Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Hiring the Autistic
In my career as a substitute teacher, I’ve worked with many special-needs students. So I’m always interested in positive stories about people with special needs. Like this one — In 2007, German businessman Dirk Müller-Remus learned one of his children had autism at the age of 14. As he adjusted to this knowledge, he visited
How To Raise Resilient Kids
I’m no expert on child rearing. But being a substitute school teacher at all levels does give me an interest in the subject. So I’m always looking for good information about children’s behavior, and I’ve found something I think is worth passing on. Amy Morin, LCSW, a psychotherapist and the author of 13 Things Mentally Strong
When We Have To Leave This Planet
Eventually, we’re going to have to leave this planet. Sometime, in the next billion or so years, our sun’s radiation output will make this planet uninhabitable (https://www.universetoday.com/25367/how-long-will-life-survive-on-earth/ ). What will we do? Fortunately, we have some time to consider our options. In the (comparative) short term, we could stay within our solar system. Perhaps we
The Effect of Illusory Truth
I am too young (just barely) to remember the McCarthy Era in U.S. politics. If you’re blessed to be that young, McCarthyism, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, was, as explained in the Encyclopedia Britannica, a “period of time in American history that saw Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy produce a series of investigations and
Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe
Today is the birthday of my favorite poet, Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849). Born in Boston into a family of actors, he was orphaned in 1811 after his father left and his mother died. He was raised by John and Francis Allan in Richmond, Virginia, but never was formally adopted.
Who Was The First Special Prosecutor?
I’ve lived through Watergate, the Reagan Administration, and the Clinton Administration, and have read about the Warren Harding Administration, so I am familiar with political scandals. So is a special prosecutor a 20th Century idea? Not even close. The first special prosecutor in U.S. politics, John B. Henderson, was appointed in 1875 by President Ulysses
Unknown Kingdoms
I remember when I was a student teacher and I asked a class to tell me what they knew about the Persians. My cooperating teacher quickly informed me they had never studied that civilization. I thought of this as I reviewed an email from the National Geographic Society listing some long-forgotten civilizations. There have been
Why Are Insects Attracted To Light?
Anyone who has ever had a bug zapper has seen insects fly right into it. Insects naturally seem to be attracted to light. Why? Actually, no one knows, but there are several theories. One is that they aren’t as much attracted to light as they are disoriented by it. Many flying insects use light as
The Long, Long History of Government Emergencies
This morning I read on my news feed that President Trump says he has an “absolute right” to declare a national emergency. Someone has beaten him to it. Actually, we’re already in emergency status. In fact, we’ve been in a national emergency since 1979, and the idea goes back much further than that. You may
Pictures in the Stars
If you ever look heavenward, you know that people have found pictures in the stars for thousands of years. I think most of us can recognize a few, like Orion the Hunter, with his three-star belt, and the Big Dipper (actually part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear). But I hadn’t realized how many constellations