Doris O’Brien

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…
Legislative Update: Violence Against Women –– A bill to include sexual assault and aggravated sexual violence in the definition of aggravated felonies under the Immigration and Nationality Act

Legislative Update: – A bill to provide assistance with respect to child care infrastructure. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)/Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A concurrent resolution recognizing the significance of equal pay and the disparity in wages paid to Latina women in comparison to White, non-Hispanic men. Violence Against Women: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)/Health, Education,…
Milwaukee’s Civil Rights Legacy by Jo Freeman

“One street is named Vel R. Phillips Ave. A Milwaukee native, she was a multiple first. The first Black woman who: graduated from U. Wisconsin Law School, elected to the city council, judge, elected Secretary of State, served on the Democratic National Committee. She was also active in the NAACP, leading open housing marches and…
Women’s Congressional Policy Institute; Weekly Legislative Update, July 22, 2024; Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Agriculture, Nutrition Assistance, Child Care, Women-owned Business Programs at the Small Business Administration.

Bringing women policymakers together across party lines to advance issues of importance to women and their families. Congressional Schedule: July 22-26, 2024. Weekly Legislative Update. This week, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 8998, the FY2025 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies spending bill. The legislation includes funding for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.…
There’s Plenty To Do at the RNC – If You Had the Right Credentials

by Jo Freeman Every national nominating convention has plenty of auxiliary events, some authorized, some not. Getting space can be a challenge; getting the word out even more so. But they do it nonetheless. Press were given a RNC 2024 Ma…
Jo Freeman: There’s Plenty To Do at the RNC – If You Have the Right Credentials

“The National Federation of Republican Women is the largest grassroots Republican women’s organization in the country with hundreds of clubs. Founded in 1938, its members made the phone calls and knocked on the doors that elected Republican candidates for decades. It’s Tuesday luncheon featured Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders. The Master Calendar said it was SOLD…
Security at the RNC By Jo Freeman: My Second Dispatch From The Republican NC

“Even with pre-convention credentials, some places are closed. The North building of the Baird Center is open to press. The South Building is not. I was turned away completely before getting my pre-convention credentials. Once they were hanging from my neck, security let me in. I discovered that the convention committees (Platform, Bylaws, Credentials) were…
Study Suggests Reinfections From the Virus That Causes COVID-19 Likely Have Similar Severity As Original Infection

NIH-funded analysis of health record data shows severe reinfections often follow severe first infections. COVID-19 tend to foreshadow similar severity of infection the next time a person contracts the disease. Additionally, scientists discovered that long COVID was more likely to occur after a first infection compared to a reinfection. The study, funded by the National…
Melting of Alaskan glaciers Shown to be Accelerating; Could Reach an Irreversible Tipping Point Earlier Than Previously Thought

Melting of glaciers in a major Alaskan icefield has accelerated and could reach an irreversible tipping point earlier than previously thought, research led by Newcastle University suggests. The increased rate of glacier thinning has also been accompanied by increased glacier fragmentation… 100% of glaciers mapped in 2019 have receded relative to their position in 1770,…
National Institutes of Health: For Healthy Adults, Taking Multivitamins Daily is Not Associated With a Lower Risk of Death

Findings come from an NIH analysis of more than two decades of dietary data from 390,124 U.S. adults. “The analysis showed that people who took daily multivitamins did not have a lower risk of death from any cause than people who took no multivitamins. There were also no differences in mortality from cancer, heart disease,…
Federal Study Examines Care Following Nonfatal Overdose Among Medicare Beneficiaries; Identifies Effective Interventions and Gaps in Care

“About substance use disorders: Substance use disorders are chronic, treatable conditions from which people can recover. In 2022, nearly 49 million people in the United States had at least one substance use disorder. Substance use disorders are defined in part by continued use of substances despite negative consequences. They are also relapsing conditions, in which…