Ferida Wolff

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…
American Psychological Association: Celebrating Diversity Was a Major Theme of Their 125th Meeting

Jo Freeman writes: Unlike the other social sciences, psychology is thriving. While the supply of trained psychologists in the labor force has remained constant since 2005, the demand has grown. Quite a few employers purchased booths in the exhibit area just to advertising that they were hiring and interview potential recruits. They ranged from clinics…
The Eclipse Megamovie Project: An App to Add Images for Lasting Photo Archive

UC Berkeley solar physicist Oliveros cautions that smart phones, cameras, binoculars or telescopes must also be protected by an eclipse filter, created either by cutting up eclipse glasses and taping the filter over the camera lens, or by buying a special sun-safe filter or a number 14 welder’s glass to mount over the objective lens.
From Harvard Medical School, Via the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner: Murder Is Her Hobby, Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death

Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death explores the surprising intersection between craft and forensic science. Frances Glessner Lee (1878 1962) crafted her extraordinary Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death exquisitely detailed miniature crime scenes to train homicide investigators to “convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find the…
National Institutes of Health Twitter Chat: The Importance of Clinical Trials and The Clinical Research Process

Discovery’s three-part documentary, First in Human, which follows the experiences of patients, their families, doctors, researchers, staff, and caregivers at the NIH Clinical Center, will air on three sequential Thursday evenings: August 10, 17, and 24, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. To further educate the public about clinical research and the NIH, we are planning social…
Consumer Reports: Do Americans Take Too Many Prescription Medications? Rushed Into Taking Medications Too Quickly?

More than half of Americans now regularly take a prescription medication — four drugs, on average. 53% of those who take prescription drugs get them from more than one healthcare provider, which increases the risk of adverse drug effects. 35% percent of those taking prescription drugs say a healthcare provider has never reviewed their medicine…
Congress and FTC: Seniors Fraud Prevention Act of 2017; Illegal Robo Calls; Safe Harbor Program and Collection of Personal Information From Children

This bill [Seniors Fraud Prevention Act of 2017] directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish an office within the Bureau of Consumer Protection to advise the FTC on the prevention of fraud targeting seniors and to assist the FTC in monitoring the market for mail, television, Internet, telemarketing, and recorded message telephone call (robocall)…
Briefing Summary “Chronic Pain in Women and its Relationship to Opioid Addiction” July 12, 2017

The pharmacological effect is so powerful that it can activate a chain of events that can result in addiction. The main cause of opioid death is when the drug binds to the receptors in the brain stem that control breathing. When the drug manipulates that area it triggers respiratory depression, and an individual can stop…
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Tricking Consumers Into Expensive Pay-by-phone Fees

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is concerned about companies misrepresenting the purpose and amount of pay-by-phone fees, which can result in consumers incurring charges for services they don’t need. For example, a recent Bureau enforcement action alleged that a company and its service provider misled consumers into paying a $14.95 pay-by-phone fee by deceptively calling…
Ferida’s Backyard Blog: Whitetail Deer, Tiger Lilies and Adaptable Geese

Ferida Wolff writes: When nature changes, it’s not only the geese that must adapt. Temperatures are rising. The ocean is heating up and heading inland, threatening some shore communities and islands. Some areas are becoming parched and fires are more common and difficult to control. Extreme weather patterns are cropping up. Can we change our…
UN Report: Conflict-related Sexual Violence as a Weapon of Terrorism

The term “conflict-related sexual violence” refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, enforced sterilization, forced marriage and “any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity” inflicted on women, men, girls and boys directly or indirectly linked to a conflict. Problems associated with post-sexual-violence: stigma; contracting of infectious diseases; handling of…