Category Archives: Essays

Malcolm Gladwell: The strange tale of the Norden bombsight

From Wikepedia: Malcolm Timothy Gladwell CM (born September 3, 1963) is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker.[1] He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has written five books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The … Continue reading

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The History of Merit Badges is our own cultural history

Sent in by Ann Milam Over the years, scouting has encouraged boys and girls to be prepared for the world around them   (Girl Scouts of the USA; Boy Scouts of America) By April White; Research by Zoe Sayler and Samantha … Continue reading

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Anita Hill: How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right

From the New York Times: “There is no way to redo 1991, but there are ways to do better. “The facts underlying Christine Blasey Ford’s claim of being sexually assaulted by a young Brett Kavanaugh will continue to be revealed … Continue reading

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StoryCorps and the human voice

From Wikipedia: StoryCorps interviews usually take place between two people who know and care about each other. They can be friends, family, or mere acquaintances. A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides participants through the interview process. At the end of each … Continue reading

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Getting old is a state of mind according to Flossie Lewis

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The danger of conspiracy theories in the age of social media

“Q” is a secret anonymous deep state individual with the highest security clearance. He (or she) is sending cryptic messages to his followers – the adherents to the Qanon conspiracy theory. According to him the Mueller investigation is fake and … Continue reading

Posted in Essays, Law, Media, Politics, Scams | 1 Comment

“Sessions Vows To Protect All Deeply Held Religious Bigotry”

Ed Note: In case you’re not familiar with The Onion, it specializes in political satire where there happens to be so much fertile ground these days.  From the Onion: “WASHINGTON—Standing firm in his commitment to one of the nation’s guiding … Continue reading

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Are things getting worse – or does it just feel that way ..

Frank Conlon sent this fascinating study for us to ponder – from The Guardian Concepts like ‘trauma’ or ‘violence’ have stretched to encompass things no previous generation would have worried about. Is everything completely terrible – or is the world … Continue reading

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Dance for your brain health!

“The breaking down of cerebral white matter is one of the neural changes that drives age-related declines in cognition. Researchers set out to determine if specific physical activity could result in positive neural changes in older adults. In a recent … Continue reading

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Before modern measurement standards, finding the length of a foot took a village

From Aeon: “The foot is a most easily accessible tool and it had a lengthy history as a means of measuring before the introduction of national and international standards. So how were earlier standards created? In this short video from … Continue reading

Posted in Essays, History, Science and Technology | 1 Comment

Is it moral to respect the wishes of the dead, above the living?

Trillions of dollars are involved. Should personal wealth be passed unfettered to the family? What are the moral obligations to our country, our institutions and our fellow man. I know a family who left a trust giving $1M to each … Continue reading

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Herbal overdose

The call came from the ER doc just as I was sitting down to dinner. A young man I’ll call Jason was being admitted to the ICU who appeared to have overdosed on something – as yet unknown. The ER doc had … Continue reading

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Incarcerating families is the American way

Natasha Varner is the Communications and Public Engagement Director at Densho, the Seattle-based Japanese American history nonprofit. This opinion piece is published in Crosscut.                   Over the past week, a torrent of images, … Continue reading

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You’re simply not that big a deal: now isn’t that a relief?

My kids when going through junior high were immersed in the self-esteem movement (they survived fortunately). The Principal laid the groundwork: no competitive sports (too hard on the ego to lose); no grades (too hard to be ranked against others); … Continue reading

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The smart home is coming!

Mary Montgomery sent along this interesting article from Forbes Magazine. Some aspects of the smart home sound gimmicky to some but there are aspects which promote safety and comfort. I hear rumors that Skyline is considering having an apartment configured … Continue reading

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Erma Bombeck on Motherhood

Managing to be both a truth teller, humorist and philosopher Erma Bombeck always made me smile. Have you read her book, “Motherhood the Second Oldest Profession“? She has an amazing repertoire of quotes about mothering. Here are a few: “Someday, … Continue reading

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Epigenetics 101: a beginner’s guide to explaining everything

After the discovery and sequencing of DNA, many had a sense of fatalism thinking that our behaviors are pre-programmed from our ancestors. But it turns out that some genes can be modified by the attachment of small molecules such as … Continue reading

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Why learning Latin stays with you forever

My grandson has taken 4 years of this dead language at nearby Garfield High School. Quirky, true. Beneficial – that’s the debate. I must admit I also took 4 years of Latin and often wish I had learned Spanish. How … Continue reading

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“How going gray made me feel younger”

From the San Diego Tribune: “I found my first gray hair when I was 16. (Cool!) By the time I was in my mid-30s, I was coloring my hair dark brown every six to eight weeks. (Not cool. By my … Continue reading

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“Get your kicks”

Ed note: The following article from Aeon was sent in by Lorraine Woods. It gives food for thought about risk taking adolescents. It reminds me at age 15 when I took my father’s car out on the highway to see how fast … Continue reading

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What true things do we know? Writer Anne Lamott talks about her life perceptions.

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The philosophy of coffee

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It Happened by Lincoln Center

Sent along by Ann Milam. Ed Note: This story is about one of our least favorite pastimes – the hazards of finding a parking place. From the NYT: “Dear Diary: My wife and I felt so lucky to find a … Continue reading

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Messages in the sand

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Cell phone addiction

If you google cell phone addiction, you’ll find plenty of discussion – some quite serious about what the constant use may be doing to our brains and social interactions. My dentist told me some children must have their smartphone with … Continue reading

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