Issues Links

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…
More Than Half of FDA’s Debarment Proceedings Take Four or More Years

For the 18 proceedings GAO reviewed, the length of time from an individual’s conviction through debarment (or as of November 5, 2008, for pending proceedings) ranged from about 1 year to nearly 11 years. For the 52 disqualification proceedings GAO reviewed, the length of time from initiation of a disqualification proceeding to its conclusion (or…
Girls in the Juvenile Justice System

“From 1995 through 2005, the number of girls’ cases nationwide involving detention increased 49 percent, compared to a seven percent increase for boys. Compared to white girls: African American girls are sent to adult prison over five times as often and Native American girls three times as often.”
The Ten Precautions of Cell Phone Use

“These measures are also likely to be important for people who are already suffering from cancer and who must avoid any external influence that may contribute to disease progression.”
PBS’ Close to Home: Chronicling the Recession’s Impact on NYC’s Tony Upper East Side

Despite expectations that this neighborhood is a secure bastion of privilege, these days, when clients get in the chair, they offer a window into the country in recession: Some are broke, others don’t have a plan, and they’re all looking to commiserate.
Green Homes and Hemp

A wide variety of products can be made from hemp including carpeting, construction materials, textiles, paper, industrial oils, cosmetics and even food. Among those exhibiting at the Green Festival were Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps which offers personal care products. Nutiva sells edible seeds, oils and powders. It claims that hemp is the “world’s most nutritious…
Edward Burtynsky: “Oil, The Lifecycle of an Energy Source that Shaped the World”

“In considering the consequences of oil use, the artist [Edward Burtynsky]has photographed a series of arresting landscapes: derelict oil derricks, vistas of junked vehicles, recycling yards.”
The Controversy about Breast and Prostate Screening

“To reduce morbidity and mortality from prostate cancer and breast cancer, new approaches for screening, early detection, and prevention for both diseases should be considered.”
A psychological study about retirement

The study’s authors refer to this transition between career and complete retirement as “bridge employment,” which can be a part-time job, self-employment or a temporary job.
In Poetry and Film: Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art

Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art — Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night And watching, with eternal lids apart, Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite, The moving waters at their priestlike task Of pure ablution round ear…
Making the Revolution – in one County

In the 1960s a lot of people liked to talk about ‘The Revolution’ but very few actually lived it. A few thousand of those were in Lowndes County, Alabama, where the black population made a revolution, while the white population resisted.