Don’t retire, ReFire: Making peace in our world

By Gail Suplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times Does this sound like a tall order to you? It shouldn’t be a tall order but alas, it is. For centuries we’ve fought for peace and in the fighting, many casualties occurred and still do, to this day. Many songs have been written and many prayers have been prayed for the hope of peace. Is it possible to make peace in a world so divided and with so many...

Do it yourself dental products aren’t always what they appear to be

By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times Don’t get fooled. There are a lot of crazy things going on in the world right now, and now we need to watch out for the return of the “snake oil” salesmen.  While we all know that the myriad of “lose weight while you sleep” pills are bogus, now we have to beware of folks preying on unsuspecting people with dental needs.  Everytime...

Inner Nature: Invertebrate mouths

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times I have always been fascinated by mouths and the teeth and tongues that lie inside them. Mouths are both structurally amazing and functionally diverse. We eat with our mouths, use it to communicate with sounds, express emotions, and also with breathing functions. Mouths contain tongues, one of the softest, strongest, and most sensitive muscles in our body, but...

Don’t Retire, ReFire: Never stop improving

By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times August is my birthday month and each year, just as I do for the turning of each New Year, I reflect on where I am and what I want to accomplish, while being very aware that time is a tickin’. One of the key components to living an enriched, fulfilled life is to never stop improving and learning. Most of us strive to improve ourselves each day, relating...

Don’t Retire, ReFire: If not now, when?

By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times There are many influential people, like Eckhart Tolle who have made this statement, which only validates its gravity. If not now, when? Each month, I like to think that my messages are thought provoking and will raise the level of consciousness in the reader. If we look at our lives as a string of todays, we may understand and more fully grasp the importance...

Inner Nature: Gender and Stereotypes

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times Human behavior is not completely governed by biological sex. People experience a remarkable natural degree of behavioral freedom which, however, is held in check by the expectations of society. Without comparable societal structures, to what degree do other animal species experience sex-based roles? Are sex-based roles in nature invariable, interchangeable,...

Don;t Retire, ReFire: What have we learned?

By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times Now that we’re, for the most part, back into the swing of things and the hustle and bustle of the world has returned, do you, on some level, long for the quiet of a year ago, minus the threat of a fatal virus? Are you finding it difficult to jump back in and adjust to the hectic pace that has returned or are you sighing a sigh of relief that the quiet...

Don’t retire, ReFire: Be amazed every day

By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times How do you interpret being amazed every day? Depending on what the current state of your life is, you might roll your eyes in cynicism at the mere thought of it or you might ring out a resounding YES! We all have peaks and valleys in our lives and the cycle rotates constantly. That’s what living is. What we often fail to do, particularly when we’re...

Putting off dental cleanings could hurt whole body health

By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times We all get those pesky reminders from our dentist’s office, reminding us to have our regular preventive visit with the dental hygienist.  I hear over and over that “It’s just a checkup and cleaning — I’ll get to it when I have time.”  Make time, because based on new research done by New York University and Cornell Medicine,...

Inner Nature: Feats of strength

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times As the weather warms, we watch bees collecting and hauling fat baskets of pollen back to their hives. Bumblebees, with their improbably large bodies hover on whirring, buzzing wings that seem barely adequate to the purpose of elevating, never mind transporting their bulk. Ants swarm kitchen counters and picnics and carry away remarkably large portions of bounty...