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Tai Chi May Help Parkinson’s Patients Regain Balance

Tai Chi, the Chinese martial art involving slow and rhythmic movement, has been shown to benefit older people by maintaining balance and strength. Now, researchers have found that Tai Chi also helps patients who suffer from Parkinson’s disease. Leona Maricle was diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years ago. At the time, she was teaching math, and [...]

Powerful GOP-Linked SuperPAC Has Clear Agenda

As some superPACS throw millions of dollars into the Republican primaries, others such as American Crossroads are quietly preparing for the day after the primaries end. American Crossroads is near the White House, but it’s more than location that marks the superPAC as part of the Republican establishment. Its cofounders include two former Republican national [...]

What Do The Dow’s Daily Swings Mean? Not Much.

Turn on the news on any given day, and you’re likely to hear about the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It is the most frequently checked, and cited, proxy of U.S. economic health. But a lot of people–maybe most–don’t even know what it is. It’s just the stock prices of 30 big companies, summed up and [...]

China Laces Up Its Chuck Taylors

Stroll along a street in downtown Shanghai for very long and you’re likely to run into someone wearing Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. One recent afternoon a woman named Xu Jing, was heading back from lunch to her job at an ad company in a pair of raspberry-colored Chuck Taylors. “They have a young image, [...]

What Do Democracy Promoters Actually Do?

American lawmakers are furious with a mounting diplomatic crisis in Egypt, where dozens of nongovernmental workers, including 19 Americans, could face trial. The United States says Egypt needs to let pro-democracy groups continue their work to help the country’s transition, but Egypt accuses them of operating illegally. The work of democracy promotion groups have raised [...]

Potential Conflicts At Freddie Mac Draw Scrutiny

A federal Inspector General’s office confirmed Wednesday it is looking into Freddie Mac investments that act as bets against homeowners being able to refinance. In addition, U.S. senators are expected to probe Freddie Mac’s investment practices at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Freddie Mac, based in northern Virginia, is the taxpayer-owned mortgage giant [...]

Arizona Lawmakers Target Public Workers’ Unions

Labor unions are scheduled to rally in front of the Arizona State Capitol Thursday afternoon to protest four bills quickly moving through the state legislature that could make last year’s Wisconsin labor laws look modest by comparison. Three of the four bills restrict the way unions collect dues and the way workers get paid for [...]

Israel Isn’t Going To Attack Us, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Says

Asked this afternoon if he thinks Israel will attack his nation anytime soon in a bid to destroy work Iran is doing on nuclear technology, the Persian nation’s ambassador to the United Nations told NPR, “I don’t think that is going to happen.” “Iran is so strong,” said Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee, and “the consequences would [...]

Washington State Lawmakers OK Gay Marriage

Lawmakers in Washington state voted Wednesday to legalize gay marriage, a move that would make the state the sixth in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed. The Washington move came a day after California’s ban on gay marriage was ruled unconstitutional. The vote in the Washington House was 55-43. The state Senate approved [...]

Does Offering Smaller Portions At Restaurants Help People Eat Less?

A server offers you the option to downsize the fried rice side in your Chinese takeout order by half. She tells you that if you accept her offer, you’ll save at least 200 calories. Do you take it? About one-third of diners (out of several hundred) who were given that choice at a Chinese takeout [...]