Great american insurance group

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is allowing more employers to opt out of providing no-cost birth control to women by claiming religious or moral objections, issuing new rules Friday that take another step in rolling back the Obama health care law. The new policy is a long-expected revision to federal rules that require most companies to cover birth control as preventive care for women, at no additional cost. Preventive services are supposed to be free of charge to employees and their dependents under former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Trump’s religious and moral exemption is expected to galvanize both his opponents and religious conservatives that back him, but it’s likely to have a limited impact on America’s largely secular workplaces. Most women no longer pay for birth control, and advocates immediately announced plans to try to block the new rule in court. Although tens of thousands of women could be affected by Trump’s new … [Read more...] about Trump expands birth control opt-out for workplace insurance

American Airlines has apologized to a passenger who was allegedly ordered to change out of her “offensive” T-shirt — or get off the plane. Runi Goyal had boarded the Las Vegas-bound flight in Florida on Oct. 30, wearing a T-shirt reading “Hail Satan” and “Est. 666,” above an image of an upside-down cross. And although she wears the shirt often, and that most people usually find it to be silly, a member of the flight crew was reportedly not amused. AIRLINE APOLOGIZES AFTER FLIGHT ATTENDANT REPORTEDLY 'COMPLAINED ABOUT THE MUSLIM WOMAN'  "He said, ‘Our crew has found your shirt to be offensive,’" Goyal recently told Buzzfeed News. Goyal added that she and her husband thought the attendant was joking at first, until she was again told to remove the shirt while another “angry”-looking crew member stood by. “The gentleman asked me if I understood what ‘offensive’ meant,” Goyal added to … [Read more...] about American Airlines apologizes to passenger booted over ‘Hail Satan’ T-shirt

I’m Business columnist David Lazarus, with a look today at kids’ privacy.A coalition of nearly three dozen consumer and medical groups submitted a letter to the Federal Trade Commission last week calling for a review of how companies are marketing to children and tracking them online. They also want more transparency about what information is being collected and how it’s being stored.“Advertising to children is a lucrative, booming business, and not enough is understood about these new methods of surveilling and monetizing children, or the impact that it has on their privacy and well-being,” the letter says.Among other practices cited by the groups is the growing trend of “playable” ads — that is, ads that are presented as video games, blurring the line between marketing and entertainment. Advertisement “What is the likely impact of these new methods on children’s psycho-social development, and what is the impact on the … [Read more...] about Newsletter: Privacy-minded consumer groups say the kids aren’t all right

Story highlights Jared Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law He's got a growing White House portfolio (CNN)As Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, descended into Baghdad on Monday, the highest-profile passenger aboard his military aircraft was neither a seasoned Iraq hand nor even someone who'd visited the country before. It was Jared Kushner, the 36-year-old commercial real estate magnate, whose marriage to President Donald Trump's eldest daughter has thrust the otherwise inexperienced diplomat into the center of US foreign relations -- and seemingly every top issue facing the administration. PM Al-Abadi receives the US CJCS Gen Dunford and his accompanying delegation https://t.co/a608LqbHbf pic.twitter.com/Q4iorzpSpT— Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) April 3, 2017 Kushner was visiting Iraq at Dunford's invitation to receive briefings on the military campaign against ISIS, and planned to meet with US and Iraqi officials. Iraq is now … [Read more...] about Trump’s Secretary of Everything: Jared Kushner

There are a lot of restaurants near Union Square, but only a few are actually good. This week, I put together a guide to restaurants for hungry shoppers — which includes extra options from previous guides to the neighborhood — who aren’t interested in simply throwing up their hands and scooting themselves and their many parcels into a booth at the Little Mermaid-esque Cheesecake Factory at Macy’s. It was a much harder prospect than I’d previously imagined. It was also surprisingly one of the strangest assignments I’ve pursued. I felt my soul leave my body while waiting in line for ramen at Mensho Tokyo, ate some very sad and cynical celebrity chef burgers at Burger Bar, and had a most bewildering meal in a hotel basement. I descended the stairs at the Cornell Hotel de France as timorously as Orpheus taking his first steps into Hades. The dining room of Jeanne d’Arc, if you haven’t been here before, looks like it could be the parents-only … [Read more...] about The strangest meal in Union Square