THE BEST ACCESSORY AT THIS YEAR'S OSCARS WAS AWARENESS Disease and suicide prevention. Diversity, voting rights and equal pay for women. Whistleblower protections and immigration. No, this isn't a congressional calendar. These were the causes championed at last night's Oscars. Everyone who made an acceptance speech seemed to have one. Some of our favorite moments: 1) The push on the red carpet to ask female stars questions other than just the standard (euphemism for sexist) "who are you wearing?" Shonda Rhimes pretty much dominated everything about #AskHerMore with this tweet. 2) Patricia Arquette (best supporting actress, Boyhood), called for equal pay for women (we were all Meryl during her speech). It may have been the first reference to the issue at the Oscars since the Equal Rights Amendment went down to defeat in the early 1980s. It's about damn time. 3) John Legend (winner with Common for best original song, Glory from Selma ), condemned modern threats to voting rights. Right before his win, he performed the song. Chris Pine cried, which led to a moment of hotness that we'd never even imagined before. 4) Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritú, the Mexican filmmaker whose filmBirdman won four Oscars, including best picture, called for better treatment of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. We hope Sean Penn was listening.
HOMELAND SECURITY SHUTDOWN: WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT? In case you haven't heard, the Department of Homeland Security might shut down at the end of the week . The Senate is fighting over the bill that funds the agency because of immigration amendments the House attached to the measure last month. The amendments would bar any federal funds from being used to carry out President Obama's executive orders to protect about 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and allow them to work in the USA. Congress has to reach a compromise by Friday, which is when the funding will expire. If it doesn't, about 30,000 DHS employees — mostly office workers — will be furloughed. More than 80% of the department's employees will still go to work because their jobs are deemed essential to our safety (think Customs and Border Protection and the Secret Service). But those workers won't be getting a paycheck, though Congress could decide to compensate them retroactively. #AllWorkNoPay
JERUSALEM MAYOR TACKLES KNIFE ATTACKER, BECOMES INTERNET SENSATION Is he really just the mayor of Jerusalem, or is he, in fact, a superhero? Kudos to Mayor Nir Barkat, who sprang into action and wrestled a knife-wielding attacker to the ground yesterday. He and his bodyguard then helped the victim, described as an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in his 20s. The incident was caught on video. But wait, there's more — this isn't the first time Barkat has helped victims of a terror attack in Jerusalem. Eleven years ago, the mayor helped evacuate people from a bus that was targeted by terrorists, providing first aid and saving a woman's life. No wonder images of Barkat dressed as a superhero popped up on social media.
MEET THE 25-YEAR-OLD INVENTOR WHO MAY KILL THE POWER CORD Meredith Perry wants you to be able to charge your electronic devices over thin air . Her company is called uBeam, and although it's a few years away from being consumer-ready, we're amped about it. "The dream is to replace all electrical outlets with uBeam transmitters," Perry told USA TODAY. "...We want to be absolutely everywhere. And wires won't be anywhere." Here's how it works. uBeam's transmitter is a wafer-thin square the size of a salad plate that punches out ultrasonic frequencies much like a speaker creates sound. The receiver resonates at the same high frequency and turns that imperceptible movement into energy, charging the phone. Super cool. Perry is not your typical Silicon Valley entrepreneur. She swears like a sailor and considers Larry David her "spirit animal." We like you, Meredith Perry.
WANT TO MAKE SURE YOUR KIDS AREN'T ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS? FEED THEM PEANUTS For years, parents were told that the best way to prevent kids from becoming allergic to peanuts was to make sure they didn't eat peanuts. A new study out today says "um, no." Researchers have shown that children who are regularly fed small amounts of peanuts from their infancy are actually less likely than others to develop peanut allergies. Babies regularly given peanuts for at least four years cut their risk of a peanut allergy by an average of 81%, compared to children who avoided peanuts, according to a study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. Reese's for all.
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| Compiled by Alia E. Dastagir and Cara Richardson. Contributing: Maria Puente, Arienne Thompson, Liz Szabo, Patrick Ryan, Erin Kelly, Susan Davis, Marco della Cava, Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY; Michele Chabin, Special for USA TODAY |
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