Wikipedia user Wasted Time R

The fashion industry is nothing if not intense. Thousands of designers churn out new collections each season, while a host of glossy-magazine editors and industrious bloggers traipse from show to show, awarding their seals of approval to the worthy.

A lot of cutthroat stuff goes down in the process. Have you seen The Devil Wears Prada? It's not an industry for the faint of heart.

But sometimes, we have to wonder if it's really that life-and-death. It seems like fashionistas have a tendency to exaggerate -- after all, if two people wear yellow shoes in New York this week, is it really the Next Big Trend? Must we rush out to buy yellow shoes, only to quit wearing them next weekend when someone declares that our new shoes are "so last January"?

Yes, says the Times. You must do this very seriously, as you must do all things, because fashion is serious stuff and PEOPLE MIGHT DIE. There is a flu going around, guys!

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Grace Lee

Hell, apparently, can wait for a terminally ill Manhattan woman who won a court battle last week giving her the right end her own life -- despite the insistence by her uber-religious parents that doing so would damn her to hell.

The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled Friday that Grace Lee could opt to remove the ventilator that is keeping her alive following a month-long legal dispute with her parents. Lee, however, has opted to live.

Lee's lawyer said yesterday that when he asked her if she wanted to stay on the ventilator -- and thus continue to live -- she responded "yes."

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Grace Lee

The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court ruled today that a terminally ill Manhattan woman has the right to die -- despite her devoutly religious parents' concerns that she'll go to hell if she makes the decision to pull the plug on the ventilator that currently is keeping her alive.

Despite her parents' concerns, 28-year-old Grace Lee has made it very clear that she wants to die rather than live with the pain and suffering that is the result of her current condition -- she's currently paralyzed from the neck down after suffering a stroke last month, and has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

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www.pewforum.org

So, you've been given six months to live but you don't want to wait. Should you really be forced to suffer through your final months when all you want to do is cash in the chips?

According to a New Jersey lawmaker, no, you shouldn't -- which is why he's introduced a bill into the New Jersey state Legislature that would give doctors the permission to give end-of-life patients lethal doses of drugs so they can take their own lives.

Yes, it's doctor-assisted suicide, which some call an act of God-less heathenry, and others call a humane way to let someone die with a little dignity.

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www.chinahearsay.com

A New Jersey lawmaker has introduced a bill into the state Legislature that would give terminally ill patients the option to die.

Under Assemblyman John Burzichelli Death with Dignity Act, doctors would be allowed to proved terminally ill patients who have less than six months to live a lethal dose of drugs that would end the person's life.

The drugs would be self-administered.

Needless to say, it's pretty controversial.

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Rodney King

L.A.P.D. punching bag Rodney King died over the weekend, and his fiancee is telling friends that he was drinking all day and smoking weed prior to drowning in his pool early yesterday morning.

TMZ reports that friends close to King, 47, say his fiancee, Cynthia Kelley, is saying King was sitting around the house drinking all day Saturday, and smoked weed at some point before she went to bed about 2 a.m.

She says she woke up about 5 a.m. to a naked King in the couple's backyard screaming and pounding on a door.

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It seems Thomas Parkin has seen Psycho one too many times.

A Brooklyn man who dressed up as his dead mother to commit real estate and social security fraud was in court this afternoon where he was sentenced to some rather lengthy prison time after getting found guilty last month of multiple dressing-as-your-dead-mother-to-scam-people-related crimes.

Parkin, 51, was sentenced to a total of 13 2/3 to 41 years in prison for a scam in which he attempted to convince the government that his mother was alive so he could regain ownership of her home, which was sold at auction after Parkin was unable to pay the mortgage.

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The world's oldest teenager.

Legendary TV personality Dick Clark died today at the age of 82 -- and Governor Andrew Cuomo was quick to weigh in on the passing of a "true New Yorker."

"Today, we mourn the passing of Dick Clark, an American icon and a true New Yorker who was born in Mount Vernon, graduated from Syracuse University, and began his legendary career in Utica," Cuomo says in a statement. "Dick Clark became a household name as host of the iconic show American Bandstand, and for more than three decades the world joined him to usher in the New Year from New York City's Times Square. We will remember his energy, youthful spirit, and passion for his work."

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A U.S. soldier killed 16 Afghan civilians in their homes when he walked off base. Following the attack he turned himself in. The reports of the number of casualties have been varied. In addition to the at least 16 dead, five were wounded. The victims include girls aged 6 or younger. "We don't know why he killed people," a villager told the New York Times. In February, riots broke out in Afghanistan after Korans were burned at an U.S. military base. [MSNBC, CNN, NYT]

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Usually when we post videos of things that happen on the subway, they show the underbelly of New York's underbelly. But sometimes lovely moments do happen on trains, like the one above via Gothamist. Last night, after news of Whitney Houston's death spread people on the 2 train responded with an impromptu "I Will Always Love You" sing-a-long.

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