Articles

Rose Madeline Mula: If You Can’t Stand the Heat

Rose Madeline Mula Writes: “It was with considerable trepidation, therefore, that I entered the kitchen of my hostess, the legendary actress, Joan Fontaine, one long-ago Thanksgiving morning, to offer my assistance. Acting was not Miss Fontaine’s only talent. Not by a long shot. She was also a hole-in-one golfer, a prize-winning fisherwoman, a hot air…
An Undocumented Childhood by Rose Madeline Mula

Rose Mula Writes: Some people never leave home without their American Express card; I never leave home without a camera. Digitized pictures of the twenty-five countries and forty-plus states of America that I’ve visited since my first tour of exotic New Hampshire constantly flash on my computer monitors and digital frames throughout my home, helping…
Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library

Julia Sneden Wrote: My mind’s eye can still see the face of the Children’s Librarian, although I have long since forgotten her name. We will be wise to continue to back up our knowledge of history and literature and art and science with hard copy. She kept up with my reading level, suggesting writers and…
Julia Sneden Wrote: If The Shoe Fits … You Can Bet It’s Not Fashionable

Julia Sneden Wrote: My mother was a mini Imelda Marcos. She kept upwards of 40 pairs of shoes well into her 80’s, and was crushed when she had to give up high heels following a heart attack at the age of 89. Her sole criterion in buying shoes was style, not comfort, and she was…
Joan L.Cannon Wrote: A Family Inheritance: More Than ‘Things’ … Emblems of Our Lives

Joan Cannon wrote: As one advances in years, one accumulates possessions the way a caddis fly larva accumulates grit. The glue that makes us carry it all along with us is in a way self-secreted as well. However, it’s psychic rather than physical — emotional rather than material. Perhaps the most obvious example is a…
Julia Sneden Wrote: Old Dogs, New Tricks

Julia Sneden wrote: At the age of 37, I started a new career as a kindergarten teacher. My first day on the job, the lead teacher, who was in her 70’s and scared me every bit as much as she scared the children, watched me writing a note. “You’ll have to change the way you…
Joan Cannon Writes: Finding the Right Excuse; Committing Words to Paper Because …

Joan Cannon Writes: Think of the poets and novelists and playwrights whose words sink into the consciousness of thousands and even millions and remain there, as emblems, guides, beacons of hope or warnings of disasters, and the excuse (as if one is needed) presents itself. Maybe there’s information or a revelation for some unknown viewer…
Joan Cannon Asked: What is a Book Club? An Old-Fashioned Book Report? A Program Given By an Author? What Is the Accepted Practice?

Joan L. Cannnon wrote: A year or so ago, I was invited to attend a tea given by the combined membership of all the book clubs in the town where I now live. A presentation was scheduled for the proprietor of the much-loved local independent book store cum gift shop. She is a legend in…
Stanford Medicine Study Identifies Distinct Brain Organization Patterns in Women and Men

“A key motivation for this study is that sex plays a crucial role in human brain development, in aging, and in the manifestation of psychiatric and neurological disorders,” said Vinod Menon, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory. “Identifying consistent and replicable sex differences in…
The Alabama Supreme Court’s Decision on Embryonic Personhood; KFF Health News’ Weekly Health Policy News Podcast, “What the Health?”

“Questions about President Joe Biden’s cognitive health are drawing attention to ageism in politics — as well as in American life, with fewer people taking precautions against the covid-19 virus even as it remains a serious threat to vulnerable people, especially the elderly. The mental fitness of the nation’s leaders is a valid, relevant question…
NIH Study Offers New Clues Into the Causes of Post-infectious ME/CFS: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic Fatigue Syndrome; These findings, for the first time, suggest a link between specific abnormalities or imbalances in the brain and ME/CFS.

“People with ME/CFS have very real and disabling symptoms, but uncovering their biological basis has been extremely difficult,” said Walter Koroshetz, M.D., (seen right) director of NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). “This in-depth study of a small group of people found a number of factors that likely contribute to their ME/CFS.…
Ferida’s Wolff’s Backyard: The Snow Turned Into Snowy Rain As It Fell From The Trees. Still Lovely …

Ferida Wolff Writes: There was a slight rise in temperature and the snow started melting off the tree branches, splashing down like heavy rain. What was fluffy became squishy, thick and wet. It was very dramatic but shifted what started as an snowstorm into something new – it seemed to be raining snow! As our communities…
Stanford Researchers Urge Caution With New Mixed Reality Headsets; Visual Distortions, Feelings of Social Absence and Motion Sickness Can Undercut the Vibe

“Given how far headsets with passthrough video have come, it’s time to dedicate serious academic thought to the psychological and behavioral effects of this technology,” said Jeremy Bailenson, the Thomas More Storke Professor in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL). “We want to understand…
Stanford News Service: A New, Portable Antenna Could Help Restore Communication After Disasters

Researchers at Stanford University and the American University of Beirut (AUB) have developed a portable antenna that could be quickly deployed in disaster-prone areas or used to set up communications in underdeveloped regions. The antenna packs down to a small size and can easily shift between two configurations to communicate either with satellites or devices…
National Archives Records Lay Foundation for Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

For his bestselling book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, author David Grann relied on National Archives records to tell the harrowing story of a series of murders in the Osage nation in Oklahoma in the 1920s. In a 2017 interview published in Prologue: Quarterly of the…
IRS: Take Care When Choosing a Tax Return Professional, Ensure That Your Personal and Financial Information is Safe and Secure

“Review the preparer’s history. Check the Better Business Bureau website for information about the preparer. Look for disciplinary actions and the license status for credentialed preparers. For CPAs, check the State Board of Accountancy’s website, and for attorneys check with the State Bar Association. For enrolled agents go to IRS.gov and search for “verify enrolled…
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/protecting-children-online

https://www.senate.gov/isvp/?auto_play=false&comm=judiciary&filename=judiciary013124&poster=https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/assets/images/video-poster.png&stt= Full Committee Hearing Date: Wednesday, January 31st, 2024 Protecting Children Online Hearings FULL COMMITTEE Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis Type:Full Committee Hearing Date: Wednesday, January 31st, 2024 Time: 10:00am Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building Room G50 Presiding: Chair Durbin
New York City’s Cooper Hewitt’s Retrospective of British Artist’s Es Devlin

“An Atlas of Es Devlin is the first monographic museum exhibition dedicated to British artist and stage designer Es Devlin (born 1971), who is renowned for work that transforms audiences. Since beginning in small theaters in 1995, she has charted a course from kinetic stage designs at the National Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera to…