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Editorial: Obesity drugs won’t work if they’re unaffordable

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

More than 40% of American adults are obese, costing the health-care system $173 billion a year. Related conditions including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers are among the leading causes of preventable death in the U.S. But while drugmakers have developed astonishingly effective medications for weight loss, they’re not covered by Medicare.Should the government help foot the bill?When Medicare’s prescription-drug program was created two decades ago, it was prohibited by law from covering weight-loss drugs, which were seen as largely cosmetic. Congress also worried about health risks after several popular diet pills were taken off the market. The obesity narrative has shifted in recent years to reduce stigma, and newer drugs appear to be safer.The American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease in 2013.One result is that pressure is now mounting on Congress to allow Medicare to cover weight-loss drugs, such as Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy. Expanding co...

What to watch: Tony Awards, ‘The Full Monty,’ & more

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

Documentaries, reality shows, retro movies, comedy and drama rule the small screen this week:Sunday“E60” (ESPN, 11 a.m. ET): The rise of pro hockey’s Mighty Ducks is recalled in the new doc “Once Upon a Time in Anaheim.”Raquel Welch tribute (TCM, 5 and 7 p.m.): The glamorous star, who died in February, is featured in the 1973 romp “The Three Musketeers” and the 1966 adventure “One Million Years B.C.”“The Tony Awards” (CBS, 8 p.m.): Broadway gives its regards to itself at the annual ceremony. “West Side Story” Oscar winner Ariana DeBose returns as host.Monday“Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts — A Local, USA Special” (PBS, 10 p.m.): This 2022 doc salutes the Black Americans who served in segregated units in the U.S. Army after the Civil War.Tuesday“Amy Schumer: Emergency Contact” (Netflix): How’s married life treating her? The comic has thoughts in her latest stand-up special.Wednesday“The Full Monty” (FX on Hulu): Those unemployed blokes turned ma...

Mount & Romijn beam up for new season of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

Captain Christopher Pike is a hallowed name in “Star Trek” lore and Anson Mount, who stars as Pike in the franchise’s newest hit “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” knows that better than anyone.Pike was the original Captain of the USS Enterprise in the 1965 ‘Star Trek’ pilot. “He’s what’s supposed to represent the Starfleet captain in (creator) Gene Roddenberry’s mind,” Mount, 50, said in a Zoom interview.“That’s a really high bar to meet. Yet at the same time, I’m freed from that because I feel like Jeffrey Hunter” – the star of “The Searchers” who was Jesus in “King of Kings” – “was playing a different Pike in a different part of his life. That was the first act Pike. I get to flesh out the second act Pike.“Hopefully,” he added with a smile, “we’ll get to the correct Pike. I’d like to. But you have to have an equal sense of respect and the ability to put that aside and do your job every day.”It’s nearly 60 years since “Star Trek” first boldl...

Wondering if estranged husband is recording her amid divorce

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

Q. My husband refuses to move out of our house while the divorce is pending even though he has plenty of money and his sister has an empty in-law suite on her house 10 minutes away.  My lawyer says I don’t have grounds to get him kicked out.  So, I moved to our finished basement where we have an old au pair suite.  It is not ideal, but he is very controlling and verbally abusive, and I cannot take living in the main house with him.Recently I have begun to suspect that my husband has placed cameras in the basement.  He has made comments about my workouts (our home gym is in the basement) and he seems to know what I am talking to my lawyer about.  I was deposed and he asked me all kinds of questions about things that he could not know if he wasn’t listening.My lawyer is taking his deposition soon.  Should we confront him?  I know its not OK to record me without my knowledge, but I don’t know what I can do to prevent it.  I feel really violated.A. First, stop talking to your lawyer fro...

First time at the office? Here’s what to know

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

Q. I am starting my first internship in person in two weeks. My other internships were all virtual. I’ve never been in an office before — what do I need to know?A. Congrats on your first in-person internship! There are several things to keep top of mind:Build relationships. Although you may have already done this in previous internships through a screen, nothing can replace being in person and making eye contact well, eye to eye (instead of eye to screen to eye).Arrive on time (better yet, show up a little early), roll up your sleeves, demonstrate a can do attitude. Ask questions, observe, listen, pay attention.Be proactive — ask your boss to lunch or coffee. Connect with colleagues, both with fellow interns and with other people in your department and other departments you interact with.Keep in mind even if you don’t love what you do that’s OK — part of the internship experience involves figuring out what types of jobs and companies (and their cu...

Active Zachary has a great imagination

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

Zachary is a young, inquisitive boy. He is well-mannered and on the quieter side but is still very curious and asks questions about how things work. Zachary enjoys playing with LEGOs, building things, and playing video games. He loves to spend time outside and be active. Swimming and baseball are some of his favorite activities.Zachary is able to build relationships with others, particularly caregivers, and is described as being sensitive and kind to others. Academically, Zachary is on target and in elementary school. He is working on social skills at school and has done well in his class. Zachary responds well to words of encouragement and praise. He recently expressed that he would like to be an environmental scientist when he grows up.Zachary would do well in a family of any constellation, with or without older children in the home. A family for Zachary should be open to helping him maintain a relationship with his younger sister and birth parents. A home that can provide a struc...

What parents need to know about naloxone for opioid overdose

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

An overdose crisis is affecting children, adolescents and adults across the United States. Most drug overdoses in young people are caused by opioids, and specifically, fentanyl.Opioids have long been used medically to treat pain. But highly potent opioids like fentanyl, which is rampant throughout the illicit drug market, are now the leading cause of overdose deaths across all ages, including children and adolescents.If someone in your home takes opioids for any reason, you should carry naloxone and keep it in your home in case of emergencies (just like a fire extinguisher). Naloxone is a lifesaving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose in minutes.It’s available as a nasal spray that is easy to administer.Naloxone is recommended for anyone who:Uses opioids, including illicit opioids such as heroin or fentanyl, or prescribed opioid medications in a way their doctor did not intendHas a substance use disorder (“addiction”)Lives with someone who uses opioids i...

Nantucket Book Festival a must for fans of literature and island fun

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

I have an idea for the perfect book club: It’s held in a beach town, covers topics diverse as the literary world itself. It’s accessible – and free. And some of the world’s most beloved authors join in.Such a literary treat exists, thanks to the Nantucket Book Festival, now in its 11th year.From June 15-18, the Festival will bring you up close with famed writers like Sebastian Junger, Tracy Kidder, Jodi Picoult, Luke Russert and more.You’ll find famed Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists, National Book Award winners and finalists and New York Times bestsellers –  ready to chat all things literary with you at the beach, the bar, or elsewhere on the island.And yes, it’s pretty much free. While some of the events do require a ticket, the vast majority of talks and events are completely free, something the festival takes great pride in.That means you can grab a hotel room or home rental – or even just hop the easy to take Hy Line Ferry back and forth for a ...

Documentary puts spotlight on cultural phenom of ‘Midnight Cowboy’

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

Award-winning documentarian Nancy Buirski looks back to see what combusted to make the now-classic 1969 Oscar-winning Best Picture “Midnight Cowboy,” still the only X-rated movie to win that top prize.“My vision wasn’t about the making of ‘Midnight Cowboy,’ it was about the moment of ‘Midnight Cowboy,’” Buirski said in a phone interview.Her “Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Making of Midnight Cowboy,” “looks at the film in the context of the time. Because the film has been successful and continues to resonate, it tries to help us understand why it does — the culture, the politics and all of that.” It screens in as part of the Provincetown International Film Festival Thursday.“Midnight Cowboy” was wild stuff in the anti-authoritarian ‘60s where feminism, gay, civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protests were changing the landscape.  The film’s mix of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll follows the friendship between naïve Texan Joe Buck (Jon Voight in a star-making performa...

Graham: SPLC labels Moms for Liberty a hate group

Published Thu, 21 Nov 2024 21:40:43 GMT

When Republican presidential candidates like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump appear at the Moms for Liberty Summit in Philadelphia at the end of June, their hosts will be a “hate group.”At least that’s the claim of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far-left political organization that is drawing scorn for labeling Moms for Liberty and other parental rights organizations as “extremist organizations.”  The SPLC even includes them on the same “hate map” as neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.Another GOP candidate, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, just held a town hall in New Hampshire with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice. Like many SPLC critics, he dismissed the attack as “a farce.”“The SPLC is a tentacle of the woke-industrial complex,” Ramaswamy said. “I’m proud to be the first candidate to sign the Moms for Liberty Parent Pledge.”While often presented in media reports as a neutral authority on hate crimes, the SPLC makes no secret of its left-of-center politics. In its rep...