a rare case of hyperbole in the report.

“The 10 percent is not implausible as a possible future for 2100,” Yohe said. “It’s just not terribly likely.”

Kopp, on the other hand, said the 10 percent figure seems believable.

“This is probably a best estimate,” Kopp said. “It could be larger. It could be smaller.”

Donald Trump’s Barack Obama facts wrong plus Paul Manafort violation

Shanka Cheryl
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0
Donald Trump’s Barack Obama facts wrong plus Paul Manafort violation

While President Donald Trump remained silent during part of the holiday weekend, he’s come out swinging hard at Robert Mueller and reports on his federal policy that split migrant families at the border. Trump is now claiming that Barack Obama did the exact same thing.

That would seem odd as Trump has been vehemently opposed to following in Obama’s footsteps and has spent two years trying to dismantle everything the former president created.

The Obama and Trump administrations operated under the same immigration laws but the “zero tolerance” policy that drove children from their parents was Trump’s.

The Facts Behind Trump’s Claim

TRUMP: “Obama had a separation policy; we all had the same policy. I tried to do it differently, but Obama had a separation policy. But people don’t like to talk about that.” — remarks to reporters Monday.

TRUMP: ”@60Minutes did a phony story about child separation when they know we had the exact same policy as the Obama Administration. In fact, a picture of children in jails was used by other Fake Media to show how bad (cruel) we are, but it was in 2014 during O years. Obama separated … children from parents, as did Bush etc., because that is the policy and law. I tried to keep them together, but the problem is, when you do that, vast numbers of additional people storm the Border. So with Obama seperation is fine, but with Trump, it’s not. Fake 60 Minutes!” — tweets Sunday.

THE FACTS: Obama did not have a separation policy. The Trump administration didn’t, explicitly, either, but that was the effect of zero tolerance, which meant that anyone caught crossing the border illegally was to be criminally prosecuted, even if they had few or no previous offenses.

The policy meant adults were taken to court for criminal proceedings and their children were separated. In most cases, if the charge took longer than 72 hours to process, which is the longest time that children can be held by Customs and Border Protection, children were sent into the care of the Health and Human Services Department. Zero tolerance remains in effect, but Trump signed an executive order June 20 that stopped separations.

The president is correct, however, in saying that photos of children in holding cells were misrepresented online as showing the effects of Trump’s immigration policy.

The photos were from 2014, during the Obama administration, and showed children who came to the border without their parents and were being housed at a Customs and Border Protection center in Nogales, Arizona. The photos were identified as such but wrongly described online as illustrating imprisonment under Trump. Various activists expressed horror about the scene until it was pointed out that Trump had nothing to do with it.

A day after President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was accused of violating a plea agreement in the Russia investigation; Trump is accusing special counsel Robert Mueller (MUHL’-ur) of “ruining lives.”

Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he thinks the media “builds Bob Mueller up as a Saint.”

Trump says that when the Mueller investigation ends it will become evident that people were treated “horribly” and “viciously” and that people’s lives are being ruined for refusing to lie. Trump apparently was referring to conservative author Jerome Corsi, who says he rejected a plea because it would have forced him to falsely admit that he lied to investigators.

paul manafort violation bob mueller pleaPaul Manafort Violates Special Counsel Plea Agreement

The special counsel in the Russia investigation is accusing former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort of violating his plea agreement by repeatedly lying to federal investigators, an extraordinary allegation that could expose him to a lengthier prison sentence — and potentially more criminal charges.

The torpedoing of Manafort’s plea deal, disclosed in a court filing Monday, also results in special counsel Robert Mueller’s team losing a cooperating witness from the top of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign who was present for several key episodes under investigation. That includes a Trump Tower meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer he was told had derogatory information on Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The move signals a return to the acrimonious relationship Manafort has had with the special counsel’s office since his indictment last year. Before his plea agreement, Manafort aggressively challenged the special counsel’s legitimacy in court, went through a bitter trial and landed himself in jail after prosecutors discovered he had attempted to tamper with witnesses in his case.

In the latest filing, Mueller’s team said Manafort “committed federal crimes” by lying about “a variety of subject matters” even after he agreed to truthfully cooperate with the investigation. Prosecutors said they will detail the “nature of the defendant’s crimes and lies” in writing at a later date to the judge.

Through his attorneys, Manafort denied lying, saying he “believes he provided truthful information” during a series of sessions with Mueller’s investigators. He also disagreed that he breached his plea agreement. Still, both sides now agree they can’t resolve the conflict, and U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson should set a date to sentence him.

Manafort, who remains jailed, had been meeting with the special counsel’s office since he pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy against the United States and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He cut that deal to head off a second trial after being convicted last summer of eight felony counts related to millions of dollars he hid from the IRS in offshore accounts.

Both cases stemmed from his Ukrainian political work and undisclosed lobbying work he admitted to carrying out in the U.S. in violation of federal law.

As part of his plea agreement, Manafort pledged to “cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly” with the government “in any and all matters” prosecutors deemed necessary. That included his work on the Trump campaign as well as his Ukrainian political work, which remains under investigation by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors there are looking into the conduct of longtime Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta, former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig and former Republican congressman and lobbyist Vin Weber to determine whether they violated federal law by failing to register as foreign agents with the Justice Department. None of the men has been charged with any crimes.

As part of his plea deal, Manafort also forfeited many of his rights as well as his ability to withdraw the plea if he broke any of the terms. In return, prosecutors agreed to not bring additional charges against him and to ask a judge for a reduction of his sentence if he provided “substantial assistance.”

But with prosecutors saying he breached the agreement, Manafort now faces serious repercussions such as the possibility of prosecution on additional charges including the 10 felony counts prosecutors dropped when he made the deal.

Manafort already faces up to five years in prison on the two charges in his plea agreement. In his separate Virginia case, Manafort’s potential sentencing under federal guidelines has not yet been calculated, but prosecutors have previously said he could face as much as 10 years in prison on those charges.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in that case in February. His co-defendant, Rick Gates, who spent a longer time on the campaign and worked on the Trump inaugural committee, has not had a sentencing date set yet. He continues to cooperate with Mueller.

Coping with Family Induced Holiday Stress

Jackie Warner
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Coping with Family Induced Holiday Stress

It happens every year around the holidays. Just being around your family makes you feel weary and worn-out. Between the heated conversations about politics to the snide remarks about your cooking skills, we often feel like a child that’s been scolded and shamed.

Even the happiest of us often turn into Scrooge at just the thought of spending the holidays with our crazy, dysfunctional family. We find ourselves lashing out like a teenager with raging hormones- wanting to be heard or needing to be rescued or just wanting to fit in.

But it doesn’t have to be this way this year. It’s the perfect time to practice the art of being ourselves and loving who we are. We can be true to ourselves and have a good time in spite of the craziness going on around us.

It’s important to not have any expectations of perfection and changes from others. Instead, use these 5 tips to guide you for a more enjoyable holiday.

  1. Choose your battles and set boundaries. Don’t let peer pressure suck you into doing something you don’t want to do. Instead stay home. Let everyone in the family know what works for you and what doesn’t. Take a time out if the discussions are becoming too heated for you. Remain an observer as others battle it out to help you stay calm.
  2. Don’t be a victim but don’t blame and judge them either. If feel you need to blame them, do it quietly in another room and write it down. Just don’t give it to them. Instead of complaining or whining about this family member or that one, take 100 percent responsibility for your actions. The most emotionally mature person often sets the tone for the holiday, so be that person.
  3. Stand up for your partner and protect them from family backlash. They are your partner, the one you chose, so be there for them when the family sarcasm starts against them. Remember, they are the one you will be going home with.
  4. Try to understand them. They have their own life, their own values and their own problems they may or may not want to share. Don’t expect the conversations to always be about you either. Take a genuine interest in them and what they have to say.
  5. Love them for who they are. They are your family, and you are a part of them. They just want to feel loved, accepted and a part of the family. It can be difficult to do especially if old wounds and hurts keep rearing its ugly head. Try to get therapy or a guide to help you get over it.

In the end, the holidays only come around one time a year. Make an effort to be more forgiving and loving during that time.

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