Health
/ArcaMax
Q&A: How to talk about politics with people who don't agree with you
These days, there's no surer way to start a fight than to talk politics with someone who disagrees with you. And with election day drawing near, political conversations are increasingly difficult to avoid.
You could muddle your way through the next two months and hope for the best. Or you could take Tania Israel's advice and embrace the ...Read more
Would you consider cloning your pets?
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Everyone has that one pet in life who they fall in love with at first sight — or first scratch.
For San Francisco resident Wyatt Boumedine, that was Zine, his white cat with a raccoon-like tail who would constantly growl, claw — and probably curse, if he could speak — at his owner. But Boumedine adored him. When Zine ...Read more
Ask Anna: Is it normal to have less sex after moving in together?
Dear Anna,
I'm 26 (F), and my boyfriend (28) and I have been together for almost three years. We moved in together six months ago, and ever since I’ve noticed a pretty big change in our sex life. Before moving in, we used to have sex several times a week, but now it’s once a week, or maybe twice if it’s, like, a special occasion. I didn�...Read more
This Miami church's new home is in a high-rise condo. You enter through the coffee shop
MIAMI -- Corner Coffee is not your typical coffee shop.
All the the usual suspects are offered: espresso, cold brews, pastries. But the distinct interior design offers some clues as to what is also on the menu: A ceiling mobile made of religious stained glass hangs over a seating area. A bronze sculpture of a life-size Homeless Jesus sleeping ...Read more
Has a California lab discovered the holy grail of plastic recycling?
Despite the planet’s growing plastic pollution crisis, petroleum-based polymers have become an integral part of modern life. They make cars and airplanes lighter and more energy efficient. They constitute a core material of modern medicine by helping to keep equipment sterile, deliver medicines and build prosthetics, among many other things. ...Read more
Erika Ettin: 'I just want this dating process to be done'
I got a text recently from a 40-year-old male client who I’ve been working with on and off over the last few years. It said this: “I’ve been anxious to re-start dating. I just want this process to be done.”
I answered, “When you say that you want the process to be ‘done,’ what do you mean?”
Every week, at least three clients ...Read more
The Kid Whisperer: How to deliver a learning opportunity instead of a punishment
Dear Kid Whisperer,
As a retired elementary school teacher, I enjoy reading your column in the newspaper every weekend. I have noticed a common theme in your responses: Don’t punish students (for example by taking away their recess time) for exhibiting behaviors that are undesirable or attention seeking, but rather suggest replacement ...Read more
If Grandma can't answer your parenting question, maybe Google can
ATLANTA -- When my kids were young, I kept a stack of parenting books to consult on teething, toddler tantrums and bedtime routines. More often, however, I took my child-rearing questions to parents I met on the playground or in the neighborhood.
My own mother was no help. She had four children in proximity and always told me our early ...Read more
Lori Borgman: Fort Knox has nothing on us
I am married to Mr. Security. We have an entire plastic tub full of timers. The lights in our house never burn brighter than when we are not home.
I typically spend the day before we go out of town packing. He spends the day setting up timers and reminding me what lights I can and can’t turn on.
The lamp in the family room is off limits. It ...Read more
Your professor is also getting help from AI
ATLANTA -- The fit, 41-year-old white male lay in a hospital bed and complained about a headache.
Hal introduced himself to the Emory University nursing class gathered around his bedside. He shook a student’s hand and provided his medical history. No allergies, no surgeries. He has high blood pressure but isn’t taking any medication.
The ...Read more
Ex-etiquette: How do you get over a hurt this big?
Q. I served our country, had some serious things happen to me and just could not see through to the other side for years. I did not want to return home and met someone else. I hurt my wife and my family. That is something I live with every day, but I have no desire to reconcile. I try to take an active part in my children’s lives, but my ex ...Read more
For 10 years, this Miami nonprofit has helped prisoners find their voices as writers
MIAMI -- Leeann Parker got three things the moment she left prison after almost 20 years: a cool outfit, a hug from her 3-year-old grandson and a tote bag of new books.
Parker, who was incarcerated when her daughters were 5 and 9, said she entered Homestead Correctional Institution angry and bitter. At the end of August, with the help of a ...Read more
Jerry Zezima: A clothes call
Ever since my wife, Sue, has been out of commission with an injured hand, which required surgery and has prevented her from performing important tasks like keeping me alive, I have had a whole laundry list of things to do.
At the top is — how did you ever guess? — laundry.
For the past 46 years, I have been a basket case when it comes to ...Read more
Safe Passage workers honored for protecting Chicago students on walks to and from school
CHICAGO -- Glenda Rivera’s teenage son was shot while walking just across the street from his high school in Chicago's Hermosa neighborhood.
Rivera’s son survived. But eight years later, when her daughter enrolled in the same school, Rivera felt that she needed to do something to protect the children in her neighborhood from violence on ...Read more
On Gardening: Estrellita Scarlet stars in the pollinator garden
Last year was exciting for The Garden Guy as I became introduced to a plant called Estrellita Little Star. The name is neat to me as Estrellita actually means Little Star. While that might sound redundant it also sounds like a profound introduction: This beautiful flower is Estrellita…. Little Star. It is like Spanish and English celebrating ...Read more
City has two iconic clocks downtown. This man has been caring for them for 50 years
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Columbia’s Main Street bustles with state employees walking to lunch, students shuffling in and out of their apartments, visiting relatives, prospective hires, panhandlers, landscapers and more. Tim Sease makes sure whatever is happening, it’s happening on time.
Almost every week for the last 50 years, Sease has been at ...Read more
A guy known for fixing neighbors' homes finally gets to renovate his own
PHILADELPHIA -- Dwayne Fair has to be careful about sitting on the steps outside his North Philadelphia house.
Someone is likely to walk by and ask him for help fixing something around their home. But he loves it.
“I don’t mind helping nobody,” said Fair, 60, building manager for the union hall of Philadelphia’s largest city worker ...Read more
Kids with incarcerated parents need support, not stigma, say these siblings
MIAMI – Every Saturday morning without fail, siblings Joshua, Ava, and David Martoma used to wake up before sunrise, get dressed and pile into their mom’s car to drive down to the Federal Correctional Institution in southwest Miami-Dade to visit with their father in prison. They would often spend the ride asleep in the back seat.
The family...Read more
Nedra Rhone: Students aren't the only ones who need cellphone bans
Last week, a group of students from Decatur High School in Georgia narrowly escaped a tragedy. The students were almost hit by a car when they neglected to do one of the most important things their parents probably taught them to do — look both ways before crossing the street.
The reason? They were all looking down at their phones.
An ...Read more
It's been 60 years since LBJ made food stamps permanent to end hunger, but food insecurity is still high
PHILADELPHIA — J. Jhondi Harrell, the founder and executive director of the Center for Returning Citizens (TCRC), remembers life before food stamps.
When he was 12, his father, a long-distance truck driver, had a heart attack. That was in 1967, and the family's economic well-being plummeted as his mother became the sole provider. To help make...Read more