US toy sales jumped from $22.3 billion in 2019 to $26 billion in 2020, and then to $30.1 billion in 2021, as parents struggled to entertain their kids at home during the pandemic. Sales dipped slightly in 2023, perhaps because of inflation, but remain solidly above 2019 levels. (North, Vox)
Read More"Demure" is Dictionary.com's word of the year, with all the credit for its popularity going to lifestyle and beauty influencer Jools Lebron and her catchphrase, "very demure, very mindful." "Demure" means "reserved, quiet, or modest," but the reaction to Lebron's use of the word was anything but. (Blair, NPR)
Read MoreThis would be a landmark piece of legislation in England and Wales, where the law treated attempted suicide as a crime until 1961. (Different laws apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.) (Castle, The New York Times)
Read MoreThe property in Oxford, England, features rooms inspired by the beavers’ den and Mr. Tumnus’s cave from the Narnia books written by C.S. Lewis. And, to engage anyone’s imagination, there is also a ‘magic’ wardrobe that leads to the surrounding countryside. (Good News Network)
Read MoreThe legislation would require two independent doctors and a judge to determine whether the person satisfies the criteria to take their own life — including expressing a clear wish to do so, free from coercion. Similar moves are also under way in Scotland, the Isle and Man and Jersey (Osbaldstone, The Times)
Read MoreIn Mobile after nearly a decade of work, pledge group participants say they've seen the fruits of their labor. Some churches have diversified congregations, for instance. New multicultural prayer groups are meeting. And predominantly white organizations have begun to recognize Juneteenth and Black History Month. (Elliott, NPR)
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