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A New Hip-Hop Business Model That Sounds Familiar

Credit Courtesy of Top Dawg Entertainment

Black Hippy are (from left) Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock and Ab-Soul.

By editor

Originally published on Wed May 30, 2012 5:09 pm

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2:55 pm

Wed May 30, 2012

Banned In Idaho, 'Five Wives' Vodka Says It Meant No Offense

Credit Brian Skoloff / AP

Bottles of Ogden's Own Distillery Five Wives Vodka at a state liquor store in Salt Lake City.

By Mark Memmott

Originally published on Wed May 30, 2012 4:47 pm

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They're "five wives who just like to get together and have a cocktail."

They're not meant to be a direct reference to polygamy and those kittens they're holding in their laps are ... just part of a photograph that's reflective of the 1890s to early 1900s.

For all anyone knows, they might be lesbians.

2:50 pm

Wed May 30, 2012

As Big Employers Pinch Pennies, Health Savings Accounts Take Off

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As employers look to cut spending on health, more workers are being steered to health plans with high deductibles.

By Jay Hancock

Feel like you're paying more out of pocket for medical expenses? You've got company, according to the latest data from health insurers.

Enrollment in health savings accounts grew 18 percent last year as employers continued to steer workers into high-deductible medical plans, an insurance group said this morning.

2:46 pm

Wed May 30, 2012

Kafka's Final Absurdist Tale Plays Out In Tel Aviv

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Franz Kafka (shown here circa 1905) is considered one of the 20th century's most influential writers. Before his death in 1924, he had published only short stories and a single novella, The Metamorphosis.

Credit Natan Dvir / Polaris

Franz Kafka, who died in 1924, studied Hebrew in Germany during the last two years of his life. This is one of eight notebooks of his Hebrew studies that are part of the Israeli National Library's collection. Israel and an elderly Israeli woman are wrangling over Kafka documents that may include unpublished manuscripts.

Credit Natan Dvir / Polaris

Eva Hoffe, shown here in a garden near her home in Tel Aviv, has Kafka's papers, but has not allowed outsiders to see them.

Credit Polaris

The author Max Brod was Kafka's friend, literary agent and biographer. Kafka wanted him to burn his papers upon his death. But Brod published some of the work and bequeathed the remainder to his secretary, Esther Hoffe (shown here).

By editor

Originally published on Sun June 3, 2012 7:31 am

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Franz Kafka published just a few short stories and a novella during his lifetime, yet he was considered one of the 20th century's most influential writers.

The rest of his work was largely kept secret, and literary scholars have long wondered what gems they might find among Kafka's papers.

The answer may ultimately lie on Tel Aviv's Spinoza Street, inside a small, squat apartment building covered with dirty, pinkish stucco that looks like it's seen better days.

2:29 pm

Wed May 30, 2012

New In Paperback May 28-June 3

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By editor

Fiction and nonfiction releases from Daniel Orozco, Donald Rumsfeld, Jim Axelrod and Simon Kuper.

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3:03 pm

Wed May 30, 2012