(BPT) - The holidays are a time when gratitude is at the forefront. In fact, gratitude has been shown to help kids and adults practice resilience through tough times by focusing on the positive emotions that come with spending quality time with family and friends. That’s why character education matters. At Kiddie Academy , Character Essentials is a comprehensive character education program for infants through school-age children. The monthly theme for November is “We Are Thankful.” As you embrace the season of giving, now is a great time to reflect and think of ways to relieve the stress of today’s world and infuse gratitude and thankfulness into your family’s holiday traditions. Try one of the following five ways suggested by Joy Turner, Kiddie Academy vice president of education, to help you practice gratitude with your children and family this year: 1. Head offline. Dedicate some time during the holidays to spend offline — no electronics! Cell phones, video games, … [Read more...]

The Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash on March 13, 2019. Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Three years ago, after the crash of two Boeing 737 Max jets in less than five months, an explanation emerged that was almost impossible for many civilian travelers to comprehend: The company had inadvertently outfitted the new planes with software that could cause them to dive into the ground. Wasn’t Boeing the undisputed master of its field? How could a treasure of American industry have committed such a deadly error? Peter Robison knew the answers. A Seattle-based investigative journalist for Bloomberg Businessweek, he has been watching the company’s behind-the-scenes decline for two decades. His new book, Flying Blind: The 737 Max Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing , traces the twin crashes directly to a 1997 merger that replaced the company’s engineering-focused culture with one obsessed with delivering “shareholder value” to investors. Rushed aircraft development, inadequate … [Read more...]

“When I was a small kid, I grew up in the newspapers,” Bill James says. “ I grew up in a small town [in Kansas] kind of in the middle of nowhere. My understanding of what was happening in the world was based on the newspapers, so before I was 10 years old, I was reading crime stories. I still do.” He estimates he has read thousands of books about true crimes, and sometime in the '80s, he began working on a book of his own. Finally out this month, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence could be the most entertaining book on a serious subject you will read this year. It is also unlike any book you have ever read on the topic. But anyone who knows anything about the author should have seen that coming. James, 61, is a first-rate contrarian, a man at war with the cult of the expert. In the '70s and '80s, he self-published a series of books, the Bill James Baseball Abstracts , in which he deployed a sophisticated statistical analysis of his own invention that … [Read more...]

Having burnished his culinary skills in the kitchens of Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Nobu Matsuhisa, the chef Chris Cheung returned to the food of Manhattan’s Chinatown, where he was born and raised, to create his casual East Wind Snack Shops in Brooklyn. In “Damn Good Chinese Food,” his first cookbook, Mr. Cheung is your guide to Chinatown (as he was for Anthony Bourdain) and its vibrant markets. His book outlines equipment and techniques, and gives 50 recipes for dishes from the Chinese American canon, many with refinements. These include pungent sweet and sour pork Peking style; three cups cauliflower, which cleverly swaps out the usual chicken for the vegetable; designer egg drop soup; briny black bean clams; pork belly bao buns; and many, many dumplings, explaining the Chinatown pedigree and his personal take. Be prepared to use MSG; Mr. Cheung makes a cultural argument for it. “Damn Good Chinese Food: Dumplings, Egg Rolls, Bao Buns, Sesame Noodles, Roast Duck, Fried Rice and … [Read more...]

9 Home, as we know, has become more central to many of us during the pandemic, and that means outdoors as well as in. This holiday season, designers and retailers have suggestions for updating window, door and yard decorations. Trends include sustainability, naturalness and coziness. NATURE SHOW New York interior designer John Douglas Eason appreciates a season where “over the top” is often just what’s needed. “But that said, I like subtle holiday design, incorporating nature and keeping it tonal. I love monochromatic gourds with a gnarly tree branch tossed in for interest and fresh greens," he says. Eason suggests luminarias to light walkways, "and I’ve been playing around with the idea of connecting them with thick garlands and woodland elements. “I really think a more natural holiday design is absolutely on point this season.” When the holiday is over, he notes, recyclable decor can go back to nature … [Read more...]

LOS ANGELES, California — The City of Los Angeles began enforcing its vaccine mandate on indoor businesses Monday, including gyms, restaurants, and other facilities, with inspectors able to impose thousands of dollars in fines over time. Fox 11 KTTV reported : Los Angeles Monday began enforcing its law requiring Angelenos patronizing indoor restaurants, gyms, entertainment and recreational facilities, personal care establishments and some city buildings to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19. The law went into effect on Nov. 8, but beginning Monday, the Department of Building and Safety can issue administrative citations to businesses that violate the ordinance. The citations will include a $1,000 fine for a second violation, $2,000 fine for a third violation and a $5,000 fine for a fourth and subsequent violations. The city’s SafePassLA ordinance is one of the strictest mandates of its kind in the nation, requiring people over the age of 12 to show proof of … [Read more...]