Pop Culture

A YouTube star who claimed a vegan lifestyle was the cure to breast cancer, has died of cancer.  Mari Lopez, who was known for blogging alongside her niece, Liz Johnson, died from the disease in December, according to Liz. The pair, who blogged as Mari & Liz, had 11,761 subscribers and posted videos in which they promote a vegan lifestyle ...

A man who told police he took five times the recommended dosage of erectile dysfunction medication was arrested for DUI after investigators said he crashed into a Seattle parking garage.  Officers, who did not smell the odor of intoxicants from the man or his vehicle, arrested the Mercer Island man believing he was possibly under the influence of prescription drugs, ...

These days, anything can be nipped and tucked.   The cosmetic surgery industry is booming, with soaring rates of women (and men) going under the knife to adjust their appearance.   But now, even a simple boob job is small fry.  One surgeon based in New York City says he has seen a huge surge in the number of women asking for ...

Hillary Clinton gave the keynote address at the American Library Association’s annual conference in Chicago on Tuesday and cited a study that concluded children who read the Harry Potter series were more compassionate to immigrants, refugees, and the LGBT community, reports ABC News.  “Years of data suggests that reading fiction builds empathy,” Clinton said. “It helps us put ourselves in others’ shoes.”  ...

A South Carolina substitute teacher is facing a disorderly conduct charge after allegedly getting drunk in class on box wine she had stashed in her bag, police report.  Cops were dispatched Friday morning to the Brookland-Cayce High School in response to a 911 call about an “intoxicated individual.”  Upon arriving at the school around 9:45, a cop was told by ...

Have you ever tried eating “beaver butt?” If you think you haven’t, then think again.  Millions of people around the world are now consuming or, at least, have consumed “beaver butt” without knowing what it is or that they’ve eaten it.  Beaver butt, also called “castoreum,” is emitted from the castor sacs within the beaver’s anus. The animals use this slimy brown substance to mark its ...

Carrie Fisher had cocaine, methadone, heroin and ecstasy in her system when she died in December, according to an autopsy report released Monday.  The coroner’s report listed sleep apnea as the primary cause of death, with drug intake as a contributing factor. The report stated that Fisher’s family objected to a full autopsy, and coroner’s investigators had access to limited ...

Though historical moments like the Salem Witch Trials would suggest that witches (and any related witchcraft) are inherently evil, the fact remains that many people engage with the practice for the opposite reason: to try and gain some control over their surroundings — particularly those who may not have much control in the first place. One need look no further ...

A Buddhist monk in Myanmar has been caught hiding more than 4m methamphetamine pills in his monastery, police said, following a record haul of stimulant seizures last year.  The monk, named Arsara, was put into custody after police said they discovered hundreds of thousands of tablets in his car as he was driving from Shwe Baho village in the town ...

President Trump calls Madonna “disgusting” and says she hurt the cause of the women marching with her.  “Honestly, she’s disgusting,” Trump told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Thursday night. “I thought what she did was disgraceful to our country.”  The Material Girl dropped the F-bomb several times and said she thought about “blowing up the ...

Dan Rather, the former CBS News anchor turned media critic, says that he’ll lead the charge against “fake news”  Rather, who has amassed a huge social media following becoming a harsh critic of Donald Trump’s campaign and, now, administration, says he will try to translate that grassroots upswell into a real life fight against “alternative facts.” The project is called “News & Guts” and ...