Penalty could keep smokers out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies...

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For old-time vaudevillian, the show indeed goes on

Carleton Ralston of Eagle Rock is a man of letters. Not a famous man of letters. Rather, a man of many letters.Since 1990, the...

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IHT Special: Syrians Struggle in an Uneasy Lebanon

Sam TarlingA Syrian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. AL-MINYA, LEBANON — For Mohammed al-Ahmad and his wife Zuhour, this is the second cold, wet winter of the war. They passed the first in the Bab Amr district of Homs, a onetime rebel stronghold that was taken back by government forces last February, after a long and unrelenting siege. Much of the neighborhood was destroyed. They have no...

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Let’s Welcome Back Hockey with This ESPN Commercial

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:  RELATED: Cookie Monster Batman and the Dog You Wish You HadHockey, schmockey. As a whole, the Atlantic...

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Women have caught up to men on lung cancer risk

Smoke like a man, die like a man.U.S. women who smoke today have a much greater risk of dying from lung cancer than they did decades ago, partly because they are starting younger and smoking more — that is, they are lighting up like men, new research shows.Women also have caught up with men in their risk of dying from smoking-related illnesses. Lung cancer risk leveled off in the 1980s for men but...

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Sharing their emotional struggles in Spanish

Hi, I'm J. and I'm neurotic.The barrel-chested man with jet black hair stops and sighs. Then, with quick cadence and a booming...

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Court Shooting Highlights Growing Gun Debate in Philippines

Bullit Marquez/Associated PressGlen Elaine Ella removed items left in the coffin of her daughter Stephanie Nicole Ella, 7, who was hit with a stray bullet as their family watched New Year's fireworks. MANILA — A fatal shooting in a central Philippine courtroom on Tuesday added impetus to a growing national debate over firearms regulation in a country with an enthusiastic gun culture much like America’s....

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‘Atari’ Is in Trouble Again

Atari is declaring bankruptcy — twice. Both the U.S. video game company and its French parent have done so, the latest twist for the company which largely invented the video game industry and remains synonymous with it, despite having seen its glory days end by the mid-1980s.But wait. Even though the Atari name celebrated its fortieth anniversary last year, it’s a mistake to talk about Atari...

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Barack Obama & Family Party at Star-Studded Post Inauguration Bash

Caught in the Act 01/22/2013 at 07:50 PM EST President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama Chip Somodevilla/Getty President Barack Obama celebrated his second inauguration Monday night with a private party following his very public day.The Obama family...

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Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home...

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