The Short List: Black Friday; Frozen eggs; Kesha claims abuse
Maybe we should just skip Thanksgiving dinner
First it was midnight. Then 8 p.m. This Thanksgiving, Macy's will open at 6 p.m., helping customers get a jump on holiday shopping – or spoiling a great American tradition. Whichever way you want to view it. Many major retailers (Target, Kohl's, J.C. Penney) opened at 8 p.m. last year. They will likely follow Macy's lead this year, says Steve Osburn, director at management consulting firm Kurt Salmon. "Consumers have started to accept that shopping on Thanksgiving is a growing habit," he says. "With consumer acceptance comes more people shopping."
Facebook, Apple will pay for women to freeze their eggs
Nap rooms, free meals, community gardens: out-of-the ordinary perks at Silicon Valley companies are table stakes. But Facebook and Apple are playing a new card. Both companies offer egg freezing for female employees. A typical round of egg-freezing costs about $10,000, with $500 or more in fees each year for storage. The coverage by Apple and Facebook is part of a growing trend to beef up employee perks at Silicon Valley companies to recruit new hires. Especially women. Not every woman will jump at the option, said Kellye Sheehan with Women in Technology, a professional organization for women in the tech industry. Family planning is "a very personal decision for every working woman."
Kesha claims her longtime music producer abused her
Kesha and Dr. Luke are fighting with their words. And lawyers. Kesha, 27, says she was "sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused" by her longtime music producer Dr. Luke (Lukasz Sebastian "Luke" Gottwald). He forced her to use drugs and alcohol and made repeated sexual advances, she says. Luke's lawyer says the singer's claims are "outrageous and untrue statements" engineered by Kesha's mom and new management company. This isn't the first time that Kesha has made complaints about Luke. In January, she checked herself into rehab, claiming Dr. Luke was behind her eating disorder issues. She is asking a judge to let her out of her contract with him.
Here's what you need to know about Ebola today
Nina Pham says she's "doing well" and thanked everyone for "their kind wishes and prayers" in a statement today. The nurse infected in Dallas received a transfusion of plasma from Kent Brantly, the Texas physician who survived the virus, according to the non-profit medical mission group Samaritan's Purse. Brantly's plasma should contain antibodies valuable in fighting the virus. As World Health Organization officials said new cases of Ebola could reach 10,000 per week by December, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla, donated $25 million to the CDC Foundation to help fight the disease.
Extra Bites
Day in Pictures: Our favorite photo from today's gallery.
Check out this jack-o-lantern sun picture from NASA:
This mom and baby goat are defying gravity.
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