Sonya Zalubowski

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…
Jo Freeman Reviews The Everyday Feminist: The Key to Sustainable Social Impact – Driving Movements We Need Now More Than Ever

“This is a complex book. It combines social theory, several personal stories, and a little bit of memoir into a very readable text. The title certainly catches your attention, as you ask what is an everyday feminist. The author offers an answer in the first chapter – several answers. She’s an activist. She works for…
Ferida Wolff’s Backyard: Nature’s Jigsaw Puzzles

Ferida Wolff comments on Nature’s Jigsaw Puzzles: Recently, I was given a thousand-piece puzzle that showed lots of birds, which I also love. There were robins, cardinals, hummingbirds, bluejays, and sparrows all enjoying the field of wildflowers that was the puzzle’s background. So colorful. I sat down and got to work. The puzzle wasn’t easy.…
Women’s Congressional Policy Institute Weekly Legislative Update May 30, 2023: Bringing Women Policymakers Together Across Party Lines to Advance Issues of Importance to Women and Their Families

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Cosmetic safety, supply chain transparency needed for companies to make safe cosmetics; A bill to increase the availability and affordability of menstrual products for individuals with limited access; A bill to expand the authority to provide a wig and treat traction alopecia under the TRICARE program; a…
https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump-Nauta_23-80101.pdf, 49 pages

https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump-Nauta_23-80101.pdf … From The New York Times: By Glenn Thrush, Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer Reporting from Washington “June 9, 2023 Federal prosecutors laid out an evidence-packed case in an indictment unsealed on Friday that former President Donald J. Trump had put national security secrets at risk by mishandling classified documents he took from the…
Sheila Pepe, Textile Artist: My Neighbor’s Garden …. In Madison Square Park, NYC

“The artist’s mother taught her to crochet in the 1960s. Pepe discovered women artists working in America who were a generation or two older and associated with the feminist art movement — Lynda Benglis, Eva Hesse, and Nancy Spero — as a crucible to launch her sculptural investigations. Those women responded to the fury of…
The President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2024 – Budget Details Plan to Invest in America, Lower Costs and Cut Taxes for Working Families, and Protect and Strengthen Medicare and Social Security

Two examples of the goals of this legislation: The Cancer Moonshot aims to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years and improve the experience of people who are living with or have survived cancer, their families, and caregivers. The Budget includes $1.7 billion for dedicated Cancer Moonshot…
Director Allison Randall of the Office on Violence Against Women Delivers Remarks at the Launch of the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence

Director Allison Randall of the Office on Violence Against Womaen Delivered Remarks at the Launch of the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence Federal Interagency. “At the Department of Justice, we know that sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and human trafficking are serious violent crimes that make our nation less equal and less just. Only…
Pediatric Trauma Surgeon Says Most Firearm Incidents Don’t Happen at School, but in the Home

“The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that gun violence also carries long-term physical and mental health consequences. The data does not surprise Stephanie Chao, MD, pediatric surgeon and trauma medical director at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and assistant professor of the Surgery Division of Pediatric Surgery at Stanford Medicine. She recently appeared on A…
Medical Billing and Collections Among Older Americans

“The reported amount of unpaid medical bills among older adults increased by 20 percent between 2019 and 2020, from $44.8 billion to $53.8 billion. Yet older adults reported fewer doctor visits and lower out-of-pocket expenses in 2020 than in 2019. Older adults face a complex billing system with a high likelihood of errors and inaccurate…
Women’s Congressional Policy Institute: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, Health Coverage of Newborns

A bill to increase the age of eligibility for children to receive benefits under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and for other purposes; a grant program to address the crises in accessing affordable housing and child care through the co-location of housing and child care; A bill to require hygienic…