Most Read from past 24 hours

Like many of you, I’ve read numerous articles in the last two years about COVID-19, masks and lockdowns, deaths, vaccines, and mandates. Now the Omicron variation of COVID-19 is inundating the news. There are calls for millions of new virus tests, and in some quarters demands for more lockdowns, more masking requirements, and the cancellation
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It was once an honor to earn a merit badge in the Boy Scouts. Becoming a Star Scout was a privilege, a Life Scout was something fantastic, and an Eagle Scout was the very tip of the apex. Few achieved that pinnacle, and those who did treasured it for their entire lives. But even those
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We’re heading into two weeks (or possibly … two months? two years?) of the kids at home. It’s called Christmas break, as if it’s a break from learning. But that’s just our Puritan Work Ethic talking—the idea that if something is fun, it is a pause from our real job, which is to always be hard
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A week before Christmas, I attended a performance of The Nutcracker in the Old Opera House Theater in Charles Town, West Virginia. My presence was obligatory. My five-year-old granddaughter and her class of budding ballerinas appeared as dancing Lady Bugs for a brief time on the stage, a part undoubtedly added by the director to
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Reading through online headlines I often see a story entitled, “Demi Moore at 58 Hasn’t Aged Well.” Though I’ve never clicked on that link, I did google “Demi Moore at 58” and thought she looked pretty darn good. Sure, she’s probably gone under the plastic surgeon’s knife a few times—those high cheek bones seem a
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When a friend challenged me to a reading contest on Goodreads a couple of years ago, I was reluctant. Did I really want my reading selections broadcast on the internet for friends and strangers to see? Despite this qualm, my arm was twisted, and I began recording the books I read, often giving them a
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