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Tag: Lifestyle

  • More kids to ride in ‘clean’ school buses, mostly electric

    More kids to ride in ‘clean’ school buses, mostly electric

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 400 school districts spanning all 50 states and Washington, D.C., along with several tribes and U.S. territories, are receiving roughly $1 billion in grants to purchase about 2,500 “clean” school buses under a new federal program.

    The Biden administration is making the grants available as part of a wider effort to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles and reduce air pollution near schools and communities.

    Vice President Kamala Harris and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced the grant awards Wednesday in Seattle. The new, mostly electric school buses will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save money and better protect children’s health, they said.

    As many as 25 million children ride yellow buses each school day, and they will have a healthier future with a cleaner fleet, Harris said.

    “We are witnessing around our country and around the world the effects of extreme climate,” she said. “What we’re announcing today is a step forward in our nation’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, to invest in our economy … to invest in building the skills of America’s workforce. All with the goal of not only saving our children, but for them, saving our planet.″

    Only about 1% of the nation’s 480,000 school buses were electric as of last year, but the push to abandon traditional diesel buses has gained momentum in recent years. Money for the new purchases is available under the federal Clean School Bus Program, which includes $5 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed last year.

    The clean bus program “is accelerating our nation’s transition to electric and low-emission school buses while ensuring a brighter, healthier future for our children,” Regan said.

    The EPA initially made $500 million available for clean buses in May but increased that to $965 million last month, responding to what officials called overwhelming demand for electric buses. An additional $1 billion is set to be awarded in the budget year that began Oct. 1.

    The EPA said it received about 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for more than 12,000 buses, mostly electric. Some 389 applications worth $913 million were accepted to support purchase of 2,463 buses, 95% of which will be electric, the EPA said. The remaining buses will run on compressed natural gas or propane.

    School districts identified as priority areas serving low-income, rural or tribal students make up 99% of the projects that were selected, the White House said. More applications are under review, and the EPA plans to select more winners to reach the full $965 million in coming weeks.

    Districts set to receive money range from Wrangell, Alaska, to Anniston, Alabama, and Teton County, Wyoming, to Wirt County, West Virginia. Besides the District of Columbia, big cities that won grants for clean school buses include New York, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

    White House adviser Mitch Landrieu said he expects many buses to be delivered by the start of the next school year, with the remainder likely to be in service by the end of 2023. The billion dollars being spent this year — along with an additional $4 billon expected over the next four years — should “supercharge” a domestic manufacturing boom for electric school buses, said Landrieu, a former New Orleans mayor tapped by Biden to oversee spending in the massive infrastructure law.

    “These buses will be made in America — real jobs with real wages,″ Landrieu said in an interview. “We are going to ramp up manufacturing in this country.″

    Environmental and public health groups hailed the announcement, which comes after years of advocacy to replace diesel-powered buses with cleaner alternatives.

    “It doesn’t make sense to send our kids to school on buses that create brain-harming, lung-harming, cancer-causing, climate-harming pollution,″ said Molly Rauch, public health policy director for Moms Clean Air Force, an environmental group. “Our kids, our bus drivers and our communities deserve better.″

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  • Report: Global crises can speed up move to clean energy

    Report: Global crises can speed up move to clean energy

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    BENGALURU, India (AP) — Spiraling energy costs caused by various economic factors and the Ukraine war could be a turning point toward cleaner energy, the International Energy Agency said in a report Thursday. It found the global demand for fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas, is set to peak or plateau in the next few decades.

    The report looked at scenarios based on current policies and said that coal use will fall back within the next few years, natural gas demand will reach a plateau by the end of the decade and rising sales of electric vehicles mean that the need for oil will level off in the mid-2030s before ebbing slightly by mid-century. Total emissions are currently going up each year, but slowly.

    “Energy markets and policies have changed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, not just for the time being, but for decades to come,” said the IEA’s executive director Fatih Birol. A surge in demand following COVID-19 pandemic restrictions lifting and bottlenecks in supply chains have also contributed to soaring energy prices.

    “The energy world is shifting dramatically before our eyes. Government responses around the world promise to make this a historic and definitive turning point toward a cleaner, more affordable and more secure energy system,” Birol said.

    The role of natural gas as a “transition fuel” that will bridge the gap between a fossil-fuel based energy system to a renewable one has also taken a dent, the report said. Although it’s a fossil fuel, natural gas is considered cleaner than coal and oil, as burning it produces less carbon dioxide.

    But despite the largely positive outlook, the report adds that the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix puts the world on track to a warming of 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, a whole degree (1.8 Fahrenheit) more than the target set in the Paris climate deal.

    That’s in line with a U.N. report released Wednesday that said current climate pledges are “nowhere near” where they need to be to meet the ambitious target. Top climate scientists say that to keep warming in line with the 1.5 C goal, emissions need to be slashed by 45% by 2030.

    Energy policy analysts say that while there are promising steps in the right direction, the move toward clean energy needs to be much faster.

    “Clean energy investment is delivering. It is the reason why the world is on track to peak CO2 emissions. But that’s only the first step. We need big emissions cuts, not a plateau,” said Dave Jones, an energy analyst at London-based environmental think-tank, Ember.

    The report estimated that clean energy investment will be above $2 trillion by 2030 but added it would need to double to keep the transition in line with climate goals.

    “The energy crisis has detracted from the climate crisis, but fortunately the answer is the same to both: a gigantic step up in clean energy investment,” Jones said.

    “This report makes a very strong economic case for renewable energy which is not only more cost-competitive and affordable than fossil fuel alternatives but also is proving to be much more resilient to economic and geopolitical shocks,” said Maria Pastukhova a senior policy advisor at E3G, a climate change think-tank.

    She added that leaders and negotiators at the U.N. climate conference in Egypt next month will need to “double down” on reducing the demand for energy and unlock finance for developing countries to help fund their transition to renewables which would speed up emissions cuts.

    ___

    Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

    ___

    Follow Sibi Arasu on Twitter at @sibi123

    ___

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Kicked to the curb? Mums are perennials you can hold onto

    Kicked to the curb? Mums are perennials you can hold onto

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    Signs of autumn are most apparent in colder climates, where fall foliage sets the landscape ablaze. But regardless of your location, chances are there’s one familiar seasonal sight each year: potted chrysanthemums perched on porches, hanging in baskets, temporarily planted into borders.

    And soon, they get kicked to the curb with decaying jack-o’-lanterns.

    Curious and frankly disturbed about the ritual carnage, I asked a few of my Long Island, New York, neighbors why they discard their mums. The universal response? They believed them to be annuals.

    Garden chrysanthemums are actually perennials, hardy in horticultural zones 5-9. That means they can survive winter in roughly half of U.S. states. It’s true, the plants can’t withstand the deep freezes experienced in parts of New England and the northern and central portions of the Northwest and West. Nor can they handle the blazing summer heat in the southern half of Florida, south Texas, and part of Southern California into western Arizona.

    But that leaves roughly half the country primed for growing mums in their gardens.

    There are, indeed, annual chrysanthemums, but they are primarily used in the florist trade or sold as potted gift plants, typically in stores like supermarkets, as opposed to nurseries. Still, check the plant tag to know what you’re getting. The garden-variety perennials will be labeled chrysanthemum morifolium; annuals belong to the chrysanthemum multicaule species.

    No plant tag? Check the foliage: Perennial mums have broad, deeply toothed leaves; annuals have narrow and less-notched foliage.

    Native to China, perennial chrysanthemums are available in shades of orange, red, rust, pink, purple, yellow, cream and white. Most grow to 1 to 3 feet tall and wide, reaching their mature sizes in about three years. In frost-free zones, they provide a second bloom in spring.

    Consider using the plants alongside sedums, asters and goldenrods fo r a colorful seasonal display in the center of your garden bed.

    Plant mums in well-draining soil as early in the season as possible. Spring would be ideal if you could find them at the garden center, but that’s not the case in many parts of the country. Although I’ve succeeded with fall plantings, you might not if temperatures dip below freezing within six to eight weeks of planting. If you’re not willing to gamble, enjoy the show until your plants go dormant, then stash the pots in an unheated garage or cellar over winter. Water them occasionally — very lightly — then plant them in spring after the danger of frost has passed.

    Regardless of timing, incorporate compost into the soil to improve drainage, and set the plant into the ground at the same depth as it was growing in its container.

    Allow sufficient space between plants to prevent crowding, which can lead to mold, mildew and fungal diseases. If plants become overgrown, divide them in spring, just after new growth appears. It’s a great way to make free plants.

    Mums thrive best in full sun with consistently moist soil, and will benefit from regular fertilizer applications, as they are heavy feeders.

    Spread 2-3 inches of mulch around the plants to help retain soil moisture and suppress weeds. Add another inch or two after the ground has frozen to protect roots from the freeze-thaw cycles of winter.

    Allow dormant plants to stand in the garden over the winter; the above-ground plant matter, although dry, will help to further insulate roots. Cut them back in spring after new growth emerges.

    Starting in their third year, prune back one-third of the plants’ growth three times per season: at the beginning and middle of June and again during – but no later than — the first week of July. Don’t worry about removing flower buds; the practice will stimulate the production of more blooms and create fuller, bushier plants.

    If chrysanthemums aren’t hardy in your zone, you can still partake in the festivities. Potted mums don’t do well in the heat, so avoid temptation when you see them for sale in late summer. They’ll survive better – and longer – if you wait until temperatures cool.

    When overnight frost is predicted north of zone 5, move pots into a well-lit, cool location indoors. Water deeply when the soil dries out, but don’t let it remain dry for too long. The plants won’t necessarily thrive, but they should remain alive until spring, when you can bring them back outdoors.

    In the deep South, follow the same procedure when spring or summer temperatures rise into the 80s, and care for plants indoors until things cool down in autumn.

    —-

    Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

    For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

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  • Halloween Caramel Apples: an easy, fun treat amid the candy

    Halloween Caramel Apples: an easy, fun treat amid the candy

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    There is a slightly weird irony to the fact that around Halloween, we tend to look for recipes for seasonal sweets, even as we prepare for an onslaught of candy. My kids are way beyond trick-or-treating age, but that doesn’t mean we don’t lay in a supply of mini candy bars for the kids who will come a-knocking at out door.

    But if you are hosting a Halloween party — for adults or children — a plastic pumpkin full of mini candies might not feel special enough.

    Maybe you were tasked with bringing a treat to a school party. Maybe (like us) your building hosts a Halloween party every year for the kids. Or maybe, even though you are an adult, you still think Halloween is the coolest holiday of the year and you need to go the extra mile!

    Homemade caramel apples are surprisingly easy to make, and purely joyful.

    You can use whatever apples you like, as long as they are firm and crisp. Granny Smiths are a good choice, with the tartness playing nicely against the sweet. Honeycrisp and Fuji and Gala, all good choices. You want a crunch when you bite into it.

    I like to use smaller apples, because with caramel and coatings there is a lot going on. Have you seen some of those huge packaged caramel or other candy apples available during the holiday season? The kind that can feed a family of four? They are gorgeous but uh, let’s just say hard to justify.

    WHAT THE KIDS CAN DO:

    Supervise like crazy if you have little ones; that melted caramel is HOT, so don’t let them touch it.

    Kids can help choose different toppings (colored sprinkles or jimmies, crushed cookies, granola, shredded coconut). And they can dip the coated apples into the toppings of their choice.

    Another fun extra is to take fruit leather and cut it into festive holiday shapes. Pumpkins or ghosts are pretty forgiving, and then you can stick those fruity pieces right onto the caramel apples for extra Halloween flair.

    Or buy edible googly eye candies and stick them onto the apples as soon as they are almost cool.

    Putting the finished dipped apples in holiday-themed paper cupcake liners also adds festiveness to an already festive treat.

    If you are making these for Halloween, lean into the black and orange toppings.

    WRAPPING CARAMEL APPLES

    For to-go apples, wrap them in clear cellophane, tie them with a piece of string and ribbon, and share with your neighbors. You can choose ribbon colors for the appropriate holiday, or for a gathering like a shower that has a color theme.

    STORING CARAMEL APPLES

    You can store candy apples in the fridge well sealed for up to five days. The apples may soften a bit as they sit. It’s best to remove the stick before storing them, as the wood will speed up up the spoiling process.

    This recipe multiplies easily. Just rewarm the caramel in the double boiler as directed below if it starts to thicken up (see Step 6).

    Makes 6 apples

    6 small apples, washed

    1 (14-ounce) package caramels, unwrapped

    2 tablespoons heavy cream

    6 wooden popsicle sticks

    For decorating (pick and choose):

    Sprinkles

    Crushed cookies, such as chocolate wafers or graham crackers

    Granola

    Crushed nuts

    Crushed candy, such as toffee or Halloween-colored candy canes

    Shredded coconut

    Crushed pretzels

    1. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Twist the stem from each apple and insert a popsicle stick in the top, sticking it halfway up the apple for stability.

    2. Place the desired toppings in separate bowls or containers large enough for the apples to fit inside.

    3. If you have a double boiler, set that up with water in the bottom. If not, grab a skillet and a saucepan smaller than the width of the skillet by a few inches. Place the saucepan in the skillet and fill the skillet with water about ½ inch up the sides of the saucepan nestled inside. Place the caramels and the cream in the top pan of the double boiler, or the saucepan in the skillet. Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until the caramels are melted and smooth.

    4. Transfer the melted caramel to a heatproof surface. Dip each apple, one at a time, into the hot caramel. You may choose to coat just the bottom half, or turn the apple to coat it all around with the caramel. Lift the apple up and twirl it gently to allow excess caramel to drip back into the pan.

    5. Dip the apple into the toppings of your choice. You may use more than one topping for each apple; either lean different sides of the coated apple into different toppings, or sprinkle some of the toppings over the apple, holding the apple over the toppings in their container.

    6. If the caramel starts to firm up before you have dipped all of the apples, return it to the heat over simmering water, and stir frequently until it is liquidy again. You can also put it in the microwave and heat it for 15-second bursts, stirring between each one.

    7. Place the decorated apples on the lined baking sheet, transfer the tray to the fridge, and let cool and set for at least 1 hour. Place in cupcake liners if desired.

    ___

    Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.

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  • No one hit Powerball jackpot, new drawing an estimated $800M

    No one hit Powerball jackpot, new drawing an estimated $800M

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — No one won an estimated $700 million Powerball jackpot, meaning the big prize will grow to an estimated $800 million for the next drawing.

    The numbers drawn Wednesday night were: 19, 36, 37, 46 and 56. The Powerball was 24.

    No one has matched all six numbers and won the Powerball jackpot since Aug. 3, allowing the prize to grow to the fifth-largest in U.S. history. That amounts to 36 consecutive drawings without a jackpot winner. The next drawing is Saturday.

    The lack of a winner reflects the long odds of winning the grand prize, which are one in 292.2 million.

    The new $800 million jackpot amount is for winners who take their winnings through an annuity, paid annually over 29 years. Nearly all winners actually choose the cash option, however, which would be $383.7 million after taxes.

    The biggest lottery jackpot to date was a $1.586 billion Powerball prize that three ticket holders won in 2016.

    Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • Edmunds: Ford Lightning vs Rivian R1T

    Edmunds: Ford Lightning vs Rivian R1T

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    Tesla, the first high-volume EV maker, was early to promise a zero-emission pickup, but it was Rivian, an American startup, that delivered the first mass-production EV truck. With impressive range, dazzling performance and innovative features, the R1T has attracted both conventional truck shoppers and early adopters.

    Ford’s all-electric F-150 Lightning, was the second EV pickup to arrive this year. It achieves competitive range and power, while packaging clever features in a traditional full-size pickup body. Which truck is the better buy? Edmunds’ experts compared them to find out.

    POWERTRAINS AND RANGE

    Rivian is currently delivering the R1T as a four-electric-motor model only. There’s a motor at each wheel to give the truck all-wheel drive as well as a staggering combined output of 835 horsepower. That’s enough for the R1T to dash from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds in Edmunds’ testing. The R1T’s so-called Large battery pack is good for an EPA-estimated 314 miles on a full charge. In Edmunds’ real-world range test, the R1T slightly beat that estimate, going 317 miles.

    The F-150 Lightning is equipped with two electric motors and all-wheel drive as standard. Customers can choose from two levels of output and range: The standard-battery model produces 452 horsepower and an EPA-estimated 230 miles of range, while the extended-range battery jumps to 580 horsepower and up to 320 miles of range. Edmunds tested a Lightning in the Platinum trim, which has the big battery and 300 miles of range. It was slightly slower than the R1T, needing 4 seconds to get to 60 mph, but went 332 miles in Edmunds’ range test.

    Both trucks are impressively rapid and have enough range to make long-distance driving realistic. The R1T’s quicker acceleration helps it eke out a win here.

    Winner: R1T

    UTILITY AND TOWING

    The R1T is smaller than the F-150 but cleverly designed. It has a large front trunk, a tunnel-like storage area between the cabin and bed, and an additional storage area in the bed’s floor. The R1T packs useful goodies, too. A built-in air compressor comes in handy and a camera monitoring system keeps valuables secure. Towing is rated at 11,000 pounds.

    The F-150 Lightning features its own enormous front trunk and a longer bed — 5.5 feet compared to the R1T’s 4.5 feet. Ford also engineered its EV pickup to allow owners to use the battery to power tools, appliances and even a house in case of emergency. Properly equipped, the Lightning has a maximum towing capacity of 10,000 pounds.

    The R1T and Lightning trade blows here. While the R1T offers greater towing capacity and some trick storage areas, the Lightning boasts a bigger bed and a more robust system for supplying power.

    Winner: tie

    STYLING AND COMFORT

    Rivian aimed for the right-size pickup with just enough standout style to intrigue but not overwhelm. The result is a modern exterior and an upscale interior. Many of the R1T’s controls are housed in its central touchscreen, which can be distracting while driving. The R1T is quiet, but its ride quality is firmer than some other trucks.

    Ford wanted few visual distinctions between its gas-powered F-150 and its all-electric model, so the Lightning looks slick and tough. Inside, the layout feels familiar to truck buyers, while a 15.5-inch vertical infotainment adds a splash of innovation. An independent rear suspension delivers a smoother ride than a regular F-150. The Lightning’s larger size affords greater interior volume and its ride quality is more supple than the R1T’s.

    Winner: F-150 Lightning

    VALUE AND WARRANTY

    The configuration that Rivian is taking reservations for now is the $88,500 quad-motor Adventure trim with the large battery pack and a delivery timeframe of late 2023. It comes well equipped with vegan leather seats, a height-adjustable air suspension and a 16-inch center touchscreen. It’s backed by a five-year/60,000-mile basic warranty and an eight-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

    Ford is taking orders for the 2023 Lightning, though you may find some 2022s on dealer lots. For the 2023 truck, there’s the stripped-down Pro grade starting at $54,269 including destination. The loaded-up Platinum sits at the top of the range, at $98,219. Ford’s bumper-to-bumper warranty of three years/36,000 miles trails the R1T’s, but its battery warranty equals Rivian’s.

    The R1T carries a higher starting price but includes many desirable features as standard. The Lightning can be cheaper but gets similarly pricey with options.

    Winner: tie

    EDMUNDS SAYS:

    This contest comes down to what kind of electric pickup you want. The Rivian R1T is an incredible first effort from a startup and stands out with its distinctive styling, clever storage and muscular power. Ford’s F-150 Lightning is the more conservative choice but gives buyers more flexibility in its available acessories and the reassurance that comes from an established brand.

    _______

    This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

    Miles Branman is a contributor at Edmunds. Twitter

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  • Score Post–Prime Day Savings on This Innovative Sleep App

    Score Post–Prime Day Savings on This Innovative Sleep App

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    Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

    Sleep is important. Ground-breaking stuff, right? But while you might have resisted the urge to address your insomnia in high school, sleep is especially crucial in entrepreneurship. So, if you weren’t taking it seriously then, it’s time to prioritize your sleep now.


    StackCommerce

    It’s a good thing that Restflix is included in our overstock deals, a collection of special deals that are available for Prime Day–like prices from October 24 to 31.

    Restflix is a revolutionary streaming service that’s designed to help you fall asleep fast and rest better, the company says. Using binaural beats that harness the brain’s responsiveness to sound, Restflix says its videos are scientifically optimized to alter your brain and help you achieve better sleep.

    Featuring more than 20 channels of hundreds of videos, this clever service offers 10 personalized channels full of sleep meditations, bedtime stories, calming visuals, and more to get you into a meditative, restful state so you can awaken each day feeling more refreshed and rested. In addition to developing better sleep habits, the ad-free service can also just help you relax and recover mentally after a tough day. Restflix is updated with new content weekly so you’ll never run out of resources to help you overcome insomnia, tinnitus, anxiety, and other daily stressors that can impact your life.

    Restflix has earned a 4.5/5-star rating on the App Store and was named the Best Sleep App to Drift Off To by Livestrong. CNN writes, “Whether you’re looking for nature sounds as white noise, relaxing music paired with dimly lit videos, or a soothing voice that reads you stories and meditations, Restflix has you covered.”

    As part of our Overstock Deals special, you can get a lifetime subscription to Restflix for nearly 90 percent off at just $69.99 (reg. $599.99). Just make sure to purchase by October 31.

    Prices subject to change.

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  • ‘He’s not willing to live in my house because it has fewer amenities’: My boyfriend wants me to move in and pay half his monthly costs. Is that fair?

    ‘He’s not willing to live in my house because it has fewer amenities’: My boyfriend wants me to move in and pay half his monthly costs. Is that fair?

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    Dear Quentin,

    My boyfriend owns a house with a 30-year mortgage balance of $150,000 on a 4% interest rate. He has $275,000 in cash and retirement accounts. He is retired.

    My house is paid off. I have $50,000 in cash and retirement accounts. I would like to retire within one to two years.

    We wish to cohabitate but have not been able to agree on a fair “rent” to pay. He is not willing to live in my house because it has fewer amenities. 

    “‘He believes I should pay half of his monthly cost at his nicer, more expensive house. He could pay off his mortgage and save $600 a month, but he likes to have cash. ‘”

    He believes I should pay half of his monthly cost at his nicer, more expensive house. He could pay off his mortgage and save $600 a month, but he likes to have cash. 

    I have forgone that luxury and paid off my mortgage. I am now working on building my savings. I don’t feel it is fair for me to pay half of the mortgage interest expense. 

    I don’t know what repair and maintenance costs should be expected from me, if I have no equity in his house. There are many points of view, none of which feels fair.

    These are the options he set forth:

    · I live in his house and thus get to rent mine out. Pay him half of what I net from that rental.

    · Pay half of the actual costs of living expenses and upkeep on his house while I live there.

    · Pay him what I pay to live in my current home for taxes, insurance, and utilities: $800/month.

    What say you, Moneyist?

    House Owner & Girlfriend 

    Dear House Owner,

    I’m sure your house is just as nice. And just because he believes you should pay half his costs, does not make it so. If you are paying no mortgage on your own home, I don’t believe you should pay one red cent more to live in his home. 

    That is to say, you should not come out of this arrangement paying more, just because (a) he would like you to live in his home and (b) he would like you to help him pay off his mortgage, or his tax and maintenance.

    You both made different choices: Yours was to have a home that’s free-and-clear of a mortgage, so you can spend this time building up your savings for retirement and/or a rainy day. 

    You have worked hard to pay off your mortgage, and you have $50,000 in savings, less than 20% of your boyfriend’s savings. He has $150,000 left on his mortgage, and that’s his choice.

    “If his aim is to find help to pay off half of his mortgage, he can find a tenant to do that for him. ”

    You are not the answer to his long-term financial plans, you are his partner in life. If his aim is to find help to pay off half of his mortgage, he can find a tenant to do that for him. What do you expect of you? Forget what he expects.

    By the way he is approaching this arrangement, it seems like he wants the equivalent of a detergent and a fabric softener — a girlfriend and a tenant in one handy bottle to keep his financial plans smooth and clean.

    Bottom line: You should not compromise any plans to build your nest egg. The lady’s not for turning. Only acquiesce to his plan if — with the help of an actual tenant in your home — it helps you too. 

    In other words, the desired outcome for you is more important than the suggestions he has put forward. He could save $600 a month! That’s his business. Not yours. What do you want to have in your pocket every month?

    Figure out what you want, and then work your way backwards based on that goal. For instance, if you can pay him $800 a month, charge $1,600 rent for your home, and put $800 towards your savings, do that.

    You’ve come a long way. Don’t let these negotiations scupper that.

    Check out the Moneyist private Facebook group, where we look for answers to life’s thorniest money issues. Readers write in to me with all sorts of dilemmas. Post your questions, tell me what you want to know more about, or weigh in on the latest Moneyist columns.

    The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

    By emailing your questions, you agree to having them published anonymously on MarketWatch. By submitting your story to Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of MarketWatch, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.

    Also read:

    I built a property portfolio with 23 units while we were dating. How much should I give to my fiancé in our prenup?

    ‘We will not outlive our money’: How can we give $10,000 to our nieces and nephews without offending the rest of the family?

    ‘S‘I hate to be cheap’: Is it still acceptable to arrive at a friend’s house for dinner with just one bottle of wine?

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  • Powerball jackpot rises to $700M, 8th largest lottery prize

    Powerball jackpot rises to $700M, 8th largest lottery prize

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — The eighth-largest lottery jackpot will be up for grabs when numbers are drawn for an estimated $700 million Powerball grand prize.

    No one has matched all six numbers and won Powerball’s top prize since Aug. 3, allowing Wednesday night’s jackpot to slowly grow for a nearly three months. Of course, the reason no one has won the giant prize is because the odds of hitting all the numbers are so miserable, at one in 292.2 million.

    The $700 million jackpot is for those who take an annuity option, paid out annually over 29 years. Winners nearly always opt for cash, which for Wednesday’s drawing would be an estimated $335.7 million before taxes.

    The biggest lottery jackpot was a $1.586 billion Powerball prize that three ticket holders won in 2016.

    Powerball is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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  • Review: Twyla Tharp returns with exhilarating ‘Upper Room’

    Review: Twyla Tharp returns with exhilarating ‘Upper Room’

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The packed dance audience at New York City Center wasn’t missing a trick.

    Just before the lights went down for the second act of Twyla Tharp’s new program Wednesday night, some in the crowd spotted the 81-year-old choreographer sneaking into her seat, small and lithe, with a bob of gray hair — and unmistakable to dance fans. There was a round of sustained cheers.

    If the adoration seemed intense, take note that this crowd had just watched her dancers perform “In the Upper Room,” Tharp’s breathtaking 1986 classic that sends dancers to the outer reaches of their capabilities.

    Breathtaking is an apt description in more ways than one. Audience members literally gasp, but one imagines the dancers do so even more, in the wings, in the (very) brief breaks between entries and exits. That they manage to find enough breath is almost miraculous — and explains their wide grins at curtain calls.

    What are they thinking? It seems the dancers — and there have been many, from different companies, over 36 years — are delighted both with performing the work, and having survived it. There is no doubt that Tharp’s fiendishly difficult choreography, set to the propulsive music of Philip Glass, is a test of endurance that only the best dancers can even contemplate tackling. But there is, always, an undercurrent of joy and exhilaration. Tharp’s masterpiece is a work that virtually nobody tires of seeing again and again — and almost an addiction for some dance fans (guilty as charged).

    For this current iteration, which lasts through Oct. 23 at City Center, Tharp has paired “In the Upper Room” with another well-known and very different work, her 1982 “Nine Sinatra Songs.”

    And she has brought together an excellent ensemble of 17 dancers from a variety of companies, including New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey, plus former dancers from Miami City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet among others. It’s a collection of veterans and some in earlier stages of their careers. Several dancers were on the retirement path; one, Jada German, recently graduated from Juilliard.

    In “Upper Room,” the curtain rises on a stage filled with fog, through which dancers suddenly appear — “out of nowhere,” Tharp has said. The nine sections bring different groups on and off — five dancers, 10 dancers, six dancers (there are a total of 13).

    First up are what Tharp calls the head “stompers” — female dancers in white sneakers. In this production the honors were done by willowy Kaitlyn Gilliland, formerly of NYCB, and Stephanie Petersen, formerly of ABT.

    There are also three standout lead dancers in bright red pointe shoes and anklet socks: Jeanette Delgado, German, and current ABT principal Cassandra Trenary.

    The costumes are key: Norma Kamali’s ensembles morph as the 40-minute whirlwind of movement progresses. Black-and-white striped pajama-style outfits peel off, first tops and then bottoms, to reveal bright red leotards underneath. And some of the male dancers — Lloyd Knight, Richard Villaverde and Reed Tankersley — have the job of shedding their shirts midway and displaying, not least through sweat, just how hard everyone is working (very hard).

    In the second-act “Nine Sinatra Songs,” Tharp focuses on couples, and more specifically relationships. There’s a fighting couple, a dreamily happy couple, a flirting couple — each vignette set to a song like “Strangers in the Night,” “One for My Baby,” or, twice, as sort of a double finale, “My Way.”

    If not as exhausting (or sweat-filled) as “Upper Room,” this piece is certainly demanding on its dancers, with each duet full of complicated lifts and challenging partnering maneuvers. Delgado and Danny Ulbricht laid on the charm and verve in “That’s Life,” and Trenary, so sharp and effective in “Upper Room,” was equally impressive along with Benjamin Freemantle in a challenging duet to “One for My Baby.”

    Tharp told The New York Times she chose “Upper Room,” a natural evening-closer, to instead open this show because it exemplified survival at a time when live performing arts like dance, not so long ago, were shut down with no assurance of when they’d return. And yes, the dancers at the end looked thrilled to have “survived” — but also energized, and exhilarated. As the crowd felt, too, when it jumped to its feet.

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  • Tentative deal would boost pay for 8,000 Southwest workers

    Tentative deal would boost pay for 8,000 Southwest workers

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    DALLAS (AP) — More than 8,000 customer-service workers at Southwest Airlines would get raises of 16% to 25% over four years under a tentative contract, a sign of cost pressures facing airlines in a tight labor market.

    The agreement announced Monday faces a ratification vote, however, and the same workers rejected a previous deal that union leaders negotiated in May.

    The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the new deal has better terms than the rejected agreement and would put people who work at Southwest ticket counters and airport gates at the top of the industry’s pay scale.

    Under the agreement, a top-scale customer-service representative would get a 13.1% raise upon ratification and 25.1% over four years. The rejected deal would have given them a 17.5% raise over that period. The union said less-senior workers would receive slightly smaller raises but more than under the May proposal.

    The union said the deal also includes bonuses – a minimum $1,000, running into several thousand dollars for the most-senior workers –stronger protections when employees are ordered to work overtime, and improvements if similar workers at other airlines get better deals.

    Southwest’s vice president of labor relations, Adam Carlisle, said the deal would reward employees while keeping the airline competitive.

    Airlines are under intense pressure to raise pay as air travel rebounds from the pandemic. The industry has lost tens of thousands of workers since the pandemic struck, many of whom took early retirement. Pilots at smaller regional airports have recently won large pay increases, and other workers have been in short supply. Southwest CEO Robert Jordan said last year that the airline was getting fewer applicants per job than it did before the pandemic.

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  • Sheep, goats cross downtown Madrid in echo of past practice

    Sheep, goats cross downtown Madrid in echo of past practice

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    MADRID (AP) — The bleating and bells of some 1,200 sheep and 200 goats took over downtown Madrid on Sunday morning as part of a festival that recreates the pastoral practice of moving livestock to new grazing grounds.

    Shepherds herded the animals through the paved streets of the Spanish capital while reenacting what their ancestors did for centuries: move flocks from cool highlands in the summer to lowland winter pastures.

    Madrid, Spain’s lively capital city has always been part of the 125,000-kilometer (78,000-mile) grid of farming paths that cover the Iberian Peninsula.

    As part of the Transhumance Festival, organizers make a symbolic payment for the right to use the drovers’ route that crosses the capital. The payment presented at Madrid’s city hall in medieval Spain’s currency consists of 50 maravedis, as stated in an agreement between the city and shepherds that dates back to 1418.

    The closeness of the animals delighted the urban dwellers who gathered to watch the unfamiliar ritual. Children tried to touch the soft merino wool of the locally bred sheep.

    Madrid has held the festival since 1994, and towns and smaller cities in Italy, France and California hold similar events.

    In Spain, modern farming methods have reduced practicing transhumance – the seasonal movement of livestock – to a small group of farmers that keep the tradition alive through associations such as Concejo de la Mesta, who are responsible for the Transhumance Festival in Madrid.

    They promote transhumance for advantages such as sustainability, cultural value and environmental protection since areas walked by sheep are less prone to wildfires.

    According to the Transhumance and Nature Association, 52 families carry out the practice in Spain.

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  • Amazon to allow US customers to pay with Venmo

    Amazon to allow US customers to pay with Venmo

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    FILE – This March 20, 2018, file photo shows the Venmo app on an iPad in Baltimore. Amazon is rolling out a feature that allows shoppers to pay for items using their Venmo accounts. The e-commerce giant said in a news release the payment option will be available for select customers beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022. By Black Friday, it will be available nationally. Venmo is largely known for peer-to-peer transactions, but it has been expanding its offering to allow payments to businesses. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

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  • Australia to reveal economic plan for deteriorating outlook

    Australia to reveal economic plan for deteriorating outlook

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    CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s new government on Tuesday will propose an economic plan to steer the nation through rising inflation and interest rates while reigning in debt.

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver his center-left Labor Party’s first annual budget for the fiscal year that began in July.

    It will be the first budget by a Labor government in nine years and must contend with unprecedented levels of debt as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Chalmers said rising inflation was the primary influence on how he drafted his economic blueprint.

    “The budget will be solid, sensible and suited for the times. It will recognize that in a time of extreme global uncertainty, our best defense is a responsible budget at home,” Chalmers told reporters.

    “The budget has three objectives: responsible cost-of-living relief, strengthening the economy and beginning the hard yards of budget repair,” he added.

    The previous conservative government had forecast in its last budget in March a 78 billion Australian dollar ($49 billion) deficit in the current fiscal year.

    The new government’s forecast more than halves that deficit to AU$36.9 billion ($23.3 billion) thanks mainly to higher prices for commodities including iron ore and coal.

    However, slowing economic growth was expected to add to the longer-term difficulty of repaying debt.

    The March budget forecast that gross debt as a share of the economic growth would peak in mid-2025 at 44.9%, or AU$1.117 trilllion ($709 billion).

    The budget will help families by increasing child care subsidies and gradually increasing paid parental leave entitlements from 18 to 26 weeks, the government said.

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the budget would provide cost-of-living relief for families without fueling inflation.

    “The priority will be on measures that boost the economy, that boost productivity. Cheaper child care does just that. So does paid parental leave,” Albanese said.

    The government will need to get its budget measures through the Parliament, where compromises may need to be made.

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  • Protests: Rocks, smoke bombs outside drag story time event

    Protests: Rocks, smoke bombs outside drag story time event

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    EUGENE, Ore. — Protesters threw rocks and smoke grenades at each other outside a drag queen story time event at an Oregon pub that was to have featured an 11-year-old performer, but the weekend event went on as planned despite the confrontation.

    The 11-year-old did not take part as scheduled but was in the audience of about 50 people as some 200 demonstrators and counterdemonstrators — some of them armed — faced off outside the Oregon pub where Sunday’s story time was held.

    Authorities said people in the crowd of about 200 protesters on both sides briefly “lobbed projectiles” at each other, prompting authorities to shut down the street. Some in the crowd had semi-automatic rifles, police said. The projectiles were rocks and some smoke bombs, the Register Guard reported.

    Police did not make any arrests and said one person was taken to the hospital by ambulance with an unspecified injury.

    The tense protest made the pub in Eugene, about 110 miles (175 kilometers) south of Portland, the latest target of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric that’s increasingly targeting drag story time events around the U.S.

    The Drag Queen Story Hour, a national project conceived as a means to educate and entertain children by appealing to their imaginations, has generated social media backlash from opponents who claim they want to protect children. Organizers said the protests were actually frightening and endangering participants and they vowed to enhance security at the events but not halt their programs.

    The pub said Monday in a Facebook post that the event went on safely despite the protests, but the business expects to be “a target for violent extremists for a good while” and said it spent $2,000 on private security Sunday.

    The pub’s staff had “an intense weekend filled with racist and homophobic hate mail, physical threats of violence, and repeated attacks by right wing media outlets framing our Drag Queen Storytime as nefarious.”

    “We love you all so much, and we will not ever back down to hate,” the pub said in its Monday post. It added, “Thank you for standing with us against this growing trend of violence against queer youth and LGBTQ venues.”

    The pub frequently holds LGBTQ-friendly events and had promoted the show as a story time featuring drag performers singing songs and reading picture books, with plans to include the 11-year-old performer.

    Inside the pub, the child who had been expected to perform instead became the show’s guest of honor as several adult drag queens sang and read picture books before an audience that included families with small children.

    An advertisement for the event had featured a rainbow, a unicorn and puffy clouds against a blue sky along with superimposed photos of the child performer and three adult drag queens.

    The 11-year-old, who goes by the stage name Vanellope, has performed at the eatery and live music venue before with little fanfare. Videos posted on the pub’s Facebook page shows her dancing and singing in a poofy white and blue dress while families with small children watch and dance along.

    Tension over the show had been brewing all week after right-wing personalities learned of it and posted about it online.

    The nonprofit Drag Queen Story Hour was started in San Francisco in 2015 by activist and author Michelle Tea. Chapters have since opened across the U.S. and elsewhere. Other organizations with readers in drag have also formed.

    As part of Drag Queen Story Hour’s programming, drag queens read to children and their parents at libraries, bookstores, fairs, parks and other public spaces to celebrate reading “through the glamorous art of drag.”

    Other drag events have also been in the headlines lately. Most recently, a half-hour “Drag Kids” program planned for the Boise Pride Festival generated national backlash and anonymous threats. Festival organizers envisioned a short performance where kids could put on sparkly dresses and lip-sync to songs like Kelly Clarkson’s “People Like Us” on stage. But organizers ultimately pulled the program from the festival due to safety concerns.

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  • ‘It’s about time’: Celebrations of Diwali illuminate NYC

    ‘It’s about time’: Celebrations of Diwali illuminate NYC

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    NEW YORK — The week dawned gloomily in New York, but the drab mist was little match for the holiday at hand: Diwali, the festival of lights that symbolizes the triumph over darkness.

    Celebrated across South Asia in some fashion by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists, the multi-day festival has secured a sturdy foothold far from the subcontinent in places with significant diaspora populations — like New York.

    “One thing I would say — the whole country celebrates, right? So it’s lit up,” fashion designer Prabal Gurung said of celebrations in Nepal, where Diwali is better known as Tihar. He sees signs of Diwali’s increased popularity in New York. But, he said, the whole city “is not celebrating yet — so I’m just giving them a year or two.”

    Gurung was one of the hosts of Diwali New York, a glitzy soiree held Saturday at The Pierre, fittingly a Taj Hotel. The party, now in its third year, highlights Diwali by bringing together high-powered South Asians with other New York luminaries — people who “the world saw as leaders and role models,” said host Anita Chatterjee, CEO of A-Game Public Relations.

    Five miles east of the five-star hotel, those already familiar with the holiday were embarking on preparations for their personal celebrations. Earlier Saturday, the first of the five-day celebration, the streets of Jackson Heights were replete with reminders of the festivities.

    The many sweets shops of the Queens neighborhood, known for its South Asian community, were packed to the gills with little room for movement. In the stands outside Apna Bazaar, a grocery store, a sea of small clay pots and wicks for Diwali lamps lay alongside fresh bunches of cilantro and above bags of onions. Handwritten blue signs advertised Diwali specials for everything from 40-pound bags of rice to ghee, tea and pitted dates.

    Every year, Sapna Pal comes to Butala Emporium to do her Diwali shopping. Carrying a basket brimming with tea lights and other decorations, the Delhi native said her Diwali celebrations in the United States are usually intimate family affairs because most people prefer to pray in their own homes.

    When asked if she misses Diwali in India, Pal — who has lived in Queens for almost 25 years — responded: “Yes! Every day, every year, every year.” But she nonetheless still enjoys Diwali here, looking forward to the sweets — gulab jamun, rasmalai and different types of barfi are among her favorites — and the puja ceremonies.

    Outside a Patel Brothers grocery store branch, Bhanu Shetty has run a pop-up Diwali stall for two decades. Her son Pratik says the temporary Flowers by Bhanu stall typically draws around 3,000 customers over three days. She is more circumspect: “People come.”

    “We’ve always been known for flowers, but just for these three days we showcase all the temple offerings,” Pratik Shetty said, motioning to 3D stickers, garlands, stencils for the colored powder designs known as rangoli, pictures and, naturally, flowers. Most of the flowers are locally sourced, but the Diwali specialty is the $5 lotus imported from India.

    Ratan Sharma, a manager at India Sari Palace, says sweet shops and grocery stores are the biggest beneficiaries of the Diwali shopping. But his clothing store does well, too: “Once a year we give a benefit to the customers,” she said, “and they take advantage of it.” Sharma said the silk saris — typically on the more expensive end — are the most popular item during the annual Diwali sale.

    Jackson Heights is a multiethnic, multi-religious neighborhood, and some stores still featured signs offering Eid sales. Suneera Madhani, the Pakistani American founder of Stax, attended the Diwali party at The Pierre as a gesture of South Asian solidarity. She says she would love to heighten Eid’s profile in New York in a similar manner.

    The Diwali gala was certainly high-profile: Host Radhika Jones, the top editor at Vanity Fair, mingled with Ronan Farrow and Kelly Ripa, all clad in South Asian fashions. Chatterjee said her firm helped connect some non-South Asian attendees to designers, including fellow hosts Falguni and Shane Peacock.

    The party was at time raucous, with several bear hugs that lifted grown men clear off the ground. Gurung, clad in a glittering Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla ensemble, tore up the dance floor to the 2014 hit “Baby Doll.” He was subsequently handed blotting paper by a pink salwar kameez-clad Ripa, whose husband, actor Mark Consuelos, pat the table to the beat. Padma Lakshmi and Sarita Choudhury embraced for the camera, with the former demonstrating some hip-shaking thumkas.

    “Our generation has really embraced our culture and the expression of it,” said another host, Anjula Acharia, Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ manager.

    Normally, she’d be spending the holiday with her illustrious client. But, marveling at the progress Diwali has made outside of South Asia and its diaspora, she said she’s spending it this year with President Joe Biden.

    “A few years ago, it really occurred to me: Diwali is not on the New York social scene in a way that I felt like it deserved to be, needed to be and I wanted it to be,” said restaurateur Maneesh Goyal, another host and the mastermind of the event.

    While he said that Diwali is “personally” a day of reflection, it’s also about celebrations and “happiness, positivity, bringing people together.”

    For Diwali to really permeate American culture, Gurung said, it will take “just us showing up consistently, constantly in the most graceful, beautiful, thoughtful way.” The resonance of the holiday’s themes alone — the victory of good over evil, light over dark — should do the rest of the work.

    “It’s the right time,” he said. “And also, it’s about time.”

    ———

    Mallika Sen is the entertainment news editor for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mallikavsen

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  • 3 Key Tips for Optimizing Your Physical Health as an Entrepreneur

    3 Key Tips for Optimizing Your Physical Health as an Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Entrepreneurs and business leaders are the backbone of a thriving economy. These high achievers spend their lives building and scaling successful enterprises. With such demanding day-to-day activities, many of these go-getters find themselves with a high-performing bank account at the expense of their physical health.

    Many would argue that the solution is simple: Get a trainer, go to the gym, and eat healthily. However, those who prescribe this type of game plan are forgetting that an entrepreneur’s lifestyle is not that of the average person. Like an athlete, business leaders and entrepreneurs have an intense and focused mindset. Their lifestyle is not the same as everyone else’s, and their health plan likely isn’t either. However, having a plan in place to protect personal health is necessary for an athlete or entrepreneur to meet their goals.

    The purpose of this article is to introduce three specific resources that allow business leaders to personally optimize their physical health. These three tools, or “The Three Bs,” are blood work, biomechanics and biofeedback:

    Related: Why Entrepreneurs Should Make Fitness A Priority

    Blood work

    An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This pearl of wisdom is widely used by those in both the medical and professional realms — and for good reason. Whether you are protecting your health or business, thinking ahead is critical to longevity. Prevention of possible threats also minimizes the impact of potential long-term repercussions.

    Blood work is one of the best means of prevention when it comes to health. Blood work is an effective hedge against potential diseases, health risks and the inevitable side effects of aging. Blood work clearly identifies vitamin-mineral deficiencies and the unique needs of your body as you age.

    When having blood work done, find an expert. Many doctors use blood work to look for life-threatening diseases alone. The blood work you need digs deeper. You need a doctor who will look at the whole picture instead of immediate concerns alone. The greater purpose of blood work is to understand your deficiencies and create an action plan to help you feel your best.

    Jonathan White is the founder of T3 Body, a coaching company that specializes in working with business leaders. While interviewing White, he stated that blood work is a crucial first step he utilizes to help his clients reach peak performance.

    “Blood work needs thorough attention,” said White. “We use blood work to identify exactly what our client’s body needs from a nutrition and supplement perspective. We do a biomechanics screening to assess their mobility, flexibility, range of motion, pre-injury history so that we can best customize a training solution and then the biofeedback is an ongoing weekly measurement of their sex drive, energy, mood, appetite and digestion to ensure all the work that we do upfront is working effectively.”

    Related: 6 Ways to Grow Your Business By Focusing on Personal Health

    Biomechanics

    Discovering and fixing your biomechanics is the key to giving your physical body longevity. Performance researcher, Duane Knudson, says, “Biomechanics provides key information on the most effective and safest movement patterns, equipment, and relevant exercises to improve human movement.”

    Understanding your personal biomechanics will give you the data needed to train safely and obtain the most optimal performance from your physical body. However, paying attention to your biomechanics does more than simply allow you to perform fully at the gym.

    In order to move fully, you must develop functional strength in your muscles. Functional strength differs from traditional strength training because it focuses on everyday movements and mobility. Proper knowledge of biomechanics, along with functional strength training, will help you build useful muscles that will let you move freely throughout life.

    Remember that your muscles are also metabolic currency. The stronger and healthier your muscles, the more effective your body is at managing carbohydrates and fat. Finding an expert to do a biomechanical screening is a great way to reveal weak links and lessens the risk of injury during workouts. Training safely is of paramount importance to a business leader or entrepreneur’s continual success.

    Related: 10 Ways to Stay Healthy While Running a Company

    Biofeedback

    The final “B” is biofeedback. Biofeedback involves using a subjective scale to survey your biomarkers. Biomarkers include mood, energy, libido, appetite and digestion. Tracking changes in these biomarkers will help you determine the effectiveness of the lifestyle and biomechanical adjustments you are making.

    “Through biofeedback training, a subject can be made aware of an otherwise unconscious physiologic function, such as his heart rate, and learn to alter it voluntarily,” says Herbert Benson, bestselling author and Harvard Medical School associate professor. “[A subject] uses a device that measures the function — heart rate, for example — and ‘feeds back’ to him information corresponding to each beat of his heart. He can then be rewarded (or reward himself) for increases or decreases in his heart rate and thus learn partial heart rate control.”

    To track your biofeedback, use a scale of 1 to 10 to measure your hunger, desires, libido, energy, fatigue level, sleep quality, stress and temperament swings. You may consider tracking your biofeedback with an app or professional. Both resources can help you identify patterns and suggest solutions.

    Listening to your biofeedback is also one of the best ways to maintain consistency in your health endeavors. It is always easier to quit or take longer than anticipated “breaks” when your body is working against you. However, biofeedback will help you track what your body is telling you. Using this internal data, you will find clarity on where you’re at and where you need to go to make adjustments. Monitoring your biofeedback over long periods of time is a motivating experience.

    Being fully aware of your overall health and identifying when professional help is needed, is an empowering step to becoming the healthiest version of you. Again, having a plan in place to protect personal health is necessary for entrepreneurs to meet their goals — and using “The Three Bs” as tools is a great place to start.

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  • New this week: Scary movies, Lainey Wilson, ‘Call of Duty’

    New this week: Scary movies, Lainey Wilson, ‘Call of Duty’

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    Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.

    MOVIES

    — In the new Netflix film “The Good Nurse,” Jessica Chastain plays an overworked ICU nurse and single mother who, after a patient’s death, starts to suspect things about about her new colleague Charlie, played by Eddie Redmayne. Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm directed the thriller, streaming on Wednesday, off of a script “1917” and “Last Night in Soho” screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns. For something more family friendly, Netflix also the stop-motion animation pic “Wendell & Wild,” featuring the voices of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as demon brothers. It’s an original idea from director Henry Selick, who also directed the spooky but kid-friendly classics “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline.” “Wendell & Wild” starts streaming on Oct. 28.

    — For some fresh Halloween scares, several well-reviewed thrillers are hitting video on demand on Tuesday First up is “Pearl,” Ti West’s technicolor horror prequel starring Mia Goth as a farmgirl in a pandemic plagued Texas town in 1918 whose dreams of movie stardom drive her a bit mad. There are references to everything from “Singin’ in the Rain” to “The Wizard of Oz,” but with a sinister, murderous edge. Before the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this fall, West said, “I just had this interest in making, for lack of a better term, a children’s movie that has a more demented adult story to it.” Goth helped write the script too, which involves an epic monologue at the end done in almost a single take.

    — Also coming to VOD on Tuesday is “Barbarian,” the low-budget indie horror starring Justin Long that became a sleeper hit at the box office. “Barbarian” stars Georgina Campbell as a woman who is inadvertently double booked with a stranger (“It’s” Bill Skarsgård) in a creepy Detroit-area Airbnb run by Long’s character, a TV actor facing sexual misconduct allegations. Writer-director Zach Cregger said he pitched the movie, which has an unconventional structure that essentially resets itself midway through, to every studio that’s made a horror in the last 15 years and everyone said no. To date, it’s made over $40 million against a $4 million production budget.

    — AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

    MUSIC

    — Breakout country artist of the year Lainey Wilson’s new studio album comes out Friday, featuring 14 tracks, all of which she co-wrote except one cover. Singles from “Bell Bottom Country” include the sweet first-love ditty “Watermelon Moonshine” and “Heart Like a Truck,” with the lyrics: “I got a heart like a truck/It’s been drug through the mud/Runs on dreams and gasoline.” Wilson is the winner of the Academy of Country Music’s New Female Artist of the Year Award in 2021 and won their coveted Song of the Year Award last year for her smash hit single, “Things a Man Oughta Know.”

    — It’s time to celebrate Garbage. A new compilation called “Anthology” will be available on double transparent yellow vinyl and two CD editions, as well as through major online streaming platforms starting Friday. It’ll contain the hits “Stupid Girl,” “I Think I’m Paranoid,” “Why Do You Love Me” and “Only Happy When It Rains.” Among the 35 tracks is a rare recording called “Witness to Your Love.” Lead singer Shirley Manson teased the compilation, saying it is “testimony to almost three decades of creative work together, our collective tenacity and our terrifying ability as a group to withstand ritual humiliation on a regular basis.”

    — It might be a tad early, but it’s always time for a Louis Armstrong Christmas album. While Satchmo’s holiday tunes are standard yuletide fare, he never released a Christmas album during his lifetime. Now, for the first time, “Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule” is being released digitally on Friday, followed by CD, red vinyl and a limited edition vinyl picture on Nov. 11 — marking his first-ever official Christmas album. The 11 tracks include “Cool Yule,” “Christmas Night in Harlem” and the swinging “’Zat You Santa Claus?” Fans of Armstrong can also check out the Apple TV + film “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,” also dropping Friday, Oct. 28.

    — “Till,” director Chinonye Chukwu’s fact-based account of Emmett Till’s mother’s quest for justice, was a powerful film, made that much more stirring by its score. The work by Abel Korzeniowski, who composed, orchestrated and conducted, is out Friday, and has stirring strings, dark pulses and thrilling sequences. Listen to “This Is My Boy” and try not to be moved. Korzeniowski says: “It is a tribute to those, who against all odds, and despite the world’s indifference to their plight, continue to preserve their humanity.”

    — AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

    TELEVISION

    — Get in the Halloween mood with Netflix’s “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities,” an anthology produced by the Oscar-winning filmmaker with the aim of challenging “traditional” expectations of horror. The eight stories include “The Autopsy,” based on a Michael Shea short story and starring F. Murray Abraham, Glynn Turman and Luke Roberts; the H.P. Lovecraft-based “Dreams in the Witch House,” with Rupert Grint and Ismael Cruz Cordova, and “Lot 36,” one of two episodes based on an original story by del Toro and starring Tim Blake Nelson and Elpidia Carrillo. Episodes will be released daily in pairs from Tuesday to Friday.

    — “Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes,” debuting Tuesday, on PBS’ “Frontline” (check local listings), details the toll of Russia’s war on Ukraine and the challenges of holding Russia to account for its actions. The documentary is part of a collaboration between “Frontline” and The Associated Press that includes gathering, verifying and cataloging potential war crimes and co-publishing stories and videos from AP and “Frontline” war reporting. The joint initiative, which includes the War Crimes Watch Ukraine interactive experience, has documented more than 500 incidents involving potential war crimes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.

    — A gunman’s deadly attack on a house of worship, its causes and the aftermath are examined in HBO’s “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting,” debuting 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The film, directed by Trish Adlesic, delves into the 11 lives that were lost in the October 2018 tragedy and the effect on family members, survivors and the community at large. The attack also is viewed in the context of rising hate speech and actions. Michael Keaton, Billy Porter and Mark Cuban, the film’s prominent executive producers, are natives of the Pittsburgh area. An original song, “A Tree of Life,” is performed by Broadway and film star Idina Menzel.

    — AP Television Writer Lynn Elber

    VIDEO GAMES

    — The venerable “Call of Duty” series returns Friday for its annual round of gun-happy chaos. This year’s chapter, “Modern Warfare II,” comes from Activision’s Infinity Ward studio, generally regarded as the publisher’s premier storyteller for rock-solid single-player campaigns. Special ops Task Force 141 is back on the prowl, this time fighting a terrorist network and a drug cartel that have teamed up on a scheme to launch stolen missiles at the United States. As usual, there are plenty of options for multiplayer mayhem, from competitive battles royale to cooperative raids. The game is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox X/S, Xbox One and PC.

    — “Bayonetta 3” brings Platinum Games’ flamboyant, demon-hunting witch — imagine a cross between Kim Kardashian and Tina Fey in full dominatrix gear — back to the Nintendo Switch on Friday. Longtime admirers might miss the original voice actress behind Bayonetta, who skipped this sequel due to a pay dispute and has called on her fans to boycott it. Still, devotees of Platinum’s brand of campy, high-octane hack-and-slash action won’t be able to resist the siren’s call, especially since this installment promises “a virtual coven of Bayonettas, each more fabulous than the last.”

    — Lou Kesten

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    Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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  • Climate protesters throw mashed potatoes at Monet painting

    Climate protesters throw mashed potatoes at Monet painting

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    BERLIN — Climate protesters threw mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in a German museum to protest fossil fuel extraction on Sunday, but caused no damage to the artwork.

    Two activists from the group Last Generation, which has called on the German government to take drastic action to protect the climate and stop using fossil fuels, approached Monet’s “Les Meules” at Potsdam’s Barberini Museum and threw a thick substance over the painting and its gold frame.

    The group later confirmed via a post on Twitter that the mixture was mashed potatoes. The two activists, both wearing orange high-visibility vests, also glued themselves to the wall below the painting.

    “If it takes a painting – with #MashedPotatoes or #TomatoSoup thrown at it – to make society remember that the fossil fuel course is killing us all: Then we’ll give you #MashedPotatoes on a painting!” the group wrote on Twitter, along with a video of the incident.

    In total, four people were involved in the incident, according to German news agency dpa.

    The Barberini Museum said later Sunday that because the painting was enclosed in glass, the mashed potatoes didn’t cause any damage. The painting, part of Monet’s “Haystacks” series, is expected to be back on display on Wednesday.

    “While I understand the activists’ urgent concern in the face of the climate catastrophe, I am shocked by the means with which they are trying to lend weight to their demands,” museum director Ortrud Westheider said in a statement.

    Police told dpa they had responded to the incident, but further information about arrests or charges was not immediately available.

    The Monet painting is the latest artwork in a museum to be targeted by climate activists to draw attention to global warming.

    The British group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery earlier this month.

    Just Stop Oil activists also glued themselves to the frame of an early copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” in the National Gallery.

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    Follow AP’s coverage of climate issues and the environment at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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  • Russian warplane falls on building in Siberia, 2 pilots die

    Russian warplane falls on building in Siberia, 2 pilots die

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    MOSCOW — A Russian warplane crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk Sunday, killing both crewmembers — the second incident in less than a week in which a combat jet has crashed in a residential area.

    Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev said the plane came down on a private, two-story building housing two families. There were no casualties on the ground.

    The local branch of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said the Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a training flight, sparking a fire.

    A surveillance cam video posted on Russian social networks showed the fighter coming down in a nearly vertical dive. Other videos showed the building engulfed by flames and firefighters deployed to extinguish the blaze.

    The crash came less than a week after another Russian warplane crashed near an apartment building in the Sea of Azov port of Yeysk and exploded in a giant fireball, killing 15 and injuring another 19.

    Sunday’s crash was the 11th reported noncombat crash of a Russian warplane since Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Military experts have noted that as the number of Russian military flights increased sharply during the fighting, so did the crashes.

    Irkutsk, a major industrial center of more than 600,000 in eastern Siberia, is home to an aircraft factory producing the Su-30 fighter planes.

    The Su-30 is a supersonic twin-engine, two-seat fighter that has been a key component of the Russian air force and also has been used by India and other countries.

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