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Although Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now even Thanksgiving are becoming the biggest shopping days of the year in the United States, more Americans are keeping things local thanks to Small Business Saturday.

First begun on Nov. 27, 2010, Small Business Saturday encourages shoppers to skip the mall and head out to local retail boutiques, restaurants, artisans, and other merchants to support their local economies. This year, the National Federation of Independent Business found that about 95 million Americans went shopping on Saturday, Nov. 28, an increase of 14% from last year’s crowds.

In Rochester, NY, residents are enthusiastic about keeping their money local, especially in the city’s trendy South Wedge neighborhood.

The Democrat and Chronicle reported that shoppers were especially excited to check out businesses like Zak’s Avenue, Thread boutique, Little Button Shop, Hedonist Chocolate, Cheesy Eddie’s, Mise en Place, Harry G’s Deli and Purple Painted Lady, among others.

“We have such a diverse neighborhood,” John White, co-owner of Equal Grounds Coffee on South Avenue, told the Rochester newspaper. “People are very focused on supporting the community.”

Nationwide, between 25 and 27 million small businesses make up approximately 60-80% of all jobs, making them a vital part of local and state-level economies.

The suburbs weren’t left out of Small Business Saturday in Rochester, either.

Cooks’ World in the town of Brighton saw huge crowds in its store on Saturday, as well.

Instead of fighting over items like mugs, cookie cutters, and pots and pans, shoppers enjoyed looking at the store’s unique inventory and interacting with the merchants.

And for Chris Wiedemer, owner of Cooks’ World, the popularity of Small Business Saturday is proof that Americans like to support their local economies.

“We’ve been here for 37 years,” Weidemer told Time Warner Cable News in Rochester. “So, the mom and pops have been here long before the Internet, long before all the big boxes that are all here.”

Most people think of warm, tropical trips when planning a wintertime vacation get-away, but that shouldn’t be the only option. Especially for those that love Christmas and the spirit of the holiday season, Sweden offers a variety of related activities and might be just the unique adventure you’ve been looking for, according to the women’s lifestyle information source MarieClaire.co.uk.

Specifically Stockholm, the country’s capital, is given as the place to be in a country that might love Christmas just as much as many Americans do. One of the biggest and most obvious attractions for this time of year is the 130-foot tall Christmas tree that’s set up on the Skeppsbron waterfront. The enormous tree features 5,000 lights and almost all of the surrounding residences keep Advent candles in their windows to compliment the harmonious environment.

Another nice perk of spending some time in the winter in Stockholm is the amount of snow they typically get. Certainly anything is possible when it comes to weather, but usually they get little, if any snow and the temperature tends to sit right on the cusp of cold, but before unbearably freezing. In other words, it’s great winter coat, boots, and snuggling weather but not a trip to the Arctic.

Marie Claire also recommends checking into The Grand Hotel Stockholm if you’re planning a trip to the city. Not only is it ideally located on the waterfront, but it features 300 classy, sophisticated rooms at relatively affordable prices. According to the hotel’s site, the going rate for their premier “Lap of Luxury” package, for a weekend stay for two was about $228 a night at the time of this writing.

The Spegelsalen (Hall of Mirrors), a glittering ballroom from 1899, and the Vinterträdgården (Winter Garden) are some of the truly unique aspects to check out during the stay.

The hot tub and spa are also a favorite of frequent visitors. Their Nordic Spa with a subterranean pool is one of the cooler amenities you’ll find in a hotel and can help improve your longevity. One 20-year study of men from Finland, another Scandinavian country, found that frequent sauna baths may help you live longer.

With great places to eat both in the hotel and in the city itself, a variety of handcrafted goods, and trendy vendors throughout you’ll have enough to do/see while you’re there and even the opportunity to get some Christmas gifts for loved ones back home.

This past Nov. 25 was marked as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and many artists and high-profile individuals helped raise awareness of the pandemic.

One Italian artist, aleXsandro Palombo, decided to make certain celebrities get involved in the cause, and it has created quite a stir. And not necessarily in a positive way.

Palomo featured several high-profile Hollywood celebrities, including Kim and Kendall Kardashian, Angelina Jolie, Miley Cyrus, Emma Watson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and others, in a series of photographs. The campaign was called “Break the Silence” and was intended to highlight the fact that every woman, regardless of her fame, intelligence, or wealth, is equally likely to suffer abuse.

According to The Independent and Latina, Palomo altered the photos of the women (which are primarily headshots) to include bruises, broken noses, blackened eyes swollen shut, and bleeding lips. Palomo labeled each photo with the phrase, “Life Can Be a Fairytale | If You Break the Silence.”

The photos are powerful images and it’s no surprise that the media took hold of the story.

But there was one small problem with Pamolo’s campaign.

He never asked any of the women if he could use their faces in his campaign.

Pictures of celebrities are printed and distributed every single day without a problem, and these often include pictures that have been photoshopped or edited into memes.

However, according to Entertainment Tonight, using these photos in such a controversial campaign — without the subjects’ consent — is considered a direct violation of the right of publicity, and possibly even a case of defamation.

Rod S. Berman, Chairperson of the Intellectual Property Group, explained to ET that the issue is complicated because the famous women profiled go to great lengths to shape their reputations. Additionally, had the women provided consent, they would have likely been compensated for their contribution.

“Celebrities have a right to market the goodwill associated with their celebrity,” Berman said. “It would be as if someone took their image, put it on a T-shirt, and sold it. The right to publicity gives the celebrity some control in how their public image is used.

“It’s also possible that their spouses or significant others may have a claim for defamation because the image may suggest that the individual is being abused by someone, which may be false.”

Even those who work tirelessly to raise awareness about violence against women are upset by the photos. While the photo series was intended to raise awareness for a meaningful cause, there’s an underlying theme in the series which directly reflects the nature of domestic violence: a man who exercises his power over other women without their consent, thereby denying them the ability to speak for themselves.

It’s estimated that more than four million women and girls in the U.S. are victims of domestic violence, and experts state that at least half of all women will experience some form of domestic abuse from a romantic partner at point in their lives.

While Black Friday is typically characterized as a free-for-all stampede in malls across America, data year shows that stores were a little emptier this year for a number of reasons.

According to Reuters, sales at brick-and-mortar stores on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday were not as strong as last year, though online sales saw a significant increase as more consumers choose to avoid hordes of crazed shoppers in local shopping centers.

RetailNext, an analytics firm that studies consumer trends, said that overall sales for the two biggest shopping days of the year fell about about 1.5% from last year. They added that average spending per shopper dropped by an estimated 1.4%.

Data from another analytics firm, ShopperTrak, showed that sales at brick-and-mortar stores totaled about $12.1 billion on Thursday and Friday. In 2014, ShopperTrak reported that there were $12.29 billion in sales during that same period.

Both firms agreed that rising competition from online shopping was a primary factor for the decrease in Black Friday in-store shopping. Until a few years ago, stores wouldn’t begin offering discounts until the day after Thanksgiving. Now, many stores debut bargains on Thanksgiving Day and extend deals well into the following week.

According to The Washington Post, these extended discount periods have made it possible for consumers to stagger their holiday shopping, prompting some to spend even more money before and after Black Friday.

About 76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and many can’t make additional purchases until their next check arrives. By extending these discounts, stores encourage consumers to take advantage of deals at their convenience instead of ignoring them due to lack of funds.

Thanksgiving Day online sales were a whopping $1.73 billion, while Black Friday online sales totaled over $2.74 billion, denoting a 14% increase from last year. Experts add that the meteoric rise of online holiday shopping can be attributed to mobile-friendly websites that allow consumers to buy items directly from their smartphone or tablet.

The Black Friday insanity will be capped off on Nov. 30, which is known as “Cyber Monday,” but hardcore holiday shoppers know that the bargains don’t stop there. Holiday discounts will continue to be rolled out for the next month, and eager buyers will be standing by, smartphones in hand, waiting for the next great deal.

The diet industry makes their millions each year every time a new diet or exercise program hits the stands. This is it!, they promise.

But what if there is no grand diet plan that works for everyone? According to new research, conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, the art of weight loss may be far more personalized than we ever imagined.

Through their work, researchers Eran Elinav and Eran Segal have collected data that suggests that different individuals’ blood sugar levels react differently to certain foods.

For example, some of their subjects saw a higher rise in blood sugar levels after eating sushi than ice cream.

While this is good news for the 90% of households that indulge in the sweet, cold treat regularly, it is also grounds for confusion. How can that be? Ice cream, which counts cream and sugar among its main ingredients, is a notorious junk food that is synonymous with weight gain.

So how could it be? How can some people react to sushi differently than others?

The answer lies in gut bacteria. According to Elinav and Segal’s research, everyone’s body has different levels of gut bacteria and is, therefore, able to break down different kinds of foods differently.

For the study, researchers tracked the eating and digestion of 800 people over the course of a week. The participants tracked every morsel of food and liquid that went into their bodies, as well as activity levels, sleep, and bowel movements.

The participants’ blood sugar levels and stool samples were also taken into account, helping the researchers to adequately gauge the different effects the food had on each individual.

The data was then mapped out to see which foods affected the participants’ blood sugar the most.

They found that all participants responded differently. Instead of umbrella dieting solutions for the masses, the researchers suggest a more personalized eating plan for success.

“The huge differences that we found in the rise of blood sugar levels among different people who consumed identical meals highlights why personalized eating choices are more likely to help people stay healthy than universal dietary advice,” said Dr. Eran Elinav.

Rafael Amaya, the star of Telemundo’s show “El Señor De Los Cielos” was rushed to a hospital in México City on Oct. 27 for a drug overdose.

According to reports from the Latin Post and Latin Times, Amaya was taken to Hospital Español at approximately 4 a.m. and was being treated for symptoms of tachycardia (i.e., a fast heart rate) and drug intoxication.

He was rushed to the intensive care unit in a restricted area of the hospital, but within a few hours he was recovering successfully from the treatments.

The 38-year-old actor, who plays drug lord Aurelio Casillas on the Spanish-language TV channel has reportedly been struggling to adjust to his widespread fame from “El Señor De Los Cielos.”

Although there hasn’t been any confirmation from those close to Amaya that his struggles on-set have been related to drug abuse, it’s easy to speculate that the two may be connected. It’s estimated that around 25 million people live with a substance abuse problem, and drug or alcohol abuse is often triggered by the stresses of celebrity fame.

Telemundo issued a statement shortly after Amaya’s hospitalization, saying that it wouldn’t “make comments on rumors about the personal life of our employees or actors,” but that the actor would continue filming the fourth season of “El Señor De Los Cielos” as soon as he is able.

“After being out last week, we are happy to know that Rafael is fine and took some well deserved vacation days after 11 months of filming non-stop,” the statement read. “The production of Season 4 of ‘El Señor De Los Cielos’ is almost done and will continue as it was originally [planned]. This series has been a hit and a big part of that is due to Rafael’s hard work and dedication. He is a great profession [sic] and a dear member of the Telemundo family.”

Two after his hospitalization, Amaya released his own statement via Twitter: “Regresando de la muerte” (which roughly translates to “Coming back from the dead.”)

A couple in Arvada, CO, is fighting against their insurance company over issues with their roof. The insurance company may force them from their new home just one month after they moved in.

Not long after moving into their dream home, Albert and Michele Arias were contacted by their insurance agent. Before they moved in, the home had passed an inspection, but their agent called to tell the couple that the roof had maintenance damage and would need to be replaced.

Most insurance companies do not cover issues in roofs that are caused by wear and tear or lack of maintenance. Indeed, because this particular damage had occurred over time, their insurance did refuse to cover the cost.

“It’s frustrating that this whole thing is happening,” Albert says.

The insurance company had contacted them just a few days after they moved in, asking if they would like to file a claim since a small hail storm had hit the area. They took the advice and filed the claim, but when their roof was inspected, the insurance adjuster found no hail damage and told them the roof did not in fact need to be replaced.

The couple then contacted the insurance agent to let them know about these developments. They were told that it did not matter, and that they were expected to make plans for a roof replacement by the end of the month or the company would drop their insurance coverage altogether.

“What is the reasoning by having us do that?” Michele asks. “I mean, yeah, there might be minor damage but we can fix that.”

Replacing their roof will cost about $10,000 by Albert’s estimate, and the couple simply does not have the money to take on such a project.

“It just feels like they put me in a spot where we either pay a lot of money or lose everything,” he said.

Their insurance company, Allstate, was contacted about the claim, but their spokesperson says they are unable to comment on any specific claims. They did, however, release a general statement to a Denver news station.

“Upon a new policy being issued, insurers regularly inspect and underwrite property to ensure that we are aware of any pre-existing conditions that may pose an immediate risk, whether they be worn roofs or general maintenance concerns,” the statement said. “In roofs for example, when there are shingles that are worn and/or damaged, we will ask that the customer replace those individual shingles as part of normal preventative maintenance to their home and to ward off as much risk in the future as possible.

“It’s standard across the industry that homes, and roofs in particular, are inspected at the point of new business,” the statement continued. “Keep in mind too, roofers and insurance inspectors assess roofs from a different perspective.”

Nonetheless, the couple is in the process of switching to another insurance company. They say they are afraid, though, that they will now be forced to replace their roof no matter what at this point.

“It’s hard,” said Michele, “this is a home that I wanted and I got it and I’m happy and it’s working out and then all of a sudden you’re going to destroy that for me. It’s not okay.”

Roofing is essential to any home or business for that matter, so when there are legitimate issues, they should, of course, be fixed right away. Several regions across the country have experienced severe weather, with damages far worse than the Arias couple has had to face. Last week, high winds tore the roof off of the Mount Peyton Hotel in Quebec, and Fort Worth saw considerable damage following a twister.

It is quite likely in the Arias case however, that they are not in the wrong. It is their hope that by switching to a new insurance company, they will not only avoid the replacement, but get more accurate coverage in the future.

During a divorce, it often requires a court of law to fairly allocate assets from a marriage. But for one Mahattan socialite, her Swiss businessman soon-to-be ex husband had different plans.

Maurice Amon recently filed for divorce against his wife, but before doing so, he made sure to hide their $25 million art collection, removing works by Basquiat and Warhol from the walls of their 5th Avenue residence — and tucking them away out of sight.

Some 66% of divorces filed in the United States these days are by couples who have no children. This often makes it easier for the split to happen, as less has to be deducted when assets are divided. But in Tracey Hejailan-Amon and Maurice Amon’s case, it appears that Maurice’s game of art hide-and-seek is making the split just as difficult.

In response to Mr. Amon’s removal of the art, Tracey filed a suit, saying that most of the works taken were collected jointly throughout their marriage.

But in October, while she was abroad, Mr. Amon’s art consultants removed the collection, stashing them in a Queens storage facility.

“These illegal and unlawful removals of the works of art is and was a strategic predicate for the service of a divorce action by Amon,” Hejailan-Amon charged.

And since filing for divorce, Mr. Amon hasn’t wasted any time, as he plans to sell a Basquiat at an upcoming Christie’s auction.

While there’s no established prenuptial agreement, according to her suit, Hajailan-Amon believes that she has “substantial if not a 50/50 interest” in the works.

Amon, 64, and Hejailan-Amon, 47, married in Hong Kong in 2008 and have since lived in London, Paris, and Gstaad, Switzerland.

Contrary to Hejailan-Amon’s claims, one of the lawyers for Amon’s coproration told the New York Post that the pieces aren’t even marital property.

“Ms. Hejailan-Amon was fully aware of the artwork removal plans and her claims are without substance,” said attorney Peter Bronstein.

There is a disturbing trend of false and misleading advertising on Google, and industry experts are urging for more outside regulation to prevent lead generators from preying on vulnerable consumers.

According to The Atlantic, lead generation companies online are increasingly collecting the sensitive information of web users, then compiling lists that are disseminated to scammers around the world.

Generally speaking, every single search that a person has ever made from their smartphone or computer is tracked and logged for future use by companies offering fraudulent services, such as low-interest payday loans.

This data is then sold to lead generators who provide consumer data to similar companies, which then results in an endless barrage of phone calls, e-mails, and letters from whichever person or company purchases the data.

These lead generators can sort data by age, race, gender, income level, and a host of other demographics. While Google doesn’t sell ad space to companies that provide sketchy financial services like payday loans, scammers are finding ways to circumvent these rules by posting links to third-party sites that lead users back to fraudulent pages.

Over 12 billion searches are conducted per month in the U.S., which means lead generators have no trouble aggregating relevant information to determine which terms will attract the most search queries. Experts say that this is a slippery slope, and allowing disreputable parties to access confidential information can potentially ruin a person’s life.

“I find the entire online ecosystem that is designed to track consumers and then to place them in boxes … too opaque and too under-regulated,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer-program director at the consumer-advocacy group U.S. PIRG.

“So I think the entire online marketing, and advertising, and lead-generation system is a consumer protection problem of both deception, and unfairness, and maybe abuse as well.”

The abuse Mierzwinski refers to can be found on a daily basis all over the world. According to the Oswego Patch, an Illinois couple is being ordered to pay $6.4 million back to victims of a payday scam in which they harassed people over the phone to collect supposed unpaid debts.

The couple operated under several different aliases, such as Payday Loan Recovery Group and Second Chance Financial, to coerce random people into paying debts that they had never even accrued, by threatening them with potential arrest and jail time.

In extreme cases, scammers skip the process of using consumer information to sell them products and services and simply steal their identity. Web users are urged to remain vigilant in who they give personal information to and avoid advertisements that promise “free money” or “zero interest.”

Last year, vaccines became a hot button issue with the Disneyland measles outbreak in the winter. After the outbreak occurred, more people began looking at vaccines, and this led to the question of whether or not there was a trend of doctors refusing to treat patients who refused vaccinations.

For pediatricians, the practice of “firing” a family for not allowing their child to get vaccinated is still controversial, but it has become more relevant over the last year and has now been addressed at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Annual Conference. Pediatricians will now be able to legally protect themselves after dismissing a family from their practice on the basis of the family refusing vaccines, even after the AAP discouraged the practice.

A recent study published in Pediatrics Today looked at the doctors who have ended their working relationships with families over vaccine refusal. The study asked 534 pediatricians and physicians and had about a 66% response rate.

Of the responses they received, the study found that 83% of doctors say at least one family in their practice has denied vaccines each month, and 63% say that 1% to 4% refused any vaccinations. One in five of those surveyed also said that a total of 5% of parents are now refusing any vaccinations.

When asked how those numbers compare to previous years, 11% of the doctors reported that the number of parents refusing has gone up, while most agreed it stayed the same. About 23% of the respondents said their number has actually decreased.

The study also highlighted that the rate at which pediatricians turned away families was higher in states like California, where there are stricter vaccination laws. In fact, as many as twice the amount of doctors said they had no one refusing in a typical month, bar those who have a philosophical exemption for school vaccinations.

In addition, the rate at which doctors dismissed families was four times higher in states that don’t have philosophical exemption laws. In states that do have those laws in place, only 9% of doctors dismissed families based on vaccination refusal.

So what do these pediatricians have in common when they dismiss families? They are most likely to live in the South, where there are stricter vaccination laws; they also live in states that do not have philosophical exemptions, and they likely have a private practice.

The study found that private practices were five times more likely to dismiss a family for refusing vaccines compared to practices in HMO, university or public settings.

Back in the midst of the Disneyland outbreaks, Forbes touched on this subject, asking doctors their opinion and how they would be choosing their policy.

“I think the AAP’s policy statement asking me not to ‘eject’ vaccine-refusing parents from my practice is valid when your practice area has good vaccination rates — that is, at or above herd immunity levels — and you aren’t having vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks,” said Chris Hickie, a Tucson-based pediatrician.

However, Hickie also acknowledged that vaccines are essential in keeping other patients, especially infants, safe. Research shows that vaccines are responsible for preventing more than 2.5 million deaths per year globally.

“I think it becomes a dangerous policy to patients when you live in a practice area where you do not have herd immunity levels of vaccination because then the odds become much greater that a child will come into your office with a vaccine-preventable disease like pertussis, measles or chickenpox and expose a vulnerable patient too young to be vaccinated or with a medical reason for a weakened immune system that either won’t respond to vaccines or cannot receive vaccines,” Hickie added.

Many do acknowledge that there simply is not enough research for informed decisions on this practice. No studies have been done to see how areas where doctors are dismissing families are faring in preventable diseases.