Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
New York State Raises the Minimum Age for Marriage to 17 Years of Age; The Rate of Child Marriage Varies Widely by State
"This common sense legislation will help bring an end to forced child marriage in New York State," said Amy Paulin, New York State Assemblymember. "This practice is a violation of human rights that has consistently had a disproportionately discriminatory effect on young girls, inflicting physical and mental health issues, robbing them of educational opportunities, and increasing their risk of experiencing violence." more »
Sleep Attack: A Cautionary Tale
Naomi Cavalier wrote: The curtain of sleep dropped of its own volition and the world vanished (even as I write this, I gasp). No more than a second or two later I was jolted awake by the impact of my car, a Honda Accord, slamming into a fire hydrant alongside the road. A geyser of water erupted from the hydrant as the car veered and crashed into a telephone pole. more »
FDA Has Requested Endo Pharmaceuticals Voluntarily Remove Reformulated Opana ER From the Market
The FDA's decision is based on a review of all available postmarketing data, which demonstrated a significant shift in the route of abuse of Opana ER from nasal to injection following the product’s reformulation. Injection abuse of reformulated Opana ER has been associated with a serious outbreak of HIV and hepatitis C, as well as cases of a serious blood disorder (thrombotic microangiopathy). This decision follows a March 2017 FDA advisory committee meeting where a group of independent experts voted 18-8 that the benefits of reformulated Opana ER no longer outweigh its risks. more »
Degas and the Millinery Trade, High-fashion Hats and the Women Who Created Them; My Aunt's Creation
The exhibition is the first to examine the height of the millinery trade in Paris, from around 1875 to 1914, as reflected in the art of the Impressionists and French milliners. From the start of the Third Republic until the outbreak of World War I, there were around 1,000 milliners working in what was then considered the fashion capital of the world. Degas and the Impressionists' representations of millinery became a central theme within the broader avant-garde ambition to showcase the diversity of Parisian modern life. more »
