What’s New

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…
CAGW Names Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald April Porker of the Month

“Secretary McDonald should be front and center with a response to every report of mismanagement at the Veterans Affairs. He should present Congress, taxpayers, and most of all veterans, with a clear, concise, and comprehensive plan to cut the waste, fraud, and abuse and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the VA. Instead, he has…
Tricks For Fashioning the Body: An Intimate History of the Silhouette at Bard

The exhibition presents the many devices and materials that women and men have used to shape their silhouettes from the seventeenth century to today, including panniers, corsets, crinolines, bustles, stomach belts, girdles, and push-up brassieres. The exhibition will also look at how lacing, hinges, straps, springs, and stretch fabrics have been used to alter natural…
Which States Have the Most Job Growth Since the Recession? The 50 States and DC Have Added Nearly 12 Million Jobs

In 21 states, employment has increased less than 7 percent. But in other states, employment has bounced back strongly: In 14, employment has increased 10 percent or more since their low points. North Dakota has led the way thanks to its oil boom. Other top performers are Texas and Utah, where employment has increased more…
America’s Changing Religious Landscape: Christians Decline Sharply as Share of Population; Unaffiliated and Other Faiths Continue to Grow

Religious intermarriage appears to be on the rise: Among Americans who have gotten married since 2010, nearly four-in-ten (39%) report that they are in religiously mixed marriages, compared with 19% among those who got married before 1960. Nearly 1-in-5 people surveyed who got married since 2010 are either religiously unaffiliated respondents who married a Christian…
Still Learning: Lessons from a Lifetime in the Classroom, Eyes on the Prize

Julia Sneden wrote: I once had the father of a 5-year-old ask me: “On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate my daughter?” When I protested that I wasn’t in the business of rating kindergarten children, he persisted: “But if you were? Where would you put her?” “As compared to what or whom?” I…
White House Life: A Tea for Military Mothers, the New China Service and First Ladies Biographies

Which two first ladies met their husbands through local newspapers? Who was the first First Lady to make regular nationwide radio broadcasts? Which First Lady cared for wounded soldiers in her husband’s command? Who was originally a Broadway actress before becoming the First Lady? If you’re looking to learn more about the past First Ladies…
Banned and Challenged Books; A Second Home for Many, the Library

From a NYT’s Editorial: The libraries are where poor children learn to read and love literature, where immigrants learn English, where job-seekers hone résumés and cover letters, and where those who lack ready access to the Internet can cross the digital divide. They are havens for thinking, dreaming, studying, striving and — for many children…
Ten Days In the Vatican: Anti-Human-Trafficking Work, A Golden Bear Pin and A Kiss

Nancy Scheper-Hughes gave two presentations at a human-trafficking plenary in Rome and says her primary contributions came in proposals relating to organ trafficking. One would prohibit “the buying, selling, brokering and implanting of organs and tissues from trafficking persons in all countries.” Another would ask the world’s religions to encourage voluntary and altruistic organ sharing.…
Streaming on May 10th: NCCIH Presents When Experts Disagree, The Art of Medical Decision Making

Drs. Groopman and Hartzband (also husband and wife) reveal that each of us has a ‘medical mind,’ a highly individual approach to weighing the risks and benefits of treatment. Are you a minimalist or a maximalist, a believer or a doubter, do you look for natural healing or the latest technology? Drs. Groopman and Hartzband…
Congressional Bills Introduced: Sex Differences in Drug Research, Women Vets Medical Care, Sex Offense Victims

House and Senate Bills Introduced; V: H.R. 2101—Rep. Jim Cooper (D-CA)/Energy and Commerce (4/29/15)—A bill to provide for expedited review of drugs and biological products to provide safer or more effective treatment for males or females, to enhance the consideration of sex differences in basic and clinical research. A bill to clarify the ability to…