Sightings

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…
Federal Trade Commission Report To Congress: Adults 60 and Older Report Losses of $1.6 Billion in 2022 to Scams; Investment Scams are Top Reported by Dollars Lost

FTC Issues Annual Report to Congress on Agency’s Actions to Protect Older Adults; Adults 60 and older report losses of $1.6 billion in 2022 to scams. The analysis of fraud reports …showed that adults aged 60 and over were substantially less likely to report losing money to fraud than adults aged 18-59… Consumers 80 and…
Jo Freeman Reviews: The Women of NOW: How Feminists Built an Organization That Transformed America

Jo Freeman Reviews: “This book is a biography of three women and an organization. It’s an unusual way to write about either, but Turk makes it work. The three women are Patricia Hill Burnett, Aileen Hernandez, and Mary Jean Collins born in 1920, 1926 and 1939 respectively. The organization is the National Organization for Women,…
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Something’s Got to Give by Governor Christopher J. Waller

Christopher J. Waller: “The data in the past few months has been overwhelmingly positive for both of the FOMC’s goals of maximum employment and stable prices. Economic activity and the labor market have been strong, with what looks like growth well above trend and unemployment near a 50-year low. Meanwhile, there has been continued, gradual…
U.S. Families’ Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances

“This FEDS Note summarizes high-level findings from the COVID-19 questions, showcasing differences in families’ experiences of the first years of the pandemic across income and education groups and connecting these differences to income and net worth measured in the SCF. In particular, lower-income families and families with lower levels of educational attainment were more likely…
US Government Reaches Settlement in Class Action Family Separation Case Seeking Injunctive Relief; “The practice of separating families at the southwest border was shameful.”

“…the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have worked with plaintiffs to identify class members and their children, developed plans for reunification, and reunified class members with their children. On Jan. 26, 2021, the Justice Department rescinded the Department’s 2018 zero-tolerance policy for offenses…
Federal Reserve: Financial Stability in Uncertain Times, A Speech by Governor Michelle W. Bowman

Michelle W. Bowman:”Many central banks are facing challenging and uncertain times as they strive to restore price stability and promote financial stability. A stable and resilient financial system is essential for the effective transmission of monetary policy and for a healthy economy. Healthy economies foster financial stability and financial stability fosters healthy economies. It is…
National Institutes of Health: Scientists Unveil Detailed Cell Maps of the Human Brain and the Nonhuman Primate Brain

“A group of international scientists have mapped the genetic, cellular, and structural makeup of the human brain and the nonhuman primate brain. This understanding of brain structure, achieved by funding through the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® Initiative, or The BRAIN Initiative®, allows for a deeper knowledge of the cellular…
Department of Labor Awards $5M to Train, Expand Pathways for Women for Registered Apprenticeships, Nontraditional Occupations

“To fulfill the promise of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and to rebuild the nation’s economy from the middle out and the bottom up, we can’t afford to leave any talent untapped,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Today, we announced grants that will support organizations that are training women for good-paying jobs…
Ferida Wolff’s Backyard: Turtles Sunbathing

Ferida Wolff Writes: We were out for the afternoon on a hot, late summer day, walking through the woods at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia. We came upon the lake where flowers were blooming and greens were flourishing. I assumed that there would be fish swimming around as there were signs saying…
Secretary Antony J. Blinken At the Launch of the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative (and playing the guitar)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “Welcome to the State Department. First let me say how grateful I am to my friend and colleague of so many years, Lee Satterfield, our assistant secretary of state. (Applause.) Lee and the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs were the masterminds of this evening, and every single day are…