Current Reading
Defendant Jack Owuor in ‘Grandparent Scam’ Network Sentenced for RICO Conspiracy Targeting Elderly Americans
"The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will continue to pursue and prosecute groups that target elderly and vulnerable Americans through extortion, fraud, and impersonating their loved ones.""The department’s extensive and broad-based efforts to combat elder fraud seek to halt the widespread losses seniors suffer from fraud schemes. The best method for prevention, however, is by sharing information about the various types of elder fraud schemes with relatives, friends, neighbors and other seniors who can use that information to protect themselves." more »
Jo Freeman Reviews Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress
"She fought for women in poverty to get more benefits, against nuclear testing and war in general. Her thumbprint appeared on virtually all legislation to improve the status of women... She quickly moved from supporting candidates to becoming one. Service in various offices eventually led to her election to the U.S. House in 1964... Above all this book is a story of women’s entry into politics, progressing from tokens to major players. They banged on glass ceilings and pushed open stuck doors. In this effort, Rep. Patsy Mink was often leading the charge."
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Jo Freeman Writes: The Lost Promise, American Universities in the 1960s by Ellen Schrecker
Jo Freeman Writes: "This is a book about protests – which is the historical memory of what the 1960s was all about. It is also a book about professors. They are the prime subjects of the author’s chapters, even though students were often the prime actors. World War II made the difference. That conflict brought government money to scientists and the G.I. bill brought tuition payments to veterans. Money moved colleges and universities from being a finishing school for gentlemen to being a 'multiversity' where the 'knowledge industry' was a major source of revenue, progress, prestige and upward mobility."
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Mississippi Author Jesmyn Ward: Winner of the 2022 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
“I am deeply honored to receive this award, not only because it aligns my work with legendary company, but because it also recognizes the difficulty and rigour of meeting America on the page, of appraising her as a lover would: clear-eyed, open-hearted, keen to empathize and connect,” Ward said. “This is our calling, and I am grateful for it.” One of the Library’s most prestigious awards, the annual Prize for American Fiction honors an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished not only for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination. Ward is one of only six writers to receive the National Book Award more than once and the only woman and Black American to do so. more »