Culture Watch

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.       more »

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 »

In some cases, doctors who suspect they have a mental health problem or addiction that may be affecting their work seek help from the programs on their own. But most physicians are required by an employer, licensing authority or the US Drug Enforcement Administration to seek treatment if they want to keep their medical license. more »

GAO examined a nongeneralizable sample of 178 polling places during early in-person voting and on Election Day 2016. At these polling places, GAO examined a number of features outside and inside the voting area. Outside the voting area, GAO was able to examine features at all 178 polling places and found that 60 percent (107) had one or more potential impediments. The most common were steep ramps located outside buildings, lack of signs indicating accessible paths, and poor parking or path surfaces. more »