“The world runs on fetishes, things we like and believe in. The corporate world spends billions to promote them. They call it brand marketing. They show, we trigger: Mercedes, Nike, Apple, the Golden Arches, IBM, Amazon, Google, Coca-Cola, Netflix, Starbucks. An endless list. Relentless.”

That’s one way of looking at things. It’s the ...Read more

Some people are drawn to social media apps -- I'm drawn to weather apps.

I check weather apps more frequently than I check news apps. Weather apps tend to be less alarming than the news apps. Even in tornado season.

I don't mean to brag, but I know the predicted highs, lows and percentage possibilities for rain for the next five days in three ...Read more

I wrote in a 2020 review that "The Remains of the Corps Volume I: Ivy and the Crossing" was one of the most unique and innovative books I had read in a long time. It was the military history of a family of Marines, the Remains, taking place during World War I and told by author Will Remain, family historian and Vietnam veteran.

The author ...Read more

“Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

That nugget was the last item in a list of 45 life lessons offered by Regina Brett, legendary newspaper writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

It’s also the last sentence in Donald G. Denihan’s new book "Hard Bargain" (Stillwater Press), best described as part gripping true ...Read more

Dori Monson sat on the couch cheering on the Washington Huskies in the Alamo Bowl. His wife, Suzanne, was in the next room working on a jigsaw puzzle, a Christmas gift from one of their three daughters.

A week earlier, Dori and Suzanne had hosted an early holiday family gathering at their home just outside Seattle. In the days since, one ...Read more

As people flock to pool parties, sandy beaches and other water adventures to cool off this summer, experts say learning CPR and some water safety basics also should be at the top of the to-do list.

"In general, I'm an advocate for everyone getting CPR training," said Dr. Katherine Berg, associate director at the Center for Resuscitation Science...Read more

We've been trying to sell our nearly 20-year-old SUV. Like most sellers, there are things we say about a used vehicle and things we don't say.

When an interested buyer asked about mileage, I said, "It has 221,500 miles on it."

What I didn't say was that I helped put a lot of those early miles on it with my dad when he bought the Ford Explorer,...Read more

Stroke can be devastating for anyone. But the risks and symptoms of a stroke are not always the same in women and men.

American Heart Association News asked experts to explain a few of the most significant differences – and what women can do to protect themselves.

Women have more risk from high blood pressure

Women and men share many ...Read more

As a new dad, you may feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to bond with your newborn baby. One simple way to establish a strong connection is through skin-to-skin contact, also known as “kangaroo care.” This practice involves holding your baby against your bare chest and has been shown to provide numerous benefits for both the infant and ...Read more

Two months before his wedding, Vang Her had a cough he couldn't shake.

For weeks he'd hacked incessantly. How could he walk down the aisle or enjoy his honeymoon in New Zealand that way?

But his doctor couldn't find anything wrong.

With rest, Vang improved. His wedding went off without a hitch. In New Zealand while cave exploring, Vang couldn...Read more

The shocking murder of her boss — and the sudden disappearance of her sister — sends Portland paralegal Beth Ralston on a dangerous, dizzying quest to find answers that she may not be able to manage in Mary Keliikoa’s smart thriller, "Don’t Ask, Don’t Follow."

At a holiday office party for her father’s prestigious law firm, Ralston,...Read more

Some people sleep with pillows and blankets, and, if they’re lucky, a cuddle bunny of a sort.

I sleep with books.

Not a book, singular, but multiple books of multiple genres, heaped in a long pile between me and the other side of the bed.

I find this to be easier than trying to keep books strategically stacked on a bedside table, which is ...Read more

I made my first loaf of sourdough last week. It took less time to give birth to our first child than it took to make one loaf of bread.

Why did I make sourdough? Because I'm weak. I succumbed to peer pressure. We have granddaughters making sourdough. They nudged and prodded and threw flour in the air until I agreed to give it a try.

The first ...Read more

After Cecilia Galeana gave birth to her second child, Elias Soto, a pediatrician performed standard newborn tests. Listening to his heart, the doctor heard a whooshing and swishing sound. Elias had a heart murmur.

It could be hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, the doctor said. It's a condition in which abnormally thick heart muscle makes it ...Read more

Drexel Hospital prepares to launch its vaunted new Electronic Health Records (EHR) system when a series of inexplicable deaths at the hospital raises questions for a cadre of Drexel employees committed to patient privacy and safety in "Coded to Kill" by Marschall Runge, M.D.

A decade in the making, the Drexel EHR is the most innovative ...Read more

The Mediterranean diet is an a roll this year. U.S. News and World Report ranked it the best diet for the seventh consecutive year. Now, according to a massive study, the eating regimen may also have added benefits for women.

“For women interested in longevity, our study shows that following a Mediterranean dietary pattern could result in ...Read more

If trials continue to go well, a teaspoon of gel rubbed on the shoulders once a day might be all men need for contraception.

National Institutes of Health Contraceptive Development Program chief Diana Blithe has been leading the research on Nestorone, a synthetic hormone-based male birth control, since 2018. Speaking recently at ENDO 2024, the ...Read more

There’s a unique beginning to "The Guide: Survival, Warfighting, Peacemaking" — Greg Munck‘s moving and uplifting memoir of his fascinating journey that took him from a nightmarish childhood to becoming a war hero as a U.S. Marine and finally finding peace in his life’s work as a man of God.

The book opens with a dramatic forward from ...Read more

What do gluten-free communion wafers and arugula-eating snails have in common?

Well, if you’re a bodybuilder, it turns out these are two powerhouse secrets to a ripped physique — along with other, shall we say, less conventional methods. Debut novelist Ruth Bonapace takes us through an epic workout of the imagination in "The Bulgarian ...Read more