A seasonal forecast released by the Climate Prediction Center shows a warmer-than-average outlook for nearly every state over the next three months. La Niña is over but the fat lady has yet to sing the blues.

We can aim for a more resilient pluralism: one where fragmentation doesn’t mean fracture, and where difference is a feature. What gives you hope? Do you feel the momentum is pulling us closer?

Jazz history is believed to be related to jasm, a slang term dating back to 1860, meaning 'pep, energy'. The earliest written record of the word is in a 1912 article in the Los Angeles Times in which a minor league baseball pitcher described a pitch which he called a 'jazz ball' "because it wobbles and you simply can't do anything with it."

MVL was a writer and a privileged person because he  knew how to read and write, and  had an audience,who respected him.

His followers repressed and put people in prison or even killed others if you are killed because you are a writer, that’s the maximum expression of respect. ... It is a moral obligation of a writer in Latin America to be involved in civic activities, as he was known to say.

Mario Vargas Llosa, Peruvian author and Nobel literature laureate, dies at 89

The great state of Hawaii holds the highest total tax burden in the United States, with residents contributing nearly 14 percent of their income to state and local governments. This includes 4.2 percent in income taxes, 2.6 percent in property taxes, and a substantial 7.2 percent in sales and excise taxes.