Divvys Blog

Kardashian West commissioned the birthday message for the rapper, who turned 41 on Friday.

The specially recorded track, Kanye’s B-day Song, features the voices of the two main characters of Adult Swim animated series Rick And Morty.

In a message to her social media followers, Kardashian West wrote: “I have to show you the birthday card I had made for Kanye West.

“Thank you Rick and Morty! His fave show!”

In a later post, she shared a two-minute video which contained audio of the show’s voice actor and co-creator Justin Roiland performing the song as mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty Smith.

Also featured in the video was a picture of the two characters standing under a banner saying Kanye’s B-day Song and holding a birthday cake with pink icing and a candle.

Morty is also seen wearing a purple and yellow birthday party hat.

The song begins with Rick saying to Morty: “It’s Kanye’s birthday today – you know what that means.”

The lyrics go on to detail the pair sneaking into the couple’s bedroom and taking a lock of West’s hair in order to make clones of him.

Roiland is heard trying to suppress bouts of laughter during the recording.

West previously revealed his love for the show in May when he retweeted a news report about Adult Swim re-commissioning it for 70 more episodes.

West wrote at the time: “This is the greatest news. This is my favourite show.

“I’ve seen every episode at least five times each.”

Kardashian West, 37, had previously posted on Instagram to wish West a happy birthday after what she called a “wild year”.

Her message accompanied a picture of him on a plane with the couple’s baby daughter Chicago in his lap.

Kardashian West congratulated the rapper on his return to music following the surprise release of his eighth studio album Ye on June 1.

She wrote:  “Happy Birthday babe! It’s been a wild year but we’re here and life is good!

“So proud of you dropping back to back albums and fulfilling your dreams.

“You inspire me to make the impossible always become a reality. Love you.”

Khloe Kardashian has snapped back at cruel trolls who slammed her for not breastfeeding daughter True full-time.

The 33-year-old declared ‘mommy shaming is real’ after she came under fire earlier this week when she revealed she has to supplement True’s feedings with formula milk as she is unable to breastfeed all the time.

Sharing on Twitter about the abuse she has received since then, Khloe said on Friday: ‘Mommy shaming is real!

‘What I’m annoyed about is I’ve read a couple of times on Twitter that, ya know, they feel that I’m focusing too much on my body,’ she said in a Snapchat video last month.

Lil Wayne and Cash Money Records have settled their lawsuit.

Lil Wayne long battle with Birdman and Cash Money is now over. Two years ago, the Young Money rapper filed a $51 million lawsuit against the label he called home claiming that they owe him millions of dollars and are preventing him from making more money by holding his album hostage. After a long battle, it seems Universal Records stepped in and cut a big check for Weezy, The Blast reported.

In March 2016, Lil Wayne also filed a lawsuit against Universal Music over unpaid profits for his Young Money artists Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga. That suit is now settled so it seems Weezy is finally getting what he wants or perhaps Universal is just tired of the ongoing legal battle.

Seems Cash Money has a reputation for not paying its debt because right after Lil Wayne filed his $51 million lawsuit against the label, Aspire Music Group, run by Jas Prince who founded Drake, also sued Birdman for withholding profits from sales of the Toronto rapper’s music. We all know that Drake has been a cash cow for the label, so Aspire is claiming the Cash Money owes them millions of dollars.

In March of this year, Lil Wayne and Birdman were spotted at a club in Miami, signaling that the two might be trying again to repair their relationship. But now sources are saying that their relationship is still very much strained and maybe beyond repair. The two rappers, who previously had a father and son-like relationship, are still hostile towards one another.

Chloe Green and Jeremy Meeks stunned followers yesterday when they announced they had welcomed a baby boy together, despite never confirming Chloe was expecting. Although that huge bump was a giveaway. 

And it turns out Jeremy has even more to celebrate, as just one day before the couple announced the baby news on Instagram, his divorce from ex Melissa Meeks was made official. 

Nine days after Chloe gave birth to Jayden Meeks-Green, the 34-year-old’s divorce from his wife of ten years was signed off by a judge on Wednesday, 6 June.

Jeremy and Melissa will share joint legal custody of their eight-year-old son Jeremy Jr. The ‘Hot Felon’ has conceded primary physical custody to his ex, who will have their son 70% of the time. 

Both exes have waived spousal support, although Jeremy will pay $1,000 a month in child support, as well as being ordered to pay $12,000 to Melissa’s attorney Lisa Bloom. 

Melissa and Jeremy will both get to keep their cars, while Melissa will keep the house they shared.

Considering Jeremy has been swanning around Monaco on Topshop boss – and his father-in-law – Philip Green’s yacht, we doubt that hurts too much. This means that Jeremy is now free to marry Chloe, 27, with engagement rumours flying around over the past few months. 

It has been reported that Chloe’s parents Philip, 66, and Tina, 69, have given their blessing for their daughter to marry Jeremy, but are insisting Chloe marries in Monaco where there are strict laws around divorce settlements.

The law states that divorcing partners take away from the marriage only the assets they entered with and anything created commonly during their time together. How romantic.

Cutting back mandatory professional indemnity insurance (PII) for solicitors would be bad for partners, law firm employees and clients alike, the Law Society of England and Wales said in response to proposals to a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) consultation.

“The proposals would radically reduce financial protections for clients and solicitors and are without merit,” Law Society deputy vice president Simon Davis said.

“Clients, employees and solicitors would bear significantly higher risk, but there is no evidence this would be counterbalanced by lower insurance premiums.

“Solicitors and their clients are protected by copper bottomed insurance, which is appropriate given the gravity of many of the issues we deal with for businesses and individuals.”

The SRA proposes reducing minimum cover from the current level of £2-3m, to between half a million and one million pounds. Access to the Solicitors Compensation Fund would also be restricted and maximum payments reduced from £2m to £500,000.

Simon Davis continued: “Insurance brokers say these proposals are unlikely to result in lower premiums, so it’s hard to see how clients could possibly benefit, but it’s easy to see how they might end up paying a very high price for the fall in insurance protection.

“Premiums already reflect levels of risk in the work a firm undertakes, and cost is front-loaded into the first £500,000 of cover, so the idea that the current system is unfairly ‘one size fits all’ is without any foundation.

“No other profession in the UK today offers their clients such comprehensive or robust protection. This backstop is key to public trust in solicitors and the legal sector, which in turn underpins the rule of law.”

Complaints against solicitors have reached record lows.

The Law Society of Ireland has published figures for 2017, which show there were complaints in less than 0.1% of cases.

While 94% of solicitors had no complaints made against them last year.

Ken Murphy, Director General of the Law Society, says complaints are all taken seriously.

He said: "The typical complaints are about delay or sometimes people feel they were overcharged or that things haven't been explained to them.

"People are perfectly entitled to make complaints and we take every complaint seriously. We investigate it thoroughly and redress can be given where the complaint is upheld. It can be a serious disciplinary matter when a complaint is upheld."

Specialty selection for master's degree of Azerbaijan's higher education institutions has started, the State Examination Center (SEC) told APA. 

Specialty selection for master's degree of higher education institutions and Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) for the 2018/2019 academic year will be held on June 8-18, 2018.

Bachelors who are eligible according to the results of both stages of admission exams for master's degree held in 2018 are allowed to take part in the process of specialty selection.

The competition for admission to the master's program of ANAS for the Russian and Azerbaijani sections is carried out only under the state order. Eligible bachelors who want to unroll in the master's program of ANAS must register on the SEC website till June 10, 2018 and pass a competition at ANAS on June 12-14.    

Preservationists are hoping Ford Motor Co.'s potential rehabilitation of the long-vacant Michigan Central Station will win over Gov. Rick Snyder to bring back the tax credit for restoring historic buildings that he axed in 2011.

Legislation resurrecting Michigan's historic preservation tax credit cleared the House Tax Policy Committee on Wednesday after legislators capped the annual amount of credits that could be awarded at $15 million.

"We knew that Snyder was not in love with this so House leadership suggested we put some caps in place to rein in the scope," said Dan Austin, a Detroit historian and spokesman for a coalition of preservationists backing the legislation.

Senate Bill 469 would restore the tax credit Michigan previously had on the books that subsidized up to 25 percent of the costs of rehabilitating historic buildings and homes.

"The place where that might come in handy is if an automaker wanted to renovate an old train station in Detroit," said Austin, who represents the MI Impact Coalition.

Snyder got rid of the tax credit in 2011 as part of a sweeping overhaul of the state's tax code that included the elimination of other popular credits and tax breaks, such as an exemption on pension income.

The Republican governor, who leaves office at year's end, has no position yet on SB469, spokeswoman Anna Heaton said Wednesday.

"Generally, I am not a tax credit fan, they have to be very limited in nature," Snyder said in a statement to Crain's. "So I will have to look carefully at this particular credit before being supportive of it."

Under the legislation, a commercial building on the National Register of Historic Places would have to get the first 20 percent of credit through the federal historic preservation tax credit and the remaining 5 percent could come from the state. 

The amended bill would require at least $2 million of the $15 million in annual tax credits to go toward the preservation of historic, owner-occupied homes, Austin said.

Austin said the credit could be vital to financing the restoration of the 105-year-old Michigan Central Station, which has sat vacant since Amtrak stopped running trains through Detroit's depot in January 1988.

Ford Motor Co. has not officially confirmed its plans for the train station.

But an entity linked to the Dearborn automaker became the official owner of the train station last month in a transaction with Crown Enterprises Inc., the Warren-based real estate development arm of the Moroun family of companies.

Another entity linked to Ford also purchased the former Detroit Public Schools book depository building from the Morouns, which sits adjacent to the train station along 14th Street.

Ford is expected to formally announce its plans for an expanded presence in Corktown later this month, igniting buzz in the construction industry about the possibility of hundreds of millions of dollars in preservation work in the years to come.

Spokespersons for Ford did not return a message Wednesday seeking comment on whether the automaker had a position on the legislation.

The proposed historic preservation tax credits would be transferable, meaning developers could sell the credits to an investor to secure financing for projects. The investor can then use the tax credits to lower their tax liability through either the 4.25 percent individual income tax or Michigan's 6 percent corporate income tax.

The previous historic preservation credit was on the books from 1999 through 2011 and, most notably, was utilized in the restoration of Detroit's Book Cadillac hotel, Austin said.

The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Wayne Schmidt of Traverse City, sailed through the state Senate on a 36-2 vote in December. The House Tax Policy Committee passed the bill Wednesday on a vote of 8-2.

The MI Impact Coalition is backed by the Michigan Historic Preservation Network.

Historic building preservationists in the MI Impact Coalition include Midtown Detroit Inc. Executive Director Sue Mosey; The Christman Company's Ronald Staley; and Detroit real estate developers Dietrich Knoer of The Platform; Ron Castellano of the Herman Kiefer Development LLC; and Kathy Makino and Shannon Morgan of Shelborne Development.

The Michigan Municipal League, which lobbies for cities, also is a member of the coalition.

Researchers at The University of Kansas Cancer Center have discovered a therapy combination that may be helpful in the treatment of certain types of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. According to the American Cancer Society, about 22,240 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year.

In a preclinical study led by Dineo Khabele, MD, director of KU Cancer Center's gynecologic oncology division, researchers studied PARP inhibitors, a type of targeted cancer therapy recently approved by the Food & Drug Administration. PARP is a type of enzyme involved in several cell functions, including the repair of DNA damage. Suppressing PARP helps keep cancer cells from repairing their damaged DNA, causing cell death.

"For more than 14 years, my research has focused on developing new drug combinations to treat ovarian cancer," Dr. Khabele says. "PARP inhibitors have shown great promise in cancer treatment, but certain types of ovarian cancers have poorer clinical outcomes and are resistant to this type of therapy."

To help improve PARP inhibitors efficacy in treating ovarian cancer, Dr. Khabele and her team combined the therapy with another new class of drugs, BET (bromodomain and extra-terminal) inhibitors. BET inhibitors have the ability to downregulate DNA repair genes in ovarian cancer cells, making them more prone to DNA damage and cell death. The team found that, when combined, PARP inhibitors and BET inhibitors work together to inhibit tumor growth, reduce cancer gene expression and proliferation and increase the incidence of cell death. Furthermore, the drug combination was well-tolerated and non-toxic in animal studies.

"These findings are very exciting and help to lay important groundwork for the future development of PARP inhibitors and BET inhibitors in clinical trials," Dr. Khabele says.

When a relationship enters the “let’s start a family” phase, men may think about losing weight, exercising, and doing all those other activities known to boost sperm health.

However, recent research suggests that what happens much earlier in a man’s life also matters — for his sperm, and possibly for his children.

In a new study, researchers found that stress during childhood affected men’s sperm decades later. In mice, the effects of these kinds of changes showed up in both the offspring and the next generation, the “grandmice.”

In the study, a team led by researchers at Tufts University measured the level of two types of sperm microRNAs (miRNAs) in 28 adult white men.

They found that the levels of these miRNAs were lower in men who scored higher on a questionnaire used to assess exposure to abuse and trauma in childhood.

MiRNAs are small molecules that regulate genes. Each miRNA controls a specific set of genes. These molecules don’t alter the DNA sequence in cells, but they do control which genes are active and when.

To assess childhood stress, researchers used the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire. It includes 10 questions about stressful experiences until the age of 18, such as physical, verbal, or sexual abuse, and physical or emotional neglect.

An earlier study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente found that higher ACE scores were linked to a greater risk of poor physical and mental health later in life, along with negative social consequences.

The current study was published May 23 in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

Previous studies have found that other environmental factors affect the expression of sperm miRNAs, including smoking and obesity. This is the first study to look at the effect of stress on sperm miRNAs.

Doctors have known for a long time that stress can make it difficult for couples to conceive. Traditionally, it was thought that stress interfered with ovulation — the release of the egg — in women.

This study shows how stress can affect both men and women.

“More recently, studies such as the current one by Dickson and colleagues, show that there can be an effect on sperm as well and, remarkably, that stress can have long-term effects,” said Dr. Zev Williams, chief of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

Until recently, scientists thought that sperm only contributed DNA to the mother’s egg during fertilization. But research in mice indicates that sperm also contribute miRNAs.

These could potentially affect the development of the embryo and even the generation after that — all without changing the actual DNA sequence.

In the mouse part of the study, researchers found that the effects of early life stress are passed onto not only the offspring, but also to the third generation.

To simulate high ACE scores in male mice, researchers exposed them to social instability stress early in their lives. As adults, these males developed anxiety and sociability problems — similar to poor mental health in adulthood seen in people who experienced severe stress as a child.

These effects were also seen in the female “grandchildren” of male mice who were stressed early in life. On top of that, the male offspring of the original mice also had lower levels of the two sperm miRNAs.

So, what do these two miRNAs do?

In mice, they’re involved in the development of the brain and sperm. In people, one miRNA has been implicated in early embryo development and how the body handles stress.

Other studies have found that lower levels of these types of miRNAs are also linked to reduced sperm quality and fertility in men.

It’s not clear why stress affects sperm miRNAs in this way, but Williams suggests that it may be a survival mechanism from the early days of humans. In those days, one of the main sources of stress was not having enough food or nutrition.

“It makes sense that if the body sensed that it was under severe stress,” Williams said, “it would try to avoid pregnancy until that stress was resolved.”

Today, most people in the United States get adequate calories, but other types of stress may trigger the same kinds of survival responses.

“The body cannot differentiate between types of stress,” Williams said. “So today, when we experience a very different nature of stress, the body may still sense that stress and respond by blocking pregnancy from occurring.”

This could provide a mechanism for why sperm counts have been dropping in recent decades.

“As fertility specialists, we have observed a decline in sperm parameters in recent years. In parallel, stress level — as reported by different studies — seems to be on the rise, given the Western lifestyle and demanding work environment,” said Dr. Tomer Singer, director of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

One 2017 study found that sperm counts among men in many areas of the world halved over the past 40 years.

Many factors, however, contribute to sperm health. So more research is needed to know if the miRNAs play a role in people.

More research is also needed to know if men exposed to stress as children can pass on the lowered miRNA levels to their children and grandchildren.

“The link between the two — stress and sperm quality — may in fact exist, but require careful assessment in order to rule out bias or confounders which may affect both,” Singer said.

Some other studies suggest that mental illness — which may result from childhood trauma or stress — could be passed onto children.

In recent years, many researchers have been looking for biological mechanisms behind this kind of transgenerational “cycle of trauma.” Not everyone, though, agrees that trauma can be inherited.

The current study doesn’t address this question. It was focused on the effects of childhood stress in men on sperm miRNA levels later in life. The study also has some limitations that need to be addressed in future studies.

One problem is that the ACE questionnaire may not accurately capture childhood stress, either because respondents don’t answer the questions honestly or they were affected by stressors not covered by the questions, such as bullying.

The researchers are already planning a larger follow-up study that includes more men. This study will also ask about their current psychiatric state, which might affect sperm miRNA levels.

Much research, though, shows that stress can be harmful to your physical and mental health. So it’s a good idea to address that sooner than later — whether it’s childhood stress or something more recent.