Rebecca West wrote: I raised myself on my elbow and called through the open door into the other wagon-lit: — 'My dear, I know I have inconvenienced you terribly by making you take your holiday now, and I know you did not really want to come to Yugoslavia at all. But when you get there you will see why it was so important that we should make this journey, and that we should make it now, at Easter. It will all be quite clear, once we are in Yugoslavia.'

While research into the impact of musical training on aging processes is a new avenue of investigation, our results indicate a positive role of lifelong musical training on auditory perception and cognitive processes.

As the conflict in Libya unfolded, Chris was one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi. He risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started. Chris was committed to advancing America’s values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger.

“We show that circuits normally involved in emotion, as well as cognition, are disrupted when this single transcription factor is activated ... We hope that by enhancing synaptic connections, either with novel medications or behavioral interventions, we can develop more effective antidepressant therapies."

"It should not be surprising that students find poetry a useful tool for accessing these mathematical ideas: the language of poetry is precise and exact, as is the language of math. In both idioms words are heavy with meaning, and word choice is crucial. A well-constructed poem will in this manner be like a well-constructed proof."

The 17th-century English clergyman Thomas Fuller defended the wearing of lace and the nascent English lacemaking industry, writing that it cost “nothing save a little thread descanted on by art and industry,” and “saveth some thousands of pounds yearly, formerly sent over to fetch lace from Flanders.”

57% of all app users have either uninstalled an app over concerns about having to share their personal information, or declined to install an app in the first place for similar reasons. Owners of both Android and iPhone devices are also equally likely to delete (or avoid entirely) cell phone apps due to concerns over their personal information.

The stories of these individual three lives involved in “The Great Migration” are brilliantly told in The Warmth of Other Suns and serve to soften and humanize the long, carefully researched story Isabel Wilkerson has to tell. The DVD Tip, The Forsyte Saga, reminds us just how compelling and sexy the Victorian and 1920 eras can be. Can a new production of Trollope's The Pallisers be far behind?.

"As for you, bending double with the very force of the effort you keep a tight rein on your team and with consummate skill wisely reserve them for the seventh lap. The others are busy with hand and voice, and everywhere the sweat of drivers and flying steeds falls in drops on to the field. The hoarse roar from applauding partisans stirs the heart, and the contestants, both horses and men, are warmed by the race and chilled by fear."

Ferida Wolff writes: I found out that each butterfly species has a specific plant that the larvae feed on. And many of those plants, the milkweed included, are being cut down — to build houses, to construct roads, because of wildfires, illegal logging and deforestation of overwintering areas. On personal properties, they are often viewed as unwanted weeds. This is causing a decrease in the monarch population.

Rhode Island prosecutors say that Joseph Caramadre is an unscrupulous con artist who engaged in identity theft, conspiracy and two different kinds of fraud. Prosecutors contend he deceived the terminally ill to make millions for himself and his clients. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin in November.

"Our age cries for personality, but it will ask in vain, until we allow them to have their own will, think their own thoughts, work out their own knowledge, form their own judgements; or, to put the matter briefly, until we cease to suppress the raw material of personality in schools, vainly hoping later on in life to revive it again."

In the past half-century, life expectancy for newborn Americanfemales, the average increase was about 1.5 years per decade, from 73.1 years in 1960 to 80.8 years by 2010. “There is a general misunderstanding of what ‘average life expectancy’ means, and when people are told they will live to an age such as 80 or 85, they don’t realize that this means there is a 50 percent chance that they could live past that age.”

Julia Sneden writes: Isn’t it odd that the very people who keep saying we need to get the government out of our lives, at the same time condone legislation insisting that more than half the population needs its government to tell them what to do or not to do with their wombs?

They are probably the most tribal generation in history and they despise being separated from contact with friends. They are helping their parents understand that you don’t take pictures on “film” and that CDs and DVDs are not “tapes.” Those parents have been able to review the crime statistics for the colleges their children have applied to.

We discovered One King's Lane not long ago and although we've sworn off daily emails from any shopping sources, we have to admit that we lost our resolve with this site. Years ago we added the Spoon Sisters to our shopping pages and although they sound like a singing duo, they're dedicated to quirky, useful, colorful, unique shopping. 

Val Castronovo writes: The botanicals, “portraits” in his words, are simple, elegant distillations of all manner of vegetation — sweet peas, sunflowers, ginkgo, water lilies, calla lilies, beanstalks, banana leaves, coral leaves, wild hibiscus, grass. The emphasis is on contour drawing. In these minimalist masterpieces, without shading, the line is the thing.

The national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5.0% per rape among victims of reproductive age (aged 12 to 45); among adult women an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.

“There is a huge block of Americans who are never asked their opinions because they are immediately screened out once they’ve indicated that they are not registered or unlikely to vote. It is the first poll taken this year that exclusively looks at this segment of the population."

“While voluntary action on the part of manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson indicates that some in the cosmetics industry are getting the message that consumers want safer products. Only stricter regulation of this $50 billion industry will ensure that all consumers are protected.”

Rose Mula writes: I was awakened by what sounded like the pitter-patter of a gentle rain against my windows. I wish. Instead, it was the dripping of toilet water from a broken commode in the empty condo above mine. The demolition crew moved my furniture into a temporary storage pod, then started mercilessly ripping up floors and tearing down ceilings and walls, releasing trapped water before mold had a chance to establish a beachhead.

Elaine writes: As we dipped corn chips into salsa, we revealed our favorite things. We were like game show contestants hoping to find correct answers. We matched on Masterpiece Theatre, jazz vocalists, dogs and cats, and quiet nights at home. When we learned we had the same favorite song, It Never Entered My Mind by Rodgers and Hart, we felt we had won first prize.

Jane Shortall writes: Her books chosen by Oprah, made into movies, Maeve somehow managed to remain one of us, to stay absolutely the same warm, giving, human being. Beyond generous, she gave away both time and money as if she had double the amount to spare. She was, in every sense, larger than life, with a superior imagination and an uncanny ability to tell a story.