Culture and Arts

Rose Madeline Mula writes: These days I hear those three little words often. No, not “I love you,” but “for your age” — as in “You look wonderful for your age” and “You’re so sharp for your age.” Unfortunately, I can’t say that about my memory which is becoming unreliable. But that, too has a benefit — I can reread a favorite book and it will be brand new to me and just as enjoyable the second time. Ditto favorite movies. There’s really not much need to kick bad habits any more. At a certain point, none of us is going to live long enough for excess smoking, drinking, eating, or inactivity to catch up with us. more »

A bill to direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules prohibiting deceptive advertising of abortion services; “Racial Disparities and Social Determinants in the Maternal Mortality Crisis;” reporting of incidents of child abuse or neglect; Improve Data on Sexual Violence Act; A bill to improve the care provided by the secretary of Veterans Affairs to newborn children; A resolution recognizing the fifth anniversary of the Chibok girls kidnapping by the Boko Haram Terrorist Organization; improving the capacity of military criminal investigative organizations to prevent child sexual exploitation; A bill to improve Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program for low-income mothers.   more »

In terms of what sort of policies are needed for inclusive prosperity, Rivlin was optimistic that the US economy remains strong and that enacting or strengthening a few “sensible centric economic policies” would help the country see continued growth while expanding the pool of those benefiting from the growth. The issue, said Rivlin, who was the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office, was whether these policies could ever be translated into law and action. more »

Jo Freeman writes: Reparations for slavery has been in the air this year. It comes with lots of questions. In this book, Woodley answers them for one group who suffered directly from white supremacy. In 1959 the Prince Edward County school board closed its public schools rather than integrate them. Most white students were able to attend private academies for whites only. Black students had to leave the county or go without an education. Not until 1964 did the Supreme Court rule that the county had violated the students constitutional rights and ordered the public schools to reopen. Forty years later a Virginia professor calculated that these five years without public schools resulted in 2,202 black and 258 white youths receiving no formal education in their lifetimes. more »