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Ferida Wolff Writes: Winter to Spring
Ferida Wolff Writes: "Seeing the daffodils perking up brings to mind the rest of my backyard. My weedy vegetable garden needs to be cleared for new plantings. I have cucumber seeds and tomato seeds and lots of herbs all waiting to be given their chance to thrive. I’ll remove the dead branches from the hibiscus plants when the new ones start to come up. What a wonderful way to view the season. The daily temperatures may still be shifting but I am eager to start Spring planting." more »
Jo Freeman Reviews There is Nothing For You Here by Fiona Hill
Jo Freeman writes: Her description of Donald Trump and his dysfunctional administration is consistent with that of other authors. Trump was addicted to flattery and adulation. A chapter section is called “Me, Me, Me.” Hill says he suffered from “autocrat envy.” He didn’t just admire Putin; he wanted to be like him. Trump was angered by mere rumors that someone had said something negative about him. He wanted to just snuff them out, with the alacrity of Putin and other autocrats. Although Hill worked for the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, we only get details about Trump. Since it’s not a short book, perhaps the publisher didn’t think reading about the earlier Presidents would generate sales. Too bad. Her other comparisons are illuminating; how these three men ran their domains should be as well.
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Study: Natural hazards Compound Covid-19 Impacts Disproportionately on Businesses Run by Minorities, Women and Vets
A report published in October 2020, offered an overview of the responses, but the authors of the new study sought to gain deeper insight into the role that specific factors played in determining a business’s resilience during the pandemic. "The team’s findings are based on responses from more than 1,350 businesses to a survey NIST and NOAA distributed from July to August in 2020. A third of those returning surveys were from underrepresented groups. "It is critical that we understand how climate events amplify existing social and economic vulnerabilities,” said Ariela Zycherman, a co-author of the paper in NOAA’s Climate Program Office. more »
New York City’s Three Public Library Systems Unveil The Most Borrowed Books of 2021
Of the millions of print and digital books that New Yorkers borrowed from the city’s libraries in 2021, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, A Promised Land by Barack Obama, and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah are among the most popular. Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library, and Queens Public Library have unveiled the most popular books of the year, sharing the top 10 checkouts of 2021 in each system for adults, teens, and children. The top checkout for both Brooklyn Public Library – which marked its one billionth loan this year – and The New York Public Library systems was the powerful novel The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, which focuses on two twin sisters and issues of racial identity and bigotry in the segregated south. The most borrowed book in Queens Public Library system was The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, a piece of historical fiction set during the Great Depression. Popular selections that appear on all three lists also include A Promised Land by Barack Obama, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson and The Guest List: A Novel by Lucy Foley. more »