Kids voices

Source: Suzy Hazelwood/Pxhere As Halloween approaches, many of us have witches, ghosts, and goblins on the mind. Scary movies are running back to back on television stations, and storefronts are plastered with posters of jack-o-lanterns and skeletons. For some, this is an exciting time of year, a time when we can relish in the thrill of being afraid. But for others, creepy skulls aren’t so appealing, and the idea of the Headless Horseman evokes horror instead of fun. Why do some of us go out to celebrate the holiday of fear while others just stay shuttered at home? First, contrary to popular belief, fear isn’t something we're born with, it's something we develop over time. In fact, babies don’t demonstrate fear for the first time until around 8 to 12 months of age, and it’s usually in response to new people or events, particularly strangers. Importantly, not all babies react to strangers with fear, and even the ones who do, don’t react with fear in all situations—context … [Read more...] about How We Learn to Be Afraid

We spend our lives learning how to decode other people's nonverbal cues. While we’re busy trying to decode their messages, they are also trying to decode ours. There are times when you want other people to know exactly how you’re feeling, especially when those feelings are both positive and reciprocated. This isn’t always easy to do, particularly if you’re not a very emotive type of person. At other times, however, you definitely want to hide your inner feelings. To avoid emotional leakage, you may have to work doubly hard. Depending on the situation, you may need to put on your Lady Gaga-style poker face. Body language is just that—the language of the body. You may think that you only show your emotions through your face, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Your entire body participates in the business of either showing or hiding your mental state. To control that display means you have to control your body's cues. This guide will show you how, starting from the top down. … [Read more...] about The Ultimate Guide to Body Language

This was an average evening for Mike Sell, a professor of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania who moonlights as an online game master . On Tuesdays, he gathers friends, colleagues, partners and kids and has them ramble, remotely, through his role-playing game, Curse of the Sugarplum Fairy, a madcap riff on “The Nutcracker” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .” Tagline: “Who can take a rainbow and wrap it in a scream?” Modern role-playing games debuted in the mid-1970s, when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson invented Dungeons & Dragons . The form has since proliferated — if you can imagine a genre (western, mystery, sci-fi ) or a peril (zombies, rogue A.I., chthonic gods), it has probably inspired a game. A hybrid of theater, make-believe, board games and fan fiction, RPGs encourage players to create a story collaboratively as they play. “Tabletop role playing is the most powerful, most versatile form of interactive narrative we have by a mile,” said … [Read more...] about Role-playing virtual games are here: Explore caves and forests from comfort of your couch

A NEW Dutch law today bans face-covering clothing including the burka and niqab worn by Muslim women. The partial ban means people cannot cover their faces on public transportation, in government buildings and at health and education institutions. The Netherlands, long seen as a bastion of tolerance and religious freedom, is the latest European country to introduce such a ban, following the likes of France, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Denmark. Muslim rights groups have voiced opposition to the law formally called the "partial ban on face-covering clothing". And an Islamic political party in Rotterdam has said it will pay the €150 fines for anybody caught breaking it. There were no immediate reports this morning of anybody being fined under the new law, which was passed despite the fact that very few women in Holland wear a burka or niqab. In fact, estimates put the number at a few hundred in this nation of 17 million. 'PARTIAL BAN' Far-right lawmaker Geert … [Read more...] about Dutch burka ban comes into force banning ALL face-coverings on public transport, schools and public buildings

advertisement advertisement advertisement The morning of January 8, just a day and a half after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, the nonprofit More Than a Vote released a response video. Less than a minute long, the montage depicts professional athletes taking a knee and wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts and Black Americans casting votes in Georgia, alongside footage from the insurrection. With a sepia tone that evokes news footage of 1960s civil rights protests and dynamic graphics that convey urgency, the video presents a powerful contrast between peaceful political efforts by Black Americans and white barbarians at the gate. advertisement advertisement More Than a Vote, which NBA star LeBron James and his business partner Maverick Carter launched last June, had initially planned a more celebratory piece of content for that day. It had partnered with Stacey Abrams’s Fair Fight Action and successfully mobilized voters in Georgia … [Read more...] about How LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Company became the envy of Hollywood