Issues Links

  • Joan Fontaine

    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

    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: 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…

  • high heels

    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…

  • Vintage jewelry, Wikimedia Commons

    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…

  • ways to grasp a pencil

    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…

  • Captain Charles E. Yeager

    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…

  • stack of books

    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…

  • A Study Finds Women’s Breast Tissue Ages Faster Than the Rest of the Body

    A UCLA study has uncovered a biological clock embedded in our genomes that may shed light on why our bodies age and how we can slow the process; the new research is the first to result in the development of an age-predictive tool that uses a previously unknown time-keeping mechanism in the body to accurately…

  • Teens and Adults Who Care for Them: Finding Answers to Drug Abuse and Addiction More Easily

    For teens, their parents and teachers, NIDA has upgraded its popular teen website to a responsive design model that automatically adjusts to fit the viewer’s screen for better viewing through smartphones and tablets. Through smartphones and tablets. Spanish language versions of easy to understand resources on drug abuse and addiction are now also available.

  • Culture Watch Book Reviews: The Smartest Kids in the World & Shut Up, You’re Welcome

    Amanda Ripley gives us a detailed, separate report on the experiences of each American child she followed who had studied abroad, including each one’s “take” on what made school in those countries so successful. The youngster’s comparisons are forthright and fascinating. So are Ms. Ripley’s conclusions and descriptions in The Smartest Kids in the World.…

  • Red-light Cameras Open Question: Safety Device or Backdoor Tax Increase?

    Maggie Clark writes: A 2012 audit in St. Petersburg showed the number of dangerous side-impact collisions did decrease at intersections where the red-light cameras had been installed. However, rear-end collisions actually increased at those intersections, as more drivers stopped short to avoid violations. In addition to identifying drivers who run through a red light, the…

  • Battle of Ganjgal: Medal of Honor Winner Recounts the Taliban Ambush and a Greeting of Machine Gun, RPGs and AK-47 Fire

    As Swenson administered first aid and kept in radio contact with the helos he’d called for, Fabayo saw three insurgents moving from a house to within 50 meters of the Tactical Action Center. Fabayo made direct visual contact with one insurgent wearing fatigues, body armor and a helmet who began waving at him and demanding…

  • Shingles Belong on the Roof, Not on My Skin

    Roberta McReynolds writes: Since aging tends to go hand-in-hand with a gradually fading resistance to illness, it makes sense that the likelihood of getting shingles tends to strike people age 60 and over. In a cruel twist of fate, I developed the first symptoms of shingles just 23 days after my 60th birthday; merely weeks…

  • Kissing a Frog, A Math Problem for the Princess

    “I’m told that when men meet women, they sometimes rate each other on a scale of 1 to 10. Of course, mathematicians are far too intelligent and sophisticated do this. We rate people on a scale of 0 to 1. Let’s change the fairytale slightly so that the 100 frogs are now labelled with numbers…

  • The Scout Report This Week, Research, Education and the “Front Porch of the Lowcountry”

    We’ve reproduced the entire Scout Report for this week. It includes, among others, the links and description of Clemson Cooperative Extension; Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap); Getty Research Journal; Engineering in the Modern World,Research and Education; Vicos: A Virtual Tour (Peru); Modeling And Simulation Tools For Education Reform; Willard E. Worden’s San Francisco & Berkeley;…

  • Another Reason to Visit New York City: Wedding Bed Covers, Tapestries, Quilts and Period Clothing

    Jill Norgren writes: Interwoven Globe is a large exhibition begging hours of a visitor’s attention. Walk through it first without reading the explanatory signs. Once familiar visually with all that the exhibition has to offer, begin again, studying the signs and considering the objects as expressions of the global artistic exchanges made possible by the…

  • When Your Partner Succeeds, How Do You Feel?

    Deep down, men may not bask in the glory of their successful wives or girlfriends. While this is not true of women, men’s subconscious self-esteem may be bruised when their spouse or girlfriend excels, says a study. The researchers found that it didn’t matter if the achievements or failures were social, intellectual or related to…