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  • Scientists Fear US Is ‘Losing Its Edge’ In Government-Funded Cancer Research: “I fear we are losing a generation of young, talented biomedical scientists”

     image from asco meeting

    By Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News

    Less and less of the research presented at a prominent cancer conference is supported by the National Institutes of Health, a development that some of the country’s top scientists see as a worrisome trend.

    The number of studies fully funded by the NIH at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) — the world’s largest gathering of cancer researchers — has fallen 75 percent in the past decade, from 575 papers in 2008 to 144 this year, according to the society.

    American researchers typically dominate the meeting’s press conferences — designed to feature the most important and newsworthy research. This year, there are 14 studies led by international scientists versus 12 led by US-based research teams. That’s a big shift from just five years ago, when 15 studies in the “press program” were led by Americans versus nine by international researchers.

    Several of the studies on this weekend’s press program come from Europe and Canada, along with two from China. President Donald Trump has proposed cutting the NIH budget for 2018 from $31.8 billion to $26 billion, a decline that many worry would jeopardize the fight against cancer and other diseases. Those cuts include $1 billion less for the National Cancer Institute.

    On its website, the NCI notes that its purchasing power already has declined by 25 percent since 2003, because its budget — while growing — hasn’t kept up with inflation. Congress gave the NCI nearly $5.4 billion in fiscal year 2017, an increase of $174.6 million over last year. The NCI also received $300 million for the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot through the 21st Century Cures Act in December 2016.

    “America may be losing its edge in medical research,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. The brightest young scientists are having trouble finding funding for their research, leading them to look for jobs not at universities but at drug companies “or even Wall Street,” he said. “I fear we are losing a generation of young, talented biomedical scientists.”

    Some see America’s leading role in science as a point of national pride: “Do we want the US to remain at the center of biomedical innovation, or do we want to cede that to China or other countries?” said Dr. Stephan Grupp, director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Frontier Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “If you don’t push to stay in front, you don’t stay in front.” But more than pride is at stake.

    Public funding is critical, because it allows researchers to answer questions that don’t interest drug companies, said Richard Schilsky, senior vice president and chief medical officer at ASCO. While drug companies fund studies that help them get their medications approved, they tend not to pay for studies that focus on cancer prevention, screening or quality of life, Schilsky said. The NIH also funds head-to-head comparisons of cancer drugs, which allow patients and doctors to select the most effective treatments. “If the NIH-funded studies continue to decline, we simply won’t get the answers that patients are looking for,” Schilsky said.

    While government research often addresses areas of greatest need, “industry research is geared toward marketable products,” Brawley said.

    To help make up the deficit, the American Cancer Society will double its research budget to $240 million by 2021, Brawley said.

    But Grupp notes that charities and the drug industry are often reluctant to cover the indirect costs of research, such as labs. Without steady, predictable support from government grants, Grupp said he wouldn’t “have a building to do my research in or a way to keep the lights on.”

  • Diversity in Innovation: Documenting a Systematic and Persistent Lack of Female, Hispanic, and African American Labor Market Participation in the Innovation Sector

    NBER Working Paper No. w23082: 

    Diversity in Innovation, Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang Working Paper 23082 http://www.nber.org/papers/w23082

    National Bureau of Economic Research,  1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 January 2017

    75 Pages Posted: 23 Jan 2017  

    Paul A. Gompers:  Harvard Business School – Finance Unit; Harvard University – Entrepreneurial Management Unit; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

    Sophie Q. Wang:  Harvard University, Date Written: January 2017

    Sophie Wang

    Conclusion

    In this survey we document a systematic and persistent lack of female, Hispanic, and African American labor market participation in the innovation sector – through both entrepreneurs and the venture capitalists that fund them. In addition to documenting this empirical regularity, we explore its time-series evolution and cross-industry dynamics.

    We show that this same pattern is not present across similar highly- 40 compensated, professional fields in such as medicine or law, nor in jobs with nearly identical human-capital profiles such as investment banking or consulting. We find that this empirical fact is not driven by a lack of supply of highly trained women, Hispanics, or African Americans. The representation of women, Hispanics, and African Americans in MBA programs as well as advanced science and engineering degrees has been substantially higher than their representation in the venture capital and entrepreneurial sectors for the past two decades.

    We contrast this experience with that of Asians over the same time period. Asians started the time period with a much higher representation, compared to their percentage of the labor force, in the venture capital and entrepreneurial sector. That rate of participation increased dramatically as well over the past twenty-five years. This dramatic increase comes despite there being no dramatic increase in the fractions of MBA degree recipients or recipients of advanced science and engineering degrees who are Asian. Contrasting the experience of Asians with other ethnic minorities seems to be a fruitful area for future research. We also explore geographic concentration of this underrepresentation of female, Hispanic, and African American labor market participation.

    Lastly, we examine the school- and prior work-based institutions out from which innovators and venture capitalists tend to emerge. The primary goal of this survey is to document the empirical regularities and relationships in the innovation labor market that will serve researchers, policy makers, and practitioners. We hope that the summaries serve as the beginning of more formal and structured research approaches to explore these human capital phenomena. Given the primary importance of labor as a factor of production in the innovation space, the strong regularities we document regarding female and minority labor market participation represent an important feature of real-world markets for which we need to understand the causes – and perhaps more importantly – the consequences. Future research should thus in particular focus on systematic and careful identification techniques in order to the move the discussion forward in a careful and positive direction.

  • Degas and the Millinery Trade, High-fashion Hats and the Women Who Created Them; My Aunt’s Creation

    Edgar Degas,










    Edgar Degas, “The Millinery Shop,” 1879–1886. Oil on canvas; The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.428. Bridgeman Images

    June 24 – September 24, 2017 | Legion of Honor

    Best known for his depictions of Parisian dancers and laundresses, Edgar Degas (French, 1834 – 1917) was enthralled with another aspect of modern life in the French capital. Degas’s fascination inspired a visually compelling and profoundly modern body of work that documents the lives of what one fashion writer of the day called  “the aristocracy of the workwomen of Paris.” Despite the importance of millinery as a subject in Degas’s oeuvre, there has been little discussion of its place in Impressionist iconography, until now. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco bring new light to the subject with this presentation of Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade.

    This exhibition features more than 40 Impressionist paintings and pastels, including key works by Degas, as well as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, Mary Cassatt and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Approximately 40 spectacular examples of period hats — including nine from the Fine Arts Museums’ collections — also will be displayed.

    “This exhibition highlights several facets of our extensive holdings, which comprises not only exemplary paintings and drawings of French Impressionism but also exquisite hats of the same time,” says Max Hollein, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums. “There have been numerous exhibitions on Degas, but this is the first to focus on his works inspired by the milliners of Paris and to present them alongside the works these artisans themselves were creating.”Hat in degas exhibit

    Highlights include paintings from the Musée d’Orsay, the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the St. Louis Museum of Art, which are displayed near hats from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These works present the social and historical context of the millinery trade, which captivated Degas and his peers.

    “Our installation not only provides new insights on paintings by familiar artists such as Degas, Renoir, and Cassatt but it is also a remarkable opportunity to explore the intricate layers of social, economic, and gendered meaning behind the production, wearing and depictions of hats in 19th-century French art and culture,” says Melissa Buron, associate curator of European painting for the Fine Arts Museums. “One of the project’s main themes is the changing social roles of women as both creators and consumers of these fashionable accessories.”

    Madame Pouyanne (French, active late nineteenth – early twentieth century), designer. Woman’s bonnet, ca. 1885. Label: “Mme. Pouyanne / 4 Rue de la Paix / Paris”

    The exhibition is the first to examine the height of the millinery trade in Paris, from around 1875 to 1914, as reflected in the art of the Impressionists and French milliners. From the start of the Third Republic until the outbreak of World War I, there were around 1,000 milliners working in what was then considered the fashion capital of the world. Degas and the Impressionists’ representations of millinery became a central theme within the broader avant-garde ambition to showcase the diversity of Parisian modern life.

    “We are excited to share the Museums’ important collection of French-made hats and bonnets from this imaginative period in millinery history,” says Laura L. Camerlengo, assistant curator of costume and textile arts at the Fine Arts Museums. “We trace the journey of these accessories from creation to wear, hoping to foster a fresh appreciation for the artistry of the milliners and their extraordinary creations, and to shed new light on their lives and the lives of their clients.”

  • Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed and Style at the Peabody Essex Museum

     Ocean liner patron

     The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed and Style, the first exhibition to fully assess the design and cultural impact of the ocean liner and on view through October 9, 2017. As showcases of opulence, technology and social sophistication, these floating cities captured the imagination of artists, engineers, and architects.

    This international exhibition co-organized with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (V&A), brings together nearly 200 works from the mid-19th century through the late-20th century, including paintings, sculpture, models, furniture, lighting, wall panels, textiles, fashion, photographs, posters and film to explore the distinct design, elegant engineering and cultural dynamics of an era when ocean liners ruled the sea and the popular imagination.

    Graphic by Julie Diewald/PEM

    The rich collections and curatorial perspectives of PEM and the V&A dovetail harmoniously for this exhibition. Founded in 1799 by sea captains and merchant traders, PEM has been actively collecting art and design related to ocean liners since at least 1870, building holdings of paintings, prints, posters and models that today number in the thousands. The V&A, one of the world’s leading institutions of art and design, began collecting ship models and technology patents to improve Britain’s commercial and manufacturing advantage in the 19th century, when it was known as the South Kensington Museum. In the 20th century, the V&A acquired ocean liner posters and ephemera, ceramics, textiles, metalwork and furniture, all with the aim of representing good design. Figurehead from ship Galatea

    “The great age of ocean travel has long since passed, but ocean liners remain one of the most powerful and admired symbols of 20th century modernity,” said Dan Finamore, PEM’s Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History. “No form of transport was as romantic, remarkable or contested as the ocean liner and their design became a matter of national prestige as well as a microcosm of global dynamics and competition.” 

    Figurehead from the PEM’s Maritime Art and History; United States carver, about 1854; Gift of William Saltonstall, Emily Byrd, Peter B. Constance, and Alice W. Saltonstall, 1985.

    Within a few years of the first liners crossing the Atlantic, companies deployed strategic advertising campaigns to shift the public perception of ocean travel from dirty and dangerous to being regarded as a highly-desirable and glamorous leisure activity. This dramatic shift in the ocean liner’s image was depicted in large-scale, full-color posters that reflected advances in color lithography printing. Ship models, brochures and films created imagery to attract the savvy traveler, while the architecture of shipping offices and port buildings offered a taste of the high style that could be found on board. 

     

    Competitiveness in private industry grew into competitions for national prestige; the French liner Normandie was promoted as the most elegant in the world, with different parts of the ship crafted to reflect distinct French provinces. Each new liner sought to embody modernity, and to be larger, faster and more brilliantly envisioned than its predecessor.

    Drawing on new research Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed, and Style  brings together elements of interior ship design never before exhibited, with an international perspective on the progressive development of modern ship interiors. Over the course of a century, top-tier artisans were commissioned to create the finest designs and artworks for these floating palaces and did so while reflecting the taste, sensibility and politics of their time. Voyagers seeking drama and style could be transported when they entered high-ceilinged rooms stretching over two decks lit by domed skylights. “Choosing which vessel to travel on was a way for passengers to select a fantasy experience,” says Finamore. “They could live in an Art Deco Parisian apartment or a Romanesque castle. The choice was theirs.”

    In the late 19th century, Jules Verne observed of his experience on the British vessel the Great Eastern that the ship’s small world carries, “all the instincts, follies, and passions of human nature.” The highly structured social experience on board offered passengers opportunities to live out idealized visions of cosmopolitan social order. There were zones for physical fitness, children’s activities, socializing and even religious worship. Dinner in first class was the principal social event of any day at sea. The social act of eating and drinking bound the ship’s elite players in evenings dedicated to haute cuisine, elegant formal attire, and dining rooms with central staircases that enabled dramatic entrances, and mezzanines offering sight lines to other ‘important’ diners. Theatre companies promoted the arrival and departure of their stage actors like Cary Grant and Marlene Dietrich travelling between New York and London, and journalists and the public would crowd the docks to see their favorite stars. 

    Ocean liner travel also had a significant impact on the evolution of sports and casual wear design. Designers started offering a demi-saison to present resort or ‘cruise’ wear for those who were wintering in warmer climes or planning to engage in sporting activities during their transatlantic travel. For the fashion designer, the liner was a modern mode of transportation that opened up new vistas for overseas exposure and expansion. The world of haute couture became increasingly international and the golden age of liner travel brought direct access to a global clientele. Jenny of Paris, about 1926

    Among the largest moving objects ever built, ocean liners became a symbol of human progress and a platform for visionary creativity. Today, fantastical cruise ships and contemporary architecture carry on the legacy of the ocean liner.

    Dress, Jenny of Paris, about 1926. Peabody Essex Museum, Gift of Mrs. Sanford S. Clark, 1971, 132655. © Peabody Essex Museum. Photo by Walter Silver

    A lavishly illustrated, 288-page catalogue with curatorial essays will be available in the PEM Shop.

    Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed and Style is co-organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The exhibition is co-Curated by Daniel Finamore, The Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum, and Ghislaine Wood, Guest Curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. At the Peabody Essex Museum it is supported by generous gifts from the Fiduciary Trust Company and Eaton Vance Management as well as a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation and the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum also provided generous support.

  • Sally Yates Harvard Law School Class Day Address: “When Law and Conscience Intersected”

    Sally Yates

    Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

    By John Laidler, Harvard Correspondent

    Sally Yates, the acting attorney general whom President Trump fired for refusing to enforce his tightened strictures on entering the country, said that she acted out of a belief that defending the executive order would have meant falsely claiming it was not directed at Muslims.

    Speaking at Harvard Law School’s Class Day ceremony, Yates depicted the episode as an example of “an unexpected moment when the law and conscience intersected.” The partial travel ban, which was blocked by the courts, would have restricted travel from seven Muslim-dominated countries.

    Yates said she concluded that “defending the constitutionality of the travel ban would require the Department of Justice to argue that the executive order had nothing to do with religion, that it was not intended to disfavor Muslims … despite the numerous prior statements that had been made by the president and his surrogates regarding his intent to effectuate a Muslim ban.”

    “I believed that this would require us to advance a pretext, a defense not grounded in truth. So I directed the Department of Justice not to defend the ban,” Yates told graduating law students and family members at Holmes Field.

    Yates, who was deputy attorney general when she became acting attorney general in January, said she grappled for several days over whether to resign.

  • A Former Secretary’s Lament: What is the World’s Most Undervalued Profession?

     White House Secretaries, 1938

    by Rose Madeline Mula

    What is the world’s most undervalued profession?  I bet you said teaching.  Wrong. In fact, at the risk of alienating everyone on the planet (well, everyone who reads this), I am going to say something sacrilegious:

    I don’t think teachers are underpaid.  

    Right: Harris & Ewing, photographer. White House secretaries. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress

    GASP!!!

    I know, I know, it’s like being against motherhood, apple pie, rainbows, and the American flag.  But let me explain.  

    First, you have to understand where I’m coming from — and that’s the steno pool, a desolate place where many a career dream drowned in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.  I landed there because I made a wrong turn on the road to college eons ago.

    My then best friend was going to Boston University (a school to which I had also been accepted) as an Art major at BU’s PAL, or College of Practical Arts and Letters, which also offered a so-called “Business” major — in reality, a glorified secretarial course with a sprinkling of Liberal Arts.  Because I was incredibly shy and timid at the time (no, really!), I jumped at this — my chance to tag along with my friend so I wouldn’t have to go to big scary college alone, though a much better choice for me would have been BU’s College of Communications or School of Journalism.  Stupid!    

    Even stupider was not going to BU’s School of Education and becoming a teacher.

    What I did become, after graduating with a Summa Cum Laude bachelor’s degree from PAL, was the best secretary in history (she said modestly), landing jobs throughout my working life as Executive Assistant (a fancy title granted in lieu of the high salaries I deserved) to a few CEOs of multi-national corporations who (rightfully) claimed they owed their success to me and who wrote unbelievable (but accurate) glowing letters of recommendation when we had to part company for various reasons.  I loved most of those jobs and never questioned my subservient status or pitiful compensation because I knew it was higher than that of most secretaries.

    Meanwhile, friends who had been clever enough to become teachers, protected by a powerful union, were raking in much more money than me and enjoying considerably more leisure time.  Two weeks paid vacation was the most I ever got and no overtime pay for the many nights, holidays and weekends I worked.  Nor, more important, am I now enjoying a generous pension such as those that are financing the retirement travels of my teacher friends. Furthermore, they never had to go to work when it snowed, though back in the day we secretaries were expected to man our typewriters even during blizzards of historic proportions. Yet despite my dedication, which sometimes actually involved risking my life to get to work, no one ever bows down and pays me homage when I tell them what I did for a living. Teachers, on the other hand, are afforded respect worthy of Mother Theresa.

    “Well, that’s because our jobs were very stressful,” says a teacher friend. “You never had to deal with difficult parents.”  I’ll see her difficult parents and raise her a few impossible bosses who were sprinkled throughout my checkered career — one, in particular, a multi-billionaire whose frothing-at-the-mouth rages are legend in the business community and have been documented in the pages of Forbes and other business journals.  Though none of his rants were directed at me, it was painful to witness his unwarranted, hysterical castigation of many others.  I escaped after a week and a half, while he was out of town, despite pleas from his company’s Human Resources Director not to jump ship.  “Wait until he comes back,” he said.  “He needs you.  We’ll sit him down and talk to him.  We can change him!” Sure, and let’s reverse Niagara Falls while we’re at it.

    So far, my memory hasn’t deserted me.  I only hope it’s still with me in my next lifetime when the time comes to choose a vocation so I’ll remember to seriously consider becoming a teacher!

    ©2017 Rose Madeline Mula for SeniorWomen.com

  • GOP’s Health Bill Could Undercut Some Coverage In Job-Based Insurance; A Quiz to Test Your Memory of the AHCA

    REPEAL & REPLACE WATCH* 

    Editor’s Note: H.R. 1628, American Health Care Act of 2017 as examined by the Congressional Budget Office (links on page 2);   and a quiz to test your knowledge …

    May 24, 2017

    By Michelle Andrews May 23, 2017

    This week, I answer questions about how the Republican proposal to overhaul the health law could affect job-based insurance and what the penalties for not having continuous coverage mean. Perhaps anticipating a spell of uninsurance, another reader wondered if people can rely on the emergency department for routine care.

    Q: Will employer-based health care be affected by the new Republican plan?

    The American Health Care Act that recently passed the House would fundamentally change the individual insurance market, and it could significantly alter coverage for people who get coverage through their employers too.

    Kaiser Health News contributing columnist Michelle Andrews writes the series Insuring Your Health, which explores health care coverage and costs. To contact Michelle with a question or comment, click here.

    The bill would allow states to opt out of some of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, including no longer requiring plans sold on the individual market to cover 10 “essential health benefits,” such as hospitalization, drugs and maternity care.

    Small businesses (generally companies with 50 or fewer employees) in those states would also be affected by the change.

    Plans offered by large employers have never been required to cover the essential health benefits, so the bill wouldn’t change their obligations. Many of them, however, provide comprehensive coverage that includes many of these benefits.  

    But here’s where it gets tricky. The ACA placed caps on how much consumers can be required to pay out-of-pocket in deductibles, copays and coinsurance every year, and they apply to most plans, including large employer plans. In 2017, the spending limit is $7,150 for an individual plan and $14,300 for family coverage. Yet there’s a catch: The spending limits apply only to services covered by the essential health benefits. Insurers could charge people any amount for services deemed nonessential by the states.

    Similarly, the law prohibits insurers from imposing lifetime or annual dollar limits on services — but only if those services are related to the essential health benefits.

    In addition, if any single state weakened its essential health benefits requirements, it could affect large employer plans in every state, analysts say. That’s because these employers, who often operate in multiple states, are allowed to pick which state’s definition of essential health benefits they want to use in determining what counts toward consumer spending caps and annual and lifetime coverage limits.

  • Congress: A Number of Measures for Women Veterans, Child Protection, Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse Act, Federal Interns Protection Act, Opioid Epidemic

    House Committee Approves the Building Supportive Networks for Women Veterans Act: Jean Shaheen

    On May 17, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs approved, by voice vote, H.R. 91, the Building Supportive Networks for Women Veterans Act, sponsored by Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA). The legislation would create a counseling program to “provide reintegration and readjustment services in group retreat settings to women veterans who are recently separated from service.”  The House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health approved the bill on April 6 (see The Source, 4/7/17).

    Senator (D-NH) Jean Shaheen, credit US Senate*

    On May 17, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a hearing on several bills, including S. 681, the Deborah Sampson Act, and S. 804, the Women Veterans Access to Quality Care Act of 2017.

    S. 681:  Sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), the legislation would establish a peer-to-peer assistance program for women veterans. Among other provisions, the bill would require medical facilities operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to include at least one full-time or part-time women’s health primary care provider.

    S. 804:  Sponsored by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), the measure would require every medical center operated by the VA to include a full-time obstetrician-gynecologist. In addition, the bill would require an examination of medical centers to ensure that they are able to meet the health needs of women veterans.

    The following witnesses testified:

    • Jennifer S. Lee, deputy under secretary for Health Policy and Services, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs;
    • Louis Celli, director, National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Division, The American Legion;
    • Kayda Keleher, associate director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars;
    • Adrian Atizado, deputy national legislative director, Disabled American Veterans;
    • Allison Jaslow, executive director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; and
    • David Cox, national president, American Federation of Government Employees.

     On May 17, the House approved H.R. 653, the Federal Intern Protection Act of 2017, sponsored by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Among other provisions, the legislation would protect interns in the federal government from harassment and discrimination in the workplace. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed the bill on March 8 (see The Source, 3/10/17).


    This Week: 
     On Tuesday, President Trump will release his FY2018 budget. 
    Floor Action: 
    Child Protection — On Monday, the House is scheduled to consider several bills, including H.R. 1862, the Global Child Protection Act, H.R. 1842, the Strengthening Children’s Safety Act, H.R. 1188, the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act, H.R. 883, the Targeting Child Predators Act, H.R. 695, the Child Protection Improvements Act, and H.R. 1625, the Targeted Rewards for the Global Eradication of Human Trafficking Act. 
     
    On Tuesday, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 1809, the Juvenile Justice Reform Act, H.R. 1808, the Improving Support for Missing and Exploited Children Act, and H.R. 2473, the Put Trafficking Victims First Act. 
     
    On Thursday, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 1973, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse Act, and H.R. 1761, the Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act. 
     
    Military – On Tuesday, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 2052, the Protecting the Rights of Individuals Against Technological Exploitation Act. 
    Mark-Ups:
     International- On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will mark up H.R. 2484, the Women, Peace, and Security Act.   

  • Pow! Capturing Superheroes, Chess & Comics and Ladies’ Knight: A Female Perspective on Chess at the World Chess Hall of Fame

    Pow Comics, World Chess Hall of Fame

    The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) in Saint Louis debuted an interactive new exhibition, Pow! Capturing Superheroes, Chess & Comics . The exhibit will be on view through September 17, 2017. With Pow! Capturing Superheroes, Chess & Comics, the WCHOF is presenting a family-friendly exhibit geared toward visitors of all ages. Visitors will enjoy over 200 chess-themed comic books,  dressing up like their favorite superheroes,  taking a selfie in the photo booth,  perusing favorite comics in the reading room, illustrating in a drawing room,  playing chess on fun boards featuring Spiderman, Batman, Wonder Woman and more.

    The historic comics collection includes rare editions such as the earliest chess related cover, DC Comics’ More Fun Comics 76, released in 1942, and a 1947 DC Action Comics Superman in The Cross Country Chess Crimes. Additionally, objects are on view for comic and chess aficionados to appreciate, including limited edition, collector comic-inspired chess sets. 

    Works in this exhibit are from the collection of WCHOF as well as on loan from Bernice and Floyd Sarisohn and Jeff Pennig, lender of original artwork by Bob Clarke from the 1963 No. 78 issue of Mad Magazine. Written contributions are by Michael Tisserand, author of Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White and Roy Thomas, former Editor in Chief at Marvel Comics. This year commemorates the fifth anniversary of the WCHOF.

    The organization has welcomed more than 60,000 visitors since its opening. Its widespread acclaim has been complemented by the efforts of its sister organization, the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, an educational institution that focuses on teaching and promoting the game of chess. The combined efforts of the Saint Louis chess campus led the United States Senate, in 2014, to declare Saint Louis the national capital of chess.

    Admission to exhibit is complimentary with a suggested donation of $5.  Proceeds from Q Boutique, the gift store of the WCHOF, support the exhibitions and education programs of the WCHOF.

    And Don’t Overlook this Exhibition Online: Ladies’ Knight: A Female Perspective on Chess examines how a game often dominated by men inspires contemporary artists

    Ladies Knight

    The exhibition presents works by Crystal Fischetti, Debbie Han, Barbara Kruger, Liliya Lifanova, Goshka Macuga, Sophie Matisse, Yoko Ono, Daniela Raytchev, Jennifer Shahade, Yuko Suga, Diana Thater, and Rachel Whiteread. Their diverse interpretations of the game range from the playful and feminine to the serious, and encourage dialogue about subjects like crime, language, peace and conflict, and inequality.

    The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) endeavors to present exhibitions that honor the game’s pioneers, reflect its significant cultural impact, and appeal to a wide audience. In 2015 and 2016, the WCHOF launched an initiative to encourage more women to take up the game. In February 2016, the WCHOF launched another exhibition, Her Turn: Revolutionary Women of Chess, which explored key historic moments in women’s chess history. 

    Another ongoing Exhibition: 

    Showcasing some of the most unique, historic, and fun artifacts acquired by the World Chess Hall of Fame during the past five years, Open Files II: Celebrating 5 Years of Collecting includes 100 diverse objects from the institution’s permanent collection. Highlights include a rare Hungarian chess set, artwork by Rafael Tufiño, and selections from the archive of famed correspondence and computer chess pioneer Hans Berliner.

    About the World Chess Hall of Fame: The World Chess Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization committed to building awareness for the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on Sept. 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New Windsor, New York; Washington, DC; and Miami. The World Chess Hall of Fame is located at 4652 Maryland Avenue, housed in a historic 15,900 square-foot residence-turned business, and features the US and World Chess Halls of Fame, displays of artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. 

  • Ferida’s Backyard: Azaleas and Orchids

    Orchids in Their Own TimeOrchids

     
    I always thought that orchids were too hard to grow so I never tried. Two years ago I was given a lovely flowering orchid plant. The flowers eventually died off but I continued to water the leaves. As long as they were green I was happy. I sat it on my kitchen windowsill and let it be. This spring I started to see buds and then flowers again. I was excited to see two, then three flowers open up. I complimented the plant on its beauty. The next day two more buds opened into delicate flowers. Each morning another flower appeared. There are twelve flowers currently on the plant, amazing me whenever I look at them.
     
    I didn’t do anything special to help the orchid to flower but then I guess I didn’t do anything to hinder it from expressing itself either. Water and appreciation seemed to do the trick. The plant expressed itself just beautifully.
     
    I know we have the inclination to try to control most things in our lives, and to do it now, but I think that sometimes all we need to do is take a deep breath and wait. It’s sort of like baking. Each ingredient blends with the others while in the oven to create something new. As the pan cools, the waiting helps us to anticipate what we have before us and to appreciate its promise. Brownies or orchids — both brings smiles and delight. 
     
    Easy orchid-care tips:
     
    Everything about growing orchids at home:
     
    Orchid myths:
     
    Editor’s Note, Learn About Orchids: The Encylopedia of Life is a free online encyclopedia featuring information on all of the 1.8 million living species known to science. The encyclopedia is compiled from existing databases and from contributions by experts and the general public from around the world.
    Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia, the world’s largest single reference site on orchid species, how to grow, where they are found, what they are called when they bloom.
     

    Azaleas

     

     

    Azalea Beauty

     
    I love the azalea bushes in front of our house. Each morning they greet me with a wild, pink beauty that starts my day off with a gasp of pleasure. Within a week of hinting at flowers, the buds have expressed their full-blossomed glorious nature. There are so many flowers now, the branches keep bending with the weight.
     
    Azaleas are early-flowering plants, which makes them welcome after a season laden with cold, wind, now-and-then snow, and a bunch of rain. They are part of the rhododendron family. Rhododendron bushes are also full of exuberance and color. 
     
    Sometimes we all need a burst of liveliness. Like plants, life has its seasons of quiet and renewal intermingled with growth and high spirits. Summer is coming and many more colorful plants will be available for our viewing pleasure but I know I will always have a fond spot for the reminder of life’s seasons from beautiful azaleas.
     
    Caring for azaleas:
     
    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/azalea/azaleas-noteworthy-shrubs-for-any-garden.htm
     
    ©2017 Ferida Wolff for SeniorWomen.com