Culture Watch
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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US State Department Travel Alert/Warning
The State Department alerts US citizens to the potential for terrorist attacks in Europe. Current information suggests that al-Qa’ida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks. European governments have taken action to guard against a terrorist attack and some have spoken publicly about the heightened threat conditions.
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The Supreme Court Oral Arguments Now Available Each Friday
A case selected for argument usually involves interpretations of the US Constitution or federal law. At least four Justices have selected the case as being of such importance that the Supreme Court must resolve the legal issues. During an argument week, the Justices meet in a private conference, closed even to staff, to discuss the…
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Take a Quiz About Your Religious Knowledge
How much do you know about religion? And how do you compare with the average American? Here’s your chance to find out. Take the Pew’s 15-question quiz, and see how you do in comparison with 3,412 randomly sampled adults who were asked.
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John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women
It demonstrated Sargent’s keen interest in exotic women little known or understood by an American audience, and his visual assertion of the importance of mystery in the definition of femininity.
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GAO, Women in Management: Analysis of Female Managers’ Representation, Characteristics, and Pay
Female managers in 2007 had less education, were younger on average, were more likely to work part-time, and were less likely to be married or have children, than male managers.
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When Your Child Has A Child
Adrienne G. Cannon writes: It was not one of those odd renditions of a cone-shaped window, an indistinct sonogram that requires a certain faith to accept the doctor’s interpretation that “Yes, the baby is a girl.” It was a three dimensional rendering that showed her tiny serene face looking as if she were just biding…
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Senate Panel Approves Bills to Stop Child Marriage, Trafficking
One of the bills would allow grants awarded to the eligible countries or entities to be used to train anti-trafficking police and investigators; build the capacity of NGOs to educate vulnerable populations; create “victim-friendly” court; the second bill would provide assistance, priority would be given to areas or regions of the world where 15 percent…
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The First National Fossil Day — October 13, 2010
A celebration organized by The National Park Service and the American Geological Institute on October 13 to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils. Explore the story of the Missing Fossil Park, Fossil Cycad National Monument, South Dakota … what happened to that park?
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Bernanke: “The crisis should motivate economists to think further about their modeling of human behavior”
“The profound uncertainty associated with the ‘unknown unknowns’ during the crisis resulted in panicky selling by investors, sharp cuts in payrolls by employers, and significant increases in households’ precautionary saving.”
