Red and Fuschia Vegetable Towers, a Hori Hori Trowel and Other Gardening Tools; What Plants Talk About
We make way too many trips to some of our local favorite nurseries for plants; it's usually, "Oh, I just need another tarragon ... lobelia ... thunbergia ... scabiosa ... " and, in no time, the car back-back is laden with new purchases. But tools are more of an investment and we choose carefully and, in some cases, for a lifetime of use. Here are some favorites.
A Sandy Hook Mother's Appeal for Commonsense Gun Responsibility Reforms
I’m here at the White House today because I want to make a difference and I hope you will join me. My name is Francine Wheeler. My husband David is with me. We live in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. David and I have two sons. Our older son Nate, soon to be 10 years old, is a fourth grader at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Our younger son, Ben, age six, was murdered in his first-grade classroom on December 14th, exactly 4 months ago this weekend.
Drawing Surrealism at the Morgan Library: The Exquisite Corpse Will Drink the New Wine
Some of the most striking surrealist drawings were exquisite corpses, a game that involved collaboration and chance. In the game — the name of which derives from a sentence created when the surrealists first used the process to write poetry: The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine — each participant made a drawing on a section of a folded sheet of paper without seeing the others’ drawings. The resulting hybrid creatures generated by the game influenced surrealist imagery, reappearing in artists’ individual works.
Washington State's Death With Dignity Act: A Gratefully Received But Rarely Used Prescription
"People who pursue Death with Dignity tend to be individuals who want to be independent and want to have control over the conditions and timing of their final moments of life," said Elizabeth Trice Loggers, M.D., Ph.D., corresponding author and medical director of SCCA’s Supportive and Palliative Care Service.
Ferida's Wolff's Backyard Series: Lovely Lavender and Pretty Pinks
Ferida writes: Lavender has a long history of medicinal use and is a staple in aromatherapy. Some is proven, some not, but it is used in a variety of applications for many conditions. One of its uses is for its calming effect. The oil embraces the whole body in the bath. Inhaled, it seems to relax tension and may help with insomnia. I don’t want to neglect something that has been blooming all through the winter — my African Violet. I don’t take my it for granted. I know it needs proper tending.
When It Comes to Bodies in the Library, US Writers Take the Lead Over UK Rivals
British crime and thriller writers are being bumped off by their American counterparts, according to the latest tabulation of the Most Borrowed Adult Fiction Titles in UK libraries. No less than 17 novels by US-based crime and thriller writers appear in the Top 20 Most Borrowed Adult Fiction Titles list.
Advice to Little Girls by Mark Twain —You ought never to "sass" old people unless they "sass" you first
Mark Twain writes in 1865: "You ought never to take your little brother's 'chewing-gum' away from him by main force; it is better to rope him in with the promise of the first two dollars and a half you find floating down the river on a grindstone. In the artless simplicity natural to this time of life, he will regard it as a perfectly fair transaction. In all ages of the world this eminently plausible fiction has lured the obtuse infant to financial ruin and disaster."
Volanti Subvenimus: Challenges in monitoring and maintaining the health of pilots engaged in telewarfare
Hernando J. Ortega, Jr. editorializes: "The pilots of Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), also referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles or 'drones', face unique stressors related to the impact of fighting a war at the office and going home to a family at night. Last, the continually increasing demand for RPA support has lead to manning issues; RPA pilots are faced with rotating shifts and long hours which contribute to stress, sleep issues, and other negative consequences."
It's a Gray Area: Madame Metamorphosis, a Rebel Against the Passage of Time
Roberta McReynolds writes: The truth of the matter is that I’d hit an awkward point I hadn’t foreseen. The lights over my bathroom mirror still reflected the shine and sparkle I loved. (They don’t call them ‘vanity lights’ without a reason.) But when I caught my image in a window, a store dressing room mirror, or worse yet, in a photograph, I was shocked by reality. The white had become more dispersed through the brown making it appear ... no big surprise here ... drab gray.
Anders Zorn: A European Artist Seduces America; Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's 23-Year-Old Theft
The exhibit presents new international scholarship about an artist who was considered among the most prolific and talented artists living around 1900. Although highly esteemed by his contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic, Zorn is little known to the general public in the US today. "Anders Zorn is one of the most significant artists of the Belle Époque."
Telling Lies: The Irrepressible Truth?
The liar must first of all decide not to assert the truth, and then must assert an alternative statement that is plausible and appears informative to the listener, all the while concealing any outward signs of nervousness ... If a person needs to monitor plausibility of a lie then this will be more difficult for more complex lies. Studies investigating the effects of making lies more complex have found that they are easier to detect.
Megabytes for the Masses: An MIT Lecture by Yvonne Brill, the Lady With Launch Plans Under Her Arm
You may have heard about the uproar regarding The New York Times obituary for Ms. Brill initially beginning with lauding her beef stroganoff skills rather than her Dual Thrust Level Monopropellant Spacecraft Propulsion System (Patent #3,807,657). This video of her lecture (MIT TechTV) may refocus that strange emphasis on cooking to her genius.
Why Are the Honey Bees Still Disappearing? A New Lawsuit Against the EPA and Gardening Tips for Attracting Bees
Beekeepers and public interest Groups have sued the EPA over bee-toxic pesticides. The coalition seeks suspension of the registrations of insecticides that have repeatedly been identified as highly toxic to honey bees. Total losses of managed honey bee colonies were 21.9 percent for the 2011/2012 winter according to a survey. Did you know that native bees do not live in hives? Prepare a place for them in your garden.
Elaine Soloway's Caregiving Series: All For One, One For All
This is the day of the week I cede responsibility for Tommy to the group I call the Three Musketeers. I fancy Barry, Hal, and Marshall as characters from the Dumas novel because the way they care for my husband; while my love for the Musketeers could be considered self-serving because they give me a day off, Tommy enjoys their personalities. But this would be the last golf season that my husband and his companions would enjoy together.
Temp Agencies See Opportunity In Health Law: Will Substitute Teachers Be Offered Coverage?
Starting in January 2014, employers with at least 50 workers must offer affordable coverage or pay a penalty. Some are considering outsourcing jobs to specialists such as Kelly, Manpower, Robert Half and Randstad to stay under this limit. "We are already getting inquiries from our client base for companies in and around 50, asking us to help them understand this legislation. .. Our response is that we can legally help them remain under 50," says Keith Waddell, Robert Half's president.
"A Sport for Every Girl": Women and Sports at The Metropolitan
Val Castronovo writes:“The sporting girls” category of cards that are the main focus of this show was distinct from the more popular female series of the time, such as those depicting actresses and beautiful, alluring women, and bearing names such as Parasol Drills and The World’s Beauties. Nonetheless, sportif females were a “viable, even lucrative category,” we learn here. Now at the end of Women's History month 2013, athletes Lindsey Vonn and Maria Sharapova have become marketing gold.
States' Attorneys Generals Split Ahead of Gay Marriage Arguments; Audio from SCOTUS
Wednesday the Supreme Court Justices heard challenges to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. On Tuesday, the court considered California’s Proposition 8. On this question the justices could rule broadly or narrowly: The court could reaffirm a lower court decision striking down the ban, a decision that would legalize same-sex marriages only in California. Or the justices could find Proposition 8 unconstitutional, potentially declaring all similar state bans are as well.
How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing
Imagine filing your income taxes in five minutes — and for free. You'd open up a pre-filled return, see what the government thinks you owe, make any needed changes and be done. The miserable annual IRS shuffle, gone. It's already a reality in Denmark, Sweden and Spain. The government-prepared return would estimate your taxes using information your employer and bank already send it.
Crossroads ... Or Not?
Joan L. Cannon writes: I see woods all around, with an unpaved road that forks in a Y. For no reason, it’s always twilight. A traveler can choose to return, or to take one branch of the Y: three choices. No metaphor presents itself — except for the Robert Frost poem, "The Road Not Taken", once again filled with possibilities for our imaginations and especially recollections. My psyche immediately rejects the choice of turning back.
Serendipity in the Woods: Author Carol Gracie Explores the History and Life of Wildflowers
Kristin Nord writes: Outfitted in parkas and mittens and hats the hearty women scaling the hillsides were soon rewarded. There were meadows of trillium and foamflower, wild ginger, ginseng, and Solomon’s seal. There were Jack-in-the-pulpits, Mayapple, blue cohosh, and five varieties of violets, some 55 natives in all. The naturalist Carol Gracie was at the helm, urging the group to slow down, and look closely at the natural feast spread out like a picnic before them.
The Science of Clouds — Why They Matter, and Why There May be Fewer of Them
The largest source of uncertainty in today’s climate models are clouds. Clouds can both cool the planet, by acting as a shield against the sun, and warm the planet, by trapping heat. But why do clouds behave the way they do? And how will a warming planet affect the cloud cover? “We don’t understand many basic things about clouds,” Lawrence Berkeley Lab scientist David Romps says.
Trying to Calculate How Long a Person Might Live: A Check List for Seniors' 10-Year Survivability
Calculating medical risk can be an inexact science, especially for older adults, with many factors from the environment to chronic diseases helping determine how long a person lives. A UC San Francisco team has developed a tool that can help determine – and perhaps influence – senior citizens’ 10-year survivability rates.
Tell It Like It Is
Rose Madeline Mula writes: You’re happy to hear a flight attendant say that your seat cushion can be used as a “personal flotation device.” That sounds like so much more fun than “life saver” — more like it’s possible that you will be visiting a Disney water park soon instead of splashing down in mid-Atlantic. And isn’t it great that people no longer “lie”! We simply “misspeak,” “fabricate,” “bend the truth” or dispense disinformation.” Talk about a positive spin.
Congressional Bills Introduced: Abortion, Economic Security and Safety of Victims of Dating Violence
Abortion
H.R. 1122----Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)/Education and the Workforce (3/13/13)---A bill to prohibit federal education funding for elementary schools and secondary schools that provide on-campus access to abortion providers.
Child Protection…
Decreasing the Age of the Older Face: Are certain features or color dimensions more important than others for age perception?
"The luminance contrast between the eyes and the surrounding skin and the lips and the surrounding skin has been termed ‘facial contrast. Female faces have greater facial contrast than male faces, and facial contrast plays an important role in sex classification and the perception of masculinity and femininity and also attractiveness. Inspection of averaged faces of older and younger adults led us to hypothesize that facial contrast decreases with age and is related to perceived facial age."
