Culture Watch
If You're Looking For A Link To the Mueller Report, Look No Further
Editor's Note:
We're not downloading the entire Mueller report, but here is the Justice Department URL to read the report at:
Report On the Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Election, Vol I and II; Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III
https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf?_ga=2.80421777.744576135.1555603755-461170982.1555603755
Mueller received the following military awards and decorations:
Artifacts Meet Activists: Back to Houston For the 40th Anniversary of the 1977 IWY Conference
Jo Freeman writes: Forty years ago over 20,000 people gathered in Houston, Texas to celebrate International Women's Year (IWY) and identify goals for women for the next decade. On November 6 and 7, 2017, a few hundred people gathered at the University of Houston to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that conference. It was not sponsored by the federal government, though some would argue that today's federal government made it necessary. Speakers discussed what happened in 1977, what didn't happen, what should have happened, and what it all meant. more »
In States, the Estate Tax Nears Extinction: Countering Arguments That Eliminating the Estate Tax Was a Gift to the Wealthy
The New Jersey tax compromise included a 23-cents-per-gallon hike in the gas tax, bringing it to 37.5 cents a gallon. The legislation also cut $1.4 billion in other taxes, including income taxes on elderly residents who can now exempt the first $100,000 of retirement income (a couple) from state income tax. Supporters said the tax break for middle-income seniors was a way to counter arguments that eliminating the estate tax was a gift to the wealthy. New Jersey took in nearly $320 million in estate taxes in 2014. The increase in the gas tax is expected to raise more than $1 billion a year. more »
Not My Parents' Church: It's Saturday Mass and I'm Wearing Slacks and Sneakers! No Hat! Not Even a Lace Square Pinned to My Head!
Rose Madeline Mula writes: The church I attend these days isn't the Roman Catholic Church of my parents — or even of my youth. No, despite my profound disgust with the pedophile priests horror and the Church’s anti-woman and anti-gay leaning, I haven't converted to another religion. But if the 20-year-old me were to come back to visit me today, she would be sure I had defected.
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Jealousy, The Green-Eyed Monster As Constant Companion
Julia Sneden wrote: Once I finished school and started my own family, I began to envy the working women I knew, who didn't always smell of spit-up, and could afford nice clothes, or decide to see a movie whenever they wanted without worrying about finding a sitter. Back in the workforce after my children were older, I envied youngsters who were off to college, with all those possibilities open before them. And ultimately, of course, it occurred to me to envy retired folk, their lives unstructured or constrained by duties. Well, now I envy anyone who doesn't have to worry about finances, or who don't have bad knees, or extra pounds, or relatives and friends who seem to be dying off wholesale. more »






