Women of Note: Who Was Marjory Stoneman Douglas? Had a High School Named After Her, A Defender of the Everglades, Feminist, Short Story Writer and A Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
It was 1917 and the First World War was raging in Europe. The Navy had sent a ship from Key West to Miami to enlist men and women into the Naval Reserve. Marjory went to cover the story of a local woman she heard about, who was to be the first woman to enlist. As it turned out, Marjory herself was the first woman to enlist. She joined the Navy, became a yeoman first class, and was stationed in Miami. After a year, she was discharged, joined the American Red Cross and went to Paris. The war ended, but Marjory stayed on in Paris. She traveled around Europe and wrote stories about the turning over of Red Cross clinics to the local authorities. As the Red Cross was closing down in Paris, her father cabled to offer her a job as an assistant editor of the Miami Herald.
Cooking: My Mother's Cookbook, Winter Soups: Tomato, Cheese, Potato and Bretonne Bean
Margaret Cullison writes: My mother used few shortcuts when preparing food because she preferred the "real thing" to convenience foods that became more readily available in the mid-1940s. The popularity of canned soups was well established by that time. Quick dishes that relied for flavor on canned mushroom soup or dehydrated onion soup were much in favor after World War II but not by Mom. She may have fixed condensed tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches on a busy day for us kids. But I doubt she ever served such a meal to Dad, her champion and companion in their adventures in good eating.
News and Issues: Taxpayers Don’t Want to Pay for Lawmakers’ Sexual Misdeeds, But Alternatives Pose Problems: Allegations of Wrongdoing Went Away After Victims Received Payouts From Public Funds
Legislatures are often on the hook for the bad behavior of lawmakers because, like other employers, they are responsible under the Civil Rights Act for creating a workplace that is free from harassment and discrimination. Employers that don’t attempt to prevent harassment — and report and investigate claims when they arise — can be held liable. It's part of an employer's job to prevent a toxic culture, said Emily Martin, general counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal defense for victims of harassment. But Martin said the bills raise an important question about why the state is paying for the transgressions of lawmakers, who do not have a traditional employer-employee relationship.
Health, Fitness and Style: CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention): 6 Things You Need to Know About This Flu Season
Definitely try to avoid close contact with sick people. If you do get sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them. Stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone without the use of fever-reducing drugs (unless you need medical care or other necessities). Make sure you cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Wash your hands often with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
Moving and Retirement: *FOIA Response from HUD Reveals 646% Increase in Foreclosures against Seniors in 2016; HUD Must Do Better Monitoring Servicers When They Report "Non-occupancy" As Reason For Foreclosing
In January 2017, the California Reinvestment Coalition and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, seeking data about reverse mortgage foreclosures in HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, and about a new HUD program meant to keep widowed and widower non-borrowing spouses in their homes after the death of their spouse. New data indicates that there was a 646% increase in foreclosures last year against seniors with federally insured reverse mortgages as compared to the previous 7 years.
News and Issues: Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's Dreamers (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) Record-breaking Speech
House Session, Part 1 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) gave an uninterrupted speech of over eight hours, saying she would not leave the floor until Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) agreed to allow a vote on a bill that addresses the plight of undocumented migrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, also known as “Dreamers.” The Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order that permitted DREAMers to remain the U.S. was rescinded by President Trump and set to expire on March 5, 2018. Leader Pelosi throughout her monologue read testimonies written by Dreamers about their lives and sent to their members of Congress.
Culture Watch: A Plea for Imagination: Once There Was a Time When It Was an Anomaly to See Gratuitous Brutality
Joan Cannon wrote: George Eliot said (in Middlemarch) "... we do not expect people to be moved by what is not unusual. That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling for all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."
News and Issues: Issues Addressed in Congress: Sexual Harassment, Discrimination and the Opioid Crisis Hearings
Bills introduced: Rep. Jackie Speier: A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the American women who joined the workforce during World War II, providing the vehicles, weaponry, and ammunition to win the war, that were referred to as "Rosie the Riveter," in recognition of their contributions to the National the inspiration they have provided to ensuing generation. Sen. Claire McCaskill — A bill to direct the director of the OMB to establish an interagency working group to study federal efforts to collect data on sexual violence and to make recommendations on the harmonization of such efforts, and for other purposes. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster introduced a similar bill in the House.






