NEW YORK – He beat Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale handily at the polls. But when it came to a face-off with FDR, Ronald Reagan lost. Reagan’s fans pushed for legislation last December to replace Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s image on the dime. The bill gathered support from House Republicans but was blocked by Democrats determined to preserve FDR’s legacy. Conservatives, though, … Read More
NEW YORK – It started as a superstitious stunt, but then things got hairy. Neils Kemper’s favorite German soccer team was on a roll. So as not to jinx the team’s winning streak, he stopped shaving while the lucky run lasted. But when Eintracht Frankfurt finally lost, Kemper, a 23-year old Economics student at The New School in Manhattan, couldn’t … Read More
MIDDLETOWN, Conn – In front of 500 Wesleyan University students, Dan LaRosa stood on a stage with a dozen volunteers from the crowd. One by one, he stroked the volunteers on their shoulders, puts his other hand on their heads, and whispered the word “sleep.” The students’ heads dropped and each fell into a trance. What followed was a two-hour … Read More
NEW YORK – When Yana Oselkin turned 28 last September, her younger brother bought her an unusual birthday gift. “He got me an acre on the moon, with an earth-facing view,” the Manhattan-based dentist recalled recently. “I thought he was kidding.” Oselkin now says she is a “proud moon owner,” but views her property mostly as a novelty. She has … Read More
NEW YORK – When Mark Mehlestein’s heart stops beating, he will be pronounced dead by a physician. Yet, within moments, a small group of people will take his body and place it in a separate medical facility. They will perform aggressive life support measures, cool his body and drain his blood and replace it with an organ preservation solution. Then … Read More
NEW YORK – Like any average American couple, Samantha and Bob were sitting at home on a recent Tuesday night, watching television. But unlike the millions of other Americans doing the same thing at that moment, they were being paid to be average: The programs they chose represented what nearly 22,000 other Americans were doing with thier dials. Samantha and … Read More