Cooking

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…
Updated – Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics: Donna Strickland, First Woman in 55 Years to Receive a Physics Prize: A Laser Jock

Dr. Donna Strickland said they were aware at the time they were working on something cutting-edge. “Yes, we knew it would be a game-changer,” she told the BBC. The physics professor used the description in an interview with a Canadian newspaper, where she discussed efforts to get young people interested in the realm of physics.…
What the 9th Justice (Unconfirmed as yet) Is Missing: Argument preview: Justices to Consider Critical-habitat Designation for Endangered Frog

The justices will consider whether the service’s designation violated the ESA and whether its decision not to exclude Unit 1 was reviewable. As to the first question, Weyerhaeuser argues that Unit 1 is simply not “habitat” for the dusky gopher frog and thus cannot be “critical habitat.” According to Weyerhaeuser, “habitat” must be currently habitable,…
Kavanaugh Confirmation: Led by the Center for Popular Democracy and Mobilized by Different Groups, Protesters were Overwhelmingly Female and Mostly Middle-aged

By Jo Freeman Photograph: Planned Parenthood Action The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court stretched out for the month of September as the Hart Senate Office Building was repeatedly occupied by protesters…
Scientific American: How Reliable Are the Memories of Sexual Assault Victims? The Expert Testimony Excluded from the Kavanaugh Hearing

Editorial note: If Jim Hopper had been permitted to provide his expert testimony at the September 27, 2018 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation, these would have been his remarks: “In short, what I’m talking about here today are realities, not theories or hypotheses—realities known all too well by our nation’s defenders and…
The Durrells in Corfu Return With Season Three Based on Gerald Durrell’s Trilogy with a Keeley Hawes Interview

“In the third series, Louisa has made the decision to give up searching for love, choosing instead to focus on her family. However, with Larry struggling to write his third novel, Margo in search of a new vocation, Gerry continuing to grow his menagerie and Leslie juggling three different girls, Louisa has her work cut…
Sexual Harassment, Senate Judiciary Committee History, Links to Member’s Biographies and Transcripts From Previous Hearings

“Call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline: Call 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area. When you call, you’ll be routed to a local RAINN affiliate organization based on the first six digits of your phone number. Cell phone callers have the option…
Ah, Well, Another Good Health Dream Shattered: Daily Low-dose Aspirin in Healthy Older Adults Didn’t Prolong Life or Help Prevent Heart Disease, Physical Disability, Dementia, or Stroke

Most participants were aged 70 and older (65 and older for African-American and Hispanic individuals). None had dementia, a physical disability, or a previous heart attack or stroke at the start of the study. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 100mg of aspirin per day or an inactive placebo pill that looked similar. Health…
FactCheck.org Highlights Trump’s Fuzzy Medicare Math, “Medicare will be $700 billion stronger over the next decade thanks to our growth.” South Dakota, September 7, 2018

President Donald Trump on several occasions has taken credit for making Medicare “stronger.” “Medicare will be $700 billion stronger over the next decade thanks to our growth.” Medicare’s finances have worsened since he took office, and economic growth is not expected to help the program as much as he claims: The latest Medicare trustees report…
Don’t Overlook Pharmacy, Software Developing, Civil Engineering; Jobs With the Largest Gender Pay Gaps are in Finance, Sales

Several health professions, such as physicians and surgeons, nurse anesthetists, and dentists, are among the highest-paying occupations for women. Pharmacists boast one of the lowest pay gaps between men and women. Full-time, year-round female pharmacists earned 97 cents for every dollar male pharmacists earned. Other professions, including finance and sales, show the largest wage gap…
Economic Research from the St. Louis Fed Reserve Bank: What Are Teachers Really Paid? Adjusting Wages for Regional Differences in Cost of Living

Strikes by teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, and Colorado have highlighted differences in teachers’ wages across the country. Teachers in these states have lower-than-average annual wages but also lower-than-average cost of living (COL)… Real wages are lower in high-amenity places because the amenities are part of the workers’ compensation. This helps to explain…