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The holidays are upon us once again, starting with Thanksgiving. This fine American celebration has interesting roots here in Virginia going back 400 years to the settlement of Jamestown. There, our country’s earliest settlers experienced an extremely harsh winter in 1609-1610.

While we are enjoying the beginning of sweater weather and autumn leaves, now is the time to take care of a few things to get ready for the cold of winter on the horizon.

Diabetes is one of the most widely prevalent but consistently under-estimated diseases in America. You might associate it with eating too much sugar or the old Wilford Brimley commercials. But as the American Diabetes Association notes, more than 30 million Americans (9 percent of the population) had diabetes in 2015.

‘Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions’: International Day of Older PersonsToday marks a special occasion around the world. More than 25 years ago, the United Nations designated Oct. 1 as the International Day of Older Persons—a day to celebrate the contributions of the elderly to our society and to promote the “full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by older persons.”This declaration has its roots in the United Nations’ Unive...

In the recent film The Founder, Michael Keaton plays businessman Ray Kroc, who took the McDonald’s “speedy system” for producing fast food, franchised the operation and turned a local one-store operation into an international empire. The film opens with Kroc, middle aged in the mid-1950s, driving around to America’s diners and trying to sell a milkshake maker out of the back of his car.At that time, he’d built a comfortable life for himself, but a life on the road f...

September is National Self-Improvement month, giving us the opportunity to participate in a Twitter trend (#SelfImprovementMonth) and, more importantly, take some time to reevaluate our goals, create a plan for bettering ourselves, and take concrete steps toward achievement.Self-improvement is a concept as American as apple pie, going back to Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, where the famous scientist, entrepreneur and Founding Father laid out his 13 virtues and his methodical blueprint for be...