Reseachers Michael LaCour and Donald Green began by identifying California precincts that had supported the ban on gay marriage, eventually settling on an especially conservative area of Southern California. They then used voter rolls to invite every voter in those precincts, as well as their housemates, to participate in an Internet survey on politics, including only two questions about support for same-sex marriage.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH): "I believe that as you look at your policies, the sanctions [for witness tampering] should be as severe as those for underlying violent acts because that is what it [discouraging victims from reporting violence] is, it is witness tampering. If you put those sanctions in place, it will make it very clear that if someone is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, neither the coaches nor the players, nor anyone else, should be interfering with their ability to come forward or interfering with the support that they need as victims of a crime."

Shopping for STEM gifts, especially for a math-mad granddaughter, isn't easy but Boutique Academia's necklace, She Who Dares, Wins is apt as well as Tardis, Ada Lovelace and molecule necklaces. A soft little book of tips for fresh and saltwater fishers should be a hit as well as other flipbooks. A beautiful line of clothes from Edinburgh is a year round find, as well porcelain from Itsuko and Central Park plates. For my husband, a dopp kit, construction kits for grandchildren from National Building Museum. And an additional shop, SpiceAce.

Everyone in the picture gleams. The joy of a new grandchild and the feeling of family togetherness are palpable. I believe some of Tommy's happiness in that photo was due to this new family he has won. With no children of his own, my second husband relished his sudden role as stepfather to my vibrant daughters. "Is anything wrong with Tommy? He seems to be repeating things." "It's not Alzheimer's," I tell my brother.

Rose Madeline Mula writes: My friend Emily has a pathological aversion to making decisions, both major and minor.  A while back, she had her kitchen remodeled — a project that spanned two and a half years.  No, she hadn’t hired the world’s slowest contractor. It’s just that it took her forever to decide every detail I usually make snap impulsive decisions, some of which I later regret, I do admit. But mostly they work out pretty well. I know it’s stupid; but usually if the item in question is a color I like, I whip out my credit card and seal the deal immediately.

Forty percent of adult internet users have personally experienced some kind of online harassment, most of it involving things like name-calling or attempts to embarrass someone. But there are also more menacing forms of harassment such as physical threats, and the Supreme Court has heard a case that weighs when threatening speech on social media breaks the law.

The United Kingdom has its first Labor Party prime minister. Five new characters are introduced. Plot threads left dangling from the last season of Downton Abbey, including Lady Mary's courtship contest, Lady Edith's trials as a secret single mom, Thomas's scheming against Bates. A new Mystery! series includes a charismatic young clergyman and Robson Green as the Police Inspector as well as the series, Indian Summers, with Julie Walters

So far the projections for prices remaining at low or near-low price levels seem positive. EIA analysis of the petroleum market points to fluctuations in the price of crude oil as the main contributor to the large changes in gasoline prices the United States has experienced in recent years. Crude oil prices are greatly affected by levels of supply relative to actual and expected demand for the petroleum products made from crude oil. Get out that atlas!

P. D. James Q & A: What is the difference between the detective story and the crime novel? The reader can expect to find a central mysterious death, a closed circle of suspects each with credible motive, means and opportunity for the crime, a detective, either amateur or professional, who comes in like an avenging deity to solve it, and a solution at the end of the book which the reader should be able to arrive at by logical deduction from clues presented by the writer with deceptive cunning but essential fairness. What interests me is the extraordinary variety of talents which this so-called formula is able to accommodate.

Mathew O. Jackson says norms are often so ingrained that people do not even notice the extent to which they shape behavior: "They make our behaviors seem natural." Norms become self-reinforcing, since it is much easier to live in a society where people's behaviors are predictable and people understand what is expected of them, Jackson adds. The downside is that such conformity can make even very bad norms difficult to change.

Jill Norgren reviews: Once again I turned young readers for holiday book suggestions. I asked the same questions as in past years — "which books do you love" and "which books did you read this past year that you think other readers and listeners would appreciate?" Many favorites are new but some are classics. This year a number of books have social issue and political themes.

Joan L. Cannon writes: What I didn't do was to vacuum the carpet. I didn't polish the brass (that really needs it because Thanksgiving will be celebrated here next week.) Ditto the silver in the china cabinet. I did the laundry, and then I even folded it and put it away, but dusting has almost disappeared from my vocabulary as well as my chore list. So now I try to feel better for bothering to mention all these things on paper.

Results from a brain-imaging study led scientists into a medical mystery going back to 1881, involving a disputed brain pathway discovered by one scientist and ignored by others. The team rediscovered the pathway's original publication in texts in the basement of Stanford's Lane Medical Library and traced the structure's contentious scientific history.

Editor's Note: Many a year I would come home late on a Wednesday from Time magazine in New York City, only to start cooking a Thanksgiving meal at our house the next day. On Friday, I went back to work, to return home very late as the magazine was going to press. But there were times I'd have Saturday duty at Time and only see my college-attending daughters for a few hours on Sunday before they returned to school by AmTrak.

Gender gaps in test scores and grades have been documented across a range of educational settings — in science, collegiate outcomes, and law and business schools. Research shows that Socratic and adversarial teaching styles — common to traditional law school instruction — may pose disadvantages for female students, who tend to participate less frequently than males in larger classes.

I am not a morning person. It takes me a while to gather my energy so much of breakfast preparation takes place automatically. It’s a good thing oatmeal doesn’t need special attention. Just above and beyond was an exuberance of white clouds. It woke me up right away ... I felt a connection — to the squirrel, to what was being observed, to the larger sense of nature. It made me aware that the world is always different, depending upon one's view.

More lightning strikes mean more human injuries; estimates of people struck each year range from the hundreds to nearly a thousand, with scores of deaths. But another significant impact of increased lightning strikes would be more wildfires, since half of all fires — and often the hardest to fight — are ignited by lightning.

Aquascaping, with its focus on aquatic plants and their artful arrangement, began in earnest in the 1930s in the Netherlands. Freshwater aquarium equipment became commercially available, and Dutch aquarists began to experiment with arranging various types of plants with diverse leaf color, size and texture in terraced heights, much like a terrestrial flower garden.

Oh, my: The human body is host to trillions of microbes. These microbes significantly outnumber the body's cells. Although most are beneficial to human health, some of these microbes can cause problems. Research in both humans and animal models has shown that microbial communities can affect many biological functions, including cognitive performance.

Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery include works by Constable, El Greco, Gainsborough, Raeburn, Ramsay, Reynolds, Velázquez, and Watteau, will travel in extended form to the de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project strengths are oral histories and materials from veterans of World War II, but it also includes the stories and materials of women who served in World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, The Cold War, Desert Storm, the Gulf Wars, and the War on Terror. The WVHP currently holds more than 550 collections which include 350 oral histories.

Just because you're enrolled in a policy now doesn't means it's the best deal for you next year. If you're currently in the federal marketplace and don't take any action, you'll be re-enrolled in the same plan you're in now. Federal officials, as well as many analysts, are urging consumers to go back to the exchanges to compare plans and prices. You might discover that you have more – or different – choices than you had a year ago.

Update: With Tom's death, we thought it appropriate to rerun our tribute to the Magliozzi brothers. How can we forget that laugh? After all, reruns may be ahead for all of us, in one way or another. Right? Right.