Well: Quitting Smoking for Good

Few smokers would claim that it’s easy to quit. The addiction to nicotine is strong and repeatedly reinforced by circumstances that prompt smokers to light up.Yet the millions who have successfully quit are proof that a smoke-free life is achievable, even by those who have been regular, even heavy, smokers for decades.Today, 19 percent of American adults smoke, down from more than 42 percent half...

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Some Parents, Shouldering Student Loans, Fall on Tough Times

Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times“Jenni feels the guilt and I feel the burden.” Michele Fitzgerald, in debt for the loans she took out for her daughter Jenni’s college education. When Michele Fitzgerald and her daughter, Jenni, go out for dinner, Jenni pays. When they get haircuts, Jenni pays. When they buy groceries, Jenni pays. It has been six years since Ms. Fitzgerald — broke, unemployed...

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California's Iraq and Afghanistan war dead remembered

They came from Walker Basin, a speck of a community at the edge of the Sequoia National Forest. From the farm town of Reedley,...

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Taiwan’s HTC settles patent disputes with Apple

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp. has settled with Apple Inc. on their outstanding patent disputes.In a joint statement Sunday, the two companies said they also signed a 10-year license agreement that will extend to current and future patents held by one other. Apple and HTC had battled patents...

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Is “Our Kind of Traitor” next for Mads Mikkelsen?

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Since winning the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Thomas Vinterberg‘s “The Hunt,” Mads Mikkelsen has been inundated with offers for new projects.Mikkelson, who also stars in Denmark’s entry for the foreign Oscars, “A Royal Affair,” has yet to decide what he will do next, according to his representatives....

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Mind Faded, Darrell Royal’s Wisdom and Humor Intact Till End

Three days before his death last week at 88, Darrell Royal told his wife, Edith: “We need to go back to Hollis” — in Oklahoma. “Uncle Otis died.” “Oh, Darrell,” she said, “Uncle Otis didn’t die.” Royal, a former University of Texas football coach, chuckled and said, “Well, Uncle Otis will be glad to hear that.” The Royal humor never faded, even as he sank deeper into Alzheimer’s...

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Bargains disappearing for distressed properties, Zillow says

Bargains on bank-owned homes are quickly vanishing in the country's most competitive markets.Since the start of the mortgage...

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Walmart Moves Up Black Friday

Walmart is kicking off Black Friday shopping earlier than ever this year, opening stores at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.“In addition to offering amazing low prices on the season’s top gifts, Walmart is taking the historic step to ensure wishlist items like the Apple iPad2 are available for customers during a special one-hour event on Thanksgiving,” the...

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“Lincoln” Reviews: Is Steven Spielberg’s biopic Oscar-worthy?

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Lincoln,” with a cast of acting titans like Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones, arrives in theaters Friday with many predicting big things come Oscar night. But does Steven Spielberg‘s biopic of the Great Emancipator live up to the early hype?Based on initial reviews, it seems like Spielberg and company have delivered. Critics...

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FEMA Chief Tours Damaged NYU Langone Medical Center

The federal government’s emergency management chief trudged through darkened subterranean hallways covered with silt and muddy water Friday, as he toured one of New York City’s top academic medical centers in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The basement of the complex, NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, smelled like the hold of a ship — a mixture of diesel oil and water. “You’re going...

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