We admit, with all apologies, this NYC exhibit that closed earlier this month, but hope to make it up by some history and images:   The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT) preseneds Shoe Obsession, an exhibition that examined our cult…

Some state legislators continue to push laws that would make it harder for eligible American citizens to vote. But there’s good news, too. More and more states are pressing measures to improve elections. Since the beginning of 2013, at least 80 restrictive bills were introduced in 31 states. Of those, 62 restrictive bills are still pending in 25 states.

Maggie Clark of Stateline writes: In recent years, federal funding for state homeland security efforts to respond to emergencies has been gutted.Federal grant spending on state and local homeland security is at an all-time low. In Massachusetts, funding from the state homeland security grant program is down 76 percent in the last five years, to $4 million in fiscal 2012, according to Federal Funds Information for States. The state ranked 34th in per capita spending in homeland security grant funding, at $1.20 per person.

Joan L. Cannon writes: Parthenia gave us a small library of quotable quotes over the year we knew her: "time come, baby come" for when awaiting a foaling or any other anticipated event; "if everybody hung their troubles on the line, you’d take your own off first;" and other turn-of-the-century aphorisms. She showed us how to put the best finishing polish on a groomed animal with her bare hand. She could explain what to do on horseback in ten words that someone else would take ten minutes to teach.

It is not easy to describe the brilliance with which Erdrich balances humor and anxiety and terrible truths, but somehow she manages to make us smile in the midst of all the angst. The truth of the rape of his mother eventually does come out, and Joe’s mother is somewhat restored to her old life. That truth, however, brings with it an accompanying, new tragedy, one which marks Joe deeply, and changes forever the child’s relationship to his world.

"Women should not have to compromise their health because a private company controls their own genetic information," said Sandra Park, staff attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project. "Patients deserve the best available care, including access to testing and options for second opinions before making serious decisions about their health. These patents prevent them from getting that."

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.

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.