A Doll Comes To Visit

You are a fifth-grade girl who comes home from school to find a doll on your front porch. The doll looks like you, is dressed like you, and there is something about the eyes. Who left it? Why is it here? And what makes this doll so special?

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With a Little Help From My Friend

Jim Jenkins is an ace detective who solves the most difficult crimes. Yet he always works alone. Or does he?

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The Boy Who Could Wiggle His Ears

Learning how to wiggle your ears is really hard. But you can do it if you keep trying. And if you learn to keep trying, no problem is too big. So if you can wiggle your ears, you can do anything!

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What Is Really Wrong With Our Education System?

I’m going to make this one simple.  If you want to know what is wrong with our education system, I would recommend Podcast #562, “The Problem We All Live With” which originally aired July 31, 2015 on the National Public Radio program This American Life  (https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with). “Right now, all sorts of people are trying to

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Can Spicy Food Cause Weird Dreams?

Somewhere along the line, you’ve probably heard that spicy meals can cause strange or unusual dreams.  Is it true?  Maybe. This is discussed in detail in an article entitled “Can Spicy Food Really Cause Weird Dreams? The Answer Is Complicated” by chili lover Cari Romm on the Science of Us website (http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/01/can-spicy-food-really-cause-weird-dreams.html?).  According to Ms.

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A Private Way to Save Land

There has been a lot of talk recently about presidential executive action.  One of President Obama’s actions late last year was to designate two new national monuments in Nevada and Utah (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/28/507314596/obama-designates-two-new-national-monuments-in-nevada-and-utah), which, like most presidential actions these days, was considered very controversial in some circles. If you disagree with this type of government action

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Does Your Heart Talk To Your Brain?

Another of those questions we don’t think of every day — do your heart and brain communicate? Recent research suggests there’s definite link.  University of Sussex researcher Sarah Garfinkel has found evidence that the beats of your heart — and your awareness of that rhythm — shapes everything from anxiety to racism to stock trading.

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Book Review — Legacy of Ashes

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner, Doubleday, 2007 This was a very depressing book to read.  According to Weiner’s account, all the horror stories you’ve heard about the CIA are true, and then some.  Apparently the Agency has never been good at what I thought its main mission was —

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Who WAS the Worst President?

For longer than I care to remember, we’ve been hearing some very partisan claims on social media about rating presidents.  Who was the worst? Most historians have a very strong candidate  —  James Buchanan, our 15th chief executive (1857-1961), the president just before Abraham Lincoln.  In fact, there is a new biography out entitled  Worst.

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Why Many Villains Have British Accents

Here’s something I’m sure you’ve been wondering about for a long time.  If you see a lot of movies, you may have noticed many villains have British accents, even when no one else in the cast is British.  These range from Peter Ustinov’s Prince John in Disney’s animated Robin Hood (pictured) to Anthony Hopkins in

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A Lesson From The Lincoln Memorial

A thought for this inauguration day  — Have you ever studied Abraham Lincoln’s pose at the Lincoln Memorial?  Specifically, notice his hands.  His left hand is a tightly clinched fist, while the right hand is resting relaxed on the chair arm.  This suggests there are two equal components of American leadership — strength and compassion.

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