Are hurricanes evil?
The word hurricane originated with the ancient tribes of the Americas and their religious beliefs. The Mayan storm god was named Hunraken. He was blamed…
Author: The Smart Reader Staff
Briefs and quick reads selected and edited by The Smart Reader's editorial team.
Warm-ups for winter sports
The American Chiropractic Association says outdoor activities can cause problems if you aren’t in good physical condition, especially if you don’t warm up…
The first Nativity scene
Some of the Christmas customs and imagery we have come to us from Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis himself is said to have made the first creche, a…
Pets top Santa’s nice list
People love spoiling their pets for the holidays. And dressing them. According to a survey by Chewy, a whopping 94 percent of pet owners include their…
Out with business, in with housing
Remote work has upended the commercial real estate market and many companies aredownsizing their offices to better match a workforce that largely prefers…
Child’s play: States sue Meta over advertising to kids
Attorneys general in 42 states have pushed forward with lawsuits that allege social media company Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, has been using…
United States bans export of AI chips
The artificial intelligence wars have begun, so perhaps it’s no surprise that the U.S. is moving to restrict the sale of so-called AI chips to China. Many…
Poinsettia stories
Legend has it that long ago, a poor Mexican girl picked weeds from the roadside to place before the nativity scene in her small church. When she placed…
An extraordinary council
President Thomas Jefferson was deeply curious about the peoples who lived in the West of the unexplored American continent. Rumor was all he had to go on,…
What’s lost between pages of an old book?
People working in book stores often make collections of what they find stored and forgotten between the pages of books. Among the items known to be found…