Culture Watch
-
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…
-
Bank by Cellphone? Fed’s Trends in Mobile Financial Services
More than two-thirds reported that they checked their account balance or available credit before making a large purchase. Moreover, among the consumers that reported doing this, nearly six out of ten reported that they had decided not to buy an item because of the amount of money available in their account.
-
American Masters: Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee
Though their successes were nearly 30 years apart, Margaret Mitchell and Nelle Harper Lee share much in common: two Southern white women who each won the Pulitzer Prize for their debut novels — Gone With the Wind and To Kill a Mockingbird
-
Marie Antoinette’s Wardrobe (Don’t Just Settle for the Shoes)
The unimpressive pair of shoes reputed to have belonged to the doomed Queen, Marie Antoinette, fetched an approximate $57,000 price quite recently. But then, considering their age … However, it did whet our appetite for more of her elaborate taste in court costumes and so we went in search
-
Jewel-like Insects, Stunning Minerals, Mysterious Creatures
At the oldest US natural history museum, rare and beautiful treasures from the collections, hands-on scientific exploration activities and discoveries of the past and present
-
Frontline, Murdoch’s Scandal: “The Government Was So Scared of Rupert “
It’s a fascinating tale that raises important questions not just about the business of media, but the way media can influence, intimidate and co-opt powerful people and institutions.
-
Hearings on the Hill, Examining the Current State of Cosmetics: What’s Missing from Those Labels?
“Given the flow of cosmetic products between States, a uniform standard for cosmetic ingredients would serve to further public health by ensuring these decisions are made using sound science and ensure that the interstate flow of cosmetic products is not disrupted by differing State standards.”
-
C-Span Has Audio of Supreme Court Hearing: ABA Survey Predicts A 6-3 Split on Patient Protection and Affordable Coverage Act
The consensus of more than a dozen US Supreme Court and health-law experts responding to a recent online questionnaire was that the justices will rule 6-3 in favor of upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The American Bar Associ…
-
Superbugs and A Court Ruling About Antibiotics Resistance and Livestock
“The Food and Drug Administration must act to address the growing human health threats resulting from the overuse of antibiotics in animal feed, according to a federal court ruling issued [March 23] … ‘These drugs are intended to cure disease, not fatten pigs and chickens'”
-
New Deal Numerology: Ryan Redux
$800 billion … is an unhelpful number. That’s how much Ryan wants to cut from income security programs like food stamps. He’s confronting a harsh reality that liberals have ignored for far too long: poor people are hogging all the money.
