Relationships and Going Places
Saying Yes to a Proposal in a US National Park; An Annual Interior Department Valentine
From the US Department of the Interior: Dear Friends, It’s time to fall in love all over again! We’re getting ready for our annual Valentine’s Day video, and we need your help. Share your love story with us. Send us your videos and photos of of your weddings or proposals in national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands. more »
Quiet, Please! Will Someone Please Turn Down the Volume on the Planet!
Rose Madeine Mula writes: If the hullabaloo continues to escalate, the next generation of toddlers will be wearing hearing aids to pre-school where they will learn sign language. Talking will become obsolete since we won't be able to hear what anyone says, music will just be something people will read about in history books, and silent movies will make a big comeback. There will be no need to buy costly quadraphonic sound systems, and cars will be less expensive because they won't have radios or horns. more »
Pack Up: Americans On the Move Again to the West and South
If the population shift continues, Texas could gain three new seats in the US House, Florida two, and Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Oregon one apiece after the next census, according to an analysis by Election Data Services, a political consulting firm based in Virginia. Nine states — Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia — could meanwhile lose a seat apiece. more »
Rocking Horses and Doll Houses: Swedish Wooden Toys Exhibit at BARD in Manhattan
The ordinary wooden toy achieved new recognition as an agent in the training and educating of children, as an emblem of Swedish handicraft, and finally as a symbol of Sweden itself. Swedish Wooden Toys shows that from the handmade objects of the rural farmstead to the mass-produced products of major firms, Swedish toys not only reflect but also inform the changing social and cultural values of their time. more »
