It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man as he lived hectic life. Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. He had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was always working on his future. Over the phone, his mother told him, “ Mr Belser died last night. The funeral is on Wednesday.” Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat remembered his childhood days. “Jack, did you hear me?” “Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It’s been so long since I thought of him. I’m sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago,” Jack said. “Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce about the many days you spent over ‘his side of the fence’   Mom told him. “I loved that old house he lived in,” Jack said. “You know, Jack, after your father died, He stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence in your life,” she said. “He’s the one who taught me carpen...

 by Niva Dorell Smith,  Eleven days after marrying the love of my life, I stared at his lifeless body and said goodbye. Eleven days after my wedding, two men from the crematorium arrived to take my husband’s body away. “Do you want his ring?” they asked, pointing to the black titanium band on his left hand. “No, he should wear his ring,” I said. He should wear it into the afterlife. A quick look passed between them. “Are you sure?” “Yes,” I replied, and turned to my mother-in-law Linda for approval. “Honey, you should keep his ring,” Linda said gently. I gave the crematorium men a slight nod. They slipped the ring off his finger and handed it to me. * * * Kaz and I once made up a story of how we met. “You fell on your bike and I stopped to help you,” he said in his baritone voice. This actually happened on our second date. “Sounds good to me,” I said. But we never told the made-up version. Whenever people asked us how we met, we would look at each other, shrug and tell the truth: we m...

Nobody’s perfect, especially when it comes to money and saving for retirement.  Why would anyone sabotage their own future? It’s not typically a conscious decision, but the product of focusing on short-term gains instead of long-term results. Here are some common ways we sabotage ourselves:  Hitting the snooze button because the bed is so warm, and the gym doesn’t sound fun at 5 a.m. Deciding to get gas tomorrow when you may be pressed for time instead of today when you have time, but you’re tired. Checking out social media when you should be finishing an important project with an impending deadline. Some of these are more serious than others, but we often make decisions that set ourselves up for long-term failure without even realizing that’s what we’re doing. Here are seven ways you can sabotage your own financial future and work against yourself.  Missing Out on Opportunities (to Save) Do you have FOMO? That’s the internet-era term short for “Fear of Missing Out.” Financially, peopl...

A jobless man applied for the position of ‘office boy’ at a very big company. The employer interviewed him, then a test: clean the floor. “You are hired.” – the employer said. ”Give me your email address, and I’ll send you the application to fill, as well as when you will start.” The man replied, “I don’t have a computer, neither an email.” “I’m sorry,” said the employer, “if you don’t have an email , you cannot have the job.” The man left with no hope. He didn’t know what to do, with only $10 USD in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket, bought a 10 kg tomato crate, then sold the tomatoes door to door. In less than two hours, he succeeded and doubled his capital. He repeated the operation 3 times and returned home with $60 USD. The man realized that he could survive by this way, and started to go everyday earlier, and returned late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled everyday. Shortly later, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehic...

Ever have those trains of thought that just... wait, what were we talking about, again? Staying focused can be hard, especially in an age when there are tons of distractions around you. So, whether it’s something you don’t really want to have to pay attention to—like work; or something you do—like talking to a friend in a crowded bar—sometimes it’s just plain hard to concentrate on what’s happening right in front of you. Jumping to other stimuli—like someone looking at you, or your phone buzzing—can give you a dopamine push, which is one reason it can be so appealing. But another is that, when multitasking is the norm, it’s hard to stop doing it. “We have trained ourselves to be constantly distracted and multitasking, so even though we may have a project in front of us, or we may be talking to someone, our minds have been trained to look to other things,” says  Natalie Bell , a mindfulness coach based in Los Angeles. Distractibility can run deeper than habit. “You might be distracted b...

by Matthew Hutson, Are you a tyrant or a servant? At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama told the crowd, “Being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are.” Growing up, Michelle said, she and Barack learned important lessons from their families about “dignity and decency” and “gratitude and humility.” “At the end of the day,” she said, “when it comes time to make that decision, as president, all you have to guide you are your values, and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are.” Research in cognitive science reveals the former First Lady is right: Power exposes your true character. It releases inhibitions and sets your inner self free. If you’re a jerk when you gain power, you’ll become more of one. If you’re a mensch, you’ll get nicer. So if you happen to all of a sudden become president, or at least president of your lab or book club, what inner self will come out? Self-Actualization: Power can release your inhibitions and...

by Apoorva Mandavilli, nytimes.com When experts recommend wearing masks, staying at least six feet away from others, washing your hands frequently and avoiding crowded spaces, what they’re really saying is: Try to minimize the amount of virus you encounter. A few viral particles cannot make you sick — the immune system would vanquish the intruders before they could. But how much virus is needed for an infection to take root? What is the minimum effective dose? A precise answer is impossible, because it’s difficult to capture the moment of infection. Scientists are studying ferrets, hamsters and mice for clues but, of course, it wouldn’t be ethical for scientists to expose people to different doses of the coronavirus, as they do with milder cold viruses. “The truth is, we really just don’t know,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York. “I don’t think we can make anything better than an educated guess.” Common respiratory viruses, like influenza and other ...

- The govt has rolled out an 8-point economic stimulus program amounting to some Ksh. 53.7 Billion. The first element will focus on infrastructure, a total of Ksh 5 Billion has been set aside to hire local labor to engage in this undertaking. - Every single week, the govt has been dispatching a total of Ksh. 259 Million to vulnerable families. Money in the hands of a family also restores dignity & not depend on lining up waiting for food relief. -Govt expected to spend a total of Ksh. 10 Billion in the Kazi Mtaani Programme where they have engaged a total of 26,000 young people and now intend to increase the number to 200,000. - KSh. 6.5 Billion to the Ministry of Education. The purpose of this is to hire 10,000 teachers and 1,000 ICT interns to support digital learning. - Ksh. 5 billion set aside to hire local labour for the rehabilitation of access roads and footbridges. - Ksh. 3 billion for the supply of farm inputs through e-vouchers, targeting 200,000 small scale farmers. Furt...